amazing

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

simplicity

i don't know about you, but i like simple. i can wrap my mind around it. it settles well in my heart. but, what is simple anymore? i mean, look around. everything is complex or complicated. i'm typing on a keyboard that is wireless to the computer. how did that occur? it's complicated. i breathe odorless, colorless stuff into my nostrils and it sustains my life. i don't understand. it's complex. i drive a car; i wear clothes; i use an ipod and a digital camera - complicated, complex, it's all over my head. how about relationships - they can be very complex and complicated. is there anything that is simple. well, fortunately, yes, there is. our relationship with Jesus is really pretty simple. He went to the cross and died so that we might live. yet, even that we try to complicate with theology, doctrine, personal opinion, etc. i vote that we just keep it simple and say, thank you Jesus for the new life in You.

weird

wow! it's been over a week since i've entered anything. what's wrong with me? hey, that's a great question. i can say there was something wrong on tuesday and it took until today to right itself. i was laying in bed waking up when all of a sudden, the room tilted and started to turned. talk about weird - i mean weird. i then got up out of bed to try and walk and i couldn't. the best i could do was to stumble into the wall. i had no sense of balance at all. really, really weird. fortunately it kind of went away. but, the next morning it kind of came back, but to a much lesser degree. at least i could walk - even close to a straight line when i really concentrated on it. today, i was fine and the doc said it was just some minor inner ear infection. but it was really scary. talk about feeling totally out of control. fortunately, i had something i could turn to that provided stability and control - Jesus. even in this bizarre situation, He provided peace and direction. it's great to know that God's Son will always provide that.

heart again

wow! is it a beautiful day or what? wait! how can you say that, gary? it's been raining all night and all morning. what's beautiful about that? i'm alive, that's what. i'm alive! i have a heart and it is beating. but, it's doing more than that it's pumping life into me. yeah, sure, it's pumping that red stuff that makes me almost faint when it starts leaking out of my body - or anyone else's as far as that goes. but, let's not get stuck there. the heart is so much more than that. our heart - the inner part of us where the emotions and feelings lie, pumps life into us. it pumps love and joy and peace and happiness and acceptance and forgiveness and humility and contentment and being real and thousands of other wonderful things into us. what? you don't know what i'm talking about? then maybe, just maybe, you're not walking in the heart that God gave you. maybe, just maybe, you're walking in the hurts and pain that you carry from having your heart crushed. think about it. pray about it. i might be on to something here

heart

wow, january 29th. can you believe it. january 29th. that's the last time i wrote a blog. what's wrong with me. well, we don't have enough time to thoroughly investigate that question. busy, busy, busy. the american way of life. busy! but, hey, that's not an excuse, is it? why so busy? honestly, one huge reason. i went on a safari. i went on a hunting trip. what was i hunting? my heart. yep, my heart. and guess what? i found it. it too two weekends devoted to some serious searching and hunting. considerable pain and joy was mixed in. add in a bunch of new friends. and, of course, if God hadn't showed up it would have all been for naught. But, God did show up and i found the heart that God had given buried underneath a whole bunch of junk. and where did it happen? here, in jeff city at a hotel lead by a group of wonderful, loving, compassionate, caring people that layed their life down for me because they love me. all under the banner of grace encounter. i'm so glad God never took the heart away from me that he gave, but instead chose to help me find it again. and because of it, i am by the grace of God a courageous, victorious, accepted man of God with a big heart

atheism

isn't it amazing that we live in a world where we can have a blog and post our thoughts. before i started this blog a few months ago i thought about this for awhile and decided to go for it. trust me, i'm not thinking that what i post will shake the foundations of the world or determine what you will have for breakfast or determine who the next president is or what kind of clothes you wear. however, i hope to plant some ideas - some thoughts to banty about, to think about, maybe even torment you with. hey, thinking about things and being challenged is good. so, here's a thought for you: we are a spiritual people. everyone believes in something supernatural. everyone has faith. whether you believe in God, Yahweh, Allah, evolution, intelligent design, or your old ford mustang that you have great plans for, they believe in something. and i believe that everyone believes in God. there are no such thing as atheists. those that say they are are just trying to suppress what God has written on their hearts. that's why they're angry. that's why people of faith anger them. that's why they are trying to rid the earth of any mention of God. so they can find peace. but, guess what, even then they wouldn't find it. find a person on their death bed - any person - and when they know they're dying, they'll cry out for something - someone - and i bet it's God. let me up front, i believe in a triune God - God the Father, God the Son (whom is know as Jesus the Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. and that's why i walk in peace.

sabbath

it's the sabbath. it's the sabbath. so? well, what is it? is it the day that the blue laws use to be stating that we could not shop? got'cha! some of you have no idea what i'm talking about. is it the day where you could not buy liquor? most of you would know that as it has been more recent. is it saturday or sunday? is it the day of rest that God appointed for Jews to rest from all work? is it an intermission of pain or sorrow? or does it just mean a time of rest? regardless of what we think it is or how we define it, most people celebrate it. they celebrate it by taking time out of work to pursue some type of relaxation - to rest. that just leaves the question - are they pursuing rest or their god? i'm just glad that Jesus is God and not only is He able to be pursued, but He is able to be found - and in Him is true sabbath. In Jesus is true rest.

