It's all in the stuffing...

After placing Jordan and Ava to bed last night the above picture is what I found. There was animal stuffing everywhere. In Jordan's hair, in his mouth, etc. I could not believe it! How did this happen? I was tempted to search his bed for a knife...

As I was picking up the stuffing Jordan dare not speak. After spending 10 minutes or so picking up the stuffing, Jordan found courage to say, "Dad..."

I thought to myself, this ought to be good!

I said, "Yes, Jordan?"

He said, "Ava did it!" Was he truly going to blame this on AVA? I look behind me at Ava's bed and she lay silently sleeping! I looked back at Jordan and he again repeats himself, "Dad, Ava did it!"

I said, "Jordan, Ava is sleeping. Plus you have stuffing all over your hair, in your mouth, and in your bed." You really want to blame i to it Ava?"

He looks back at me and says, "Yes, Ava did it!"

I really did not discipline him except telling him that lying is not a good thing.

As I continued to carry this around with me today, I found myself in Jordan's ideology!

There are times in my day that I rip out stuffing in my life...by having a short temper, short-cutting in areas of my life, etc. And when the stuffing lies all over my proverbial bed and God shows up and begins the conviction of what I have done, I respond in ways just like Jordan.

I say, "That person did not understand me!" "People need to step up or understand the importance of this or that." Or better yet I blame shift on my kids, "They need to pick up the room."

I challenge us all to accept the blame when we are the ones that remove the stuffing. Sure there many be some pain involved in accepting the responsibility, but there is so much sweetness involved in the restoration that God offers.

When the children cry...

As I was leaving a place I regularly visit on Monday, a crying child caught my attention. As I sat in the car I watched the child cry and the mom just sit by. At first I was upset at the mom for not holding the child and consoling her, but as I looked in eyes of the mom, I noticed she had hurt in her eyes as much as the child did in her tears.

As I was leaving the following song came to my mind by White Lion. Here are some of the lyrics:

little child
dry your crying eyes
how can I explain
the fear you feel inside
when the children cry
let them know we tried

As I drove off I recognized the cry but do I really sense the reason of the cry? Do I do all I can to stop the cry of one child in the journey in life?

One smile, one positive touch, one hour, etc. could be the only one that other person experiences for the day, month, or even year. Although it is easier to recognize the tears of the child, make sure you take time to look in the eyes of the ones around the child. Maybe, just maybe if we begin to invest in the "moms" and "dads", the children will have more positive moments in their life.

Just a thought...
Be a difference by BEing.

Do you ever blow it?

I do and I did last night! I was short with my wife and children and rude to my older son that lives with us. You want to hear the reason why? Because I was tired! What a joke, right?

What is this a sign of? That I haven't reached the state of "perfection in Christ." To be honest with you we will not reach this place until we are in "heaven" with our Jesus. So here is some advice from someone who blows it at times:

1. Acknowledge you are not perfect, but you are a work in progress.
2. Repent, or turn, from this way when you realize what you are doing.
3. Seek forgiveness from those that are on receiving end of our imperfection.
4. Move on! Do not beat yourself up. Remember Satan is an accuser, Jesus is the forgiver!

Finally use you "screwing up" as a teaching moment for thsoe around you.

After taking a shower and before getting in bed, I felt the need of talking to Terah about the night. The following was our dialogue:

"Terah, I blew it tonight!" She replied, "What do you mean dad?" I responded, "I shouldn't have sent Jordan to bed...I knew he was joking." She replies by saying, "Oh, well that is okay dad!" "Terah, I want you to know that I am going to blow it at times and do things I shouldn't do." "I know dad, we all do, right?!?!" "Yes you are right, Terah." "Hey TK, I love you!" "I love you too dad!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Devil", the movie, a great dialogue...

If you have people in your life that are turned off by religion and have all but given up on God, "Devil" would be a great tool to use a dialogue with them concerning the truth of Scripture.

The opening begins with 1 Peter 5:8 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." With twists and turns that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat and your eyes tightly closed, it will be worth it as you see the greatness of Scripture lived out in the last 10-15 minutes of the film.

The closing lines are something to the effect, "If the Devil is real, the good news is God is real too!"

Here is a clip that will wet the pallet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bITfOdMmRY8

Part 2 "Increasing Alphabet of Salvation"

If it is so much more than the "Romans' Road" or the "ABC's of Salvation" then what is it? Let me quickly clarify that it is all about Jesus, but it doesn't start with Romans in the PBBC (Post Bible Belt Culture) in which we live.

Answer these questions...
- Do you long for peace in your life?
- Do you long for humility in the lives of others around you?
- Do you long for community or being part of a group?
- Do you long for the betterment of others?
- Do you long to serve others or at least feel good when you help others out?

If you answered yes to these, where do you think this longing comes from? Check out the following verse:

"Then God said, "Let us make man[a] in our image, after our likeness." Genesis 1:26a

The reason we long for peace, humility in others, community, helping others out, etc. is because we are made in the image of the Trinity; God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. As you read or skim the bible you see these qualities carried out by the Trinity. Whether it is Jesus being called the "Prince of Peace" or the Holy Spirit showing humility in John 16 when "He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears", it is evident that the Trinity carries these longings out amongst themselves.

