I need a little levity this morning so I bring you this video. It’s 5 minutes + but it takes that time to first introduce this father-son duo and get a feel for the judges skepticism to really enjoy the ending. I hope it entertains you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gHvATmUsSg
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We have been studying spiritual warfare in our Sunday morning Bible class. I have begun to understand spiritual warfare over the past few years and while I have miles to go in learning, appreciate what God has opened my eyes to. It’s so much easier to deal with things in life when you understand who satan is and what he is doing to tear us away from God. It’s also become much easier to understand full submission to God and the peace that is available there. In the darkest and most trying times, I can now find peace where I once only saw destruction and I can now engage in the battle knowing I have the spirit of God with me to help me and to lead me.

I was struck by the idea of how important submission to God is in seeing the battle and surviving the battle. God gives me the gift of his spirit to take care of me if I submit to God. I can make choices that are in opposition to God and the spirit won’t stop me but when I seek God, the spirit will lead me in the right direction.

One of the beautiful traits of God is that you can seek him and submit to him and he will love you (as he always as) regardless of what your past has been like and regardless of how much more you need to “clean up”. By living in submission to him, God takes care of the cleaning through his spirit, his love and his mercy.

Grace and peace to you.

Where’s your focus? Too often, mine is only on today, on what I want now, on how I feel now, on what I want to say now. Saying that, I understand I need to live in the moment but I believe to live in the moment, I must see the bigger picture. For me to have clarity in the moment, I believe I must have a solid focus on what lies ahead of me for eternity. I wish I had better words to explain what I’m thinking or maybe I just haven’t thought through it enough to verbalize it well but in my life, I see that my focus has often been on how I feel or what I want today. I want to be happy today. I want to feel good about myself today. I get caught up in today and forget the bigger picture and forget what God has planned for me. When I can stay focused on eternity with God, I can see today much more clearly, I can fight the battles much easier, I can rejoice in the victory with excitement and joy.

Christ didn’t come to earth and die so that we might have happiness, health, prosperity, a good family, close friends. Christ came to die so we could spend an eternity with God and all the rewards that come with it. Christ didn’t come to make today better for us, he came to give us the keys to eternity. I want to live every moment knowing that my eternity is secure, that all that really matters has already been taken care of for me. Knowing that, I can live in today with confidence and peace.
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I’m ending Friday with a little social commentary/humor. I wonder how Rick will deal with this one?

Grace and peace to you.

NEWSFLASH – Tiger is human. What a shock, huh? Tiger is a great golfer and his competition finds him hard to defeat but there is a bigger competition Tiger is participating in and he has gotten knocked down a few times in that one. So how do we respond? Run out to buy the latest issue of US or National Enquirer or share photoshopped pictures and email jokes about the man? Enjoy the fact that the big and rich and famous can fall so publicly?

Tiger is no different than me…or you. He is a human being created in the image of God but fighting a spiritual battle for his soul. I can’t speak to Tiger’s relationship with God but his battle is just like my battle and your battle whether we recognize it or not. People fail. Tiger failed. I have failed too but God continues to love us so why would we want to spread gossip and be entertained by the pain of someone else? Whether it is arrogance or denial, none of us should be happy or concerned with Tiger’s sins but instead offering a prayer that we all win the battle against satan, that we all represent kingdom living, that we all spend our time lifting each other up.

May God give me the strength to always remember we are all his children, that we are all made in his image, that we are all engaged in a battle against evil forces that want to rip us away from God and destroy us – whether that person is someone I don’t know or someone I know well, whether I am not involved in the situation or if the situation affects me directly.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. – Ephesians 6:10-13

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Grace and peace to you.

It’s Tuesday night and I’m sitting in a Starbucks bumming wireless Internet. It’s an interesting mix of people and sounds. I’m thinking of my friend Rick Ross while “Little Drummer Boy” is playing from the speakers overhead. Two ladies nearby are discussing “men problems”, the table next to them is comprised of a middle aged couple in animated discussion. I’m guessing the man is a doctor, the woman is in a wheelchair. Around us are several college kids working on homework and projects, a cop and a guy who looks homeless except for the Mac laptop and the iPhone he’s talking on.

We live in a world full of many different people dealing with many different issues, problems, expectations, joys, crushing blows and all with different methods of dealing with whatever they are going through. Yet, for all of us sitting here, there is one answer we all need, one way to get where we should all want to go, one source for peace and true joy. My prayer tonight is that God touches each person in this room and that all of our hearts will be open to his love and his power.

Grace and peace to you.

I ate less than I thought I would but it was the sweets where I had trouble slowing down.

What’s up with Tiger Woods? His hiding will raise questions and take a little shine off his image.

I saw The Blind Side this weekend. Great story that I think anyone would enjoy. It’s not a football movie – the guy just happens to play football.
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Our youth group was singing a song a few weeks ago that was new to me but one they know and it has been floating in my head and I found it on iTunes last week and have loved playing it over and over. It addresses where God is in my life, when I’m doing stupid things I shouldn’t do, when I’m walking close to him – all the time – God never lets go. I can pull away but he is always faithful, always there for me.

Never Let Go by Matt Redman

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back
I know You are near

And I will fear no evil
For my God is with me
And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?
Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Chorus:

Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

Chorus: (2x’s)

He never lets go.

