New Addition to The Family

It was eight years ago this past August that we purchased our first Dell computer. Since that time it has been under attack from viruses, hijacked, twice in one week, no less, and used without virus protection. But never once did it fail . . . with one exception: a lightening strike took out the network card.

But, times being what they are and the computer not performing as would be liked, it was time for a new addition to the family. I researched Dells and Asus computers. I like the Asus but when we were ready to buy the model we want was off the shelf and the deal that we liked a week before was gone. When we looked at what else was available we found this Dell. Six gig of RAM, 750 Gig hard drive and a flat screen monitor. It has Windows 7 and so far I really like it. It really flies.

I am not foolish enough to say the RAM or the hard drive is enough forever but for now it will do quite nicely.

Well, enough about our new addition. It’s a fun toy and a good tool but that’s about all I can say and keep your interest.

Good bye and good night.

Unexpected Prose – June 21, 2010

Words slowly come to life across the page. One by one the letters form the familiar patterns that become words. With each word the sweet song of sleep melts into my mind slowing the action of the keyboard.

Dreams await but whether they be good or bad is not for to say now but only for me to step boldly toward their horizon.

I sometimes wonder what dreams are for? They have shown future events to some and because of these others either fear dreams or become slaves to their perceived meanings.

I seek the adventure they hold. I have been frustrated in their incompleteness and saddened by their endings but never have I sought their council.

In the council of dreams, though, does lie the foundation for fantasy and in that regard I seek them the more eagerly.

Words are slowing, the morning draws closer, if only by minutes, but my mind quests on for better words and grander stories. Tomorrow will begin a new story. What will God write upon the parchment of the brand new day? Time will tell and adventure awaits!

To God be the glory! Great things He has done! Grace so amazing and mercies new await the morning.

Less Rnat, More Encouragement – June 17, 2010

In an earlier post I ranted for a long time. Though I tried to leave on a godly note I felt I needed to make another post regarding real hope.

First, the basis of this hope:

 

Jesus died for sins and rose again the third day.

 

(This is the good news in ten words. That's all it takes. God does the rest.)

 

But did you know that that is not the end of the story?

For one thing the same power that raised Jesus from the dead now resides in those who believe! Why? To help us to learn more of God and how we should live and to aid us in the tasks that god has set for each one of us...all for His glory!

 

For another, God did not give us this gift and then let us maintain it, oh no! He knows that we are like dust and at the first opportunity we would turn tail and run the other direction. We are natural born sinners and even as Christians we tend to waiver toward wrong.

No, God loves us too much to let us protect His precious gift of salvation. It cost Him too much!

 

So not only does the Holy Spirit live in us to help us understand and be our strength, but He is God's deposit that guarantees the things He has promised! We are sealed by God Himself and cannot lose our salvation. It's as though God has taken the salvation He gave to us, put it in a heavenly Ball canning jar, sealed the lid, and put it in His secure vault until the time is right and we are face to face with our Creator and God! What a day that will be!

 

Yes, we can choose to sin and often times we do, but God gives more grace. This is not a license to sin, but an opportunity to live for God, by His enablement.

 

We are saved by His grace, empowered by His Spirit, and sealed by the same Spirit guaranteeing our inheritance. What an incredible God we serve!

 

Thinking About Tomorrow and Ranting A Little – June 17, 2010

I've been thinking about tomorrow. Not Friday but the future. Up until a few years ago I did not pay much attention to politics, in fact, there were years that I didn't vote. This was not so much because I believed it was not worthwhile but that there were no candidates I liked.

I need to mention that if you have this same mentality, to not vote for one reason or another, you do not have a voice for complaint, or the right. Voting is where we voice our opinions. Voting is the one mechanism Christians have to make change in government. Our government has been setup by God for His purposes. We have a legal means to make changes and voting is that means.

Another area I've not had a solid grasp on is my party affiliation. I have always voted Republican and usually straight party. I really did not know why I voted Republican but I did. I have to admit that there was a time, a short time, that I thought the Democratic Party was the devil's own. I think much differently now. There is no party or form of government that will bring the peace we seek in our lives until Jesus Christ returns and begins His reign. Period. There are good and bad on both sides of the aisle.

Now I weigh the people and cast my vote based on who has the best ideas for the people and not simply power for themselves. This has led me to vote for some Democrats. But my heart belongs to the ideals of the Republican Party. Less government is much better, less government spending is much better, fewer social programs, and a strong military. But, I will reiterate, those who have the best ideas get my vote.

