Inner Beauty...

I saw part of this show the other day. The premise is they are trying to measure a person's true beauty. Is beauty only skin deep? Well that was what they were trying to prove or disprove. What I have found is that beauty is measured not only in physical appearence, but also in our actions, our attitudes and our relationships with other people. Sister Teresa was not one who would ever grace the cover of a fashion magazine, but to the lepers and homeless in Calcutta, India she was the most beautiful woman they ever saw. I think we should strive to be that kind of beautiful, the kind where the inside outshines the outside every time.

A winter wonderland...

I don't like the cold, I can do without snow, but what do I see outside my window?

Yep Snow and Ice.

Didn't Foreigner used to have a song like that? "You're snow and ice, willing to sacrifice our love" (it actually was "your as cold as ice...) but I had a bud that always sang songs wrong.

And I have to travel tomorrow. I live in the south so I don't have to put up with this mess!!

Praying for a heat wave!!

Welcome to...

What a place. Large city with a small town charm, no wonder it is the country music capital of the world. I saw more guitar cases coming and going out of that airport, it was like a maffia hit man convention was going on!!

They had a Gibson guitar cafe in the airport, all sorts of memoribilia of country legends and at every food court they had a small stage with monitors, one even had a baby grand piano for people to set and play. Made me wish I had a guitar, I could have set up and embarrased myself and made some extra spending cash!!

What got me was on the radio there was a church that was under fire for not praying for the President. Seems they used to pray for the President, and now they are deciding to not pray for the President. Seems to me that when we find ourselves in a situation not to our liking that we should pray more, not throw a fit and take our ball and go home.

I would encourage you, wether you are liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican or Independent, wether you lean right or left or have just passed out. Pray for all of our elected officials that they will rely on the only ONE who has the answer to every question and the supply for every need.

Be Blessed

A historic Day...

Today is the day when we receive a new president. And I have never in my life seen such interest in this specific day when a new president takes the oath of office in all my life. Now I realize that because of his race, it is a historical moment in the history of the United States but the fanfare that is coming with it is a little discouraging.
We are in the midst of a recession, our financial deficit keeps growing and growing and I have no idea what it will cost for all the pomp and circumstance that will go on today, do we need to add to the debt? Do I think we should cancel the party? No, but I do believe that with everything that is going on, we should be looking to the main issues that are facing our country today and maybe use a little discretion? Yes?
But let me get to the point of my post... It is definately a historic day for our country. The election of an African American president means that indeed anything is possible in this country. But what I am concerned about is the bar has been set so high for our incoming president that I am afraid that he will not measure up to the expectations placed upon him. I know many Americans believe that when he steps into office that every issue and problem facing this great nation will evaporate and will be fixed with a stroke of the pen. Can I bring a little reality to you today, that is not going to happen. I am afraid that the millions of people who are standing on Pennsylvania Avenue today may be standing there in a few years demanding the promises of change that they never saw come to pass. For America to change, Americans must change individually. They must make the decision that change is good, and embrace it. Wishing for someone esle to change your life is like wishing that you will loose weight without diet and exercise, if there was some magic pill we would have it by now. So as we look on this historic day, if you are wanting change, then begin with yourself, today is the first day of the rest of your life.

JESUS and sports...

I read an article the other day about GOD'S role in sports. Now do I think that GOD has an interest in who wins the Superbowl or any other game for that matter? No. But I do believe that GOD has an interest in those involved in the game. Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Cardinals ( I still won't call them the Arizona Cardinals, have you ever seen a cardinal in Arizona?) are going to the Super Bowl. Now Kurt does not make any bones about his faith and his trust in GOD but a lot of people make an issue of it. They like to say that GOD guides his passes, that GOD moves that blitzing defensive end a little further out so he can't be sacked. But I really believe that the only thing GOD is contributing is in the makeup of Kurt Warner himself. You see, Kurt believes, and believing is a big part of succeeding in sports and life. Kurt believes that if you prepare, study, work hard and do your best that GOD will bless it. I agree with him, he does not promise us everything if we don't do our part, but he does promise us that when we do things according to his commands that we will see the blessings in our lives. People say that making a Super Bowl is GOD's way of blessing Kurt Warner. Let me put it this way, without ever making the Super Bowl GOD has still blessed Kurt Warner. He has a job that many would kill for, making a ton of money playing a kid's game. He has a wife that has stood beside him when he was a failure and got cut from the Packers, who stood beside him when he said he wanted to play Arena ball in Iowa, and who stood beside him as he was bagging groceries at the HyVee when everything did not work out. He has already been blessed of GOD, beyond what we all and he probably deserves. Kurt Warner is in the Super Bowl because he worked hard, got some breaks and mainly because Kurt BELIEVED that he could make it to the big game.