horse and carriage

remember the old song that had the line in it that talked about a horse and carriage going together like love and marriage? you don't, huh? guess i'm dating myself. oh well. anyway, there was this song that had those lines. i always found the song interesting because there is only one way that you can put a horse and carriage. now, have you ever seen a horse pushing a carriage. well, ok during one of the super bowl budweiser commercials a couple of clydesdales were helping a young clydesdale by pushing the wagon the clydesdales normally pull. but, hey, other than that, have you? i mean, when's the last time you saw a couple snuggling together in a carriage that was being pushed by a horse? so, there's only one way it can be done. aren't you glad it's not like that when you think of another great couple - Jesus and prayer. with Jesus and prayer it works either way. when you think about Jesus it just naturally leads to prayer. you start thinking of Him, about Him and you just start talking to Him and listening to His voice. Or, if you start praying, you just naturally start asking Him questions or telling Him how wonderful He is or asking Him if He can help you out with this or that - which leads you to listening for His response. Jesus and prayer. Prayer and Jesus. now that's what i call a couple that works well together.

president

it's here. it's here! the day that we finally see the swearing in of our new president. and to think that the process started about two years ago and we finally see the fulfillment of it all. (just think, in two short years it will start all over - exciting, huh?) we've gone through the announcements that certain people are running. we've endured all the tv commercials and ads leading up to the primaries. we've given careful thought to which candidate in each party that we wanted to vote for. then the race was narrowed to two people. and once again we endured all the ads, placards, yard signs, tv commercials, radio announcements, ad nauseum. and then we gave careful thought and studied each person and what they stood for, spending signficant amounts of time looking at their voting records, past comments, etc. (ok, maybe i am a dreamer, but i hope most people voted for the person vs. the party) and that brings us to this day. the day our new president is sworn in. the day that the governing authority that exist have been instituted by God (Rom 13:1). Aren't you glad you don't have to go through this process every couple years with God. He is established and He is our governing authority forever and ever.

speakers

you know, i bought my first set of good speakers way back in 1972. i had just reenlisted in the navy for two more years - required because i had enlisted in the nuclear navy - you know submarines and other ships - but, hey that's a story for another day. anyway, i had this significant amount of money in my pocket and we had shore leave in hong kong. the first place i went was the china fleet club. now, i must say up front i didn't spend all the money - actually less than 25% as i remember. however, the prices were so cheap that i was buying 12 place settings of noritake china and shipping them home for presents. then i hit the stereo room. all i can say is wow! wall to wall stereo equipment, with one whole wall being dedicated to speakers. the room had a sophisticated patching system which allowed you to put your own system together, which i spent hours doing. i remember using well over half the time picking the speakers. i'd patch this one and that one until i picked the right one - six way speakers that had a fantastic sound, which could shake any room in any house if you had the power to do so, which i had already picked. the speakers were clear with a brilliant sound through all the various frequencies. even today, they still have a solid bottom, mixed together with great highs. yet, you can tell that the years have gotten to them, and they aren't quite as clear. they're just wearing out and that affects the sound that reaches my ears. i'm glad though that the sound of God's voice, which i started hearing at about the same time, has not been wearing out. in fact, it has gotten stronger and clearer. yes, our God speaks to us and yes, His people can hear His voice.

life and happiness

have you ever asked yourself what the purpose of life is? i mean are we here just to exist? did we just accidentally come into existence - you know, hey, here's my mom and dad, and they kind of did their thing and they had me and there really is no purpose beyond that. yeah, we'll try to be happy; we'll acquire things to help make me happy; we'll find jobs that will make me happy so we can acquire things to make us happy; we'll get educated in some way, to do something so we can be happy, so we can find jobs that we like so we can buy stuff that makes us happy; and on and on. is that the purpose of our lives? if that is then do we really have a purpose out side of our own existence? or were we created for a purpose - to walk according to a divine plan? i don't know about you but i can get pretty bored and tired of trying to wrap my life around making me happy. however, i find great joy and happiness in getting out of myself and serving others. maybe Jesus really knew what He was talking about.

pool

pool - now that is an interesting word. but, what am i really talking about? a pool of water? a swimming pool? a wading pool? or something like "pool our resources"? or is it a pool table? oh, you think that's what it is because of the picture? maybe. maybe not. am i talking about a small body of water? am i talking about putting something together? am i talking about a game that has nothing to do with either? or, am i talking about the english language and how it has words that can be used in a vast different way with the whole intent and purpose to confuse us? let me put another thought out there. what if i don't know what i'm talking about? what if it is early in the morning and my brain hasn't quite turned on yet and i'm just letting my fingers go where they may on the keyboard? what if i'm just confused and causing some confusion. or what if i'm really totally coherent and i'm just trying to play with your mind. what if. what if. what if...aren't you glad there's no confusio - no what if's - in Jesus?

2009

well, here it is. 2009! the new year. the party's are over. the night before has faded into the awaiting day. the first day of a new year. so what does it mean? so many questions and so precious few answers. a rotten economy. recession here. loosing jobs there. people loosing jobs. wars here. wars there. and it all leads to hopelessness, a lack of joy and peace. will the year bring promise - hope, joy, and peace. or will the year bring more despair, hopelessness, sadness, and restlessness. about this time you ask, is this guy nuts. why does he have to be so depressing. it's the first day of the new year. in the words of yoda, "depressed he is not. full of questions he is. full of hope, peace and joy he is." why? because the economy and the state of the world is not where i place my hope. it is unpredictable, like riding an amazing roller coaster with your eyes covered. ups and downs and never knowing when they are coming. that's the state of the world. yet, there is something, er, someone that is steady and faithful, always providing hope, peace, and joy. in Christ i find my everlasting joy and continual hope and a whole bunch of indescribably delicious peace.