The Walk With God

It's been a while since I posted but I thought I would try it again for a while. The next few posts are going to be about my walk with God over the 15 months. Pardon the gramatical errors and the bizarre shifts in emotion. The writing occurred in real time and I didn't know where it would go or where God would take me.

Thanks for reading...

Standing On Principle

In today's society, there doesn't seem to be many people willing to stand for anything. Principles and truth seem to be subject to interpretation and opinion. Have you ever heard, "don't place your values on me"? When individuals do stand up for a values or truth based value they are raked over the coals as being judgemental or "holier than thou".

Standing for truth should be easy when you are with people that share your values. However, the problem with that is that we are people. Even when we "share" values, we are human and humans seem to let their will get in the way of the truth.

As a Christian, we have to be dedicated to our cause which is Christ. We cannot allow our will or our preferences or even our egos to get in the of His will. We make Christianity into more of a secular club where our preferences determine who's in and who's out. In reality, God only wants one thing, a personal relationship with us. He wants our love, not our rules. We limit God by creating parameters for relationship with Him.

I want to stand on the Principles that He has given us. I'm willing to fight for those...

Where Is My Refuge

PSALMS 18

"I love You, O LORD, my strength." 2The LORD is my rock and my fortress and shelter, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. 4The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. 5The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 6In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears. 7Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

Sometimes, life is confusing, frustrating, painful. Sometimes it feels like the world is coming down around you. Sometimes you just feel vulnerable and alone. But truly, we are never alone. This excerpt from Psalms reminds us that we don't have to go to God; He hears our cries for help and He responds. When we are under attack, God is angry and He is there. Notice the power that our Father brings. The visual of the foundations of the mountains trembling is incredible.

I have felt frustration lately, but I know, and can feel, God there in my time of distress. This promise is there for me and for you.

Image Is Everything

Obama seems to have had his first press fumble Monday when his campaign handlers would not allow two Muslim women, in full head scarves, to be in a photo op (see article). The incident shows how tenuous things are for the democratic nominee. His campaign has to first embrace the man of the people persona they have developed for him while not letting him to be tied to any element that would offend his shaky base. No, Obama, is not a Muslim. He's a black man, with an ethnic name, trying to make history. His campaign was wrong for making this mistake. The American people judging the man by his name or the color of his skin are wrong for making these things issues. Don't get me wrong, I hope the guy loses and loses big. But not because he's black or because his name is Obama. I hope he loses because of his beliefs and his position on the issues. It's a shame that politics is more about image than about ideas...

More Inconvenient Truth

Why won't he just go away. He got voted down once, now he's back, supporting Obama and spreading more hypocrisy. Yes, the king of the tree huggers is out telling us to beware of our carbon footprint, however, in a new report by a Tennessee watchdog group, Sir Albert was found to be causing more pollution than just the things he's saying. Gore's new "Greener" Tennessee home is using more electricity which, in turn, pollutes the environment more. The group found that in the past year the number of kilowatt hours Gore's home used was up 10% or enough to supply over 200 normal homes for more than a month.

I have friends who are green and, quite frankly, I see the benefits of an Eco friendly lifestyle, but I can't stand for some blabbering politico to preach to me as part of a socialist tactic to control my life only to find out they can practice what they preach. And that's the truth...

BAD, BAD, BAD

WARNING: I'm about to scold a bunch of you parents.

OK people, listen up. I am absolutely sick (no pun intended) and tired of you people that let your kid go to church, school or other social functions when little Suzie is carrying some funky stomach virus, flu or some other infectious plague. I spent Wednesday night, or I should say Thursday morning, cleaning barf out of the carpet because some irresponsible parent didn't do the right thing and keep their precious kiddie home when they were sick. Those of you that ever knowingly participate in this practice should go through a FULL body waxing and then have to soak in an alcohol bath. I shouldn't have to be cleaning pasta shells out of the shag because you don't want to do your job. It's time for you lame butt caretakers to man up and do your job. BE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in"?

But it's only a "penny for our thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool LANE?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do you know that the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

I'm Sorry

I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever participated in the legalism that today's churches/denominations have become. Tim sent me a link to a couple of articles today that have shamed me. Some have laughed at these write ups but for me, I'm simply embarrassed.

