The Big Diehl

Can you tell the difference between the product in these two cups? The liquid in these cups is so similar - you can barely notice a difference at all. The amounts are equal. The cups are identical. But the cup on the left contains chocolate milk, the other contains a Starbucks coffee drink that I cannot pronounce. By just a first glance, most would mistake these cups for the same thing. But are they the same? NO WAY! The chocoloate milk tastes good and may actually put you to sleep. The Starbucks drink contains a habit-forming nervous system stimulant drug that causes increased awareness, nervousness, dizziness, and in large amounts, death. We call this Caffeine. Both of these drinks taste good, but similar these are not.

The taste or visual appeal of what we eat or drink is not nearly as significant as the result of the digestion. When we consume something, it goes into our digestive system where our body uses the chemicals, minerals, and nutrients in the food. They are digested; they become part of us and effect the way we act and think.

We need to be careful what we digest in our lives. The media (television, magainzes, internet, books), interactions with other people, and personal attitudes can be digested in our lives each day and if digested, they will certainly effect the way we act and think. When digested, these things will undoubtedly effect us-the end result is imminent. Results of the real-life things we digest in our lives may effect us in positive, negative, or even explosive ways.

Now am I suggesting that we need to live our lives in fear of “eating” the wrong thing? Of course not. Live out in the world and enjoy life - but be cafeful what you’re DIGESTING. Be discerning of what’s good and what isn’t (Chocolate milk vs. Starbucks). If you experience something in life that you don’t want to digest — just spit it back out. Don’t absorb the nutrients from it!

That’s the Digestive System according to Adam. Hopefully, you “get it.”

So my last blog about Sour Cream only had ONE PERSON respond who actually “got it” (way to go, Abby). Strange though, my monitoring plugin reported 17 unique people who read that post. So either you other 15 people just arent going to comment to my blogs no matter what say - or you really don’t “get it.” So…. I will explain what there is to “get.” I was speaking in parable on that one.

The Sour Cream is like sour stuff in our lives. Sour thoughts, sour emotions, sour feelings, sour attitudes. It’s fine to have sour stuff inside us once in awhile . . . I mean its totally normal. I can’t just go around all day banging my head up against the wall everytime I have a “sour” thought, emotion, feeling, or attitude. But if that sour stuff stays inside of me and is allowed to fester, it will get ugly real fast. Sure the outside may look and seem fine, but the inside is getting moldy.

When stuff is bugging us, we need to take care of it. Keeping it inside will cause nothing but problems.

Sour cream is a pretty funny product, isn’t it? First of all, its funny because we buy it with the word “Sour” right on the lable. How ironic is that! Would you buy something with a label that says “Sour Cheese” or “Rotting Meat”? And the fact that they so confidently labeled it SOUR CREAM. That’s pretty stupid because all we have to do is whip it with a fork and we’ll have whipped cream — or stick it in the freezer for a couple hours and you’ll get Ice Cream. Okay, maybe not.

But seriously, I bought this thing called SOUR cream. How can something that is already SOUR go bad? What, does it become “sour-er” or something? Truth be told, Sour Cream grows moldy if not used in a timely manner. The outside of the package may look nice and shiny, but the infestation of mold begins shortly after purchase. The only way to prevent the mold is to get all the SOUR out of the container in a timely manner.

If you “get it,” add a comment and tell me you get it. I’m wondering who will “get” what I’m saying. There’s more to this story, but you’ll have to comment to hear it.

Remember way back in the day, people would have these necklaces, each was a part of a heart. One friend would get half of the heart, and the other friend would get the other heart. When the hearts were put together, it read “Best Friends Forever.” Those two friends were Best Friends Forever; BFF.

Well, My BFF from Indiana has come over to Tulsa! We’ve known each other since forever ago, but lately our friendship has gotten much closer. I mean we’re going out to eat together, we’re watching TV together, we watched Nacho Libre together, we surf the net together. I mean we just do everything together.

And you’d have to know him like I do to get all the benefits from a friendship like this. I mean, last week I was sorta feeling down . . . and BAM he was right there when I needed someone to talk with. And the advice that my friend gives is incredible - I haven’t gotten a bit of bad advice from him, like ever. And unlike other people that get annoying when you’re around them for hours on end, my best friend’s constant companionship has been nothing but pleasant.

Oh, here’s his picture (click for a larger view):

My mom wanted me to promise that I wouldn’t pick up and hitchikers while I was in Tulsa. I compromised and told her that I wouldn’t unless I felt God very specifically speak to me.

Last night, I was on my way back from a special service at another church, and I took a couple wrong turns . . . pretty strange. I wound up seeing a guy walking on the side of the road and I heard God speak to me to go and pick him up and give him a ride. It wasn’t a very “safe” part of town so I tried to ignore God for a split second… and I had a griping feeling in my gut so I knew it was totally God and I needed to stop. So I did.

Turns out he didn’t need a ride. He only needed $4.24 for a Greyhound ticket to Oklahoma City. Normally I would have been skeptical, but since I knew I had heard God I pulled out a Lincoln (the bill, not the coin) and offered it to him. And he didn’t want to take it without working for it. He wanted to wash my car or do SOMETHING because he didn’t want to be a beggar. He just wouldn’t take it. Finally I was sort of frank and abrupt and just told him that God told me to help him, and he’d better take it.

After I identified myself as a Christian, the man proceeded to tell me his testimony. It took awile, but it was good. He walked away with his hands in the air praising God. I got back in my car encouraged.

Always be obedient to God.

*Picking up hitchikers can be dangerous and I do not encourage anyone to do dangerous activities. Just obey God (because if you’re CERTAIN its God-then you will be worse off for disobeying God.*

Gosh, last Sunday, Pastor Ed made several really good points and I took good notes. When I heard him speak last sunday, I thought, “Ooo, I’ve gotta put that in my blog!”
(I’m taking Pastor Ed’s idea here, but I’m translating it into Adam-ese and Hoosier talk):

I have a Pontiac Bonneville. I know how to make the car start, stop, and I can even steer it in the right direction. But when it comes to the mechanics of the car-I don’t know a thing. I can’t even change my own oil. I could pretend that I do, but it would just result in a big mess. That’s why I listen to the mechanics that work on my car. They might tell me to not hit chuckholes anymore. They’ve told me I need to get my oil changed every 3,000 miles. They’ve told me that I needed my transmision fluid flushed. They might give me any number of instructions of how to take care of my car. Do I sit around and whine about how those mechanics are being bossy? Of course not! Those mechanics are telling me what I need to do to take care of my car - and I trust them because THEY MADE IT! They’re not being bossy at all. Mechanics made my car so if there’s something I need to be doing to make my car work - I need a mechanic to tell me. They made it!

The same goes for our spiritual lives. God has given us lots and lots of stuff that we need to do (in the Bible) to make our lives worth living. Is God being bossy? OF COURSE NOT! God made our lives, so if there’s something we need to be doing to make our lives work, we need God to tell us! We need to go to church. We need to read our Bibles. We need to pray everyday. We need to tithe to our church faithfully. We need to do all these things and more - not because its legalistic, not because God is being bossy and wants to control our lives . . . but because God made our lives and he tells us what we need to do to make them work.