Clearing The Way: Get Out Of The Middle

As I’ve been writing and rereading my recent posts a point that I hadn’t made keeps coming to mind: we often put ourselves as the center of everything going on. Much like the sun is the to earth we place ourselves as the center of the universe and don’t leave much room for God. What if even half of the time we put God at the center of what we have going on in our lives?

I’m sure that some of you are wondering what I mean on this, so let me explain. As a Christian we are to going out into the world and making disciples. A lot of times we’re so busy doing the things that we have to do to make it through the day that we miss a ton of opportunities to be a light in the world for HIM! Let’s think about something that almost everyone in the world has done, let’s walk in the front door of Wal-Mart for a minute. As you walk in what do you see? More than likely if your Wal-Mart is like ours in Norwalk you’ll probably have 2-3 people leaving, more people coming in along side of you, people in the aisles in front of you, a greeter, and some people checking out. Count those people in your mind and take a guess on how many of them know God in a personal way. Now, walk in a little further and start your way towards the toy section. How many more people have you seen? How often have we all been on such a mission of our own that as we walked through the store we almost ran over someone or just ignored everyone else around. Here is my challenge to you: next time smile at half of the people you see. That is right, I said just smile.

What did that smile do you may ask, right? Well, it’s just possible that you might have brightened someone’s day just by smiling at them. Maybe you showed one of them that not everyone in the world is hateful like they’d thought…maybe you gave them a glimmer of hope in a horrible day…and maybe, just maybe, God’s love for them shown through your eyes. Did you realize that just a smile could have that much power? How did this happen, because you were willing to move out of the center of your own world and allow God to be there instead. Now try something different the next time you go: hold a door for someone, help someone reach something they are too short to reach or can’t bend over to get, or just let them get in front of you in line because they only have 2-3 items while you have a cart load. No, it may not work for everyone, but even if you reach just one person in your 1-2-3 trips this week to Wal-Mart, was it worth it?

You see, it’s just that simple. I didn’t ask you to pay for their groceries, discipline their rowdy kids, or anything like that – I just asked you to start with a smile. In just that simple gesture you just might give someone hope that doesn’t have it. You may give them a glimmer of the love that God has for them. I know it’s not easy to do all the time as we all have so many things to do and places to be…but will getting out of the middle be worth it if we were able to touch someone’s life for Him with something as simple as a smile? To me, it’s worth the effort!

Clearing The Way: The Culture Of Sex

Sex Sells, right? I guess the proof has to be in the pudding as if it didn’t sell, they’d stop shoving it down our throats all the time, right? We’re told every day by the world that if we buy this product then we’ll attract the opposite sex, or if we use this product then our spouse/boy or girlfriend will be all over us, right? Do you believe the world, is what they are saying true?

I point the above out because I think that it’s become such a large part of our culture that it’s not even recognized at times. It’s become second nature for the people around us to be half naked showing off everything that in the past you had to “round the bases” to see. P.D.A. has become the norm, not the exception. Do we not realize that all of this is just causing problems in the world?

Why do more marriages fail now than ever before? Why are more and more kids having kids? Why is it so strange to see the mother and father of all 2-3 kids in the family actually being married and still together? Do we not realize what is going on here in the world? I think not.

I’m not one to normally say this or that is “from the devil” usually, however is there any other explanation for what is going on around us? Yes, God made both man and woman to be beautiful, but I don’t think he told us to make sure we flaunt what ya got all over the world! We are under attack, and in my mind this is one area that we are losing ground every day. The night before I wrote today’s blog I went and watched the new Transformers movie. Now I was a big fan of the animated series, yet I don’t remember there ever being a time when a robot could transform into a mostly naked female. Why did they add that to the movie, along with the already overly sexual female lead from the first movie? It is because they want to draw in many more young male viewers. (I personally will not be seeing another Transformers movie because of that and the language they threw around like no one would care, but that is another story) It does sell.

To conclude this section of the my clearing the way series, I pray that you are now even more aware of what is being thrown in front of you on a daily basis. This is just another way that you are being kept from God, and I didn’t even mention the porn industry until now. You need to be aware of what is there, and clear as much of it from your life as you can! If you want to fulfill your calling and promote God’s kingdom, then you need to be aware of these items, and clear as many of them from your life as you can.

Clearing The Way: Wanting It All

This is the 2nd part of an ongoing series, started last week with the intro.

People, we live in a society that tells you every day in every way that you should want more out of life. You should want a bigger house, a bigger TV (ok, I fall victim there, just ask Traci), the newest movies, etc. They tell you in commercials, on billboards, in stores, and even in movies. Is it ok to want “stuff” in your life? I’m pretty sure that is just fine…but it’s what you do to get it, or how badly you want it that can be the problem.

Are you willing to beg, borrow, or steal for the things that you want? I mean, when you use credit to buy the stuff, you are doing one of those, right? (We’ll get into that more in the future.) Have you ever begged your spouse or parents for something until you got it? If you have kids, have they done that to you? What happened right after they got the item they craved? Yes – we all find something else that we want.

