Updates and Rants...

Things must be crazy for everyone. Several of my favorite bloggers have been on hiatus recently much like myself or sporadic at best. I hope everyone is doing ok!

Things are finally settling down in my life although I'm having a heck of a time getting everything back on track. Seriously missing the wife's involvement in day to day chores and childcare! Don't know what ya got till its gone as the song says...

Work has been hectic but the workload has leveled off and is in decline now. As long as I don't get overwhelemed its more than manageable which is good for the rest of my life. The three day weekend coming up doesn't hurt things either!!

With the wife being laid up I haven't been able to take advantage of overtime like I wanted but I want to be there for her so its all good. Hard not to think about how large that paycheck would be though! :)

My friends have been through some real ups and downs in their lives but the light has been coming into view at the end of the tunnel. God is in all things and his face is becoming clearer as we go. Keep the faith guys and everyone keep these people in your prayers. It works, trust me. The power of prayer cannot be underestimated. I'm not talking about the charlatans on tv slapping people on the forehead or waving their hands and people falling down.

That's not the power of prayer, that's the power of hypnotic suggestion. I'm talking about real fervent prayer with selfless motivation. That's where the power is. A collective hallucination is not where God is and we need to be aware of those false prophets and not fall into their games.

Got off on a rant there for second, sorry about that. But its my blog, take it or leave it. :)

Anyway, I feel better when I write out some things like this. This is therapeutic for me and informative for you so we all win!

Updates

My how things have gone insane in my life!

My wife breaks her foot, I'm starting school again, and the busy time of the year at work all happen at the same time and I start drowning!

So many apologies for the lack of updates. Hopefully things will calm down and I can gain some sense of order in my life.

On a side note, your prayers for my wife would be greatly appreciated. She's going in for foot surgery on Thursday morning...

My other project, 315 to Fit, is on hold at the moment as well now that I must go into "take care of teh family" mode right now with three little ones and I broken wife. More to come on that one!

Expect some more meaty topics as I move more into my school year. These deep theology classes always get the juices flowing!

Thanks for reading and keep watching for more!

The Wooden Bowl

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson.
The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and
failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.
When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.
'We must do something about father,' said the son.
'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.
There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.
Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.

He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?” Just as sweetly, the boy responded,
“Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.”

The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason,
neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things:
a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a 'life..'

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands, you nee d to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you
But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others,
your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.

People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

He Gave All

There's nothing in this world that tears me up inside more than watching my children suffer. I sit here in the dark and listen to my precious two year old struggle for that next breath and I can barely hold it together.

It's in these moments that my mind slips back to what it must've been like for the Father to watch His son suffer on that cross. I don't know how I could deal with that. It's too much to even consider in my present state of mind. I have enough trouble dealing with a bad cough with my childen let alone real torture.

You can say that he knew it was going to be ok in the end but I just don't buy it. I'm pretty sure my son will be ok in the morning but that is little consolation when your little boy is struggling for that next breath.

He asks so little of us for such a horrible sacrifice and yet we act like stopping to feed the homeless will ruin our perfect day. The next time your loved one is in pain ask yourself what you'd do to make it all better. I know given the choice I would give anything for healing for my kids and wife. Jesus gave that and more...

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]

Pass It On!

I love the connections we can make on the Internet. That can be through blogs, web pages, social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, etc... We can have a huge impact on the world simply by finding a good twitter account to follow and "retweeting" what we see!

There are so many avenues to share the good news of Jesus that we aren't even scratching the surface! When I think about all the times I've wasted by not sharing the gospel I'm ashamed. I don't want to waste another minute thinking about the "lost" and the "unchurched". I want to "find" them and "church" them! Less talk, more do! And if this little blog can help me do that then so be it! If not, I'll drop it like a rock!

So here goes...I'm challenging everyone who reads this to sign up for twitter. I'll throw out some suggested twitter contributors to follow in the right-hand navigation of the blog in the days to come. If you'd like a tutorial on twitter, leave a comment and I'll help however I can. Sometimes the sheer volume of information that comes out over Twitter can be overwhelming and someone might be inclined to give up. There are plenty of programs, and one really good one, to sort out this mass of information! Just Google "Tweetdeck" and you'll understand. Download it, use it, love it!

You don't have to have an original thought in your head to use Twitter. All you need to do is learn the power of multiplication. If you find something that you think is worth sharing and you retweet that information, you've just opened that up for the people that follow you to see it. Then what if someone retweets what you sent, now all their friends can see it! And on and on and on and on... You get it? This is spreading the good news at its finest and certainly at its fastest!

Nothing will ever take the place of a good one-on-one conversation about Christ. There is something about face to face communication that changes the whole dynamic. But lets not get so focused on that traditional forms of communication that we lose sight of the here and now! Like it or not this is the way people are communicating these days and we have a responsibility to bring the gospel into that stream of communication just like any other!

So in closing...Pass It On!

Christian Comics - Part 3

Christian Comics - Part 2

Christian Comics - Part 1

Here's a few more of the Christian comics I discovered. Thought you might like a look!

The Persistance of the Spirit

I was being evangelized as a kid right under my parent's nose!!! I just found this cover of a comic book from the 80's under some listings for old Christian comic books on a web site. I remember begging my parents to buy me this at Stan's Restaurant in Columbus, OH. when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old.

That place is gone now. I just knew it as a great old restaurant with awesome food and friendly people. I didn't even realize that they were shoving Jesus down my throat with those mashed potatoes! The things you learn later on in life!

The more I look back on the life that I've lived, the more I realize that Jesus was putting people, places, and things in my path all the time trying to steer me away from my sin. Praise God for holy persistence!

315 to Fit

I've been dealing with issues with weight for years. I've had multiple health club memberships that never worked, half-hearted diet attempts that were doomed to failure, and doctors that seemed indifferent to actually helping me. (I asked my doctor for a plan to lose weight and his great wisdom was, "Just pick a diet off the internet." Thanks Doc...)

I'd like to start something I would stick with. Recently I've realized I feel a certain responsibility to my blog now that people are starting to read it more. I want to share and I think this blog has been a great way to share with others. It feels good to be able to share my thoughts and feelings with others. I hope that some of those thoughts might help someone someday.

I'd to help myself a little bit right now by using blogging as an accountability tool. I'm going to start a separate blog called "315 to Fit". "315" is what I weigh, and "Fit" is what I want to become. I'm going to start a daily journal that documents my struggle. I'm going to put a time limit on it too. I'm going to give myself one year. In my head I'm thinking 100 pounds. That's only 8 pounds a month so its not exactly a radical goal. Its going to take work. That’s the next step...

What do I do?

At this point I need to ask for help. I'm not real well off so I can’t go buying a bunch of expensive plans. I've got a health club membership that I'm going to start actually utilizing so the exercise will take care of itself as long as I keep going. I think since I'll have a personal obligation to journal about it that night I'll be much more likely to go. I won't mislead on the blog and start making up stories so its more of a situation where I have someone to answer to so I'm going to do it!

I need stories of success, of failure, and everything in between. I'd like to hear about any plans you've tried in the past and how that's working for you or didn't work out at all. In short I don't want to reinvent the wheel if I know that there's something that works. Why complicate things by coming up with some intricate weight loss plan when the jobs already been done for me? I can concentrate on execution and less on prep which is good by me! I can get lost in the details and thats not good at this stage.

Now please don't come at me with, "Eat right and exercise." I'm not an idiot and I know the concept. I'm looking for specific help. Anything less and you're just patronizing me and I don't react well to that. Obviously I need a plan to follow as doing it on my own has been such a smashing success so far! Don't mean to seem rude, but that’s generally what I get from most people when the subject comes up and its getting old...

Anyway...I'd like to get a good amalgamation of all the ideas of others and come up with something that works for me. I'm going to start this journey next week, August 17th, Monday. I'm going to take this week to take in any thoughts that others might give me, get used to getting up a little earlier to go to the gym before work, and adjusting to an overall diet that won't make me crash and burn and give up. Hunger and boredom could be huge motivating factors in hurting my success and I don't want that to happen.

I want something that is consistent and won't leave me desperate for a bite of food. I know that portion control will be part of that and there will be a certain degree of hunger to get used to at times, but I don't want to be like that all the time once I get past a certain point. I don't want to diet, I want a culture change. I want my whole idea of nutrition and food intake to change as I think that is the key to this whole thing. I need to adjust my lifestyle to work towards this goal of living a healthy lifestyle.

So in closing let me just invite you on this journey. There's nothing there yet but the blog will be at this address.

http://315tofit.blogspot.com/

I might be getting its own domain name eventually but we'll take it one day at a time and see what comes of it. Please share any thoughts you might have! Thanks!!

What Me Worry?

I have a talent that I excel in. I exceed in every area of this field of work and I wanted to share with you what that talent is.

Worry.

Wait a minute! We're supposed to live on faith! Oh no! My whole theory of Christendom is shattered!!

Don't panic. It’s ok to worry...

When I first came to faith I bought a bible. Sitting at my desk at work I held the bible up and then dropped it on its spine. It opened up and I closed my eyes and pointed. This is where I landed.

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Of course its a God thing because its turned out to be my life verse in so many different ways. This is where I needed my strength and reassurance.

Faith and worry are not "all or nothing" things that can't exist in the same area. A vortex will not accompany this paradox and swallow us all into a singularity. Its ok to worry.

Some people put on a really good show. They tell you they lean on Christ for everything and they never doubt. They've always got a smile on their face and you consider them spiritual giants. Guess what? They're lying. And if they're not lying to you, they're lying to themselves.

I've gone through some rough spots in my life. I've gone through moments where I felt like I was hitting rock bottom. I could almost visualize myself falling down a chasm, just about to hit the rocky floor. In fact, I even can remember the part of road I was driving on and where I was when I felt this, its one of those moments I will never will forget.

It was in that moment of complete despair that I became acutely aware of my faith. It was at that moment when I was about to hit the bottom of the chasm that I stopped and started floating right above the floor. I realized that I had landed on my faith. I was stopped from complete despair because I had a foundation of faith in God that I wasn't completely aware existed until I hit that point of complete vulnerability.

I wish I didn't need to reach that point, but I'm a case study in the DC Talk song, "The Hard Way".

"Some people gotta learn the hard way.

I guess I’m the kinda guy

That has to find out for myself

I had to learn the hard way, Father

I’m on my knees and I’m crying for help"

I've learned how to embrace my faith in the years since that moment, but the affliction of "The Hard Way" plagues me to this day. I'm not a good listener. I need to find out the facts before I'll listen.

That’s why after I learned actual bible study techniques it was nearly my undoing. I can spend hours on one sentence if I try. I dissect every word, no matter how inconsequential it seems. I take the context into account. I take the meaning into account. I take the audience into account. I look at the translation, the original manuscript, the interpretation, the commentaries. This can turn a bible study into a beautiful experience and it can also make it real hard to get very far!

I've got to learn the hard way. I'm the kinda guy who has to find out for myself...

Worry is the manifestation of this condition for me. I know God will provide, I know I can trust in Him. I do trust in Him at the heart of things, but its in my nature to worry about the details. Its in my makeup to concern myself with the bigger picture. I'm a perfectionist in this way and its my greatest strength and my greatest weakness at the same time.

It’s ok to worry. God knows you will. Like any father to his child he understands our imperfections and helps us to embrace those imperfections and understand that we were made that way for a reason. If you're one of those people that can let worries slide off your back then I truly envy you. That is one of your God-given gifts and you should use that to your advantage and to further the Kingdom of God. But I am a worrier. I'm living in the details. I'm using that to further the Kingdom too.

Embrace who you are because God made you that way for a reason. Worry, love, get mad, get happy, be all that you were made to be because we are a beautiful mosaic of God's love!


"The Hard Way" - DC Talk

Some people gotta learn the hard way I guess I'm the kinda guy That has to find out for myself I had to learn the hard way, Father I'm on my knees and I'm crying for help

Now I've been high and I've been low I've been some places that you will not go I never thought there would come the day When I wished I never would've lived this way

But I've been searching for a long, long time I thought the devil was a friend of mine I turned my back on everything that was true And wasted years that belong to you

It took so long for me to see That I'm a victim of nature and me Left to myself I realize I am the maker of my own demise

But you accept me every time and again And never mention just how selfish I've been Why must it always take me so long to see That I have fallen but you will forgive me?

The warning signs are like flares in the night Still I proceed my greed is in spite of the fire I know that's bound to burn Why is it that I always gotta learn...

The hard way, the hard way, I had to learn the hard way The hard way, the hard way, I had to learn the hard way

Gifts

What to write about? Things are on my mind but they are things I wish to keep to myself right now. There are major life-altering events that could very well change everything in my present reality. It would be best not to share those right now so I'll move on...

What I would like to talk about is God's calling on your life. Do you know what your calling is?

I feel like there is a misconception on what a calling from God is. When people think of a calling they think of vocational ministry, missionary work, preaching, etc... But I don't think that's right. I think what we're really talking about is what God has for you, what he’s chosen you to do.

Certainly a calling can be those things I just mentioned, but it’s not limited to that small corner of society. Your calling is essentially your spiritual gifts in bloom.

Everyone has spiritual gifts that were given by God. Some are more obvious than others, but maybe not so obvious to those those have them. Billy Graham probably had some moments of indecision in between the crib and the pulpit, so I think it’s ok that we all feel the same way.

The bible lays out the groundwork for spiritual gifts so we don't need to hunt around in the dark to articulate them for ourselves.

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 tells us:

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Some of these gifts are more controversial than some, but that controversy comes from doctrinal beliefs within the church. In my opinion, if God said it, its true, and I'll leave it at that.

These gifts can be broken down into more specific traits of the person, but in general all the talents that we possess are rooted in these gifts. To give an example, I believe that much of my spiritual gifts lie in knowledge which for me translates into teaching.

