Being an Open Book!

Making Holidays Less Stressful, and More Restful!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 17:25:00 +0000

Every holiday season, about this time of year, we start seeing posts all over social media about how busy it is, and how unprepared we all are. Many times, we post these ourselves, in the moment we are feeling overwhelmed. In fact, I'm already seeing many posts like that, so I thought it would be great to discuss a few things we can do to take those last minute stressors out of our holiday schedules.

First off, let's list some of those last minute stressors we might experience this coming week:

Cleaning House
Preparing Meals
Finding Recipes
Making Shopping Lists
Shopping
Decorating
Auto Service
Hosting Family
Traveling
Christmas Shopping
Black Friday

ENOUGH ALREADY...I'm worn out just thinking about it all.

So, I have a few choices I can make.

I can quit thinking about it so that I can "rest" while having a lazy Saturday waiting for my Oklahoma State Cowboys to play tonight.
I can make a list of stuff for my wife to do to prepare us for the upcoming week.
Or, I can take charge of my own actions by:

Spending a few minutes planning all that needs to be done
Actually doing those things that can/should be done
Scheduling time to do the things I can't do this weekend, or the things I don't want to do

So, what is my decision, you ask? Well, "resting" today, is not the wisest choice for me, because I will feel bad while resting, because I'm not preparing for the coming week. Therefore it would be a wasted "rest' day because I would end up feeling worse that I didn't do something. As far as ethe second option goes, anybody who's married knows it's not a good idea to make a list for your spouse of all the things that you should be doing, so here's my plan to make Thanksgiving week a little less stressful and little more restful.

My wife and I have spent a little time this morning, and the last week or so, planning out what we are preparing for the different Thanksgiving celebrations we are part of; Her family's holiday meal; My family's holiday meal; The holiday meal we are hosting at our house for students from the university we both work at. As well as our "To-Do Lists" for each of those celebrations.

We know what recipes we're using
We have a few shopping lists

I've done all the grocery shopping this morning
We're going to do the rest of the shopping before lunch today

We know what dishes we're using to prepare the different foods

This way we don't have to worry about whether we need to buy foil pans, or anything else to prepare our food in

We know when we are traveling, how we are traveling and what we have to do to prepare the car for travel

I will take care of getting the car serviced on Monday or Tuesday, as well as filling it up with gas so that we can wake up on Wednesday morning, pack the car and hit the road

We cleaned the house last week

We only have to spot clean this coming week

I pulled/sorted all the Christmas decorations, tested them, and prepared them for installation

I know which lights go where, that they work, and where the replacement bulbs and fuses are for all of them in case something goes wrong during installation
I will install those decorations this week if the rain/ice/snow stops, or stays away and if not, I'll install them on Black Friday, reducing my stress by staying out of stores and out of traffic.

We don't shop on Black Friday, unless it's online, or in the evening after everyone else is worn out and gone home

We buy very few gifts for people, not because we don't love them, but because we don't want to value people by what we give them, but instead by how we treat them and love them throughout the year...plus, we just don't have the extra money!
We also buy very few gifts for each other. If we need something throughout the year, we usually find a way to buy it. Why wait until Christ's birthday to buy each other gifts?

These are just a few of the things we do in order to make our holidays less stressful and more restful. How do you prepare for the holidays, and how will you reflect and rest during this time?

Stillness...

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Prince) — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 14:51:00 +0000

The last three months or so have been a blur for me! Not in a bad way either. It's probably been one of the most enjoyable times in my life. I have been the Small Groups Coordinator at Grace Pointe Church for almost a year now, and about four months ago, I also took over responsibility for our Growth Track series. You can read more about that in a future post.

Although the last four to six weeks have been the most fulfilling time in my life, I've also noticed God speaking to me about balance. You see, I'm a Lion, or some of you may know me as a D through the D.I.S.C. assessment. And although my primary personality flip-flops between Lion and Otter (aka, I in D.I.S.C), I can very quickly become task-oriented, and let my "big dreams" get me to a point of being overwhelmed, because I don't feel like I can sort it all out and get it all done in my timing. I know...right about now you're saying, that's where God comes in, silly boy! I agree...remember a few sentences back I said I noted God speaking to me about balance? Well, He's been speaking to me about a lot more than just balance, of course, however part of balance for me needs to be learning to quiet my mind and my ambitions and my dreams in order just to be.

I need to make sure I'm being and becoming more Christ-like, and not let my "big dreams" become my idol. I've been there, done that, and my excuse usually was that "I'm doing this for God, of course, I'm close to Him...of course, my relationship is where it needs to be, how could it not be if I'm willing to do all of this for Him." You get my drift. I know some of you have been in that same place. We seem to get there unknowingly sometimes, and with very good intentions, but that is not where God wants me, or you, or any of us. He just wants us to seek Him, period! Wholeheartedly, sincerely, seek Him!

Before you get all self-righteous on me, I know there is more to our walk than just seeking Him, but I'm believing more and more that ultimately, my part in the bigger story of God can only be exactly what He wants it to be, if I'm close to Him. I can do great things in His name, and still not know Him, or be known my Him (Mt 7:21-23).

So, let me get back on track, this is about Stillness...Clarity...Tuning In...Quieting the Voices...Calming the Storm...ok, you get it! So, with all the great things that are happening in my life, as fulfilled as I am, becoming closer to Christ than I think I ever have been, I also know that I'm prone to get off track with my "doing". The last few days specifically, I felt like God's been wanting me to learn to be still, both physically and mentally. I've been thinking about ways to learn how to be still, and what the best approach might be for me, when this morning, God supplied a way! When I awoke to my inbox this morning, I had an e-mail from twitter highlighting some of the trending posts from people I follow. One of the people I follow, and have notifications turned on for (meaning, I want to see every update he gives), is Michael Hyatt. This was his post from Twitter:

You and I weren't made for constant, never-ending noise. We need silence and stillness. http://t.co/BXxzXXxcU4
— Michael Hyatt (@MichaelHyatt) October 6, 2013

As soon as I read the post, I knew I had found the way to start pursuing stillness. I knew this was a God-moment. I read his blog post (which happened to be over a year old, although newly posted on Twitter, thankfully). I immediately put into practice what he suggested. I set my phone alarm for 15 minutes, opened the blinds wide so that I could watch the sun rise through the trees across the street, and observed...

for about 20 seconds! Then one of my dogs wanted in my lap so I had to reposition. He then didn't want to jump into my lap, so I spent another 20 seconds trying to convince him to jump, then I spent another 20 seconds adjusting everything, including my second dog, that was already laying at my feet. I then picked up my coffee cup, and proceeded to stare out the window at the sunshine coming through the trees, the squirrels running over the branches, the leaves falling softly to the ground. I quieted my thoughts, stilled my body! Hang on, I wasn't comfy, why was my back hurting, I put a pillow behind me, got comfy again, settled in, quieted my thoughts, stilled my body...resumed practice of stillness.