Baptists and Baptism

Church of Christ and Music

I'm sorry that we have let His church become a secular club with rules we humans have created. I'm sorry we have lost the message of the old and new testaments that we are first to LOVE GOD and secondly LOVE OTHERS. Our churches have become the equivalent to the Moose Lodge with our initiation a simple dunk in water. We have lost the meaning of baptism, we have argued over our type of praise, we have put our focus on buildings and forgot that God dwells in our hearts. I fear we have put ourselves at risk with the Holy Father by ignoring his call for our hearts and nothing more. Shame on us for allowing this. Shame on our leaders for not stopping this.

To anyone who has been hurt by church legalism and dogma, I'm sorry.

Who Cares??

Recently, Susan Surandon made a promise, similar to the one that Alec Baldwin once made, that if John McCain is elected president, she will move to another Country. My question is, who cares? Actors like Suranden, Baldwin, Sean Penn, Jane Fonda and the like seem to feel empowered to tell us what is right and how we should think. Are they more educated? Are they more experienced in politics? What is there value? Well Jane Fonda once sat on a cannon of a North Vietnamese Tank. Penn recently met with the dictator Hugo Chavez. These people look at the shallow press they get and believe because they can effectively play pretend they have some superior knowledge and vision. Look, I'm holding Surandon to her word. I hope she moves to Venezuela with Penn and Chavez. Our Country would be better with out them.

My Campaign For Presidency

I am officially announcing that, as of today, I, the Coach(c), am running for President of the United States. I look at the field of so called candidates and find it in desperate need of a different kind of participant. I will not be the candidate of change, I will not be a moderate.

I am the candidate of the newly formed conservative party. As our party embarks on its first election, I want to insure you, the voters, I will uphold our parties founding tenants. We will defeat the socialistic slide in which our Country has begun. We will shrink our government dramatically, we will remove the enemies of our nation and we will bring back Happy Days.

Tonight, I want to share just a few of my plans as your next president, and I want to introduce you to my running mate.

I have chosen, as my Vice President, Big Dave. One thing stands out about Big Dave, he laughs at all of my jokes. I need that kind of symmetry in my White House. Now on to the issues.

I promise to replace our current income tax system with a 10% flat tax applicable to all tax payers making more than $21,000 (single) a year or $35,000 (family) a year. This will eliminate the need for the IRS. I will replace this bureaucracy with Bob from account temps. I've heard his commercials and he seems to be a real go getter. This will save approximately $7 billion a year in administrative costs to our government.

I also will eliminate the department of energy. Quite frankly, I have no idea what they do.

I will eliminate the department of education. This will be the sole responsibility of the States.

I will eliminate any funding for National Public Radio. I am selling it's assets to Rupert Murdock. It will be called National Private Radio.

I will eliminate the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. It's time for the FBI to stand on it's own two feet.

On the military front, I will immediately remove all troop deployments from Europe. We will also be leaving Korea. Good luck guys, not our responsibility. We will also be removing our troops from Iraq and redeploying them in Israel. Finally, we will be "expanding our presence" in Cuba. Think of it as an inappropriate land grab.

We will remove all limitations of drilling for oil in Anwar, Alaska and along the coast of the United States. We will "claim" any oil platform being used by any other sovereign state in the region.

WE WILL build a gigantic wall along the border with Mexico. NO INGRESS OR EGRESS ALLOWED. Yes, we are going to become "those neighbors". Those aliens here illegally will be found and thrown back over the wall.

Please let me know if you will support my candidacy.

God of Fire

So how do you picture God? Is the the old white man with a beard? How about a fierce warrior. I know, we are made in God's image but there is something finite about imagining God as a man.

I have another question. If you were describing fire to a blind man how would you do it? Hot, powerful? brilliant? Fire is difficult to describe. It can bring terrible destruction but it is also vital to life. Fire can consume, but it can also bring light. The shape of a flame is ever changing yet the flame of a candle is steady and true.

As humans we try to find many ways to describe God. Scripture to fire in this regard all throughout the old and new testament. The angel of God appeared to Moses as a fire in the burning bush. God guided the Israelites with a fiery pillar. Offerings were made to God through fire. Think about the tabernacle. There was a single candle outside the holy of holies that would point the way to the "Light of the World" that would come to shed light on the gift of salvation. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles as a flame. Ultimately, God has promised to destroy the world with fire.

The description is fitting for the very powerful provider of all light. It is fitting that God does not define himself in an inanimate object but in a leaving breathing force outside the finite human species. The next time you look at a camp fire or a fire in your hearth at home and feel the warmth on your face, no that God is with you; he will always provide warmth when the world is cold and he will always provide light in the darkest hours of our life.

