The Econmics of GOD

I preached this a couple of Sunday's ago.
GOD'S economics are not our economics...
The economics of the good ole USA are in the toilet right now. We are seeing bailouts from the government for the banking, financial and the auto industries. We are seeing others lining up to get their handout as well.
I started looking at the economics of GOD, GOD does not do financial bailouts. He does bless us but he will not bail us out when we just show up with out bad money management and demand his help.
GOD will allow us to go through times where we are financially challenged because of our own bad decisions. When we make bad decisions, we have to pay the price or we won't learn out lesson.

I just wonder what we are teaching these that are responsible for the well beings of their companies, are we teaching them to manage their resources or are we teaching them that no matter what they do, someone will be there to bail them out?

Christmas

Wow, Christmas is almost here... I love Christmas except for...
the shopping lines.
the mall traffic.
the holiday music that starts in June.
the Christmas displays that go up on Easter.
the insistent commercials that I give my wife a Lexus as a gift or I am a schmuck.
the reruns of "A Christmas Story", "A Wonderful Life", and "Rudolph".
People running around with Elf hats on.
Christmas sweaters with stockings and ornaments on them.
cold weather.
shedding trees.
getting all the Christmas stuff out.
putting all the Christmas stuff up.

But I love...
spending time with Family and friends celebrating the birth of a Savior!

Hard things...

You know why does life have to be so hard sometimes? Why can't everything go the way that we would like it. As a church we have had to make some hard decisions and it doesn't always set well with a lot of people. As administrators we make decisions that affect not just ourselves but those around us. As people we make decisions that affect our day to day activities. Oh how I wish I could be wise like Soloman. Sometimes I feel like I have no business making decisions that really impact peoples lives. But then I realize that EVERY decision we make affects others around us. If we decide to be arrogant and rude, well we can put people around us in a bad mood. If we decide to be deceitful and pridefull we can cause people to loose hope. If we decide to be happy and joyful we can light up a room. So when it is so easy to see what we need to do, why don't we always do it?

Speaking of eating...

Man I am good. I know, that is so vain of me. But I made some pancakes this morning and then made cheese omelets for everyone in the house. I used a little bit of the pancake batter mixed in with the eggs, ala IHOP and they turned out great!!
There was nothing left when everyone got done!!
You know there are times when you go to cooking that you get to see the look on peoples faces and you feel all warm inside...

You are what you eat...

I was remembering my childhood the other day and how I hated some vegetables that my Mom wanted me to eat. It was not an option not to eat them, you had to set there till you did, that was how it was. I remember that slogan, "you are what you eat" and I thought of that today. We all know that fast food is not the healthiest thing for you. So if we are eating fast food all the time we are going to have problems. This country has a serious issue with overindulgence. You see we just can't help ourselves. We consume, consume and consume until we find ourselves in a real health problem. Now I am guilty as most, eating healthy that is, but there is another real problem that we have in this country and it is a perfect analogy of overeating.

Just as what we put into our mouths affects our cholesteral, our blood pressure and our waist lines. What we allow into our lives affects us even more. It seems that everywhere you look their is something on TV, in a magazine or online that we really should not allow into our lives if we don't want to have trouble. Not every housewife is a "desperate housewife", I have lived lots of place and never have I been in a neighborhood like that. Now I have never watched the show but I can tell you all the characters, what issues they are dealing with and what is going on just from the commercials that saturate my other programming. Turn over to some other station and you will find that every teenager is sexually active, which makes the young person who is not wonder why everyone else is. Go online and find some provocative picture that has been touched up to the point that the person on the screen is not real, and we have unrealistic expectations from the opposite sex and how they should look and behave. Take a look at the political situation swirling around Illinois with their governor being brought up on charges, so we hear all of the negatives and we decide that everyone is that way in politics. You see what we take in everntually becomes part of our lives. If you are watching violence, I think you are going to be prone to become violent. If you are consumed with things on TV, they will affect the way you view those around you.
We all need to go on a diet, and not just from the Big Mac...

Three Gifts...

The gifts given by the Wise Men, got me to thinking about a few things.

First, we always believe that there were three men. But I really believe that there must have been more than three. First figure that these guys traveled probably around 500 miles across the desert. They must have had at least part of an army to protect them on their journey especially when I bring up point two. So it wasn't just three dudes on camels who came to worship the Christ Child, but probably a party of 500 or more who came to worship him.

Second, we always see the figures of the nativity clutching a small chest as a gift. Can I tell you no man in his right mind would bring a small gift to an earthly king let alone the King of Kings. If you brought a gift to a king, and the king deemed it unimportant, he would have you thrown out on your ear or worse. I believe that these men brought more than a small chest of gold, frankenscense and mrryh. I believe that they brought a vast quantity of precious gifts to the Christ Child. The KJV version called them "treasures", now I think that three pounds of gold to be a good thing. And at todays rate, three pounds of gold would be worth $43,000.00. Now if you found three pounds of gold in a shipwreck, would it be called a treasure? I don't think so, treasure is used when the amount of wealth is exceedingly great. The last sunken treasure ship yielded an estimated $500 million dollars worth of treasure. Now that is what I call a treasure.

So when you see the three wise men, think on these points, that there were more than three who risked their lifes and fortunes to come and worship the Christ, and they brought "treasures" with them as a gift to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

The inevitable...

yep, tax season is coming. Nah, I really haven't been thinking of taxes but of the other inevitable. You know the end of life as we know it. Now I believe that we just did not end up here on this earth by some random coincidence. I read this week about scientist that believe that some organic matter might have hitched a ride to earth on an asteroid and deposited the puzzle pieces of life here. Now I saw a few space movies and doesn't there tend to be a little heat when you enter the atmosphere, and would that not burn up the organic material? Well they are still thinking on that aspect.
So with that said I do believe that we are more than just a physical being. Yeah, I believe that we have a soul and as I do not believe in re-incarnation as I have never thought I was someone famous. All people who believe in re-incarnation never were some nobody in a past life, they were always a King or a Queen or someone famous, I would have been a baker or something silly. Anyway; I believe that when this physical body ceases to work that our soul is released from this vessel of flesh, and escape pod for you Star Wars geeks. Now the Bible tells us to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That is way cool. We don't have to wait for a trumpet to sound, (unless we are still alive) and we don't have to sleep within the earth but we get to be with the Lord immediately.
So I started to think of those that are left behind. What will it be like to be in heaven and know that there are others that are still here on earth? Then I read the passage, that to GOD a thousand years is a day. So being the math geek that I am, I did some figurin'. 1000 years = 24 hours - so putting a little algebra to it, we can get that for every hour in GT (GOD time) would amount to 41.66666666666666 YEARS in our time. So lets say I die at 40, my wife is 40 as well and she live to be 81 (40+41.6666666=81.66666) I will have beaten her to heaven by ONE hour GT. So about the same amount of time it takes her to get ready when we go out I will have beaten her to heaven by. Barely enought time to steal some closet space before she gets there. Look at my kids who are still relatively young. If they live to be around 80 I will have beaten them to heaven by TWO hours. Yep about the amount of time it takes them to wash the dishes as they argue who is going to wash and dry (actual dish time is 30 minutes with an hour and a half of arguing time).
So when we look at life, it is as the Bible says; a vapor... at least in GOD time...

Brrrr part deux (that is 2 for those non French!!)

Well it is quite cold in Chicago as well. High today was 14, that was without the wind chill and well Chicago is not called the "Windy City" for nothing. It was icey, snowy and just plain "yuck" all day.
Enjoying some relaxing time working with me and the wifey, will get to fly home tomorrow and check out the football games and talk about feces, obnoxious bodily functions, and funny embarrassing stories with the "after hours" gang. Good times good times!!!

Brrrr.

First snowfall of the year. It has suddenly gotten cold in MidWest. Isn't is amazing the weather patterns we have here. It was around 60 on Thanksgiving day, then it was around 45 on Friday, then in the mid 30's on Saturday and then it snowed on Sunday, is going to be in the low 40's today and then in the mid 60's tomorrow. Wow what a week, it is like living in Lake Tahoe, where you can golf in the morning, ski in the afternoon and go for a swim late afternoon. Crazy...kind of like that "Day after Tomorrow" movie, everyone around here is looking like this.

