A Day of Levity

04 Friday Feb 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in ACU, God's love, Super Bowl

Enough of the wrestling for one week.
Monday was a great day. I had lunch with 2 of my brothers that I think so highly of and that I constantly benefit from by seeing how God is working in their life and the lives of others. It was also a great day because a very good friend called to ask me about something he is wrestling with and I know God spoke through me using some of the transformation I have been through to lay something on my brother’s heart. Glory to God.
Monday was also the day I came up with a plan to strike back at Jerry Jones and I encourage everyone to join me. Instead of spending $200 or more to stand outside Jerryworld to watch the Super Bowl, let’s get everyone we know to put our TV’s in a window and stand in our yards and watch it for free! What do you think?
I’m writing this on Monday afternoon (yes, there are some things I do in advance) and very wintry weather is expected overnight and into tomorrow. 3-5 inches of snow are possible with sleet and ice likely. Let’s see what the end result looks like.
I’m finding more interesting stuff on visitors from my blog. On Monday, I had a visitor from Brazil and Switzerland and two people accessing it from their Blackberry. I’m not sure what that means but I’m fascinated by it all the same.
Have you ever played with the fish on my blog? Scroll down and on the right hand column you will see fish swimming around. You can click with your mouse and leave fish food for them to eat. I spend hours each day just playing with them. (Not really.)
ACU closed school on Tuesday and Wednesday They never did that when I was out there. The story that went around when I was in school is that ACU wouldn’t call off a day of classes until Jesus returned. Some people I knew back in the day called the radio and TV stations one night telling them ACU would be closed. The media outlets announced it then came back later saying it was a mistake. I heard one of the people who was doing the prank calling called back saying he was one of the Deans when someone at the TV station told him that they knew the Dean personally and were recording the call. That ended the fun until 2 years later when the Dean met with the guy doing the calling and a friend who was there that night egging it on and began relaying the story to them because it was again snowing outside but the Dean apparently didn’t know he was talking to the culprits. The egging on friend almost choked trying to suppress his laughter. At least that’s how I heard the story.
I heard a guy at breakfast at the Whistle Stop on Thursday morning, while looking at the window at someone having trouble driving on the ice, say “why are these people even out?” Maybe he lives at the restaurant but I’m assuming he “got out” to come get his coffee.
Here’s a mini-rant. Most of us pay our electric and gas bills and get no say in how much we pay so why does ERCOT decide there isn’t enough of it to go around and just start shutting us down? Sure, I won’t have to pay for what I don’t use but it’s the principle of the thing. Why can’t I just tell ERCOT there isn’t enough money to go around and I’ll pay them 95% of the electric bill? It’s really not the money that bothers me, it’s the lack of planning. Of course, I know little about all of that stuff so I do not know of what I speak other than I don’t think it’s a good idea to go around cutting off people’s electricity when you have failed to have a plan in place. OK, I’ll quit rambling about something I don’t know anything about.
It’s been a hard week emotionally. I’ll have at least one of my kids with me this weekend and that will surely lift my spirits, give me a few laughs and leave me in wonder of how special they are.
Oh, by the way, I’m not going to stand outside and watch the Super Bowl. That would be silly.

I’ll leave you with this. God’s love is so strong for me that He was willing to let me come and live on this earth, a place of seasons, seasons of joy, seasons of hope, seasons of pain, seasons of suffering, with full faith in me to love Him so much that I would be a light in the darkness. He isn’t overprotective. He isn’t scared. He is strong and bold and wanting to fill me up with His love so that it overflows in me to others who need to experience it. He loves me so much that He made a path for me to be with Him for eternity, He has my inheritance planned and it is more than I can imagine.

Grace and peace to you.

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Things I’m Wrestling With – Day 4

