Memorial Day

So I woke up on Memorial Day memorializing the person I was. Not the person I am. Not the person I want to be. I went through my past. I thought about all of those great achievements in my past. And I realized that those past achievements weren't that great either.

Forgiveness is a powerful thing. But it can only come through a disciplined faith. It can only come through the grace of God. It has nothing to do with the person I was.

"Get Over Yourself"

I came into the office this morning worried about all of the unimportant things going on in my life.  And God told me "Get over yourself."  Isn't that the Truth?

I also read this by Stephen Bradd at www.audioevangelism.com/.  He goes over some of the sins of Sodom, and I am guilty of a few of them.

Morning Thoughts

⁸Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

This morning I had the U2 song "Moment of Surrender" in my head.  It is a beautiful song that gets at one of the points I was trying to make in my Sunday sermon.  We can't worry about other people in our pursuit of Christ.*

But the idea of a a "moment of surrender" is also powerful.  We can only get out of the "black holes" that we fall into with a moment of surrender where we admit God's power.  And like the song says, these moments of surrender happen at unpredictable strange times.  Some times they happen daily.  Some times they take longer.  But they have to happen.

*I recently read an article that didn't like the idea of 'finding Jesus.'  The idea was that Jesus was, is, and will forever be a constant.  I don't know what I exactly think about this idea and line of reasoning.  I do think that Christianity is both a struggle and a pleasure.  I don't think that denying the struggles or forgetting the pleasures is an appropriate Christian strategy.  

Father Longenecker And The Lord's Prayer

Here and here.

I had to give another 15 minute lesson on Sunday night.  I tried to expand on the perception and reality topics I have been talking about here.  I tried to make it about how we have to teach despite and in spite of the world's perceptions of God's intentions.

I quoted Matthew 5:38-39, and said "We've all been slapped in the face by the world, but do we turn the other cheek and keep our focus on Christ?"  (Of course, I didn't say it exactly like that.)  Now I don't like using generalizations like "the world," but we all let the flesh and those things we don't need or want get in the way of our one true mission.  

How Old Do You Want To Grow?

"So really, the whole, hugely expensive campaign to extend life is morally neutral. Long life is good because life is intrinsically good, but a life is not a good life simply because a person isn't dead. The real quality of life is a moral quality. As I age I don't want to just be an old man, I want to be a good old man. I want to enjoy life--the joys and the sorrows--the agony and the ecstacy. I want to laugh and love and stay active and do stuff...and every now and again I guess I want to be a little bit grumpy too."


From Father Longenecker here.


"As I age I don't want to just be an old man, I want to be a good old man. I want to enjoy life--the joys and the sorrows--the agony and the ecstacy. I want to laugh and love and stay active and do stuff...and every now and again I guess I want to be a little bit grumpy too."


"I want to enjoy life..."


The other night I ate dinner with a great Christian family.  By nature, I am a loner, and the only person I want to have dinner with is my wife.  And I didn't have a good day at work.  But I decided to forget that filth and enjoy myself.  I decided to stop thinking for a few hours and just be.   


It was the best decision I had made in a while.  It is a decision I hope I can remember and bring closer to my heart.  Because it is a Christ-like decision.  


"I want to enjoy life..."   

A Thought

One day Jesus had to wake up and say: "I AM THE SON OF GOD. And like it or not, I have to fully accept that responsibility."

Wouldn't it be nice if we woke up each morning and said: "I AM MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. And like it or not, I have to fully accept that responsibility."

Another Month Another Funk

I realized that I am fragile.  Emotionally I am young, immature, not up to the challenge.  I don't handle things well.  I let too many things get me out of my rhythm.

I was praying about this the other day.  And God came back with:  "I am writing your story.  I will reveal My Will for you in due time.  I am the Teacher.  You are the student.  Your struggles are My Lessons.  Love Me, Trust Me, and I will guide."

In other words, I need to stop worrying about where I am going or what I have done.  And start trusting and doing. 

I know this idea of moving past worry and doing and hoping has become a reoccurring them of this blog, but  Lord, help me to be active and faithful.  Because You know I need the help.

Grandmothers On Mothers' Day

(My grandmother (I called her Nanny) died last week.  I almost had to speak at the funeral.  Thankfully, I didn't have to, because I would have turned into a blubbering idiot.)

God gave us a lot of different relationships,  husband-wife, father-son, mother-daughter, brother-brother, grandparent-grandchild.  He also gave us a lot of different types of love associated with these relationships.  And all of these relationships teach us about God and His love for us, but there is no more special love than the love between a grandchild and a grandparent.

Parental love is an everyday struggle.  Parents must correct children.  Parents must guide children when children don't want to be guided.  And human parents have to spend so much time with their children that mistakes will be made by both parents and children.  Like a child of God's relationship with the Heavenly Father, there are going to be good times and bad times.  There are going to be times when a child looks at his parent and asks "Why?"  God cannot make mistakes, but He does do things that our human brains won't be able to understand (Isaiah 55:8-9).  There are many great Truths to be learned from the parental relationship and the love it requires.  Other relationships all produce satisfying types of love that can help us better understand God and Jesus Christ.

But a grandparent-grandchild relationship is a different type of love.  It is more of a spoiling love.  There is more adoration and less questioning.  I am sure most grandparents feel like they don't get to see their grandchildren enough.  I am sure by the time grandchildren get to be my age they wish they got to see and know their grandparents more.  I have learned a lot about Nanny in the last few days.  I wish I could have known more.  But the love between a grandparent and a grandchild encompasses just enough time for a great bond to develop.  A special bond that reminds me of Christ telling us that we must "become like little children" and "humble (ourselves) like (a) child" (Matthew 18:3-4).  Being young like a grandchild and being older like a grandparent allows more innocence to enter the relationship.  This innocence demonstrated by grandparents spoiling grandchildren is analogous to the way God spoils us with His love through giving his Son  (John 3:16).  Also the way a grandchild simply embraces a loving grandparent is a great example of how we should simply embrace Christ.   The bitter world that adulthood brings and the pressures that young families face can distract us from loving God with all our hearts, minds and souls (Luke 10:27).  Grandparents and the memories associated with grandparents can help us see the type of love we need to show God and what type of love God shows us.

This grandparent love reminds of the famous wedding verses in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.  I also think these verses are the best descriptor of Nanny:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Heavenly Father,
Help me to mourn.
Help me to see your Truths.
Help me to embrace the many types of love you have given us.
Most importantly, Lord, help to to love You with all my mind, heart, and soul.
It is Christ's blessed name, I pray.
Amen.