Did you know there could be some travel problems over the next few days? The news is reporting on it diligently and I’m just wondering who is so new to this country that they don’t remember this happens every year. I can’t help but be bored and laugh at all the news reports at this time every year, during an ice storm, the malls the day after Thanksgiving and a few others I am likely forgetting. Anyway, if you plan to fly over the next few days, it’s going to be tough. Good luck.
__________________________________________________

The Cowboys cut their kicker yesterday. What a brutal job. Little recognition when you are accurate, dumped when you’re not. At least you don’t get hit by very large people on a regular basis.
__________________________________________________

The Shack may become one of my favorite all-time books simply because of a connection I finally made while reading it – God always sees me as his child and places a high value on me regardless of what I am doing to ruin the relationship; he never turns away. Through tough times, this understanding of my relationship with God has been something I have held tightly and it has done as much or more than anything to give me strength for the spiritual battle for my heart and soul. I shared this concept with someone yesterday who was not feeling good about their life and I hope it helps them take a step closer to God today.

I do not have the words to describe my love for God. I pray I will continue to draw closer to him every moment of every day. Through my new relationship with him, I have found the peace that transcends understanding.

Grace and peace to you.

In our poverty, we finally find our capacity for God.

Grace and peace to you.

I have experienced the work of God over and over in my life and continue to be amazed at his faithfulness and goodness to me. I have found it hard to believe how much he loves me and how much he forgives me because I have not always been completely loving and forgiving. I hope, day by day, to become more like God in how I see people and how I treat them. While a long way off from perfection, I can feel a pull to him in my heart that allows me to know that I’m getting a little closer all the time. I still fall down at times but knowing God the way I know him now, I am getting back up and remaining focused on the rest of the journey.

Grace and peace to you.

We all hear stories only to find out later that there is more to the story. It’s something I seem to continually run across in my life. Here’s such a story.

A young girl was told she would have a very special child even while she remained a virgin. While traveling, she gave birth to a baby in the poorest physical conditions. Fast forward and we celebrate another Christmas in 2009, a time when much of the world hears the story of the Christ again.

But there’s more to the story. It can be reframed to see it just a bit differently.

A virgin gave birth to a warrior in a barn. That’s the story of an incredible God who can do anything. He chose a young girl, an unlikely choice to raise a warrior, to bring the Redeemer into the world. He chose a virgin, a girl who was pure and holy and, in all reality, unable to bear a child as she was, to show the impossible is possible with God. And – maybe the part I like the most in this version – he delivered a sweet baby, who would become the greatest warrior known to man, to the world. A baby who would grow into a warrior that would fight the greatest fight we can imagine, the battle that saves us from hell, a battle that gives us eternal life, a battle that will lead us to the presence of God.

I appreciate the celebration of Jesus’ birth. I am overwhelmed by the way God brought him into the world to battle the powers of evil on my behalf. I am thankful today, more than ever, that a warrior was born who would and continues to fight for me.

Things aren’t always what they seem, are they?

Grace and peace to you.

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Grace and peace to you.

…cold outside. 27 degrees when I got in my truck this morning.
_________________________________________________________

Can you imagine what it was like to be Job? To endure losing everything, endure friends telling you all sorts of things about how God feels about you, endure pain and suffering most people can never imagine? Job stood firm and never took his eyes off God. What a wonderful story for us. It’s a story of faith and a challenge to remain completely faithful and trusting that God is in control and that this life is only a journey to better things. If we are honest, how much can we suffer that is worse than what Job went through? How much can we suffer that is worse than what Christ went through for each one of us?

I throw myself into what I believe is a large group that deserves suffering but God gives mercy and has a plan for me, if I remain faithful to him, that will eclipse any suffering I can imagine with joy beyond comprehension on this earth. I want to remain true to him. I want to fight the battle, to suffer the wounds, to endure the pain if it means I get to spend an eternity with him. I continue to stumble and fall off the path but I want to keep finding my way back to God because I know he is patiently waiting for me with arms wide open.

I heard the question asked, “what do you think will be heavenly about heaven?” My response would have to be ‘just being there.’

Grace and peace to you.

Colt McCoy didn’t win the Heisman and I wasn’t totally surprised but I also lost a little more respect for the sports voting process at the same time. In the end, Colt has won plenty of awards and received plenty of accolades and will go on to be very successful without the Heisman but what a great opportunity to recognize a young man who appears to be very special in many ways.
______________________________________________________

The Cowboys lost yesterday. I can’t help but laugh. I still don’t think the problem lies with the talent on the field. Even so, I do get a twisted enjoyment out of watching Jerry in these situations.
______________________________________________________

Saturday – Texas Longhorns vs. North Carolina Tar Heels hooping it up at JerryWorld. Yes, I will be there and as much as I respect, enjoy and cheer for the Tar Heels, I will be wearing burnt orange and yelling “Hook ’em Horns!”
______________________________________________________

Our small groups discussed the passage in Luke 20 where Jesus tells the smart-alecks to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s and it reminded me how much my thinking on government has changed in the past few years. Where I once stood proclaiming government should put prayer back in schools and reflect our Christian heritage, I now simply see government as a tool to support infrastructure of the country and do it’s best to protect it’s citizens. Government has no business regulating prayer or matters of faith because that is my responsibility and the responsibility of all who call themselves Christians. I am thankful for leaders of this country who place God at the very top of their priorities but I expect them to live out that commitment, not regulate the country with it.

