Glory to God

16 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in Uncategorized

I’m not going to steal Rick Atchley’s Twitter posts forever but here’s another good one. “I know I need to be Jesus to everyone, but first, I think I nee to see Jesus in everyone.”var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

Last night I had the opportunity to speak to a group of men in Stephenville, Texas about my journey, about the darkest hours, the lowest of lows, about the brightest hopes and my walk to truly know God. It was an incredible experience – not because I was asked to speak but because telling my story reminds me of where I’ve been, what I’ve seen and where I don’t want to go again and because it gives God the opportunity to speak into people through me. I know my story is meaningless without the work of God in my life and that’s one thing I want people to know.

Any talk about my life has a revolving theme. One, that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against dark, evil, powerful forces that I cannot see. Two, that I am a child of God made in His image. I want to remember to see myself that way and see others that way – as children of my LORD.

I’m thankful to my good friend Randy Daugherty for inviting me to speak and even more thankful to God for giving me the strength, courage and knowledge that He was working in me and through me.

Grace and peace to you.

Smart

14 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in denying self, disciple, peace

≈ 1 Comment

If you get a chance to see Flower Mound Marcus play basketball this year, jump on it. Marcus Smart may be an NBA player one day.

I’m borrowing another gem from Rick Atchley.

“Athletes deny themselves things that are not wrong but are not smart. So do disciples!”

Denying myself is hard. There are things I enjoy, things that make me feel good, things that brighten my spirits, things…and I want them and, at times, get them when I can. However, denying myself at times would make me a better person and certainly smarter for the endeavor.

I want to be a disciple. I want to follow Christ and his example and the desires of God’s heart for my life.

Grace and peace.

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Noise

10 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in hearing God, noise

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It’s loud. There are so many things vying for my attention, my mind, my heart. I got this tweet from Rick Atchley the other day. “If you want to hear God, you’re going to have to turn down the ambient noise.”

Grace and peace.

Get Outta Here…

09 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in grace, Kylie Bisutti, renewal, restoration

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Do you know Kylie Bisutti? She’s been a Victoria’s Secret runway model and I must admit she can conjure up some thoughts strutting around in her lingerie. I’m a Kylie fan but probably not for the reason you would first think. I didn’t say she “is” a VS model, I said she’s “been” a VS model – past tense. She gave up the gig she had dreamed of because she’s been reading the Bible and was convicted she needs to save her body for her husband (I imagine there are Christian single men sending her their information right now) that she hopes to have one day. var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

Restoration. Renewal. Kylie is finding it through her study of God’s word. It’s amazing what the Spirit will do within us when we get into God’s word. We can read Lucado and Yancey and Chan, we can listen to Andy Stanley, John Piper or Joel Osteen (I’m throwing that one in for a good buddy of mine) but none of those can do what actually reading the Bible and letting the Spirit work on heart and mind can do to us.

I’m a Kylie Bisutti fan and hope she will maintain her desire to serve God and openly share her faith. It’s something I can learn from.

Grace and peace.

More R & R

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in God's image, grace, reconciliation, renewal, restoration

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First, let me say that I have written two good blogs that come up as gobbley-goop and it’s making me want to get the baseball bat out. One of them was what I thought to be the best post I’d ever written and how I wish I could remember how I said what I said. Oh well…back to mediocrity…

I’m stealing a tweet from Josh Ross to use as the basis of my post. “Words like restore, redeem, reconcile and renew indicate a prior condition that was good. We were created in God’s image.”

I’m using that in a lesson I’m teaching in June because the idea of being created in God’s image has been something I have learned to grow on over the past few years. I bring Genesis 1:27 up in many, many conversations with people because they, like me, have this feeling we can not do enough, be good enough, not whatever enough and I never thought of myself as being made in God’s image.

I have heard so many conversations about self-esteem, self-image, self, self, self that I think I became conditioned to always look at myself the way others saw me. Now, I just want to point others to God when my appearance (in whatever fashion) comes into the conversation. When I’m living right and doing things to help people, I want to point to God and give him glory as my Creator. When I’m living wrong and doing things that hurt my relationship with God, I want to point to God and give him the the glory as my Redeemer and Savior. I don’t want people to see Jeff, to see my image, to see my self-esteem, to see my brilliance and greatness (quit laughing at that last part), I want them see a reflection of God and nothing more.

Grace and peace to you.

R & R

05 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in Josh Hamilton, peace, reconciliation, restoration

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Peacemaking includes many facets. A couple of those are restoration and reconciliation (R&R) and it’s something that, without God’s grace, most of us would not know. Without R&R, there’s no peace. var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

I have only found peace learning to live in contentment with whatever my situation is but without restoration and reconciliation, peace is only partial at best. I have lived for years without peace in my life because of conflict with God, conflict with people I have loved and conflict within me. I trust that God has forgiven me and I am finally learning to live at peace with him. I’m not there yet and that’s because I still have trouble forgiving myself and without being able to fully reach reconciliation with myself, it’s still difficult to have full peace with God when I’m not at complete peace with myself. Finally, there are people close to me that I have been restored and reconciled to and live at total peace with them and others that it is still in process and there is no peace yet.

