books

have you ever looked around you and noticed how many books there are? our life is surrounded by books. when we are conceived parents start reading books. the doctors that care for us at that early age have devoured books. then we pop out and start growing. as we do, we find great delight in books being read to us. then off to school and more books. into high school and more complicated books. then college and thicker and more expensive books. then the fun time comes. as we look around we see that books, books, and more books are available. books that we actually want to read vs. have to read. mysteries, true life adventures, self-help, funny, political, economic, serious, religious, technical, how-to, philosophical, historical, westerns, detective stories, autobiographies, and on and on many, many books are available to read. again, not because we have to but because we can and we want to. books are fantastic - they open our worlds and our hearts and our minds. but there is a problem. every book you read will have a part that you disagree with. but it doesn't matter - because they are just the author's story. it really doesn't matter - well, with one exception. the Bible. yes, it's still the author's story - but in the Bible's case it's God's story. that does matter.

frost

when i woke up yesterday morning i saw an amazing site. frost. it was everywhere. frost. it was on my car (not my motorcycle as it was in the garage, hee hee.). it was on the roof of the house - in fact my black shingles looked white. it was on the trees. but, the most beautiful was how it covered my front lawn. it actually looked like it had snowed. it was gorgeous. no, it was beautiful. it was amazing. it covered everything with this amazing whiteness. it just looked clean. and as the sun came up you could stand there and watch the sparkles and reflections dancing across the yard. amazing. i loved it. as i stood there gazing at the beauty of it all it reminded me of something else - of something even more beautiful - even more clean and white. it reminded me of the cleanness and whiteness that i enjoy because Jesus washed away my sins by His blood sacrifice.

what is life

i was just reading some stuff about life. you know, some of that stuff where some expert says that he has it all figured out. but, i don't think he does. you know, to me it could almost seem like no one has it figured out. no one! the evidence to that is how many different approaches people take to life. some live it on the edge. some don't even come close to the edge. some spend a lot of time exercising. others are couch potatoes. some think life is wrapped up in stuff. some thing life is wrapped up in having little. some think religion is a significant part. others proclaim to be bonafide atheists. some are pleased with their weight. some are dieting constantly. some like sports. others like reading books. some are constantly trying to figure life out. others just go with the flow of life. i could go on and on, but you get the point. it seems to me that if we understood what life was about that there would be more commonality to everyone's approach. maybe, just maybe, we're missing the point of life. maybe, just maybe we're not living on the real edge. maybe, just maybe we're taking the wrong approach to life. maybe, just maybe there is only one true answer. maybe, just maybe that answer is Jesus.

president

it's that time, again. mccain vs obama. obama vs. mccain. biden vs. palin. palin vs. biden. yes, it is an important time. yes, we need to exercise our constitutional right to vote. and yes, we need to vote according to prayer, our research, and our conscience vs. how a person speaks or looks or what suit or clothes they wear or whatever! some say this is the most important election in history - at least the two candidates like to lead you to think so. some - actually quite a few - tell you that if their candidate looses we are in for very, very rough times. isn't that a bit arrogant? the truth: "there is no authority except from God. those that exist have been instituted by God" - Rom 13:1. so do we trust obama, mccain, palin, biden? they're humans. my vote goes for trusting God that He will do what He said He will do. that just leaves one question. for what reason did God establish the authority?

sleepless in missouri

seattle isn't the only place where you can have a sleepless night. it happens everywhere, even in central missouri. why? good question, gary! i think it boils down to the mind. the body wants to go to sleep, but the mind screams out no - i want to think. i want to think about things. then this battle ensues. body tries to rebuke the mind. mind responds with a thrust of activity. body then tries to deceive the mind by pretending it is relaxed and not caring. mind figures that tactic out rapidly and takes advantage by diverting more energy into thinking. body then gets up and paces the floor believing it will wear itself out and steal energy from the mind and simply pass out in bed. but the mind maintains the upper hand by drawing on some unknown energy source and is not thwarted, simply continuing to process the information overload. then the mind strikes the lethal blow - it sends out a raiding party to find an ally in the body - the target being the heart. why does it do that? because the mind knows that if it can get the heart involved as an ally that victory will be assured over the body. see, it's a plot. or is it really the heart getting the mind involved. either way, body loses. so who is really in control? the mind? the body? the heart? the body and the heart? i'm tired and going to bed. hopefully i will fall asleep and not have to figure it out. aren't you glad that God has it all figured out.

contented

life is changing! it's so different than it was a few years ago. it's radically different than what it was a few decades ago. it's indescribably different than what it was a few centuries ago. and it seems to be changing more and more rapidly. how are we suppose to keep up? it's like going to your favorite store and finding that they have changed everything around. it happens all the time. but it stresses me out. it happened recently at the local wal-mart. they turned everything upside down. i'd rather they keep things in the same place. i think we're a lot like that with life. leave it alone! don't mess with it! keep it at the same pace. yet, they keep messing with it. and it keeps stressing people out. kind of bitter sweet. we want more, but we want the same. therefore stress and frustration comes about. maybe we just need to figure out how to be contented. how? maybe we just need to be contented with life in Christ.

