I love Philippians 4:8.  I want to live that way more and more.

I have always enjoyed reading Paul’s letters and he has been the apostle I have always felt like I identified with.  Maybe it’s because I enjoy writing and Paul wrote so much.  Maybe it’s because I feel like I have done more to kill Christianity than help people see Jesus at times in my life.  There are many reasons I feel connected to Paul but as we studied in worship and in Life Groups last night, I was reminded why I am so thankful for Peter.

Jesus told Peter that he would deny Jesus 3 times.  I’m sure Peter thought that was crazy but then it happened…he denied Jesus 3 times and then scripture says Peter “wept bitterly.”  I’ve been there, doing something that I hated so much that the only way to describe the tears, the emotion, is bitter.  I identify with Peter in his denial of Jesus because I have walked that road in my actions and in my thoughts.  I can understand how it happened and I can understand his grief when it overcomes him.  The good news, the joy we can take from those times in our life is that it wasn’t the end of Peter’s story.

John shares the account of Jesus talking to Peter after his resurrection and he asks Peter 3 times “do you love me?”  Now here is where we might take the approach of “do you love me because what you did doesn’t make it look like you love me.”  I’ve done it, reminding the offending party of what they did to me but (this is really BIG), Christ doesn’t take that approach with Peter and he doesn’t take that approach with me.  When Peter responds in the affirmative to Jesus’ question, instead of “then why did you…?” Jesus tells him “feed my lambs”, “take care of my flock” and “feed my sheep.”  Do you see the power in those statements?

Instead of reminding Peter of his failings, Jesus sends Peter back out to take care of the sheep, to share the glory of Christ, to spread the good news, to comfort the hurting and to lift up the sinners.  Jesus tells me, take your history with you to teach but live in the present to feed my sheep and keep your eyes focused on the prize, the reward I have prepared for you.  He gives us the gift of using our own failings to help others.  He gives us the gift of looking forward with us.  He gives us the gift of love that is beyond compare.

I love Paul but I want to also be at Peter guy, a failure who is built back up by the Redeemer, a child who is being molded to go into the world, to comfort and to share and to love.  I say that and immediately know that’s not even right.  I want to learn from Paul and Peter but I want to be a Jesus kind of guy.

Lord, let me learn to live more like you every moment of every day.  I’ve got a long ways to go but I want to live to glorify you.  Mold me and use me and help me look a little more like you each day. 

Grace and peace to you.
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Our discussion last night centered around Romans 12 and the call to be a living sacrifice.  It’s something I have had rolling around in my head for some time as I try to better understand what I need to do to be a living sacrifice.  We see examples throughout the Bible – Moses going before Pharoah, Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice the son that God had promised him, Job’s suffering and never-ending dedication to God, Jonah going back to Nineveh…the Messiah coming to earth to be my sacrifice.

As I think about what God wants to see me sacrifice, I can quickly come up with a number of earthly things but the hardest things to start putting to death are thoughts and feelings that do not glorify God.  I am finding that the closer I grow to God and the more time I invest in his word, the more those thoughts and feelings are pushed away but they still haven’t disappeared.  I long for the day when material possessions mean nothing, when all I have is all that I give and my thoughts and attitudes reflect a loving, compassionate, merciful God.

Grace and peace to you.
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Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. – James 1:2-3

The Israelites lived under the oppression of Pharoah for what, 400 years?  I expect God to fix my problems today.  The Israelites wander around for 40 more years drifting in and out of love with God.  I need God to do his thing now, to end the trials I’m going through.  Right?  Have you ever felt that way?  And then James pops off with his little tidbit of wisdom – to consider it pure joy when I face trials of many kinds.  Pure joy?  What kind of wine was that guy drinking? 

I hope you hear my sarcasm in some of the statements above and the truth in others.  I have often asked God why he wasn’t cleaning up my mess quicker, why he didn’t just put an end to the problems.  I lost faith at times, looked other places to get the answers I wanted, tried to get back to God but still wanted things done my way.  After far too many years of living in oppression (by satan’s tactics), after much prayer and finally getting knocked down to my knees, I am seeing God part the Red Sea, seeing God provide manna, seeing God take care of me everyday in so many different ways and I do count it as pure joy for my trials because they have been the very thing that have driven me back to the arms of God.