My mother has the gift of knowledge and teaching and I believe I was blessed with the same gift. It took me a lot longer to realize and embrace this gift, but it was there nonetheless. I've always been that guy full of useless facts and figures, watching the history channel, fascinated by church history and such. I was always good at taking the knowledge in, but I wasn't aware that I had the ability to put that knowledge back out there.

It took having kids to make me start to realize that this is what I wanted to do. I began to understand that I wanted them to know everything I knew. I wanted them to understand what made me love all that useless junk in my head! Once that brewed around in me for a while I came to the understanding that I really wanted to do this all the time and not only within the family unit! I had a calling!

I felt a calling to ministry in general from a young age, but never knew what to do with it. God made it clear that vocational ministry was in my future, but getting equipped and learning the ways of the Protestant faith was first on the agenda. I went to a university, finished that. Still didn't seem completely clear what I was supposed to be doing with this calling. It was like I had this broad stroke on the canvas that gave me a purpose but the articulation of what that meant wasn't there.

What I'm trying to say is it takes a long time to figure all this out! That's ok though, because it’s all in God's time anyway.

There are many resources out there to help you see where you fall with your strengths and talents, but I have one in particular that helped me out greatly. The resource that made it completely clear for me (at least at this stage) was the Clifton Strengths Finder (www.strengthsfinder.com/). There’s the book but that’s secondary to the test that you take online. Essentially the book is the key to understanding the results of the test. I strongly recommend anyone with even an inkling of curiosity about this to get a hold of this book. You'll need to purchase it so you will have a valid code to take the test, library won't work in this case.

You will see things in the results that surprise you. You’ll also see things that you never realized and yet after seeing it in front of you it will start to make sense. Other things you may not see but when you tell others of the results they'll be like, "Well yeah. You didn't know that?" It’s a fun way to learn a lot about yourself and the way others perceive you!

This isn't meant to be a commercial in any way. I know times are tight and money is an issue for everyone these days. But some investments are worth making and this is one of those things.

As far as those things I'm keeping under my hat right now, I would imagine I should be making public any developments in that regard in the next week or so. That depends a lot on other people and things that are out of my control, so time will tell and that time is God's. I trust in Him to lead me through this time...

Lets Lighten the Mood a Bit

Can't always be so serious...

God is Great...Beer is Good...And People Are Crazy

So many times it seems like we complicate life. We look for the complex in the simple questions. We look for inspiration in the obvious. We just plain try too hard!

Lets start off with "God is Great". I don't know of any other topic more over-thought than God. The bible is fairly simple on the surface and easy to understand. Its man that makes it more complicated than it needs to be. We spend more time dissecting the Word for hidden meaning and allegory when we should be looking for the basic lesson and meaning. Sometimes what's said is simply what's said. It says not to steal, don't steal. It says not to lust after the neighbor's wife because that's a bad thing! Let's not go so deep we drown in it!

For pastors, ministers, and leaders this makes more sense. There is a need to pursue the complex because that's their calling, their job. But for the average person lets not complicate the issue! There are enough simple truths into the bible to keep you busy till God calls you up! I'm taking Masters of Divinity classes right now and trust me, we're doing enough in-depth study for all of you!

Next comes "Beer if Good". Now beer isn't my thing but I think he's getting at life's simple pleasures. We're all real good at complicating life. We fill up our schedules with so much "recreation" that we can't find any time to rest! Between church activities, sports for kids and adults, men's and women's groups, cell groups, bible studies, etc... we can't find time to sit back and relax for a minute! What's the point in all that "stuff" you do if you're too busy to spend time with your family? Its not worth a dime.

The other night the wife was at work and I was at home with the kids. The older two were off with a friend but the two year old and I were hanging out. All of the sudden he grabs a ball and just wants to push it across the floor with me. I realized right then that there was no place else in the world I would rather be than right in that moment. He was having a blast and so was I! It was a great and simple moment that was better than all the trips and activities you could go on. Meeting Mickey can't compete with rolling that ball back and forth with my boy!

We've got to focus on life in the moment and not plan so many "quality time" activities. Just spending time with your family is pleasure enough! Sure there are moments when you need time away to keep your sanity. Raising kids is far from a "simple" pleasure. But that's more in line with the next topic...

Now comes the obvious one, "People Are Crazy". Yes they are. Just walk around downtown in a large metropolitan area for a couple of hours or perhaps the state fair and you'll see what I mean. You'll see a cross-section of society at a state fair that you couldn't get in the most complex sociological experiment ever made! But crazy isn't always bad either! A good portion of my family, extended and blood, are plenty crazy and I love them all for it! Sure they can get on your nerves but that's why you don't live in the same house!

I'm sure plenty of people think I'm crazy too! I'm sure I deserve every bit of it! Since a person's definition of "crazy" is based on their own perception, essentially we're all guilty!

What we need to remember is to celebrate that individuality that makes us who we are! God made us special and we all have a purpose. To some you may look like the poster child for looney tunes but that doesn't mean you're any less than what God made you to be! Check out Einstein's hair! He was obviously crazy right?? How about John the Baptist? I'm pretty sure if you met that guy on the street you would've crossed to the other side pretty quick! He was pretty "out there" and yet he was the forerunner of Christ!

To sum all this up, I think we just need to stop and take a breath. Identify what's important to you and do it. Junk the rest of that stuff that's mucking up your life and make it hard to breathe! Live your life! Love your life! Love your family! Go hug your wife and kids. Call your mom and dad. Make that call you've been meaning to make to grandma. You know she'd love to hear from you! There is something you've been putting off because you're too busy. Today could be that day!

I'm going to put the video inspiration for this below. This is a song by Billy Currington called (you guessed it) "People Are Crazy". This song is about simplicity. This song is about human imperfection. This song is about simple pleasures. This song is about a God that loves and forgives us through his all-encompassing grace and love.

I know that some of you reading will be all hot and bothered that this video has beer (I should qualify this statement by saying that I don't personally drink but I don't think its biblical to abstain. The bible says nothing against drinking, only drunkenness. Anyone that tells you otherwise is taking the bible out of context and applying it to they’re own religious doctrine. I do it by choice, not because some church or denomination told me to.), and a bar, and all that entails. They'll say that's not "Christian". I hope they all settle down and realize that there's so many things God would rather you be doing than getting mad about that...

People Are Crazy lyrics
Songwriters: Braddock, Bobby; Jones, Troy;

This old man and me were at the bar and we

Were havin' us some beers and swappin' I don't cares
Talkin' politics, blonde and red head chicks
Old dogs and new tricks and habits we ain't kicked

We talked about God's grace and all the hell we raised
Then I heard the ol' man say
God is great, beer is good and people are crazy

He said I fought two wars, been married and divorced
What brings you to Ohio? He said damned if I know
We talked an hour or two about every girl we knew
What all we put 'em through like two old boys will do

We pondered life an death, he lit a cigarette
He said these damn things will kill me yet
But God is great, beer is good and people are crazy

Last call it's 2 a.m., I said goodbye to him, I never talked to him again
Then one sunny day, I saw the old mans face
Front page obituary, he was a millionaire
He left his fortune to some guy he barely knew
His kids were mad as hell, but me I'm doing well

And I dropped by today to just say thanks and pray
And I left a six pack right there on his grave
And I said God is great, beer is good and people are crazy

God is great, beer is good and people are crazy
God is great, beer is good and people are crazy
God is great, beer is good and people are crazy

© SONY/ATV SONGS D/B/A TREE PUBG CO;

What Are You Good At?

What are you good at?

I'm not talking about what you do for money...I'm talking about what are you good at?

If you're one of the lucky few that is working on what you're good at then good. You can quit reading now. But if you think that maybe your interests and talents somewhere other than your nine to five job then keep reading...

Without trying to sound corny, God made you special.

What that means is maybe God didn't make you to answer phones or crunch numbers. Crazy thought eh? More like a scary thought...

How many people do you know that wait until retirement to finally do what they love? I can think of one in particular...my father. You can ask anyone that's been in the room with that man longer than five minutes and they'll tell you my dad has a passion about cars. He knows more facts and figures and reads more magazine articles than anyone I know. He lives and breathes cars and facts about cars. He was born with a passion for cars that knows no bounds and I truly believe that he has unlimited potential in any business that has to do with cars.

But that's the rub isn't it? You see, if you know my dad then you know that he was a bookbinder for 30 + years and pretty much hated every minute of it. His life was outside the four walls of his office building. His life didn't begin till 3:15 pm everyday. It took a forced retirement to get my dad to go out on a limb and start his own car lot. Now he's having the time of his life and can't wait to get up in the morning to do more of it! How is that fair? How is that right that he's doing this at 60 instead of 30?

I think he had the passion and the drive to do this thirty years ago but life got in the way. He got married, I came along, and life passes you by faster than any car has gone and next thing you know you're 60 years old and you're just getting started!

I've started down this path myself. I fell into the computer industry. I'm pretty good at it. I know some things and I've got the aptitude to learn what's new and important to further my career. The problem is, just as my father did, I've found a trade I'm good at and now I'm settling for the safe path. Why am I doing that? Am I not throwing away the gifts that I was given from God?

Sure, I get to shine some of these gifts through the muck of life on occasion at my job. I get to show people, train people, on what I know and what I do. But the fact is I'm showing them how to do something that I don't feel passionate about. How exactly am I supposed to effectively train someone at something I don't truly care about? I'm cheating not only myself but them as well.

Now of course the argument can be raised as in the movie "Office Space"...

Peter Gibbons: Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you'd do if you had a million dollars and you didn't have to work. And invariably what you'd say was supposed to be your career. So, if you wanted to fix old cars then you're supposed to be an auto mechanic.
Samir: So what did you say?
Peter Gibbons: I never had an answer. I guess that's why I'm working at Initech.
Michael Bolton: No, you're working at Initech because that question is ******** to begin with. If everyone listened to her, there'd be no janitors, because no one would clean **** up if they had a million dollars.

Crass certainly, but bitterly true in today's society. The thing is everyone is destined to do what love, we just never reach for the brass ring. That's why we end up with these self-help guru's spewing out leadership and self-actualization techniques that everyone eats up like starving animals. We're looking for some way, any way, to make our passionless jobs mean something! We'll listen to anyone that will open their mouths about this stuff because we're thirsting for something but we're not getting our thirst quenched!

Should everyone quit their jobs? No. Absolutely not. Should you make an escape plan? You betcha!

I'll post some thoughts on the "Escape Plan" that I've been reading about on other blogs. There's some great resources out there and I'll share some of those real soon.

"Wake Up" Follow Up...

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE

20's, 30’s 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, (and most of the 80’s):

First, we survived being born to mothers who might've smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of... They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If you are one of them.. CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good..

While you are at it, share this to your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?

~
Quote by Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?

Wake Up!

Has common sense and human decency completely left this country? I’m pulling into the parking lot after lunch today at the office where I work at and there two vehicles sitting in the middle of the road directly in front of the entrance.

At first I thought there was car trouble, but then I realized that both cars were running fine. At this point the realization sets in that these people have stopped in the middle of two opposing lanes of traffic to have a conversation! The indignity doesn’t end there! Not only were they stopped, but one got out and was leaning on the other car talking like she didn’t have a care in the world!

I can’t even comprehend the ego, ignorance, or mixture of both, that it takes to pull something like this off! My mother and father taught me something that has obviously escaped these three people involved in this incident, decency! What happened to caring about your fellow man? What happened to the Golden Rule?

Oh, I know what. We’ve kicked God out of our classrooms, our homes, and churches, and now we’re reaping the "rewards"!

People that were raised with even a cursory knowledge of the bible from school and church have a more foundational understanding of right and wrong and how to treat other people. I didn’t have some extensive church background growing up but I understood who Jesus was and why we believed what we did at least on the surface of things.

We’re raising a country of children who only know a morally relativistic interpretation of right and wrong. If you allow a child to make up their own rules, the outcome is rather predictable. The person that makes their own rules will slant those rules into their favor if they have no real sense of right and wrong as a guide. I was a teenager at one time, there are plenty of ways to talk yourself into things whether they're right or wrong. You can justify anything if you think about it long enough and that’s all that moral relativism is.

No doubt there are plenty of people out there that just don't care about others in general. Its usually the one that stops dead in the middle of the mall to look at something as we all nearly run into them. Or the person that drives five miles an hour down a residential road trailing cars behind them when they're looking for a street address, because they don't have the decency to pull off and let those people go around.

They're selfish people that look inward for all their motivations, but there's always something fueling that way of thinking. They have something that drives them and I pray for those people that they find healing and conviction for themselves and the way they treat others.

But the powerless are the children of this culture. They're being brought up in a Godless society with no understanding of what’s going on around them. They don't understand what absolute truth is. They think everything is up to interpretation. Our current financial crisis is based on greed and manipulation. That's a byproduct of a Godless population!

We need to wake up and understand what we're doing to our society. The only consolation is the farther we go down this path the sooner Jesus will come to separate the wheat from the chafe. Out time is running short as prophecy is fulfilled and disasters worsen. We're running out of time to save our fellow man.

Controversial

This is a song by the band Diamond Rio. It was never released to the public as its considered offensive to the public according to what I've been told. They play it live at their concerts to standing ovations...

How the iPod Touch Has Wrecked My World

I recently came into possession of an Apple iPod Touch. I can't tell you how enjoyable this thing is! There are so many interesting applications and uses for this thing that I can't even begin to describe them all!

The first thing that became crystal clear was that I want an iPhone. Verizon get your people talking to their people and get this done! I always loved PDA devices and I always wondered why cell phones just couldn't quite get it. MP3 players have become an intricate part of our lives and yet it always seems like cell phones just couldn't seem to integrate that either.

With the necessity of cell phones this seemed to be a no brainer of integration of these three things and yet it seemed like the best minds from LG, Nokia, Motorola, etc... Just couldn't get this thing done! I've been through countless phones in the hope of this kind of integration and was always left wanting.

Problem solved.

The iPhone solves all these issues. After using the Touch its easy to see that once again Apple figured it out and everyone was left in the dust. This piece of technology is everything a Palm was and never could be. It’s an iPod which they already have down to perfection, and then adding the phone capability is seamless! The countless apps that are available are incredible and its not hard to imagine the Touch and iPhone becoming real competition for the handheld gaming market as well.

