Allegiances...

I will never forget the first time I was with my future wife's family for Sunday lunch. After lunch it was onto the TV room for some football. So I walk in and say "who's playing?". My future father in law, and two brother's in law as well as a cousin or two respond, "the Broncos and the Raiders". Now let me stop right there and explain a few things. The Broncos and the Raiders hate each other and their fans feel the same way. It is not one of those type of hates where you hate on someone for being too good looking, or way to athletic or too popular. This kind of hate borders on the excessive type of hate like you have for that girl that dumped you to date that nerdy kid in your class. The type of hate you have for that kid that stole your bubble gum in class and then blows bubbles right in front of you to rub it in. That kind of hate.
So after they say "Broncos and Raiders" I blurt out to my embarrasment "Go Raiders".
Have you ever been in one of those situations where the music is so loud and the noise so deafening that you have to yell to the person sitting next to you to communicate? So you know how it feels when you are sitting there yelling to be heard and all of the sudden the music drops out and you are yelling at your friend who is sitting two feet away and all the people look at you like you are a moron. Well I got those kind of looks and then looks of menace and mayhem.
My father in law said something like, "what did you say?" and my two brothers in law started to rise I changed my allegiance right fast. I was born in the Bay Area, my mom and dad were Raider fans because only the wealthy were 49 fans. So to step foot in a Bronco fan's house and to date his daughter I had jumped right behind enemy lines. So I became a Bronco fan. I converted and placed my faith in John Elway and the Blue and Orange.
So yesterday was a little hard on me as I saw the Silver and Black just beat the stuffing out of my adopted Raiders. I wonder if it is too late to recant...

Difference between faith and trust

I was doing some study for a sermon the other day and I came to a startling conclusion. Faith and Trust are not the same thing.
I used to believe that Faith and Trust is the same concept, interchangable one with the other. But in studying I have found out that they are entirely different and that Trust believe it or not is actually a step up the spiritual ladder than Faith.
I know, I know, I am in major danger of going off the deep end here, getting a call from the head of our denomination for speaking heresy but hear me out on this.
Faith, the evidence of things hoped for, the substance of things unseen. Sound familiar? Paul wrote those words and I have lived by them. I have faith that GOD is going to bless me, he is going to keep me safe, he is going to keep me and my family well. I have faith that he is going to bless the flock he has entrusted me with. I have faith that the Broncos will pull out a win against the hated Raiders even though they are down 21 points... well I kind of hope they do... but really don't think they will. So my faith is not so well with the Broncos...
So that is really what faith is, the hopes that all those things we hope for and the unseen workings will work out for our good.
Well I came to realize this... I can be standing at the top of a 1000 foot cliff looking down at the rocks below. And as I stand there I can have faith that GOD will send an angel to catch me should I jump. I can have faith that should I fall that there would be a soft landing at the end of the fall and I would survive and be OK. I can have faith that halfway down I would grab a branch and it would swing me into a sea cave where thousands upon thousands of dollars of Pirate gold was stashed...sorry there I go hoping again.
Faith is one thing standing at the top of a cliff and declaring that GOD will catch you. Trust is a whole other ballgame. Trust is actually taking that leap from faith into action.
I realized that Trust is really when we put Faith into action. We can have Faith without action, but Trust kicks in when we begin to act on our Faith.
It is Trust that the three amigos stood down Kind Nebekenezer when he threatened to throw them into the firey furnace. They trusted that GOD would deliver them out of the King's hand either by being burned up or saved from the fire.
Oh GOD that I would have Trust to feed the fire of my Faith!!

Under the weather...

I just hate being sick...
Number one my wife is not the sympathetic type. She doesn't baby me around, make me chicken soup and keep orange juice and toast at my bedside. I guess that is OK, but it sure is nice to have someone wait on you hand and foot.
So as I sit here my nose is stopped up, my throat raw and my head is pounding. I have taken drugs to help with the symptoms but the end result is I still feel bad.
I think we can relate this to a lot of our lives. We have issues that come up and we take the necessary steps to correct them but they still plague us. Maybe not as bad as when they first started but they still cause us discomfort.
I know in my life there have been financial issues that still continue to raise their heads that cause discomfort. There are car repairs, house repairs, football expenses, cheerleader expenses and lets not forget college!! All of these are not incompacitating on their own but when they gang up together watch out!
I saw a cartoon the other day with a harried lady who was quoted as saying, "normally I take each day at a time, but recently a number of them have been ganging up on me." I kind of feel like that today, head cold, cough, congestion... all ganging up on me.
Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

A dangerous trend...

