Blog visits . . .

I doubt I have any regular readers but I just wanted to take this opportunity to say . . . I’m not here very often.

The Thief in my Home

There is a thief in my home.  This thief is there because I put him there. He doesn’t steal any material possessions or personal belongings. This invited guest steals something much more precious than things that I own.

The thief in my house steals my time. He steals time I could be spending with my kids, time I could be spending with my wife, and most importantly he steals time I could be spending with my Lord.

Sometimes I wonder why I put up with this thief and allow his presence. Other times I’m glad he is there because I can find legitimate value in allowing him in my home. This thief is none other than my television.

I’m not the kind of guy that will allow my evenings to revolve around what is playing on any given night. I’m not even the guy that MUST watch football all Sunday long. There is not a show that I can’t live without. I’ve gone without TV in the past for days & even weeks and came out better for abstaining.

The problem is not keeping me from turning the TV on, the problem arises when the TV is already on. It DOESN’T MATTER WHAT IS PLAYING, it can suck me in. (I’m not kidding. There was a DUMB cartoon on the other day & my wife caught me standing there mesmerized by a RIDICULOUS CARTOON!!) I’ve sat in front of the tube in the past and thought, “I should be reading my Bible” … but I had become so lazy on the couch in front of that screen that I couldn’t bring myself to get up.

There is a thief in my house & I must find a way to contain the damage that he does.

Condemned Already

So, I’m don’t consider myself an all knowing wise theologian by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe my Facebook page occasionally gives the impression that I’m some kind of Biblical Scholar because one someone in particular has (affectionately I’m sure) addressed me as “Doctor” from time to time.

I love when I come across passages of scripture that has been there all this time, but for the first time stands out to me for whatever reason. There could be a myriad of reasons why it hasn’t stood out before and why it’s just now popping off the pages like popcorn.  It could be due to something that’s on my mind, a discussion I’ve been having … whatever it is, God works it to my favor to point something out to me in scripture.

Lately, that text is John 3:18. As often as John 3:16 is quoted you would think we would all get familiar with the verses that follow as well, but we don’t.

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. [19] And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. [20] For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. [21] But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:16-21 ESV)

 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, quoting John 3:17, that Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world. In my mind, there were so many problems with that statement. Knowing that God was going to condemn people to hell for eternity how is it that Jesus did not come to condemn?

I couldn’t give an answer to statement when I heard it. Little did I know the answer was only a few words away in verse 18. It is there, so obvious, why wouldn’t either one of us be able to see it?

Jesus did not come to the world to condemn the world, because whoever has not believed, whoever does not believe, and whoever will not believe is condemned already.

That’s it … just one of those wow moments for me. I thought I would share.

The Hotel Life: What I’ve Learned

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him”  - James 1:12

During the first few days of our eventful week away from home, I had a brief text exchange with a brother in Christ.  The last text he sent me simply said “James 1:12″.  I hadn’t gone around purposely telling all my buddies about our incident once I found out how serious it all was.  I did mention it during a breakfast I had with a group of men but at that time it wasn’t that big of a deal in my mind.   (I only started typing this blog after the first week had passed.)  So, it was a nice surprise to receive a text from a brother who just wanted to offer any kind of support he could.  In this case it ended up being moral support and it helped me to keep my focus set properly on Christ.

The seriousness of this whole incident didn’t set in until Wednesday afternoon, when the crew came to pick up our clothes.  We thought it was an optional thing and we could pick the few things we thought needed to be cleaned.  I had to rush home from work because my wife was at home alone attempting to send our stuff off when she realized they were taking EVERYTHING.

When I arrived at home I was immediately told to pick out the stuff I wanted put on the rush order. As I was doing this she was trying to tell me that they were taking everything.  I lost it… really, I lost my mind.  I was flipping out.  I started pulling stuff off my hangers throwing stuff on the ground that I wanted returned to me with the rush order . . . I felt like I had only been given half truths up until that point and I was almost angry … maybe I was angry. Then it was explained to me by the guy in charge exactly what was happening and why it was happening that way.  It helped maybe a little bit but not much.