I'm overly impressed with the usability of the technology. The touch screen is like butter. It’s smooth as silk. The ease of use is incredible. If “Rosetta Stone” is the "every man" software for languages, then iPhone is the "everyman" of advanced cellular technology. Anyone could use this thing with very little prompting. If you've got a gadget hungry person such as me in your household, then they'll be in heaven.

There seems to be an app for everything. The first thing I found that was incredibly useful was an NIV Bible app. It works beautifully with the touch screen and even has some advanced highlighting and note taking features for Bible study that make it a very useful piece of software in and out of the church. There are games galore as I'm sure you can imagine. Not all of them are great but some that utilize the accelerometer are downright amazing.

If you're not sure what the accelerometer is, it’s essentially a component that tells the device in what direction the phone is leaning to and fro. So a driving game is steered by the sheer motion of your hands holding the device. It is quite amazing to play with, and you’ll spend a long time just leaning around looking like an idiot.

The productivity features that you enjoyed in Palm devices are readily available. Some of the old standby’s such as “Documents to Go” are available and there are hundreds if not thousands of productivity apps available to help you with nearly every aspect of your life from contacts, calendar, cooking, to exercise, its all there for you to find.

I strongly recommend if you've ever been frustrated with the same things as me, check one out. I was a pc guy and still am a pc guy even though I have an Apple device. In fact, I have an Apple TV at home using a program called Boxee but that’s another post down the road.

Enjoy.

Hide It In Your Hearts

I really can’t stand these motivational speakers that are impersonating pastors. It’s all about feeling good about yourself and a positive outlook. Then they have the nerve to take scripture out of context to make the point!

They bear some resemblance to the “prosperity preaching” that’s polluting the airwaves as well. These "men of God" are charlatans sitting on golden thrones taking social security checks from little old ladies. They do more to drive people away from the church than a confrontational atheist ever could! God told you to steal others money to pay for your 11 million dollar guest house! Bah! These people are constantly under investigation from the IRS because they’re a bunch of crooks! And people believe them!!!

How can we fight this onslaught of mega churches with popcorn preaching and con-artists on TV?

The Word.

I’m not talking about beating people over the head with the bible. There are enough people that do that on a daily basis and get nowhere with it. The plan is to put the Word to work in your life! Live your faith, don’t spit it all over people and hope someone gets wet.

If you truly live out your faith through moral actions and firm beliefs then everything else will fall into line. Work on yourself first, the lost after. Your message means nothing to someone if you’re a hypocrite when you're out of earshot or sight.

This is going to tick some people off that I know. They listen to these people and believe them. I pray that they will read what I say and understand that I say it with a loving heart. I want to help those I believe are being led down the wrong path by heretics.

The video below is from John Piper. He is a wonderful preacher that tells the truth and tries his best never to falter away from the path of righteousness. I pray that you will be open to the message he brings...

What Does Salvation Mean To You?

What is salvation for you? This question was posed in an online church group on Facebook today that I’m a part of. I’m intrigued by this question. At first I was thinking of salvation as a personal thing that you work out and live out in a very personal way but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I actually view salvation more as an organic experience that has continuous action.

In my own personal experience salvation was not some “light bulb” moment where I felt the earth shake or anything like that. Although there was certainly a point of decision, the main part of my salvation was research and discussion with others to decide what salvation would mean to me.

After the moment of salvation the knowledge gathering didn’t stop. I continue to this day learning more and growing as a redeemed creation. So my salvation grows and becomes more and more of a living and breathing condition as I gain knowledge and grow older.

That organic action has turned into an outpouring of love and support for those around me. I tend to lead by example and let that create the opening to talk about salvation versus “in your face” evangelism. I know that in my case the latter approach was lost on me. I needed to observe and come to my own conclusions before I was even open to hearing the gospel in a meaningful way.

So salvation for me is a living breathing thing. At some point in that process there is something that happens that leads you farther down the path. Some would refer to that as “Entire Sanctification”. That’s just a big church word to mean that you’ve gotten out of the center of your life and put God on that throne. Picture a throne with a circle around it. Now picture you sitting on your throne and God being outside the circle. At the moment of salvation you’ve allowed God into that circle but you’re still on the throne. The moment of entire sanctification in most definitions is when God is put on that throne and you’re in His circle.

I think that’s a process as well. I don’t think you jump off that throne exactly. I think you crawl off that throne kicking and screaming, dragging your feet like a defiant toddler. So I think the term entire sanctification is also an organic process within the organic nature of salvation as a whole.

I’ve always thought the term was a bit misleading. It tends to make one think that it is an end. It’s more of a process that doesn’t end this side of heaven. It also leads people to declare themselves “sanctified”. I’ve got an issue with that statement. That truly does imply and end result. The problem is that sanctified as defined would mean without sin completely. I’ve seen way too many people that have declared themselves sanctified with an incredible amount of elitist pride. They’ve lost the race before they even got out of the gate.

Salvation is a road that we travel. The best part is that we don’t travel it alone. We have Jesus right by our side the whole time. He’ll walk beside us, pick us up when we fall, and put us on his shoulder when we don’t have the strength to walk on our own. All we have to do is ask. We also have the body of believers on that walk with us. Too many times you see people trying to walk the path alone. We need that support to continue and fight the good fight.

God bless.

Silliness

My kid's got a diaper on his head. Got a problem with that? ;)

Disney Parade - Part 21

Disney Parade - Part 20

Disney Parade - Part 19

Disney Parade - Part 18

Disney Parade - Part 17

Disney Parade - Part 16

Disney Parade - Part 15

Disney Parade - Part 14

Disney Parade - Part 13

Disney Parade - Part 12

Disney Parade - Part 11

Disney Parade - Part 10

Disney Parade - Part 9

Disney Parade - Part 8

Disney Parade - Part 7

Disney Parade - Part 6

Disney Parade - Part 5

Disney Parade - Part 4

Disney Parade - Part 3

Disney Parade - Part 2

Disney Parade - Part 1

Princess Rose

My wife is my Princess!

Volatile Issues

I linked an article on Facebook the other day that caused quite a stir...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/scientists-create-testtube-sperm-1736207.html

The gist of it is that scientists believe they have successfully created human sperm from stem cells without the assistance of a human male. To me the implications could be horrendous. Some strongly disagree with me. When I posted the article I didn't realize I was going to light a firestorm.

There were other participants that I've omitted since they were mainly praises of various viewpoints. I've left myself as well as two others as this is the main subject of discussion.

My initial comment on the post was "I feel like we're kids with a new toy that might be a machine gun and we don't know it."

I'm changing the names to protect the innocent...

Alternate Viewpoint #1- at 11:46am July 8
machine guns take lives. This is the creation of life.

Myself - at 11:59am July 8
That's too surface level of an argument. And also what kind of life are they creating? Should they even be creating life if that's what we're going to define it as? It should be interesting to see where this all leads.

Alternate Viewpoint #1- at 1:48pm July 8
I think it is important for the scientific community to fully understand all aspects of our lives and the universe around us. The (responsible) creation of life is not just the domain of God (or biological reproduction); it is a goal that biologists and geneticists are trying to understand. We are, after all, made in God's Image, are we not?

Myself - at 2:02pm July 8
Well I think that comes down to your beliefs. My belief system tells me that I respect science and I encourage discovery, but creation of life is reserved for God alone. There's nothing wrong with scientific advancement when the end goal is to better understand God's creation. When the end goal is to disprove the existence or in essence become God then I think science is detrimental to society as a whole. I believe that God can stand up to any ridicule from science and survive completely intact, so as a rule I say, "Bring it on" when it comes to scientists that are bent on disproving the existence of God. But I do believe that there are many horrible things in this world that we could be working on curing that will help society in a more meaningful way (MS, HIV, Cancer, etc...) than sitting around trying to create sperm.

Alternate Viewpoint #1- at 2:50pm July 8
???Not once was it implied that scientists are trying to disprove God or even ridicule him, only understanding ALL aspects of our wonderful Universe. Science is the honest and earnest attempt by we finite humans to try to comprehend the entirety of the universe; nothing less, and nothing more. If we learn how to create life, so be it. Wonderful; as long as all science is done responsibly and ethically.This division, this 'fight' between Christians and Scientists, from my own personal observations, is nearly always started from the Christian side. It needn't be that way.

Myself - at 3:01pm July 8
That's far from a fair assumption that Christians are starting any fights. If anything its the constant ridicule of science and the media that has alienated Christians from the scientific community, which is well documented. Of course these scientists in question haven't voiced any religious preference as far as I know but that's neither here nor there. The point is the ethical belief system of the individual. A five day old fetus was used to "create" that so-called "life". I'm sorry but creating life, to destroy life, to create life, seems a bit barbaric when shown through the prism of my personal belief system. Its already been proven that there are more than enough viable ways to harvest stem cells without killing anyone but science continues to fly in the face of ethics for the sake of scientific advancement because its easier as faster.

Alternate Viewpoint #2 - at 8:47pm July 8
I have to say that I disagree with you both in some ways. I don't have a problem with this line of research or the treatments it may one day create. I'm disappointed that they insist on using embryonic stem cells, even when the article says it is just as viable to use adult stem cells.While the article itself does not imply that this is an effort to explain away God, it is a well documented fact that religious viewpoints are barely tolerated within the scientific community. There is an underlying understanding that science is trying to understand how the world can exist naturally, removing any need for a creator God.I do believe that we are meant to understand the world God has placed us in and that means being a scientific people. I just know people and anything we are involved in is not pure. Currently, the scientific community is not open to understanding a world in which God exists.

Myself - at 10:33pm July 8
Well said. I don't disagree with anything you said. I think its natural for us to be a curious people. I also think God has no problem with us being curious about creation. We'll never know everything but its good to want to grow in all knowledge that brings us closer to understanding God. I think that all these scientific advancements can be used for the glory of God when we keep God at the forefront of our reasoning for gaining that knowledge.

Good stuff eh? I like a lively debate. No matter where you stand on an issue it helps to debate and articulate our beliefs!

State of the Family Address - 071009

How have you all been? I'm doing pretty well.

We just got back from Disney World and the World Bible Quizzing Meet in Orlando, FL. The kids had a great time at Disney and Gabe got a silver medal at the Quiz Meet! We couldn't be happier!

Except for a really bad ear and sinus infection I contracted on the drive home that took two weeks to heal from, it was a trip without incident. I can't complain!

School will be starting for me again next month. I'm exceited to get started as it seems like I just got into a groove and had to stop for summer. Let the craziness begin again!

Hopefully now that life has settled down a little I can get back to regularly blogging again. Between travel and sickness I just haven't had it in me. I'm glad to back though!

Nazarene World Assembly - Orlando, FL.

Parting Shot

Bye Disney

Pooped Out From Disney

Young one's out before the parade even started.

Castle in Blue

Purty

Disney World Castle

Palm Trees at Epcot

I want to live where there's palm trees

Impatient Kid

Kids hate waiting at Disney

Disney Food

Steak prices for McD's food. Thats Disney!

Charlotte, NC.

Charlotte, NC

Bojangles in North Carolina

Bojangles in North Carolina

T.U.L.I.P. Theory - Cavlinism vs. Arminianism

This is going to be the first in my offering of resources on Calvinism...

There are two mains camps of theology within Christianity in America today: Arminianism and Calvinism. Calvinism is a system of biblical interpretation taught by John Calvin. Calvin lived in France in the 1500's at the time of Martin Luther who sparked the Reformation.

The system of Calvinism adheres to a very high view of scripture and seeks to derive its theological formulations based solely on God’s word. It focuses on God’s sovereignty, stating that God is able and willing by virtue of his omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence, to do whatever He desires with His creation. It also maintains that within the Bible are the following teachings: That God, by His sovereign grace predestines people into salvation; that Jesus died only for those predestined; that God regenerates the individual where he is then able and wants to choose God; and that it is impossible for those who are redeemed to lose their salvation.

Arminianism, on the other hand, maintains that God predestined, but not in an absolute sense. Rather, He looked into the future to see who would pick him and then He chose them. Jesus died for all peoples' sins who have ever lived and ever will live, not just the Christians. Each person is the one who decides if he wants to be saved or not. And finally, it is possible to lose your salvation (some arminians believe you cannot lose your salvation).

Basically, Calvinism is known by an acronym: T.U.L.I.P.

Total Depravity (also known as Total Inability and Original Sin)
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement (also known as Particular Atonement)
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints (also known as Once Saved Always Saved)

These five categories do not comprise Calvinism in totality. They simply represent some of its main points.

Total Depravity:

Sin has affected all parts of man. The heart, emotions, will, mind, and body are all affected by sin. We are completely sinful. We are not as sinful as we could be, but we are completely affected by sin.

The doctrine of Total Depravity is derived from scriptures that reveal human character: Man’s heart is evil (Mark 7:21-23) and sick (Jer. 17:9). Man is a slave of sin (Rom. 6:20). He does not seek for God (Rom. 3:10-12). He cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). He is at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15). And, is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3). The Calvinist asks the question, "In light of the scriptures that declare man’s true nature as being utterly lost and incapable, how is it possible for anyone to choose or desire God?" The answer is, "He cannot. Therefore God must predestine."

Calvinism also maintains that because of our fallen nature we are born again not by our own will but God’s will (John 1:12-13); God grants that we believe (Phil. 1:29); faith is the work of God (John 6:28-29); God appoints people to believe (Acts 13:48); and God predestines (Eph. 1:1-11; Rom. 8:29; 9:9-23).

Unconditional Election:

God does not base His election on anything He sees in the individual. He chooses the elect according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:4-8; Rom. 9:11) without any consideration of merit within the individual. Nor does God look into the future to see who would pick Him. Also, as some are elected into salvation, others are not (Rom. 9:15, 21).

