Drive

What do you see when you first wake up? blurry right? rub your eyes, splash some water on your face, and then you feel semi-ready to think about what lies ahead. How or what guides you to carry out your day? I tell people I have 4 jobs. 1. leading the Entrepreneurship Initiative at Redeemer, 2. husband, 3. dad, 4. super/maintenance/dispatcher for my home. It really is a juggling act. It might be easy to be different people at those jobs but really much harder. So, which job dictates or drives my day? None of them. Over all these "jobs" is being a child of God. I constantly remind myself that the long-term eternal vision of being one with the loving Lord is what drives me in during the morning, noon, and night. I recall the Psalmist's words...
Psalm 105:4 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. We may not always succeed but we need to remember that He wants us in His presence.

Toss aside your ashes

Are you struggling? Financially, emotionally, physically, or spiritually? I mean we all struggle but the passing of author and New York City school teacher, Frank McCourt, raise the definition of struggle. His most famous literary effort, Angela's Ashes, recalls "his Irish catholic upbringing as a miserable hard life". I did not read the book but rather I watched the movie and it was a tear jerker. I thought I had a hard life growing up as a child of working poor immigrants but it was nothing in comparison to his life. I never let myself dwell on how hard it was because, quite frankly, our lives will always be "hard" for different reasons and it is all relative. So the next time you get down about things of this world, perhaps you may read Angela's Ashes or watch it and then take a breath and consider dwelling on what is right, our standing with God through His gracious gift, of Jesus. It may not solve your present woes but it does make you wake up and move forward knowing this absolute truth.

James 5:10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

What are YOU Looking at?

Under "me thinks thou protest too much" category, I always greet the summer with much joy and some consternation. I think most men do. We love being outdoors, the warm of the sun, and everyone seems to be in a better mood in the summer. Possibly, in no small part to the small amount of clothing that women wear in the summer. Now, men are more visually-oriented than woman. As you watch TV, it is obviouse the advertising uses racy images to target men. Back to the protesting too much part. One's thought life is what drives our words and deeds and it reminds me that self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is but one fruit of the Spirit. There is no way to go back to modest fashion in this society anymore short of all adhering to the Amish lifestyle but prayer for our individual grounding and control of our thought lives would be a good start.

Matthew 15:18-19 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

What would you do?

This morning, I had a transaction that left me dissatisfied. I bought some fruit from a fruit merchant. He had his ears plugged with headphones of some sort and I had my ears plugged with headphones. I bought my fruit, handed him my $1 and he snatched it with nary a word of "thanks" before moving on to the next customer. What would you do? A conservative might say, "this is a business transaction, and you received the product you wanted and if you don't like it, go somewhere else" and a liberal might say, "have you put yourself in the vendor's shoes? how unjust they get treated and forced to make a living this way, think of their families, and oh it is the joy of diversity in our great city" But what does the gospel say? I should be more friendly next time? engage the person right? What impact could I have by being that one person who engages and is not stuck in my own little self-asborbed world. What would you do?

Matthew 12:9 He who has ears let them hear.

Finding a new job

Preoccupations
Finding a Job of His Own Dreaming
By JOE KROOG
LAST November, I was laid off from a database marketing company in Louisville, Colo., a Denver suburb, for economic reasons. Six months later, I found another position, at Kutenda, a provider of online marketing tools for small businesses, in Broomfield, Colo., also near Denver. Read more below. Copy and paste


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/jobs/12pre.html?ref=business

Death Comes Knocking

How do you feel about the daily dosage of scandals permeating all sectors of our lives? Controversial musical giant dead, multiple corrupt or unfaithful politicians flailing around, and on-field super achieving athletes with horrific off-field denounment. Is this a reflection of what the country has become, no not some geographic nation-state, but what the citizens have become? we mirror those in the headlines though on a smaller level. We all sin like those in the headlines but we do it on a smaller scale, a smaller magnifying glass, and we are all sinful and fallen people. But there is a solution. There is hope. He who became flesh suffered temptation too. But He always sought the comfort of the Father, through prayer which protects and renews and gives us strength. Practically, what can we do? Know the difference between wisdom and folly and you will not add to the headlines.

Ecclesiastes 2:12 Then I turned my thoughts to considering wisdom, and also madness and folly. I saw that widsom is better than folly just as light is better than darkness.

MJ Rest in Peace

Did you see or hear about the local congressman who uploaded a video to blast America's obsession with Michael Jackson's death and treating him with such reverence considering Michael's frequently questionable behavior with children. He called him a pervert. Now, most people would agree with the Irish philosopher, Edward Murphy, who called Michael "a musical genius" and most people would view parents who allowed their children near Michael with suspicion too. But I think his charge that America should spend more time on other matters other than Michael's death merits visting. Have we become a society oversaturated with the emptiness of celebrity worship? To the point that our politicians have become celebrities or vice-versa (Hello Governator "Hasta LaVista Baby" Schwarzneggar, Senator Al "previously undiscovered provisional ballots" Franken, and President "Hope"). Even if most people may agree with the congressman about Michael personal behavior, it just comes off mean-spirited. Often these charges are leveled by people who have serious personal failings themselves. Certainly, serious character flaws should be pointed out in a community of believers but it is the spirit with which such charges are leveled that make the difference.

John 8:7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be first to throw a stone at her".

Evolution Trumps All?

How does one speak about Creationism or what the Bible says about how the world came about without anyone, who takes an alternative view, rolling their eyes or raising an eyebrow..their body language would be the equivalent of "how could you believe in that?" I am quite confident in the word of God and that it allows room for days to be millions or years but my God is one that has the power to create the entire universe and world in 6 gloriously loud, tumultous, exciting, and good days. My Christian faith allows me to understand the world as it is. Per N.T. Wright, does evolution offer hope or explain in the face of Auschwitz, drug crimes, child pornography, slavery, wars, strife, etc.? Well, actually evolution supports all those doesn't it? The strong survive and the weak perish. We as Christians, see the brokeness of the world, that man is fallen and only through Jesus Christ, can one find hope and reconciliation to the One that matters. The living breathing God who created everything.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

What will people see in you

What is your purpose today? to finish the day so you can start your July 4th weekend early? A worthy cause - to head to the beach or woods or somewhere to frolich. And what will you be doing while enjoying our great nation's independence? some barbeque, biking, fishing, golf, hiking, or swimming? Will you be fellowshipping with believers? Will you be in a position to share your Faith? It will be evident in who you are more so than only what you say. What did Jesus pray about for his disciples and all believers before he was taken away?

John 17:25-26 Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.

Is your love for God so strong that you love others? This extended weekend is an opportune time to re-examine how much you love those you choose to spend time with. Do you love them enough to want them to know God, the Father?

Stop Doing Good Already

I have been skimming through N.T. Wright's Surprised By Hope for the past 3 months. In chapter 5 Cosmic Future: Progress of Despair, he asks us to think about how the human race has picked on alternative theories such as Darwinism, Communism, socialism, etc. to fill in the gaps that the Bible has left open. He asks us to think about how any of those formentioned theories have benefited us. I thought he may be right about how such "progressive" ideas have been used for evil. I suppose that is true about most things. He also lops in social justice or the social gospel of making people physically and emotionally "equal". Certainly, social justice has been useful in spurring the 1960's civil rights movement in the U.S., and even in South Africa in the 1980's but what bad could come out of the social justice movement? Well, I guess it is how far it can go...and also, whose scale of justice are you using in a pluralistic and relativist society? Good question..so whose justice and whose peace are they talking about?

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (NIV)