Author Archives: Seeking Peace

What Do I Do Now?

05 Friday Nov 2010

Posted by in baseball, Rangers

≈ Leave a comment

Baseball season is over.  What do I do now?

Tvar 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) {}
It was great following the Rangers this year.  It was an odd year attending only 2 games in the first half of the season due to my son’s baseball schedule and then sitting/standing in the crowd at Game 6 of the ALCS and Game 5 of the World Series.  I never would have pictured that.  Nor would I have pictured Cliff Lee pitching in a Rangers uni.  Or Cliff losing 2 games in the Series.  I didn’t picture C.J. Wilson becoming a dominant starter or David Murphy being the man of the moment so many times or Vlad struggling at the plate like he did.  But then I never pictured Vlad crushing balls during the season before they day they signed him.  I didn’t think Greenberg/Ryan would have so much trouble buying the team but I’m certainly glad they did.

Tvar 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 think we will look back in years to come thinking we have had the best ownership group in the game and one of the sharpest GM’s in all of baseball.  Theo Epstein was the wonder-child in Boston for so many years, Jon Daniels is the new version.  I still don’t know what I think of Ron Washington but I do believe the players will play their hearts out for him.

Tvar 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 never had people willing to buy my tickets in August.  Not only willing but calling asking if I had tickets for certain games in August.  I usually can’t give them away.  I wore the same clothing to 15 games and the Rangers won.  I have fun with baseball superstitions that way.  I wore it to Game 5 of the World Series and they didn’t win and I had lots of people looking at me in bewilderment that I wasn’t dressed in Rangers red.  Well, the mojo failed that game and the lucky outfit is retired.  Maybe.  I might try it for one game next season and see what happens.

Tvar 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) {}
Here’s where I thought about a moral to the Rangers saga but you can make your own.  Today, it’s just about baseball.  It’s a game I didn’t enjoy growing up but one I have come to love through the eyes and efforts of my son.  I used to go to games thinking they were boring.  Now I have an appreciation for every nuance of the game – the position of the batter’s feet, the path of his hands through the swing, the finish, the pitcher’s movements, arm slot, release points.  I watch how base-runners step off the bag getting their lead, the size of their steps.  I’m more aware of how the wind is blowing and what effect that has on a fly ball hit by a left hander to left field as opposed to right field.  There are so many little games within the game…and I love it.  Yes, there are plenty of object lessons to make from baseball and this season for the hometown team.  Today, I miss it and can’t wait for spring training in roughly 3 months.

Tvar 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. 
Tvar 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) {}

Email, Facebook and Twitter vs. The Power of God

04 Thursday Nov 2010

Posted by in action, emails, Facebook, love, service, Twitter

≈ 1 Comment

I’m stepping up on my soapbox today.  Give me space and give me leniency.

I get lots of emails and Facebook messages and a few tweets wanting me to forward on some new thing that people are in an uproar about.  It makes me want to scream.  Instead, I have refused to forward them or reply to them.  I have refused to jump on the “outrage of the moment” bandwagon.  Does that make me a good person?  Nope.  In fact, maybe I should jump on the bandwagon but every time I get one of those there is this thought inside my head saying “do something more.”

Ivar 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) {}
Here’s the deal.  I read John 14:15 and it says “If you love me, you will pass along emails complaining about what someone you don’t agree with is doing.”  Whoops, hang on.  I messed up because it says “If you love me, you will keep my commands.”  Now, I don’t remember the commands to forward emails or Facebook statuses and then sit back at the water cooler and talk about why the world is going to hell in a handbasket.  I do remember “go” and “give” and “make disciples” and some things that had Jesus out doing, not passing along scrolls.  I suppose he could have had God write out some rules and then sit in the temple courts and ask people if they had read it and to forward it on…but He didn’t.  Instead, He served.

Ivar 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 don’t think emails, Facebook and Twitter have the power to win the world for Christ but I think service does.  My friends who work at WARM touching the hungry and the poor live in that power.  My friends who work up at Gear Up live in that power.  People I know who move into neighborhoods that are poor and drug-infested and crime-infested so they can model Jesus to rough characters live in that power.  People I know who go into prisons sharing the Good News live in that power.  People I know who do simple acts of kindness to the hurting live in that power.  People who encourage others live in that power.