Ok, enough play-by-play. You get the picture of how difficult it was for me to do this. It seemed like every minute or two, I would have a new thought, and start down that path for what seemed like 20 to 30 seconds before I realized I was doing it. Once I realized it I refocused and resumed my stillness. Although it was a battle, I can honestly tell you that it was getting a little easier by the time the alarm chirped that my time was over. Even this morning, the little quietness and stillness that I did have recharged me and helped me refocus. It's going to be a hard practice to institute, but I see the value in it. There are going to be distractions and interruptions, but I know God is also going to bless that time! What's got you so busy that you can't quiet your mind? What are you doing to change that? What's something that brings you peace, in the midst of a chaotic schedule?

Going back to the beginning!

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Prince) — Sat, 07 May 2011 11:10:00 +0000

and In the Beginning..........

I started reading Genesis again this morning because it has been a long while since I've been there. We all need to remember our heritage and Genesis is the beginning of that heritage for every one of us. It's the beginning of all mankind, of all creation. It's the beginning of not only our story, but of God's story, as it includes us!

I specifically set out to read Genesis this morning, through the contextual lense of marriage, and really try to see what Genesis speaks to me about my marriage specifically. I mean, I know that it says a man and woman are to leave their parents and cleave to their wives and all of that "quotable" stuff about marriage, but I have never really let God speak to me about what he was saying about marriage specifically.

The phrase that really jumped out at me this morning was Genesis 2:18, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him" NKJV. I also like the NLT as it says ".... I will make a helper just right for him."

There are two things that really stand out to me today. The first is that no matter which version you use, helper is there joined with comparable or just right depending on the version. The second is that God created woman after giving man the command not to eat from the tree of knowledge. Let's break these down.

Helper, to me, is really two definitions in this situation. It's someone that makes things easier because they have different talents, or strengths than we do, but a helper is also someone that improves our situation. So God, in his wisdom and glory, creates for us (men, because I am a man, hopefully that clarity was not required), someone that will improve our situation and will make things easier for us because we can share our journey with them, our loads, our burdens. But that he created them comparable to us (men). Comparable means "of equal quality". It doesn't mean exactly alike, however.

This is something that I often forget with Rebecca...that she is designed comparably to me...and to be my helper. I feel like because I'm designed with this innate sense of protection built into me, that it means protect her from the things I feel she may be ill-equipped to handle. That's just me playing God though, and not trusting that His creation will be able to do what He designed her to do...to help! I do this too often.

There is a small scene in the original Rocky movie where Paulie is questioning Rocky's intentions with his sister, Adrian, and asks what the attraction is. Rocky replies by saying that she fills gaps. When Paulie asks Rocky what he means by 'gaps', Rocky basically summarizes this part of Genesis in one short little sentence, "I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps.". Isn't that what marriage is truly about? Sharing life's burdens and joys and filling each other's gaps? I tend not to see it that way because of my innate desire to protect my wife, but by doing so, I am trying to become her God, not her husband, and God doesn't like it when I try to take His place.

Now to the part about God telling Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge. He does this specifically, and I think, intentionally, in the two verses right before He creates woman. I think God is setting us men up for our first true test of leadership in the household. When the serpent speaks to Eve, she knows about the tree and what God had said about it so it's clear that Adam had told her what God had said. Of course, we know that she is deceived by the serpent and eats of the tree and then passes it to her husband. However, a little gets lost in this passage if you don't really pay attention to the end of verse 6 that reads, '...Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too."

So you see, Adam was with her this whole time while she was speaking to the serpent. I believe this is man's first test of Godly leadership in the home, and we fail miserably. Not only does Adam not say anything to Eve to challenge her way of thinking, but he does nothing to combat what the serpent has said. This was man's first loss in spiritual warfare. I also think it's representative of man's greatest weakness...women! Our first mistake was not taking up the leadership that God put in place and getting us out of the situation of listening to the enemy, but our second mistake was even worse, not standing up for what we believed and allowing the woman to control our actions. I am not blaming the woman, because she was deceived, I am blaming the man because he let her approach the serpent in a complacent manner in the first place.

I believe that when Adam heard directly from God not to eat from the tree of knowledge that it had a deep impact on our soul and in our spirits. It had to have. I also believe that Adam failed to pass that knowledge on to Eve in a manner reflective of how God gave it to us. I don't believe that Adam really impressioned Eve with that news the same way that God impressioned Adam with that news. Therefore, she may have not truly understood the ramifications of her decision. We should never engage the enemy in a complacent, conversational manner. There is only one way to approach the enemy and that is with the blood of Jesus and the authority of God over Satan. I understand that the blood of Jesus is not something that Adam and Eve could deal with, but they dwelt in the garden with God.

I see that from the start of mankind, women have held a place of prominence, like an idol, in the lives of men, and that our relationship has been so distorted and perverted by the enemy, that we have forgotten that we are to be the spiritual leaders in our household. We are to be the warriors of protection against the enemy. So our innate sense of protection that is built in should not be used to protect our wives from something they were designed by Him to do. Our protection is to come in the form of spiritual warfare and guidance.

So men, take up your charge from God, and lead by example, not just words. Lead with your prayers, specifically those done in private. Lead by serving, not being served. Lead by being warriors for Christ, both for ourselves, and for those that Christ has trusted to our leadership, our families.

Living Life In The Zone by Rote/Pettigrew

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 02:45:00 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of reading through Living Life In The Zone by Kyle Rote Jr., and Dr. Joe Pettigrew. Living Life In The Zone bills itself as "A 40 -Day Spiritual Game Plan for Men". It's basically a 40-day devotional for men on how to live life in God's zone for your life.

