Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to one and all.  Today is a day of reflecting on the greatest gift, Jesus.

Grace and peace to you.

It Should All Be Fun and Games

What a night.  I was supposed to leave work early to meet some missionaries for dinner but stayed late helping an employee and friend through a small minefield.  I was going to go home for a nice dinner and watch a movie and relax (which I still accomplished) but it was between texts and phone calls with one friend who's dad was in the ER for chest pains and another friend who was dealing with two children who were making bad decisions and paying the consequences for them. 

Oh, how my heart hurts for these people, for the pain and stress of what these issues are bringing them at a time that is supposed to be filled with joy. 

I can't help but to go to Ephesians 6 over and over, never more than last night.

Lord, come quickly.  In the meantime, keep my friends strong and give me the wisdom to help how I can.  And, if I can ask this, thump the enemy on his head really, really hard.

Grace and peace to you.

Christmas Already?

It seems like Christmas is a month away.  At least that's what it seems like when I look at the presents I've bought compared with what I need at this late date.  It's looking like I'll just be giving Christmas cheer this year! 

Lyle Lovett at Bass Hall.  It's a great way to spend a pre-holiday night and made a fabulous Christmas present to myself.  Next up...Robert Earl Keen, Jr. on December 30. 

I haven't been to my church on Sunday in 5 weeks.  Time flies by.  Places to be, things to be done.  Time with friends, family and work have kept me on the go.  I miss it.  I miss seeing some of my brothers who lift me up and give me strength.  I miss singing some wonderful songs of praise and hymns that stir my heart.  I miss hearing a challenge or thought from Rick that causes me to take time to reflect on God.  

I'm looking forward to Sunday.  To being back with the body, with my family worshipping the great I AM.

Grace and peace to you.

The Hard Days

December 17 is a hard day.  A day with bad memories.  It comes just shortly before Christmas, a time that is supposed to be a happy time, a celebratory time...and yet the days leading up to Christmas are hard days.  

How is one supposed to get through hard days?  How am I supposed to get through hard days with a smile of my face and a spring in my step?  The easy answer is Jesus, the son of God who has suffered more than any other human but the easy answer doesn't immediately make me feel warm and fuzzy.  

This I know.  The hard days move into history and my hope is that in the days to come, on the December 17th's that will follow, the days will be easier and the pain will lessen.  I do trust in God to bring healing.  December 17 will never be a day of great happiness for what has happened in this world but I know in my head that there can still be joy for what is to come.  I look forward from that knowledge moving from my head to my heart.

Grace and peace to you.

Las Vegas

I recently spent roughly ten days in Las Vegas and I come away amazed at what goes on in that town each time.  The money spent.  The alcohol consumed.  The scantily-clad dancers in the middle of casinos and the who-knows-how-clad dancers in other places.  The smoke.  The noise.  It's sensory overload.

All in all, I had a good ten days there.  There is so much to create temptation after temptation and short of staying up too late and donating my $100 to the craps table (when I was up $50 and knew I should walk away), I survived it relatively unscathed. 

I had seen a t-shirt before I left town playing on Vegas' tag line that said, "what happens in Vegas is revealed in heaven."  So true. 

I listened to Rob Bell's Love Wins book on the way home and kept wondering what God will say to all the folks that make Las Vegas what it is when they meet him.  No answers, just questions.  (And possibly more on Bell's book later.)

It was a good run for our company in Las Vegas but I'm glad to be out of there, glad I didn't do anything I would be regretting today and glad I don't have to be surrounded by that all the time. 

Grace and peace to you.

The Challenge

Life.  It's a challenge.  I have good days and bad days but what about all the days in between?  What about the average days?  the sick days?  the blah days where I just don't feel sharp?  What am I going to do with them?  It's those days I have to keep my eyes open and trust God will use me.

Last night, I'm sitting in my office way past the time I wanted to go when a friend calls to say her marriage is in crisis and she doesn't know what to do.  It's in those times that I hear God say, "here's your opportunity today".  Oh, how I hurt for my friend and her husband right now.  I hope my words were of some comfort and I hope the prayer we prayed on the phone and the prayers in days to come will drive away the enemy of peace and joy and love so that God will reign in the hearts of these two people and in their marriage. 

I'm glad she called because I've allowed myself to get too busy, too involved, too physically and emotionally exhausted and I'm failing in keeping my walk one where I am pursuing God.  Thankfully, he sends reminders my way to help me renew my focus.

Grace and peace to you.