As for me, the current administration is out of control and needs to be removed come November. Not one of their high priced ideas has benefited the common people and will be much more damaging to future generations as the cost of their socialistic programs continues to rise and they're not done yet! I wonder where they think the money comes from?

Let's look at healthcare. Having worked in a hospital environment it's not legal for them to turn away anyone, regardless of income, today. People can see the doctor if they need to see the doctor. Perhaps they would not come in for some of the frivolous things we who have private insurance do but they still have access. No one is stopping them.

Another thing that troubles me is this administration's push for environmental Cap and Trade. Global warming is a dead duck, never was more than a political puppet and yet our leaders are trying to push into legislation environmental things that will only damage the people further.

One thing that is clear is this administration's desire to "spread the wealth." Number one this is not a biblical practice. In Acts we see people selling property to help a needy family or person but this was in no way "spreading the wealth." This was a means of saying, "I have extra and you need help. Let me help you." Helping people is what God wants us to do but His word is very clear, "If a man won't work he shouldn't eat." Look in the book of Proverbs. It is littered with sayings about the lazy and the diligent. The lazy will suffer want and the diligent will prosper. Where is "spreading the wealth" a good thing? Communism should have showed us that it doesn't work. How is it fair for perfectly healthy humans to sit around while other hard working Americans pay their way? It's not! The wealthy have earned their way (for the most part, not all). Take Bill gates as an example. He earned his money by ingenuity and hard, diligent work. There are perfectly healthy families who have been on welfare for years and years. That is not right!

Everyone needs a helping hand at times and that is perfectly fine, just don't make hands out your career choice. And don't take what a hard working American has earned to turn around and give it to the lazy. That is wrong in every way.

Look what the socialistic mindset has done to Europe. The European Union is failing -- fast. The scary thing is that right now the United States debt to GNP is worse than the failing European nations. How much longer can this stand?

This is not a Republican vs. Democrat problem. In fact, we need to be working as a team. The problem is that we have an elitist administration that refuses to listen to those who put them there. We are on the fast track to becoming a socialist, failing nation. It's not for me to say but I've watched dominos take longer to fall than the countries around the world seem to be falling due to money issues stemming from socialistic governments.

Until we have the hindsight of history we cannot tell what will happen for certain; however, with all the money problems the world is facing, it is not farfetched for a one-world monetary system to be established. Once the money is all one, it's a small step to a small group of people controlling it, and another small step for one person to step and take control. Control the money and you control the world. There's talk out there...

Back to God. He has setup our current government for a purpose. It does not matter what that reason is, He set it up. Not only did He put it in place, He has instructed us to be praying for our leaders. We do not have to like or respect them but we must pray for them. This can be hard but it is not a choice for Christians. We must lift our leaders up to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Let's be praying, fervently for our leaders...

Obviously this is all speculation on my part and an opportunity to rant a bit, but the truth is that God is in control and as believers our reward is before us. All because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. It's time to look to our Maker and Redeemer and lift up our leaders. It's time to stop whining about "who's in charge" and vote! Voting: Our legal, Christ-like revolution of change.

The Sweetness of Failure – June 1, 2010

Col. 3:17--And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Emphasis mine)

Everybody falls sometimes. The bitterness of our failure fills our souls until our lives seem to be made of ash. Our weaknesses become a stench in our nostrils. Finding peace after the fall, even when we've delivered our stains to the Lord for His amazing cleansing, is not always automatic, but I have found that when the darkness seems to be the deepest, God sends light from unexpected places that revives my heart and mind!

One of these unexpected places that God works from is music. There is a Christian band that is having an incredible impact on my life and God used them this past weekend to bring peace to my stained soul.

The band that has been having this huge impact on me is Kutless. One of their songs, "What Faith Can Do" is rolling even as I write this, tears threaten to stain my cheeks as I listen and hear God's grace in every note sung. It's a powerful song sung with a powerful voice. In fact, I've listened to it several times today. This song moved me to tears the first time I listened to it; it held everything I needed at that moment!

The lead singer of Kutless is, Jon Micah Sumrall. He has been gifted with a powerful voice and a direct line to God's heart when it comes to lyrics. The band leans toward a more rocky sound but ballads such as "What Faith Can Do" slow the pace for a real washing of peace.