Before I received the book, I wasn't sure what I would think about it because I knew that it was really sports focused, although I was very surprised with the content, the moving stories, the thought-inducing questions and overall, the takeway. This book really is about making you process through some of the basic tenets of what you believe and how you operate and trying to align those with God's plan for your life, instead of trying to create your own "zone" to play in.

Each day's devotion is divided into 7 parts. As you can imagine, the "Thought of the Day" is sort of the synopsis, or big thought for the day. "Coach's Corner" helps us to discover the relevance of God's word in our life while "Game Plan" talks to us about what God's word says about the particular topic of the day. After diving into God's word, there is the "Playmakers" section which are just stories of real men in the real world (generally well-known athletes, but not always). These are inspirational stories about their lives and careers that most people don't know, or have not heard. They really are moving stories that setup the next two sections.

"Time Out" asks questions for you to reflect on. I would suggest you have a notebook that you can keep handy, specifically for this devotional, and that you use it every day when you go through your devotion. I would say most devotions are about 10 to 20 minutes depending on how much effort you put into them.

The next section is "Today's Assignment", which challenges you to set a goal and to accomplish certain things from setting a quiet time with God every day to doing something for your spouse.

The part I really loved the most though was the final section "Home-Field Advantage". It simply asks you to write down your praises and concern that you would like to bring before God. I know that shouldn't be a huge issue, but in our busy, overcrowded days, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that we simply need to recognize our needs and take them to God, but also to praise Him for all His provision.

All in all, this book makes really great reading and in a devotional format, that doesn't even cause you to think twice about answering the questions and writing your prayer's and praises. I highly recommend this book, and I believe that women could get just as much out of it as men do, although a few questions may be gender specific, there are not many.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Help a Friend Win!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:21:00 +0000

Hey all,

I was just wanting to ask for your help so that a friend could win a scholarship, click on the Vote link on the bottom left of the picture for me. It doesn't any information from you or anything like that, it just simply requires you to push the button.

Thanks,

Robert

You To The Animal Rescue!
Brickfish

The Only Road North - Erik Mirandette

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:31:00 +0000

I read a book last summer (2009) that I had semi-forgotten about. I recently ran across it again in a bookstore and just wanted to post a little review so that people could decide for themselves whether they wanted to read it or not.

The Only Road North chronicles a journey from Cape Town to Cairo with Erik Mirandette at the helm along with two friends and his brother. Erik was finishing up two years with a humanitarian organization in Morocco but wanted to pursue a dream of his to ride across the African continent on dirt bike. 9000 miles of dust and dirt, poverty and dreams, beauty and danger, and ultimately, living life to it's fullest. He knew this trek would be tough and full of surprises, but he knew that he wanted to live it and experience it with close friends and family.

I highly recommend this book. It is a great story of Erik's journey that brings with it lots of emotion, from sadness to gratefulness to awe. His story embodies the type of adventure that we all dream about, but seldom seek out. It reads quick and easy and for me, it was one of those books that you don't realize you've just read for four hours straight, because you can't put the book down. It's best to do so, because there are so many nuggets for living life more fully in this book. The book brings the African continent to life in a way that normally can only be experience and through this book we get to ride that dirt bike down the dusty, almost non-existent trails of Africa and through the bullet-filled streets of Tanzania. The author makes sure to highlight the "God moments" that kept them safe, or delayed them just enough to keep them from harm in the upcoming town.

Overall, this adventure-in-book-form, was a great investment of time. Although it was a break from reality, it was just as much a peak into a much bigger world where God still loves, protects, teaches and comforts. It was a refreshingly honest look at living life to the fullest and the dangers that brings, while reveling in the awe of Creation.

Eating Triscuits in the Rain!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:44:00 +0000

One of my favorite things to do when I was a child, maybe 7 or 8 years old, was to pull my dad's recliner out onto the covered porch while it was raining. I would sit in his recliner, eat triscuits and just watch the rain fall, taking in the smell and the feel and the sounds that rain brought with it.

I'm sitting on my patio again this morning in my patio chair instead of my dad's recliner. I have no triscuits, and my porch railing is blocking my view of the rain and the drops hitting the ground. I am enclosed on three sides so that limits the smell and the feel of the humid, wet air on my skin. I can however hear the wind and see it blow flags straight and cause the flag ropes to rattle against the flag poles. The overbearing sound I hear this morning though is of Dallas traffic. It's still somewhat peaceful between sounds of diesel trucks and speeding cars and honking horns. That time in between each passing vehicle.

My experience this morning, sitting outside on the patio with everything going on around me leads me to reflect on my life with Christ in a new way. You see, here lately, I feel like my life has been nothing but traffic, non-stop Dallas highway traffic. It has been by my own choosing, of course, so don't feel sorry for me, however, I am realizing that even in the situations I am in, I still have another choice besides running to a more peaceful place...I can choose to be at peace even in the chaotic traffic. I can choose to see and hear and feel God's presence around me. Right now, even though there is a lot of traffic, there may be 2 seconds in between vehicles, or like just a moment ago, there may be 20 or 30 seconds between vehicles. Either way, it's the time between the traffic that makes it easier to hear the rain and the wind. I think that's a lot like what it is with God. We have so much crap in our head and in our lives that we don't have that margin between vehicles. The margin is that time in-between one to-do, or thought, or task, or phone call, or email, or facebook, or distraction. Margin is the time in between your mind being busy and being able to focus on the blessings and will of God. Now, if you are in practice I believe you can have enough spiritual margin in your life so that you reflect constantly on God, even in the midst of all the traffic, but for those of us that are out of practice, experiencing God outside of the margin is not very easy. Heck, truth be told, experiencing God within the margin even feels taxing and even non-existent some time.

I best commune with God when I am purposeful with my time about getting together with him. Whether it be during lunch, or my drive home, or on my patio. Why don't I do it more often? Why don't I do it daily? I don't know...I suppose I let the traffic of life distract me. I suppose the real reason I don't do it more often is because I don't really want to do what I'm afraid God is going to tell me to do. Not fearful necessarily, but being lazy. Being obedient takes energy. It takes movement and focus and determination and drive. It takes courage!