The End Is Near

As you can see from the photo, the rigors of the Presidential campaign have worn Hillary down tremendously. But it will all soon be over. The end game, however, will probably be the most interesting part of the contest. How will she exit. Obama would be crazy to make her his running mate. He would be stuck with Bill, also. He may buy her off, literally (see article). Most likely he will promise her some sort of cabinet position. We should all know how will end later this week...

We Make It So Hard

Do you, in your religious experience, ever feel tired? Do you ever feel like there's a lot to do to fulfill your obligation at church? Do you ever feel empty? Like there must be something more? Do you feel bored in your spiritual walk? We place such a premium on conversion into our faith(s) that we fail in the most important part, and that is to grow to know God, our Father, our Saviour, our Redeemer, in the intimate way he craves. Conversion is the beginning, not the end. Yet once we are "saved" we seem, or at least many I know seem, to wonder around aimlessly, filling our spiritual walk with ritual meant to bring us in lockstep with others rather than digging deep into a personal relationship with Him that saved us to begin with.

I read the first part of a book last night by a man named A.W. Tozer. The book, "The Pursuit of God", really focused in on this feeling. It hammered away at our so called ritual and how we seem to add to the simplicity of just knowing our God. I think we find this boredom in our spiritual walks because we don't know where we are walking. My wife made this statement recently, "we seem to always be talking about change in our worship but nobody ever changes anything. Kinda sounds like politicians today doesn't it. ANYWAY, Tozer made this statement that I found hits all of this square on the head:

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.

Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy
time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and the servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

If we would find God amid all the religious externals we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity. Now as always God discovers Himself to `babes' and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond.

When religion has said its last word, there is little that we need other than God Himself. The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the `and' lies our great woe. If we omit the `and', we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.

It's simple, really, we are not called to have grand programs or ministries, we are called to long for a relationship with the Father. Inspiring worship and this change we discuss will be manifest in the elimination of the man made inhibitions we put on worship and will all be in direct correlation to the more intimate relationship we have with God. It's just a shame we can't figure this out...

What To Do With McCellan

Why does Scott McCellan write this book? Why does he openly bash the President and those in the inner circle at the White House? We'll get to this in a second, but I have another question? Why do all of the current and former White House staff use the exact same talking points in referring to the book?

McCellan is clearly ticked at the folks on Pennsylvania Avenue. At some point he was terribly loyal but after his dismissal, he obviously became bitter and decided to take a pound of flesh from his former employers. But I don't think everything he says can be dismissed so easily. Oh, the junk about the war has been beat up enough but I am concerned about the way Rove and Vice President Cheney seem to force theory into becoming fact. I think Valerie Plame and her husband are weasels but it seems that Rove decided to act like a Clinton operative in dealing with them, that is discredit at any cost. Cheney and Rumsfeld pressed for the Iraq war and may have pressed too hard. Only time and history will tell.

I've seen and worked with people like McCellan before. They will speak out of school and inflame a tough situation simply to settle a score. But I also know that there's an ounce of truth in most similar situations. That is a real concern. Or as the talking points go "that's puzzling".

Carl Spackler, Sharon Stone and the Dalai Lama

What do Carl Spackler (see photo), Sharon Stone and the great Dalai Lama have in common? They are all part of the puzzle that prove my theory that society is devolving. Please participate in this study by watching Carl explain his relationship to the Lama (Video 1), then watch the great diplomat, Sharon Stone discuss why the Chinese earthquake was Karma for China's treatment of Tibet and Dalai himself (Video 2). Oh, the pain of seeing the human race turn into this. Oh the agony. Is there an intellectual difference in Carl and Sharon? I say not.

WORTH THE TIME TO WATCH BOTH VIDZ.

Two Funerals

My maternal grandfather and my paternal grandmother past away about six months apart 3 years ago. The two funerals were so different and to me clearly painted a picture of our relationship with God.

My grandfather past away in early December. The night of his funeral, the funeral home was packed. My family had a number of friends there from church. Many people my grandfather had impacted in life were there. I had the privilege of officiating the ceremony. Right before I went up to begin speaking, one of my brothers in Christ came and spent time with me in prayer. A prayer for strength and clarity. The funeral itself was a celebration of his life. There were times in the ceremony where we were able to laugh and of course there were times to cry but the night was truly a blessing. Many people joined us the following morning for a small grave side service and burial. Afterwards, a large number of attendees came back to my home to eat and talk. As we walked in the door of our house, Christian friends of ours were already there preparing food. It was clear to see the blessings of being in relationship with God.