There is something that is happening among our churches today that is somewhat disturbing to me. I do believe this is just a trend or a fad or whatever you would like to call it but I have seen that once something like this happens others are quick to jump on board and they take it a step further and then once again someone else jumps on board and they take it a step further and pretty soon we are so far off from where it started that we are in left field.
What am I talking about? The use of secular music in our churches.
I have been told that if you think it is too loud, then you are too old. Well I have never gotten into that position ( I have been known to pump up the volume in my car ask my kids, nothing better than a little Stryper in the morning to get your blood going!) so I do not think I am too old to adress this. And as I was raised heathen so many of the songs I am hearing in churches today I was banging my head to as a young adult.
Let me put some examples out there. A few months ago there was a video of a church service where the worship band was playing "Highway to Hell" from AC/DC as an introduction to a sermon series. Now they did a very good job with the song and they seemed to be enjoying themselves but all I could think was, why? Were there not any other songs that would have introduced the series better? How about "To Hell with the Devil"? I think I have echausted my Stryper references for this post...
I thought it might have been a one time event but I also attended a conference a month ago where "Dream On" from AeroSmith was on the worship set list along with a "Star Wars" montage. They were all well done, performed admirably. But again I had to ask, why?

I had one of my worship singers ask me a few weeks past to do a secular song. When I asked why he wanted to do the song he really did not have a reason other than it was not what the congregation was expecting... So do we need to be "shocked" to pay attention today?
I know we live in a age where the Lady Gagas, the Marilyn Mansons and the Rob Zombies shock and awe us so much with the look at me and what crazy stuff I am doing that we can't take our eyes off of them. I remember as a young adult there was this guy named Alice Cooper who bit the head off of a live chicken. And this guy named Ozzy Ozborne who bit the head off of a bat. That was like so 80's gag me with a spoon and take away my high tops kind of shock and awe of the day. But I see it coming back in society today where we have to one up each other to get attention. The things done on todays stages make chickens and bats seem like child's play.
So as the church do we have to resort to shock and awe tactics to gain an audience? Do we not have enough Chrisian music writers writing songs to keep our attention today that we have to dig into the classic rock albums to stay relevant?
I am all for classic rock, but is AeroSmith really relevant today? I mean Steven Tyler is like 60+ and the rest of the band is up there in age as well... how would you feel if your Grandpa got up on stage and began singing "Dream On" in his highest falseto and his skinny leather pants?
And AC/DC? Well they were really good back in the late 70's and 80's. How do I know? I had their albums in my cassette tapedeck that I just upgraded from my 8 track player.
People that was THIRTY years ago, come on! Tell me they still aren't relevant today and there is not something else.
So as I thought about this culture we are in today, the church is usually about 50 years behind the world. And looking at the music choices being empowered in our churches we might have caught up a few years. So now we are only about 30 years behind!!
So I am thinking that this Sunday, I am breaking out the pastel blue sport coat, the white t shirt and I am going to push the sleeves up to my elbows. I need to find my white shoes and my white pants, I think they are in the back of my closet and I guess get a wig so I can feather my false locks back on my head like I did when I had hair. Dig out my 501's and my white hi tops and my Op T shirts and it will be on like Donkey Kong! I will be relevant again to kids who will say something like, you look like that guy I saw on TV Land...
What's next? Is someone going to start bringing back Parachute pants and we will all start doing Hammertime on stage as the spirit moves? I hope not, I am not sure my back can handle it anymore...