The joy of trials doesn’t come from the trial, it comes from seeing what unimaginable things God does in the trial.  The joy comes in knowing that I don’t have to figure my way out, God will lead me.  The joy comes in knowing the pressure isn’t on me, God will carry me when he needs to and he will use me when he can.  The joy comes in knowing that my Creator, the one who loves me more than any other, the one who showers me with mercy and never turns away, that my LORD is with me every step of the way.

James is full of good wisdom but I want to end to day with verse 12 from James 1 – the result of our joy in enduring trials.  Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.  James 1:12

Grace and peace to you.
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Today is a big election in Massachusetts that will likely have BIG implications for Obama’s health care efforts.  I don’t know much about either candidate other than one is Democrat and one is Republican but they are certainly making headlines around the country.  I hope the best person who will serve the people wins.

I heard a blip that today is the anniversary of President Obama’s swearing in.  Only three more years until the mudslinging hits another crescendo.  Oh boy.

Obama has taken a big hit in the polls.  I understand the political system of fighting for controversial policies while you have political capital but I think the mistake he made was being led to believe he had a lot of political capital.  I no nothing about how to make it all work but I would think a President elected by a slim majority might want to spend a bit more time building more political capital before using it all up.  In other words, I don’t think he had enough deposits in the bank for the withdrawals he is needing to make.  I wonder what would have happened if Obama had spent the first year building relationships, showing the compassion he spoke so eloquently about instead of creating a massive spending program.  I guess we’ll never know.

As a 45 year old diabetic, I can tell you our health care system stinks.  Looking at other places around the world, I think our health care system is pretty good.  I think the last thing that needs to happen is for the government to get involved based on how they’ve run Social Security and a few other things they’ve done.

The most important news story yesterday – Wade Phillips’ contract was extended. 

I had a good talk with a good friend yesterday about the power of God’s word.  It’s amazing how many stories God gives us to encourage us, to guide us, to help us.  Many of them I’ve read over the years with no real thought to what was being said.  Thankfully, I read today with much more depth and understanding and I have found words that comfort me, lift me up and give me strength as I battle through valleys and battles with the evil one.  God is so good.

Grace and peace to you.
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I caught a few minutes of ESPN’s World’s Strongest Man Competition showing the competition where they are pulling a plane for a short distance.  This isn’t a little single-engine Cessna – they are pulling a 96,000+ pound commercial aircraft.  It was amazing to watch a feat of strength that seems unreal to me. 

I often think about strength in a physical sense with the idea of six pack abs and big muscles all around.  I think of guys who battle at the line of scrimmage, who jump out of buildings with a basketball in their hands, who run 100 meters in 9 seconds but every now and then I think about a strength that is never seen, a strength that defies what I imagine.  David was a character of such strength.  He was picked to be a king yet the reigning king was working hard to kill him.  It took strength to live with that everyday.  I think about Abraham who wanted a child and then, when told by God to make Abraham’s son a sacrifice, marched up the side of the mountain as instructed.  It took a strength I cannot fathom.  What about Peter?  He denied Jesus 3 times but came back to him again.  It takes strength to admit your faults and re-enter the life of one you hurt.  And then there’s Jesus.  He came to earth knowing he would give his life in the most painful and agonizing way imaginable but he never hesitated, never tried to go hide and see if his destiny would go by.  Sure, he asked if the burden might be taken off him but he never flinched at God’s will for him and he gave his life so I can be free from satan.  It is a most unusual strength that will carry a man through beatings and hanging on a cross to saying, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”  It’s an unusual strength in it’s intensity and in the fact that it only comes from a source we don’t see and we don’t control.  To build our muscles, we have to take action and take control.  To possess the kind of strength Jesus had, we have to give up all control and all desire to be in control.

I want that unusual strength that only comes from God.

Grace and peace to you.
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What’s the greatest crisis in our country right now?  The President?  Your 401(k)?  Health care?  Abortion?  Homosexual marriage?  Drugs?
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I love Romans.  I don’t get it all but I love it because every time I read it, something new strikes me.

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Romans 11:33-36 – Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  Who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been his counselor?  Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!  Amen.

