I had a wonderful week in Colorado. I didn’t catch as many fish as usual but caught enough to enjoy myself and the biggest one of the week was the last one I caught so it ended well. It was a good time with God’s creation and time spent with family and I’m thankful for the opportunity to take some time away and relax. I think 3 more weeks of it and I would be alright!

I love waking up on July days and seeing the back porch wet from rain.
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It was an interesting week. I was reminded of the story of Abraham and Sarah and how God had them wait to fulfill His promise to them. They took things into their own hands and it led to battles that still exist today but God’s plan was good and perfect.

How many times do I get tired of waiting for God? How many times have I taken things into my own hands only to find my ideas weren’t so great?

My prayer today is that I will learn to wait and that I will wait with joy and peace in knowing that God will deliver.

Grace and peace to you.

Another blogging holiday of sorts. I’m going to be out more than in over the next couple of weeks so posts will be sporadic at best. I hope to come back somewhat rested, more relaxed and ever closer to my Lord.
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Did anyone stay up with the Rangers last night? I dropped out in the 8th inning but woke up to find they had won and are tied for 1st place again. I also heard Chris Davis was 3-for-4 at one point in his AAA game last night.
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Do you ever read scripture that haunts you, that stays in the back of your mind interjecting itself in your thoughts periodically? I’ve got a few of those and one that I juggle constantly is Acts 2:42-47. I wonder what that would/should look like today. Is it a picture of me running from here to there with all my busyness and periodically saying a good word to someone or doing something for someone every now and then. Is it a picture of a nicer house, a nicer car, more gadgets?

It haunts me because I wonder what those verses mean for me, what are they telling me, where are they leading me, what are the things I need to be doing differently?

I’m afraid many in this country have thought it was a favored nation because we were prosperous. Is there any chance prosperity comes from satan? Is there any chance the good things we can afford or not always, if ever, from God but from one who wants to occupy our time, our money, our hearts?

God loves me and He gave me all I needed long, long ago. What I needed lived and hung on a cross and died and walked out of a tomb. What I needed…what God wants me to have is the hope and promise that only Jesus provides.

Grace and peace to you.

How do we see people? Today is the memorial circus for Michael Jackson and we will be bombarded with more stories of how people will remember him, either the rascal or the entertainer. How do people see him? How will he be remembered? I turned on ESPN this morning and the first story was Steve McNair, recently shot and killed allegedly with by his girlfriend. It was followed with former coaches and teammates talking about how they will remember him.

Two guys who have died and are having their legacy discussed in the media. Two guys who certainly made mistakes and took some wrong paths. Two guys who did a lot of good things and helped people in various ways. Two guys who, except for their fame, aren’t much different than the rest of us. How do we see them? How will we talk about them?

I read The Shack recently and what the book gave me was the idea, the question, of how I will see people. Do I see them through my experience, through my idea of justice, through my idea of right and wrong or will I see them through the eyes of their Maker and Creator, of their Father who is also my Father?

I walk through Wally World and see People and National Enquirer magazines with all the latest scoops (and a little dirt) or get snippets of the latest rumor about people on the Internet – how do I see them? With my eyes or God’s eyes?

Brandon Heath sings a song that speaks to me. The chorus goes like this:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

I want to see people through God’s eyes. I will see them differently.
I want to see people through God’s love. I will feel differently about them.
I want to see people through God’s heart. I will have more compassion.

God, give me your eyes, your love and your heart for people.

Grace and peace to you.

Does it seem like Monday gets here faster than any other day of the week?

July 4th came and went uneventfully. No fires, no one lost an eye. I think I saw more fireworks than ever before though. Out driving Saturday night, they were going off everywhere. Big ones.

I appreciate the country I live in and am thankful for what I have. The freedoms we do have are a gift from the sweat and blood many have poured out for us.

As thankful as I am for this freedom I have, there is a greater freedom for me to grab hold of. I still get too many emails trying to link my freedom through Christ with the country I live in. I heard a question yesterday that had me thinking – does God love Americans more than Brazilians? more than Russians? Does God love Americans more than He loves Muslims? Does He love me more than He loves Osama Bin Laden? I don’t think so.