03 Thursday Feb 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in conflict, relationship

≈ 4 Comments

Relationships and conflict.
Do you know many relationships that don’t suffer conflict at some point. Best friends in school get mad at each other for the craziest reasons. Brothers and sisters fight over the littlest things. Co-workers battle over turf. Parents and children argue over problems, big and small. Husbands and wives fight. Relationships come with conflicts and as much as I don’t want conflict, it seems to often follow – personal relationships, business relationships, all relationships. Conflict is all around me at work, at home, at church.
I hear it said that God made us for relationships and yet so many relationships are full of conflict, some experience it less often, others more often. I wonder why. OK, maybe I have a good idea why but it doesn’t make me feel better about it, doesn’t make me walk away whistling Blue Skies and Rainbows.
Historically, I haven’t dealt well with personal conflict. I avoid it. I deny it. I mask it. And, my way of dealing with conflict has likely cost me a great price in emotional, spiritual and physical health and peace. I hope to learn to do conflict better one day because today, today I am just worn out from it, completely drained and emotionally bankrupt. I often hear Rodney King in my head, “can’t we just all get along?” and wonder the same thing.
One day I hope I manage conflict better. I believe God is leading me to help others with conflict and to prepare myself professionally and personally to be active in reducing and eliminating conflict. I pray that the obstacles to accomplish this are removed and I believe they will be if this is what God is calling me to do. I’m hopeful for what the future holds.
Have you done anything to help reduce or eliminate conflict in your life?

Grace and peace to you.
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Things I’m (Done) Wrestling With – Day 3

02 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in baptism, united

≈ 3 Comments

I had lunch on Friday with a friend from college. He’s a minister now which is kind of funny when I think back to what we were doing in college but I digress.

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He still gets the question “Is baptism essential to salvation?” He got it the other day from an SMU student while he was standing next to a preacher out of the Baptist background. He said he and the other preacher looked at each other, chuckled and the other preacher said, “do you want this one or do you want me to take it?” Now, some of you may not understand that but it’s funny to me coming from the Church of Christ background in two regards. One, it’s funny because it’s one of those theological debates that pit people who love God against each other. Maybe it’s more sad than funny. Anyway, the other reason is because I think it’s the wrong question.

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Today, if someone asks me if I think baptism is essential to salvation, I simply ask, “do you want to be united to Jesus, the Savior?” To me, that is the question because when I read Romans 6, I get excited about baptism. I get chills reading it, knowing that my baptism united me with His death and my coming out of the water united me with His resurrection. I think it’s the most incredible imagery of me being united to my Lord I could imagine. A simple act yet, in my reading and understanding of the passage, an incredibly powerful act.

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Grace and peace to you.
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Things I’m Wrestling With – Day 2

01 Tuesday Feb 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in Batman, Job, suffering

≈ 1 Comment

Job. (The guy in the Bible, not my workplace.)
I led a Bible study at work last Wednesday about the topic of suffering and, believe it or not, Job’s name came up. Go figure. I love the story of Job because it brings me comfort. So, what am I wrestling with?
Three different people in the last 2 months have told me they don’t believe all the stories in the Bible are literal and they all pointed to the story of Job as one of those stories. Two people referred to it as a myth, another as a parable.
Now, before my good conservative church friends allow their blood pressure to get too high, let me tell you what I think starting with the part that might make you think I’ve gone kookier than before…
I’m OK with those people believing what they believe. The reason why is that I have come to believe many things about God and His word and His power and His love (I could go on) much differently than I did before the big storm of my life. I have come to believe that people see things and hear things that a few years ago would have made me think they needed to be in a rubber room. I am open to many, many things people believe about God because I have come to see so much so differently – so I don’t argue with these people who challenge my beliefs, I embrace them because the challenge makes me think, makes me talk to God, makes me search my heart and my connection with God to examine what I believe. Those who challenge me have a very special place in my heart because they challenge me to be more in-touch with the Almighty Lord.
So, here’s where I am on the story of Job after spending some time thinking about it. I believe the story is absolutely real. I need the story of Job to be real because I need to know that he overcame the pain of suffering and was a better person for it. I need to know that he lived with the scars of pain, the memories of pain and still became the person God wanted him to be. You see, for me, if the story is not real then I have no more connection with Job than I do with Batman. If Job isn’t real, he doesn’t speak to my suffering. If Job isn’t real, I don’t even know if God is real and if God isn’t real, there is no purpose to my life. I need to know that God allowed Job’s suffering because God HAD FAITH in his creation, had faith that what He had created in His image could survive suffering by trusting in the Maker and be better for it. I believe Job is real and his story is real and his suffering is real and his redemption is real because I believe that is what the power of God can do…His power can allow that suffering because it is stronger than the pain. And, I want a God who challenges me to grow and to be more than I would be just floating through this life and I want a God who will remind me that He is the greatest and there is no greater, that the one I choose to worship didn’t need me to set the cornerstone of the earth or to create it’s measurements or to tell the sea to stop and go no further and who’s voice rises above the clouds.
Will I continue to wrestle with the story of Job; with the thoughts of my friends who challenge me? I hope so because it will keep me engaged but today, I do not wrestle with the realness of Job’s story, instead of jump in it and splash around in it like kids jump in a pool, full of joy that my Lord can do mighty things in me just as He did with Job.