I suppose by choosing not to listen, I'm also choosing not to be courageous. You know, I'm reading some stuff and listening to some things that are making me realize my life is not very engaging, but it's mostly because I am choosing not to engage it. I am choosing to get lost in reality in front of the TV, or in front of a movie. It's easier to hope for a change and daydream about change, than it is to enact change. My headline actually says it here on my blog: What the world needs is people who believe so much in another world that they cannot help but begin enacting it now. I want to be that person. I dream of being that person. I hope to become that person. Therefore, I must be courageous and actually take steps to bring that to reality. I'm still looking for me inciting incident though, and I'm not sure there HAS to be one of those, but I think it helps...well, I know it helps in my situation, but I also know that it shouldn't be required for change to take place. Change should take place because God directs it, and I desire to please my Father. So, Lord, I am choosing today, right now, to be obedient!

Does anyone else experience it?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:41:00 +0000

I mean, the feeling that you have gotten off of the path, somehow. It seems like I experience that feeling quite often. At least every couple of years. Possibly more. Do you experience that feeling? Sometimes I feel like I someone has distracted me JUST long enough to get me to miss that small fork in the road I was suppose to take. I just kept trucking right on passed it.

I'm tired of doubting my path with God/to God/etc. I just want to stay on purpose! Of course, I have to find it again before I can concentrate on that.

Mourning a Friend!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:00:00 +0000

This is Bo Teske! He was in his early 30's and passed away early yesterday morning from kidney failure due to drinking. His mother died the same way about 12 years ago. He knew what he was doing, whether he realized it at the time or not is a different story.

He was a great person, and would do anything for you! I have only known him about 10 years, and we didn't really even get together very often. He and Rebecca have been friends for a long time. That's how I know him, through her. Bo is no longer with us! We had a chance to get together with him a few weeks ago, and because of me working at night and Becca being so busy with school we didn't it. It was a regretful mistake.

I don't know whether Bo knew Christ or not before he died, I do know that he had spiritual thoughts and he and Rebecca had a few talks, but he was withholding his feelings. That is in God's hands, he draws people unto himself! I hope and pray, that Bo's heart was open and received Christ's payment for our sins, I hope to see him again someday.

Bo was a great guy, and a dear friend to many and will be missed like crazy.

For those friends of mine that are lonely, hurting, and covering up your feelings with drinking, or drugging, or other things..... I want to be here for you. I can't promise you I have any answers, and I can't promise you that I can help, but I will promise you that I will be real with you about my struggles and I'll be an ear you can talk to, without judgement or condemnation. I won't preach at you, I can't promise that I won't speak of Christ and what he has done for me.

Please don't drink your life away, please don't give up.... you are loved more than you know, all of you. My number is 405-923-1418 if you need to talk, anytime, day or night.

One latté or two pair of shoes?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:29:00 +0000

Here is a challenge for all of my friends out there. Most of you know, I'm a shoe-lover, so what better way to help someone than by buying them shoes. No, I'm not talking about people who don't need them, I'm talking about for people who may have NEVER even owned a pair before.

Anne Jackson, through her blog, made me aware of a huge need and huge blessing that God wants His people to be a part of, check out more of her blog here.

Don't forget to click on the banner or the title of this website to go donate. We are doing 4 pair, how 'bout you?

Traveling Strangers, Pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 05:42:00 +0000

OK... finally spending some time updating you on my lunch with the traveler's from Massachusetts. I had lunch with them and just got to know them for about 90 minutes. They were heading out of town shortly after lunch, but showed just as much interest in me as I did in them.

Their names are Chris and Mary. They are both 17 years old, amazingly, and no, they are not runaways or in trouble with the law at all. In fact, they talk to their parents/grandparents/siblings quite often and spoke very fondly of all of them. I couldn't believe they were that young, honestly. They were very good conversationalists to be so young.

They had been on the road since August. They just decided that if they were ever going to tour the country this way, now was the time. They had traveled to Ohio and back to Massachusetts previously over a short time span and had been exposed to the road/hitchiking/strangers so they knew what to expect for the most part when they decided to hit the road again. They have no time limits nor destination limits. They are actaully headed to Austin for the winter, or at least for a while, then back to the east coast - Florida/Carolina's area, before heading out to California. No real plan though.

They have actually been staying with some people here in OKC for about two weeks. These people picked them up in Indiana and they were headed home to OKC so Chris & Mary came all the way with them and ended up sleeping in an open room they had. They moved around to a couple different houses during the time here, but still within the same group of people with no ties to any of them prior to being picked up on the road.

I felt quite odd at times honestly. I felt like I was playing 2o questions with them, bouncing from one subject to the next. One thing that was a little odd was the way I felt the waitresses treated us. Their were a couple different ones that waited on us and I'm not sure whether she was just having a bad day, or if she didn't like Chris & Mary, but that's the way it came across. They really liked it here in OKC, and plan on stopping back by when the remainder of their travels brings them back through the crossroads of America.

Although I do feel this was a God moment, nothing overtly religious happened, but both their families are pretty liberal and that's how they grew up, so through our conversations there were numerous opportunities for me to share about volunteering for churches and that I had just quit working for a church and some of the "outside" events we have been involved in through Mars Hill, so I think that was really my purpose was just to introduce them to "christ follower's" that aren't judgemental, or condemning. They had told me about not-so-good experiences in the south with "christians", but they were not hurt by them, just felt sorry for them kinda.

All in all, I was happy to get to know them, and hope to see them again. I think they felt the same, and they have my number in their cell in case they ever come back through. I look forward to planting some more seeds should God grant me that opportunity.

Traveling Strangers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:54:00 +0000

So, I was driving down 30th today coming back from the Paseo when I saw a young girl and guy on the corner of 30th & Classen. The young lady was holding a sign that said "traveling, need money, hungry" or something to that degree, but it definitely said traveling. I drove right by and not even a block later, really felt conviction that I needed to turn around and go talk to these two young people. I felt compelled to give them $10 and a bottle of water and snack bar that I had in my car.

They kind of have a "goth" look going on, grunge rebel kinda. I pulled up next to them, offered the money, and the snacks and asked them a few questions. Turns out they are from Massachussets and are just traveling around the country. I don't believe they have a car, nor money, nor plans, they are just totally playing it by ear. I'm not sure, I didn't inquire as much as I would have liked, but I wished them well and left.