Lessons From The Road

Last Wednesday, I took off with a good friend on a little road trip to Las Vegas.  It's a work trip and I was driving one of our dealership's Freightliners and pulling a really nice Cimmaron living quarters trailer.  I knew it was a bad sign when we had to stop before getting out of Wise County because someone forgot to put something on the trailer.  It's so easy to turn a 10 hour drive into a 14 hour drive.

Driving across parts of New Mexico and Arizona, it's easy to see the poverty that exists around us.  Houses that look like no more than plywood on dirt covered lots.  Travel trailers that would come apart if you hooked it up to a truck are homes for families.

As I consider buying a house, I'm caught between what "seems" normal in my world and what is necessary when I consider God's creation.  Oh for a few more square feet when people are living in houses that may fall apart.  I can't help but wonder if my rationalization for more house (I'll use it for small groups/youth groups/yada-yada) isn't just that - rationalization.  At the same time I realize money and more of this or that won't change everyone's life and those people may prefer to do whatever it is they do to make that their home.  Still, my heart won't quit hurting knowing there are people out there that life, circumstances, bad decisions and the hurt of other people have pushed them down to a point of suffering that I can't comprehend. 

I look forward to the day we are all dancing with God in his palace.

Grace and peace to you.

P.S.  Dancing is metaphorical.  I'm not sure everyone will have rythym in heaven and I'd still rather be fishing than dancing.

My Office, Part 2

God, thank you for using me and allowing me to minister in your kingdom.  Thank you for making my workplace a place where I can help others and to share the lessons on my pain and of my victories so that they might find peace, healing and reconciliation with you and with those they love. 

Grace and peace to you.

My Office

On November 14th, a female employee walked in my office, sat down and proceeded to tell me how and why her family was about to be evicted from their home.  It's a sad story and one where satan's attacks are all to evident.  The attempt to destroy and tear down is hard to hear, harder to watch. 

I'm thankful for the opportunity to sit in an office for an employer where people can walk in, sit down, pour out their hearts and I can often get them help that they need in some form.  Ministry happens in all sorts of places and I thank God for using me in unusual circumstances to be a part of his kingdom.

Grace and peace to you.

Silence is Golden

When I speak, God can hear me.

When I am silent, I can hear God.

Grace and peace to you.

Surrender

Today I am thankful for surrender. 

Sunday, I spoke for our communion focus at church and shared the idea of surrender as seen through my eyes. 

It's not a word most people use often or like very much.  The idea of turning power, control and authority over to another isn't something that naturally appeals to most people, certainly not me.  Most of my life has been in battle, my will versus God's desire for me, my control of my life or his control of my life.  I fought valiantly and always thought I could win the battle, retain control, have the power...but I lost.  I finally gave in, I finally waved the white flag, I finally submitted to a force that was greater than me. 

In Matthew's account of Jesus' death, I find these words in chapter 27, verses 50-52:
⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
 ⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. [emphasis mine]

I remember when I gave up my spirit.  I felt the foundation underneath me shake and I knew something greater than me was in control and I have felt it time and again after going back into battle for my will.  Oh, I surrender much faster now because I know the battle won't be won and the power of God is greater and stronger and more steadfast than anything I would muster...or hope to.

My victory has been found in my surrender.  My triumph is evident when I lay my battle down and submit to the Lord, the creator and the savior.  I became a victor when I surrendered to the power of the sacrifice on the cross and the resurrection from the dead by Jesus Christ. 

Today, I am thankful for surrender.  Thankful that Jesus gave up his spirit, thankful that I made the decision to give up mine too.

Grace and peace to you.

Keeping Christ in Christmas?

The new Target ads for Black Friday are a beating and, for me, illuminate all the negative about what Christmas has become for so many in this country.  The commercial depicts a lady in hysterics about the opening of Target at 4:00 AM or whatever crazy time they throw the doors open.  Now, full disclosure requires me to tell you that I make a living in the retail industry and that Black Friday is a BIG day for my company but it doesn't mean I like what drives it.  I suppose it's not really all the shopping and ridiculous spending that I have been a part of in my life as much as it's the spirit of which I hear things and see things, in others and in myself, that irritate me.

On Facebook and so many other places, I will begin to see people writing "Keep Christ in Christmas".  Now, I'm all for it if they are all keeping Christ in Christmas and this is what it would look like to me.  Money being spent lavishly on the hurting, homeless, drug-addicted, porn fueled broken people that are so easy to find all around us.  Money being spent lavishly on people in third-world countries (another term I'd like to find a better replacement for), being sent to Christian Relief Fund, Charity Water, Mision Para Cristo and other worthy organizations. 