Maturity...

Maturity is something that we all should do, but it is something that we all do not do at the same amount, or during the same time frame.

I have been exposed to a lot of immature people in my life. Talking about bathroom tendencies, explosive bodily functions and vomit tend to make a person seem immature. But I have seen some mature young people and some really immature older people. Although older people have grown accustomed to discussing bathroom tendencies, explosive bodily functions and vomit in their old age the stories just aren't as funny as those who have not experienced all these instances for almost 40 years of life. I mean there was this one time in San Antonio where I had these burritos... I digress; excuse me. And for the people in the hotel room next to me that night I ask your forgiveness as well. I hope you eyes have healed up since that horrific experience.

Anyway, people mature at different rates, it is not a one size fits all. Now I realize that life experiences help with maturation but what I have a hard time with is those who should be mature and are not. Even in the Christian realm we have immature Christians. You know, those that seem to always be in and then out, and then in and then out. Up and down, like a pogo stick, that reminds me one time my brother was bouncing on this pogo stick and he had like this stomach virus and on one of the down bounces when he hit the ground some of him kept going... I Digress, excuse me and for his third grade teacher, well I am sorry for you as well. Anyway we have Christians who have not matured in the church. It is not a new thing, the Apostle Paul pretty much told some early church members to get off the bottle, called them babies and such. He was such a rebel rouser. Anyway people who mature gain a nature that does not allow the small things to overcome their lives. The chart I copied is a business model but works well in this instance as well.

Stage 1 - Firefighting - in our Christian walk this is where you have to make a life and death choice everyday. Do I do what I know is wrong and sin or do I live a godly life? Know anyone that has been there for a while?

Stage 2 - Stabalising - in our Christian walk this is beyond the firefighting but we are still setting boundaries for our life and getting on the even keel of life. I know many who never got through the stabalising part. They are like a teeter totter, one day or week are on top of it and the next they fell off and don't know what happened.

Stage 3 - Preventing - these are the people who see a trap and AVOID it. To many people I know see the trap and then keeping walking right into it. It is like those survivor man shows, remember the guy that keeps going up to wild bears and petting them will one day find a hungry bear. What is that old cliche? An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of something or another...

Stage 4 - Optimising - What you say is this. Well this is where you have finally arrived where you can walk the narrow path, without twisting an ankle every day, being eaten by a bear or falling into a trap. This is where you really start to do something that matters. You find your gift and you begin to make a difference. Sadly there are too many people who never get to this stage. That is why you see so few making a difference in this world.

Stage 5 - Excellence - Man, I want to be here but I am still in the Optimising part. I am still learning what I am really good at and letting go of what I am so so at. The problem is that I want to be really good at the so so stuff and the stuff I am really good at is not as fun as the so so stuff. Oh well, I still have some maturity to go. By the way, you ever heard the one about the lady who had a gas attack in the middle of church? Well, you had to be there...

Have a little Patience...

I was working this weekend and realized that I lacked patience. Yep, I am an impatient person.

Now I am not the guy at McDonalds yelling at the drive through window because it took three minutes to get my Big Mac. Nor am I the guy who is standing by the door waiting on the Dominoes guy telling him I am not paying because it took 31 minutes. And I am not the guy who stands in line at Wal Mart for five minutes and looks like I only had ten minutes to live and wasted half of it standing in line behind a woman who has fifteen cats and a fetish for cashmere sweaters. And I am not the guy who when he walks into the DMV gives that criminal look of incarceration once he enters the door waiting for his time to be served before he gets parrolled. But I do lack patience, usually with those that are closest to me. Those that I love the most, cherish the most, could not live without, those people I have no patience for. I have patience for a client who can't make up his mind, the auto mechanic who is moving at a snail's pace, the doctor who makes me set in a waiting room to wait, and then in an examination room to wait some more. I have patience with those people, but with those closest to me I have none.

Why is that? I don't have an answer but I have determined that it is wrong and I am going to change. So I will have patience with my loved ones, but the DMV gal, the mechanic, the Wal Mart Checkout lady and my Doctor had better be on their toes!!

Possessed or In need of help?

I saw this on the web the other day and I really feel for the poor guy. Here is the article...

Dear Prudence,
Genetic predisposition and a traumatic childhood have led me to develop debilitating mental disorders that I have spent years working to manage. I'm now at a functional place. My parents are divorced, and my mother's family has always been very supportive. My father's family, by contrast, sees mental illness as a stigma and has always disagreed with my approach to treatment. Recently, they invited me to my grandmother's birthday party. When I arrived, everyone was sitting solemnly around the living room, and the local pastor was there. He calmly explained to me that I was not actually mentally ill but possessed by agents of Satan and in need of an exorcism. I choked back tears as I explained to them that I did not need any demons driven out, and the evening ended awkwardly. Now they've invited me for Thanksgiving, and I don't know what to do. I don't want to alienate them, but my symptoms are part of a real disorder and can be treated by medication. How do I explain to them that while I do want to spend time with them, it's not the Middle Ages, and I don't want or need an exorcism?

—It's the Schizophrenia, Stupid
Dear It's the Schizophrenia,For Thanksgiving, please exorcise these people from your life. Spend the holiday somewhere else, preferably with those who love and accept you. Perhaps your mother's family is an option. If not, maybe you can make your own gathering with friends, or friends will extend an invitation to you after realizing you'll be on your own. And if you're too uncomfortable searching for a place to go, every city has shelters or nursing homes that welcome volunteers willing to serve Thanksgiving dinner. What your father's family did to you was appalling. You're very generous not to want to alienate people who believe you are possessed by Satan; I would have been tempted to threaten them with my pitchfork. I suppose at some time less loaded than a big holiday, you can get together with them to try to explain that you have a medical condition that is being successfully treated. But as you point out, this is the 21st century, and an unwillingness to accept that mental illness is just that—an illness—seems an act of willful bigotry not amenable to reason. Be proud of how you've worked your way to a satisfying life, and don't let people, just because they're relatives, do anything to undermine that.
—Prudie

Let me explain a few things. First I do believe that we can have demonic activities in our lives. Do I believe that people can be possesed? Of course; it is Biblical, but just as I believe it is possbile for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, (you have to use really small camel chunks and it takes a real long time) it is possible for a person to yield to spiritual influences in their life and be possessed. But not in all situations are their spiritual forces at work. Because of illness, inheritated traits and such there are many situations where people may exhibit signs of possession but not be possessed. I know in my life that there are days where I don't want to get out of bed... actually there are a bunch of days like that, but I am able to overcome them by sheer will and the fear of being unemployed. There are days when I want to be a hermit and not interact with people, live in a mountain cave and grow a real long beard, but I subject myself to society. There are days when I just want to curl up in a ball and cry... and I find myself a comfortable place and plenty of tissues. Does this mean I am "possessed"? No it means that I am human. And as humans sometimes we need help. I would have been more impressed if his family had brought the Pastor in to talk to this young man and help him through his problems, spiritually influenced or not...

When Tolerance is not accepted...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VziklUbtHAE
America is screaming for Tolerance today. You tolerate my views and I will tolerate your views, Right. Many claim that Christians are not tolerate of people today. Well I just saw a video that put that shoe on the other foot. We are all guaranteed the freedom of speech, and this poor woman comes to a Prop 8 rally and presents her side which she is free to do. Now I would like to ask this question, after viewing the video what would have happened if these people's views were reversed. Christians all over the US would have been cast in a negative light, it would have led the national news and been on the lips of every anchorman and woman on TV that the mean old bigoted Christians had abused and threatened a person who was just voicing their opinion on some legislation. But because it swung the other way no one has heard of it. I found out by another blogger and was shocked and shamed by the actions of the people around her. I would have been shocked and shamed had the people around her been against same sex marraige and were all wearing Christian T shirts and I am shocked and ashamed by those who aligned with Prop 8 and how they acted. Tolerance goes both ways, but that is not what is being exhibited here, Intolerance is being exhibited. I wonder if it will get around that all same sex marriage proponents are bigoted intolerant people?