fire

when you think about it we live in a world where fire is ever present and oh so very important to our existence and lifestyle. if it wasn't for that big fireball in the sky - called the sun - the world wouldn't even exist - it would be frozen and barren. think about a camping trip with no fire - cold food, cold coffee (there's no starbuck's near), nothing to gaze into at night, and no gas lanterns. how would you get to work without the combustion engine? how about the coal fired generators that provide a significant amount of our electricity? the candles that so add to a romantic evening. how about the fire in your furnace that heats your bones on those chilly mornings (like the one i didn't have this morning). we need fire. it keeps us alive and it keeps us comfortable. but the fire we need the most is the fire of God in our souls. it keeps us from getting cold or lukewarm.

shocking thought

my wife kris and i were hanging out with some friends a while back just talking about stuff and solving the world's problems - you know what i mean. all of a sudden one of the folks came out with a statement that caught me way off guard - and frankly, kind of shocked me. he said that most churches were nothing more than "sunday day cares". now, if that wasn't shocking enough, he went on to say that that is what so many people are really looking for. is that really true? is that what the church has become? is that what people really want in a church? more importantly, is that what Jesus wants? the Bible seems to indicate that that is not what Jesus wants. it seems to indicate that the church should be a "dynamic revolutionary movement without walls". one more question. does that expectation have anything to do with why only 15% of today's younger generation is expected to be evangelical Christian? something to think about.

surfing

now this is an amazing sport. a unique sport. a sport i really don't understand. think about it. what's cool about it is that it has a very simple recipe to enjoy. first, you find a person to do it. then you add this long board that has been shaped into a weird shape. you then add an ocean - preferably one that has waves over three feet tall. next you remove common sense from the person - there's sharks out there. add one life guard that knows mouth-to-mouth for when the board hits the person on the head. mix in a whole bunch of sand that gets everywhere - i mean everywhere - into every body cavity, every article of clothing the surfer is wearing, into your hair, under your fingernails - everywhere. finally you add sunscreen that washes off after the first attempted ride and aloe to soothe the sunburn that you got because the sunscreen is floating in the water. and what do you get? fun, fun, fun! so, if you want to make the effort and the expense - go for it. personally, i found something more simpler and fun - hangin with Jesus

beauty

quite a while back i commented on someone's blog that discussed beauty. he raised the question about whether beauty can be described by words or not. i've been thinking about that a lot. i commented that you can't describe it with words, it has to be experienced - and i'm even more adamant about it now. how can you describe the view you have as you gaze out from the top of big mountain in montana? how can you describe the beauty you see as you walk along a trail in rocky mountain national park. how can you describe the scenery that you gulp down as you stroll the appalachian trail through the smokies? how do you describe the power as you hike by nevada falls in yosemetie? how do you tell someone about the waves that come crashing in along the craggy shore of maine? how do you describe the wondrous dancing of the multiple colored wild flowers on a glade in glacier national park? how do you describe the majesty of the bison and elk in yellowstone? how do you describe the beauty contained within the King of kings? You can't! It's impossible. It's impossible to describe the beauty of His creation. Isn't it wonderful that we don't have to - we can just experience the beauty.

pleasure

pleasure - what is it? one thing i know for sure is that it can be very, very elusive. why do i say that? look at my life. hey! look at our lives - we spend so much time and so much energy pursuing it. and yet we never seem to find it - lasting, eternal pleasure that is. think about it. or don't think about it. i mean, we can smell it, we can kind of see it, we can hear it calling our name, and it's so real we can taste it - if we could only reach out and touch it - pleasure! so, we race after this elusive pleasure. we pursue pleasure in some way our entire lives - from the moment we pop out into this world. man, we start crying. we liked the warmth and security of the womb - it was pleasant. then wow! we're out and we start crying and never stop. why? pleasure! we want pleasure, we want to be happy! and it continues right through young kids era - we need the xbox 360 or wii - to teenagers era - we need the $70 jeans with holes in them - to adults era - we need the jaguar. pleasure! help! it has a hold of me. i'm going under! we're never satisfied. so it begs the question - can we ever truly find pleasure - i mean real pleasure that produces true happiness? i think so, er, what am i saying - i know so. Jesus - our life has to be Him - and talk about pleasure - sweet, i mean really, really sweet.

heart again

when i woke up this morning i started thinking about the heart. i think it was God. the heart is an amazing thing. it provides both natural and spiritual life. without it pumping the red stuff - and the white stuff (corpuscles) within the red stuff, we'd be in a pretty serious way. i think we all agree with that. at least the doctors do. but what about the spiritual heart? what's it's purpose? i think when we are born we begin an adventure - an adventure to find our heart. it's like hiking in the mountains, we just keep going up and up with an excited anticipation that there will be something more beautiful around the next bend. sometimes we see that beauty. but, all too often, it's more like walking through a junkyard and around each corner is another piece of ugly, rusting scrap metal. God, help me to have Your heart, to delight in You that Your heart will touch my heart - and allow it to see the beauty around the corner instead of the ugliness.