How many toys can I have?  Heaven knows I have asked for and gladly accepted more than I could ever use or need and I have done the same thing with my kids at times.  I thank God I and they are in a place now where a couple of gifts is enough (still more than we need) and I can send money to help others...or better yet, I can keep Christ in Christmas by serving with my time and with my heart. 

Grace and peace to you.

MANA

I was watching World News Tonight Sunday evening and they did a story on the peanut butter meals provided by organizations like MANA and UNICEF.  I like MANA because I believe they are trying to do more than simply feed the physical but it where they start and something that is urgently needed in parts of the world.

I was blessed recently to be asked by a friend to speak at her business periodically to some of her managers.  It's something I love doing and I told her I would do it and didn't want to be paid.  This friend can be insistent so I told her I would do it if she made a donation to a charity I would suggest each time we met and she agreed.  Cool deal all the way around.  So, my first charity was MANA and I hope she and I can work together to help fund many more good efforts in the future.  

I'd encourage you to donate also.  MANA

Grace and peace to you.

JoePa's Condemnation

One guy is alleged to have assaulted multiple kids and another guy is getting all the publicity as the bad guy.  It's just wrong.

First, let me say it doesn't seem Joe Paterno did the right thing from what I have heard.  That's something he'll have to live with the rest of his days.

Second, Jerry Sandusky is the guy in the wrong here and the one that authorities need to focus on to find out what he did and how they can help the victims.  

I was listening to sports radio Friday and a caller came on saying that JoePa should burn in a special place in hell for what he didn't do.  Really?  The condemnation in the caller's voice and words ware harsh and I can't help but wonder how often one person condemns another when the first person isn't even following the greatest command - to love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind and soul.

It's easy to condemn and never look in the mirror.  Is not loving God as bad as someone assaulting a young child?  Sandusky is in the wrong but he's still a child of God.  Paterno is in the wrong but he's still a child of God.  I hope the radio caller remembers Jesus' words about who should cast the first stone.  

Come to think of it, I hope I'll remember it.

Grace and peace to you.

I've Lost That Blogging Feeling

My energy and passion for writing my blog is being sucked lifeless by the rest of my life.  

Right now, I'm sitting in the Las Vegas airport wondering if I'll ever get home.  It's been one of those days. I overslept 30 minutes and got to the airport to find out a) my flight was leaving 40 minutes earlier than what I thought and b) the Las Vegas American Airlines people give up your seat 30 minutes before boarding if you're on a free flight and the flight is oversold.  So, they give me a ticket on the next flight out and I proceed to the security area where the TSA agent asks me what name I go by.  I said "Jeff" and he said "so who's Gregory?"  The gate agent issued me the wrong ticket.  I head back to the gate and find out I can't get on that flight but I can get out on the next flight.  Now that flights been delayed for over 2 hours. So, I was supposed to leave at 9:00 and now I'm leaving at 3:20.  The bad part is that I'm missing time with my son which is a killer.

The good part is that I'm getting some school work done on Identity and Culture.  I take a break to look at Yahoo News and see that Wal-Mart is opening at 10:00pm on Thanksgiving night and I immediately wonder what that says about our culture.  We are a people thankful for cheap deals?  I make my living working for a company who gets paid to sell people stuff and it's our job to figure out how to make it easy for them to spend more money with us but I'm very frustrated by retailers doing some of the holiday stuff they do.  Of course, they wouldn't do it if the consumer didn't eat it up so in the end I know where to put the blame which leads me back to the question of who we are.  

And who's we are.

Grace and peace to you.

Gender Roles

I love it when I need something and it is given to me before I need it.  Such it was with the David Platt quote I used in yesterday's blog. 

I was in a conversation that led to gender roles within the church.  Now, the congregations I've attended have had pretty strict rules on what men or women could or couldn't do but also had cases where there was total bewilderment on who the role belonged to or what it should look like.  Good stuff, right?  Oh, how I imagine Satan gets all giddy when we can be pulled off the effort of seeking and saving the lost by debating with other believers.  So, I asked the question similar to what Platt asked.  What happens when you ask God to help you understand your role and he answers you?  Will you accept the answer?

I'm guilty of asking God for guidance and when I don't like the guidance I just ignore it.  God's OK with that because he can see a million moves ahead of me and he's prepared for the choices I make...but that doesn't mean I should ignore God when he speaks.  I wonder if much of our battles about gender roles and the like are more about what God says (or purposefully doesn't say) and our desire being in conflict instead of accepting what he has said (or purposefully left unsaid) and doing his will whatever the cost.  I wonder...

Grace and peace to you.

