A LITTLE PUSH

I have a busy week ahead of me and even though the lawn didn’t have to be mowed yet, I decided I should mow it now since it would too long by the time I could get to it again.  So, after lunch and getting the boys down for their naps, I went out to to give the grass a flat-top.

Before I was finished, Braden woke up from his nap; Heidi brought him out to the backyard to swing since we didn’t want to wake up Caleb.  My parents bought us a swing-set for the backyard, so that Heidi wouldn’t have to always go somewhere for the boys to swing; the boys LOVE swinging.

So, as I mowed, I watched the joy on my 3-year-old’s face as he soared through the air on his yellow belt-seat swing.  Heidi pushed and pushed to his delight and his squeals of “Higher Mama, Higher!”

I can’t tell you how long it was, but eventually Caleb woke up.  I heard Heidi say that she needed to go get him and told Braden to just keep swinging by himself until she came back outside with Caleb.

Well…Braden doesn’t know how to “pump” on a swing yet; he needs someone to push him in order to go.  So, once the momentum from Heidi’s last push died down, Braden was done swinging.  On my one pass with the mower, I looked over to see Braden patiently waiting on the sedentary swing.  He just sat there with his feet dangling, waiting for someone to push him.

And that got me thinking…how many people are simply waiting for a “push” into a relationship with Jesus?  Granted, living the Christian life is not always as fun as floating through the air on a swing, but there are some that are waiting.  There are some that are looking for the answer; there are some that simply need that introduction to the Lord.

All too often, Christians go on with their daily routines never thinking about our responsibility to tell others about Jesus.  You don’t need to have a degree in theology; you don’t need to be a mature Christian…simply share the hope within you [1 Peter 3:15].  All you need to do is share who Jesus is in your life.

Ultimately, YOU don’t have to “save” anyone—that’s God’s job.  But don’t overlook how the Lord wants to use you in that process.  Come alongside someone…and give a little “push”.

WORM-FREE

Okay…fair warning before I even begin:

Today’s subject may not be the most pleasant, but I believe the spiritual lesson is worth it. 

YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

Last night, Heidi went around picking up the dog poop in the backyard.  It’s nice having the fenced-in yard so we can simply let the dogs out when it’s time for a backyard break.  However, the problem with that is having to go around the entire yard and find the little gifts at other times.  When we lived in Pennsylvania, we didn’t have a backyard for the dogs’ use, so we had to take them on walks on a leash and pick up after every deposit.  I haven’t necessarily figured out which I prefer as of yet.

Anyway, Heidi found some little white worms on some of Squirt’s dog doo.  She said that it wasn’t just this batch but in most of them.  I suggested we wait until we got a fresh calling card to check it for the worms.  It wasn’t long before Squirt was leaving another pile of good luck so we checked it; sure enough, there were tiny white worms in it.

When the vet’s office opened this morning, Heidi called to ask if we needed to bring Squirt in prior to her already-scheduled appointment on Friday for her yearly exam.  When Heidi shared our concern about the worms, she was returned with a question that about triggered her gag reflex: “Do the worms look like rice, or spaghetti?”  I could tell that Heidi was thankful that we only had the rice.  And when she told me about the question, I too was praising the Lord that we only had rice.  And yet…rice is still bad.

And that got me thinking…we are constantly comparing ourselves and our worms—sins—to the sins of others.  “Yeah, I may be doing this…but I’m not doing that like so-and-so.”  “My sin is only rice, not spaghetti.”

It is still bad!!!  We need to compare ourselves to the One we are to be following and trying to be like—Jesus.  Jesus doesn’t have any worms; we need to be determined to get rid of our worms.  Each and every day we need to be striving toward holiness.  Comparing ourselves to others doesn’t make us holy; being like Jesus makes us holy.

We have been called to be worm-free.  Squirt had to take a couple of pills; we have to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him.

EVERY DAY

Today was a great day for me…Father’s Day.  I enjoyed the day immensely.

But this isn’t going to be about me.  Over the last couple of days we’ve gotten to know our “over the back fence” neighbors.  They seem very nice.  We’ve seen them many times and have exchanged quick “hellos” and such, but yesterday was the first time we’ve gathered at the fence to really meet each other.

We talked about work, the neighborhood, family, and the normal surface stuff.  While we were talking about the boys, they mentioned that they also had a grown son who lived in North Carolina.

Well, today when we woke up, there was a young man in their backyard—we figured that it had to be their son from North Carolina.  It was; we talked with them later in the day.  He drove through the night from North Carolina to surprise them for Father’s Day and her birthday (which was also today).  The amazing part of the story is that he is heading back on Monday.  He drove all the way from North Carolina Saturday night to spend Sunday with them, only to have to drive back Monday.

And that got me thinking…what are we willing to do for our parents, whom we are commanded to honor in Exodus 20:12?  But, more importantly, what are we willing to do for our Heavenly Father?

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”  I’ve always appreciated what the Father did by giving His Son to die for my sins; I’ve accepted that gift and have made Jesus my Lord.  But I never could truly understand what the Father must have gone through—what He must have felt—until I had my own son.

There are many people that I would give my life for…but not either of my sons’ lives.  What the Father did is unquestionably the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me.  And He did it for you too.

