Hangin' on

Some do really well with stress and struggle, pain and suffering, others find it painful to just hold on. It's been a very busy day for me with two speaking opportunities on opposite sides of our metroplex. I love the times I get to teach the word, but there are times when I find it painful to just hold on and get everything done. Today I'm tired, but smiling....holding on, but happy. God has been good to me and I'm blessed to be able to talk about Jesus and teach the bible...what an amazing job I have. So whether the days feel like I'm just holding on or ready to drop....I'll be smilin'....

I'm excited. Tomorrow I will be speaking at the National Conference for Grace Evangelical Society. I'm teaching one of the breakout sessions. It's only 40 minutes of teaching, but those who attend are great students of the word and I know I have my work cut out for me. I would appreciate your prayers. I have spoken in dozens of different venues over the years, but this is my first time as a speaker for a national conference. I'll let you know how it went tomorrow.

Quote of the day

Smiles

Oreo crumbs...chocolate milk....and anything else you can put IN a 2 year old mouth will also be everywhere else ON a 2 year old. I love it! A ferocious 2 year old pretending to be a lion and roaring for all he's worth is really cute when he's covered in Oreo crumbs. I just wanted to share with you one of the things that makes me smile....an awesome grandson. (Click on the photo if you really want to be grossed out!)

Running on empty...

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Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields
In sixty-five I was seventeen and running up one-on-one
I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on ...
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Running on-running on empty
Running on-running blind
Running on-running into the sun
But I'm running behind

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Gotta do what you can just to keep your love alive
Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive
In sixty-nine I was twenty-one and I called the road my own
I don't know when that road turned into the road I'm on

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Running on-running on empty
Running on-running blind
Running on-running into the sun
But I'm running behind

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Everyone I know, everywhere I go
People need some reason to believe
I don't know about anyone but me
If it takes all night, that'll be all right
If I can get you to smile before I leave

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Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels
I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels
I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through
Looking into their eyes I see them running too

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Running on-running on empty
Running on-running blind
Running on-running into the sun
But I'm running behind

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Honey you really tempt me
You know the way you look so kind
I'd love to stick around but I'm running behind
You know I don't even know what I'm hoping to find
Running into the sun but I'm running behind

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Running on Empty (Jackson Browne, 1977)

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I have heard this song many times on the radio, but this is honestly the first time I have read the lyrics. It's amazing how common this feeling is in people I talk to. There is a common chord ringing in my ear as I listen to the stories of people's lives- they aren't happy...they want a change...but they don't know what to do so they keep going down the same empty road with an empty gas tank...an empty heart...no direction...no hope....but moving on down the road. Why do we continue to live such empty lives? This very theme is why country music is so popular. It rings the same chords in the listeners....no hope, no job, no girl, no dog.....but I've got my beer.

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What a stupid race of people we are to continue to live this way when God has provided and promised a solution to our emptiness through faith in Jesus Christ. It seems we prefer the empty autonomy to the fulfilled dependence that God offers, and I think that is the core of the issue. WE want to be god in our lives and so emptiness is the result. We refuse to bow to the God who promises and provides our completeness. It seems we would rather be our own gods and be empty....how sad.

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Anticipating Easter

We are quickly approaching the time of year when Christians remember the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. For those who know him it's a time of great worship because in this time we remember what God has done for us to demonstrate his great love...he became a man and died on a cross to pay for our sins. For those who don't know him it seems silly, foolish or stupid, but for the Christian it's a time of great joy as we remember and praise him for what he has done for us. It's hard for me to describe how big this really is. God's intrusion into the history of this planet and his death on the cross has marked all of human history with a key event that has changed everything. God had driven a stake in the ground and changed all of history with that action. That stake is the cross and the change is that by faith alone I can now come before a holy God, be forgiven of my sin and have eternal life! Anticipating Easter is always a time of worship for me. I'm so excited that God's love made such an amazing statement to the human race....and I'm glad I believed.

Earth hour

In honor of those trying to save the planet I thought I would participate in "Earth hour." Here's my contribution-

Happy "Earth hour!"