A couple hours later, I really felt compelled to drive back by and to invite them to breakfast or lunch tomorrow. I was on my way to work and didn't have much time, but I really felt compelled give it a shot. So, I turn from 27th onto Classen going north and I get just passed 30th and wouldn't you know, sure enough they are walking south toward 30th. I pull a U-turn and pull into the parking lot where they are walking and of course they remember me from earlier and I ask them a few more questions about their plans and timeframe for leaving OK, etc and they didn't really know, so I invited them to breakfast or lunch if they were still around. I gave them my cell phone number in case they were still in town and just told them to feel free to call if they wanted to have a meal and share their story. I was very interested and would love to know at least part of their story. I'm sure they were a little weirded out by this at this point, but who knows.

Anyway, I get a call about 8:30 tonight asking me if that invite is still open. I say sure and we setup to meet tomorrow at Jeff's Country Cafe at noon tomorrow. What's crazy is that when I caught up with them the second time, they were just returning from Jeff's after me having given them enough money to go eat, so they were already familiar with the place.

I'm not sure what God has in store, other than for me to go hang out and buy them lunch, but I am going to go do that, with no Agenda other than to love on them. Please be in prayer with me as I depend on the Lord to guide me in this new relationship.

I'll update you tomorrow on how it goes and if you are in the neighborhood, feel free to stop by and have lunch with us, we'll be there at 12:30 for lunch on Wednesday.

Have a great one,
Robert

P.S. I'll be posting an update soon on our life journey, I know it's a little overdue. I do think it's a little funny though that my previous two blogs talked about wandering and this blog, I actually have met some wanderers. God is good.

Wandering..... an update!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:48:00 +0000

Well, I wanted to give a quick update to those of you wondering about my wandering. I have accepted the position with Sprint and I start on Monday. That is one of the reasons I took the position, money is the other one, another one is that it's familiar, and they are a great company to work for. They have always taken care of me (That should be a given I suppose, since this is my third time back with them. I'm sure they are thinking they hope the third time really is a charm.). I'm going to stay at Domino's, at least for the meanwhile to see how that plays out. I am NOT all about the money by any means, I want to be able to live my life, not work my life. Although a little extra never hurt anyone.

As far as a church goes, I worked my last day cleaning the church today, Saturday. I will probably visit on one fine Sunday morning very soon, just to say my final goodbyes, and of course, turn in my keys. We are looking forward to visiting some churches that we have heard a lot about. Frontline, Skyline, Believer's Church, Fusion Church, Bridgeway, First Church just to name a few. Of course, we are still part of Mars Hill, which we never know where that will lead. It's been a crazy, wild ride so far, and no reason to expect it will change too much.

Don't get me wrong, we do plan to put down some roots before too long, but at the same time, we understand the value of checking out these churches we are so curious about, and we may make it to all of them more than once, I don't know, but we are not church-hoppers although we are going to do some church-hopping for exploration's sake, not to church-shop if you will. WE ARE THE CHURCH, so even if you show up at my doorstep, we can have church in my house.... or the local coffee shop.... of the local asian restaurant....

OK, Random writing #1 for this blog, It's 1 am on Sunday morning and I am sitting in our library listening to asian karaoke.... yes, you heard me correctly. The people across the street and about three doors to the west of us have people over and hold karaoke in their house, or out back or out front, somewhere, but it's loud. They do this about 2 to 3 times a month. Luckily, we sleep with a fan on and our house is pretty well insulated so we can sleep, that is not why I am up at this time of night. This is just one more reason I absolutely love the neighborhood we are in. (By the way, right now, it sounds kind of like native american singing) Reminds me of Red Earth Festival. OK, time for bed...

Wandering, but not lost!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:28:00 +0000

I have been without full-time employment now for 23 days. I'm not fearful, not anxious, not worried about the bills or any of that. God is faithful and has blessed us financially many times, this time is not the first and won't be the last. I have taken a job as a part-time delivery driver for Domino's. Something I always wanted to try since I went through Dave Ramsey's course and now I am doing it. I am making decent money and working a few hours.

I've also been cleaning Harrah Church since the first of August for the most part. This is part-time as well. I've been doing it to help them out while they find someone else to do it since we lost our guy right before I quit the church. It's also been helping us out financially having that little extra coming in. I have had a full-time job offer for about three weeks, but that training doesn't start until the 29th of Sept. I could start tomorrow morning, because I'm on a standby team in case people don't show to training. I also have a job offer coming tomorrow or Tuesday from Sprint. Yep, my old faithful! The call center though, not retail. I am being hired, just don't know the details yet (i.e., salary, start date, etc.) So here I am working two part-time jobs, with two full-time jobs in the bag, not sure what to do right now. I'm not too worried about it, God has proven His ways lots of times long before I get around to screwing them up (thank you Lord for that).

Now, we are also wandering when it comes to planting our feet in a church. You know, I have always said that we would remain at Harrah for a while, not every Sunday, but probably half-time for a few months, but I don't know if that is going to be possible. We have a lot of good friends there, don't get me wrong. I was there for such a time as this, or that it was at least, but I am starting to understand why people actually leave the local church body after they quit working for it.

It's hard, very hard, because you still look at everything through the eyes of a staff member, except you are no longer on staff. See, all the stuff I have done over the last 19 months are not important to most people. It was important to me! So now, stuff that bugs me is being done, but when I was on staff I could make sure they were not being done, so I feel like part of where I have helped bring the church to this higher level of excellence in some areas is beginning to slip. Now to be fair, there are areas I did not excel in that are now being raised to a level of excellence I could not bring them to which was one of the big reason for me leaving. I felt like I had done what God had me there to do and helped raise the bar.

I guess my hope and prayer was, and is, that the level of excellence we had attained in the areas I was directly responsible for would continue on and then new people would bring other areas up to a level of excellence that had never been seen in other areas, thus creating and keeping the levels of excellence high.