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Grace and peace to you.
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Things I’m Wrestling With – Day 1

31 Monday Jan 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in contemplation, contemplative, pain

≈ 2 Comments

I think this week might turn into a wrestling theme. Several things are on my mind right now; battles, victories, challenges, obstacles, the power of God to do more than I can imagine and my willingness.

I’m a contemplative person by nature. I like to address ideas and problems by taking time to think about them, to study them, to know as much about the possibilities and contingencies as possible. Being contemplative, I enjoy time alone, quiet and away from others. Some people find this strange, some think it anti-social, others think it a waste of time and then some find it to be brilliant (OK, maybe I’m the only one who thinks that way). I enjoy my solitary time while I know others prefer to be busy.
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When I recently experienced the darkest days of my life, my first reaction was to stop and think (alone) but I was often encouraged to “stay busy” and I have found myself taking that advice. I would go and do and keep myself engaged with something, anything, so I wouldn’t stop and think about all that needed to be dealt with the way I normally deal with issues. And now, I think it has caused me to prolong some pain and healing I have needed and some changes that I need to make because I was staying busy while I believe I was really needing to be me, to think, to process and to heal the way I need to heal.

I don’t relish pain, don’t go looking for pain and will try to avoid pain but sometimes I need to experience the pain for what it will bring. If I needed a heart transplant to stay alive, I have no doubt I would do it. I wouldn’t avoid the heart transplant because I knew there would be pain following it. I would accept the pain and deal with it knowing it was part of making me whole again. It’s no different than the heart work I have needed through these dark days. I needed to go through the pain because the pain reminds me I’m still alive and it has a way of aiding in the healing.

Pain means something has happened that gives me the opportunity to heal and, hopefully, be better. How much better? Who knows? One pitcher has Tommy John surgery and comes back to pitch better than ever. Another pitcher has Tommy John surgery and never pitches again but he can use his arm without it hurting all the time. Different levels of positive results but positive results all the same.

I have come to realize that I need to take time to be contemplative, to be me, and to finish a process that I believe will make me stronger, more whole, more healthy. I have started a journey that I believe will leave me feeling me more unshackled than I’ve ever known, more free. It’s another step. And what great journey has never begun without a single, small step?

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Grace and peace to you.
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The Things You Learn On The Internet

28 Friday Jan 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in children, Google Analytics

≈ 4 Comments

Using Google Analytics, I learn alot about my blog and who some people are that come to read it. In the past month, I’ve had over 875 visitors and 22% of them were 1st time visitors. I learned that most people come to my site directly followed closely by those coming from Rick Ross’ blog followed by people coming from Facebook. I had more new visitors from Rick’s site than from Facebook and I had 1 person who had typed in “way out wise blog” in a search engine and found me along with some people who typed some random stuff and found me also. I know where most of my visitors are from and can track some of them back to their IP address. Freaky. I had 17 visits from someone using software to make their IP anonymous. I wonder why? Anyway, for those of you who keep coming back, thanks…I think. Maybe you enjoy torture. And to my good friend Rick, thanks for being such a good marketing vehicle for me. (That’s how we look at it in the business world anyway.)

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I’m so proud of my children. I have recently learned things about both of them that just make me happy to be their dad, to be a part of their life, to know them and to watch them grow. I hope I have a hand in helping them find their paths, I hope even more that they are learning to seek God and to listen to His desire for them and that they will follow His path. I think most parents hope their children will be better people than the parent has been, that they make better choices, that they help more people, that they will know their Lord more intimately. I know I want that for my children and I am so thankful I have the opportunity to watch them grow.

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Grace and peace to you.
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When I Don’t Have The Words To Say What’s On My Mind…

