Now this happens occasionally where we live, but this time the stench was unbelievable. It was so bad I thought I was going to be sick. I jumped out of bed to close the window – but the window was already closed. It was almost like the skunk had already gotten into the house – it was that bad.

I don’t know much about skunks, but as incredibly foul as the smell was I wondered: do skunks travel in PACKS? Because this COULDN’T have been just ONE… This had to be the work of a SKUNK ARMY or something.

I think most of what I know about skunks comes from the movie “Bambi” – you remember that cute little skunk named Flower? I’m beginning to suspect that that movie was mostly fiction…

So, lying there in bed I started wondering: how can a skunk stand itself? Does it just get used to the smell? Or does it actually like it? Maybe for a skunk that smell is actually pleasant – like smelling roses or pine trees. We perceive the smell as Pure Evil Nastiness, while they perceive it as a beautiful aroma?

SEEMINGLY UNRELATED CONFESSION: A couple of weeks ago, I told a very small LIE.

I was talking to a complete stranger who asked me an extremely personal question. I could’ve just said “hey now, that’s pretty personal, dude…” but instead I gave him an answer to shut him up. I lied. And, I have to admit, that lie really didn’t bother me much.

So I was thinking about the fact that I didn’t seem to feel guilty about that lie and that raised the question: how seriously do I take sin?

We know that God can’t tolerate sin – that it is an “offense” to him. Maybe we should think of it this way: sin is a stench in the nostrils of God.

Yes, I just typed “nostrils of God…” But let’s think of it that way. Our sins are an OFFENSE. Like the smell of a skunk.

I think sometimes we imagine God looking down and saying “tsk tsk, naughty naughty, I wish you wouldn’t do that” – but we figure He’s not really bothered much by our little sins.

We need – no, I need to remember that it was because of my sins that Christ died. God doesn’t regard sin casually. God takes sin seriously – and has provided us a very costly way of forgiveness through Christ. My “little lie” didn’t hurt anybody, but my integrity takes a hit every time I’m willing to be less than honest.

After the skunk incident, I asked my kids to help me paraphrase Isaiah 1:18 (“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”) and they came up with: “Though your sins stink like a skunk, they shall be made to smell like roses (Josiah), made to smell like molten chocolate (Emily) and cookies baking (Josiah again).

Lord forgive us for our casual attitude about the things that offend You. Amen.

One of the fun/challenging/frustrating/joyful things about being an independent artist is that you wear many, many hats.  The challenge becomes making sure that the most important things get priority, and this is where I tend to stumble. I’m usually juggling a dozen things at once, and my family is often quietly waiting for me to set everything else down and give them my full attention.

My “hat list” (excluding my Worship Pastor hats):

• Booking agent (scheduling shows and church services)
• Marketing director (publicity, website management, social media, etc.)
• Songwriter (or, in my case, alleged songwriter, since I rarely make much time for this)
• Band leader (hiring/firing, travel agent, road manager)
• Radio promoter (actually, I hire people to do this, but I’m very hands-on because I’m a control freak)
• Record producer (didn’t record at all in 2011, but I plan to this year)
• Plus there’s family stuff (karate and dance and 4-H and chopping wood and home maintenance…)
• Etc. (there’s probably more but I’m out of time).

The truth is, most of us wear many hats. You might be a mom who also writes a blog and who works at a grocery store and breeds Labradors on the side … plus you teach Third Grade Sunday School and help out at church youth group on Wednesday nights.

So if I were the “New Year Resolution” type, mine would be to be even more purposeful about spending time with my family. How about you?

T-Shirts (3 colors/designs) and Totes are $16 each, plus there are lots of DVD/CD/Clothing combos. Click HERE for clothing and HERE for bundle deals.

Why, imagine: getting all of your Christmas shopping done at a single website! How convenient! Yes, yes. You’re welcome.

After last year’s shows, we released a live concert DVD called “Christmas with Scott Riggan and Jaime Thietten,” which contains all 22 songs from the show (including “I See You,” last year’s Top 20 hit). The DVDs are available again this year, but only while supplies last.

The show was a lot of fun, so please pick up your copy by clicking “Add to Cart” below!
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Usually I give Joey just a few quarters (I’m pretty cheap), but since I took his sister on a relatively expensive date last week (Olive Garden and a movie) I let him have a lot more quarters – and he had a blast.

There was another little boy there enjoying the games too. Most of the time this kid was “playing” a shoot-em-up game without putting any quarters in. And although he eventually got his hands on a few coins, he very quickly blew through them.

The funny thing was that I think he liked pretending to play the game just as much as he did actually playing it.

So that was Friday. Now the weekend is over, and I bet that many of us went to church and forgot to bring any quarters. Here’s what I mean: a lot of us are content with watching the action from a distance – not really investing anything in our churches. Being spectators, not participants.

But worship isn’t something we watch someone else do. Prayer isn’t something we leave to the professionals. God’s Word isn’t just for scholars to study.

I know that nobody likes to be scolded, and I really hope that’s not what this sounds like. I just think we miss out on so much when go to church and just … skim the surface.

What do you think?

After the service, I was talking with people at my CD table and there was a lady waiting to speak with me. She was very emotional and was having trouble holding back tears. She told me that, in all her years at that church, she couldn’t remember anyone ever talking about the blood of Jesus.

I said, “so why are you still here?”

I didn’t realize that one of the pastors was standing behind me when I said that. Funny how they’ve never invited me back…

So why is it that the blood of Jesus – His cross, His crucifixion – why would any Christian church be uncomfortable with that topic? The bottom line is, I think, this: the cross is embarrassing. The idea of sacrifice seems unenlightened and barbaric. Blood? Well, that’s just kind of gross.

But here’s why Christians who trust the Bible see the cross as a theme that’s not only appropriate but beautiful. At the cross, we see the depth of love our Savior has for us. We see a sacrifice that is both heroic and tragic. A sacrifice of the worthy on behalf of the unworthy. It’s the stuff of truly great stories, and it resonates with us in a deep, deep place.

And there’s more. Ephesians 2 gives us a picture of our condition before the cross:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live . . . But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions . . . remember that at that time you were separate from Christ . . . without hope and without God in the world . . . But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

The cross is not an embarrassment to those of us who have been “brought near by the blood of Christ.” It’s a beautiful picture of a Savior who went to unimaginable lengths to rescue us.