The Force of Will

I was at the Rangers game Monday night with my son and loving every minute of it.  That is, loving being with him, not the whole Rangers game.  The early innings had me running through various emotions with varying levels of intensity and I'm ususally a laid-back fan.  I walked around the concourse for two and a half innings watching it on the TV's periodically.  That may have had as much to do with the 60+ year old man and his twenty-something stripper-looking girlfriend in front of us as anything but I'll still attribute it to the bad pitching and errors.  All that to say, I think the Rangers won by force of will with some Cardinals managing and performance mistakes thrown in along the way. 

That brings me to this, a David Platt tweet on Tuesday.  The most popular question: How do I know God’s will? A more pressing question: Will I obey God’s will?  What a great comment.  I have known the big picture will of God most of my life and simply failed to obey it.  Not so much failed and chose, really.  I am one of those people who want to know the will of God...as long as it works within my parameters of what I want to do.  "God, let me help someone today."  "Uhh, God, is there anyone who looks and dresses more like me I can help?  I don't know how to talk to those people and they are dirty and stink."  "God, do something powerful in my life today."  "Uhhh, God, I didn't mean anything that could make my life/income/retirement/free time/beliefs more difficult." 

Will I obey God's will?  Regardless of the cost?

Grace and peace to you.

Heart of Flesh?

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned my earlier life's fascination with politics, even a brief consideration of playing along, and my current complete and utter disdain for our political system and state of our government.  Saturday night while trying to occupy my time to keep from watching the Rangers get slaughtered, I ran across this Rick Perry post referring to Herman Cain and Mitt Romney.  

“When it comes to faith, it is the core of who I am. It is an essential act as much as breathing is an essential act,” Perry said. “I found the true source of hope and change, and that is a loving God who changes hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.”

Now, in the letter to the Romans "flesh" is referred to as our sinful nature a couple of times (Romans 7 & 8).  So is Perry saying God changes hearts of stone to hearts of sin?  Well, I'm sure it isn't what he meant but it's one reason I get queasy so often when politicians start referring to faith.  The fact that Perry holds high his stance on capital punishment makes me question what kind of God wants us killing other people to remain faithful.  I'm of the opinion that most politicians have a high level of faith as long as it works for their political future.  If that makes me judgmental, I hope the Lord will forgive me.  

I'm not a fan of government legislating faith.  I really believe that if we emphasize reading the Bible, prayer and doing the will of God, we won't need government to "legalize" prayer in schools, tell us abortion is wrong or what marriage looks like.  I think the most dangerous thing a Christ-follower can do is turn over the will of God to government.

I'm no fan of Rick Perry and I think he would be the last Republican I would vote for if it came down to that decision.  In the meantime, I hope his heart will continue to be turned into a heart of love, mercy and grace.  I hope that for myself all the more.

Grace and peace to you.

Mo' Money

Last week I wrote about the amazing power of God to work in people's hearts as it related to our Missions Sunday contribution.  Yesterday I learned that more money had come in and the total contribution is over $165,000.  Phenomenal.

What would I do if I won the lotto?  (Maybe the question should be what would I do if I bought a ticket and then won the lotto...so I might go buy one when I finish this post).  What a great question and one that I agree with what many others have said that the answers would reveal much about my heart. 

By the way, I do have answers but I won't reveal them here.  I still have some heart work to do.

Grace and peace to you.

All My Blogging Friends Have Settled Down

I had to borrow a Hank Williams Jr. song for that title.  It's weird when the blogs I read are people I don't know well.  I ran across this blog from Dan Bouchelle and stole an excerpt that hit home with me.

In my heritage, we have been so cautious to speak about God’s direction in our lives that some, hungry for a more active God, have over-reacted with a God who constantly tells us what to do. Oddly enough, God’s voice ends up sounding a lot like our own inner desires much of the time. I am not seeking to encourage a more human centered life. To the contrary, I am seeking to develop people who submit fully to God’s will and take full responsibility for their role in God’s economy. If God told us everything to do like a micro-managing parent, we would not grow up any more than an over-indulged child with a hovering parent.   - Dan Bouchelle's Blog

I believe I hear God speak to me in various ways (not necessarily the booming voice coming from the mountain top) but it's only in issues that I believe serve his desires and purposes.  I know some people who thank God because the Rangers won or they found the up-close parking spot and I really find it hard to believe God cares much about those things.  On the other hand, when people pray in earnest for God to move in people's hearts on an upcoming special contribution, I can't help but believe God spoke to some folks, some how, some way. 

I think God wants me to hear his voice and he wants me to hear him talk about things that make a difference in his kingdom, not my little world.  When the two intersect, I want to give the glory to God and know I am walking his path. 

Grace and peace to you.