What's my motivation?...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=pwSOfW-9jXw

I love this commercial... street ballers getting down with a Sprite when all of the sudden Mr. Playground breaks into his proper English and says, "I played Hamlet at Cambridge, What's my motivation?"
Just goes to show you what you think you are seeing may not really be what it is. Many people are motivated by different things. Some are motivated by $$$, other by fame. Some are motivated by fear and others by the feeling sucess brings with it.
I was thinking about motivation the other day and how some people have it and others don't seem to have it.
I think that we are all equipped with a certain amount of motivation, but that only a small percentage tap into it. Many lack self motivation, others must be threatened to get motivated. But through it all what I have found is that we are all motivated from within. You just have to find that thing that eclipses everything else in your life, devote yourself to it and you will find all the motivation that you need.
Be Blessed.

The Smokey Mountains...

Well in my travels I was in Atlanta and decided to go see a customer up in Virginia. Well there was no good way to get there unless I drove about three hours so drive I decided to do. Well I ended up driving through a section of the Smokey Mountains. Now I have driven in mountains before but this was really cool, during the middle of the day the leaves were turning and the views were great.


But then I had to come back later and the FOG rolled in. Now I am not talking your basic fog, I am talking thick enough to cut FOG. They fog is so bad there that they actually have lights, not reflectors but lights imbedded in the road so you know when you are driving off the road and over the cliff on the side. This is not an actual picture but is a good semblence of what I was seeing as I white knuckled down that stretch of road.


Yep it was a little harrowing as I was hurrying to catch a flight. I was glad to be back in the lowlands and out of the clouds.

Where in the World is Pastor Pat?

I feel like Waldo as in Where's Waldo sometimes. So I put a little compilation together for you...

Well I was in Western Kansas the other day... yep flat land and no hills, scrub brush and prarie... but they do have some neat things.

Like WIND farms...

And then I went to New Mexico for a trade show... so I flew into Alburqueque and rented a car, and since I have a GPS unit on my phone I figureed I was good to go, right? Wrong!! Well I started driving following the directions until I got here...

Then the GPS said "you have arrived at your destination"... I was like "Uhmmm there is nothing here but a fork in the road!!" So I looked around and this is what I saw...

Absolutely NOTHING!!! I mean there is supposed to be a thousand bed hotel here somewhere!! Now I know why the wagon trains going across got lost as there is nothing to tell you where you are.

So kept going down this ONE LANE ROAD!! Hoping that I would see something that looked like a hotel, for you see I am a guy and guys don't ask for directions, that is why they made GPS!!!

So I drove for like 10 minutes down this road...

waiting to drive right up on some Indians ready to scalp me!!! Surely this is the wrong road I started to think but there was no where to turn around when all of the sudden I came over this little rise and see this...

I am SAVED!!! Civilization...

So there you go, that is where I have been and I will update the rest of my travels later...

Feelin' Blue?

How many times have you ever just felt Blue? You know, just yuck... well sometimes the world around us makes us feel blue, sometimes those closest to us make us feel blue. But I want to tell you that you are only as blue as you allow yourself to feel. I was reading this week about a Billionaire, yes that is with a B, who when he first started out went broke not just once, but around three times. He bought this business did great and then everything went wrong and he lost it all. Then he went and started another business and because he did not have enough capital it too folded. Then he went and started buying other peoples bad loans, yep people just like him who had borrowed money they could not repay and had failed in their endeavor. He bought up their bad debts, helped them work through them and made a truck load of money in the process. So if you are feeling blue, well get up and get going, don't let the situations of one day affect all the rest of the days of your life.

CSI this, CSI that...

What is it with CSI? I mean how many TV shows that deal with Crime Scene Investigation do we really need. Now you know that I only get five channels on a clear day so when I travel a lot of times it is TV Vegetation time. That means I have a remote in my hand and I endlessly surf for hours at a time. Well not really hours but I find myself getting board with stuff to early to watch a whole show and the commercials are so long... well I digress. So the other night I am in the hotel watching the Tube and I kid you not, every show that was on was a CSI show. First it was in Vegas, or Miami or New York or some other cosmopolitan town, and then it was a Military version, and then there was this discovery channel deal about dudes in the old west who were killed and how they were investigating how they died. And then there was this Mayan temple thing where they were investigating the bones of people who had been sacrificed. And then there was this National Geographic where they were investigating the tombs of the Pharoes and then there was this cop show where they investigate a murder scene because they have to catch a killer in the first 48 hours or the donut shops close or something. I mean really, what happened to Magnum PI, Starksky and Hutch, Berretta, the Six Million Dollar Man, The A Team, and all the good old shows that were different? Are there not any good shows on anymore that don't involve solving a crime? Those guys were really good about getting the bad guys BEFORE they committed the crime... I guess that is kind of backwards today...

Blah, Blah, Blah

I am so tired of hearing the talking heads on the TV tell me how bad my life is. It is all gloom and doom right now. I am hearing it from both sides of the aisle now, the Dems saying the Repubs have put us in such a hole we are going to take a while to dig out. The Repubs saying the Dems will only dig us deeper with their new found power.You know what. We had a man in church Sunday who was just in Zimbabwe Africa. Their unemployment is 80%, there are no jobs anywhere. Now I know we have unemployed people in the US, but lets face it there are jobs around if we are willing to work them. Their inflation has gone up 800% in the last two years. Now we have seen inflation, but not at an 800% rate. It is so bad there that parents are having to supplement the government paid teachers to get them to school to teach their children. The less fortunate have been reported eating cow dung to survive. Now I am telling you that is bad, but it is common place in the world we live in that people get by on a lot less than the average American is used to.So quit bashing my country, we still have the best thing going in the whole wide world. The United States is still the land of opportunity it always has been.GOD Bless the USA!!

Paul the Apostle

I am intrigued by this man... The Apostle Paul... what a hero of the faith. Did you realize that Paul was not one of the 12 who followed CHRIST all around Judea? Did you realize that he was called after the death of JESUS? Did you realize that after his Damascus incident, and being prayed for by a follower of CHRIST and received his sight back, he went? Where?

To the Synagoge to preach? Nope. On TV to be a televangelist? Nope. To Rome to confront the Emporer? Nope.

Paul went to the desert of Arabia. whaaaa? Arabia? Desert? Uhmmm I do not understand. Me either.

I mean the guy has a face to face encounter with the risen lord JESUS, gets knocked off his horse, get commisioned by the Lord to preach to the Gentiles, is stone blind, get his sight restored and goes out into the desert for THREE STINKING YEARS?

Wanna know why? He wanted to get a personal revelation of who CHRIST is. Is that not too cool? He did not go to one of the apostles who followed JESUS all around. He did not go to Peter, or James the brother of JESUS to get their opinion of who JESUS was. Paul went out to the desert by himself to find out who exactly JESUS was.

Made me think of my own faith, do I know who JESUS is or do I go on someone else's knowledge? Have I found out for myself or have I been lazy and just gone with what I have heard from someone? I think we all need to spend a little time in the desert to really figure out who JESUS is, who knows, he might just use us after that to reach a nation and eventually the world...

I've been everywhere man...

Remember that Johnny Cash song, well I've been to

Tulsa, Dallas, Addison, Atlanta, Memphis, Atlanta, (again) New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Jackson, Dallas (again), Tulsa and back to Dallas (again), Alburquerque, Midland, Odessa, Dallas (again), Tulsa and then back to Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Tulsa again. All in two weeks. I am pooped.

I was flying a lot but still got to see a ton of country. This was the resort in New Mexico, it is so far off the beaten path the GPS said, "close enough" and I could not see it. It is nesseled in a little valley out in the middle of the scrub brush.

Down to Hotlanta next week and St. Louis end of this. Work never ends.

How could you?

I was watching some NFL this weekend. The St. Louis Rams were on and since they had not won a game I was going to turn them off and watch something else. They have been horrible... but when I saw the score, they were in the game. So I was compelled to see if they could finish it. Well they played brillantly and well enough to win making just enough plays and then found themselves down a couple points with little time left to go in the game. I thought what a shame, they played so much better, but then they started driving the ball down the field and with very little time on the clock were setting up for a 34 yard field goal. Now nothing is a gimme in the NFL but a 34 yarder is a good percentage chance. So they are getting the kicker out there and their right guard, Incognito ceased to be incognito. He was barking at an official about something. The commentators mentioned that he had been barking at a lot of people during the game but he went too far and drew a 15 yard unsportmanslike penalty. I was thinking, oh no he just made that field goal now a 49 yarder... not so automatic.