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Amen.  I have tried to understand the mind of God but have halted the quest.  Could I ever hope to really understand?  I look back over the years and my life has been a mystery.  I look at the present and think about the future and it is a mystery.  How is God working in my life today?  I don’t always know but I have halted my quest to understand and began my quest to simply submit.

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The question was raised in our class of whether God is sovereign or whether we have free will and our wise teacher answered YES.  God is sovereign but he is not a sovereign God who rules with an iron fist.  He desires to be Lord of those who make the free will choice to submit to him.  It’s an odd combination yet works hand-in-hand.  When we choose to give our life, our being, our heart to God, he is sovereign in our life.  We can choose our own path but we do so at the peril of following the wrong ruler.

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Maybe it is only me, but I believe God became sovereign in my life only when I allowed him to do so by making a decision and having the desire to live in complete submission to him.
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Oh, my thought on the greatest crisis in this country.  The state of the human heart and our relationship with the Lord.  Everything else is temporary.

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Grace and peace to you.
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Mark McGwire finally came clean…sort of.  He qualified most of his statements with the idea that the steroids didn’t help him hit the home runs, only heal faster so he could play more.  I don’t completely disagree because I’m not a scientist but I do have a sense of how hard it is to hit a baseball and know there are plenty of guys who took steroids that never came close to McGwire or Bonds.  I would go so far to say that they are both great hitters but wouldn’t say the steroids didn’t help a bit.  On the other hand, there are plenty of guys who took steroids who never hit home runs like those guys.  In the end, steroids violates the spirit of even competition and I say they are wrong for taking them and playing and it should be reflected in the HOF process.
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How about Lane Kiffin leaving Tennessee for USC after one year?  I don’t begrudge someone for taking a better job but I hope those are the same guys who stand on the commitment bandwagon with their players.

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I did email a friend today who is a huge Tennessee fan and detests the Big 12 and suggested the Vols hire Mike Leach.  I can’t wait for his response.
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I watched NCIS last night.  It seems to be a big hit on TV but a show I haven’t paid much attention to.  Part of my interest is that my daughter and some of her friends are big fans.  The other is that Mark Harmon, the star of the show, was on the phone with our Store Manager the other day working on exchanging a hat someone had bought him at our store.  Pretty cool. 
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As a blogger, I often wonder what I can post and what I shouldn’t post.  I read a quote the other day I’m contemplating putting up because it cracked me up and I was laughing about it for a couple of days but it also hit home and in a sense is very true.  The thing is, it takes a shot at Christians and I know some people can be pretty sensitive about stuff so I’m just mulling it over…and preparing you it might be coming so you won’t try to poke me in the eye if you don’t like it.

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So far no one has poked me in the eye for anything I’ve said here so it’s been a good run.
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What I love about the Bible is that I continue to find gems in it.  I run across things I’ve read that never really struck me until something in my life caused me to pay a little more attention to what it says.  I’ve run across things I might have read and completely zoned out on and I’ve read things I’m not sure I ever really read but just saw letters on a page.  What I have found is that the closer I feel like I get to God, the more his words speak to me.  That shouldn’t be a surprise but it’s taken me a long time to figure it out.

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I thank God that I’m getting there, step-by-step, day-by-day.

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Grace and peace to you.
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The Cowboys ended 13 years of wandering in the playoff desert this weekend.  It was a big win but it was a good win.  I’m surprised how they are playing right now and hope Uncle Jerry remembers they are 4-0 since posing for a picture with my son.  I knew he was a good luck charm but didn’t realize it would work for the Cowboys too!  🙂
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Have you ever planned a week-long trip to the desert?  How would you feel about a 2-week trip wandering around in the desert?  A month?  How about 40 years?

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I used to be fascinated with the miracles God did while the Israelites were in the desert and I suppose I still am fascinated by them but what strikes me today is why God sent them there and why they had to stay so long.  I wonder what would have happened if they had trusted God and given their hearts to him immediately after leaving Egypt.  Would they have only spent a few years there or a few months or a few weeks?  I ask the same question of myself these days.  What if I had truly given God my heart and trusted him completely years ago?  Would I have had to wander in the desert so long?  The truth is I wandered for years and didn’t even realize the problem.  I thought I was “being good” at the Christian life but looking back realize my heart wasn’t fully given to God, my thoughts weren’t fully given to God and my actions weren’t fully given to God.