But even their more upbeat tunes are tastefully engineered so that the words and God's power are not lost in the instruments. (Though I am of a mindset that instrumentals can and do glorify God, but if the instruments are too loud then you might as well not sing the songs. Kutless's words are worth listening too.)

Here is the link in case you would like to listen to this song.

http://www.kutless.com/

Click on the song title in the upper right hand corner and listen to the words. Take time to listen to it two or three times and let the words penetrate your heart and mind. Hear what God, through faith, can and will do in your life. Past failures, whether from sin or from taking a chance and failing, will be washed away in the light of God's great love and compassion for you.

There are a lot of wonderful brothers and sisters singing encouragement from God's to our hearts but there are only a small number of these singers who have impacted my life. This is not to knock them but simply to say that God has used these special groups, like Kutless, in a way that encourages me like no others can. I would guess that there are groups that do the same for you and if we compared our lists we would find that they are not the same from beginning to end. There may be some names on our lists that would match but our lists would, in general, be different. That is the wonder of God's diversity and one reason why we have such a wide range of sounds and styles. God has created each of us uniquely and the things that He uses to encourage us are different too.

I am awed to know that God loves me so much that even when I shake my fist at Him and run my own direction He waits for me to return. He doesn't accuse, He just waits for me to agree with Him that I have sinned. This is confession. When I do this our fellowship is restored and His sweetness fills my heart again. If worship is defined as "A heart response to a reveled God" then I am worshiping right now!

Like Jesus from the grave, God raises us up to stand above the ashes and bitterness of our failures and shine with His light, reflecting His glory in all that we do.

Rejoice and be glad that God has called us to live for Him!

 

 

 

 

Dissecting Insanity – Apr. 20, 2010

"But My child be warned: There is no end of opinions ready to be expressed. Studying them can go on forever and become very exhausting. Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey His commands for this is the duty of every person..." Ecclesiastes 12: 12-13 (NLT)

Many of you may know that for the past eight weeks I've been on a diet. It has been productive and I have lost a good amount of weight in that time. This particular diet plan is a low carb plan. I won't go into details but just so you understand where I'm coming from. It has worked for me and that's a nice thing. I found the plan on the internet and though I don't jump on every cool sounding thing I find on the internet, this one caught my attention and so, by god's enablement and my wife's tender care, I started it.

Since that time, out of curiosity and by reading the comments readers leave on the articles, I've read a number of interesting sounding diet plans....None of them agree on any point! One says, "Protein-only is the way to go!" Another says, "You have to count calories!" Another proclaims, "Reduce your carb intake!" And yet another says, "If you want to lose weight you must eat cabbage soup only for twenty-three years!" (Yummy! I was tempted to try this one for sure!) Who do you believe? Each plan has a list of success stories and some are better sounding than others. (I'm still searching for the elusive chocolate-only diet. If anyone finds it please send me the link! I know I could follow that plan!)

And then there are cars. Everybody has a car expert in the family or at least close at hand, and most of those folks have strong opinions regarding which make\model to buy. Some will tout the virtues of Ford while spitting in disgust at the mere mention of GMC. Or some sing the praises of Dodge and swear that if you buy a Ford it will fall apart before you leave the lot! And don't get them started on the foreign jobbies. What's a person to do? Maybe by a bicycle; SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT! Now, which bike to buy...Huffy-They're kind of for kids. Then there's Schwinn...How about a European model? Then there's...

And the ever popular subject of politics. You have not seen something divide a group like politics. (Perhaps...religion, but you know how I feel about that word...) The democrats are "big government", the republicans are "pro big business". This group panders to the communists, and this one to the ice cream makers. It is maddening! How do you decide? Just when you think you've got the correct party one of its top members admits to being gay, or to having an affair, or that he prefers Dairy Queen over Cold Stone. (How absurd that is! No way he's getting my vote!) And with each new candidate comes the heart-stopping campaign slogans. "Change and Hope!" "NO NEW TAXES!" "Hope for tomorrow's future the day before yesterday!" I know...that last one is a really good one! Maybe I should run for president.

The pattern begins to emerge. Ask ten people about any given subject and you can expect ten different opinions. It's no wonder that we suffer from so many psychological maladies. This great country we live in offers so many options that no one of us knows all the choices. We have to decide what to eat and what two sides we'd like with it. Do we want to super-size our meal today? The options that we could possibly add to our new vehicle, once we decide which vehicle that is, are astounding. CD player, MP3, DVD player for those long trips with the kids, anti-lock brakes, four-wheel drive, the list goes on and on. If you can imagine it you can add it...for a price of course.