I drew a lesson from that. 1) know you surroundings, when you are about to win a game, and even more when you have lost so many in a row, be smart. Too many times we loose sight of our surroundings and our actions can have horrible impacts on the people around us. 2) Sieze the opportunities you are given. I wonder if they had missed that kick what the feeling of the team would have been toward Mr. Incognito. I am sure some would have been outright mad becuase he allowed an opportunity to be missed. The opportunities don't come along all that often so we ned to make sure we grab onto them and hang on. 3) Be considerate of those around you. Those other players worked too hard to loose that game, but becuase one player was being inconsiderate and not thinking about the others they almost lost.

Part of me is glad they won, I would have hated to be in his shoes and in his coaches shoes had that field goal missed... I hate to see anyone loose a job.

Uhmmm Me Caveman...

We have been studying men in the church using the book "Wild at Heart" as a lesson plan. What we have found is that the men in the church have been somewhat domesticated and tamed. Now couple that with the fact that one hundred or even two hundred or three hundred years ago you find men were indeed wild at heart. We were discussing are their truely wild men in the church today. I think that there are. Men who are willing to do things differently, men who are willing to explore the unknown. These men are indeed wild at heart. They pursue ministry where ministry doesn't belong. They work with people who quite frankly don't deserve to be worked with. They are willing to give of themselves to see others built up.
We need more wild men in the church. We need some more cavemen who are explorers, inventors and wild to forge new paths for the future.

Remember...

"In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire: THE A-TEAM."... music starts here... black hippy van jumps into the screen, its the A TEAM!!!

Remember Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith? No he wasn't the guy that ate people, he was the leader of the "A" Team. He was the one that always had a plan and said, "I love it when a plan comes together..."

What I always wondered is why did his plans always come together and mine don't? I mean I plan well, but there is always a contingency that comes up that no one thought of that just throws the wonkey wrench into the works... When the "Colonel" came up with a plan, there was always contingencies that came up and they were covered, most times...

I would just love to say one time... "I love it when a plan comes together...."

Man oh man, why do we get sick? I feel like a dog that has been runned over today. Pass the Aspirin...

Have you ever wondered how medicines were discovered? I mean how did they find out that Tylenol helped relieve head aches? Ibuprophen helps relieve aches and pains. How did they find out that Viagra, well you know...? I mean is there a research group that gives these pills to people and then monitors them to see what happens? That would be kind of dangerous you would think?

I wish they would do a "Monday Morning go back to work" pill that would help... but I think I just have a cold...so maybe that is not it. We will see tomorrow.

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

We are studying "Wild At Heart" with the men on Wednesday nights. It is an intriquing book in how it looks at men in the church and how we have become sissy fied. You know the disciples, and Christ were not sissy guys. From being crucified, boiled in oil, cut in two or beheaded, they were men of action. Oh how things have changed in a few thousand years. Anyway, the author suggested that as men we do something that is uncomfortable for us. We are to stand nekid and look upon ourselves for ten minutes in a mirror. Now I spend all of about ten seconds in front of a mirror now that most of my hair has decided to reside on my back and in my ears so looking at myself for ten minutes does not appeal to me. The purpose of this exercise (after looking at myself nekid (yes I know that is spelt wrong, I am just not comfortable with the real word) for ten minutes exercise is definately a key word) is to examine just exactly who we are as men.

So it got me thinking, am I the man I want to be. I mean behind all the bald spots and the pudgy places, am I who I want to be?

It is a question I am still pondering... along with where all my muscles of my youth went.

I am BATMAN...

I was thinking of silly commercials this weekend. Remember the one where the football player get just drilled on a linebacker blitz and is rendered semi-unconscious. As the coaches are looking down on him they ask him how many fingers they were holding up, and he answers correctly. Then they ask where he is playing and he answers correctly. The coaches look at each other and know that he is not right but he is answering all the questions correctly. So one coach looks at him and ask... who are you? And he answers, "I am Batman"... I just died laughing.

Well I was looking in the mirror the other day, and I noticed that I am looking like Batman. I have an utility belt. I did not plan on having an utility belt. I never wanted an utility belt but I have an utility belt. It is not as fancy as Batman's, there is no bat spray, or a batarang or a bat communicator. I just have two cell phones, one on each hip. Now where did I put that Patarang?

what gives???

with the Airline industry today? I am trying to book some flights and it is almost impossible to find the right flight at the right time and the price... wow.

I went to all the big ones, found prices ranging from $490 to over a grand for a one way ticket from Denver to Tulsa. So I check Southwest, now it isn't a direct flight (whose are anymore) and I have to change planes in Kansas City, but it was $235 total. Yeap over half as cheap as the cheapest big air carrier (United, American, Continental). So I started thinking, did not the US Government bail out some airlines a few years ago? I think some of the big ones got huge cash transfusions because if they did not they were going bankrupt. Did you know that Soutwest has been the only airline that has shown a profit over the years. Yeah I know the cattle car mentality but lets face it people, just because I go to the gate agent and get a little ticket it is different than who gets there first gets on?

I was amazed at the cost difference doing that research, now how does Southwest, by charging half as the other guys, no bag charges, no raping you for a pillow and blanket make it in these tough economic times? They are efficient at what they do.

I wish we would all get as effecient in our lives to be like Southwest and quit looking for someone to bail us out.

Is Church Boring???

I had a revelation the other day. Church IS Boring!!
Yeah, I know, my credentials are being revoked as I type this but it is true; unless you are involved in it.
Too many people just GO to church, just like they GO out to eat, and GO to the mall or GO to the beach. And if you are just GOING somewhere, I can think of a jillion places to go to hear most better music and better speakers. GOING to church is not a boring experience if you are involved.
When you are involved you are part of a great experience of meeting with the creator of the universe. When you are involved your portion of the church experience is exciting.
Think of it this way, is Six Flags exciting? Why? Because you get to ride rides, eat bad foods and see all sorts of things. But if you paid the entry fee, walked just past the gate, pulled out a chair and sat there for five hours I think Six Flags would be boring. But when you get involved, it is exciting.
So next time you GO to church, get involved, do something, and see the excitement.

Thunder???

This is Kevin Durant, basketball player for the new Oklahoma City Thunder... the new NBA team in OKC.

Now I think it is great that OKC got an NBA team even though they had to go to Seattle to get it. But who was in charge of naming this team? Thunder? That was the best you could come up with?

Of course the Seattle team was the "Sonics"; which would work in OKC, home of the Sonic franchise of restaurants. You want cheese on that coney? How about a free Sonic Blast for every win? But Seattle wanted to keep the "Sonics" name so they had to pick another.

So I am thinking, I can do better than "Thunder". I mean; can you have Thunder if you don't have lightning? Nope, and Lightning always comes before Thunder. It is that old thought of if a tree falls in a forest and no is around does it make any noise type of ridiculous.

But lets look at our state, what are we known for? Thunder? Hardly. How about "Oilers"? With the price of gas now it would be good to be affiliated with oil production. How about "Roughnecks"? You know the guys that work the oil fields, of course that might have been too close to "rednecks" which really would not look too good on an NBA jersey. How about "Indians", whoops, can't do that anymore so that shoots down all the tribal names.

What else is Oklahoma known for; Sooners, uhmm that is taken; as well as the Cowboys, the Golden Hurricanes, and the Eagles. What else, "Sodbusters"; "Farmers"; "Toll Plazas"? I mean there are a ton of names Oklahoma is known for. But in reality they got close with Thunder, but Oklahoma is known not for Thunder but for the other weather pattern that starts with a T. Tornadoes, or course the Oklahoma City Twisters really rolls off the tongue but who am I to think that I can name a team? But many people in OK are afraid of Tornadoes, Twisters and Typhoons so maybe they felt "Twisters" was too risky.

I mean have you ever heard of someone dying from Thunder?

There is nothing more debilitating than a major headache. I am suffering from a sinus headache since I returned from Hawaii.