Once I got all my stuff situated I went to the kitchen where everyone was filling out paperwork etc and I asked the guy what his success rate was with this. Then I clarified and said “How much stuff do you lose and how much stuff do you damage?” As he was standing there, talking, completely unaffected by my ridiculous attitude I began to realize I was getting upset over stuff… stupid material things.  I tried to apologize and I said “I don’t know why I’m getting upset.  It’s just material things”. He then attempted to console me and say it’s hard because all these people are here in your house going through all your things. That wasn’t any consolation to me because it shouldn’t matter who is going through my “things” or what they are going through. This is not my home, I’m just passing through, and all this junk is gonna be dust one day. What could have been a fire, was only smoke. What could have suffocated my wife & son only made them cough a bit. I was getting upset over people taking my stuff (& returning them CLEANER THAN EVER!) and I was completely missing the point!

What’s most interesting about the idol that God revealed to me is this. Over the summer I led a small group of men through a book called Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller. At one point in the discussion one of the men spoke up. He had read all the way through the book even though we were still on chapter 3 and he shared some insight he had gained. It’s one thing to read about what an idol looks like and how prevalent it is in our society.  It’s easy to look at that idol and say “I don’t struggle with that”, but then when you are tested you realize how much of an idol it actually is to you. It took this God-ordained trial for me to realize just how materialistic I really am. It’s not like it was that great of a shock to me, but it definitely is a wake up call.

I felt like crap and still feel like crap for the way I acted. God showed me my sin and I am repenting. Over the course of 7 nights in a hotel I was shown many more things to repent of.  A family of 4 living in smaller quarters doesn’t take long before someones attitude starts to flare up. More often than I like to think about it, my attitude was the one causing problems. I was not making the best of it, I was making the worst of it and it affected everyone. I’m not always an easy person to live with, but being in a hotel made it more apparent to me that my kids can hear me, and see my attitude, and see my actions, and they are learning how to act by what they see me say and do.

I don’t like myself. I am pompous, I am arrogant, I am a jerk and I can be hell to live with. But honestly, I knew all those things before this incident happened. There is work to be done in me and I’m so happy God has not given up on me because I’m tired of being that jerk. I praise God for conviction, discipline, and correction. Now, I pray that I will be able to stand the test through no strength of my own, but by Christ Alone.

The Hotel Life (cont…)

It is a strange thing to be at home and not feel at home.  Such as it was last night, our first night back in our home since we checked into a Hotel about one week ago.  Most of our stuff was put away in boxes as if we were moving out, or had moved out already.  We can’t even fully unpack because the painters will be coming Monday and part of the reason for everything being packed up is to make it easier for the house to be painted.  So, we are home now, but back to where I left off.

Our insurance set us up in probably the best hotel in this town.  I had thought about making a joke out of it when our friends ask what hotel we were in and tell them the name of some skanky meth infested hotel downtown but either never got the opportunity or couldn’t do it with a straight face.  The Homewood Suites was very nice.  They serve breakfast daily and dinner is served Monday thru Thursday.  It was very convenient.  Last night, I actually missed it.

However, staying in a hotel is not all it’s cracked up to be.  It’s one thing for a family of four to be in a hotel room for a few nights on vacation, but this wasn’t vacation and this wasn’t just a few nights.  This was 7 nights and I had to get up and go to work.  You can’t send the kids to their room because there is only one room.  On the nights that the hotel didn’t serve dinner we could have used the small kitchen in our room but you know how that goes.  Who wants to cook in a hotel?  So, that forced us to eat out or pick up food.

At first, I was not very happy about this arrangement.  The first night I sat in the room and was thinking about how miserable staying in this hotel for 7 nights is going to be.  I thought, how am I going to endure this.  I felt like I was going to come out of my skin.  Then something happened.  I began to feel a sense of peace about the process as I realized how blessed we are to even be going through what appear to us as trials.  Our home may have been smoked out with burnt chicken, but at least we have a home.  We may be stuck in a hotel for 7 nights, but at least we are together.  What ended up as only greasy, oily, smoke damage could have been far worse.  Nobody in the home was injured in any way.  We have so much to be thankful for.