We Americans need to remember living in this country doesn’t give us greater favor in Heaven. Satan is an equal opportunity killer and his desire to rob our souls is no different than his desire to rob the soul of a terrorist. He gives them the desire to kill and has them think it is in the name of God. He gives us the desire to feel pride, maybe arrogance, and to feel safe in our prosperity and some try to tie it to a “Christian nation.”

I won’t be surprised to see a day when our prosperity ends and our freedoms fade in this country but no one can take away the freedom I have in God – the freedom to love, to give, to share, to be gracious and merciful – those freedoms are mine forever. The sweat and the blood have been given for me and the cross is my constant reminder that I have a freedom that far exceeds anything I can know because I’m an American.

Grace and peace to you.

The 4th invokes so many thoughts and feelings for people because of all that it represents. While this is a great opportunity for a stirring, patriotic moment, the 4th always takes me back to a Sunday lunch when my grandmother kept telling me about a fire someone started years earlier shooting off fireworks. The conversation came up because I was going, that night, to shoot fireworks with a friend. We would be out in the country shooting them over a clay ravine. No hint of potential fire.

We were having a blast and everything was great with only one misfire – a bottlerocket that flew off behind us. Weird but everything seemed OK and we kept firing away. It was a few minutes later when my friend yelled “FIRE!” I turned around, saw a fire, turned back around to light another bottlerocket when realization clicked in. Yep, that was a fire. Our little misfired bottlerocket had gone behind us into a pile of dead pine needles. At this point the fire was a good 8 feet across and growing…growing towards the house of the brother of my friend who was out of town.

I’ll spare you all the crazy details (I learned what a party line phone was that night) but the fire was eventually put out with the help of the fire department who got there more than an hour after we had been fighting to contain it on our own.

If you are shooting fireworks this weekend…don’t start a fire. Take some time to remember what we celebrate and be safe.

Grace and peace to you.

Whatever. I’m not sure it will ever be cool again.

Hammerin’ Hank hit a 2 run walk off homerun last night and the Rangers beat the Angels 9-7. Francisco doesn’t look like he’s ready to resume the closer role just yet but the bats are coming alive and the Rangers just took 2 out of 3 with the division leaders.
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Do you ever notice Satan blinding you to your own problems? Do you ever notice Satan blinding someone else from their own problems. I think most of us would fit in the second category more than the first because that’s what Satan wants to do – get our focus on someone else and their problems.

I want to let God be in control of what I see, not Satan, and I want Him to make me aware of my shortcomings because doing so will draw me closer to Him who can give me the strength to win.

How focused can people be on Michael Jackson, Governor Sanford, Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson or even where the Rangers are in the standings and never examine their own lives? I don’t want to live in that world and be caught up in the things that don’t really matter. I want to know and see the battle I am engaged in and be focused to fight that battle through the power of my Lord.

Grace and peace to you.

Yes, I do know my days of the week and the Rangers lost again. I listened to some of the post-game radio show and there are calls to hire a new hitting coach. People are so reactive at times. There are times when nothing but time will fix things. The hitting coach has been regarded as a guru for years and players who are suffering at the plate want to come to him to find what they have lost. Just because not everyone finds it at once, on the same pace, at the same time, others want to denounce the guy who can help them the most? Crazy.
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We had a bit of a cold front yesterday and I actually saw a temperature of 77 and felt a few rain drops. Woohoo! Do you ever wonder why God doesn’t set the thermostat at 75 degrees around the world and leave it there?
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One of the best things in my life are people who will talk to me about what they believe and what I believe, share our agreements and differences, challenge each other to think and examine our beliefs more and do it with mutual respect and love for each other. It’s a beautiful gift.

I can’t get going this morning.

I’ve wondered while watching all the Michael Jackson hoopla and Iran protests on TV what it would have been like if there was TV back in Jesus’ day.