Headaches are a killer... you can still work with an ankle injury, or a backache but when your brain is hurting there is nothing that you can do.

My sinuses are starting to drain now and I am feeling better but the symptoms take a while to go away.

Sometimes I wonder why GOD allows things like sinus headaches to inflict us. Does it mean that we are not living like we are supposed to? Does it mean that we have walked out of the will of GOD. I don't think so, I think it is I went from a seaside village to a high humidity area and am suffering because of my travels.

So just because we are sick doesn't mean we are less spiritual or have walked out of the will of GOD, we may just have walked from one climate to another.

You have some explaining to do...

well in my attempt at humor with rule #163 I found that when you write a post, no matter when you post it, it will always post in order of when you started writing them.
So in my Dolphin post, rule #163 was that I don't swim with anything bigger than me. Then I thought of Big Country Bryant Reeves when we met at Big Splash in Tulsa and that I had accidentally broken rule #163. See now it all makes sense... it would have been funny if it had been humorus...:-)

It was this...

coming out up out of the water...

All 7'-0" of him...

BIG Country Bryant Reeves...

Luckily we had to leave to I did not look like a girl getting out of the pool. Of course if I had known he was there, I would have never broke rule #163...

:-)

What is that in the water?

Key scary music here... Da Dum....Da Dum.... Da Da DADADADADA!!!!

No chomp... its a dolphin fin. Right outside my window of my hotel. How cool is that? The hotel has a dolphin lagoon that has like a half dozen dolphins in it. I am sure for a small inheritance I could go down and swim wiht them. But that would break rule #163 in Pastor Pat's rules of life... did not know there were so many rules did ya?

Hawaii...

paradise...

dreamland...

heaven???

I get to travel on business to Hawaii tomorrow. 10 hour plane flight... we shall see if it is worth it. Everyone tells me that it is glorious, breathtaking, unbelievable. But all I can think about is Volcanoes!!!

I mean that island is an ACTIVE VOLCANO with DAILY eruptions... that is what is said in the travel guide. Should I be worried about this? I mean I live in Tornado Alley, and I am not scared of tornados, but Volcanoes, that is another story. Do they have Volcanoe drills? Where do you go? What do you do? Do they have boats on stand by just in case?

I guess I will find out when I get there. So Aloha!!

And the Prophet of GOD said what???

We always get this high and mighty attitude about preachers. They need to be perfect, straightlaced, uptight and without a sense of humor. I so don't fit that mold. I love to cut up, think I am witty, ride a motorcycle so I don't think I am too straightlaced. So I always wondered what GOD was doing with me. I was not made in the Preacher Mold...So I was doing some reseach on a sermon. Elijah on Mount Carmel with the sacrifice against the prophets of Baal. So I know this story; and the part where Elijah starts shouting to the Baal prophets because their god had not answered with fire was always straight forward. I could see Elijah saying, "shout louder, sing longer, jump higher... but there was one part where he asked where their god was, he said something like, "maybe he is in meditation or deep thought". So I go to studying that and Elijah was refering to their god may have been indisposed in the potty. I laughed out loud! Can you imagine the gall, the look of shock on the prophets faces as Elijah tells them their god is on the pot and can't anwer?I then decided that maybe I can be used of GOD after all. I mean that was flat out rude for Elijah to say that; (funny but rude). I would have never said something like that, so maybe there is hope for me too!!

"I'm Rubber and your Glue, what you say bounces off of me and sticks to you..."

Wow, now we are going back to grade school... that old ryme was chanted so many times on the playground that I can still recall it later in life. But do you know what? We used to say this all the time but we never really put into use. Let me say this, even though those words don't hurt physically, they do hurt, and being rubber is a great defense to bounce those words back to the rude party. But they still stick and work themselves into our pysche. What I have come to realize is that we allow them to stick. We allow them to hurt, we allow them to melt our self esteem and cause us grief.

I remember when I was in grade school, we had this girl in our class, we were all poor but she was poorer than most. And in the second or third grade we had an outbreak of lice... yep still makes my head itch. Well the teachers all checked us and this girl with her long blonde hair apparently had lice along with a few others in our class. Well most parents took their child home and did the lice shampoo and such and it was all good. Well not her family, they could not afford the special shampoo but her dad had some sheep shears and so he cut all her hair off. The next day she came to schoolwsith her head shaved; now this was before shaven headed women were the "in" thing... And she was made fun of. The other kids teased her, called her Kojack (he was famous back then) and made horrible fun of her. I moved away later in my early junior high days so I lost track of the kids in my class. After my senior year of high school I came back to the area and was reading the paper and saw this familiar looking person in a story about a beauty competition. It was "lice girl", yep it was her!! And man, she was a looker! Beautiful blonde hair, beautiful smile and I sat there and thought, "how can this be?" While reading her list of accomplishments I saw that she graduated from another school in the area than where we attended together. I saw that she graduated at the top of her class, that she was involved in Stuco, Drama, Sports and just about everything else. I started wondering how this "lice girl" was transformed into a smart, attractive, talented beauty queen?

I remember her saying one time, "I am rubber, you are glue, what you say bounces off of me and sticks to you..." I think she actually took that to heart... I wish we all would.

Wow, that dude is fast...

Usain Bolt from Jamaica...

Broke the 100 and 200 meter world records... doing a little math... I know geekville city... in setting the WR for the 200 meter in 19.3 seconds, if he could have continued he would have ran a mile in 2 minutes, 34 seconds. That is smokin' fast. So I went and checked how that compared to other animals. Well at a little over 23 miles an hour, he is not as fast as a cheetah but in a race he might outrun a horse at 200 meters.

Made me think of the time that Elijah was waiting on rain to fall, and before it started raining he told the King who was in his chariot to get home fast. And the Bible say that Elijah girded up his loins, (the dude was wearing a dress like thing) and ran to the city outracing the King. Now that is flying low... Although what Usain did is impressive, it does not hold a candle to the power that GOD has at his fingertips...

Olympic Fever...

Man do I have Olympics Fever... we have been watching every night, Michael Phelps and his quest for 8 Gold medals, Shawn and Nastia battling it out in the gym, basketball with the Redeem team, it has all been great.

But can I tell you the greatest part of the Olympics? Nope it is not Michael Phelps even though he is greatest Olympic athlete of all time. Shawn and Nastia, nope, even though their duel has been fun to watch. Kobe, LeBron and the rest of the Redeem team romping over all comers? Nope not even that.

The best thing about the Olympics is the opening ceremonies when the athletes walk in representing their country. Belarus, Ubezistan, and some of those other countries you've never heard of, with their sometimes three or even sometimes less athletes. Countries like Bhutan, a neighbor of China which entered two athletes, one male and one female in Archery. They marched in under their flag and waved to the crowd just as Lebron and Kobe and the others did that were there seeking a medal, only knowing that they will probably never see one.

I started thinking that those people are the best athletes in their county and they are honored at representing their country even though they will probably not bring home a medal. I can imagine what their countrymen are thinking today, will they win, how they will do and I can't believe that wether they win or loose, they will be proud of them anyway.

As American's we have been brainwashed with a win at all cost mentality. Stuff like "second place is the first loser", and "just win baby!" have made us a country that will only settle for the Gold and will look down on the loser. That is a sad way to look at life, losing is a part of life, we don't always win and it is in how we compete and perform where the real medals lie...

Milk, it does a body good, but...

it hurts the spirit.
We have all seen the advertisements on TV pitching the benefits of milk, how it builds strong bones and teeth and is a great source of calcium. And yep, I agree with all of that. But as beneficical as milk is to the body it is a significant detriment to the soul.
Paul the apostle spoke of some Christians who preferred milk over meat and somewhat called them babies in scripture. I think there are a lot of people like that today.
Milk is easy to fix, takes no effort and digest easy. Meat on the other hand takes more time, more preperation and doesn't digest as easy.
Many people take their spiritual journey only packing a gallon of milk and soon grow discouraged and fall away as they only get milk because they don't want to put forth the effort to eat meat.
Meat will sustain, enpower and endure where milk will spoil, smell and curdle.
So eat some meat on your spiritual journey, so you make it through.

Gadgets...