This is something that Josh Hamilton is dealing with right now. He’s a public example of what I often deal with – battling demons that call me to do things I shouldn’t do. I’m guessing Hamilton’s failing jeopardizes his family relationship and certainly jeopardizes his work relationship (very secondary in this situation but more public). His openness and honest way of addressing the problem has certainly made R&R appear more realistic in all his relationships and I hope it works out that he will be able to again know peace because of the grace of those around him.

I want to know peace. I want to help others find peace. It can happen but there has to be restoration and reconciliation to make it so. That takes admitting fault and seeking forgiveness. It also requires forgiveness and grace by others with God as the model for what true forgiveness looks like. I hope I will be forgiven and I hope I will forgive liberally as God has forgiven me. It doesn’t mean there will never be consequences to actions, it doesn’t mean that my way (or another person’s way) is always the right answer but peace can be found in all situations with people who put R&R above themselves.

Grace and peace to you.

Peacemakers

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in Matthew 5:9, peace, peacemaker

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I want to be a peacemaker. var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

I have lived much of my life in conflict. Conflict with God and his desire for me, conflict within myself and who I wanted to be and conflict with others who were/are close to me. It’s hard to live in conflict as long as I did and even made harder by my inability to deal with conflict.

When I started the program I’m working through now learning to be a peacemaker, I had to take a test to determine my conflict style. The choices are: collaboration (win-win), accommodation (you win-I lose), compromise (lose-lose), competition (I win-you lose) and avoidance (nothing to win or lose). I rated highest in avoidance and second highest in accommodation. If I couldn’t avoid it at all costs, I would rather give in and let someone else get their way. I have bad conflict resolution skills and it’s something I want to change for myself and certainly to help other people.

I often wish I had known better a long time ago. I think I would have been a better person, a better father, a better husband, a better employee, a better friend. It’s hard sometimes wishing I could rewrite history but that isn’t going to happen so I press on, looking to the future, working to overcome my weaknesses and shortcomings, hoping the Lord will use me to bring peace to others so that conflict doesn’t tear them down, rip them apart and throw them aside.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. – Matthew 5:9

Lord, make me a peacemaker and use me in your kingdom so that others will know the peace that only comes from you.

Grace and peace to you.

Able

01 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in #powerofGod, Able, NEEDTOBREATHE

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One of my lifelong struggles is thinking I could handle things on my own. I found out the hard way I couldn’t but the idea still tries to creep back into my head every now and then. This is another song that I have loved listening to that helps me remember I need God in my life and in my decisions.var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

Grace and peace to you.

The Motions

31 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in disciple, fan, follower, Idleman, Matthew West, not a fan, The Motions

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Matthew West sings a song, The Motions that helped me during tough times of life (as documented in older posts here and here). It’s a song I’ve gone back to lately as it helps spur me out of my doldrums. Enjoy it and then read on…var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

I’ve started a new book, not a fan by Kyle Idelman. I’m just a few chapters in and I already know it is one I will be recommending, if not buying, for my friends. It’s challenging and it is calling me back to my desire to go through life as a follower of Jesus, not just a fan. I want to be a true disciple regardless of the costs – the lost relationships, the questions and criticisms of people who don’t understand (or don’t want to understand), the denial of things I would enjoy but that will use my time and resources that could be better used for the kingdom.

Lord make me a servant, Lord make me like you. It’s easy to sing, harder to live. I pray I will be strong enough to live the hard life, the best life.

Grace and peace to you.

The Harding Experience

30 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by Seeking Peace in Harding, heart, passion, young hearts, young people

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I spent the past weekend at Harding University and had a fabulous experience. I love being around young people and this was a few days filled with young people – seeing their lives and hearing the dreams and passions. On Thursday, I sat in on interviews for a summer youth intern at our church and was uplifted by hearing these kids desire to serve God and work with other young people. What blew me away was their willingness to share some of their own struggles and how they were working through them. It was encouraging to experience their transparency and their mission for living more righteous and holy lives. Friday and Saturday were spent in discussions on plans for teachers (I’ll be one) for UPLIFT 2012. That consisted of several hours with youth ministers and youth ministry volunteers and, again, it was encouraging to hear their heart for reaching young people with the good news. var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src='” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12356560-1”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

I’ve got a child going to Harding next year and I’m so pleased that is the school of choice. There is good and bad in every place but the students I met encourage me about what the future holds.

Grace and peace to you.