What's up?

What's up?

Well, too much! There has been so much going on that it's been hard to get on the blog here and write anything. We've been cleaning Mom and Dads house (slowly) and tried to have a yard sale last week to move some of their treasures. We think we will probably bring half to our house and half to Tims (my brother) and sell the stuff out of our garages instead. It's just kind of hard to watch people walk in our home and pay fifty cents for something my parents treasured and then walk off with a part of our lives. It will be easier to sell it here, away from our childhood home.

Good news is, Dustin and Lauren, our son and his wife are moving back and buying Dad and Moms house. This way it will stay in the family and my parents great grandchildren will live in the house that our father built. There is something about living a home that was constructed in love rather than built for a profit. Sort of reminds me of the home where my parents are now. Jesus said I go to prepare a place for YOU. Our homes in heaven are places constructed in love with each one of us in mind.

Hopefully I will be able to post a little more often but who knows what's next.

What's up with you?

Sacrifice?

I am disappointed!

Why?

Well because I'm really starting to wonder if we as Christ followers truly understand what sacrifice really is. I mean I know missionaries understand because they give up their entire lives and their will for God's will. Which by the way is to introduce people to Christ and then encourage them to love Him, to give their lives over to Him and then make their lives all about Him and His will.

You see Jesus painted a perfectly clear picture that His will, was all about giving up His personal will in order to see everyone be in God's perfect will. In other words, I'm having troubles seeing those who call themselves Christian and even those in ministry today making their life focus all about sacrifice. They act as if the world revolves around their desires, their wants or needs. And that is not what Jesus teaches! He teaches us to give our lives away. I may be all wrong in my viewpoint and forgive me if so...but all I see in today's young ministers are young men and women who are more than ready to be selfish rather than sacrificial. When they come out of bible college they demand a certain salary, insurance and living accommodations before they will even think of ministering...

...REALLY! Just re-read the last sentence and see if it really makes since "biblically."

Well you might ask, "What's wrong with that? They worked hard in school and graduated in that field just like anyone going into the work place, right?" And I would answer you with this, "Yes, but you don't see doctors, lawyers or business men coming right out of school and being the head physician, partners in a big law firm or the CEO of a huge corporation." They had to start somewhere and dedicate their lives to their profession. The only difference with any of these and ministers of the gospel is ministry is not a profession it's a LIFE lived that professes Christ as Lord.

There are so many small churches right here in America that are struggling to make ends meet and more importantly reach the unchurched because there are hundreds if not thousands of fresh ministers who refuse to lower their standards of working a secular job to support their calling to minister to the lost.

Now I do not claim to be perfect when it comes to sacrifice myself, but at least I believe I have a true grip on what the word means, or what a life of sacrifice is.

All I can say is I am grateful and thankful that my Savior didn't have a "what's in it for me attitude" and that He not only understands but set the standard for what true sacrifice is.

So if you are going into or already feel you are in ministry all I have is this one word question we should constantly ask ourselves. Sacrifice?

timeLESS 2

But I discovered later that Gods omni characteristics had stirred this unshakable curiosity that continued to resonate within my spirit. But instead of allowing myself to flow with the curious conscience that continually haunted me and make the time to fill that knowledge--less void, I always ended up suppressing my inquisitiveness and storing the data I had collected by downloading it into the collective hard drive in the back of my mind. Only allowing it to be opened and rebooted in those few quiet moments somewhere between the closing of my eyes and the drifting off into dreamless sleep.

I would often for brief moments conservatively contemplate God’s Omnipotence or His all--powerfulness. Full aware that He had not only created all things seen and all things unseen but He also created what we assume we understand power itself to be. I would even delve into what I thought was valid insight into Gods omniscience or His being all--knowing because again He created all we know and all we consider knowledge and wisdom to be.

Now there is an amusing anecdote on the subject of Gods omniscience. There was a time back in my teenage years where I just knew I had achieved a level of omniscience myself. I was right around 13 or 14 years old and I woke up one morning fully aware of the fact that somehow and someway I knew way more than my parents ever did and I seriously knew it all. And my mom would constantly confirm this teenage epiphany I had about myself because she was always asking “So you think you know it all huh?”
But now that I am older I can look back and see that Gods omniscience far exceeded my highly conceited and self proclaimed brain power of those earlier years and how it certainly surpasses the knowledge and wisdom I or anyone else could ever think they have attained for that matter. And so I have come to the conclusion that I honestly believe for anyone to say they can fully understand all of the elements of God’s omni--attributes is the same as “Placing God in a box” as the pastor said so many years before. . . . [There is more to this timeLESS manuscript but I most likely will not share anymore for a while.]

timeLESS

Now I know it may sound a little silly but in the not--so--distant past I have discovered that I really enjoy experiencing epiphanies. Mainly because I came to realize there is this large chasm between just knowing facts and being seriously conscious of truths. And so for me this in itself ended up being another epiphany.