What is it about men and gadgets? Why do we just love them so?
I mean you give a guy a new gadget and he is in hog heaven. We get a new gadget and we think we can do anything. Phones, PDA's, Computers, tools, and all that other stuff really makes our hearts beat faster. I was watching my wife yesterday hook up a new I phone. She was saving stuff and moving stuff around. And then last night I pulled out one of my new gadget and one of our ladies in our church said, "let me see it" and then she said, "sweet". So I guess it is not just us guys that have Gadget Syndrome.

Whew...

After two weeks of flat out running. Finishing up one job and moving onto another, I have a few pointers to hand out.
1) two weeks is a long time. I know you are supposed to give a two weeks notice, but man does those two weeks cause some serious turmoil in your life. Depending on how long you might have worked at a specific place or how well you did your job, there are two different ways things are seen during those two weeks. The first; if you were a schmuck is they are glad to get rid of you and it is party city at the office. People are wishing you well, helping you pack your stuff and pushing you out the door. The other face of this is if you are truely an important cog in the wheel, well it is like "dead man walking", you know the movie of the guy who is heading to the electric chair, or gas chamber? People are walking around in doom and gloom, wearing black, muttering to themselves while you are all excited about the job that is awaiting you. It is stress beyond belief as those you like and those you maybe did not like too well are all hurt, betrayed and sometimes downright mean to you for leaving.
2) The other side of the fence is not always greener. When the mind has time to think, sometimes that is not a good thing. When you go into something blind, you really never know what to expect. And your mind will always conjure up the worst, trust me.
3) People are people... think you are getting away from the slob at the office? Think again, they are in every office. The neat freak, yep he is at the new office too! Seems no matter how hard you look, freaks are everywhere... even at the new job.
4) You last weeks will either seal your legacy or will seal your legacy. Face it, we will be remembered most of the time for the last two weeks we were employed than we will be for the first two weeks.

Leaving a job and heading to something else is the most painful and exciting thing I have done in a long time. I hated to leave those I worked with all those years, but I am excited at the same time for the oppotunities afforded to me at my new place of employment. So when you make that leap, just figure it is only two weeks, it has to end sometime.

Dude...get a clue...

What is it with people nowadays?
We have those who hate high gas prices but continue to drive their gas hogs around the block...
We have people who dress Goth to stand out, and then stand by all of their Goth friends who all look alike.
We have people who still refuse to utilize the turn signals on their cars, even though they are not optional equipment and they won't cost you every time you use them.
We have people who can't walk and chew bubble gum at the same time, yet will operate a motor vehicle while texting on the cell phone.
We have people who are cooking Meth in their house with explosive ingredients who always seem surprised when their house blows up!
Why is it the mass murderer is always a good neighbor?

You know. I try to use common sense in all my actions and decisions. But if common sense was so common, why is there not so much of it floating around?

I am so tired of...

Well I started thinking of that and here is what I am tired of... in no particular order... :-)

Election Ads - do they really think we believe them?
China's Air Quality - I am not running, biking, putting, throwing or any of that so why should I care. Try hanging around a bunch of 7th grade boys and then come talk to me about air quality.
SUV's - wah, boo hoo, so you bought a house to drive around and now you can't afford it...
Gas Prices - yep, it is 3.50something, still cheaper than in Europe, so we make adjustments.
Iraqi War - We won the war, now we are the police there. Yep everyone in that area despise us, so get over it.
Jamie Lynn Spears - I should care why?
Brittany Spears - see above.
High School Musical III - Shouldn't these kids have graduated by now? They are like Joe Bob in my class in Arkansas, body hair all over and still in the 8th grade.
California - So you hired an actor as governor and when he doesn't act like a governor you complain? You should have hired someone who played something other than the Terminator.
Illegal Immigrants - Aren't we all immigrants, I mean other than those who own all the casinos in Oklahoma. They should be the ones griping.
Lottery - I thought the lottery was to help out the educational needs of our state. Seems like our school budget has been cut so many times that no one must be buying a ticket.
Public Schools - that you have to pay to attend?
Michael Phelps - will he or won't he win 8 GOLD medals? The man is a porpoise masquerading as a human.
Alex Rodriguez - greatest baseball player NEVER to win a championship, and I don't really care if he is dating Madonna or not.
Madonna - see above.
Tour De France - if Lance isn't racing, I don't care.
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi - she is from California, enough said.
Brett Favre - retired, not retired, retired, not retired, retired, not retired. Come on people, make a decision already!
Nascar - Hate the COT, need more bumping and grinding, how about some more racin'...
Tiger Woods - go ahead and shut down the PGA till he gets back... did anyone watch the British Open, now that was golf!

I am sure I can come up with some more, so let me think on it. For now... I am so tired of trying to come up with something else.

Doing things Halfway...

I don't like it when people do a halfway job. I was looking at projects yesterday and had the urge to do a halfway job in scoping these locations. I thought, "hey, it won't affect me" but then I thought of all the others it would affect. I thought about how that would tarnish my legacy and people would question me and my ethics. So I decided to do the right thing and finish the job right and not halfway.

As my picture depicts, doing things halfway is never a good thing. Imagine the thoughts that would swirl around all who would see my friend (at least he was my friend before I posted his pic!!) with his hair like that. What would they think? It might be something like, "dude, uhmmmm you missed a spot...hehehe" or it might be like "did the timer run out on the shaver and you didn't have another quarter to finish? hehehe" or maybe, "Hey man, don't drink and shave... hehehe"

But many of us leave things undone in our lives. Things that we never get around to fixing... things that we never get around to taking care of and it affects how people think of us. Sometimes our lives don't reflect that we are 100% commited to whatever our cause is because we leave things undone.

I will tell you, my friend did not like his hair cut halfway... he insisted that it get finished and I just have to say, I really appreciate that he finished the job!!

Honesty...

really is the best policy. My wife and I came clean with our church yesterday, first about our ministry and then about the finances.
Our Ministry is built on us being a team. Yep, we are indeed "one flesh" and we make home decisions, and church decisions together. Now we are not crazy where I call her about what I am going to have for lunch, but we do discuss major decisions together. I love her insight and discernment and her pushing... and I think she likes my logic and my thinking things through BEFORE we jump. We find that we complete each other in most ways but people have a hard time with that. I think it is a sterotype that "men" are the ministers and the "women" are the piano players and pretty arm hangerons... Wow how many ministers are missing out on a great blessing that GOD gave them by not allowing their wives to participate in ministry.
I am the head, the final authority in my home. But I do not "lord" it over my family, I love them like Christ loved the church and am willing to put aside my wants to see them blessed. The same is for the church as well. But when you don't really know, you would think that some strong willed women rule the roost when it is not really so. So we were honest and straighforward with our congregation in how we do ministry. Will some of them not get it? Perhaps, but at least they know.
Now the next thing was by far more hard. Finances, I hate preaching on them, looking at them or talking about them. But the church needed to know that we have been "bankrolling" the church for some time by not taking a full salary so that bills could be paid. Are we starving? No, GOD has provided through other means but we have sacrificed. And we brought that to the churches attention. I am sure some looked at it as a plea for money, others as a building up of oneself. I just wanted them to know that we are looking out for them and doing everything that we can do make this thing work. I figure if they want to talk about us, and face it, it does happen then they can talk about the good things that we are doing instead of the things that we are not. We are well above $10K in the money that the church has not paid us. Wow, what I could do with that kind of money, but I would not have it any other way. GOD knows and I believe that he will bless us with it at a later time when we really need it.
So in all things be open, honest, and transparent, it feels good!

Following Through....

How many times have you been around people who do not follow through. You know what I mean, they start something but never get it finished. I am a horrible follower througher (is there is such a word!!) myself. I always have about 10 projects going in one state of completeness or another.
So last Monday I resigned my job and I found I have to make a choice. Do I mail in the last two weeks, or do I follow through? Do I slump off all the work to the people who will be handling it when I leave now, or do I try to do as much as I can while I am here to finish strong?
I have decided to finish strong. I know that I am an asset to this company. I know that I will be missed, but this is my chance to secure my legacy at this place. They will never be able to say that I mailed it in the last two weeks. They will say that I gave when I had nothing to gain from it.
That is how I have decided I want to live my life. Giving when I have nothing to gain from it. So I have decided to finish strong...