Ivar 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 want live more deeply and more rooted in that power, the power that speaks volume in actions towards the disenfranchised of this world, the hungry and the poor, the hurting and the lost – not because my actions are anything – but because the love for God and love of God that provokes those actions can change and heal hearts.

Ivar 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) {}
An email, a status update, a tweet won’t mean diddly until the whole world sees the power of God’s love played out in the lives of service of His children.

Ivar 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) {}
God, give me your eyes to see what you see and the understanding to go where you would have me go and the courage to do what you want me to do.

Ivar 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.
Ivar 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) {}

Conviction

03 Wednesday Nov 2010

Posted by in conviction, Halloween, Penn

≈ 2 Comments

I walked into a local financial institution and was chatting with the teller when the subject of the employees dressing for Halloween came up.  As humbly as she could, she told me “I don’t celebrate Halloween.  I just feel like it represents evil and I’m not comfortable with it so I won’t be dressing up with them.”  The look on her face was a mixture of conviction and “uh oh, should I have said that?” 

Ivar 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) {}
Now, I’m not completely sure where I stand on Halloween.  Dressing up and doing all that stuff wasn’t what led me to dark decisions throughout my life but at the same time, I think we must be careful we are not giving enough weight to the meaning of certain things.  I can appreciate her feelings towards Halloween and I might lean more towards agreeing with her today than I used to.

Ivar 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) {}
Here’s what impressed me though – her conviction and willingness to humbly and meekly share it with me.  I like people who are convicted because for too long I have been wishy-washy.  I may have believed something but didn’t get into with people I didn’t know really well and was comfortable telling something that was out of the norm.  It reminded me of this video I’ve posted before (Penn gets a Bible).

Ivar 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 want to share my conviction.  I want to be more authentic about my love for Christ.  I want to share the Good News more and trust that God loves me for doing it even if the person I’m talking to doesn’t.  Why?  Because it might be the only time that person hears a testimony about God’s love for his creation.

Ivar 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 appreciated the bank teller’s conviction and I will be sure to let her know the next time I’m there.

Ivar 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.
Ivar 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) {}

Home Sweet Home

02 Tuesday Nov 2010

Posted by in Abilene, Allelon, love

≈ Leave a comment

“Our homes have become a shrine to the worship of self because we see them as our refuge instead of Jesus.”

I got this off of Twitter last week.  I thought it was a powerful message in itself.  Then I spent the weekend with some kids from Abilene who have made the decision to live and work in the worst neighborhood in the city.  They open their doors to their neighbors.  They provide meals twice a week that everyone is invited to.  They eat rice and beans for most of their meals because they want to live more like the world lives than in the excess of what most Americans think is normal.  Their home is a not a refuge but a mission field.  They eat with drug abusers.  They eat with convicts.  They eat with people who know how to resolve things with their fists…and knives…and guns.  They eat with the very people who break into their house and steal from them and when they find out who the thief was, they let him/her know that they love them.

John was an ex-con who started coming around.  He is a gang member, a school drop-out and an all-around rough character.  He came and ate with them a few times.  He talked to them a few times.  Eventually, John spent the night at their house a few times when he had nowhere else to sleep.  John’s cousin stole a bike from their house and when the guy that owned the bike saw the cousin riding it, he pulled up next to the cousin and talked to him as a friend, not an accuser.  The bike owner put the word out that he had given the cousin the bike because he needed it.  John couldn’t quite figure that out.  John went back to jail for a former crime and while he was incarcerated, decided that people did love him.  It was something he hadn’t experienced for most of his short life.  John got out of prison, got his GED, still hangs out with these guys some and is trying to turn his life around.  A few weeks ago, John called one of the guys and asked for the phone number of one of their former roommates, Ben, who had a very expensive camera stolen from the house.  A little while later, John called back and said he had called Ben to tell him he has stolen the camera (before his recent jail time), that he was going to sell the $1,000+ camera for $20, that the guy he was selling it to started looking through the pictures and it was the guys in the house playing with the neighborhood kids, pictures of love and community.  John tried to take the camera back but the buyer was bigger and maybe had more weapons.  John ran and didn’t get any money.