Right before we were placed in a hotel we learned about the extent of the chicken smoke damage.  The cleaning crew would first clean our carpet and then begin packing up things as they clean them so they can then wipe down all the furniture and pull it away from the walls.  Basically, our house got an early spring deep cleaning.  The heat was running while the smoke was filling the air so all the ductwork had to be replaced.  Our furnace ended up being replaced as well.  The walls on the inside of our house are painted with flat paint, so every wall on the inside of our house will be repainted.  (Yes, we get to pick the new colors.)  Our microwave has been replaced, our range is being replaced.   Honestly I can’t remember what else is being, will be, or has been done.  I just know that we have wanted to paint the walls for some time, we have always had issues with the airflow in our house (it’s never been even), and I’ve wanted to replace our our glass cook top with a gas range.  We are getting everything we have wanted and/or needed all at once for the price of our deductible.

The painting starts Monday and could be done by the end of next week.  Our gas range should be installed Monday and we can resume cooking at home once again.  We should receive the remainder of our clothing & shoes around the beginning of February.  When we start moving back in, it will literally be as if we are unpacking boxes like we had moved.  The best thing about that is all the stuff we will NOT put back in the house.  I can see a garage sale or a donation box or both on the horizon and I am really excited about getting rid of stuff.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I will talk about what I have learned, am still learning through all this and how I hope to be changing.

The Hotel Life

We recently had an experience that I would like to share.  This post will be broken down into at least 2 parts, maybe 3.  God has taught us a great deal in all this, some of which we are still learning and trying to put into practice.

 

So, I don’t exactly have a rap about this experience but my sweet Wife thought it would be funny if I posted a blog about The Hotel Life … When she made that suggestion, all I could think about was this video:

Here goes.  Monday, January 10, 2010.  That’s the day we decided to take the binky (pacifier) away from the little boy in the house.  We had no idea how eventful that day would turn out to be.

Dinner was being prepped on the stove top.  We were going to have a particular Chicken & Noodle Casserole that is typically a very nice thing to come home to after a long day of work.  The first thing you must do when preparing this casserole is boil a few chicken breasts with half a diced onion.  At this point the wife has the chicken boiling and it’s now time for Mr. No More Binky to take a nap.  As you can imagine, the first nap without the beloved binky is basically a nightmare.  Mommy tries to sooth the situation by laying down with the no binky boy to help him go to sleep.  In the process she falls asleep as well.  I mean really… who wouldn’t fall asleep?  I know I would.

The next thing she remembers is waking up to a horrible smell in the house and realizing the chicken was still “boiling” on the stove top.  She is instantly up, rushing to the stove, hurrying the pot of charcoal outside the back door.  When she re-enters she is able to see just how bad all the smoke is.  It’s about 4 feet down from the ceiling.  Hovering just low enough that it is causing her to choke.  She immediately opens all the windows to try and get all the smoke out.  She is successful in removing the smoke but not the smell.

When I come home from work, I’m mentally prepared for what awaits me.  The Wife has taken the children to her mom’s house and I attempt to get more of the smell out.  I open all the windows and start a fire in the fireplace.  The temperature outside is at freezing or very close, so needless to say it’s cold in the house.

My first thought was the smell will eventually go away.  Actually, that wasn’t my first thought.  Needless to say I wasn’t the kindest or most gracious in this whole situation.  God has revealed quite a bit through this ordeal but we’ll get to that later.  We called a cleaning company and asked what they thought.  After speaking with the owner we learned that chicken smoke is possibly one of the worst types of smoke you can have in your house.  It’s very difficult to clean and very difficult to get rid of the smell, but it can be done.  Luckily, the cleaning crew has had experience with this in the past and we aren’t the guinea pigs.  We were told to file an insurance claim.  Even at this point, aside from the shock of paying a deductible, we haven’t realized the gravity of this situation.

It wasn’t until the people came to take our clothing away that we realized this was major.  A crew drove up from Dallas to pack up all our clothing, all our shoes, all our bed sheets, blankets, comforters, curtains etc etc etc.  It was then that the shock set in.  I could not believe these people were going through all my stuff, taking all my clothing & shoes away and I was going to be without all my STUFF for 3 weeks.

