DON'T HAVE TIME TO WORK ON YOUR GAME

Need I say more. Here's the scoop on the pooper.

Barna Survey

Interesting story on the effort of (or lack of) 9/11 have 5 years later on church attendance.

Judy and I go to Heartlight today to attend a parent conference. We're hoping to get a better feel about what this place is all about, since the last time we were here was to drop Emily off. It was pretty emotional, and although we got a sense of the place, naturally, we have questions.

We'll get to see Emily, but I think the time we spend with her will be limited. We got to speak to her on the phone last night for 30 minutes. She said she likes her counselor. And she said she like the place, and has made friends. But before the conversation was over, she was begging to come home. We were expecting that. That was hard, and I'm sure that it'll be harder this weekend in person.

If you can, please remember Judy and I...and Emily in your prayers. THX!

Groaner

Groaner found in comments on Jesus Creed:
Scot, my favorite Cubs memory was going to watch the Cubs play the Phillies when I was in Philadelphia (I think it was 1988.) I went with a group of diehard Cubs fans.
The Cubs were down by a run late in the game but they had two men on base. Rudy Law came to the plate and my friends were on their feet screaming for a hit. He eventually went down swinging as I recall. My friends collapsed in their seats with a collective groan.
Then Mark Grace came up and they were back on their feet. After a couple of pitches he whacked one into the gap in the outfield for a hit and two runs scored, putting the Cubbies ahead. My friends went wild.
Then, after they sat down again, one of the guys turned around a looked at us as though he were about to make some profound observation. Then he said “For it is not by Law that we are saved, but Grace.”

AA Step 3 Prayer

I ran across this, the AA step 3 prayer, while reading this post. It’s a grand little prayer for empting oneself only to be fill with the presence of Christ.

God, I offer myself to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt.Relieve me of the bondage of self,that I may better do Thy will.Take away my difficulties, that my transcendence over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy power,Thy love, and Thy way of Life.May I do Thy will always!

Cool Tool

This looks like a LOT of fun!

Long Day in the TX Piney Woods

We are home. We are tired. A long emotional day. It wasn’t great, but it could have been worst. I will post more later. Please continue to pray for Emily, and her transition into Heartlight. Ciao mi amours.

The Will of God

I was reading this morning about knowing the will of God. Juicy stuff. When I was a teenager, it was widely held that the Beatles and others recorded secretly coded messages to their listeners. Like if you played the record backwards you would hear the secret message, like if Paul was dead. Or they would use lyrics that had double meanings. We would listen to these records and listen for their secrets to come out and tell their meaning of life, i.e. what drug to take to be happy and find peace, or how to mediate properly, or what kind of “chick” to look for, or if life would be better lived somewhere else, etc.

I have felt in the past that listening and looking for God’s will was something akin to playing a Beatles record backwards, or trying to decipher a double coded message to a song lyric. In other words, why doesn’t He just tell me! If I know what it was, I would do it. Just tell me. Okay?!

Well the truth is that at that point of my walk, and still times today, I have heard the will of God and have refused to follow. There is a revelation of God’s will for me in His word. This, I have come to believe is the most solid reference of what His will is for me. That means that if I want to know His will, I must come to know His word. Intimately. Not in a way that I use it to beat others down with it, or to rationalize my conduct, but to know it for the value of what He will speak to me about how I will conduct my life and my affairs. For my young readers, either young in age or young in faith, I would recommend starting with the Gospels, or even one Gospel, to know Jesus, the man-God that we follow as Lord. Then after you get to know Jesus well, move outward thru the New and Old Testament. And please take your time, and drink it in. Don’t be so compulsive to have said that you’ve just read it. Give it time to let it marinate. Let it become a part of you.

I think that just as Jesus was a man-God, we too become like him after we accept Him as Lord. That is we are part man, part spirit. It is true, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, making us part man, part spirit. The man will often battle with the spirit about what to do. The man part often wants to do what is not acceptable to the spirit part. We have all felt that. That is the spirit speaking to us thru our conscience. Paul speaks in Romans of learning to listen to the spirit part, instead of our corruptible man part.  This will often lead to inner turmoil and unrest. But wrestling with these things, and giving way to the Spirit is why God/Jesus place that within us. Remember, He said that He would send a helper. It doesn’t feel like a helper at first, but it will, after we learn to trust it.

Lastly, I think God often that He’s put Mike and Grant and Steve and Wayne and other Godly men to walk with me thru the struggles and decisions I’ve had to make. Learning to trust them as God’s men sent to be my allies in this battle has been huge.  They are there as my brothers, my counselors, my consultants, my intercessors and more. And they’re fun to hang with. Mainly ‘cause they all love Jesus so much.

Having these three resources available to understand the will of God makes it much easier to understand what it is that God wants me to do. It has, for the most part, become the easy part. The hard part comes next. That is obeying and trusting. Now that I know, I must obey Him and then trust Him. More on that later.

Open Blog to Mark E

Summer does cut down the amount of blog posting for most. But we haven't heard anything from Mark, aka Mile 20, in some time. In case he gets back in the blog mode, this may come in handy.

Next Tuesday

Well, the deal is done and lot is cast. We go to residential treatment camp/school Tuesday to enroll Emily. Judy and Holly and I are all a little freaked out about it. Judy and I have had a few fitful nights’ sleep the last couple of nights.  And we haven’t heard from Em since Saturday, when she left for Wildlife camp. This is gonna be hard. Prayers will be appreciated.

Fasting, Sat AM

Wow, am I hungry. I woke up this morning very angry due to an intense dream I had about playing extremely bad golf with Englishmen on the set of a Natalie Wood movie. I felt drained before I got out of bed. But, so far the coffee is good this morning (French Roast) and I spent some time with Abba that was good, and read some Nouwen from a new daily devo I got recently. I think I'll listen to an old sermon by Grant.

Fast

I’m supposed to start a fast this evening. A couple of other guys in my Sunday nite group are suppose to join in, but there’s a youth swim party tonite and…..they’re serving hotdogs. I don’t see any way that these guys are going to go swimming and turn down free hot dogs. So I have to ask myself if I’m willing to fast alone. I would like to, to be able to connect with God about the Emily thing.

Mad for Mickey D's

This is funny. Bemmer used to say, “You can make this stuff up”.