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I’m not saying I have achieved any level of perfection today – far from it in fact – but today I realize what it is to really trust God for everything.  I have questioned and put my desires before God for years but today I simply want to trust in him for everything because I know he can part the sea in front of me.  We laugh at the Israelites saying “he parted the Red Sea and you still didn’t trust him?” but I haven’t been so different for much of my life.  Today, I want to be different.  I want to go against the grain of worldly wisdom.  I want to simply lay my life in the hands of God and let him mold it into what he desires for me.  I have found so much freedom and so much peace in simply letting go of what I desire and allowing myself to be led by him.

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I’ve been in the desert but I know the land of milk and honey awaits me.

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Grace and peace to you.
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What an agonizing game for Colt McCoy last night.  Can you imagine standing on the sidelines for the biggest football game of your life?  I hurt for the young man.  I think his comments at the end of the game, or rather his silence, while trying to answer a question about how hard it was to watch from the sidelines spoke volumes.

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On the other hand, if the second half is a glimpse of the new QB, Texas just may have a shot to remain contenders for awhile.  He looked like a big bag of nerves in the first half – and who wouldn’t in that position – but he came back and showed some poise in the second half.

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Alabama was a good team but I think Texas could have won that game without McCoy getting hurt.
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It’s time to move on.  College basketball and spring training are on the radar.

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Did you hear the Rangers made an offer to Vladamir Guerrero?  Wouldn’t that be a hoot to see him belting a few out of the Ballpark but wearing a Rangers uniform?  I hope they can pull that one off.
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Christmas is over but is the giving season over with it?  I hope not.  I am more aware of hurting people than ever and know there are many who still need help.  I hope the Lord keeps my eyes open to those who need help, a kind word, money, whatever it is.  I want to share the CHRISTmas spirit all year.

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Grace and peace to you.
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I don’t know who reads my blog because there are few contributors (a break for a shout-out to Rick, my consistent responder. See more at rross.blogspot.com) but every now and then someone tells me they are reading it which is cool. Sometimes I even get a response from someone that I never imagined would be responding. Yesterday was one of those times and it makes me enjoy doing this even more.

Adding on to a bit of yesterday’s post, I spoke of my son at baseball practice. He practices at a facility in Keller going by the name of Swing City and run by Luis Ortiz and Jason Noonan. Jason is my son’s coach and the one he has spent the most time working with and Jason has helped him in so many ways. Luis is a former MLB player and has works with my son when he is in town (Luis also works for the Rangers and spends a good bit of time traveling). The thing that strikes me about these guys and the environment is a) their obvious love for teaching and working with kids and b) their ability to figure out how to communicate a concept with the kid they are working with.

At a minimum, they say hi to every kid and parent when they walk in the door and they tell every kid and parent bye when they leave. If they aren’t working with someone at those moments the kids will get a hug or a high five (or wrestled to the ground if they are up for it). It’s obvious these guys love working with “their” kids. Then, they find ways to communicate. I’ve taken my son to several coaches and many of them have good ideas but only communicate it one way. If the kid can’t grab that concept he’s out of luck. Not so at Swing City. These guys find a way to explain it whether the kid is 5 with the mind of a 12 year old or 15 with the mind of a 6 year old (OK, there aren’t that many of the second kind…I hope). It’s a great talent and one of the key things that has allowed me to feel so good about using them for the past 2 years.

If you have or know a kid who wants to be a better baseball player, take them to Swing City in Keller. It’s been a home run for me.

I mentioned Luis and Jason but there are also some other guys there – Jeff, Jared, Kory, Doug and Lincoln – that are all great guys and all of them have some input with the kids at some point. It’s always positive and it’s always helpful and it’s always pushing the kids to be better today than the last time they came.

Check ’em out at http://www.swingcity.biz.
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OK, that’s my non-paid advertisement for the day.
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I love Romans. It’s full of truth and encouragement. It’s full of hope and promise. It’s full of how to live through today while keeping my eye on the fulfillment of the promise. Do you need to hear some good news? Do you need some hope? It’s there in Romans.

Grace and peace to you.