This should cause us to go to great lengths to do amazing things for the Father.  And not just on Father’s Day…but every day.

LUNCH BREAK

Today was a busy day for me at Steve's.  I guess that I can figure that Saturdays in the summer months will usually be busy because of all the weddings.  We had six weddings today.  I really don’t have to worry about the weddings—I’m the new guy—but that does mean that more of the “regular” deliveries fall on me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this job and I’m really not complaining.  I don’t mind working hard, particularly for Steve.  But, I was running all day long and wasn’t even able to take my lunch.  I could have stopped for the half-hour to eat my lunch, but that would have gotten me home thirty minutes later for supper.

As I said, I’m not complaining and it’s really not a big deal.  All I had to do was eat the lunch that I brought as I was driving to make my deliveries.  I didn’t need the “break” and I was able to eat what my body needed.

And that got me thinking…how often do we not take the break that we need to be with the Lord.  All too often we run around from here to there and back without even thinking about the Lord.  But the reality is that each and every day, we need to set aside time to sit in the presence of the Lord—speaking and listening; praying and reading the Word.

If you find yourself on occasion not being able to take the time, quickly read a Proverb or Psalm.  That is better than nothing, but it’s not going to give us the spiritual nutrition and sustenance that we need to make it for the long haul.  We need to have that break where we can be alone and commune with the Father and “be filled” with what we need.  To do this, some of us may have to get up a half-hour earlier; some may have to reschedule some things in their life.  Whatever it is that needs to be done…do it.

You cannot make it through this life with the “nutrition” you need by snacking on the way.  Take a break, sit down, and have lunch.

Check out one of my first posts for more information on this.

RESTED AND READY

I’m back!!  Not that I’ve really gone anywhere…but I’ve been away from my blog for quite some time.  Thank you to those of you who kept encouraging me to write again–that means a lot.

I missed writing these blogs but at the end of each day…I didn’t have it in me to write.  The Lord has been taking me on quite a journey over the last two months (that’s how long it’s been since I’ve written).

I’ve hopefully picked up my “survival job” to help us make it through financially, while starting the new church.  I’ve been working a couple of days a week for Steve's Flowers and Gifts.  Hopefully that will turn into something a little more as time goes on.  But it’s the perfect job.  They aren’t open on Sundays, I love driving (their van and their gas), I get to listen to my own music (I’m praising the Lord all day long), and I get to make people’s day by delivering some of the most beautiful arrangements and floral pieces I’ve ever seen (Steve and his designers do amazing work).  Not to mention, I used to write my best stories and sermons riding the lawn mower; I’m hoping that riding in the van will have the same benefits when I start preaching again.

I worked quite a bit on Resurrected Life and the process of getting started.  I am almost finished with the process of writing and will be soon announcing a meeting time for anyone interested in hearing who Resurrected Life Church will be.  As you can see, Jessica Mack did a phenomenal job with our logo.  Not only is she talented, but she put up with me and my “not-as-talented artistic” opinions.  Thank you Jessica!!

Here’s what I love about the logo:

• The logo simply emphasizes exactly who the church is.
• Right at the center is the cross of Christ, created by the tail of the dove crossing the “I” of LIFE.
• The dove, itself, is a sign of new life.  It was the dove that brought back the olive branch to Noah after the flood.
• The dove is soaring toward the sky in the logo.  After a “death” following my previous ministry, I am ready to come alive again in my new calling and ministry.  And we are all called to be resurrected to a new life after dying to self in order to follow Christ.
• The dove is the color of “new life”–very fresh and spring-like.

I am ready to fulfill the Lord’s calling in my life.  I pray each day for the ministry and people to whom I will be entrusted.  It’s a great calling and I am humbled by it.  I am in no way big enough to do it on my own.  I praise God for walking the journey with me.  I pray for those that the Lord will put in my path to help with the vision and mission of Resurrected Life.  The best part of all of this is that the Lord has it all figured out already…I simply need to follow through with His plan.

And that got me thinking…I am truly blessed.

DRENCHED IN BANANA

Heidi attends a Bible study on Tuesdays.  She has truly enjoyed her time there with the ladies and the boys have enjoyed their time playing with the other kids.  Some weeks, Heidi comes home for lunch and other weeks she packs a lunch and stays there to eat with everyone.

Today was one of those days that she stayed to eat.  She packed a fabulous lunch: BBQ pork sandwiches, Cheerios snack mix, apples, grapes, and carrots.  So I was surprised to hear that Caleb had banana on his clothes when they got home.  But what really surprised me was how Heidi said it…she said that Caleb was “drenched in banana.”  My response was, of course, “What?”—somewhat in disbelief and very confused.  How can someone be “drenched” in banana?  And yet, when I saw Caleb…he was drenched in banana.  It was all over him; there was no question that he had somewhere crossed paths with a banana…and the banana lost.

And that got me thinking…are we as obvious with our Christian walks?  And I’m not talking about being like the Pharisees and showing how “religious” we are; I’m talking about simply being so submerged in everything about God that it overflows from you just being you.  We should be someone who “thinks Kingdom, talks Kingdom, and acts Kingdom.”  That’s how we should live—as described in a book written by a good friend of mine.