Why is that we want something else right away you may ask. I would say that it’s partly the thrill of the chase. It’s fun to work towards getting something and have something you are shooting towards. The rest may be because we’re not happy with what we already have. I mean, I already have a 27” TV in my house, but it doesn’t have HDTV, and it’s not a flat screen. If you have the same, then you know that all sports are now broadcast for the people that have that stuff, not people like me. If it was for everyone, would I lose half of the graphics, or not be able to read the scores scrolling by on the bottom line? So, of course I want the full experience, and the only way to get it is to get a new TV, right? What an example, here I can live with what I have, but I want something else just to see the rest of the stuff, right? (Ok, I have to mention that our TV also has been dropped twice by the kids and now the DVD connectors don’t work, another annoyance….)

Ok, back on track here (enough of my complaining about my TV) and to the root of the matter: God will provide for you all that you need, and more, for your life. You have to trust in Him and, although maybe not in your time, He will get you what you NEED. I’m sure that when my TV dies, God will provide us with something else. You need to realize that you don’t need the brand new this or that just because it’s out. You don’t need to replace everything you have every year or two. Instead, clear your life of all of the extra “stuff” and allow Him to provide for you. When you and your wants get out of the way you just may find that your needs are being filled in ways you never imagined.

As our good friend Lep said when he proofread this for me: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you."

Time to Clear The Way

I'm guessing that a lot of the people that read this blog are not huge Hawk Nelson fans. They are a Christian rock band that I had heard a bunch of times on the radio, but really enjoyed live at both Winter Jam and The Rock and Worship Roadshow. But, although I enjoyed them, my boys fell in love with their style and because of that the music has been played a lot at my house, much to my enjoyment. I mention that because today I want to start examining some of the lyrics that are to be found in their song Let's Dance. Here is the chorus:

And I don't wanna look inside myself cause
Then I'll have to change somethin' else and
I don't want to live, like someone else
I'm happy in my skin, bein' myself
Let's dance

Now, if you've really let those lyrics sink in, you know exactly what they are saying, right? This could be the anthem for the majority of America today people! Instead of looking at ourselves we'd much rather point out the faults in everyone else. If we were to really look at our lives, wouldn't we find a lot of the same things that we point out as wrong in other people's lives?

Well people, over the next few blogs I'm going to try and make us start looking at these things that God wants us to change in our lives. We're going to look at the items that are in the way between us and God and keeping us from being all that he wants us to be! I hope you are ready to clear the way with me and to examine your life, because we have a fun trip coming!

Learnings At The Grill

I, like many males this time of year, love to grill out meals for my family. I enjoy the time spent in the back yard cooking up these manly meat concoctions for the families enjoyment. The reason I bring that up isn't to brag about the fact that I bought a new grill the other day (notice I did mention it though!) but for the fact that I learned two things the other day when I used it the first few times.

#1 - If you are unsure of how something is going to work, don't walk away from it! Yep - the first time we used it I was getting phone calls about softball, etc. and I ended up leaving the brats for a little too long. Par for the course, 5 of the 10 were burnt to a crisp in the process. I had a good flame going and the brats were cooking up well. Yet, I walked away from it and what happened? I now had crispy brats! I should have stayed there and watched them cook, and made sure they were cooked evenly, etc.

This should be done with your spiritual life as well. I've seen a number of people get almost too turned on for God at times. (Ok, not really possible, but follow me here) These people jump right in with both feet and really seem to have the fire burning to a full blaze. They are eating up every book they can find and learning so much, so fast. (almost like a baby when they are learning to walk who takes one step, and think they can run.) What happens next, they fall flat on their face, at least spiritually. Make sure you "cook" your spiritual life on all sides. You're probably not going to be able to stop everything from your previous life right away and be happy. It has to be gradual, and watched....don't let it burn to a crisp!

#2 - You have to try again and again. It's true, I didn't let the burnt brats get the best of me. The next day not only did I grill again, but I grilled something different, trying a new technique. Much like changing your life, you may have to change a lot of things in your life. You may have to even adjust the process in order to get the changes to work. It may take many times before you get it right. My point here is that you have to keep trying as it's worth it in the end. Not only were the pork chops I made good, but the Dr. Pepper mixture that I basted on it made for some good eats. I'd gone back and tried it again, and it was well worth it.

Anyway, I'll let you know if I have any more adventures to learn from this weekend as we host the family for a cookout on Saturday. Happy 4th of July, and thanks to all that are and have served in defending our country! God Bless The USA.

Quiz Time

Ok, I'm a big fan of Facebook and I spend a lot of time on there playing games when I want to unwind. One thing that I keep seeing is people making and taking quizzes about other people. This led me to today's blog: It's time to take a quiz about YOURSELF!

1) When was the last time you opened the Bible when you weren't at church?