My grandmother passed away in June. The family had no spiritual walk. No relationship with other Christians. They are a very selfish family. As I walked into the funeral home, just a couple of hours before the funeral, there were very few people there. My father and aunts were not speaking to each other. Some trivial matter had caused a significant rift and they couldn't humble themselves long enough to provide comfort and love to each other. My dad walked up and thanked me for coming. Imagine, thanking a grandchild for attending his grandmother's funeral. He and I had not talked for a year or so before the funeral so all interaction was very awkward. As I stood with my wife and boys friends from my Christian fellowship began to show up. I had not "spread the word" about her death at all. That's kinda how it is with true Christians. They get in your business and know what's going on even when you don't think you want them around. I ended up with more people there to support me than my grandfather, dad and two aunts had, combined. Anyway, there was no funeral. We followed the hertz to the graveyard for a small, secular graveside service. One of my aunts began to weep bitterly. No one went to her comfort. I finally walked over and put my hands on her shoulders. It was the only consolation she would receive. At the end of the very awkward ceremony, they laid her casket in the grave. My dad and grandad stood over the grade for a few minutes and then my dad walked to his car and drove off. Eventually, everyone went their own way. No gathering, no comforting, just a box in the ground and a bunch of individuals going their own way.

The sadness of this visual, in contrast to the celebration of life from the first funeral, seems to provide the perfect contrast to life with and without Christ. With Christ death is not an end, it is not a time of complete sorrow, there is comfort in time of pain, there is family that supports you through a tough time. Without Christ, there is a box, with a lifeless body, placed in a box, laid in the ground with no other purpose than to rot away.

The gifts of God are many. They are in every part of our lives. Wouldn't you rather have the support and love seen in the first funeral or the pain and loneliness of the second?

Ellen and Gay Marriage

You have to give it to McCain. He showed guts in going on a show like the Ellen show yesterday (see clip). Ellen took him on regarding his opposition to gay marriage. She likened his position to the way Black's were treated during the 60's. The position is appalling. Black people are a race of people. Blacks were treated like they were not human. Blacks were not granted the same civil rights that people like me have always enjoyed.

Homosexuals are not a race of people. They have never been asked to sit at the back of the bus, to use a different restroom, to enter public buildings through a different door. They have never been denied the right to vote or told they could not attend the same school as other kids. When have homosexuals been sprayed with fire hoses in the streets or arrested because they walked into a restaurant?

No "right" has ever been taken away from homosexuals. The fact is, marriage was never meant for same sex couples. Marriage has always been for one man and one woman. Ellen's argument could be used by the polygamists and pedophiles but the fact is it just doesn't hold water. And it is an insult to people who have had to struggle for true equal rights.

Obama and Clinton

As you can see from this recent photo, Hillary and Barack are still at it. It's been strange watching to Dem's attack each other the way they have. I have also been amazed at the verbal missteps of the politically savvy Clinton. Personally, I found her comment about Bobby Kennedy's assassination to be much to do about nothing. But she has stepped on her forked tongue too many times to count. She has also underestimated a very worthy opponent in Obama. Her entitlement mentality and his change for change sake campaign has turned the tables on what, quite frankly, should have been a land slide for Clinton. Assuming can get you in trouble and she clearly assumed she would walk away with this campaign.

Now the Dem's are in trouble. If Obama doesn't put her on the ticket, he risks alienating a large part of his base. If he does put her on their, he risks being overshadowed by her and the Billster and being picked apart by the comments she has made through the election.

Can't wait to see how this one will end.

Stupid Politics

So what is a government to do when oil prices are too high? Sue foreign nations for price fixing. Once again, our goofy congressional leaders show they don't belong in leadership roles. Here's how it works. The department of justice files price fixing charges against OPEC. If they win the case, we then freeze assets in the U.S. belonging to the offending nations.

The problem is, that this type of move fuels futures speculators which drives prices higher. Additionally, these foreign offenders draw their assets out of the U.S. before we can collect causing more damage to the economy.

I'm a just a simple man, but even I can figure out this is stupid. These guys should just stick to investigating professional sports.

Notable Quote from the Presumptive Dem. Nominee

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.
"That's not leadership. That's not going to happen."

Didn't know that this is the President's call... And why is it that we have to explain how we live to other Countries? Oh, and did Obama get to this campaign stop by wind powered automobile??? Don't get me started.