monday

well, here it is monday - the first day of the week. well, actually it's not the first day of the week - sunday is. which makes monday the second day of the week. i guess monday is really the first day of the work week. it's the day where most of us go back to work after the weekend. i guess that makes it the first work day of the week for a lot of us. anyway, it's monday. yeah, yeah, yeah, so what's your point? let me get to it. i believe that monday is much maligned. think about it. many people spend a significant part of their lives on monday looking forward to friday and saturday and sunday. as tuesday comes along then wednesday and thursday, each of those days seem to be welcomed with more joy than monday. actually, each day is welcomed with more joy than the day before as we head to friday. it's like monday is the worse day in the world. i think it's dissed beyond what it deserves. i mean it's a day like all the rest. it has 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds like the other six days. it's a day where we arise to a new world that is full of both expected events and surprises. it's a day where we once again get to see our friends at work. it's a day that the Lord has given so we could rejoice in it. it's monday - and i'm still alive. hey, it's not so bad afterall.

colorado

i love colorado. i just came back from being there several days. it is glorious. the rockies are amazingly beautiful. the bugling of the elk is hypnotizing. the color of the aspens is breath taking. the way the mountains jut out of the ground reaching to the sky is indescribable. some say it just happened. amazing. yet when i go there - which is as often as i can - i see God's fingerprints all over the place. can you imagine what eden was like? i can't.

freedom

as i was riding my bike yesterday (yep, that's what it looks like) i began to think. yeah, i know that can be kind of scary. i mean here i was cruising down 179 enjoying the wind (which was a respectable 63 degrees) and i began to think about how free i was. i often feel that way when i'm on my bike. but the truth is i really am free all the time. i mean, i'm free. that's what Jesus did for me. He set me free from all my bondages and it really doesn't matter how i feel - i'm free. Jesus did that for me at calvary - at the cross. that is just the truth. so maybe i just need to pretend that i am on an eternal bike ride. or maybe i just need to walk in the truth by the grace of God.

life

you know, when you think about it, life is pretty amazing. let's start with the fact that my lungs and heart keep working. pretty important, don't you think. and i don't even think about them - they just keep chugging along - for greater than 525,600 hours so far - now that is amazing. that's just the beginning. the rest of my body - well, most of it anyway - is still working. and i'm surrounded by amazing things. stores where they charge you the right price by just passing the product over a camera. amazing. how about the mountains. ever just taken a hike and sat up a trail somewhere and just looked at the creation and listened to the elk bugle - amazing. and the ocean. amazing. i have seen the ocean over a period of 40+ years and the waves keep coming in and the tide keeps coming in and going out. wow! how about the birth of a baby. now that is amazing. absolutely beautiful. i could go on and on for hours. i mean we are surrounded by amazing things - cars, tvs, furniture, air, trees, people, ipods, 'puters, pens, pencils, paper, bathrooms, houses, dung beetles, birds, baseball teams, paper clips, etc - all truly amazing. but you know what, the most amazing thing of all is God and Jesus - for in Them is the beginning of everything else that is amazing.

cell phone

i got a new phone recently. it's really cool. you can tune into the weather channel, fox news, and espn. you can send email. my calendar is on it. you can play games and take pictures and play music. oh yeah, you can also make phone calls and receive them. the question i have is why all the other stuff. personally i think it's a conspiracy by the twenty somethings to have something that the 50+ folks can't understand. i think someone should file a lawsuit against someone. but, i'm not waiting for the lawsuit - i'm taking my own action. i'm learning the phone - in less than 48 hours and after only 3 phone calls, five emails, and 2 visits to the twenty something that sold me the phone, while smiling all the while. aren't you glad that God wasn't involved in a conspiracy when He sent Jesus to the cross?

Hump day

it's thursday and yesterday was wednesday. that day is also known as hump day. i have always found this fascinating. it is my understanding that it's called hump day because it's half way through the work week. on mondays we wish it was wednesdays - hump day - and on wednesday we wish it was friday. when we're 5 we wish we were in school. when we're 10 we wish we were a teenager. when we're 13 we wish we were 16. when we're 16 we wish we were 18. when we're 18 we wish we were 21. when we're in high school we wish we were in college or working and making big bucks. when we're working we wish it was wednesday, then friday. we spend a great part of our life wishing it away. then we hit middle age and we wish it all back again as we wish we were in our 20's. we're always wishing for something other than what we have or where we are, as if we aren't happy or contented with where we are. aren't you glad that in Jesus we can be happy in Him, contented everyday, and that His mercies are new every morning.

heart

an amazing organ this thing called the heart. it just keeps on beating - and is so easily taken for granted. same for your other heart - you know, your innermost being. it also can be so easily taken for granted. that can be hard - i mean, it is where love is generated from, which is really kind of scary. why? because it seems to be so fragile. you put it out there and then it gets stomped on and it becomes even more fragile - and kind of self-protective. it does not want to venture out on this road of love so quickly the next time. and if it has another negative experience and another - well, the old heart finds this innermost cave and just goes in and hibernates and we stop using our heart to guide us, but start using the buttons and triggers that replaced it. and that is very, very sad. i am very glad that Jesus never stomps on my heart. i am very glad that Jesus heals my heart so it does not die in the cave.