2) When was the last time you actually prayed that person you told that you'd pray for them?

3) When was the last time you prayed with and/or for your spouse (or future spouse as the case may be.)

4) When was the last time you helped someone with anything when it wasn't convenient for you?

5) When was the last time you did something because it advanced His kingdom, and not just your own?

6) When was the last time you read a devotion or a book and actually worked that new knowledge into your day to day life?

7) When was the last time you really gave everything you had into your family? (Be it playing with the kids, teaching the family a moral lesson, etc.)

8) When was the last time you put yourself aside and devoted yourself to mentoring someone that needed to be mentored?

Now, I'm not going to tell you that if you answered this way or that way that you scored so many points, and that certain totals say this or that about you. In fact, I'll be the first to admit (easy since I'm writing this before anyone else can read it) that I can't even answer some of the questions that I've put up there. You may ask what that means...and all I can tell you is that we all have work to do in our spiritual lives.

The goal should be to have the lines that divide our lives into quadrants to be blurred all together. Your life is not your work life, your spiritual life, your home life, etc. Instead it should be just one life: HIS LIFE. If you want to be more like Jesus and know WWJD then work towards having those lines that divide your life blurred and start having answers for the questions above. YOU can make a difference in the kingdom for HIM, and getting there takes one step at a time.

10 Years Down!

So, today marks the 10 year anniversary of my coo in getting Traci to be my wife. So many things have happened during our time together that I'd have to write a novel the size of War & Peace to get it all down on paper. But, instead I'd like to share with you some of the things that I've learned while being married so long. (These are in no order as I'm not really big on ranking things, etc.)

#1 - If you keep Christ the center of your marriage then you're gonna be held together. Sure today we mark a great milestone that is worthy of the happiness that I have in my heart, but it's not like we haven't had hard times during this time. Yet, here we still stand together hand in hand thanks to God's grace. He has been the glue in our marriage through the easy and the tough times.

#2 - Kinda goes along with #1 there - I'm not all that important in the long run. What I mean by that is that the world doesn't revolve around me. The same can be said for Traci as a matter of fact. Instead, the world revolved around God and HIS plan for our lives. Once we figured that out I think we became even stronger as a unit. It was hard at first as we both had our own goals and desires, and with every kid it's been harder and harder to fit in time for our own stuff. Now, if one or both of us still focused on ourselves all the time the other person would feel slighted or worse not loved at all. By keeping him at the forefront we've learned how to work together towards HIS goals, which many times end up going along with ours anyway! So, keep that focus on him and he'll reward both you, your spouse, and the marriage as a whole!

#3 - Each kid you have will drain some of your energy. My goodness, I think about what I use to be able to do before we had kids and I wonder how I was every able to do any of it! We use to have no problem staying up all night and still working on no sleep. We use to work out together, do puzzles, watch movies, etc. and still get the house clean etc. Now days we're lucky to have clean clothes, dishes, or stay up past 10 PM! I've figured out that the kids took the energy, as they always have more than I ever want them to have. Yes, this and the changing of the date are God's little pokes of fun at us! I tell you, every time I figure out what today's date is it changes to the next day! How rude!

#4 - Back to seriousness (as serious as I ever get on here): It's NOT going to be easy. Yes, we've been married 10 years now, but I tell you that we both work at this marriage thing all the time. I don't have all the answers on how to make our marriage better just yet. In fact I never will! We continue to evolve as people, and so does our marriage. The minute we stop working at it, that is when we stop caring if you ask me. You have to talk with one another and keep getting to know what makes each other tick. Don't just assume that your wife likes French Vanilla creamer in her coffee, as she may have discovered that some new flavor is now her favorite. Some times she doesn't want the radio on during the car ride but instead wants to spend time with you without the distractions! Pay attention, and if you don't know ask! I don't think there has been a time that I've asked Traci a question about her that she just laughed at me for asking when I asked in a serious manner. She appreciates that I care ,and I'm sure if you are reading this and are married, your spouse will feel the same way!

#5 - Praying together works! In the past Traci and I have done devotionals together, read the same books separately and talked about it, etc. But, I think the thing that we've done that helps us the most is praying together. Sure, this goes back to #1 again and where we are focused. Every Sunday we review the upcoming week and what is happening each night. We talk about things that have happened or will be happening, etc. Then after that we pray together, giving it all to God to do with as He will. We know that He's in control of our schedule, and of all the tasks that we have to do. By turning this all over to Him we aren't burdened with trying to do it all on our own. We've found that our weeks go by much easier with Him leading us through them. Who controls your week?

So, that is us in a nutshell. Marriage, money, and parenting are some of my favorite subjects to discuss, so if you are reading this and want any advice in those kind of areas please let me know. I thank you for reading and I look forward to what else God gives me to write to you about in the near future. I hope you've enjoyed just a few things I've learned about being married. Put God in control of your marriage people, you'll be a stronger unit because of it!