Choices...

Do as I say, not as I do. How many times have I heard that? Isn't that just the stupidist thing you have ever heard.
We had a great class this evening on money management. And to apply what we learned is a wise thing, but we have to make the choice TO APPLY what we learned. That is the biggest problem we face today is making the RIGHT choice in life.
Face it, we are people who constantly will make the wrong choices when given the chance. We try to talk a good game, but when the decision is placed in front of us, we often do not make the wise choice.
I for one am going to make an effort to make wise choices. I was looking at some of the choices that I have made in life and some of them were not very good. It seemed I was looking not far enough ahead and was living in the moment. Well now I am going to look at things from an eternal perspective. So make wise choices that will impact eternity and I am sure you will do fine.

D O N E !!!

I quit my job yesterday. No, not the church job, but the job that pays the bills. I received a job offer from another company to do the same type of thing I am doing now at a better pay rate and benenfits. Sounds good right? It is all good except the people you leave behind.
I really thought my boss was going to have a stroke yesterday. I called him the night before and told him my decision. I meant to have a face to face meeting but he did not come in and I felt I needed to give him as much time as possible so I told him over the phone. The next morning he looked like he hadn't slept or ate since then. At lunch time he said he still had an upset stomach and refused to go eat. I realized then how much value I was to this company. One man I have worked with for 20 years refuses to talk to me. One gal called me a pot stirrer of feces material. One guy sarcastically said thanks for all the extra work. Some of these people I have known for almost half my life and the thought of leaving them is like loosing part of my family.
My emotions are running from sad, for those I am leaving behind, to excitement as I am embarking on a new jouney. It is going to be the longest two weeks of my life.

J U M P !!!

We went to the lake this weekend and found this old bluff down by Honey Creek. From the water's surface it looks to be about 15' from the top of the bluff to the water. But once you get on top and look down at the water it seems almost twice as high. So this weekend our young adults decided to jump off the bluff and the not so young adult decided to do it as well.
Now we had checked it out for submerged obstacles first to be safe and once all was deemed good it came to jump. Now I had jumped off of this same bluff over 20 years ago as a younger man with some friends so I went head first without hesitation. But we had some others who were a little more reluctant to jump.
What we found out is that once they did it their fear was quite a bit relieved and then they started to have fun doing it.
Life is that way, when we are standing on the edge looking at something new, looking at life from a different aspect, it is a bit scary. But once we commit and by faith take that plunge it is exhilerating and fun.
So next time you are faced with a scary proposition, think about it, weight the risk and then Jump!!

Say What?

What has happened to our great country? I heard on the news today that our banking federal chief is saying our economy is in trouble. The government has bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, our countries two largest mortgage brokers. We have car companies about to go under, budgets that are out of control, airlines that are charging you $5 for a pillow and making you pack one change of clothes for a weeks stay unless you want to pay for shipping on the SECOND suitcase you want to take with you. By the way I had my shipping guy run the numbers, a 25# suitcase can be shipped all over the continental US for like $12, and that is on UPS's plane. So why can't the people who carry my body take it for less if they are going that way, but I remiss...

I am so tired of American's looking for the government to step into every trial and tribulation in our life and bail us out. Yes we pay taxes, does that mean if we make a bad decision on a house that was too big for us and we could not afford that the government owes it to us to help us pay it off? Gas is over $4 a gallon , so park the HUMMER and take the Volkswagon. Food prices are rising... have you heard of a garden? And do we really need to eat as much as we do? I know that I don't... but lets not get into that... I realize that our county is the greatest thing going... but lets get real folks, they are there to govern our land, make available the pursuit of happiness and secure our freedoms, not fix up our land because of mining waste, not ENSURE that we are happy (remember it is a pursuit of happiness) and freedom doesn't necessarily mean that whatever we want to do is good for us.

So what will fix this great country? You! Doing your part... all 304,614,311 million of us...

I N T E G R I T Y

Integrity - Doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

All that we are is based on our integrity. If we don't have integrity we don't have anything.

But that definition, doing the right thing even when no one is watching is the key. You see there are people who in the public eye look like people of integrity, but behind closed doors you find out who they really are.

I was kind of tickled this week as the news ran reports about Jesse Jackson leaning over to tell someone on a TV set a comment about Barak Obama. Pretty much what was said was that Jesse doesn't like it when Barak talks down to black people, and it makes Jesse want to cut a significant part of Barak's body off. Wow, in case you did not know, Mr. Jackson puts REV. in front of his name.

What really concerned me was that I was not shocked, appalled, or even outraged, for you see, I never labeled Mr. Jackson a man of integrity even though he has a designation in front of his name that would lead you to believe he is. Numerous times situations have come up where his integrity was questioned and the answers were not always positive. I will let you web search those things, but onto my point.

If we are to be people of integrity, we need to do the right thing when no one is watching and say the right things even when we think the microphone is in the off position...

Be Blessed.

Revived...

Have you ever really thought what being "revived" means. Well I looked it up and most times it deals with something that had been dead!! Now how many of us would admit that we are dead? I mean, really admit we are dead? No way would we admit that we are dead, not in a million years. Can you imagine how that conversation would go?
man #1: So how are you doing?
man #2: Dude, I'm dead.
man #1: Yeah man I know what you mean.
man #2: No really I am dead.
man #1: Oh yeah, you mean really tired.
man#2: No, dead, D E A D dead.
man #1: But dude, you are still moving.
man #2: Yeah, still moving but still dead, my body has just not quit moving yet.
man #1: So what it going to happen with you?
man #2: I don't know, I guess I will just stop moving and cease to exist.
man #1: wow, what will we do with you then.
man#2: I don't know, I will be useless and won't be able to do anything. I guess they will just set me to the side and have someone else do my stuff.
man #1: well, we are going to miss you...
man #2: well thanks. I will miss you too.

Sound familiar? I seem to hear that conversation with people all the time. They may still be moving, but inside they are dead. So what do they need? They need to be REVIVED. Shocked back into existance, charge up the paddles and yell CLEAR! and zap them back to life. But many times people come to revival and don't get revived. Why? Because they don't go to the ER of GOD'S world and let GOD bring them back to life. If we are not willing to go to the Hospital or the Doctor, how can we expect to get better? So the next time you are dead, go get revived and let GOD zap you back to life!

Hey, watch this...

Those fateful words...last spoken by some moron who is going to do something to get themselves hurt. I have said it, numerous times. Getting cute with a firecracker and not throwing it quick enough, bouncing a rubber super ball off the ground and not getting out of the way fast enough when it bounced back up, riding no hands on a ten speed, downhill, with potholes in the road!!!

I remember one time when I was younger trying to impress the ladies at the swimming pool. We had a 3 meter board (9 feet) that I would do these great looking swan dives off of. So there are about 4 or 5 gals lounging by the swimming pool and I have been doing my best to splash them to get their attention but they were too far away. So me and my buddy start talking real loud, showing off our muscles, and we finally get their attention when I say, "Hey watch this great dive!!" Of course half the swimming pool at this point heard me and turned to watch the next Olympic hopeful perform some kind of great dive. So my plan was to do the run up as normal, leap as high as I could, spread my arms out like a swan and go in with no splash. Great plan huh? So I get a mighty run and about as I am to leap in the air my foot slips out from under me, I go paralell with the horizon and the upper half of my torso lands on the end of the board. Which proceeded to throw me straight up into the air still horizontal with the surface of the pool. Now remember the board is at 3 meters, and with the rebound off of the board I am around 5 meters (15 feet) now horizontally above the water. Well everyone who knows diving knows that you go into the water PERPENDICULAR, well I did not. My friend said when I hit the water horizontally it sounded like a thunder clap and the water displacement was significant at least. After I gained consciousness (I don't think I passed out but I wished I had) I came to the surface and made my way to the edge of the pool, OPPOSITE of where the girls were hoping that they did not see my display of ineptitude. As I pulled my reddened body (half from the impact of the water, remember I was 15 foot above the surface and the other half redened from embarassment) I realized that my hearing had been affected. That was until I realized the ringing in my ears was not from the dive, but from the laughter, the clapping and the people holding up 10 fingers making fun of me. I limped off to the locker room to compose myself and adress my injuries.