So how do you walk your Christian walk?  Delicately with a fork and knife?  Carefully with a few fingers, so as to not get too much on you?  Or do you dive in with all that you have and become drenched?

Dive in!  You won’t get messy…but you will become drenched in the Holy Spirit.

WAITING FOR YOU

We went to the zoo today.  It was absolutely beautiful outside.  There was still a little chill in the air with the breeze, but the sun was out and it was warm.  We arrived early in the morning, so as to get as much time there as possible before the boys needed to go down for their naps.

When we got there, we were some of the few that were there.  We parked fairly close to the front and were able to walk freely around the zoo without many people in the way…until the end of our stay.  The way the zoo is set up, you walk almost in a circle so you can see everything.  But at the end of the circle, you wind up walking against the beginning of it, and therefore the people.  And let me tell you…the zoo was packed.  The crowd had come in behind us and we didn’t realize how many were there until we came out of the “The Plains” area.

And then it hit me…it was a beautiful day; one of the first really nice days this year.  Why not come out to the zoo when it’s nice.  We just weren’t used to that many people.  We have a membership to the zoo and have been going…even when it isn’t that great outside.  I guess most people don’t like going to the zoo when it’s cold.

And that got me thinking…the zoo on a beautiful day is like church on Christmas or Easter.  Churches are always packed on those two “holy” days.  But isn’t every day holy if we give the day to Him and seek the Lord’s Will for that day?  I’m not naive enough to not understand that those days are special…but why is it that we only see certain people (the CEOs—Christmas Easter Only) on those two days?  Is Jesus not worth celebrating on other Sundays?  Doesn’t He deserve more than that?

As always, there is no “perfect” analogy and they all fall apart somewhere; this is simply where my thought went today.  I don’t expect people to go to the zoo when it’s freezing cold, especially when you don’t have a membership and have to pay every time.  But the animals are always there…waiting for you.

In the same line of thinking: Jesus is always there…waiting for you.  And your membership has already been paid for; you just need to pick it up at the ticket window.

PROMISED FEASTS

We’ve been in our rental home now for just over three months.  In that time, we’ve come to know our neighbors to the east fairly well.  We haven’t been as good as I would have liked with getting to know all of our neighbors (even with our neighbors to the east), but we have had quite a number of interactions with them simply by being outside at the same time.

One of the things that Heidi and I really struggled with in the parsonage was that we didn’t have any “neighbors”.  Living at the back of the five-acre property didn’t allow us to sit on the front steps and talk to people as they walked by on the sidewalk (we didn’t have a sidewalk there either).  So, moving here, that was something that we had talked about often.  Unfortunately, we haven’t done that enough (please hold me accountable by asking if I’m reaching out to our neighbors every once in a while).

However, the one area where we have been “great neighbors” is in the stereotypical way.  Our neighbor to the east has been to our house twice now looking for the proverbial “cup of sugar”.  The first time it was for a couple of eggs; today, it was for a couple of cups of flour.  Both times we gladly gave of what we had; both times were for her famous fried chicken.

When she borrowed the eggs, she said that she would pay us back with a fried chicken dinner sometime.  Today, it was: “Could I borrow a couple of cups of flour?  Dinner will be ready in an hour…don’t eat anything.”

Wow…it was more than just empty words.  I don’t want that to come across as untrusting or anything, but sometimes people say things just to say them or to be nice.

And that got me thinking…the Lord doesn’t just offer words to say them or to be nice.  When He says something, He means it.  He always follows through with what he says and He never breaks His promises.

Today’s dinner situation reminds me of one of those promises of God:  Malachi 3:10 says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’”

Heidi and I have long been convinced that we have been blessed financially because of our decision to give the first 10% of our income and more.  We have offered a little and the Lord has indeed thrown open the floodgates of blessing in our lives.  He never fails in His promises.

Our chicken dinner tonight was fabulous—fried chicken, mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, and corn.  Oh baby…I can still taste it all.  It was an amazing meal and we have some left over for lunch tomorrow.  We offered a little—two eggs and a couple of cups of flour—and we were blessed with a feast.

The same holds true for the Lord.  Trust in Him and He will be faithful.

SPECIAL PAPER

Today was a good day.  I had praise team practice this morning with a good friend of mine.  I am playing bass at Grace Evangelical Church tomorrow.  I really enjoy playing and haven’t really had opportunity to play since resigning from my former church.

While we were practicing, his wife and little girl got together with Heidi and the boys and went downtown to the Central Library.  So, when we finished up with our practice, we had some time on our hands.  For both of us, it felt like a lazy morning, so we decided that it would be best to simply sit around in his living room and talk.  It was a great time just relaxing and reclining while we talked about life.

When he called his wife to see when they were planning on coming home, they decided that our family would stay for lunch…but we (the men) had to throw something together for when they got home.  And let me tell you…we threw it all together.  We had such a hodgepodge of stuff it was incredible.  We had frozen pizza, spaghetti, salad, tater tots, dill pickle slices, sweet pickles, and olives.  Now I know that doesn’t sound all that appealing, but it all worked well together…and we fancied it up.  We had toothpicks for the olives and pickles and we put the paper napkins in fancy cloth napkin rings.