John’s punishment wasn’t more jail time.  It was a guilty conscience that grew out of being surrounded by love instead of hatred, by people who wanted to be his friend, not prison guards.  Love is changing John in ways jail never could.  Who knows where this story may go?

I did this exercise with our youth group last week because it’s one I need to do myself over and over.  Ready 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and insert “God” in place of “love” (or where the words refer to love).  God is love.  Now read it again and put your name in place of “love” and see if the scripture still fits.

I will keep doing it until “Jeff is patient, Jeff is kind..” and “Jeff never fails” is more reality than a good idea.

Love can change the world.

Grace and peace to you.

More Or Less

01 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Ouch.  The Rangers looked bad last night.  I was happy to attend a World Series game but I really hoped it would also be a Rangers win.  That said, if I have a team that needs 3 consecutive wins, I’d be glad to have a team rolling out Cliff Lee, CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis.  Let’s go Rangers!

Ovar 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 spent the weekend in the woods of East Texas with 60+ teenagers for our annual youth group fall retreat.  I leave each year more awestruck than the year before at the spiritual depth and energy of these kids.  I see a group who is driven more by relationships, community and love than anything I have seen.  I would love to write about all that I saw and heard but it would take too much time.  I’ll just say I feel very comfortable with the future knowing these young people will be there.

Ovar 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) {}
Our theme verse for this year is John 3:30, “He must be greater; I must become less. 

Ovar 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 must become less.  Less prideful.  Less worried about the future.  Less of all the things that take my focus off the cross and the power of the resurrection. 

Ovar 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) {}
As I sat in the woods during some time alone with God, I watched dead leaves falling to the ground.  Leaves that once were colorful and alive, now brown and dead.  My lifespan on earth is short, far too short to always be thinking about what I need and want, far too short to miss seeing the needs of others. 

Ovar 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) {}
He must become greater in my life, in my actions…in my heart.

Ovar 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.
Ovar 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) {}

Late Morning Post

28 Thursday Oct 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

My hopes for a 4 game sweep were swept out the door last night.  Now I have to find tickets to Game 5 and may even have to fly to San Fran to see 6 & 7. 

Oh, and while I’m dreaming of finding tickets and traveling, I’d also like to mention my yachts on both coasts, my high end Mercedes with the AMG package and my condos along several of the best fishing waters around the world.  Yes, if I’m going to dream why not dream excessively?!

I’m ready for this weekend.  I will spend Saturday and Sunday with 60+ kids and 20+ adults in the woods of East Texas exploring God’s call for our lives.  It will be challenging, tiring and fun.  I got to speak to our youth group last night and while they probably thought I’m just some crazy old guy, I got to say some things that I know God put on my heart for me to hear.  I hope it helped someone else too.

It’s a beautiful day.  It’s a day that the Lord has made.

Grace and peace to you.

Why?

27 Wednesday Oct 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

I have asked God “why?” more times in the past year than I might have asked him in the past 45 years.  Today, like many days, I ask why children have to suffer.  Adults, I can understand.  They have experience and they have seen more suffering which means they should be able to deal with it better than a child.  This weekend I lost a friend but 2 kids lost a father and all I can muster is “why?”

Ivar 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’m attending the funeral today and all I can think is “why?”  In my life, I have seen how my trials and struggles have allowed me to reach out to other people yet I don’t feel like I can reach some of the people closest to me.  Why?  Bad things happen that I didn’t want to happen but couldn’t stop.  Why?  The same pain I feel is felt by others and it could create issues for generations to come.  Why?  Why did you let it happen God?  You can speak a word and the world can stop.  So why didn’t you stop this?  Why?

I know that God is a much bigger thinker and visionary than I am.  I know His ways are not my ways and his thoughts are not my thoughts.  Praise God for that because in my limited ability to understand, all I can come up with is “why?” 

Jeremiah 29:11. 

I just wish I knew too but I will accept there are reasons I don’t.

I would ask anyone reading this to say a prayer for Sergio Gonzales’ family today.

Grace and peace to you.
Ivar 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) {}

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

26 Tuesday Oct 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

It was a wacky travel day for me yesterday.  I flew to OKC in a Cessna, was driven to my destination in a mini-van, was returned to the airport in a Freightliner, couldn’t fly out because of mechanical problems and made it home in a rented Hyundai.  Today, it’s most likely I’ll drive my truck to work and then drive it home. 