Limited Atonement:

Jesus died only for the elect. Though Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, it was not efficacious for all. Jesus only bore the sins of the elect. Support for this position is drawn from such scriptures as Matt. 26:28 where Jesus died for ‘many'; John 10:11, 15 which say that Jesus died for the sheep (not the goats, per Matt. 25:32-33); John 17:9 where Jesus in prayer interceded for the ones given Him, not those of the entire world; Acts 20:28 and Eph. 5:25-27 which state that the Church was purchased by Christ, not all people; and Isaiah 53:12 which is a prophecy of Jesus’ crucifixion where he would bore the sins of many (not all).

Irresistible Grace:

When God calls his elect into salvation, they cannot resist. God offers to all people the gospel message. This is called the external call. But to the elect, God extends an internal call and it cannot be resisted. This call is by the Holy Spirit who works in the hearts and minds of the elect to bring them to repentance and regeneration whereby they willingly and freely come to God. Some of the verses used in support of this teaching are Romans 9:16 where it says that "it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy"; Philippians 2:12-13 where God is said to be the one working salvation in the individual; John 6:28-29 where faith is declared to be the work of God; Acts 13:48 where God appoints people to believe; and John 1:12-13 where being born again is not by man’s will, but by God’s.

Perseverance of the Saints:

You cannot lose your salvation. Because the Father has elected, the Son has redeemed, and the Holy Spirit has applied salvation, those thus saved are eternally secure. They are eternally secure in Christ. Some of the verses for this position are John 10:27-28 where Jesus said His sheep will never perish; John 6:47 where salvation is described as everlasting life; Romans 8:1 where it is said we have passed out of judgment; 1 Corinthians 10:13 where God promises to never let us be tempted beyond what we can handle; and Phil. 1:6 where God is the one being faithful to perfect us until the day of Jesus’ return.

Resource Credit: www.calvinistcorner.com

What About Baptism?

Among the doctrines that have much controversy in churches is the doctrine of baptism. Today I want to look at what the Scripture says about baptism so that we can hopefully have a better perspective of what the significance and purpose of baptism really is.Let’s begin by looking at the word baptize. There seems to be confusion with regard to how this word should be defined. Some say that this word means “to dip,” but let’s look more closely at its usage.

In Mark 7:4 Jesus said, “And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.” In this verse there is twice that the Greek word baptize (the same Greek word that is used when talking about Christian baptism) is used, but most people don’t even know this because it has been translated to it’s proper context.

You see, when the Pharisee’s are taking a bath they are baptizing. When they wash pots and pans and tables they are baptizing. Now each of these things are washed differently. Pots and pans can certainly be dipped, but I’ve never dipped a table in water to wash it. So we see then that baptism is not as much about how it’s done as what is done.

This brings us to the next point that I want to look at. In 1 Peter 3:21 it says that “baptize doth now save us.” There are those who leave this verse at this and say that we must be baptized with water in order to be saved. I’ll look at the rest of this verse later, but first let’s look at what John the Baptist said about baptism. In Mark 1:8 John said, “I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” It appears here that John is talking about two baptisms, the one he administered and the one Jesus would administer. But how can this be? In Ephesians 4:5 the Bible clearly says that there is one baptism.

I think this is cleared up when we understand that there is one baptism which is required for salvation, and that is the baptism that Christ administers. Water baptism does not save. If we look at 1 Peter 3:21 more closely we’ll see that Peter say’s this as well. That whole verse says, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” You see, it’s not the outward cleaning with water that is important, it is the inward cleaning by the Holy Ghost. This is the answer of a good conscience toward God. This can only come by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If water baptism is not for salvation then why do we do it? Let’s look to the Scriptures to find out. In what is often called the Great Commission we find these words (Matthew 28:18-20) :

(18) And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

(19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

(20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Here we see that we baptize because Jesus said to baptize. But what is the purpose? And what about Acts 2:38? If we look closely enough we’ll find that Acts 2:38 is talking about the Holy Ghost. When Paul talks to Ananias in Acts 22:16 it is this same baptism which is received “calling on the name of the Lord.”

In the time of Jesus it was common for followers of a particular religious sect to be baptized by that sect. This was an indication to the world that the people were followers of that sect. The same is true with water baptism in the Church today. It is an outward sign of an inward change. It is a way to identify ourselves with the Church. It does not put us into the Church as Christ has done that at the point of salvation. It does not save us. It is, though, important that we be obedient to God, and believers should be baptized. Indeed if we look at the examples of salvation that we’re given in the book of Acts we find that in every case water baptism was administered after salvation.

Resource Credit: www.intotheword.org

Rewiring

I will now attempt to lighten your day.

*Rewiring*

Because our former small-town parish was not a wealthy one, our pastor was dependent on parishioners for upkeep and maintenance of the church.

Once he asked my husband, Sam, to rewire the confessionals. The only way to reach the wiring was to enter the attic above the altar and crawl over the ceiling by balancing on the rafters.

Concerned for my husband's safety, I waited in a pew.

Unbeknownst to me, some parishioners were congregating in the vestibule. They paid little attention to me, probably assuming I was praying.

Worried about my husband, I looked up toward the ceiling and yelled, "Sam, Sam, are you up there? Did you make it okay?"

There was quite an outburst from the vestibule when Sam's hearty voice echoed down, "Yes, I made it up here just fine!"

Credit: Cybersalt.org

It All Makes Sense Now

I knew there had to be some technology in Creation!

You can even get a t-shirt of it here!

Uncomfortable

I'm reading "The Shack" right now. Well actually I'm listening to the audio book but same difference. I don't know what to make of it really. It was not enjoyable at the beginning and now I can't decide if I'm comfortable with it. It’s depicting the Trinity as three people roaming around a cabin baking pies and such. I guess I see what they're getting at but it just seems like its overplayed a bit.

Its almost like its trying too hard to be different. I think that's what’s wrong with church today anyway. We're so worried about being trendy and relevant that we're forgetting what it all means. We can't have a cross in a church. That might make people uncomfortable. Can't call it a bible study, we'll call it cell groups, etc... Don't have hymnals, that'll make people uncomfortable. Since when was God about making people comfortable?

God is a father. He is our father. Should a parent be concerned about how comfortable a child is, or should that parent be more concerned about teaching that child the proper way to act? I think that’s a no-brainer. This is the same thing. God can be our friend, but He is our Father first. When you hear a sermon, it shouldn't sound like a self-help book. We've got plenty of those. The sermon should challenge you and convict you to be more than you are. That message should be asking you to put more effort into life. That message should be designed to help you to become the person that your Creator designed you to be.

I hear some of these supposed preachers on TV and it sounds like a leadership seminar not a sermon.

Did you see what I did back there in the last paragraph? I was writing that paragraph and absent mindedly changed “sermon” to “message” because of my conditioning in modern church. That’s another thing the modern church has done. We can't even call it a sermon anymore because that'll remind people of real church. Bah!

How about we start a new idea in church? How about we start trying to offend people? No more softball sermons that leave you happy and mindless. No more feel-good topics that do nothing but preach love and flowers. Why don't we try to get people out of their comfort zone and ask them the hard questions? How about we develop these people to lead others and not be sheep? We've taken the shepherd/pastor mentality too far. It’s insulting to even think of God's creation as sheep. We are so much more.

Let’s quit reading the latest fad Christian book and using that as our basis for a sermon and instead we use the bible. That’s a novel idea! How about instead of using scripture to back up your point, you use your point to back up your scripture? I'm getting real tired of being told to bring a bible to church and only needing it for about 30 seconds. I don't even see the point in bringing it when it’s just a token scripture to back up the latest fad. Let’s get some meat in this message!

Jesus is about love, but He was also about repentance. We're teaching people to embrace love and feel real bad about who they are, but we're not moving them past repentance. No discipleship equals backsliding.

Let’s tick someone off and maybe we might end up with a growing church instead of declining numbers. Mega churches (not all of them) suck in more people with softball messages or prosperity preaching to steal your money and leave you deceived and dejected because you didn't get healed or rich or both, depending on the preaching.

Well, this wasn't supposed to be a blog entry, it was a journal entry. It’s probably best though because I don't know if I have the guts to publish it for all to see...

I will say that all the churches I've been at in my life have been modern and still had many of the qualities that I enjoy seeing in church, but no church is perfect and we can never expect them all to be. What we can do is attempt to invoke change in our own world. If we have concerns we should speak up. We can't sit idlely by when we see the walls falling in around us. Don't ever demonize a church. Except for a slim few, all these churches have been started with the most God honoring of intentions. We just need to understand that humans are imperfect, and so those things that we create as imperfect beings are destined to be imperfect as a result. The church is no exception to this.

God makes each of us with a certain disposition towards a certain indignation. Its our job to cultivate that strength and make it known that this is what we see as a problem. Christianity is full of righteous indignation. Names such as Martin Luther come to mind but you need not be a spiritual giant to make a difference. Understand your passion and your reasoning for your passion and be heard!

Childish Things....

You wanna see pure joy? You wanna see something that proves that we should all be thinking like kids? Faith like a child is only the beginning. Lets enjoy life like a child! I was helping a friend clean out some coolers the other day in the hot sun and my two year old proceeded to take matters into his own hands. Here's the results...

Faith Like a Child

I'm in the car bringing a friends child over for my wife to watch this morning. I turn the radio over to music so NPR didn't make him want to jump out the window. We're driving along as he's enjoying the music and commentary from the DJ's as was I.

The next song to come on was "Jesus Messiah" by Chris Tomlin. The song starts out with these lyrics...

He became sin who knew no sin
That we might become His righteousness
He humbled himself and carried the cross
Love so amazing
Love so amazing

Right after those words were spoken this six year old kid says completely matter of fact... "Everyone knows that." I was stuck....

Here's this young child saying something so profound. Jesus is part of his world in such a tangible way that the existence and sacrifice of Christ is as easy to comprehend as the existence of a quarter-pounder on the menu at McDonalds.

What believer (and some non-believers I would hazard a guess) wouldn't want to feel this sure of their faith? If that's not a sermon topic I don't know what is...

We could all use a little more of the kind of faith that child showed me this morning.

In Matthew 18:2-4, Jesus is quoted as saying…

"He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Could a more perfect experience have happened to illustrate this piece of scripture? The bible is as relevant today as it was at any other time in history because of the timeless nature of the wisdom inside.

A Big Brass Band

I was watching a TV show recently and the lead actor was talking about his non-existent family. His mother was an orphan with no history, his dad was Swedish and didn't communicate, and he was an only child. Then he said something that really struck home with me. He said, "It always seemed like everybody else's family was like a big brass band..."

That's so true! I have a small extended family so my story is certainly not the same as his, but at the same time I know what he's saying. When I was a very young child my family was large but it was old. My dad's dad was gone before I was born and his mom was gone before I was 10. My grandfather on my mother's side was gone the year before that. My mom was an only child like me and my father had one brother who also had one child. My only other close relatives have all died in the 90's and a little after. You can count on one hand how many people are blood relatives.

I think that's why I felt a real pull to have a family. I felt like I needed to repopulate my family. That may sound like a lot to put on myself, but it seemed like the right thing to do. That's why I was relieved when I had my first boy. Its not that I'm worried about the family bloodline going away, although that is a concern, it’s about the name. The name means something to me. it has history, lineage, honor, and love. I want our last name to mean something to our boys so they will understand that there is a responsibility to family. In this world there is a self-centered, "world" focused and not family focused mentality being propagated as “normal”. We're losing the family unit and I won't let it happen in my family.

We're basically starting over from the ground floor once our parents pass on. There's not a huge amount of family of any kind on either side of our families so this is important to us. I picture us as an older couple with lots of family and friends. Your legacy on this earth is the people you touch for God and the legacy of love you leave behind. One of the many ways to carry that legacy to the next generation is through your family. That's what we want.

I want my family to be that big brass band that everyone knows. We can make a beautiful symphony of love!

Little Things That Kill....Imagination

When I was a child I lived in a small country town. I was an only child without a great deal of kids nearby that were close to my age. I was left to my own devices quite often. I created whole projects, (some disapproved by my parents), storylines with my toys, and all kinds of interesting things to do. Often I got up early to get started on my rather solitary existence in that small farming community during the summer!

I talk to my kids today and they want to be entertained. They seem to lack the ability to imagine. They haven't developed the need to learn and grow on their own. What has society done to my children?

After much thought I think this might have to do with video games. I didn't really have video games early in life that were all that involved. You were in competition with the game, but you weren't living it. You could play "Rampage" all day and try to get through all the levels on the Atari, (which was 999 for anyone that might want to know), flip the game, and the difficulty might improve but the game never did. No matter what you did to achieve the next level of the game, you would always be the knock-off King Kong or knock-off Godzilla, knocking down a varying number of buildings. Eventually no matter how skilled you might be, you would get bored and move on.

That's not the case with these newer games. My kids sit there and play Pokémon or something like that on the Gameboy or the Wii and their entering a different world. This world has magic, competition, battles, critical thinking, strategy, etc... Exactly how does the outside world compete with that?

When my kids are told to turn off the games and go outside they're completely lost. They might get on the trampoline for a while or talk with neighborhood friends, but more or less their biding their time till they can get on the games again. They don't even play original games when they are outside they reenact the Pokémon battles that they just got done playing.

I'm guilty of using the Gameboys as a way to quiet them down. I've used the Wii as a babysitter. When they're fighting Pikachu, they're not fighting each other. Heck, they might even be working together to develop strategy to defeat said adversary! When the games are off they rarely do anything but argue and complain so many times its just easier to let them play games so I can get some peace and quiet.

This isn't the answer of course. I'm still a firm believer that the Gameboys are ok in the car, but on a limited basis and with other entertainment alternatives at their disposal as well. The key is a limited basis. I started this by saying what has society done to my kids but it’s really me. I need to take control of the situation. If there was someone hurting my kids, I would stop them. I believe these games are attacking the imagination of my kids. My kid’s creativity is being stunted by someone else's creation. No more.