I enjoyed it while the Rangers were on top. Now I’m left to wonder what the rest of the season will be like. The past few years, the Rangers have started off horribly and finished strong. Maybe they are in a collective slump and will still finish strong and be in the playoff hunt.

I am a little concerned with all the trade talk. I don’t think they are in a position to contend for a World Series spot this year so why trade the prized farm system they keep talking about. Play the string out and see what the young guys can do unless we can get a great deal.

The Angels are coming to town. We want learn everything over the next 3 games but we may learn about the heart of the team. I’ll be watching.

I wonder how much more attention Farrah Fawcett’s death would have received if Michael Jackson hadn’t died the same day.

I love to grill but it’s weird thinking about starting a fire when it’s 108 degrees outside.

We’ve started a class at church titled “What Is Truth?” Pilate asks Jesus that question and then walks away. Why wouldn’t he stay for an answer? We’re just a few classes in but I’m interested to see where it goes. I keep asking myself what we have done to truth over the years. Have we really upheld truth or have we mutated it to fit our desires, have we legalized it thinking it would make it easier to follow? Have we stayed true to exactly what Jesus taught? Questions that I don’t have all the answer to.

I know this…God loves me deeply and He loves you the same way. He paid an incredible price for me and for you because He loves each of us so much. That is truth.

Grace and peace to you.

It’s hard in a short blog to always cover all the bases but I want to add a little bit more to my last two posts.

The finger I am pointing is pointing square at me. It’s not pointing at my current church or past churches I have attended. It’s not pointing at the church across the street or around the corner. Just at me.

Maybe there’s a better way to phrase “my church experience” but it’s all I came up with . Anyway, it’s MY experience and it’s MY heart that has needed changing all along. I will say if you felt your toes were getting stepped on you may want to examine your own heart but please do not think I was talking about you or anyone else.

I am growing and experiencing a new relationship with God and through that my eyes are opening to all sorts of things. My church experience was a part of that. Do I think there are lots of people out there who were like me? Sure. I am trying to point out their issues? NO. Just mine.

I have learned that my view is shaped in great part by my heart relationship with God. I’m sharing some of what I’m learning because a) it is part of my healing and b) it may help someone else who has traveled the same or similar paths to mine.

Please know and believe my desire is to build up the kingdom. I believe God is a perfect God and I believe His ways and His desires are perfect.

I love God and shout hallelujah that I am His.

Grace and peace to you.

I beat up on my church experience yesterday but I don’t want to leave the story there because it’s not complete. The crazy thing about a church is that it will not be perfect. It’s made up of people who, though made in God’s image, are sinful. I think God knew this was going to happen but it didn’t stop Him from creating the church.

When I was a teenager, I was at a friend’s lakehouse and his dad told me “I can find God out here easier than I can at church.” At the time, I didn’t know what to say and, even today, I’m not sure I can give a good response to him because it’s not about the church but his heart. Christ established the church with Peter. In Matthew 16, ¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter,^a]”>[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^b]”>[b] will not overcome it.^{c]”>[c] 19}I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^d]”>[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^e]”>[e] loosed in heaven.”



Jesus said this to Peter, the same Peter who would later vehemently deny he knew the Christ, Peter the fiery cut-off-someone’s-ear guy. Hmmm. Maybe, just maybe, even Jesus knew things wouldn’t always run perfectly in the church because Jesus says “on this rock I will build my church” and surely He knew what Peter would later do. Should we think He expects we will be better than that?

What I have found at my church are some people who love the Lord our God deeply and intimately. I have found some people who will carry each other’s burdens an extra mile. I have found people who love unconditionally, who bear with each other, who endure with each other and who believe in each other. I have found people who come together on Sunday morning to worship, fall at the feet of and give praise to the Lord.

For all the imperfections that exist, there is also something perfect in the church – the desire of God for us to come together and it is in that perfection that I have grown to love my church and look forward to the times we are together in worship and in fellowship.

Grace and peace to you.