 And that got me thinking…we all are as ordinary as a paper napkin.  None of us are any more special than the next.  The 12 disciples were chosen, not because they were special ones with amazing gifts and talents…they were chosen as ordinary men.  The apostle Paul was an ordinary man.  What made them special was their relationship with the Lord Jesus.  They were just ordinary paper napkins…with a fancy napkin ring.

We all are ordinary…and yet so special to the Lord.  None of us are cloth napkins…we’re all ordinary paper.  But that doesn’t mean that we can’t become better.  Allow Him to come into your life and fancy you up.

WAKE THEM UP!

Today was my last day at my current survival job.  I knew that this job would be ending because it was only a temporary thing, helping out in the front office of the company.  Being that I was at the front desk, I needed to dress professionally—luckily, it only required business casual.  But even though today was my very last day, it was also my first Friday working there.  So…I didn’t realize that we could dress down and wear jeans on Friday.

When I got in the car this morning with my driving partner, she said, “Today is “jean day”…you can go back in and change if you want.”  She went on to explain that she didn’t want to call and wake the boys up since we leave so early in the morning.

And that got me thinking…do we not tell people about Jesus and the salvation He brings because we’re afraid that we will wake someone up?  If so, we have to change our thinking.  We NEED to wake some people up.  This news is too important to worry about how others “feel”; this news is too important to worry about offending someone.  Tell them about the love of Jesus whether they like it or not…because there will come a time when it’s too late.  When I stepped out that door this morning, it was too late—there was no turning back to change for “jean day”. 

As great of a day as it would have been wearing jeans…it wouldn’t have even come close to what it will be like on the Day of the Lord.  As saddened as I was to not get the news early enough for “jean day”, it pales in comparison to how those who don’t know Jesus will feel when He returns.

Don’t be afraid…wake them up!

ESSENTIALS FOR GROWTH

I’m sitting at our kitchen table as I write this.  It’s dark outside the patio door and the only light is from the glaring 60-watts overhead in the ceiling fan.  But earlier today—between the hours of gloomy skies—the sun was shining through the patio doors, filling the kitchen with a glorious warmth.

Next to me on the table is a small flower pot and inside are seven emerging sunflowers.  You can’t tell that they are sunflowers yet, other than some of them have yet to shed their shell.  It’s an interesting process to watch.  Two days ago, they were only about four inches high; today they are already approaching six.

The plants are from our Parenting Class that we are taking.  We planted the seeds, were given instructions, and went home.  In order to keep the sunflowers alive, there are certain things that they need.  They need water, good soil, and plenty of light.  This is where it gets fascinating.  We have the sunflowers on our kitchen table where they will get plenty of light from the patio door.   They are getting the light they need, but because of where we have them, they are bending and leaning toward the light.

And that got me thinking…we need to be like those sunflowers.  There are certain things in life that we need to grow—food, water, nutrients, etc.  And then there are certain things in life that we need to grow spiritually.  Those certain things can be grouped into one essential thing: stretching out and leaning toward the Light.  Each and every day we should be leaning in toward the Light of Christ, trying to be more and more like Him.  The more we’re in His Word, the more we talk to Him, the more and more we become like Him.

Stretch yourself toward the Light.  It may cause you to change direction from the way you were heading, but you will grow.

WHO'S VOICE?

Heidi was extremely tired today and decided to take a nap while the boys were down for their naps.  As I had figured, the boys woke up before her, so I decided that the boys and I would watch a video while Heidi slept.  Watching television is something that we don’t do very often, so it’s a treat for the boys when we do…plus it’s one of the only things the boys can do for an extended period of time and stay fairly quiet.

Braden decided that he wanted to watch “Piglet's Big Movie“, which was nice.  I haven’t seen that one in quite a while and really enjoyed it.  The movie has a great message of acceptance of others, but what I concentrated on mostly during today’s viewing were the voices of Pooh and Tigger.

This past week, Heidi’s parents were down for the Easter weekend and we watched “The Tigger Movie“.  Heidi’s dad kept asking, “Who’s voice is that?” referring to Pooh.  He swore he had heard the voice before in another cartoon character.  So, I watched carefully at the end of the movie and found that the same man is behind the voice of Pooh and Tigger—Jim Cummings.  If you read his filmography from the link, you will find that you have most likely heard his voice as well through many different cartoon characters.

And that got me thinking…who’s voice are people hearing when you speak?  Who’s voice are they hearing when you act?  Who’s voice are you projecting in everything you do?  Are you allowing the Lord’s voice to come through you…or are you simply talking with your own voice?

Something that I wish were true for us is that a cartoon character cannot speak without the voice of the voice actor.  The voice actor changes his voice for each character, but there is still some resemblance between voices for it comes from the same person.  Hearing that voice we can say, “That’s Winnie the Pooh.”  But it also allows us to say, like my father-in-law, “Who’s voice is that?”.

Let people hear the Lord’s voice through you.  We should live our lives like a cartoon character…silent unless the Lord’s voice speaks for us.

DAILY ROUTINE

Well…it’s been over a week since my last post.  It started out as simply being too busy and not feeling well the first couple of days, but then it became a task to even think about writing because I was out of my routine.  It was hard to get started again once I took a couple of days off.  I started writing a few of the days, but I just couldn’t finish.  Each day, there was something that I could have written about…but it didn’t happen.  A few of you even emailed me to encourage me, saying that you were missing the daily blogs; you felt like you were missing a major part of your day.  Thank you for that encouragement.