State of the Blog Address

I'm really liking where the blog has been going lately. We're up to 10 subscribers on feedburner which is impressive since I was down to six there while I was off in la la land and not posting. I'm keeping the posts as regular as I can recently and I'm happy with the frequency more or less.

I'd like to some suggestions. Things you'd like to see more of, less of (be kind, I'm fragile), and any additions you'd like to see. I'm finally happy with the way it looks. I'm keeping the name for the foreseeable future, and I'm starting to get some direction in my life so things are well.

God bless. Have a great weekend if I don't put something out between now and then.

There's Something In Your Eye

"By preparing ourselves outwardly, it's a sign of how we prepare ourselves inwardly."

There's an interesting quote. I read this in an article on Dispatch.com. The article was talking about the way people dress in church. In this church they dress more formally and they were relating the views of a few members. The first woman they were talking about was one that dressed in jeans because she got behind on laundry and how mortified she was to sit with all the "gussied up" women at church that Sunday.

The second person they talked to was all dressed up as were her kids and the quote above was from a conversation with her. On the surface I think the quote is pointing in the right direction, but I wonder what she does with that conviction. I tend to picture someone that's willing to tell a reporter that statement as one of the women looking down on the one in jeans. The very thought of someone looking down on another for the way they dress in church is ridiculous.

What business is it of theirs in the first place? How do they know what Jesus would prefer they dress like? Human judgment is imperfect at best and ignorant at its worst.

That statement does make sense on the surface. Our outward appearance does reflect our inner appearance. But that very statement sets a standard that few could live up to 24/7. The woman in jeans might've had a busy week and just ran out of time to do laundry. She even could've been so filled up with "church stuff" to do that she just ran out of time. Been there, done that.

We fill our lives with so much "stuff", including church, that we lose sight of what’s important. But I digress...

That woman is setting a standard by saying that. She's telling us that on any given day you can be judged by another for your appearance and that "judge" can come to conclusions about your spiritual and mental well being based on what clothes you're wearing. What? Huh? Really??

No. Lets say you've been out working in the yard all day and your son gets hurt and you need to take him to the emergency room. According to her rules you should be taking the time to get yourself all pretty while your son lies in pain.

Is she out riding the lawn mower in heels? I doubt it. Now of course she would say, "That’s different!" But it’s not really. What if she saw him after all the trouble was over. What if he took his injured son to get some ice cream after they left he hospital to cheer him up? What if she saw him there? She wouldn't know what happened would she? I'll bet she'd be judging then.

Here's the best part about all this. I'm judging her. Oops. Well, I'm using her as an example of all the judgment I've seen over the years from these people. I'm using her as the standard. So I'm not saying she is that judgmental person. I'm saying that she is the subject that I'm using to get my point across. So I'm not directing anything at her in particular, I'm just saying that she's the catalyst for a thought. I don't know her. But her statement could be a tell.

I'll close with a portion of scripture.

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Matthew 7:3-5 (New International Version)

Just think about it for a while. Who do you judge? Are you perfect enough to be judging someone? How would you feel if you were being judged in that way? Judgment by humans is ignorance at its highest level. There's enough going on in our own lives without worrying about others.

Live your life.

Think the best of others.

Worry-About-Yourself.

Knowing

I got to see Knowing the other day. That was a pretty good movie! Good mix of action, mystery, and sci-fi that is quite entertaining!

The basic premise of the movie is Nicolas Cage plays a college professor that deals in cosmological events. His son, who appears to be around 11 or 12, comes into possession of a letter with what appears to be random numbers written from top to bottom. After some investigation, Nic's character comes to realize that there is order to the chaos.

I can't say much more without giving away gigantic plot points so I'll leave you with this. If you like mystery, you'll like this. If you like sci-fi, you'll like this. If you like action, you'll like this. Fair warning for the religious: this movie messes with theology a bit that might make you uncomfortable. I'm sure some of the more easily influenced and offended will walk out of this movie all mad. But if you can suspend your personal beliefs for a couple of hours and enjoy a movie for pure entertainment value, this is a good one!

One other thing. The effects are incredible! There are scenes that will blow your mind! And if you're a Nic Cage fan and you can't wait for him to walk at a hefty pace with a bewildered and concerned look on his face in every scene like all of his movies, you'll be in heaven! I'm a sucker for the guys acting style so its great for me!

Enjoy!

Discovering Calvinism

I'm going to be going into a personal study of Calvinism over the next few weeks. I have the general concept down and I know the basic principles but I'd like to know more. I wanted to share a beautiful painting of the inside of a minimalist Calvinist church from the mid 1600's. Notice the utter plainness of it, and yet there's a pristine beauty to it as well. I hope to share as I learn more. This isn't for any school project or anything of that nature. This is just a personal discovery for me because I'm a theology geek that enjoys learning!

Dance Flick

I took my wife to see "Dance Flick" over the weekend. The great thing about my wife is that I get to see all those wonderful movies I would never pay once cent for, if it was up to me. Sometimes I discover that "jewel in the rough" that really impresses me. This would not be one of those times.

I'm being hard on this one actually. The movie wasn't that bad. Its a Wayans Brothers movie, Shawn and Marlon Wayans respectively. It’s a rather predictable plot as it follows the formula that they've been using ever since Scary Movie was a hit. Basically they cram as much parody from as many movies as they can in less than two hours and there's the movie.

Of course it helps to have seen the movies they're referencing but its not as if you wouldn't get most of the jokes anyway. The driving story is a take on "Save the Last Dance" starring Julia Stiles. The original movie is about a girl that is a classical ballet dancer trying to get into Julliard. She blows the audition and her mother dies in a car wreck trying to get to the theater to cheer her daughter on. Tragedy and denying her true destiny follow as she moves to the inner city to stay with her down and out father who left them early on in life. She's introduced to hip-hop dance moves through new friends which helps her to find her true self. Its not a bad movie. I've seen it and its worth a watch.

Dance Flick essentially follows that story. Pretty much everyone with the last name of Wayans is in the movie along with their normal crew of followers. David Alan Grier plays the obese crime lord, Damon Wayans son of the same name plays the lead (who looks so much like his Dad it might be credible proof of cloning!), Keenan Ivory Wayans plays a Steve Harvey kind of master of ceremonies, and there are miscellaneous cameos and supporting roles throughout the movie for the rest of the family and friends. Sorely missed in my opinion was Tommy Davidson and Damon Wayans, Sr. Those two are great talents, but I can see why they might stay away from an experiment such as this. If nothing else, it gives more room for the younger generation of Wayans to shine without the shadow of their father.

You have to watch closely to catch all the references and I'm sure I missed a few. They even squeeze a slightly insulting reference to the Ray Charles biopic "Ray" that Jamie Fox starred in. No doubt that was homage to Jaime as he got his start with the Wayans family as well.

This movie has some high points, some really low points, but all in all I would say its a good afternoon dollar movie. I wouldn't recommend it for kids and if you're easily offended I would avoid it as well. There's nothing severely raunchy, there's no nudity, and the swearing is kept to a minimum. It’s diversionary at best and mildly offensive at its worst.

If I had a choice I would've rather saw "Star Trek" again!

I give it 4 out of 10. View at your own risk and leave the kiddies at home!

The Games We Play

Do you like to play games?

I love to play games. I used to be more of a video gamer but that interest seems to have waned over the years. Nowadays when I do play its generally with board games or something of that nature. I've found that some of the thinking intensive games appeal to me more than anything. Give me something that challenges me to think critically and I'm happy. I'm not big on just blowing stuff up so something new can come on the screen that I can blow up. I want technically sound and tactical games that require strategy and planning.

What I've come to realize is that I don't know if I put that much thought into my spiritual life. I'm more strategic about the path that my pieces take on a board than I am about deliberate spiritual discipline to enhance a relationship with God!

Here's where the problem lies. I'm good at strategy and planning but execution is an issue with me. My first thought is to map out a plan for spiritual growth with schedules, lists, goals, etc... But then I realize that I've made a lot of those over the years. I'm great at task lists and plans but actually seeing them through is tough for me.

I found something on a blog I read from time to time called "Dumb Little Man" that kinda jumped out at me. One of the main things I have going against me when it comes to these kinds of goals is my distracted life. I have so many irons in the fire its a miracle I don't burn the house down. I need to simplify my life. I find myself doing this more and more these days as I center in on whats important and who I am at my core. God wants me to be everything I was made for, and filling my life with unneeded filler isn't getting me to that end.

I'm going to paste in some information from the "Dumb Little Man" blog that is helping me. Basically whats she's talking about is "mono-tasking" versus "multi-tasking". Quit doing multiple things at the same time and start doing one thing at a time in the best way you know how. Your productivity and quality will increase exponentially when you focus on the task at hand.

"Dumb Little Man" says...

A few years ago, “multi-tasking” was a big buzzword. When people wanted to sound busy, the common response was, "I am multi-tasking". However, trying to write emails, talk on the phone, finish that big report and check Twitter all at the same time, is a sure recipe for doing all of them badly. Without focus, results suffer and thus multi-tasking has been relegated to a convenient excuse to procrastinate. When you’ve got a difficult project to work on, you need to mono-task. Here’s a step-by-step mono-tasking plan to achieve true effectiveness in your work:

• Step One: Switch Off Distractions
  Whenever you sit down to work on an important task, you need to switch off any distractions. That might be the radio, television, Twitter, messenger programs and – most importantly – your email. Be honest, do you ever get emails that really can’t wait an hour for a response?
  
  Constantly switching between different applications on your computer drains your ability to concentrate. You lose time whenever you switch – stopping to check your email breaks your concentration, and it can take several minutes to get back into the flow of what you were supposed to be doing.
  


• Step Two: Minimize Interruptions
  Even worse than the distractions that you give into are interruptions – outside events that impinge upon your concentration. Depending on your situation, this could be the phone ringing, a colleague coming over to ask a question, a visitor dropping by, a child needing your attention…
  
  Interruptions can be difficult to deal with, as they involve getting other people on board. Here are some tried and tested methods of minimizing interruptions as much as possible:
  
  • Let your phone go to voicemail (or tell whoever answers the phone to take a message and tell callers that you’ll ring back later).
  
  
  • Put a “do not disturb” sign on your door at home, and let your partner/kids know that you’re only to be interrupted in a real emergency.
  
  
  • If you’re at work, try wearing headphones (you don’t need to listen to music – just put them on). This is a good deterrent to people who might otherwise come over to chat…
  
  
  • When colleagues do interrupt, get into the habit of saying “I’m right in the middle of something, but I can spare a couple of minutes. What can I do for you?” (This keeps the interruption as brief as possible, and avoids them coming back again later!)
  
  
• Step Three: Set A Timer
  One way to work very efficiently on a single task is to set yourself a time limit. You’ve probably experienced many times in your life how work can expand or contract to fill the time available; perhaps you wrote essays in the two hours before the deadline as a student, or maybe you always manage to clear your backlog of emails just before going on holiday.
  
  You can make the most of your ability to focus by giving yourself a time limit in which to work on a task. You might be surprised just how many emails you can reply to in an hour, or how far through your report you can get in forty-five minutes. The shorter the time limit you set, the faster you’re likely to work.
  


• Step Four: Take Regular Breaks
  None of us can mono-task effectively for long at a time. College students are always advised to take regular breaks whilst studying – most people can only focus intensely for between twenty and forty-five minutes at a stretch. This doesn’t mean you should suggest to your boss that he cuts the length of your work day from eight hours to forty-five … but it does mean you need to break up your mono-tasking.
  
  After working intensely on your task for (say) forty minutes – using a timer as recommended above – take a break and do something which doesn’t require concentration. This could be a good chance to check your emails, tidy your desk, get a cup of coffee or return a phone call. Just make sure that whatever you do, it won’t take up more than ten minutes or so. Because after your break, you should go back to your mono-task for another timed stretch.

I'm going to give this a try. I'm going to focus one task and not many. I don't think I'm being effective knowing a little bit about everything. I think I want to know a lot about a few things instead. I'm not going to pick up a little around the house. I'm going to focus on bringing each room up to a standard that I see as clean, not just "tidy". I'm going to focus on maintenance on one car instead of a little bit here and there so nothing ever feels like it gets done.

I think these changes will have mixed results at first. No doubt certain things will appear neglected and that will be unfortunate. But I think the far reaching effects will be better in the end. Things will stay cleaner longer, things will stay running longer, money will go farther, and I will have more time with my family as these things come together.

Time management will be key to this. I'm going to work on that and get back to you soon...

I want to thank Ali Hale at "Dumb Little Man" for the assist. I feel that we can all benefit from the experience of others. We don't need to reinvent the wheel when its already been done. All we can do is add our little bit of insight and pass it on. Please visit Ali's blog at www.dumblittleman.com for these and many more insightful and useful jewels to improve your life and mind.

Contrast That Will Get Me In Trouble

"I can't think that when God sent us into the world He had irreversibly decreed that we should be perpetually miserable in it."

- English founder of Methodism John Wesley, May 28th, 1725

“Your hearts are in the right place, but your brains need to wake up. I have issues with anyone who treats faith as a burden instead of a blessing. You people don't celebrate your faith; you mourn it.”

- “Dogma”, 1999


That’s quite a contrast, eh? The first quote comes from someone held in high regard as one of the greatest spiritual minds to have ever lived. The second quote comes from a group led by director Kevin Smith. I don't claim to have any clue about their faith personally. How did they come to the same conclusion more than two centuries apart?

I was raised in a Catholic family. We went to mass every Sunday and if not all, most holy days. We ate fish on Friday during the Lenten season. I was more or less forced to give up candy for lent. (Although the actual observance could be left to interpretation) I went through the first sacraments, infant baptism, first communion, and confirmation. Never went for Priesthood although it did cross my mind a time or two.

The problem was, although I knew intellectually what most all of things symbolized, I didn’t really know why I was doing it.

Whenever I think about this I travel back in time to sitting in the backyard with my grandparents and my father one Saturday evening in the summer. My grandmother stands up all of the sudden and says, “Time for church!” and walks off to get ready. A few seconds later, my grandfather stands up and says, “Time for church. Don’t know why. Time for church.” That really stuck with me. I guess even in my young mind that question rattled around in there and I asked myself, “Why do we go to church?”