Waiting... part 2

I have been writing a lot of sequels lately... go figure.
But last night something really cool happened in small groups, guess what the lesson was...
Yep you guessed it, waiting on GOD.
I thought it was pretty cool that what I was dealing with was covered in the lesson the very day I blogged about it.
So what I learned, well I guess the waiting part is a test as to wether I trust or do not trust GOD.
The story in our lesson last night was about Lazerous. How he died and Jesus did not get there in time to heal him. I really related to how the author describe the angst that Mary and Martha must have been going through "waiting" on Jesus to show up and heal their brother.
I made this point. They sent a message off to Jesus and when Jesus received the Bible says he stayed there another two days. So Mary and Martha send a message that Lazerous is sick and they are expecting Jesus to come a runnin' as we say in the south. But Jesus doesn't come immediately like they expected. Can you imagine Mary and Martha watching the road for Jesus and his followers to come walking over the hill. They send the message and the next day they are thinking well if he is close he should get here today. And the sun sets ending the day and Jesus still has not arrived and Lazerous is getting worse. So the next morning they just know that this is the day when Jesus will arrive. So they set about getting the house ready, looking and yearning for Jesus' arrival because Lazerous is really getting bad now but still no Jesus. Imagine this if you will. Lazerous is fading fast, his breathes are becoming more and more shallow, he hasn't opened his eyes or communicated with his sisters for a few hours now. He is at death's door and I am sure Mary and Martha are just waiting for Jesus to bust in the door and make their brother well. Imagine you are sitting at the bedside of Lazerous and he takes his last breathe and dies. Mary and Martha at his point must be thinking, well Jesus must be really close now and yet Jesus still does not show up. An hour goes by and Lazerous starts to look real pale as his heart has ceased to beat. Four hours go by and rigamortis sets in. Eight hours goes by and the family is telling Mary and Martha that he is gone and we have to prepare his body for a funeral. The next day they have the funeral and they put Lazerous in the tomb and roll the stone in front of the door.
When do you think Mary and Martha felt that GOD had let them down? At the point of Lazerous' last breathe? When rigamortis set in? When they rolled the stone in front of the door. You kind of see Mary's faith when Jesus does show up when she said "if you had been here you could have healed him". To Mary the promise was dead, laid behind a stone in a tomb.
How many of us are in that situation today. Promises and dreams given by the Lord dead and gone, the breath of live no longer living in them?
I know that I have felt that way. That GOD had missed the deadline, if only he had acted then...
But with GOD, he can bring back to life the dead and buried dreams. He can breath life back into the promises of yesterday with just the sound of his voice because he is GOD.
All he had to do was say, "Lazerous, come forth", and he did!
So trust in GOD, even when the cold hard fingers of death have gripped your dreams and promises and remember that death has no hold on him who has the keys!!

"I hate waiting"... Inigo Montoya "The Princess Bride"

Remember the scene where Inigo is waiting for "the "man in black" henceforth known as Wesley" to reach the top of the cliffs so he can kill him?
Stop right now. If you have not read or watched "The Princess Bride" get your Kindle and download it or go to Blockbuster or your movie store of choice and rent it, either read it or watch it and then you can continue reading.
Okay if you have read it or watched it please continue...
So Inigo is waiting at the top of the "cliffs of insanity" for Wesley to either climb to the top of the cliff so he can kill him with the sword or for Wesley to fall which accomplishes the same result as the sword, death. So Wesley is taking his time climbing the cliff, which is a very laborous task. Inigo looks down on Wesley as he climbs and asked if he could possibly speed things up, meaning either go ahead and fall to your death or climb up here so I can kill you. I love Inigo, a man of action!
But what happens when men of action have to wait... and wait... and wait... well we get frustrated.
I have been waiting on a lot of things in my life lately. GOD has given certain promises and directives that I know are to come to pass but have yet to show up. I feel like Inigo looking at GOD and saying, "could you possibly hurry things up?".
It is frustrating to sit around and wait for something to happen. It is like watching paint dry, you can blow on it, wave a piece of paper and fan it, but it really does not dry any faster. All you can do it wait... and I hate waiting.
Waiting is a waste of time. It is non activity, it is fruitless. There is nothing worse than doing nothing. And yet that is where I am at today, waiting on a GOD who is not hindered by seconds, minutes, hours or even days and years. Time for GOD does not exist as he exist in a place where past, present and future all intersect. In actuality GOD exists in a place where he just revealed to me the directives and promises in days past. He is in that place where fear and excitement both ran the gaunlet of my emotions. He is also in the present where the frustration and anxiousness of something to come which has not yet arrived clouds my mind with doubt and fear that I might have missed it. And he also exists in that future place where the promises he made come to pass, where he sees the joy on my face as the dreams are realized. Where the excitement of the fulfillment of promise raises the faith level in my heart.
I guess as I walk through this I will hold onto the scritpture that says "they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall walk and not grow weary, they shall run and not faint, they shall mount up on wings as eagles..."
I may not be flying today, but one day it shall be.

Airports...

My daughter is going to take her first solo trip on a plane coming home from college to see us this Christmas. So I booked her flights yesterday and sent her the e-mail acknowledgement so she would know what is heading her way.
She sends a response to her mother that she received them but then asked, "what am I supposed to do?"