And that got me thinking…how often do we get out of routine with our relationship with the Lord?  Other things get in the way; we get busy; we don’t take the time.  Even getting sick or having a bad day is not a good reason—those are the most important times to take time to be with the Lord.  It is so important to have your time with the Lord and to have a routine for it…otherwise it’s so difficult to keep at it.

So, let me encourage you with a word from the Lord: “I miss your daily times with Me.  When you don’t spend time with Me, I’m missing a major part of My day.”

Don’t put it off any longer; make it a daily routine.  For more on this subject, see my post YOUR PLACE.

STAY CONNECTED

I spent most of the day at Panera Bread working on church stuff.  I like working there because I can really concentrate for some reason.  It doesn’t matter how many people are there or how loud it gets…I can concentrate.  It also helps that they have free Wi-Fi; I can stay connected to people and am able to do research on the internet.  Not to mention that I can buy a cup of coffee and get refills all day long.

The only problem that I’ve found is that I get booted off the Wi-Fi about once an hour.  I don’t know if they do that on purpose with their system, or if it’s just a glitch.  Either way…it was frustrating.  I’d go to send an email—no connection.  I’d try to look up something for research—no connection.  I started listening to music online and after awhile, the music would shut off—no connection.

And that got me thinking…how often do we lose our connection with the Lord?  How often does the Lord try to give us instruction, wisdom for a situation, or an answer to a prayer…but we’re not connected?  We’re too busy; we’re not focused; we’re simply not listening.

I have no doubt that if God really wanted to, he would be able to get the message across…and sometimes he does, and it feels like a 2 x 4 across the side of the head.  But for the most part, God wants us to be open and receptive to His instruction.  God is a gentleman and doesn’t force Himself on us.  We need to be connected.

And so, in my cheesiest thoughts…we need to forget Wi-Fi connections and focus on our Thy-Guy Connection.  Stay Connected.

CLEAN OUT YOUR CRATERS

Confession time: I’m a procrastinator.  Tuesday night, I told Heidi that I would do the dishes—except the two muffin tins.  I hate washing the muffin tins.  Well, I didn’t do the dishes.  I figured I would get up early on Wednesday and do them prior to anybody waking up for the day…and I did.  But unfortunately, I didn’t get them all done.  I had a couple of pots and pans left.

So those dishes sat there until after supper.  Heidi was going to do them (plus all the new dishes from the day), but I felt guilty for not finishing the dishes from the day before so I said that I would do them; I felt so guilty that I even said that I would wash the dreaded muffin tins.  Well, the same thing happened as the day before and I decided to get up early this morning to finish them all—including the muffin tins.

Well…we had a horrible night with Caleb.  He was up most of the night crying.  So, getting up this morning was quite tough and I wasn’t able to get up early enough to do the dishes before Heidi got up.  I think you can formulate an idea of what her reaction was to seeing muffin tins from Tuesday night when she woke up this morning.  I’m just glad that I have a loving, forgiving wife.

So, the morning was spent working on some of the details and foundational aspects of the new church…and doing the dishes—including the muffin tins.  I hate washing muffin tins.  It throws off the whole system—you think you have two dishes left, but in reality you have 24.  Each little muffin crater is like a little bowl that needs to be washed out and scrubbed.

And that got me thinking…our lives as Christians are like muffin tins.  We give our lives (our one dish) to Christ and we’re washed clean.  But that’s not the end of it.  We all have more to do.  We have to work to get certain areas in our lives cleaned up: we need to stop our sinful patterns; we need to get in the Word; we need to pray; we need to submit to the Lordship of Christ; we need to…on and on.  We need to clean out every crevice of our lives and work to be more like Christ.

I don’t like washing muffin tins, but when I do…I do it well.  Nobody wants dried-up bits and pieces from past muffins contaminating the new, fresh muffin batter.  And so it is with Christ: when He comes back, He will be coming for a pure, blameless bride.  He doesn’t want the nasty bits and pieces from our past.  So get to work; clean out your craters.

HELD TIGHTLY

This coming Sunday will mark the one-year anniversary of Braden’s eye surgery.  Thinking back…this was a long year.  But that’s not the point.  Today, I took Braden to see his surgeon for his one-year check-up.  Braden is fairly shy when it comes to being around strangers, so you can imagine what it would be like for a shy 2-year-old (then) and a shy 3-year-old (now) to have a stranger poking and prodding around your eye.  But for the most part, Braden has done very well with this particular doctor.

Again, with his appointment today, Braden was great with him.  However, because they wanted to really make sure that everything was okay, they wanted to dilate his pupils.  Now, if you’ve never held a 3-year-old wearing tennis shoes on your lap while someone was trying to pry his eyes open to put in drops…you’re missing quite an experience.  I would equate it to doing a handstand and sticking your shins in the path of a ceiling fan on high speed.

Braden was thrashing, screaming, and crying…and I hated it.  I know Braden hated it, but I hated it too.  I didn’t want to hold my son down, but I knew that it would improve the doctor’s ability to examine Braden.  Braden was better off having the doctor really examine him.