You go Kurt, I am cheering for you.

Just keep a knocking...

I was reading a friends blog (funny on the internet I have never met him but I consider him a friend, there must be something wrong with that...) about Luke 11. It is the story of the man who goes to his neighbor's house to borrow some bread because a guest showed up unannounced and the man had nothing to feed him. Well the neighbor was already in bed and had locked up his house and told the man to go home. But the man was persistant and kept knocking, and JESUS said that the neighbor would eventually give the man the bread because he knew that he would not get any sleep because of the guys knocking and that he would give him the bread not necessarily out of friendship but because his reputation would be damaged if he did not help his neighbor in time of need.

Well he brought out a point that sometimes we quit knocking too soon and leave before GOD does something great in our lives. I have seen people come to church once or twice, and unless GOD did something miraculous they did not come back. I have seen people come and pray once and just expect GOD to give them what they prayed for and never pray again for it. I have seen people attempt to make a deal with GOD and because things did not go according to the way they thought, they quit on GOD all together.

I do not want to be the guy who knocks and knocks and finally leaves the porch and says, "well I guess it is time to move on." And then moments later the next guy comes to the door and knocks just one time and the door is opened for him and the owner of the house says, "I heard you knocking, it just took me a moment to get to the door".

I think that there are times when we give up to early and we need to persevere a little longer and just keep on knocking on that door.

Fighting?

Not that kind of fighing. Not like Rocky and Appollo Creed.

Fighting with your words...

Take a look at the picture. How many of us would want to hurt any human being like the one getting hit? I mean if I am in the ring, well, I will swing for the fences, but in just a spat or an argument sometimes our words hit as hard as that right cross.

The damage done is sometimes irreparable and can cause serious injuries to a person's trust, loyalty and commitment. We are studying in our small groups on how to fight fair. So I thought I would drop a few rules; kind of like the referee at the beginning of a boxing match.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Referee: OK guys and gals, I want a goood clean fight.

No rabbit punches (which means you have to take time to listen and quit swinging all the time. Listen to the other side, evaluate what they have to say and then form your opinion. Don't just swing, swing, swing).

No hitting the back of the head (which means when the fight is over, don't throw that last cheap shot in to get the last word, don't feel like you have to land the last blow to win the fight, especially if it is a cheap shot when the others back is turned).

When I tap your shoulder when you are in a clinch, let go and back up, without throwing punches (which means, if it starts to get physical, take a step back, regain your composure and let some space come between the combatants).

In case of a knockdown, go to your respective corners (which means if one of you falls down, the other should not jump on them with both feet, that is being a bad sport).

And NO LOW BLOWS (ouch! which means you can't dredge up something that happened 20 years ago, or 10 years ago or 5 years ago and throw it in the face of the other fighter, that is definately hitting below the belt and that type of foul is usually done by the person losing the match and in trouble).

Referee: Understand?

Fighter #1 - (nods)

Fighter #2 - {grunts}

Referee : OK! LETS GET IT ON!!!

DING! DING! DING!

;-)

Who do you look like?

I have been told that everyone has a twin. I mean not a biological twin but someone that really resembles someone else. They look so much alike that sometimes people will pass themselves off for the rich and famous.

To walk a few feet in someone elses shoes must feel pretty good. Can you imagine if you looked like some movie star? I was once mistaked for Christopher Reeves (before the accident that took his life) when I was in Atlantic City. The guy at a cafe says, "hey your that dude!". I replied, "Huh, what dude?" And the man says, "you are that Superman guy in the movies!". I kind of laughed and said, "No, you got the wrong guy." And he comes back and says, "Its OK, I won't tell anyone. I know you just want to eat in peace." And he did leave me alone the rest of the morning. But I could feel his eyes on me and the eyes of everyone in the kitchen on me till I left and said goodbye. I was so uncomfortable that someone was going to come and ask for an autograph and what I was going to do if they did that I did not enjoy my breakfast. Now I have no delusions that I look like Superman, of course back then I was somewhat buff so who knows. But that man saw me as Superman and in his eyes I was that famous Superman dude.

You know it gets me thinking of what we really see in people. We see the rich and famous and think it must be great to be them, until we walk a few feet in their shoes or set on their barstool through breakfast. I think we should wait to pass judgement on how great it is to be them.