I tend to be very critical though and my way is the right way if I'm the expert in the matter, or at least more of the expert than anyone else and in a lot of areas, I am the expert, or was.... so, it's with a sad heart that I am saying goodbye to my life of the last two+ years and moving on. I plan on staying in touch with some people, but I must move on. God has released me and I've done all I could do to pass on my knowledge and now people must take it upon themselves to keep pushing to raise the bar in areas where it needs to be and to keep the bar raised in areas that it already has been worked on.

There will always be a part of Harrah Church in my soul and I will pray that HC continues to reach people that others cannot or will not reach, but my time there is complete, satisfied, concluded and finalized. I learned a ton working with the people I have worked with and for. I have been a valued staff member and go-to guy. I have been a great leader and I have been a terrible leader. I have shown people the love of Christ and I have probably pushed some away unfortunately. I have done it all because of my desire to show people a servant's heart and a servant leader. Please forgive me if you are the ones I pushed away, while continuing that legacy if you have been helped.

I say goodbye for now until I see you again someday... on the street, in the store, or in our resting place. I will pray for you and with you, please do the same for me. You will be missed!

Not all who wander are lost! ~ J.R. Tolkien

Eating the Grain!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:56:00 +0000

I spent the afternoon yesterday with a friend of mine who is a wheat farmer. It was quite amazing seeing wheat harvested for the very first time in my life. I hit the road shortly before noon on my way to Omega, about 15 miles west of Kingfisher. It was a quiet drive, nice, with spotted puffy white clouds in the sky. I felt peaceful, at ease, calm.

Pulling up to the wheat field, next to his big semi-truck and trailer, I felt pretty small. I got out of my car and climbed up onto his trailer. He had already dumped one load out of the combine into the trailer, so I immediately figured out that what I had thought was being harvested off of the stalks was not the actual product. (I felt pretty ignorant not even knowing which part of the stalk gets harvested, but he was very gracious in the passing on of his knowledge.) I almost felt like a little kid getting to climb all over this big semi-truck. Jeff was in the field harvesting; I could see him not far away. I'm sure he could see me climbing on his truck like a little kid on a new playground. I have to say, it almost felt like that honestly.

As he pulled the combine up next to the truck and started dumping a new load of grain, I felt the hugeness of the combine, even dwarfing the semi-trailer to some degree. As he finished dumping the grain, he welcomed me to his field, his "payday" as he put it. We jumped in the combine and took off. It was amazing, and quite weird, sitting right above the reel (which I called a sickle blade), surrounded by glass on three sides, one of which looked like you could fall right out of down in to the auger assembly. He made sure to tell me not to lean on the front glass, there was no way he could stop that auger before I entered the shoot. It would not have been healthy.

I felt like a kid in junior high as he began to tell me about the field and the grain and the equipment. I was soaking in this experience, not because it was so exciting, but because it was part of so many people's lives, including my friend Jeff. In fact, it was his life and always had been. It was his dad's life before his. Truth be told, it was exciting in it's own way. Jeff was passing on knowledge to me. He was passing on life to me, and he was passing on love to me. He was taking what he knew and sharing it with a friend. He was sharing his life in a way that he didn't often get to.

Towards the end of the day, we pulled the combine up to the truck to unload one last load to take to the elevator and then hauled it off. When we got back to the field, we just spent a few minutes walking through the field. Jeff reminded me of the story of Jesus and his followers in Luke 6:1"One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels." So, Jeff showed me hot to pull off some of the heads of the stalks and grind them in my hand so that I could sift the chaff through my fingers. He then convinced me to try the kernels of wheat, just like Jesus' disciples ate. It was kind of weird at first, but as I tried them and started chewing, I realized that it was really not bad. It was more like a weird texture of wood/nut and tasted like wheat flour and a little nutty as well.

We talked about how cool it was to experience the Bible in this way. Don't get me wrong, this was no eye-opening, WOW, experience, however it was one of those experiences I will never forget, simply because I was able to realize, and walk in and participate in the path of Jesus for but just a glimpse of time.

Spiritual Bulimia

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:59:00 +0000

I'm reading a book right now that is really hitting home for me. I mean, I am reading inside of this book about feelings I have had for 4, 5 even 6 years now, but I have never put into words, never thought them through. It is such an awesome feeling. I'm going to quote out of the book here in just a second, but let set this up first. Well... on second thought, I'll talk about it after this quote from the book.

Previous to this quote he is talking about becoming a believer and people telling him what Christians believed, but not teaching him how Christians live.

The Irresistible Revolution, Shane Claiborne, Pg 39
"So as we do in our culture, I thought perhaps I needed to buy more stuff, Christian stuff. Luckily, I found an entire Christian industrial complex ready to help with Christian music, bumper stickers, T0shirts, books, and even candy..... They had lists of bands and the Christian alternatives to them, so I got rid of all my old CDs. (And I must confess, I was a bit disappointed by the Christian counterfeit. Who could compare to Guns N' Roses and Vanilla Ice?) And I bought books, devotionals, T-shirts. I developed a common illness that haunts Western Christianity. I call it spiritual bulimia. Bulimia, of course, is a tragic eating disorder, largely linked to identity and image, where folks consume large amounts of food but vomit it up before it has a chance to digest. I developed the spiritual form of it where I did my devotions, read all the new Christian books and saw the Christian movies, and then vomited information up to friends, small groups, and pastors. But it had never had the chance to digest. I had gorged myself on all the products of the Christian industrial complex but was spiritually starving to death. I was marked by an overconsumptive but malnourished spirituality, suffocated by Christianity but thirsty for God."

This is exactly what I feel like I have done until the last couple of months. I feel like I have only regurgitated other peoples beliefs to my friends and families through conversations, etc. I don't feel like I knew what I believed or why. I know that I believed, but I just didn't know on my own terms, I knew, because it made sense. The problem was, I wasn't living my faith. I didn't have a chance to live my faith, I was living the faith of the authors that I was reading, or I was living the faith I was taught in church, or talked about with my friends, not because it was my faith, but simply because that was what Christians did, they regurgitated information to each other and passed it down the line so that everyone can be the good little Christian.

Guess what, I am believing now and living MY faith now, for probably the very first time in my life. There are people who don't get it, there are people who wonder what the heck I am doing, and there are people who are right where I am. I love it. Don't get me wrong, I don't have it figured out by any means, but I have a faith that is coming alive.

