Worship!

This pretty much sums up the morning-

Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare Your glory! Every knee will bow at Your throne in worship! You will be exalted, Oh God! And Your kingdom shall not pass away- Oh, Ancient of Days.

Good Morning-

It's almost 9 am & I'm still half asleep-
Good Morning- It's almost 9 am & I'm still half asleep- I took a bunch of kids to Winter Jam last night. Audio Adrenaline, Todd Agnew, New Song, ReliantK, & a couple others. Got to bed at 3. I was seriously considering skipping church, but I've about talked myself into going. I'm really wiped out, but I love church. I look forward to corporate worship so much; it's really helps me recover from the stress of the past week, & prepare for the week to come. So I'm gonna' go get dressed & take my coffee with me. I'm going to see The Passion tonight with my church as well. Ciao- I took a bunch of kids to Winter Jam last night. Audio Adrenaline, Todd Agnew, New Song, ReliantK, & a couple others. Got to bed at 3. I was seriously considering skipping church, but I've about talked myself into going.

I'm really wiped out, but I love church. I look forward to corporate worship so much; it's really helps me recover from the stress of the past week, & prepare for the week to come.

So I'm gonna' go get dressed & take my coffee with me. I'm going to see The Passion tonight with my church as well.

Ciao-

This is for Jenell's blog...

My mom & my mother-in-law died within a couple hours of each other a little over a year ago. My wife was with her mom in Chicago (we live in Florida), and the hardest part of that day was telling my kids, the second time, that grandma had died. I still cry over the memory.

After my mom died, my dad decided he didn't need to live any longer. He made a conscience decision to stop taking all of his cardiac & diabetes medicines, stopped eating any solids, and confined himself to his bed. Ten weeks later, he died.

When mom died, it was sudden, but not unexpected. When dad died, I knew it was coming, and watched the process intimately, first-hand.

I grieved openly and freely at mom's funeral, and had a lot of closure and healing. At dad's, I was pretty much uninvolved. Looking back at the past year I can see how much more his death has impacted me- in very negative ways. I feel like it's only been in the last couple of months that my life has started to return.

Don't know if there's a point to this story, but I think it helps me in some way to share it. Thanks for the opportunity Jenell, you've blessed me again.

The Passion of the Christ...

I have been very interested over the past months to see the wide range of reactions to this movie, mostly from people who haven't seen it, mostly from people that I wouldn't have thought were Christians.

This morning I read a review- more of an opinion actually- from someone I generally respect concerning movies, but who I would not have guessed might be a Christian. Now, I wonder.

I highly recommend reading the review by Roger Ebert in the online edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, if only for this bit- "The libel that the Jews "killed Christ" involves a willful misreading of testament and teaching: Jesus was made man and came to Earth in order to suffer and die in reparation for our sins. No race, no man, no priest, no governor, no executioner killed Jesus; he died by God's will to fulfill his purpose, and with our sins we all killed him."

If you're not familiar with Roger Ebert, you won't know that he is a very popular and respected critic in his field. His column will be read by hundreds of thousands of people in the Chicago area, most likely seen and heard on his syndicated TV show, and picked up by, potentially, millions via the internet.

And to me, that alone is sufficient justification for the movie.

PS- I have just received links to two more excellent articles concerning the movie and reaction to it, in the National Review Online. They are worth your time.

Passion & Perspective...

I had- for me- something of a revelation a few days ago. I was reading the weblog of Reid Bradley, who was making an argument for sharing the Gospel. One thing came to me clearly in what he had written: this young man has a passion for evangelism! If there is one thing in his heart & mind, it is the neccesity of sharing the Gospel with as many people as he can.

Now that's a great passion. I suspect that Reid would have a hard time considering anything else to be more important. And, I suspect, he would look at me with a bit of doubt if I were to take issue with him.

Which got me thinking, because I do not have a passion for evangelism. I think it's important, but it's not what God has called me to.

MY passion is for the restoration of wounded Christians- those of us who have lost sight of our joy & peace. Those of us who have forgotten, or maybe never really knew, the truth about ourselves, and the truth about the Goodness of God. Those of us that are wondering what Jesus was talking about when He spoke of abundant life.

And I know from experience that I have a hard time understanding why everyone doesn't feel the way I do. "Why can't Ya'll see the pain in all those hearts? And obviously anybody not acknowledging their pain is hiding behind a mask..."

Ok. That was my passion speaking. And sometimes I can't see past the end of it. Sometimes my passion lacks perspective. Yes, there are a lot of wounded & hurting brothers & sisters in the world. And yes, God has called some of us to minister to them. But not all of us. And I have to remember that not everybody is going to share my passion- there may even be some that think there's something wrong with me, because they can't see past the end of their passion.

And that's got to be ok, too. Because it's not my job to make you, or me, into anything different from what we are. It's God's job to change who He wants, the way He wants, when He wants.

By the way, DO you know who and what you are? Do you believe it?

Lost in Cyber Space...

Ha! You missed my first entry! Um, actually everbody missed it.'Cause I hit the wrong button, and 30 minutes of arduous labor disappeared in the blink of an eye. Which, interestingly, brings me to what I wanted to write about-

A combination of influences affected my day. They were summed up in a question that was posed in Sunday school yesterday- "Which is greater? My ability to discern God's will, or His ability to guide me into His will? And the thought of "What would my day look like if I got up in the morning, asked God to take control of my day, and then believed that He would do so?"

Well, I guess that would mean that something I wrote in my first attempt here was not what He wanted me to write. Of course, that assumes that I manage to get this posted...

So my day has been pretty good. A positive reinforcement to this adventure. Of course it's not over yet. But so far, so good.

And that is the ultimate point , of course. That God is Good, goodness is a part of the essence of His nature. He can be trusted absolutely. And I can give my entire life and being into His hands with no fear. 'Cause God is GOOOOOD!

Ha, ha. He also has a sense of humor. In the five minutes that passed between the end of the last paragraph and the beginning of this one, my 16 year old son called and asked me to pick him up. Missed the bus (never planned on riding it actually), planned on getting a ride with a friend, but that didn't panout. Sooo, now that I've settled in for the evening, he calls and wants/needs a ride. Funny, God.

But I can still smile and appreciate the irony. After all, a big part of my life lately has been learning to live what I say I believe. And since I said that I gave my day to Him...this too becomes Joy. And Blessing.

Ciao-