I can remember asking people close to me that question and getting very canned responses that had nothing to do with relationship. It was all about the obligation to go, God is watching us, the Catholic Church has rules, etc…

It all seemed a little odd to me.

All of the time I remember growing up in the Catholic Church always seemed like sad times. Sunday morning was full of ceremony. The only part that appealed to me was when the Priest gave the homily but that rarely lasted more than ten minutes. The rest of the hour was all about ceremony. It was a somber affair.

Even back then I was aware of this general feeling of grief in our church, like it was blasphemous to be happy about Jesus. You were supposed to be sad for him and his struggle all the time. Easter service was the closest thing to a joyous occasion but it was all lost in the ceremony as well. (As a kid I remember that service being fun because I got to hold a candle! I was always intrigued that the heat from my hand could cause the wax candle to become pliable after a time. At the time I thought it was cool. Now I realize it was a sign that they were cheap!)

I think that general feeling of guilt and despair, and the lack of meaning beyond the ritual was what eventually led me to leave the church. I had no interest whatsoever and saw no real reason to go.

I won’t get into the whole story of my eventual faith in Christ and also my eventual appreciation for the Catholic Church at this time. I just wanted to give you a background for why I can identify with those quotes above.

I won’t give Kevin Smith credit for my conversion, but I will say that I had reached a frustration level with church in general, and when I saw that movie and heard those words it all made sense! They were saying everything I had been feeling! In some ways I think that movie gave me reason to look into what faith really meant to me personally. So thank Kevin, although I have a feeling you would think the whole thing was ludicrous.

I just saw that quote from John Wesley today for the first time. The first thing I thought of was that line from Dogma after I wrote it. Nowadays the vulgarity of most of the Kevin Smith movies is too much for me, but back in the day it touched my heart in a way I wasn’t ready for.

Looking Back

I found something interesting last night that I wanted to share with you all.

I've tried journaling in the past and never had much luck with it until recently. As a result, I have a journal lying around that I started in 1995 and kept up with really well for about two weeks and then never touched it again. Much of it is personal thoughts and struggles that I wouldn't want to share in a public forum such as this, but the last page really caught my eye and showed me something important. Here’s a transcript of that entry...

10/25/05
I've been going at this wrong. God will provide. If God wants us to have the house, we will. God brought us this job for a reason. Maybe it’s to get this house or another. I've never considered bi-vocational pastoring. Maybe that’s how I get my feet wet.

Maybe the teaching certificate is the middle ground to feel that I have a choice. Maybe teach religion?

Maybe my view is too narrow? Maybe I'm introspective and perceptive for that reason. Maybe I don't feel able to preach because it’s not what I was supposed to do.

Trust God. What a revelation! Maybe teaching is in my blood? My mom is great at what she does. Maybe that's my gift as well.

H.L. Hunt
- Decide what you want.
- Decide what you are willing to give to get it.
- Go for it.

I fought the urge to revise as I transcribed that. There's the occasional quip in there that feels too personal, but I made a commitment to put it out there as is and that’s what I'm doing. That’s my unfiltered thoughts three and a half years ago, although they could’ve been filtered a little better I think!

I had just started a job that, as it turns out would not work out as well as I had hoped it would. It was the gateway to my current job though, and that has been going on for almost two years now and has richly provided for us as a family, so all works out in the end. This job also gave me the freedom to complete my degree and gain some experience in ministry. I am forever grateful for the understanding that came from management during this time. I couldn't have asked for a more flexible schedule from anyone and they came through for me in a huge way during that time.

I ended up not going the route of the teaching certificate which I think was a good move. I would be finishing that up right now, and I'm not sure anything less than college level teaching would satisfy my calling at this point. The things I want to share wouldn’t be as well received in lower grade levels. I have centered on teaching as a calling, but I'm still convinced that my calling will involve vocational ministry one day as well.

On a side note, I'm not sure what I was trying to say about being "introspective and perceptive" but apparently it sounded good when I wrote it. :) Also, that housing opportunity didn’t happen, but the Lord provided something much better a couple of years later.

It’s true that even back then I was centering in on my calling. I felt that maybe my focus was too narrow and I think I was ultimately right about that, although the path I was looking at was flawed in practice. I guess my point is that much of what is happening in my life today is not a revelation as much as a culmination of many years of planning and revising a calling through experience and prayer.

I'm just happy to be able to look back and feel validated in what I've been thinking all along. This also reinforces in me that journaling is a huge resource that can assist us well beyond the day of authorship. I hope this helps you a little like it has helped me. I'm enjoying this journey and I'm glad to have you along even if it is as a casual observer.

I’m going to have to look up that H.L. Hunt quote again.

God bless.

Fear of...

Are you afraid of anything?

Don't give me the standard response either from people of faith. "I fear nothing because God protects me."

This is true in reality but be honest and tell me about your fear.

There are all kinds of things people are afraid of. Those things include water, clowns, spiders, elevators, doorways, falling, flying, loving.....wait…. Did you say loving?

Yeah. Loving.

At first glance you might think how could a person not want to be loved? But I didn't say they didn't want to be loved, they're just afraid of it. I think there was a time I was afraid of real love. I had girlfriends growing up but I never stayed with one for too long. I was "hooked on a feeling" if I can take that phrase from a song. I was afraid of losing that "butterflies" feeling when I was first with someone so subconsciously I would mess up the relationship to move on to the next one or wait for the emotional reunion that would bring all those feeling back with the one that I left. It took a long time to figure out that was happening and break the cycle.

I also think that fear can translate into love of God.

No one wants to get hurt in love. You especially don't want to get hurt spiritually. How many people do you know that have been hurt by the church? I know a few too many and I've been one of those hurt as well. There's nothing worse in my opinion. You gave your heart to God and then put your trust in these flawed humans to help you along the path. They hurt you and that hurt has transferred to God. The sad thing about it is all you wanted was to be loved. That's all God wanted too.

So you've become afraid of God's love because you've been hurt to the point that you don't trust it anymore. I get it. I understand. There's a natural transference from church hurt to God hurt. But it’s all an illusion. God didn't do it, the people did. The flawed, imperfect people hurt you and you're blaming God for it. Remember what it was all about?

Love.

Give God a chance. A second chance. Third. Fourth? Even fifth. He's waiting to love you despite all these people that are stopping you.

Email me and I'll help if I can. If I can't help I'll find someone that can.

God loves you. So do I.

Thoughts on Blogging

I've found that blogging is good for the soul. I feel a sense of accomplishment and I enjoy the time that I spend creating something for others. I've had some moderate success recently and thought I would share some of those with you today. These are a few of the things that are working for me. I would love to have some input from all of you on methods that improve your work as well.

1. Integrate blogging into your daily routine. If you have time for coffee or Mountain Dew, you can take five minutes to blog. If you really want to succeed at it you'll make the time. I want to succeed so I'm making the time. I'm early on in the process but I know I can do it if I can just make it a habit.

2. Take notes on interesting thoughts and observations you experience through your day. I've found that keeping a small notepad with me, the kind that fits in your pocket, work pretty well. You're not looking for anything major here. You just want ideas, thoughts, and phrases that will prompt you to revisit the thought you had. A lot of times for me its a word or fragment of a sentence that brings back that moment of clarity. There have been so many interesting things pass in one ear and fall right out the other side!

3. Grammar and spelling aren't half as important as the thought itself. Don't get hung up on the way something is spelled until you get your full thoughts on paper. I've had thoughts lost in the moment when I got caught up in the proper way to spell a word or stop MS Word from putting that dreaded red line under something that I wrote! Just get it all out there quickly and then go back and revise. Don't risk losing that profound insight to Word's incessant need to put one of these ";" in place of all of your commas! (That drives me nuts!)

I'll throw some more out there on another day. Until then...

Happy blogging!

Journaling Ground Rules

On the subject of journaling, I've been pondering a few ground rules...

1. You have to be honest. The only way to be brutally honest with yourself is to have privacy. I have a separate blog that is only accessible by me. That way I can type whatever I want and have no fear of retribution from anyone that might see it. You hear about people getting fired from jobs over things they post on the internet. I'm sure friendships are lost everyday over things that people write on the internet. It’s important to remember that when you write there must be no fear to write whatever you want. It needs to be a complete brain dump. If there's a chance that someone else is reading it, you won't write it. There's a built in censor in your mind that will kick in automatically and affect your writing.

2. Don't stop and think! I know that sounds weird but the best things I write are the things that come out of my head completely uncensored and honest. I don't correct misspellings and grammar; I just blow right through it. I can go back later and spell-check. I know for me I can get hung up on the details and formatting and next thing you know I've lost the thought or at least the momentum to keep going.

3. Use a medium you'll stick with. For some that might be a computer, for others it might be pen and paper. It really doesn't matter what it is as long as it works for you. Just pick something that feels comfortable. If it turns out to be less comfortable than you thought that’s ok. Just try another medium. Find your groove and stick with it.

4. I'm repeating myself but stick with it! This will not always be easy. Sometimes you won't want to at all. Trust me and stick with it. This is worth it. Habit takes upwards of thirty days to form and during that time you might find that you're learning a lot! Give yourself the room to grow and learn who you are and who God wants you to be.

5. Don't get hung up on form! It really doesn't matter if someone else would understand it as long as you do. You're not writing an essay, you're keeping a personal record of your life. I can spend too many precious minutes making sure I'm staying in proper paragraphs and such. This is free form. You like lists? Make 'em! You like run-on sentences? Run away! Just do what you want because you're writing for an audience of one and that person writes just like you!

There is no sure fire method to journaling. My ways are not the end all. but I hope this can help you a little as it has helped me a lot. These are not exactly new ideas but they certainly represent a few years of trial and error and learning from those that have come before me.

The biggest thing here is to remember that this is for you and God. You will learn things about yourself and uncover things in your life through this process that you might never realize in other ways. There is something special that can happen during this process and I hope you can find that like I am.

Keep moving forward!

Gone Fishing

You ever feel like you just want to get clean?

Do you ever feel like life is getting you "dirty"?

I think sometimes we go through a week of work, dealing with a secular world, and by the time we get to Sunday morning we feel like the longest shower in the world wouldn't get us clean! Then we get into service and start singing, worshiping, living, loving and the next thing we know we can feel those layers rinsing off. God slowly takes a soap and brush to all our worries and frustrations and we walk out of service for lunch as a new person.

I heard one pastor describe it like we're all filled up with God when we leave church on Sunday like a full glass of water. "Holy Water" if you will. ;) Then as we go through our week something happens. One day you find out you were lied to by a friend, a hole is shot into the glass and it starts leaking. The next day you're forced into compromising your morals to finish a project on time at work, there's another shot in the glass. By the time you get to Sunday morning you're like swiss cheese. So the Pastor was there to "fill you up" every Sunday and to prepare you for a long week of spiritual warfare.

At first glance that analogy sounds good. But that's merely the surface level of the equation. What is he doing for these people to prepare them for the week besides "filling them up"? Like the old saying goes, "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat forever." Instead of this pastor giving his flock a fish, why not give them a fishing pole? Why does he have to fill them up? Isn't that akin to a spiritual drug dealer? It almost sounds criminal!

He should be teaching these people how to fill themselves up! Give them ways to turn to God daily for the spiritual filling they so desperately need! Teach them! Equip them! Love them! Church should be a gathering place for teaching, worship, and fellowship. Not a place where we go for a spiritual fix!

As I embrace this passion for teaching others I see how a passion for preaching can grow. I want people to know what I know. I want people to learn what I'm learning. I'm going to go through ways that we can equip those we know for the days in between Sundays. Look for this in the future!

Regurgitation

Here's my latest thought.

Are we becoming a culture of mental regurgitation? Do we have an original thought in our heads?

I know I'm part of the issue. I sit on the internet in my downtime and look at things on the internet such as news, philosophy, gadgetry, etc... When I find something I like, I sometimes share it if I deem it appropriate for sharing.

The problem is you could spend all day and all night rehashing facts that someone else already thought. I'll bet if you had some kind of pie graph of original information posting versus re-posting of existing information the contrast would be astounding!

Maybe we should all work on developing who we are more than what we see? Maybe we should quit being identified as part of a group and work on being identified as a unique individual?

I know people that are high on the sharing of information quotient and very opinionated on things that they talk about. The problem is how much of that knowledge is merely regurgitation of someone else's ideas and feelings? Is that kind of person really an individual?

Look at supposed "outsiders" you know. Don't they fit into a certain stereotype as well? Those types of people try so hard to be nonconformists that they miss the fact that they're actually joining another group and conforming to them!

Be an individual. Be your own person. Decide how you feel deep inside and don't become the sheep of the conglomerate. Take in knowledge because knowledge is power. But you also have the power to take that knowledge and make it your own.

Journaling

How do you journal?

Paper? Computer? Not at all? :)

I've been trying to find a happy medium. Although I feel like there is something to be said for paper and pen, I just find that I express myself better on the computer. What I'd like is a good journaling program that could be synchronized between browsers like a plug-in/add-on for firefox, like foxmarks does with bookmarks.

Anybody have any ideas? Techniques? Criticism? Triumph? Tragedy?

I think I grow more spiritually after I regularly journal and its something I'm trying to work towards a daily habit on. The problem is sometimes I feel like I'm forcing it and it gets too much like work.

Let me know!!

Clarity

Today’s my birthday. I'm 33 today.

I feel older.

I know, I'm supposed to. But this is different.

I feel older in new ways. I'm not as physically fit as I was a year earlier. I feel a little slower, like I've lost a step.

I also feel like time is creeping up on me and I'm just not where I wanted to be at this stage in life. I was hoping to be done with school by now, and I'm just in my first year of a masters. I'm not really using the bachelor’s degree and I wonder how I'm going to use this next one. I'm amassing a giant student loan debt and I'm not even utilizing the education.