JESUS loves me this I know...

for the Bible tells me so?
I have been debating about posting this for some time. I know many people who do not feel that JESUS loves them, and some who do believe that JESUS loves them do not believe that GOD cares for them at all.
Well I was doing some reading the other day and came to a heavy realization.
GOD loves me just as much today, as he did when I was not living for him. GOD doesn't love me any more today that I pastor a church than he did when I first gave my life to him. He does not love me any more less than when I was doing my best to ignore him than he does know when I know him more.
Isn't that Whacked?
You see we try to put GOD in a man suit. You know make him out to be like us. But GOD is not like us. You see we really do not believe that we can "love" anyone that we have not met. And if we were truthful, out "love" is conditional. Which I mean that if you treat me well, if you are nice to me, if you do things for me, I might "love" you. But if you cross my path wrong, if you treat me wrong, if you disagree with me, I might not "love" you. GOD is not that way. He loves us even when we don't love him. Try that for a while, loving someone who does not love you back... yeah GOD is definately not like us.
Now to the JESUS versus GOD love thing. Many feel that JESUS loved them because he died for them. But we need to realize that GOD the Father, is the same as GOD the Son and GOD the Holy Spirit. They are the triune GOD head one and the same. So GOD the Father actually died as GOD the Son on the cross of Calvary, giving up himself for his creation. Confused yet? Yeah I know.
But just as JESUS loved mankind and was willing to give himself up for it, GOD loves us just as much. Even when we are yet no in his "family" his love for us is the same.
Oh that we could treat the brothers and sisters in the Lord the same way. Love unconditional with no strings attached.
For all of those that might read this, I want you to know that I will do my best to love with the love of Christ. Even if I haven't met you and even if you have been ugly to me, I will choose to love.
Be Blessed!

Recession

Recession. You know how everyone has been talking about a recession. Well I have not seen it. Everyone is talking about how people are saving money? Really, it seems to me that everyone spends what they bring home every week. Everyone is talking about how the housing market is bad and you can't sell a house and if you do have to sell you will sell at a loss. Well I know someone who bought a house four years ago, and it sold for 15% more than the purchase price back then. Everyone is talking about how the unemployment is out of control and I can show you just about every fast food joint and contractor are trying to hire people.

Now I know that we live in an area that see very little ups and downs, not like the two coast. But I also know that some people around here have common sense.
Like they live week to week, paycheck to paycheck but some do put a little money aside every so often just in case. They hav all bought houses but most have bought within their means, not buying a house three times too big for them with a mortgage to match. And most in this area are willing to go to work if the need arises. McDonalds is not below us if we have a mortgage payment to make. Digging ditches is fine if we can feed our families.
I guess what I am saying is that recession is like that bald spot growing on my head. It is there, it is not pleasent, but it doesn't really affect me to much other than I wear a hat a lot more now...
we do what we have to do.

Take care of it...

I was working on a song the other day and pulled a guitar down off the wall to get some chords. It was a guitar I bought to be a "beater" guitar. You know the one that doesn't get to stay in the case, gets thrown in the car, thrown on the floor, thrown down the stairs. It was inexpensive as guitars go and since it was "cheap" I felt no remorse at taking it apart, doing some modifications and adaptations on it. Now let me get where I was going.

I took that guitar down, plugged it in and it literally sang in my hands. Now I would say it was singing a step low and a little off of pitch, kind of like my singing, so together we were perfect. I was amazed at how well that little guitar played. Then I remembered the work I did on it. I took a cheap inexpensive guitar and made it into a player.

I can tell you, if you will take a little care and work a little on the small things in our lives, who knows what we may find out about ourselves. We might actually be a gem in the rough, which only needs a little care and effort to turn into a shining jewel.

Fun Fun Fun...

Took a little family vacation and just getting back into the swing of things. We took an entire week of and planned on doing.... NOTHING. I just hate it when you go on vacation and you have more things to do than when you are working. Got to be here, gotta do that, and on and on. I come back more frazzled than when I left. It is so good to just go and do nothing. Although I will say that time does seem to move faster when you are doing something, but it moves pretty fast when you are doing nothing as well.
Went to the Dixey STAMPEEEEEDE!! as well as to TITANIC. Man that was a big ship for its time. I did get to find out a lot that I did not know and no I have not seen the movie. But what was amazing was the arrogance of all the crew and the people on board. They were CERTAIN that this ship was unsinkable. They took a path through an ice flow where most ships avoided. They were warned of icebergs in the area and the radio operator told them to stay off his channel. And they were going 17 knots through the ice flow in the dark of night and did not have time to turn in the 30 seconds it was from the time the lookout saw the berg and impact.
Amazing how people can ignore the warnings in so many things of life...