27 Thursday Jan 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in basketball, Blake Griffin, James, Romans

≈ 2 Comments

I resort to random thoughts.
I need to read through James again.
I need to spend a lot of time in Romans.
I have some things I want to say about yesterday’s post but the words aren’t coming out in clear thoughts. That happens often in a crazy mind like mine.
I was at the Mavs game Tuesday night. There was a group in front of us that we have decided included some strip joint owners and their employees. The girl in front of us had a shirt on that said “Stay classy, Dallas.” She was wearing low-rise jeans, a high-rise t-shirt and no underwear. You can see where this is going. We spent at least a quarter of the game with a tramp stamp and her bottom in clear view. Yes, by all means, stay classy Dallas.
Blake Griffin is a beast. He plays for the LA Clippers. His body is chiseled and he can jump to the moon. If he hadn’t played for Zero University, I could cheer for him more.
I got this texted to me: “Always remember that Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David.” We never know what God will do through us, do we? I need to learn to trust Him completely, every day.
James 4:10 popped on my screen today. I need to remember to live more humbly in submission to the Lord’s will for my life. Too often, I go out to chart my own course and forget to remind myself to be open to His hand at work in my life for that day.
On the other hand, many days I walk out completely open to His desire and with a pretty blank slate of my own. While not perfected, I am getting better, day-by-day, at listening for Him.
I’m growing closer to God. That gives me peace. And joy.

Grace and peace to you.

46

26 Wednesday Jan 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in lies, truth

≈ 2 Comments

By the time you are 46 years old, there has been plenty of time for bad ideas and hurtful emotions to take root within you. By the time you are 46 years old, there has been plenty of time to tell yourself a lot of things that are not right but seem plausible. By the time you are 46 years old, there has been plenty of time for a battle to ensnare your soul to be raging without pause.

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It isn’t easy undoing. It isn’t easy unwinding what has been wound. Sometimes, it seems, demolition work is the easier alternative but not always the practical one. Sometimes, you just have to take time to unwind, to undo, what has taken many years to build. Sometimes the bricks have to come down one at a time before the rebuilding can begin. Sometimes you have to peel the onion one layer at a time.

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That’s the way I feel today. There are things that I have accepted and believed about myself for years that aren’t true. I wish I could just demolish what isn’t right and start from the ground up but demolishing means taking out everything, good or bad, and I don’t think that’s the right approach. So I’m unstacking the bricks one at a time, I’m peeling the onion layer by layer. It’s slow and sometimes I think I’ve reached the core only to find that I’m really not there yet, there’s still some mistakes and rough patches that need to be removed so the process starts again.

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Grace and peace to you.
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What I Hear

25 Tuesday Jan 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in abundance, love, overflow, sin, Son

≈ Leave a comment

It’s part odd, part funny sometimes to say something and people hear something different. I look back on a life of hearing what so many people have said and wonder now if I heard what they said or heard something else. Here’s an example. I’ve been going to church all my life, going to Bible classes, listening to sermons and what I have heard most of my life was more about how I needed to avoid sin instead of how I need to love God and be obsessed with living for Him. I wonder if I just heard it all wrong. Regardless, I am finally coming to understand that an obsession with trying to live right kept me focused on my weakness but and obsession with being close to God, soaking up the fact that I am living in His presence, is keeping me focused on His power. It seems like such a small thing in words but in my life it is making a very big difference.

In the old days, when I sinned, I beat myself up and slowly began to convince myself I was just a sinner and would never be more. These days, when I sin, I realize I have only pulled myself away from the Father, I’ve only cheated myself out of being in His presence but it is not who I am, just something I did. Who I am is His son, His loved child who He still desires to be in His presence, soaking up His abundant love.

For years I lived focus on my need for His grace and mercy. While I do need that, God is love and that is what I want to be caught up in because I have found that by living in His love, He gives me all that flows from that (grace, mercy, compassion, etc.) and I am drawn closer to Him and live in the growing understanding that being made in His image means that I too can overflow in love.

My cup overflows when I live in His love.

Grace and peace to you.

Uh Oh Spaghetti-O

24 Monday Jan 2011

Posted by Seeking Peace in hip-hop, Lecrae, music, Third Day

≈ 4 Comments

You know you are in trouble when you are up with your mind spinning at an hour you expected to be long asleep while looking at the clock knowing you need to be up in less than 5 hours.

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I love music. OK, I love a lot of different types of music. I’m a loud and fast guy most of the time but I enjoy classical from time to time, blues more often, jazz on occasion, Robert Earl Keen/Lyle Lovett/Jimmy Buffett/Willie any time, Christian rock and pop most of the time these days, some country and yes, hip-hop. I grew up playing basketball with some folks who listened to R&B/soul/rap and it’s long been a part of my music repertoire. Now, I’ve given the appreciation of it to my youngest child. Uh oh! Anyway, I’ve listened to several hip-hop artists popular today and like the music but don’t care for the message…until my boy turned me on to Lecrae. So, I’ve shared some of my favorite Third Day songs, some good Skillet music and now…crank up the subwoofers…here’s Lecrae, Flame and John Reilly singing Joyful Noise.