As creations of God, made in His image, we long for which His image exemplifies. But in longing to carry this out in our journey we become frustrated with the fact that we long for these things but cannot reach these because of the sin of Adam and the sin of ourselves. In the Garden of Eden in the book of beginnings, when Eve took a bite of the "forbidden fruit" we became separated from the one that made us in His image. In turn we have been longing for that utopia of communion with our God.

Check out the following quote form "Doctrine" written by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears:
"Tragically human desires corrupted by sin turn in on themselves, rather than finding satisfaction with God, longings become lust---bottomless pits of selfish desires, never quite satisfied, inevitably leading to despair."

We live in a culture that is in despair...check out these stats:

"The fastest growing segment of users were found to be preschoolers aged 0-5 years, with use among girls doubling and use among boys growing by 64%." www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/6976.php

"According to a government study, antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. They're prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headaches. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen discusses the CDC study on antidepressants In its study, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at 2.4 billion drugs prescribed in visits to doctors and hospitals in 2005. Of those, 118 million were for antidepressants...between 1995 and 2002 the use of antidepressants rose by 48%" www.CNNhealth.com

Could the rise in this medication be the result of people living in despair for the fact that the longings they to be image bearers of their Creator has fallen short in their own journey.

This is where Christ comes in! With being separated from God the Father, we have fallen into a spiral of desperation. The only way in which we can reconnect is through Jesus. Jesus being a humble servant, living in Community came to this planet for the purpose of restoring us to our God. With sin being the cause of the separation, Jesus took on the sin for us all. In taking this sin, once we confess Him as the substitute we are reconnected to God through Jesus.

When we become followers of Jesus and reconnect to our God, we then are able to live out that in which we long for, carried out through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

A creative God allows us to be a part of His creative story!

The increasing alphabet of salvation...

You have heard it and possibly even used it in your life, the ABC's of salvation a.k.a. the "Roman's Road." Truly I remember coming up to people on the street or sharing it with a student, friend, etc. Although this is true and the ABC's work in leading someone to Christ, there is so MUCH MORE!

Living in a post bible belt culture, there is longing for so much more than just Admitting, Believing, and Confessing. We serve a huge God that created the world and universe in which we exist. He is hugely creative in all His works, including that of salvation. In this culture in which we exits there is longing for so much more than just ABC's but that which includes all the alphabet of coming back to God through Jesus. In simplifying the message, in turn have we simplified the view of who God is? The early followers grasped the depth of their journey with God...

Check out the following challenge in a letter Paul writes to an church in a town called Ephesus:

"...may (you) have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Some questions concerning that of the ABC's of salvation that a PBBC (post bible belt culture) is asking:
1. What is the purpose of this coming back to God through this Jesus?
2. What is so different in your "Christian" spin in comparison to that "religions."
3. So, if I say a prayer and admit these things above, then I will be in a "heaven" with God someday??? (Sounds kinda weird!)

As you can see from real life questions from above, we must be ones that have strength to comprehend the love of Christ. In comprehending, we can share, in sharing they can understand, in understanding they can believe!

Part 2 comes tomorrow!

The Journey of Destruction...

Above is what is left of a tent in front of the Youth Building at the church in which I serve. The tent was used to shade consturcion workers during the hot days as they work on our campus.

Recently we had an excess of rain which brought total demise to this tent. The saddest part, is this destruction could have been prevented, if only someone (including myself) would have went a little bit out of our way and removed the water that was trapped in the middle of this tent.

As I walked by the tent this morning, the God I serve begin to speak truth the following in my life...

How often do I (we) as followers of Christ treat our brothers and sisters in the same manner. We know that they are in a difficult time but we continue to go to church, be their neightbor, family memeber, friend, etc. while they slowly become more and more destroyed by a difficult time in their life.

Check out the following portion of a letter Paul wrote to a church in Galatia:

"Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

Check out the words of King Solomon in his book called Proverbs:

"Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter."

The tent, instead of being destroyed, should be standing tall and providing shade for others in this hot day, instead it lays in ruin.

My challenge for us all today is to get involved in those around us that are headed down the path of destruction.

Engage in their hurt and carry their burden, rescuing them from the slaughter that awaits!

Letters to God

We just finished watching the movie letters to God. As I sat and watched the movie it was as if another movie was playing simaltaneously, but the other movie was a reality a few years ago.

The rest of this blog is a letter to the girl that taught me so much about life in Christ as she courageously battled cancer for almost three years.

Dear Breanna:

Okay so honestly as I begin to write this letter to you I cannot help but smile. I remember each time I would walk into your house or hospital room you would always crack jokes, but most of the time they were at my expense.

I remember the first day at Cooks in Denver when you told the Dr in the ER that you saw three people when there were only two, saying one was Jesus.

I remember the time that Earl and I moved you up in your bed and you screamed like you were in pain and then started laughing.

I remember the long talks about the present and what the future held...have to admit those were hard at times.

I remember you letting me rub your fingernail even though you thought was weird.

I remember the way you smiled and would talk about boys.

I remember your love for Jesus and the way you would share Him wherever you would go.

Breanna...thank you for allowing me to be one of the blessed ones to journey with you.


I love and miss you.

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