And that got me thinking…God feels the same way when we struggle through tough times in our lives.  We all go through events and circumstances, learning experiences and mistakes…and God tightly hangs on to us.  We don’t like those times, but God doesn’t like them either.  But He allows us to go through those times for our benefit and His glory.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t cry, scream, or thrash during those times…but know that God is feeling some pain, as well, while He watches His child struggle.  But most of the time, we become better people—better Christians with more faith—when we trust our Daddy…who always holds us tight.

FILL 'ER UP!

With the price of oil going up and up and up, the gas prices are going up and up and up.  I’m pretty sure it’s not just a local thing, but gas prices here have skyrocketed.  Here in Indy, the price of gas is over $3.40 for unleaded.  I realize that it’s much higher in other cities and states, but $3.40+ is not something that I enjoy seeing.

However, there was one gas station today that didn’t jump the $.25 that everyone else did.  We took Caleb to get a couple of his shots at the Health Department (Praise God for free shots) and drove by this gas station selling unleaded for $3.21.  There were cars nine-deep out in the road, every pump full…and they kept lining up.  And it was the same way five hours later when we drove by after our Parents For Life class that we are taking at church.  They had raised their price to $3.29, but there was still a line.

And that got me thinking…why aren’t there lines like that coming out of churches?  Why aren’t we as interested in being filled with the Holy Spirit?  For those of us who go to church, why don’t we have that desire to go every week and be really excited about it?  For those that don’t go to church, why don’t you go?

Maybe it’s your church…but probably, it’s you.  “It’s boring” and ”I don’t get anything out of it” are not good excuses.  We receive what we allow ourselves to receive.  If you come to church with an attitude of anything but “I’m here to worship You today, Lord; there is nothing more important to me today and I expect your Spirit to move in me and through me” then you have limited yourself.  You are not open to what God has in store for you.  Are you limiting what you receive when you go to church by having the preconceived idea that you’re not going to get anything out of it?  Are you limiting your experience to a ritual because you don’t believe that God moves through the Holy Spirit today?

If you are a believer, you need to be in church—you need to be in fellowship with one another; you need to worship together.  If you’re not a believer, I encourage you to take that step and become one.  There is freedom in Christ like none other and there is a power that you receive when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit.  And that power is better than a full tank of gasoline.  Fill ‘er up!

CRUMBLING FACADES

I’m sure if you live in the Indy area, you have heard about the Eyeglass World building collapse.  It’s quite a sight to see.  We didn’t know about until we were near it about an hour and a half after it collapsed.  It was amazing to see it up close.  The whole front of the store was laying on the front sidewalk and part of the building was laying on top of parked cars.

It was one of those sights that you see, yet you have trouble comprehending what you actually saw.  Buildings don’t just do that everyday.  I have driven through that parking lot dozens of times to get from Office Depot to County Line.  I’m still in a state of wonder as I write this some six hours after seeing it for the first time.

I really shouldn’t be saying that it was a building collapse, because the building didn’t actually collapse—it was the facade in front that collapsed.  The building is simply a square building, but there was this facade that overhung the front that held the sign.  Dictionary.com explains what a facade is:

1.  Architecture.

a.  the front of a building, esp. an imposing or decorative one.

b.  any side of a building facing a public way or space and finished accordingly.

And that got me thinking…there is another definition for facade:

2.  a superficial appearance or illusion of something: They managed somehow to mantain a facade of wealth.

For the most part, we all have a facade or two—a mask that we wear around certain people.  Why do we do that?  Why do we try to be someone we’re not?  We need to get rid of those facades and be real people.  By wearing those masks, all we are doing is hurting ourselves, hurting others, and hurting our witness.  To reach hurting people, they need to know that we hurt and struggle at times also.  My belief is that unbelievers don’t care if we sin; what they care about and can’t stand is that we act as if we don’t sin.  We need to be authentic with one another; we need to be real people.  We don’t need to put on our church clothes and our church faces and pretend everything is okay.(The italicized is a paraphrase of something a dear sister in the Lord once said.)  In order to be whole—to be the person God intended us to be, we need to reveal and heal our wounds.

Check out this video on YouTube and be sure to listen closely to the words.

What’s amazing is that, according to all the news channels that I checked, nobody was injured in that facade collapse at Eyeglass World.  And that’s the way it will be when we allow our facades to collapse—there may be some discomfort and pain at first, but there won’t be any serious injuries.

MAKE IT A DAY

I was at church all day today.  It was a wonderful celebration service: the music was powerful and Pastor Paul gave a great heart-felt message.  It was wonderful.  After worship, we stayed for a pitch-in lunch and enjoyed getting to know some people that we didn’t know so well.  Heidi then brought the boys home for their naps while I stayed and prepared for the Financial Peace University class that I teach in the afternoon.

After the class, I picked up all of my materials and was ready to head out the door.  And that’s when I realized that I wasn’t alone…

Sorry—that made it sound like a horror movie.  But I wasn’t alone, there were a bunch of people still at the church—some were from the class, but a lot of them were not.  There were kids running around while some were playing cards.  Adults were sitting around talking and laughing.  Everyone was having a good time.