That makes me feel not so much old, but tired. Really tired. I ache just thinking about that part of it.

But not all is lost.

I've come into some degree of clarity of life in the past year. Or maybe I shouldn't call it clarity as much as I've quit running from what I knew was a passion years ago.

I'm called to teach.

Now what does that mean exactly? Good question.

Many years ago when I started this whole second (or debatably third or fourth depending on how you look at it) chance at education, I had a goal of being done by the time I was 30. I was 26 then and though it was a grand plan, it was possible. Obviously that didn't work out exactly as I had planned.

I'm finally on the tail end of this and I'm beginning to see God's timing.

If I had stayed with the plan I would've easily been a minister at a church in the Wesleyan denomination by now. I knew who to talk to, what to do, and I had the connections to ensure that I had the right options open to me at the point of graduation.

Now I see that maybe that wasn't where I was supposed to be...

I believe strongly in my calling to ministry. I also believe strongly that ultimately I will end up as a minister in some capacity or another. I just think I had the focus wrong.

Through my interpretation of my calling I saw only one or two routes. I initially saw myself as a lead or senior pastor and then started warming to an associate pastor role of some kind. I was more comfortable with the idea of an associate role since I didn't believe that my calling was to full time preaching. I have no doubt that a passion and talent for preaching will come over time through practice and study, but I don't think at this stage it is where my talents lie.

If my plans in ministry had taken hold at the times I wanted them to, I might've ended up in a maintenance church as a senior pastor and never been able to fulfill what God had for me.

Through some personal choices we decided to start attending a Nazarene church as opposed to a Wesleyan church. That basically reset my plans. I knew no one. After four years in the denomination I still don't feel like I know anyone outside of the local church. I've started going through the process of ordination and I am licensed as a minister in the church but I feel like I've been treading water for about two years now.

There was a reason. There was a plan. I'm just now figuring it out.

I realize now that I like to learn and I like to share what I learn. I'm a fact and figure guy that spouts off knowledge with little prompting. I'm one of those guys that know way too much about a lot of varied things and can trivia you to death.

Why not get paid for it?

My Mom is a teacher. I’d like to say it’s in my blood but I'm not so sure its working like that. I don't want to teach little kids like she does and I’m not sure its about a passion to teach with her as much as a passion to children’s learning in general. I want to teach older youth and adults. I feel a giddy passion when I think about that. That’s a passion.

The funny thing is I felt the same thing on the day I signed up for my bachelors degree classes for the first time. At that time I was toying with this strange idea of becoming a professor. At the time I had so little faith in myself that I couldn't really entertain that as a real option in my limited mind full of past failures and broken promises. Now that I've finished my bachelors with a pretty good GPA and I just finished my first few classes at a Masters level with success, I feel a certain confidence to allow myself to dream.

But it’s not a dream, it’s a calling.

Now the question is where do I go from here? Do I teach in the church? Yes. Do I pursue a college teaching position? Yes. Do I still pursue ordination and minister credentials? Yes.

How do I go about all that?

Ummmm.....

Now that I've decided that I'm going to move into that next step, I need to start looking at options. I need to start talking with people about my future. I need to pray about the next steps in my life above all else.

I need to know what God says about all this.

I think in the back of my mind I was waiting for my birthday to allow all this to really bubble to the surface. Call it a grand entrance, call it a feeling that since I'm 33 like Jesus was when he fulfilled his destiny there could be some parallels with the timing, call it the ultimate example of procrastination, I don't care what you call it as long as you call it a beginning.

I've centered on a passion. I knew it all along but it just didn't seem to work with my calling as I understood it. I was wrong in that interpretation. Even though I knew it, I didn't know it. Even though I felt it, I denied it. Even though I knew what God wanted for me, I didn't. Even though I knew I could do it, I couldn't allow myself to believe it.

Its time to change that focus to the positive.

We can call this my mission statement for age 33.

I was lost and now I'm found.

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

- Abraham Lincoln

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

-Abraham Lincoln

Updates

Its been a while since I posted. There's things going on!

First of all, I seem to be in the process of some sort of change in the church. Things are changing rapidly around me and it seems like I'm getting left in the background. Its hard not to feel like I should be in the forefront of everyone's mind when it comes to the effects of decisions made. But I know that there is a plan for my life and the church and regardless of how I'm effected I will always follow God's plan as best I can. No matter what that means and how hard it is to understand I need to be faithful and do what I can with what I have been given.

Its tough! Grhhhh!

Oh well. :)

We're moving to a new house. Great time for that in the middle of winter and all. I am so tired of moving! I don't even want to get into how many times we've moved over the years but it is too many! The weird thing is it seems like right when we got to the point where we wanted to put down roots we run into odd situations that make us have to move four times! Hopefully this is the last time and we won't have to worry about this mess anymore!

I'm sure those that have helped us move in the past are ready for us to stop moving as well!

Education Frustration

I've fallen into that black hole that college graduates get into. I've heard about it a million times over. Someone finally meets that milestone of graduation from college and the "what now?" conundrum hits you in the face.

I don't feel like I have something to do with the degree. I'm helping out at church and I have this "title" which I am happy to have to complete my requirements for ordination but I feel a bit stalled. I've got a student loan looming on the horizon and I feel like maybe this all wasn't the greatest Idea I've ever had!

Now of course all of this is irrational. I've accomplished something that I should be proud of and I am moving in the right direction for my chosen educational field and calling, albeit slower than I anticipated but moving nonetheless. Its more the financial burden of the student loan that is really causing all this I suppose. Although there is some real frustration welling up in me because of this lack of rapid movement in the right direction.

Who do I blame for this? No one but myself of course. If I really wanted to get moving on this I could do it if I made some contacts. But the same thing that happens to many people in my shoes is the attachment to my home church. I'd rather just work my way into a position there because I know people and I'm comfortable there. My wife would agree with that assessment. So I'm cutting off my own legs you might say. The chance of getting on full time at a church my size with the current staff in place is nearly impossible in the near future.

So I'm considering taking the next step in my education that I had originally put on hold. I've started talking to a University about a Masters in Divinity. Maybe I'm retreating, maybe I'm trying to impress someone, maybe its something I've been running from for too long that God has for me. I'll know soon enough.

Reason for the Season

Where do you go with a blog that's supposed to be about spiritual development when you feel that you've stalled?

Great question.

I seem to be in a rut spiritually. I'm good at the intellectual side of things. I always have been. I can talk about it all you want. I'm great with details and facts and I can give advice like I know what i'm doing and I think I do. The problem is am I filling up the tank that I keep emptying out on others?

I think I'm about a quart low right now.

The frustrating thing is its not like I don't know how to fix it! If you came up and asked me for advice on this very issue I could give you great advice and techniques to grow closer with God. The problem is acting on my knowledge!

Its a little frustrating as you can imagine.

I think that when my life gets in a bit of upheaval I lose sight of the prize. Its not like I doubt my own salvation, I just doubt my dedication to growth.

This time of year is especially difficult for me. I can get in a permanent bad mood about money during this time of the year. I feel like I'm inadequate to supply the proper Christmas gifts to my own family. This turns the glory of this blessed season into a giant mess that I dread daily. I can feel the darkness of it coming over me about mid-November and it really doesn't let up till mid-January.

Now of course the inner Christian in me knows that I should be focusing on whats important and I try to but I get pulled back down into the consumerism of it. If I really consider the situation I realize that actually I'm blessed beyond belief! I've got two friends that are laid off right now. They may not have money for rent let alone something to put under the tree. Here I am concerning myself as to whether I can get my kids a Wii and they are looking down the barrel of poverty.

I could use a little perspective.

I'm venting, thats for sure. But I was hoping this might help me. It hasn't. I'll get through it, I always do. And this Christmas is actually turning out pretty darn wonderful after all with regards to gifts and such. I just need to sit back and enjoy the season.

Please try to do the same.

Unanswered Prayers

I don't ask for much from God. I tend to avoid the general pleading that the populace usually gives to God. I don't turn to Him for help half as much as I should. That's why I was a bit taken aback by my response to some recent developments in my life. I had taken the opportunity in this recent trying time to ask God for help. He didn't. Or should I say he didn't in any way that I can see currently. The fact remains that in my moment of need and weakness I turned to God and didn't get the help I desired. I felt cheated and hurt by God for the first time in my life.

It sounds so matter of fact to say that I was hurt by not getting what I wanted. I feel childish even mentioning it. But nevertheless I felt hurt and abandoned for the first time in my memory by the action, or in this case inaction, of God.

Instead of making me want to rail against God this actually makes me question my motivations. Do I turn to Him in need enough? Do I spend too much time on the high horse of pride and not enough time on my knees in supplication? I already know the answer, its rhetorical in nature. Of course I don't.

I think my actions are more abnormal than I thought at first. I've always been good at the philosophical side of Christianity. I can see where God fits in to the "big picture". I can show others where God is at in their life. Am I blinded to where He intervenes in mine? Am I keeping him at an intellectual distance to protect myself? Am I insane?

I don't have an answer for this one. I'd love for someone else to give me one. When I fall back on the intellectual side of my understanding of spiritual development the answer seems clear. Spend more time in the Word, more time in prayer, more time in meditation, etc... Maybe the fact that I'm so sure is the issue? I'm great at talking the talk but am I walking the walk? Probably not.

Its frustrating to know the path and yet lack the ability to walk it. This tends to make it harder for me since I've taken out the guesswork. I can lead others to a deeper relationship with Christ and yet I can't get there myself because of my understanding. How sad is that?

I felt abandoned during this moment but not exactly by God. I guess I felt like I had abandoned myself. I felt that had I tried harder to gain that closer relationship maybe my prayers wouldn't have fallen on deaf ears. That's a rather simple interpretation of my feelings and not entirely accurate but maybe I could use the simplification. I don't know where I go from here. I'm fighting the urge to write out a plan to get closer to God. I'm great at writing those plans but maybe I just need to simplify.

I'll keep you posted.

Thank You

Where Holiness and Ambition Meet

Where does ambition end and God begin?

I've got some issues.

Those that know me might say that's an understatement! :)

I want things that I cannot have. I'm feeling overlooked and I seem to have confirmation from others observing from afar. At some point I need to make a decision as to whether this is pride and ambition fueling this or is it a true pull to tell others about Christ. At this point I think I'm working through it but not moving one way or another. I'm treading water and it has a passive effect of slowing my growth all around.

When we accept a calling from God, we look for queues and guidance to lead us where we are destined to be. We want to fulfill that calling that God has laid on us and walk through those doors that will help us to follow the path laid out for us.

The problem is knowing. We can say all we want that God will close the doors that He doesn't want us to enter, but we all know that if we push hard enough against God's will we can still get through those doors. Free will is as much a retardant and it is an accelerant. We are free to go through whatever doors we choose and if we're blinded by our own pride and ambition we can walk ourselves right over the cliff!

I'm reminded of the Pixar movie “Monsters, Inc.” In that world there was a plethora of doors that were available for Mike and Sulley to send the little girl “Boo” back through but only one would get her home. We have to find that door that would get us home to God. (I think I just wandered into a children's ministry sermon topic...)

How do we know? What does it take to quiet the voice of pride and hear God's whisper? I wish He would shout a little sometimes so I could hear Him over the cacophony of voices that pull me this way and that.

I know prayer is the answer and I'm there and I do that. (Not as much as I should but is there ever too much prayer?) But even prayer can be manipulated by man's imperfection. We start looking for "signs and feelings" or "leadings" from God but we're really looking for the signs that will lead us in the direction we want to go. We can talk ourselves into anything which is proven by the sinful state of the world. We can go all the way back to Eden and we were still talking ourselves into things then!

Peace is all we need to be able to hear God. But there's the argument that peace is only reached through God which of course is true as well. Sounds like a circular argument but of course its not. That peace is found through faith and belief in a merciful God.

Lord Jesus, help me to quiet down and hear you. Help me to understand your will and know if this is the right path, or if I need to follow a different path to fulfill your will on my life in a personal way. I pray for those that I call my close friends. There are so many things going on right now with job loss, opportunity, and financial security that cause us to make it hard to hear you. Help us to find peace in you and through your son Jesus Christ.

Priorities

No matter what our voting preferences are.

No matter what our political bent is.

Lets not get so focused on our own personal agenda that we forget who is really in control.

God will never leave us if we trust in Him.

So don't put your faith in change or a maverick.

Put your trust in the one who believes in you much more than you could ever believe in Him.

Ummm...Isn't this illegal?

This was on the front page at CNN.com. Doesn't this violate a privacy rule of some sort?

Bank Arrangements

Who knows if this is true. Just the same, it's funny!

I am told that a 98-year-old woman wrote this to her bank, and the bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.

Dear Sir:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month.

By my calculations, three "nanoseconds" must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire salary, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years.

You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete.

I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets, and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.

In due course, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:
1-- To make an appointment to see me.
2-- To query a missing payment.
3-- To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4-- To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5-- To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6-- To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7-- To leave a message on my computer. (A password to access my computer is required. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)
8-- To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.
9-- To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.

While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.
Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.


May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.

Your Humble Client

(Remember: This was written by a 98-year-old woman.)

Credit: Cybersalt.org

SCC and MWS Live!

My wife and I went to see Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith in concert last night. It was incredible and life changing for all involved.

I've never been to such a spiritually charged event that was so based in worship and recovery. As you may or may not know, on May 21st of this year, Steven lost his little girl to a horrible accident. I can't even imagine how he's dealt with that. This was his “coming out” party of sorts.

Although he has played since then, this is the first formal tour he's been on since the tragedy. You could just feel this overwhelming sense of need for the subject to be addressed. In Christian music there is a family of sorts that extends to the artists that you'll rarely get in secular music. I would venture to say that everyone in there knew what happened and I think we were all looking to Steven for some kind of peace and reconciliation with what happened. We got it in more ways than I could've imagined.