That night (Wednesday) our insurance put us up in a hotel.  Today, (Wednesday, one week later) we just checked out of our hotel … and the fun isn’t over yet. …

I cannot live like Jesus

A 10 year old girl wrote this poem.  I first came across it today: here

 

I cannot live like Jesus
Example though He be
For He was strong and selfless
And I am tied to me.

I cannot live like Jesus
My soul is never free
My will is strong and stubborn
My love is weak and wee.

But I have asked my Jesus
To live His life in me.
I cannot look like Jesus
More beautiful is He
In soul and eye and stature
Than sunrise on the sea.

Behold His warm, His tangible
His dear humanity.
Behold His white perfection
Of purest deity.
Yet Jesus Christ has promised
That we like Him shall be.

-Elisabeth Scott; age 10

Background

This song has recently become one of my favorites. I’m not a huge fan of everything Lecrae does, but this song has really captured my attention. Every time I listen to it I have to stop and contemplate what he is saying. It’s powerful. I’m in the background… I’m in the shadows… Reminds me of 1 Corinthians 11:1. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”. There is no arrogance in that statement because Paul isn’t saying follow me because I follow Christ. He is saying AS I FOLLOW CHRIST, follow me; when I don’t follow Christ, don’t follow me. At one point in the song, the lyrics read:All these folks that follow me gon’ end up in the wrong place. Following man, will always lead you in the wrong direction. We follow Christ.

Background

Chorus. [C-Lite]
I could play the background.
I could play the background.
Cuz I know sometimes I get in the way.
So won’t you take the lead, lead, lead.
So won’t you take the lead, lead, lead.
And I can play the background, background.
And you can take the lead.

Verse 1 [Lecrae]
It’s evident you run the show so let me back down.
You take the leading role, and I’ll play the background.
I know I miss my cues, know I forget my lines
I’m sticking to your script, and I’m reading all your signs.
I don’t need my name in lights.
I don’t need a starring role.
And why gain the whole wide world, if I’m just gon’ loose my soul.
And my ways ain’t purified, I’ll live according to your Word.
I can’t endure this life without your wisdom being heard.
So word to every dancer for a pop star
Cuz we all play the background, but mine’s a rock star.
Yeah. So if you need me I’ll be stage right.
Prayin’ the whole world will start embracing stage fright.
So let me fall back and stop giving my suggestions
Cuz when I follow my obsessions I end up confessing.
That I’m not that impressive, matter fact I’m…………
A trail of star dust leading to the superstar.

Chorus.

Verse 2 [Lecrae]
I had a dream that I was captain of my soul.
I was master of my fate, lost control, and then I sank.

So I don’t want to take the lead
Cuz I’m prone to make mistakes.
All these folks that follow me gon’ end up in the wrong place.
So, just let me shadow you. And just let me trace your lines.
Matter fact just take my pen.
Here, you create my rhymes.
Cuz if I do this by myself I’m scared that I’ll succeed.
And no longer trust in You, cuz I only trust in me.
And see, that’s how you end up headed to destruction.
Paving a road to nowhere. Pour your life out for nothing.
You pulled my card, I’m bluffing
You know what’s in my hand.
Me I just roll to trust you to cause the dice to land.
I’m in control of nothing. Follow you at any cost.
Some call it sovereign will, all I know is you the boss.
And man I’m so at ease. I’m so content.
I play the background like it’s an instrument.

Chorus.

Bridge. [Lecrae]
I know I’m safest when I’m in your will and trust your word.
And I know I’m dangerous when I trust myself; my vision blurred.
And I ain’t got no time to play life’s foolish games.
Got plenty aims but do they really glorify your name.
And its a shame the way I want to do these things for you, yeah.
Don’t even cling to you. Take time to sit and glean from you.
And its seems that you are patient in my ignorance.
If ignorance is bliss, its cuz she never heard of this.

Are You a Good Person?

Lead Me – Sanctus Real