I have found that there are a lot of travelers who have no clue how air travel works today. As a frequent traveler (approaching 100K air miles this year) I will offer some handy suggestions for you so frequent travelers like myself don't walk by you shaking my head in pity as you get the full body search from the TSA..

1) Pack light. I know that airlines are charging for bags to fly now so many are resorting to trying to carry on as much as they can. You get TWO carry ons. Only TWO no matter how small that fanny pack it is considered a carry on. That small infant in your arms? Well unless he or she is crawling on the plane, you are carrying them on so they count as well, just kidding. Oh but that diaper bag counts as yours unless you purchased a seat for the little one. So back to the carry on bag thing. You get TWO bags to carry on and they have to fit in the overhead compartment. Do not stuff that bag so full it won't fit or you might have to offload your undies into your other bag while your seatmate checks out wether you are a boxers or briefs kind of guy. I don't even want to go there with the ladies.
2) If you do carry on TWO carry ons, you only get to put one in the space above your seat. The other MUST go under the seat in front of you. Now there are some seats which do not have a seat in front of them, mainly exit rows and bulkheads, but unless you are a frequent flier you are not likely to get those seats, and frequent fliers know the rules anyway so this really doesn't apply to most of you. So you put the larger one in the space above and cram the smaller one under the seat in front of you. Now at this point it is YOUR decision to bring on TWO bags, and that does not give you the right to take the leg space of your neighbors on each side as your own leg space has been confiscated by your carry on bag. No one appreciates when you rub your sweaty legs against ours trying to get a little extra leg room because of your oversized carry on. Oh and share the armrest, think of it like the DMZ in Korea, no one lives there, you occasionaly get to rest there but it doesn't belong to either of you, it is just a buffer to keep your sweaty parts on your side and my sweaty parts on my side.
3) Once we start boarding, get your behind on the plane and sit down. You know where your seat is (unless you are flying Southwest and then just grag the one closest) get to it and sit down. We are not shopping for furniture, all the seats are the same. And the number order goes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ect from front to back and the seats go ABCDEFG (just like the song) from right to left across the plane as your board. So if you are in seat 29B, just get on the plane and walk as fast as you can to the back, you are somewhere way back there. And if the flight attendant says, "please take your seats so we can leave the jet bridge" they are talking to you, yes the one standing in the aisle. If you do not sit down they will get rude and call you out in front of all of these people like Mrs. Smith used to do in fourth grade. Of course they won't make you wear the little pointed hat that has DUNCE written on it but we will all think it in our minds.
4) Be courteous of the person next to you. There are many of us that are business travelers who take the hour and a half flight as a little down time. We like to read, catch up on the news, listen to music and relax. The last thing we want to hear about it how long it has been since you flew, and where you are going. I am sure your cousin Vinny is an interesting character but unless he is in the mob and works as a hit man I am probably not that interested.
5) The flight attendants are there for YOUR safety. They are not there just to give you pillows or blankets or serve breakfast like down as Mo's Diner. Unknown to most people there are tazers on the airplanes and the flight attendants will use them on you. So say in your seat, obey them like they are a drill instructor and behave and you will be fine. Cross that line and you might find yourself strapped to the seat drooling out of the side of your mouth.
6) Going back to arriving at the airport, there are two lanes when you drive onto the airport, one for departures and one for arrivals. Think of it this way, the departure lane, that is for those that are leaving. And the arrival lane is for those getting home. Simple? No one likes the guy who keeps trying to pick up where everyone is dropping off.
7) If you are not checking bags there is this thing called the internet that Al Gore invented which will allow you to print your tickets BEFORE you get to the airport. Yes that is right, you can go right from the car that dropped you off straight to the security gate without bothering the nice ladies at the ticket counter. Leave that area alone for the poor people who did not read this blog and travel once a century.
8) At security the TSA will want to see your ticket and your PHOTO ID. And no, a year book will not count. Please have them out when you get to their podium or you will get the glare from the TSA as they are waiting on you. If you are still fumbling with your ID when you get to the security officer you will see a very indescreet nod from him or her to the screening area. What that is a signal for them to do a full body search on you because you broke their flow. And a full body search will mess up anyone's day.
9) Going through the screening area is a very important area to keep your wits about you. If you see kids, avoid that line at all cost. You can not believe how long it takes kids to take their shoes off, get all their electronic gadgets out of their little backpacks and get through security. Old people are even worse. They will almost come to blows with the TSA because they have to take their shoes off. One lady made a comment about "how stupid it was to take their her shoes off, what are they looking for a bomb?" The TSA heard that and she ended up behind the screen... just saying.
10) So we have already covered shoes, lets go onto other accessories. Make sure your socks do not have holes in them as you will not get your shoes back till after the screening. And if you are not wearing socks, well that is really gross for the rest of us as you walk your barefeet through the little narrow tunnel that ALL OF US have to walk through as well. Have some decency and bring some booties or something.
11) Ladies (and some guys, you know who you are) take your jewlry off and put it in your carry on bag BEFORE you get to the airport. It takes you like 15 minutes to take off the necklaces, the bracelet, the anklet, the earings, the toe rings, the belly button rings, the nose rings, the tree rings and all those other rings. Save some time and put them in a bag in your carry on and AFTER you get through security put all those things back on. Nothing worse than to stand behind a lady as she takes off all her jewlry and you start thinking, "man I am a schmuck, my wife doesn't have nice rings like that..."
12) Some airports are now equipped with full body scanners that will take your picture and even though you are fully clothed will show up on the screen with you naked. So don't go thinking you can hide some contraband on your person, they will find it and you will be in big trouble. Also when you stand there you need to put your hands over your head like you are getting arrested. I know it just makes it easier on the TSA when they find your contraband. Oh and guys suck that gut in, it might be a gal doing the screening.
13) On your baggage that you put through the scanners, you have to take your Laptops, MP3 players, gameboys, playstations, XBox, PSP, and any other kind of electronic equipment out and put them by themselves in the big grey tub. If you try to send it through and hope someone won't noticeit, well it is like when you put gum under your seat at a restaurant, we all notice and they will too.
14) Liquids, you CAN NOT take liquids or gels into the secure area of the airport. They have to be 3 onces or less and in a clear quart size ziplock bag that will be taken out of your carry on and inspected by the TSA. I can't tell you how many BIG bottles of shampoo have been thrown away at security. Think hotel size bottles and you will be fine. Nothing worse than to have to wait on your stuff to come through and see someone has a gallon size bottle of shampoo, a gallon size bottle of conditioner and a gallon size bottle of mouthwash and the TSA has to stop the line to check those things out.
So all in all flying is as frightful or as peaceful as you would like to make it. Just remember these simple rules and you will find yourself flying the freindly skies in a matter of no time. If you decide to skirt these rules, well have fun in the private screening area...