I feel like an artist....kinda!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:15:00 +0000

I started pottery class again tonight. I took classes back in Oct, Nov & December last year and ended up making a lot of our Christmas presents. It worked out well since we participated in Advent Conspiracy. I had always wanted to try it and wasn't sure I really liked it, but then I saw how other people reacted to my pottery, yes MINE. It was a crazy good feeling!

So, why did I wait six months to start going again? I'm not sure. I almost put it off again tonight, because I have so much other stuff I need to do (like find a job), but I went ahead and went. I am so glad I did. When I last went, I was making approximately one item per night, but when I got there this evening, I already knew what I wanted to do and I jumped right on it. I was able to make three things in one night. That's incredible... at least for me. AND, I was happy with every one of them. The spoon rest is a little frufru for me, but I think people will like it.

Anyway, for any of you who are interested, I thought I would post some pics of my pieces I gave away last December. Unfortunately, Becca is working so I'm not sure where to start looking so I'll try to post those at a later date. If you are interested in classes, it's only around $60 for four weeks, and believe me, after that first four weeks, you'll know if you like it. I take classes at Paseo Pottery, down on 30th and Paseo Drive on Tuesday nights. I think he also has classes on Saturdays.

I've decided I'm going to be creating pottery at least once per week, and Rebecca and I are going to start setting up at shows to try to sell our respective art.

I know that surprises some of you that I take pottery classes so what is something that would surprise me about you?

Loving as God Loves!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:07:00 +0000

I heard Andy Stanley talking about Ephesians 5:21 recently so I started reflecting and studying a little around that verse and had some thoughts that I would like to share. NIV, Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Andy talks about this verse in the context of marriage in his video study iMarriage. He talks about this, not as so many have preached in the past, but in the sense of submission to each other in reverence and awe of Christ. So, I don't submit to my wife because she has done something to deserve it, or because she has earned it, I submit to my wife because of my love for Christ and because he has told me to do this in order to love HIM. Not to love my wife, but to love Him, I should submit myself to my wife. Likewise, the wife should submit to her husband, not out of respect for him, but out of respect for the Lord. Again, not because he did the dishes for you and the laundry and fixed dinner. Or not even because he does a great job at supporting the family and protecting them and providing for them, but simply because of our love for Christ.

WOW, talk about mind blowing. Seriously, have any of you thought like this before? Have you lived like this before? Do you live like that now? Would your spouse agree? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty convicted of it. I am ignorant no longer, so now I have become responsible as it says in The Message, Ephesians 4:21 My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. 22 Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything - and I do mean everything - connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life - a God-fashioned life. OK, so no more ignorance means a changed life; knowledge transformed into actions. I am responsible for changing what I am no longer ignorant about.

Oh, I know, this really sucks, I'm not liking where I'm headed here, but I'm truckin' on anyway. In further study I come across even more great stuff, and it applies even outside of marriage. Possibly even before it applies to marriage, because if we are applying it in general terms, then it will automatically apply to our marriages. You need to use your imagination here, what would this look like in our lives if this was who we were. It is who we are supposed to be. We know that, the Bible is telling us that, so now, ignorance is no more an excuse.

Listen to Paul in The Message, Ephesians 4:32 Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. 5:1 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. 2 Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that......

Read that again, just stop right here and go back and read that last paragraph and ask God to speak to you through it............

I don't love like that. I'm not sure I know how to love like that. In fact, I know I don't, only Christ through me can love like that. Christ has to be loving through us in that fashion all the days of our lives. We can't just be intentional about doing that every once in a while. It has to be who we are. Can that ever happen? Paul seems to think so, and I bet there are a few people in History besides Jesus that we can look to and see that. What if we are all capable of that kind of love? What kind of transformation can take place in my world, not just my life, but in my world, if I now act on the instruction I have received.

I am no longer ignorant, Lord, teach me to love like you!

Brooke Fraser

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:20:00 +0000

This is a beautiful young lady I discovered this morning. Her songs have really touched me so I thought I would share a couple of links with you. I will definitely be getting the album. This first video is the first song I listened to; the second one is the title track from her latest album that releases in the USA tomorrow, May 27th, 2008.

I do it just for you

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:58:00 +0000

This is a poem I wrote over on myspace back in September 07. I was reading a book called "Organic Church". I actually rewrote it a little bit and added to it while I was reading "Seeing What is Sacred" in November of 07. I am going to try to convert at least one blog a week over from MySpace to here so that I have everything in one place. If you've read it, sorry, if not, hope you enjoy it.

Did you see me winking at you this morning,
before I sent the sun over the horizon?
Did you know it was me,
or did you just see stars covered in clouds?
Did you see the depth of my sky this morning,
the beautiful pinks, oranges, reds and blues,
the white puffs of clouds rolling gently through?
Did you feel the soft breeze blowing across you skin,
and know that it was my caress?
Did you hear me talking to you,
through whispers of birds and katydids and the rest of my creation?
Did you see the trees swaying gently in the wind,
or the leaves falling so silently to the ground?
Could you smell me drawing near to you,
in the clean, cool, refreshing air?
Did you take time to notice me this morning,
in all the glory I created?
I know you think I'm all around you, even now as I speak,
but do you really see me and know that I am here?
I love you Robert, but Have you ever thought
that everything I do, I do it just for you?
Well it's true, I love you that much,
but not just you, your neighbor too.
Please help them see how much,
help spread the Word, spread my love.
Help them see me in everything around them
and everything within them.
I do love you and I did do all of this for you,
but I love them too, it's your job to let it shine through.

Dazed & Confused....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:36:00 +0000

Right now, about a lot of things. You know, I was once told to put down the books, just put them down. This was in reference to my brain overflowing with thoughts so fast that I couldn't sort them all out and file them away properly. Of course, I feel like I really need to ponder those thoughts so I can see if I feel like I even need to store them, you know what I mean?

I mean, if it's not something I believe or buy into, why file it away in memory right? So... I'm putting down the books for some good ol' fashion reflection. It's hard to do, I've got some great books started right now. Exiles by Michael Frost, The Practice of Praise by Oswald Chambers, Ministerial Ethics by Joe Trull and James Carter, and at least one other one I cannot remember the name of right now.