Manufacturers have zeroed in on this concept and offer "accessories" to make your purchase more user-friendly or more convenient to carry. And the more we buy into these things, the more cluttered our lives become. And the more cluttered our lives become the more complex. With complexity comes frustration and confusion. And when these have run their course we find our minds have turned to mush and once an hour a friendly man in white scrubs comes to our padded room to give us the drugs that help us to cope with the insanity that we have immersed ourselves in. In a strange way there is peace.

But...there is an easier answer a better answer and Solomon 3500 years earlier had it right. He made trial of all that we've discussed with equivalents of his day and discovered that they did not hold any more satisfaction than we find today. He even discovered despair. He found nothing that held any lasting meaning or significance, except one thing.

After summing up all his thoughts his conclusion was that life is tough and can be big, hairy, and ugly but if a person focuses their attention on God and obeys His commandments that person will find peace and contentment even in the whirlwind of this life.

I would like to inject one personal thought: God has always desired a relationship with you. He won't force Himself on you and He won't shout and scream to get your attention. Slow down. There is nothing more important than to start your day with a time of quiet before the Giver of Life, the Creator, our Enabler: God Almighty. He desires to spend time with you. Think about that statement for one moment. HE DESIRES TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU. Can you think of anything more amazing than that truth? The time is never spent in vain. You will be strengthened, encouraged, invigorated, revitalized, and loved. Isn't what God has done for you worth a few minutes of your busy day? Try it. You will find the value beyond anything a few extra minutes of sleep could ever provide.

Horsepower Satisfaction, Filling The Void, Pt. 2 –Apr. 18, 2010

I wrote in yesterday's post that we can find great satisfaction in hard work. As I mused on this topic throughout the day I realized there is a flaw. Not in God's design but in we humans.

We were created with a hole in our hearts that demands to be filled. This hole has an odd shape to it, this hole is God shaped. If we fill it with the right "stuff", with God himself, we find contentment and satisfaction even here on earth. But a need arises within that drives us to fill this hole, while the hole remains empty we feel incomplete. However, as we attempt to fill it with the things of this world, material possessions, adventure, even good deeds, we soon realize that the more we shovel into the emptiness, the less full it gets. It's really paradoxical until you understand why these things can't satisfy.

This paradox comes from the design of the hole itself. The hole rejects anything that does not belong and so leaves us the impression that the more we try to fill it with wrong things, the emptier we feel.

When we look around this world and see successful people like Tiger Woods, and hear how dedicated he is to his sport: The long hours or training, his focus, his very heart is the game of golf. The results speak for themselves: He is one of the most recognizable figures in sports today and one of the all-time most successful players in the game. Even with all that, plus a beautiful family, one would think all of this would fill many holes, but as we've seen, it was not enough and in his attempt to fill the void he traversed paths that proved that even with all he had acquired it could not fill the emptiness in his heart. It was all the wrong "stuff".

We see this in everyone who by the world's standards are considered great. A flame of desire burns in their souls and drives them to go further and climb higher. It takes courage and discipline to travel the path of greatness but in all their devotion, once they attain to the "speed of business" as the advertisements for UPS say, stopping becomes the terror, because if they stop they might fall, and to fall from the glorious heights would be nothing short of disaster. If, however, they were not too terrified to stop and exam their lives, they'd find themselves looking into an infinite hole of vaporous nothing. All their accomplishments would be like steam and as they try to grasp and cling, it vanishes before their eyes like a dearly loved one's ghost that we long to hold onto in our dreams. And like our dreams, we're left with nothing, just like those who attempt to fill the void with the things of this earth. For you see, everything we throw into the hole in our futile attempt to find contentment and satisfaction, is mist. Only God can fill the hole all the way to satisfaction and contentment.

Work, hard, dedicated work, does provide us all with a sense of satisfaction, and God commends this to our lives but...when work (or anything else) is our means to fill the ever present emptiness, it becomes like a mirage of water in the dry and thirsty land of our souls.

When God is the "stuff" of our emptiness, then our souls are revived by the living water that can only be given by Him. Our shriveled souls are revived and then, and only then, does the work we do truly satisfy.

Where are you finding satisfaction today? Even long time believers can fall into the trap of worldly thinking and find their souls dehydrated. Turning back to God and allowing his healing streams of life to flow into our hearts will once again imbue us with refreshing life.