Back - repairable but bruised by the board...

Side - water bruised but no long lasting affects...

Head - intact...

Arms - intact...

Legs - intact...

Pride- .... totally destroyed.

It was at that time I remembered the sign at the bottom of the diving board. It said "slippery when wet, use caution...".

Why is it we ignore life's warning signs? If we would just listen and pay attention I think we would live a life without the pain that follows those fateful words. But many times pride clouds out judgement, it impares our vision and it causes pain. So the next time you begin to feel pride rise up, remember there is always pain that comes after the pride.

Changes...

I have been contemplating a change for a while. It is a hard choice to make as once it is made, I may never be the same again. It will probably affect the realationships I have with people, the way people will look at me, and the way I feel about myself. It is not an easy choice. I am constantly putting myself in that dream world of what it would be like. Questions like, "will I like it?" and "will everyone else approve?" swirl through my mind.

You see, I am thinking of shaving my head........ I saw a wad of hair in the shower this morning. I do not think it is mine, but it could be. There was a whole lot of it swirled around the drain. As I am continually exposing the dome on top of my shoulders, I am thinking of speeding it along and going for it. Today on MSN there was an article that bald guys are better looking than guys with hair... so that may just be the incentive I need to go for it!!

But change is so hard...

It is finished... those were the words of JESUS as he died on the cross. I felt like uttering those words the other day but not in the same attitude as CHRIST. I was just glad I was done!!
We finished the fireworks sale, got out some schooling on 4 hours of sleep, aced the test, got kids all picked up and off to where they were to go, preached a Sunday service, took my wife away, traveled some, shopped some, ate some and now back in the swing of things.

Sometimes it is good to finish something which goes totally against everything within me!!!

Say it ain't so...

So I love guitars, and I have always been a fan of great guitarist. And one of the best arguably was Jimmi Hendrix. I am not a big psyadelic guy, don't really wear tie dyed stuff, but I have heard some of his stuff. Know that he lived hard and died from a drug overdose far too young. But I don't want to talk about him, but about his guitar. See I have always loved that guitar's look. White on white, with a Maple neck. So simplistic, so elegant, so I decided I wanted one. have you checked how much guitars cost, so I decided to make one.

So I worked and worked and put one together with some parts I made and some part I purchased. Now I am not a guitar hack, I pretty much know what I am doing when building eletric guitars (this is my fourth) and I think I did pretty good. The one on the right is mine.

But what I found out is this, I can't play like Jimmi Hendrix. I don't even sound like him playing. I have the same looking guitar, even have the reversed headstock, the same color and shape but my playing sounds like me playing any other guitar even though I am playing a guitar styled after Jimmi's. Sometime we think if we act a certain way, or dress a certain way, or drive a certain car it will change who we are. When in reality we are all made differently, as David said, "formed in our mother's womb" to be who we are. To look like we look, talk like we talk and be who we are. So lets stop trying to be someone else, and be the best YOU that you can be.

Childish People...

What is it about fireworks that brings out the child in us? Is it the danger of playing with something that could injure us? Is it the loud noises? It is the fire?

It amazes me sometimes when we work the fireworks stand to see full grown people come in and get giddy about the prospects of fireworks. I delivered some to work the other day, and brought a freebie to the guy who bought a lot of fireworks. It was a 36 shot artillary set and he got this big grin on his face and giggled a little bit when I gave it to him. I thought it was the prospect of getting something free, but after thinking about it, I think it was the kid in him thinking, "Man, those are gonna be fun to blow up!!"

I wish that we would have that same attitude about other things in life. Things like GOD, Family, Fun... If we could get childish about some of these things... not in childish like, "Mine!! Mine!! Mine!!, but childish that we can see the wonder in all the things around us. The wonders of a sunset, a rain shower, or a rainbow that GOD created. The fun of running around in the yard, playing in the mud and sliding on the grass with the kids. The fun of jumping off the swings, the fun of blowing up fireworks, the fun of hanging with friends on a summer evening.

So be Childish sometimes, I think it is good for you...

Touch not GOD'S annointed...

I have heard this preached a thousand times, usually with that scripture of Elijah or Elisha being made fun of because he was bald, and he called a curse down on the children who were teasing him and a bunch of bears came out of the woods and mauled the kids. Don't mess with the preachers of GOD'S word!!!
I haven't really thought of that till this week, when I heard someone going off about their preacher. They were this and they were that and stupid too on top of it all as they bellowed out the list of failures that they had witnessed, as I overhead the conversation. I really thought that they were all insignificent things, but they were not to the "talker". I wonder if these people who talk out about the men and women of GOD realize the sacrifices and the work that they do? I truely believe that the men and women of GOD do not get the respect that they deserve. R E SP EC T!! And I do mean respect, love them or hate them, they are GOD'S people and because of their position should have our respect. I do not hear preachers sitting down with other preachers and telling every juicy morsel of rumor that they know about their congregation. I do hear them sitting down and getting advice on how they can minister to those that are hurting or those going through a trial though. Back in the old days, the minister was the respected, even revered ( I wonder if Reverend came from that?...) in the community that he ministered in. I do not know if it is a cultural shift or something else that make people feel that those in the ministry are fair game to criticize, condemn and converse about.
So the next time you want to talk about your Preacher, walk a mile in their shoes first. Here, I have mine off, you can borrow them IF YOU DARE!!! I have a feeling you won't make it out the door...

Wow... strong winds...

Well our annual fireworks stand is up and going and Saturday we had a doozy of a storm. I had just checked the weather to see what to wear for the day, and saw a huge storm cell heading our way. So I called my wife who was manning the tent and told her to batten down the hatches. So like, ten minutes later her distraught voice was calling me telling me the tent was blowing down and to get up there ASAP!! So when I arrived, both sides of the tent were flapping in the breeze, only the center poles were standing. When I got inside I found my wife and my associate pastor's wife holding the poles. They looked like two sailors in the midst of a storm who had lashed themselves to the mast to keep from getting blown overboard. We had tent stakes pulled up out of the ground, ropes that snapped and water everywhere. As the sideways rain came down, we finally were able to stabilize the tent and get everything locked down again. But we lost about half of our inventory to water damage and were soaked to the bone.

It taught me a lesson though, if you take the proper precautions to prepare anything to stand the tests and the storms of time, it will stand. But, if you build it shoddily, without thought and take shortcuts, it will all fall during the storm. Our tent was not put up very well, the poles were cracked and the ropes were rotted which translated into a tent that almost fell down during the storm. So if you are building anything, wether it be a career, a ministry, or a home, make sure you take the proper precautions and build it to withstand the storms of life.

Pass the dressing...

I read an interesting thought today from an atheist (a person who does not believe in a Supreme GOD) today about dress in the church. What was acceptable and not acceptable and I thought it interesting to hear a "outsider's" view on the subject.

If you ask believers about dress in church you will get everything from; "you must dress to please GOD in your "Sunday Best"", to; "GOD will accept me just as I am in whatever I happen to be wearing". And I do not believe that either of these statements are false. I believe that we do have in certain churches standards of dress that are usually set by the congregation and are relative to the social settings of that particular congregation.

Now to what my atheist friend said. He said that our dress for church many times falls into a catagory that we are trying to impress others than we are individually trying to impress GOD. In layman's terms, he said we were there to be seen, rather than there to see GOD. What an idea. So it got me thinking, what is our motivation in regards to our dress? Are we there to be seen or there to see GOD?

Da da da dum, dada da!! Da dada daaa da dada da da!!

Tonight, I will be Indiana Jones, my life will be filled with trapdoors, pungi sticks and traps that will inflict great harm upon me should I spring them. You see, I have made someone upset. Yep, she is mad at me. I left her hanging, did not help like she wanted and therefore I am about to enter into the world of Indiana Jones where there is peril around every corner.

Guys, communicate with your gals. Gals, let your guys know EXACTLY what you want as we are sometimes to much of the hunter gatherers that we get focused on one thing and can't read between the lines.

So as I head home I am checking the gear... Leather Fedora...check! Pistol....check! Bullwhip....check! Chocolates.....? I need to swing by the store and get my wife some chocolates so I don't have to go sleep in the snake pit tonight.