And that got me thinking…that’s what church is supposed to be!  The church is a family.  We should want to be around each other and spend the entire day together.  There was such a warm feeling within me to see this family enjoying each other’s company.

For the last few weeks, I have thought about the cities and towns in the Bible and how neat it would have been to live there.  I envision it to be like a glorified college dormitory—in structure and function only.  Obviously, it was a lot bigger than a single building, but to be within the confines of a wall (the dormitory) and to live in separate residences—yet all together.  I think that would be great.  Yet, I realize that over time I would probably get tired of living that close to everyone; everyone probably would because we’re used to living in our isolated society.

But that’s what makes the church family so great.  We don’t have to live together to be together.  Get together each week and stay around all day; have a good time just being together as a church family.  When you get tired, you can simply go home.

That’s what the church is supposed to be—a family, not just an hour-long “thing to do” each week.  Go to church, be with family, make it a day.

IDOL ELIMINATION NIGHT

Tonight was a night that was set aside for me to get together with one of my guy friends and hang out. I love those nights. Two guys, talking about guy stuff, doing guy stuff, and eating. I don’t think you can really call anything a “guy night” if there is not food. I wasn’t expecting the quality and the amount of food provided when I arrived. I was figuring a drink and some chips or something; what I got was a drink, some chips, and a couple of delicious burgers. Let me tell you…this friend of mine makes some incredible burgers. He puts a secret ingredient in them that makes these things phenomenal. Being that this is a public blog, I won’t name the secret ingredient. But for the right price…

Anyway, we ate our burgers—I’m sorry, devoured our burgers—and ate our chips. Then we decided to bring the bag of chips to the room in which we were hanging out. Big mistake. There is something about having an open bag of chips in a room with a couple of guys. They are going to disappear at a rapid rate (these were Cheddar and Sour Cream, which always go quick when I’m around). And it doesn’t really matter how full you are either. You just continue to dig your hand into that bag until you have gotten them all. I think it’s just a subconscious habit when there’s an open bag of thinly-sliced, fried potatoes.

And that got me thinking…we don’t naturally have that subconscious habit when it comes to reading the Bible. It’s unfortunate how hard it is to crack open the Bible and read it. It becomes a task—a duty. We don’t read it because we want to; we read it because we feel we should, or we have to read it for a Bible Study or a class…if at all.

We need to continually pray for a hunger for the Word—it doesn’t come naturally. I wish it were. How great it would be to just naturally desire to be in the Bible and hunger for the Lord’s teaching through His Word. But, for most of us, we’d rather be filling our stomachs than filling our hearts and minds.

As you’ve probably noticed from my blogs, I like to eat. There’s nothing wrong with eating…most of us have to eat on a daily basis. But there is something wrong with eating if it gets in the way of your relationship with the Lord. I don’t think that it gets in the way for me, but I know that there are times that I don’t hunger and thirst for the Word as much as I do food. I know there are times that I enjoy eating more than I enjoy reading the Bible.

What is it in your life that you enjoy more than being with the Lord? Whatever it is…it’s an idol. You need to get rid of it to realign your priorities and values. If it’s television, unplug it; if it’s hanging out with friends, ground yourself; if it’s food, go on an extended fast (please contact me before going on an extended fast). The Lord should come first in your life.

Eliminating the idol—even for just a short time—can do wonders for your relationship with Christ. Not only are you removing something that is “more important” to you, allowing your relationship to move up in priority…but you are also freeing up time to be with the Lord.

Seek the Lord; find your idol…and eliminate it.

COMMITMENT

Thank you all for your emails and phone calls; Heidi is feeling much better today. In fact, she is over babysitting right now at a friend’s house—not that she’s 100% yet, but much better.
This babysitting deal has been set up for quite a while. She’s babysitting for a friend who has three kids…age 3 and under. Heidi wanted to give her friend and her husband a night out. It wasn’t really a big deal because she was going over after the kids were in bed anyway. She was simply going to be there. So Heidi was pretty upset when she got this infection.

Now, Heidi could have cancelled and made it another night because she still wasn’t 100% (and it’s snowing), but she didn’t want to break that commitment with this couple. From my understanding, they don’t get the chance to go out that often and were really looking forward to going out. So, I’m sure they would have been disappointed if Heidi had cancelled; they would have definitely understood, but there would have been some disappointment.

And that got me thinking…how often do we break our commitments to the Lord? Do we go to church every Sunday? Do we read the Bible and pray as often as we should? Do we even think about it and feel bad when we don’t do what is expected of us in this relationship? The Lord is so disappointed when we cancel on our commitments to Him—even if we have “good” excuses.

The Lord wants us to have a relationship with Him; He wants us to be close to Him. But in order to do that, we need to stick to the “commitments” that create that type of relationship. We need to be in the Word; we need to be talking to Him everyday; we need to worship with other believers on Sundays (or whenever you worship). Relationship takes commitment—whether it’s with your spouse, your friend, or the Lord.

The Lord is really looking forward to being with you today, and tomorrow, and the next day…take some time to be with Him; work on your commitment to Him.