Something fun for a Friday

Quote of the day

"We're in God's hands."

--Martin Schulz, 52, has been chairman of the Socialist group in the European Parliament since 2004. The German politician, from the Social Democratic Party, is a member of his party's federal executive committee, where he is in charge of foreign policy.

Quote of the day

"Because of Calvary, unbelievers don't have a sin problem, they have a Son problem." --Lewis Sperry Chafer

What will you do?

Over the years I have noticed something both in scripture and in my life that I want to talk about. I have noticed that often God will "step off the stage" of my life and allow my "play" to go on with his apparent absence. He's watching from the wings to be sure, but he's left the stage to see what I will do. He is letting me make the choices, choose the script, act my part as he watches. What will I do? How will I deal with the situations of life, the temptations that come, the challenges and tests? What will I do? When the act is over I will get his commentary, but he gives me the freedom to make choices. Will I walk with him even when he's nowhere to be seen or will I choose my own way and find his bad review at the end of the play? One of the men of the bible went through this in his own life...here's what the scripture says about his solo performance on the stage of life-

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Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did.
2Ch 32:31 But when the rulers of Babylon sent emissaries to find out about the sign from God that had taken place earlier, God left him on his own to see what he would do; he wanted to test his heart.
2Ch 32:32 The rest of the history of Hezekiah and his life of loyal service, you can read for yourself--it's written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

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When God leaves you on your own to see what you will do, to test your heart, what will you do?

The mercy of God

Psalm 119:132 Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.

Last night I had the amazing opportunity to teach through the book of Revelation once more. I'm nearly finished with our 14 weeks together, but last night we came to chapters 14-16. Chapter 16 caught my attention because in this passage we find, for the first time in the history of man, a time when the mercy of God is suspended. As the world comes to the end of time we also come to the time when God unleashes his wrath on a wicked unrepentant world. Reading through this passage made me keenly aware that we have never known a time on planet earth when the mercy of God was absent. We live in the very air of his mercy and most are unaware of it. I'm so grateful for his amazing mercy to us. I can only imagine how bad the days will be when his mercy is suspended and we see the world's response to his judgment. It's not a good day. I am grateful for his ever present mercy, and I am glad I will never know a time when it is absent in my life.

God and science

I read an interesting article online today about God and science. It's interesting to me because as I read the different views it is very clear that if you don't want to see God in the grand scheme of things you won't. And, likewise, if you believe in God and his divine hand in creation you see him everywhere. What is clear to me is that whatever view you accept it's a step of faith. You choose what you will believe and then all the evidence lines up very nicely for you. You can't imagine how anyone could disagree with you because your view makes so much sense. But behind it all is a step of faith. For me the step towards a grand designer is a very small one. It's amazingly clear to me. There is so much around me that has no explanation apart from a grand designer. I see his handiwork and evidence of his existence everywhere I look. All that I see speaks of his wonderful power and wisdom. It's a real faith based on his word, his world and my relationship with him.
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Psa 19:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Psa 19:2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.
Psa 19:3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.
Psa 19:4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world.

What would you say? (conclusion)

Last week I shared a proposition with you. (See my March 16th post for the proposition.)

The question was this, "What would you say?" The answer is revealed in the lives of men of faith through the centuries starting with the life of David, a man after God's own heart. David is the first to have his life laid bare to us. Both His good choices and his bad are written for us to read. His journals (Psalms) have been a blessing and encouragement to believers for centuries. He didn't do everything perfectly. God knows that won't happen in any of our lives, but he wanted God's will in his life.

Men and women through the centuries have followed his example and have demonstrated what God can do with those who want to follow God above all else. So, what would you say? If you could only see all that God is doing in your life for HIS glory, if you could only see how he's taking your messy life and making it a model of his grace you would say "YES, please tell everyone all that YOU have done in my life"....because God's goal is his glory and our good.

A curious adventure

I have not been sure how to describe this, but a week ago we went to a conference in Colorado Springs and while there ate at a Moroccan restaurant in Manitou Springs.

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The surprise was the dinner entertainment. A picture should tell you everything....

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unless you have questions that must be answered.