I was able to spend part of Saturday with a group of teenagers who hung lights on homes of people who couldn’t do it for themselves. That speaks louder than any prayer in school or printing God’s name on a coin. It’s a little thing to hang Christmas lights but a major shift of the heart to take their time to do something for someone else who can’t.

They reminded me once again that I need to be sure I am highlighting the CHRIST in CHRISTian.

Grace and peace to you.

The Heisman is awarded this Saturday. I would love to see Colt win it but his play this year hasn’t earned it for him. However, I don’t know that the other candidates have significantly better years. One person I talked to said they hoped Colt would get it based on what he has done for 4 years. While that’s not the purpose of the Heisman, it would be a fitting way to send Colt out.

That said, I’m not sure that Suh from Nebraska shouldn’t get it. He’s a beast.

I hear the Cowboys play on Sunday. Go Chargers!

The Rangers are wheeling and dealing at the winter meetings. They traded Kevin Millwood and his $12 million salary to Baltimore for a reliever and some cash. With the money they are saving, they are signing Rich Harden who has been a stud but struggled with the Cubs last year. If he gets back on track…watch out. I hear they are also trading Max Ramirez (catching prospect) for Mike Lowell and Boston will pick up most of Lowell’s salary. He’s a solid batter and will make a good backup at 3rd or possibly 1st. It’s a bad deal for him I suppose but good for Texas. I hear they are trying to pick up Vlad Guerrero too. The guy can barely move it seems but he hits the ball so stinking hard that he still gets lots of doubles and home runs.
______________________________________________

Peter, the fisherman from the Bible, was in our class last night. I never pictured him wearing a fishing vest with leaders and a snippet on the front but there he was looking like he was ready to go fly-fishing. I like Peter even better now!
______________________________________________

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

Grace and peace to you.

I took my son to meet a guy named Deon Hunter last night. Deon is a basketball coach/trainer working with kids to improve their skills and he played for the Dallas Mavericks at one point in his career. He’s a neat guy, very positive and incorporates his faith in what he does. He spends almost as much time talking about the mental aspects of the game as he does the physical, always in a a way to build the child up and give them confidence.

One of his comments about confidence last night got me thinking about my relationship with God. Deon approached it from basketball skills telling my son “if you know you have the ability to do something and someone walks by and calls you “John Doe”, you can stand firm and say no, I’m _________ (state your name). Confidence allows you to be who you are, not who someone else says you are.” His words apply as much to my Christian walk as it does to basketball.

People can call me all sorts of things, say all sorts of things about me, but I’m confident in my relationship with my Lord and I can say “no, I’m Jeff, a child of God’s. I am his and he is mine. Through Christ my future is secure and nothing you say or do to me can take that away. I am confident in my standing in his kingdom.”

Confidence gives us security, whether it be on the basketball court, in the battles of daily life or in our standing for eternity. I am confident my God loves me and has a place prepared for me. I can stand firm in his overwhelming love for me (Romans 5:8) and I can use that confidently to withstand any attack, any battle, any challenge.

Grace and peace to you.

Another day, another link to a video.

Over the past several months, I have found myself listening to several sermon podcasts. I listened while mowing through the summer, able to catch a couple of them in one session. It’s more difficult now but I still listen while driving and when I have a little downtime. I have found a few preachers that consistently bring strong messages from the word of God. Rick Ross, I listen to the sermons I miss and several I have already heard before to catch everything I missed the first time. Rob Bell, always great things to say straight from the word mixed with some great humor about the human condition. Matt Chandler, a local guy who delivers the message with power (he refers to it as shouting sometimes but it’s pure urgent passion). There are others, some sharing the church of Christ heritage with me, others not but they share a passion for Christ that I have come to cling to with much more fervor than ever before. I can live with our doctrinal differences because I know from these men’s words that they are for the cause of Christ. (I’m a strong believer in Mark 9:40-41.)

Matt Chandler preaches at the Highland Village Church in Flower Mound. His words have been an encouragement to me at times, a challenge at times and a comfort from the Lord often. He found out right around Thanksgiving that he has a brain tumor and recently had surgery. Here is his video message before the surgery.

http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/

My prayers go to Matt and his family and also that I will have the strength to serve God no matter what the trials are, no matter what fears they might cause because I know that God is with me always, loves me always and has prepared a place for me beyond imagination.

Grace and peace to you.