It all started towards the end of 1990 when I first became aware of the fact that God is what I have now coined “omni--everything”. I had just made the decision to follow Christ and was engulfed by this burning desire to learn everything I could about Him. And one Wednesday night in our small church bible study the pastor mentioned all these “omni” words. As a matter of fact his voice rose with the power of an energized and animated evangelist when he shouted “As Christians we have got to stop placing God in a box because the God we serve is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent! He is all powerful, all knowing and He is always everywhere at all times!” Now the truth he spoke that evening seemed to be the key to some unanswered questions that had been rattling around in my head. You know those questions. The ones you really want answered but are afraid to ask for fear of appearing dense. Questions like how in the world does God know how many hairs are on not only my head but every other head in this world? And why would He even care?

So for awhile I was content that this newfound knowledge I had inquired gave me a decent grip on the whole “omni--everything” concept. . . .to be continued . . .

I should have listened!

Growing up my parents used to tell me so many things and so many times I either turned a deaf ear to what they were saying or I just didn't believe them (mainly because I knew it all). But the older I get the wiser they become and the more I realize I should have listened.

For instance they would say, "The older you get the faster time flies." And I didn't believe them, but now I can attest to the fact that their almost prophetic words are coming to pass. I find there's not a enough time in the day to do what I know needs done and the nights continue to get shorter and shorter because I never seem to get enough sleep.

Mom and Dad used to always say "Son the choices you make now while you're young can affect the rest of you life so make good ones you know you can live with." Did I heed their warning? Of course not...(Another bad choice I totally regret now.) Guess what?...I should have listened!

So if you happen to be reading this and for whatever reason at this time in your life you don't think your parents know what they're talking about...take some advice from a son who is turning 50 this year and really misses hearing his parents voices, let alone their words of wisdom...do yourself a favor and listen and heed their advice so later in life you won't end up saying to yourself, "I should have listened!"

Did you ever?

Did you ever think about thinking? Sometimes I just think about thought, why we do, when we do and what it does for us. Then I wonder about things I think about. Like if anyone else ever thinks about the unusual stuff I think of. For instance did you ever notice how the word believe has the word "lie" right smack in the middle of it?

Or did you ever think about the fact that when you blow in a dogs face it gets upset and seems to hate it but when you take the exact same dog for a ride in the car the first thing they do is stick their head out the window and act like they just love the wind blowing in their face? I'm thinking maybe it's not so much the air we blow in their face that bothers them as it is our bad breath.

Did you ever come up with this awesome invention and think about how to draw it, manufacture it, market it and just know you're going to become filthy rich from it only to find out somebody invented it over 10 years ago?

Did you ever forget exactly how old you are only to be upset when you remember?

Did you ever wonder how life would be if you were somebody else only to turn around and wonder if you were that somebody else, would you be wondering what life would be like to be you?

Did you ever write a blog then wonder if anyone ever reads it, understands it, or if it makes a difference in someones thought process or life?

Did you ever?

Living In The Shadows

I read a comment my niece had written on facebook and it caused me to think about how each and everyone of us has a past, some good and some not so good. But whether we feel our past is good or not each of us has something we have done that we’re not so proud of, maybe even ashamed of and wish we’d never done. I knew exactly what she was writing about because I too have not lived the faithful Christian life and guilt followed me around even after I received God’s forgiveness.

But a truth I’ve personally learned to live in, is that if we have accepted Christ as our Savior then our past is gone and the only one who would like for us to feel guilty for the “shady” things or the sinful things we had done would be the enemy of our souls. Because the feeling of guilt is a result of one being guilty of a wrong and if we’ve accepted forgiveness through the shed blood of Christ Jesus then we are innocent in the eyes of God and need not feel guilt for something He’s taken from us.

You see, when we constantly live in guilt for the shady things we committed then what we’re doing is living in the shadows. So if you battle with guilt for past [forgiven] sins think of it this way, a shadow is only a dark presence that’s destined to follow us. But when light comes on the scene shadows not only disappear but they no longer exist. So we as followers of Christ need not feel guilt but should feel joyful because Jesus died to set us free not only from our sin but also from guilt and He asks us to live in the light rather than live in the shadows. So if you battle this my advice is - stop living in the shadows.