I watched snippets of the Cowboys game last night.  U-G-L-Y.  Goodbye Wade.  I think people have already said goodbye to the offensive line because they don’t seem to be there any longer.

I was fortunate enough to be at Game 5 of the ALCS last Friday to witness history.  An incredible night and I’m excited about what’s coming in the World Series.  I’ll be at Game 4 too! 

I got a couple of incredibly touching responses to a blog I wrote last week.  They both touched me and challenged me to pray about what is written here.  Of course, today’s post isn’t much to pray over but I do hope I am given the thoughts and words in days to come to encourage, to give peace, to share the blessings of grace and mercy, to spread love and to challenge more growth in God’s will.  The kicker is I hope it is me who will get all of those things out of what is written as much or more than anyone else who reads it.

Grace and peace to you.

The Call ot Mediocrity

22 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

I’m expecting an email today in response to this post from one of you out there, an email that will challenge me to think more deeply about this subject before I dive in to teach it in a few days.  That said, here goes…

Matthew 5:48 – Do you best because God knows you can’t be perfect.  Give your best effort even to follow God’s will, even if it’s only an 85% effort because God knows what kind of day you are having.

That was from the New Living Busy And Trying To Make It Through The Day translation.

The Bible I normally use states it this way, “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

Early in that chapter, in the first translation I used, it says stuff like “Blessed are the middle class because they are the working class and they will be able to put food on their table” and “Blessed are those who attend church on Sunday and watch sitcoms the rest of the week for they will inherit the sofa” and “Blessed are those who avoid persecution, who avoid not-fitting-in and who avoid ever knowing a poor, hungry, homeless person for they can focus on their own wants.”  It’s an interesting read.

If I don’t strive for perfection, what should I strive for?  95%?  80%?  70%?  Be perfect therefore as your Heavenly Father is perfect.  Perfection in what you might ask?  Good question!  Is it our actions?  Our thoughts?  Honestly, this is tough for me to put into words what is in my head but I’ll try anyway.  I think (that should be a big caveat right there) it means we should be perfect in our love for God and for His desire for us.  Does that include actions?  YES!  Does that include our thoughts?  YES!  John 14:15 says something to the affect of “If you love me you will OBEY my command.”  What is it that we obey?  Jesus teaches us to love, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to give water to the thirsty.  He teaches us to love each other.  In fact Jesus tells us that if we truly love him, we will love each other.  Now, what will you do for a person you love?  Maybe a better question is what will you not do for a person you love?  I offer that if we love people the way Jesus loves us and if we obey His commands we are called to action, action that is remarkably similar to what Jesus did while walking the earth.  AND, if I love others and obey Jesus’ commands won’t I avoid other actions and thoughts that stop me from being perfect as God is perfect? 

The problem is, I don’t do all that.  I don’t obey Jesus’ commands all the time and God knows that.  The beauty of God’s love is that He gave His son, His PERFECT son as a sacrifice for me so that my imperfections of yesterday would be covered by His blood and I start today fresh…new…clean…and ready to strive for perfection again.

For your parents out there, here’s a question.  What do you tell your children is acceptable and, whatever acceptable is, when they fall below that do you cane them, beat them, lock them in a closet or quit loving them?  Or, do you let them start over, start fresh and keep loving them and trying to give them all they need to meet what you consider acceptable? 

Achieving perfection isn’t about getting a gold star because of something we did, achieving perfection is all about loving God, giving Him our heart and obeying His commands because our Father loves us so completely, fully and unconditionally.

Grace and peace to you.

What The World Needs Now…

21 Thursday Oct 2010

Posted by in kindness, love

≈ 2 Comments

Living without constant Internet access has been a new experience.  I’ve grown to expect it and now, not having it, I feel lost at times.  I almost get the feeling I should pick up a book and start reading again.  Old school.

I’m going to Game 6 tomorrow night. 

What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  Wasn’t that a song from way back in the day?  Anyway, love would be great but in the meantime just being kinder would be a great start.  Following is a link to Rick Ross’ post today about kindness.  It just struck a chord with me this morning so I share it with you.
Followers of Kindness

Grace and peace to you.