SPIRITUAL PHARMACY

It started late last night…Heidi started to not feel quite right and said that she thought she was getting sick. She went to bed early. When I finally came to bed, hours after her, she was in bad shape. She was running such a high fever that I couldn’t even touch her. I tried to rub her back and actually yanked my hand back as if I had touched a hot stove. She was burning up.

She had a rough night of restlessness, but still felt a little better this morning. But that didn’t last very long. She kept on getting weaker and weaker and eventually had to lay down to rest around lunch time. After lunch, I put the boys down for bed and went to the store to get some Vitamin C and Garlic tablets. With Heidi still nursing Caleb, she is trying to get through this without an antibiotic so they don’t have to struggle with yeast again.

So I go into the pharmacy department at the grocery store to look for the Garlic tabs and the Vitamin C and I immediately become overwhelmed. There are shelves and shelves dedicated to Vitamin C and 14,294 different varieties of Garlic tabs. Where do you start? Do you read the labels? Do you go for the best price, the coolest label, the best packaging? What do you look for when there are so many choices?

And that got me thinking…how do we choose which religion, which denomination—if any, which church to join? There are so many choices out there. Some have nice packaging and great programs; some have watered-down theologies that don’t make me feel uncomfortable; some preach the Word of God, but that challenges me. How are you supposed to choose in this overwhelming spiritual pharmacy?

Some may say that a Garlic tab is a Garlic tab—and that may be the case, but you can’t possibly take that view when it comes to faith and religion. You have to take everything into consideration when choosing your spiritual vitamin. This isn’t just picking one from the others to save money or to get the best product; there are eternal consequences to this shopping trip.

If you aren’t sure, I’m a pretty good shopper…drop me a note and I’ll help you find the best product. Or, I have a friend who happens to own the best store; you can contact my friend Jesus anytime.

CRYSTAL SNOW-GLOBE

I had to endure the skating rink outside of our house this morning as I had a meeting on the north side. It was pretty slick on our driveway and on our street, which made scraping the ice off my car even more fun. I almost fell once, but ended up being impressed with my agility. It wasn’t a thick covering of ice on the car, like it had been a couple of times over the last few weeks, but the ice under foot made it difficult to scrape.

Everything was covered in ice: the car, the pavement, the mailboxes, the trees. It was absolutely gorgeous. It felt like I was in a crystal snow-globe. I was amazed at how coated the trees were…every little branch was covered with a layer of the cold crystal. It looked awesome. But then as I started driving to my meeting, I noticed that this picturesque scene had some major problems—some trees were bent over from the weight of the ice; some trees had broken limbs. Something that seemed so great was causing some serious damage.

And that got me thinking…so many times in life the things that “look” so great, end up causing us so much hurt and damage. When we sin, we do so thinking that it will be fun, or good for us, or even worse, knowing it’s bad but continuing in the desires of our humanness. We have to realize how harmful this is for us and our walks with the Lord and how disastrous it is for our witness. These behaviors will leave us bent and broken.

The only way to get rid of those layers and layers of sinful behaviors is to rely on the Son to melt them away. You see, later in the day, we had to run out for a while and the sun was lower and shining through the crystallized trees. It was amazingly better than before; it was if the trees were producing light themselves as they allowed the sun to shine through.

So, rely on Jesus to melt away those earthly pleasures. Walk in His ways and allow the Son to shine through you. Walk with Him…walk with Him now so that you’ll be able to one day walk in His Kingdom—and it will be infinitely better than walking in a crystal snow-globe.

CHANGING YOUR SPREAD

This morning, I had the pleasure of having breakfast at a restaurant I had never been to before. It was a little diner up in Fishers, IN called the Sunrise Cafe. It was phenomenal. Everything was great—the service, the atmosphere, and definitely the food. I had a Quiche with spinach, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. Oh baby…it was good.

But then, to add to what was already fabulous, there was the toast. And not necessarily the toast, but the jam. They had homemade strawberry jam. Now, I am not a strawberry jam fan. Personally, I enjoy grape and sometimes something different like blackberry. But I’ve never really been a fan of the strawberry spread. I remember growing up and my brother loved strawberry jam, while I stayed with the old, familiar grape.

But, let me tell you about this divine spread: it was sweet, it was just the right consistency for spreading (kind of a liquid goo, but with big chunks of strawberries), and it was fabulous. No grape jelly could have touched it.

And that got me thinking…why do we stay with what we know? Why do we never venture out to something different? Are we scared? Do we like to feel safe? I mean, I’m just as guilty with certain things. Whenever we go out to eat, there are certain things that I order depending on the restaurant. Rarely do I ever veer away from what would be considered to be my “usual.” And I’m not the only one; I’ve sat across restaurant tables with many people who do the same thing. I’m sure you’re nodding your head right now as you’re reading this.

Why do we not try something different? Are we afraid we won’t like it? Or, are we scared that we will like it, and then what? I don’t know…

What I do know is that our reasoning behind this universal phenomenon—whatever it might be—is no reason to not try something new to further your relationship with Christ. What is it that scares you from getting closer to Christ? What keeps you from handing your life over to Him completely?

So…why not fully immerse yourself into your relationship with Jesus? Why not ask the Holy Spirit to fill you completely? Why not? If you don’t like it, you can always go back to the old familiar. I doubt you will, however…because Jesus is sweet and fabulous.