Grace and peace to you.

I don’t know as much about Bono and his religious beliefs as I might should before posting a video of him speaking at the NAACP awards but, for me, his words speak loudly and directly to my heart.

I used to dabble with the idea that God might bring a disease on someone for their sin. Today, I shudder at the idea that I would think that. I read about what Jesus did with lepers, the crippled, the blind…he LOVED those people, he TOUCHED those people. I feel more sure today than ever that were Jesus walking the streets today, he would be in the midst of people afflicted by AIDS and he would LOVE those people and he would TOUCH those people.

Again, I repeat, I am writing this for my benefit and the only finger I am pointing is aimed at the guy in the mirror.

I love the Lord and I pray that my words, my thoughts and my actions will reflect that more and more in the days to come.

Grace and peace to you.

I’ve never been a big fan of Wal-Mart but today was a good Wal-Mart day. On the way to the office, I hit something in the road that sliced the inside of one of my tires open. Wal-Mart being just up the road, I limped in before it was completely flat and let them work on it. They don’t carry my tire so they put the spare on and I can head to the big city to get the other one replaced.

Today is declared Wal-Mart Day on the Way Out Wise blog!
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I traveled to Burkburnett last night to watch my son and his team play basketball. It’s neat watching a bunch of kids I coached at one time growing up and still playing ball. I think I’ve coached at least half the boys on my sons team at one time or another. Great memories and more to be made.
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Thanksgiving is Thursday and I have so much to be thankful for – nothing more than a Savior who loves me, who has given his life for me and who has prepared an eternity for me that I can barely begin to imagine.

There’s a song we sing at church with a line that says “count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done.” I’ve never stopped to count them one by one because it would take a long, long time but it is a good exercise to embark on often.

I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with thanks for the good times and the difficult times. God is with us every step of the way.
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I’m planning to be on a blogging vacation until after the holiday weekend.

Grace and peace to you.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with someone who always says something that leaves me thinking. We were talking about Jesus and fellowship and where we see and don’t see Jesus fellowshipping and what that might tell us today. We talked about discipleship and what that might mean for our world today. I went away still convinced of two things. First, I still want to better understand God’s desire for me and how I need to live out the scriptures above. Second, I still think a return to the Christianity exhibited by a close reading of Christ’s life is coming from a younger generation who will live in a different world than I have grown up in.

I am called to be a disciple; not a church-goer, not a good person, not a finger pointer – nothing but a disciple of Jesus. What should that look like in my life? in my words? my actions? my thoughts? It is a question and a path I am working on seeing more clearly and understanding better.

I do know this, the process of taking this journey has pulled me closer to God and given me peace I didn’t know existed at one time. While I can wish I had made different decisions in the past, I cannot change history but only blaze new trails going forward and I am praying that the road I take leads me directly to the throne-room of God.

Grace and peace to you.

Today’s excerpt from Crazy Love may be the one that struck me the hardest and sent chills down my back.

Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focused on today’s to-do list, this week’s schedule and next month’s vacation. Rarely, if ever, do they intently consider the life to come. Regarding this, C.S. Lewis writes, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one.” Crazy Love p. 75

Several events have intersected in my life that have opened my eyes to who God is and brought clarity to so many things I have wrestled with in my life. Some months back, Rick Ross did a series on heaven that reached my ears at just the time I was most open to hearing it and has helped me put much more focus on eternity and not this present world. It’s not that I don’t get caught up in today’s to-do list at times but I see my shifting focus on eternity as one of the most prominent drivers in my new relationship with my Lord. (You can get the podcasts of those lessons on iTunes.)

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Col. 3:2)

Grace and peace to you.

I love easy blog titles.
I got to watch the Longhorns playing basketball last night on ESPNU. It was a good night.
Elvis Andrus came in 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting for the American League. Proof that the voting is biased and/or rigged.
Reports yesterday suggested Roger Staubach and Nolan Ryan were going to join Tom Hicks ownership group. I’d prefer Staubach and Ryan buying out Tom Hicks but you can’t win ’em all.
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Two posts from Crazy Love by Francis Chan today:

Lukewarm people are thankful for their luxuries and comforts and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor. They are quick to point out, “Jesus never said money is the root of all evil, only that the ‘love’ of money is.” Untold numbers of lukewarm people feel “called” to minister to the rich, very few feel “called” to minister to the poor. Crazy Love p. 75

Ouch.

Lukewarm people do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty. They want to do the bare minimum, to be ‘good enough’ without it requiring too much of them.

They ask “How far can I go before it’s considered a sin?” instead of “How can I keep myself pure as a temple of the Holy Spirit.”

They ask, “How do I have to give?” instead of “How much can I give?”

They ask, “How much time should I spend praying and reading my Bible?” instead of “I wish I didn’t have to go to work so I could sit here and read longer.” Crazy Love p. 76

These thoughts speak to me. They make me look inside and examine my heart. Sometimes I find answers that I believe God is pleased with. Sometimes I find answers that encourage me to change my heart and mind. All in all, I believe I have spent many years as a lukewarm Christian but I don’t feel I will be satisfied with that level any longer. I pray that my heart will continue to open wider to God’s purpose for me. I pray that for you too.

Grace and peace to you.