Not only did he address the events of the last few months, he built his entire set around it! Each song was a journey of admission and recovery as he explained how he came to realize that God was in this and how each song had helped him to overcome this horrible event. He lost a beautiful little girl and his wife and kids were his life and passion. You could feel that in his songs and in the passion for God and family that flowed from the lyrics.

There were certain songs that he didn't know if he could ever play again because of the memories that they brought with them. But God showed him that these songs have a whole new meaning now that they may not have had before. They have an eternal meaning that was maybe not as easy to see before this incredible despair washed over him and his family.

We were all tearing up as he told his story of recovery and peace. As parents there was a real connection with what he felt and said and the path that he had to walk to get through this pain. We were all there with him in some small way. We all felt a kinship that could only be felt from one Christian to another. There was so much beauty and so much pain all at the same time. Despair and victory, pain and peace, I don't even know how to really describe all that happened last evening. It was beautiful. It was blessed.

And in the times that Michael and Steven shared the stage you could just feel the friendship and support that they gave each other. I can only imagine the support system that they are giving each other as they spend so much time together on the road during this tour. They need each other and they both have God walking beside them. You can feel it. There's no other way to describe it. This tour is called the “United Tour”. I couldn’t think of a more fitting title for what they are right now. This is a time for unity and friendship, not isolation.

The old and new favorites were played and some great worship songs were mixed in there too. There was comedy, tears, love, and kindness. These two guys are near legendary in Christian music and it was special in itself to see these two sharing the stage for three plus hours. It took a toll on them to let this much out. It took a toll on all of us working through all this pain that came through during the performance. I don’t know how they have it in them to do this all the time.

This wasn't a concert, this was church.

Jesus the Witch? Really? C'Mon...

Talk about making a leap of theory! These scientists and archaeologists have gone from finding a vague reference to what might have some relation to Jesus and turned him into a white witch! People will say anything to get themselves famous! I'm sure we'll have some Discovery Channel "In Depth Report" on the life of times of "Jesus the White Witch"!

A team of scientists led by renowned French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio recently announced that they have found a bowl, dating to between the late 2nd century B.C. and the early 1st century A.D., that is engraved with what they believe could be the world's first known reference to Christ.

If the word "Christ" refers to the Biblical Jesus Christ, as is speculated, then the discovery may provide evidence that Christianity and paganism at times intertwined in the ancient world.

The full engraving on the bowl reads, "Dia Chrstou O Goistais," which has been interpreted by the excavation team to mean either, "by Christ the magician" or, "the magician by Christ."

"It could very well be a reference to Jesus Christ, in that he was once the primary exponent of white magic," Goddio, co-founder of the Oxford Center of Maritime Archaeology, said.

Click here to see the rest of the story.

Who is the Pastor?

This is from a newsletter I recieve from Truth for Life by Alistair Begg. I just love the quotes regarding Pastors. For some this is a reminder that we need to appreciate and understand the great responsibility that our Pastors face everyday. For others this is a reminder of who we are or who we are called to be in God's faithful timing. Either way, there are real truths in these statements that deserve a thoughtful look.

No Small Matter

Dear Friends,

Since October is Pastor Appreciation Month, I thought it would be fitting to share this word on preaching from William Taylor in the 19th century:

“Let it never be forgotten, then, that he who would rise to eminence and usefulness in the pulpit, and become ‘wise in winning souls,’ must say of the work of the ministry, ‘This one thing I do.’ He must focus his whole heart and life upon the pulpit. He must give his days and his nights to the production of those addresses by which he seeks to convince the judgments, and move the hearts, and elevate the lives of his hearers.

…In the opinion of the multitudes, the life of a minister is one of ease and leisure. They see him only in the pulpit; and as they mark the apparent ‘abandon’ of his manner, and listen to the easy cadence of his speech, they think that it has cost him little…. But try it, and you will discover that he has acquired that graceful ease only by long and laborious training, and that, for all so simple as it appears to be, he is training every muscle to its utmost, and the whole man is putting forth his energy.”

Richard Baxter said, “It is no small matter to stand up in the face of the congregation, and to deliver a message of salvation or damnation, as from the living God, in the name of the Redeemer. It is no easy matter to speak so plain, that the most ignorant may understand us; and so seriously that the deadest heart may feel us, and so convincingly that those who contradict us may be silenced!”

This month, may I encourage you to encourage the one who labors in the Word and in doctrine on your behalf on a regular basis?

We look forward to seeing some of you next week for the Truth For Life Weekend, Lord willing.

With my love in the Lord Jesus,
Alistair

Through the Eyes of a Child: The Children's Bible in a Nutshell

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, "The Lord thy God is one," but I think He must be a lot older than that.

Anyway, God said, "Give me a light!" and someone did. Then God made the world.

He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.

One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.

God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.

Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more:

Humor thy father and thy mother.

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.

After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.

After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn.

(I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans.

Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.

But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

Running on Empty

Fulfillment is a big problem. People look for it in so many different areas of their life. Some look for it in their jobs. Some look for it in their family. Some others look for it in their friends. Others look for that fulfillment in their recreation. But when it comes right down to it they will never truly fill that spot that requires fulfillment.

If you're not agreeing with me right now, think about it this way...

Get real quiet and think about the important things in your life. Think about all the toys you buy, all the friends you have, all those things that you feel are important to you. Now take each one of those things and decide if there's any kind of actual long-lasting fulfillment to be gained from them. If you're being honest then you probably won't find much.

If you'll notice I'm leaving family out of that argument. That's a big hole in the argument you say! But as a father of three I can assure you that I gain a high degree of fulfillment from my boys and my wife. But I can honestly say that there is still something significant missing at times even when I consider my family in the area of fulfillment.

As you can probably guess, that something I'm getting at is God.

Oh big revelation from the Christian! I understand, give me a second to make a point before you give up....

When we give God a chance to....ok, hold on....here's the big part....giving....God.....a......chance....

Most people don't give God a real chance to enter their lives because they go into it with expectations or provisions that basically destroy the chances of finding any kind of relationship. God won't meet your expectations, He will exceed them a million times over. The problem is He rarely answers your requests in the way you would imagine. He may take you to someone who will heal your child instead of healing the child right then and there. That doesn't make it any less miraculous, its just unexpected.

The thing is its not the way you think it should happen so you give up on God because you say, "He never listens to me." or "How could a loving God....(fill in the blank)" If someone asked you to do something that you specialized in and then proceeded to tell you how you were going to fix it how would you react? Would you be able to function in parameters that a less than qualified person made? Probably not. And there would be no chance of you looking proficient in their eyes because you couldn't finish the job because your hands were tied.

Sound familiar?

So the subject I started with was fulfillment but after digging deeper I realize that there's a step before that which must be corrected before we get there. If you're not opening the door all the way, God can't get in to help.

It sounds crazy but this is all true. I've been on the other side of this. I was about as skeptical as it gets at one time. I guess I reached a level of empty that I just gave up on holding that door closed. Save yourself some time. Save yourself some hassle. Don't wait like I did. Experience God one on one. You won't be sorry. You won't be alone.

If you want help, just ask. I'm here for you if you have questions.

Focus (or what focus?)

My focus is constantly shifting. I know that's an admonition I shouldn't be making in a leadership position but it’s the truth. I think there's a common focus that underlies all others and that is striving to be more holy. Progress on that subject is up to debate on a daily basis but I'm sure that in one form or another I move forward every day. On some days that forward motion may be more akin to a crawling turtle on depressants but it is movement forward and that I can be thankful for. But as far as focus on a daily basis I think my focus shifts all the time.

Sometimes my focus is on work. I deal with a myriad of problems that are ever-changing all the time. I have to be quick on my feet to solve the issue presented before me. There are also the relationships that I have with my fellow employees. That could be a sitcom pilot in the making right there! We have a variety of personalities and the dynamic is constantly changing. We’re a family of sorts, dysfunctional for sure, but still a cohesive unit. I really enjoy the time I get interacting with most everyone in my office. I think we have a pretty good time even through the normal frustrations that come with a corporate environment.

Sometimes my focus is on God solely. Those times come usually in quiet and reflective moments when I can tune out the waiting world. As you can imagine with a full time job, ministry, and three kids and a wife at home, that doesn't come about half as often as I'd like. I find that I must make this time, as it will never be presented to me on a silver platter. It’s sad to say that I “make time” for God, but a deliberate action is needed for real one-on-one time with God where I can really focus on that relationship that I so badly want to improve.

Sometimes the focus is on my own development. A lot of that has to do with blogging I'm coming to realize. There is a mental release that happens when I can get something out on "paper" as it were on the screen. I feel like my mind is getting cluttered with ideas and thoughts when I don't do this exercise over longer periods of time. It’s something that helps me to focus. There's that word again...

I try my best to focus on my wife and kids when I'm with them. That can be a challenge because I sit around thinking of the things I need to do when I'm playing or watching TV with the kids. I really enjoy spending time with the kids and I don't want to miss a thing. They’re only kids once and I just don’t even want to leave their sides sometimes at the risk of missing something amazing. I learn so much from those three young men!

Sometimes I just want to get some time with the wife. Sometimes I just want her to have a break and I try to get her to go and enjoy herself away from the kids. That has mixed results but as I become more familiar with love languages I'm getting better at this. God willing I will continue in this priceless endeavor! There's always more to learn.

Sometimes the focus lies with my parents. That's a complicated thing. I would spend much more time with them if I could but it’s so hard to find the time most days. By the time I get done with regular life, I lack the energy to get down there even though I live ten miles from them these days. I'm very aware of the passing of time and I know that there is only a precious few years left on this earth with them and that just makes it that much worse to think about. I’ve got to work on that.

So what have I learned? I've learned that multiple focuses are ok. It’s really about the foundation of your focus. What guides you? I know what guides me. That’s Jesus. I just want to do more to be like Him every day. Does that always work out? Not even with the best laid plans. Am I trying? Sure am.

Keep Moving Forward.

Friends

I like thinking about friendship.

Great starting line eh?

Friendship is very important to me. In the past I could be a bit smothering in my loyalty as a friend. (There is someone, somewhere, most likely near Polaris Parkway or possibly Marysville, rolling their eyes right now and nodding.) :P

But the fact remains that friendship is very nearly the most important thing to me. I like having friends I can depend on and that can depend on me. There's a country song by Tracy Lawrence that sums it up well...

Find Out Who Your Friends Are

You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

That pretty much says it all for me. I don't care what's going on in my life, if a friend is in trouble, I will be there if at all possible. I also expect that from someone who claims to be my friend. That's where the trouble starts I suppose...

Oh well, it shakes out the wheat from the chaff in the end, as painful as that might be at times to watch happen. I've had somewhere in the range of three to four really good friends in my life that I would put in that category. I think all in all that's a pretty good number. How many people go through life with no friends? How many of those people never find a connection with anyone they meet? What are the long term effects of that kind of life?

I think that will lead to detachment from others completely. Soon you lose touch with society and things out of the social norm start to seem more desirable. Acting out against the norm becomes the outward effect of alienation from society. Isolation is a very strong determining factor in the shaping of one's personality. Isolation, be it self-inflicted or forced upon, can have a long term effect on the thoughts and actions of someone. It can also have a profound reaction on those around them.

Why do I say all this? Not sure really. Just felt led to share. I feel that everyone deserves a chance at friendship, more than once. Is there someone you could try a little harder to get to know? Look around work, look around church, they shouldn't be hard to find.

Balance

Life is about balance. Finding the time for God, family, work, and yourself can be challenging. The activity of balancing these things rivals the best circus performers juggling act. I've found that planning the mundane helps get someone there.

Some people can fly blind and survive. I find that when my day gets off schedule the whole thing goes down hill from there. Its like this domino effect of unproductive acts that destroys my whole day.

I like task lists. I find that if I can write everything down and visualize the workload its easier to for me to get through things. I feel the momentum of productivity as I check things off. I feel that if I can get one more thing done I'll be that closer to the freedom of being ahead. I enjoy that sense of accomplishment.

I think sometimes I need a task list telling me to look at my task list. I get swamped and I don't take time to reset. I quit looking at my "guide" and I get lost in the mix.I say this because I would like to see everyone own their responsibilities and not let their work own them. I think this comes through visualization and peace.

One thing we can't do is find that peace in ourselves. That peace comes from God. When's the last time you asked God to calm down your mind? When's the last time you asked Jesus to silence the cacophony of voices in your head demanding your time and attention? When's the last time you asked Jesus for blessed clarity on the priorities in your life?

2 Corinthians 1 : 3 - 7

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

The Bible makes it clear that we will be comforted if we simply ask. There will be bad things that happen as a result of a sinful and fallen world but Jesus will be there to catch us when we fall. The picture in my last post sums this up nicely. The man is on his last leg, there's nothing left, he can't carry on. That's when he calls on Jesus. His last hope could've been his first hope but the timing matters not. Jesus is always there to pick us up, hold us in His arms, and tell us its going to be ok.

Its not weak to love, and its not weak to surrender. In fact its the bravest thing someone can do to admit that they can't do something on their own. You are free at that point from the bondage of your own pride. Let God be your partner, not your backup. Let God take the wheel of your life and you let Him be your guide. He loves you. He loves me. He loves everyone and just as the Lord said:

2 Peter 3 : 9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with

you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

He wants us to be with Him. He doesn't want to see any of us fall away. He is our Father and we are His children. Any parent putting it in that perspective can see what I mean.

God Bless.

This Is Me

So needless to say its been a while since I put up a post on this site. There's something to be said about consistency, and if there's anything that suffers when things get off kilter in my life its this blog.

This has been a weird few weeks.

I was recently able to accept a staff position at my church as a Childrens Pastor. Its been fun and stressful as I slip into this new role and I've been enjoying the juggling act in a perverse sort of way. Its almost as if I've been waiting for the stress filled existence that is ministry for so long that I find the whole thing exhaustively fun!

I know that some pastor that reads this will be rolling their eyes at this point...

I also live in Ohio and old Hurricane Ike came through recently and bashed up our power and trees. We were blessed to be without electrical interruption and we've been able to help out some in need by opening up our freezer. Its been ni