I'm going to stop reading all of them long enough to sort through some things, then I'll continue with Exiles until I'm finished. I think what happens to me is that I get in the middle of a few books, (that's normal, see the last section of this page to read more about that), and I kind of wade through all of it at one time, but every once in a while I grab a book (Exiles) that really spins me for a loop in my thought process and I really want to absorb ALL of it. I don't do that often either. I like to absorb nuggets from books and then put them into play quickly, but this book I really want to digest, so... I'll take a few days to clear my head, then dig back into it.

Which is it for you?

Moving into the neighborhood!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:22:00 +0000

I want to follow up to a comment I posted on Mars Hill.

OK, how do you move into a neighborhood. Do you move quietly in, stay to yourself, hope people approach you so that you can tell them your name, what you do for a living and that you are a good person, hoping also that they then open their lives up to you so that you can pour into them all of your great knowledge about life and liberty and pursuit of God? Or do you go to your neighbors doors and introduce yourself, maybe taking THEM some cookies, just letting them know you moved into the neighborhood and that you believe in watching out for each other, helping each other, loving each other?

I don't know, maybe you do a little of both, but I know I am trying to figure out ways to engage my neighbors in new ways. Not in gimmicky ways, or in weird ways, but in ways that may make an impact in their lives. We cannot expect the people in our lives to just come to us and say, I'm screwed up, lead me to Jesus, please. Why does the church do this, then? The church, at least in the western world, has traditionally been a place where you went when you were ready to find God, like he was all hunched over, stuffed inside this building, waiting for you to come. The churches have made it that way, fashioned it that way to some degree, some by accident, and some on purpose probably.

What if instead the church was you and I living among the people who are hurting, the down-and-outers, the depressed, the confused, and instead of saying "come to me, I have what you need" we would say, you know what, I see you are hurting, how can I help...... then.... help! What if we went out (like Christ) and found the people who were the "worst of these", and just loved on them. Built a relationship with these people. Took an interest in them outside of their ability to help us further our vision, or our "organization". If, as Christ-followers, we practiced what Jesus practiced, the body of Christ would be a lot more like Christ intended. Instead we decided somewhere along the way, that Jesus was going to setup shop, pulling off the latest, greatest tricks in order to pull people in by the millions.

Jesus had the latest greatest tricks (miracles) of anyone in His day, but did he do that then? Then why do we think he wants us to do it for him. Do we really think that Jesus would setup shop in an abandoned arena and turn it into a 72 million dollar church?

OK, I know, I'm going a little off path again, which I do quite often. I'm getting tired and I'm getting a little perturbed as I write, so I'm going to end now and maybe pick it back up again in a few days. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts. I'd love to hear from you.

The Simple Life!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:43:00 +0000

My wife and I have really been pursuing simplification in our life lately, I would say, probably the last year or so. We have pursued it on and off for three or four years, but I believe we are really starting to accomplish some form of simplification.

One of our driving desires in the pursuit of simplification is to live, work, and worship all in the same neighborhood. For us, this means within a mile or two of each other. It really includes shopping, playing, school, etc.

We have made huge strides toward simplifying our life by accomplishing the following:

We sold our only TV in a garage sale, and had cox cable tv turned off..... what was that.... did you gasp..... you really should try it, it is extremely gratifying and freeing.... careful with this if you have kids, but it's still a wise move I would think (we don't have any).
We have sold our house in Choctaw, moved to NW 27th and Penn in Oklahoma City.
We downsized our mortgage in the process by about $45,000 dollars, which in direct correlation reduced our mortgage payment by about 40%, thus freeing up resources for other endeavors (or maybe just to fully pay our bills every month, lol).
We have downsized our square footage by about 30%, thus taking less time for upkeep, cleaning, decorating, etc.
We are attending a church within one mile of our house.
Rebecca is starting school at OCU in the fall, three blocks away.
We shop no further than two to three miles away, but in fact, most of the time, shop only four to five blocks away.

I'm not bragging by any means, please don't think so, I just want to challenge you to think about simplification and the things you want out of life, the important stuff to you. Can you really accomplish it living the way you are living?

Of course, the goal of simplification is to free up resources (i.e., time, talent, money, things, etc), but the real progress starts happening when you are able and willing to start investing those resources into other people, into relationships, into building bridges into people's lives. I'll save that post for another time.

Are you in need of a major simplification in your life? Are you interested in doing it? Do you have the guts to do it? Will you make the decisions necessary in order to free up valuable time and money for your family, friends, neighbors, and Christ?

To drink, or not to drink, that is the question!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:26:00 +0000

Wow, I'm not sure I even want to open up this topic, but it's got to start somewhere, so..... here it goes.

I am really going through some inner turmoil right now, seeking God and praying about having a drink every once in a while. Is it bad? Is it good? Does it matter? Is it a "bad witness"? I think the answer may be yes to each of these, just as easy as it is no to each of these.

I've really been reading and praying over 1 Cor 8 the last few days and I do believe I'm seeing that topic in a new light. For some reason, call me weird, I always thought that chapter was about not causing someone with an issue to fall back into an issue, (i.e., me having a drink, causing someone who is an alcoholic to think it's ok to have a drink, etc.) Of course, it may be ok for me, but not ok for them, that's up to God, but I believe what's being said is that if it could cause offense or confusion, or any doubt among the people who see it, then I probably shouldn't be doing it. Not because it (the drink) is wrong for me, but simply because it may impeded someone's relationship with Christ. I'm not a theologian, in fact, I barely read my bible sometimes, in fact, I probably read other books much more than the bible, anyway, back to topic.

I don't have a problem having a beer with a pizza, or having a margarita at Chili's over dinner, or having wine at Olive Garden, etc. I don't think it's right to do in front of anyone that does have an issue with it either, though, even though I have freedom in that. Of course, that's a totally different issue, freedom in Christ, and that whole new "movement". Not saying it's good or bad, again, trying to figure out what I believe. I'm just looking to solidify my values/beliefs about alcohol.

I would love to hear some thoughts on this.

Re-Starting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:48:00 +0000

Well, I'm actually going to try this again. I figure if I really want to be consistent I should blog at least every 4 months or so. Of course, we are going on 5 months now, but who's counting right?

Short blog, but concise, it should be worthy of at least a few diggs.