Fix it part TWO...the sequel

Well since I had such an outpouring of emotion in regards to my blog last week about fix it problems let me lay some new ones on you.
I have experienced the highs and lows of the fix it personality this week.
I have found probelms that have plagued me, and overcome them. And I have had problems that are going beyond the fixable.
My wife comes in the other day and says her car is broken. Of course that is something us husbands are just waiting to hear, it just makes our day all full of sunshine and flowers. NOT!
So my wife's car is throwing a trouble code and her check engine light is on. Always not a good thing. So I run the code down and find it is a sensor that is likely clogged. So I get out the old carburator cleaner which is guaranteed to break down carbon deposits making your car run smoother and more efficient. It will also peel paint off of a vehicle if you spray it on the paint by accident and will make you feel like your eyeballs are being removed with a spoon if you spray it in your eyes... don't ask how I know this, it brings up painful memories... I digress...
So after working on her car for a while I get the dreaded check engine light to go away and it has stayed away for the better part of a couple of weeks. So I have once again earned my "Mr. Fix It" badge from the Man Scouts of America.
But I have another problem. I have a brother I have mentioned before who has multiple problems. I have tried and tried to fix them for him only to have him break the things I thought I had fixed. So he called me yesterday, early release is supposed to be a good thing but I found myself thinking I do not have the ability right now to deal with this. He is two and a half hours away and needs picked up from the correctional facility. Well as I explained my delimma and that fact that I was a couple of hours away he fixed his own problem. He had someone else pick him up. He even found a place to stay for the night, and I am thinking he has done it!! He is doing it all by himself!! Then I found out that my Mom fixed it for him. She wired him money to take care of his problems. His Mom had come to his rescue once again.
Sooner or later there will be a day when my wife's car throws a code that is going to require more than carb cleaner to fix it. I will be forced to actually put a new part on it or replace the car altogether. There comes a point in time where you just can't fix everything, it becomes to expensive.
I hope my mother realizes this one day, sometimes there are things that money can't fix.