Sometimes you just feel like writing

I want to get this straight at least to myself – I don’t always feel like everyone should listen to me.  I know that I am opinionated and sometimes brash but I have never wanted to be that way.  In fact, I don’t even take pleasure in “being right” as much as helping people.  There are so many people in my life that I just want to help be happy.  It is a full time job and a meaningful one.  But sometimes I just feel like writing to let myself know that it is okay to be tired every once in a while.  It is okay to feel beat up some times.  It is okay to feel these things because it is all worth it.

Why is it so funny to me?

The IT Crowd is one of the most hilarious shows I have ever seen. That is saying something too because I am a connoisseur of sorts of British comedy. Graham Lineham has a way of taking a low budget, quirky characters and common situations and making it on the floor laughing hilarious. I do not know why I continually laugh at loud when I watch this show but I am in almost crying and shaking in almost every episode. Only 3 seasons so far – what a tragedy. Check it out.

Trying to Get My Brain to Work

My brain isn’t working.  No need for a town crier or anything, but it seems its dissipating.  I do have several theories concerning the phenomena…but I will discuss my top theory only in this article.  So here it goes…

It is rotting.  My brain has reached its limit with just flat out bad media.  The word “bad” is the word I chose to use because I do not know how else to describe it.  Dictionary.com describes bad as “not good in any manner or degree”.  That is it!  I would make a list of what my brain is suffering specifically from but I do not want to offend all my readers who have different opinions.  Wait a minute…it is okay to agree to disagree I guess…this is like therapy for me…maybe I will list some of these things that I do not intentionally watch or listen to but somehow still seeps into my brain – i can’t get away….

well my list can wait for the next entry…

What is God saying to me on the Mount?

Someone asked me that question and here is my (not so great) answer.

The short answer is, “Go back down, I didn’t ask for you.” 

Seriously though it is a tough question for me right now actually.  Not so much because God does not speak but I am just refusing to listen right now.  I can relate to what the Smoking Popes’ Josh Caterer penned, “What did you say?  I can’t hear anything with these headphones on.  I like to play my music just as loud as it goes.  It empties my mind and helps me with my time.  It distracts me from the sound in my heart.”  I’m not proud of this admission by the way; it is not my true desire to be deaf to the voice of God.  However, I find myself being distracted more than a bee in a field of flowers.  One would think that after 41 years of life I would be able to focus a little bit, listen a little bit, learn a little bit and enjoy being before God.  Nevertheless I find myself fidgeting in my meditation chair and nodding off during times of temptation.  Sometimes the query that runs through my cerebral sieve questions where God is in all of this?  I’m not stating that it is a fair question, I’m just confessing.  Why doesn’t God attend to my ADD heart?  Why doesn’t he force me to listen?  I want to be sitting on the summit listening to what He has for me so why doesn’t he just drag me up the mountain and place me there?  I don’t know if this is making any sense, but it is a difficult thing to listen to God in this day and age.  One could write a long list of distractions that plague the modern man…tv…music…movies…relationships…video games…text messaging…internet…you name it.  (by the way my weakness is showing as I crank Mandalay in the background while typing) 

How do I avoid these things?  Should I avoid these things?  It was easier for dudes like Moses who had nothing but sheep to tend while learning how not to lisp with the Cindy Brady cassette tape set.  He did not have to secure the world like I do by eliminating as many Nazi Zombies as I can, he didn’t have to worry about answering every text, email and phone message.  He didn’t have to worry about trying to entertain an entertainment driven family nor coach a little league team.  Moses could spend more time on the mountain right?  Actually, he was like 80 when he started the free the slaves’ thing, what else was he going to do?  Drink Ensure and play a few holes a day? 

Lack of time.  Distractions.  Let me justify my lack of time on the mount for at least a minute or two. 

I know…I know….I know….I’m coming.

Back on shortly

after moving and enduring the stress thereof…
i will be back shortly…

Rich?

James 1:11
“For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.”

How has the economy issues affected you? Are you looking for a job? Are you having trouble making your house payment? In all my great wisdom, I thought I would attempt to give some advice to help us cut back amid economic woes. Here are my top ten ways:
• Cut your teenager back to only 25 ring tones in a month
• The country should not spend 150 million on Inauguration parties – I hear the Inauguration Committee is asking for a bailout.
• Try using Suave.
• When eating out consider these words – BUFFET and KIDS EAT FREE
• TV Evangelists will survive without your money
• You know, Cheerios are really not too bad.
• Can you still get a Yugo?
• Save the money and just let the fire ants win.
• Take the kids to see the Biggest Ball of Twine in the US on vacation next year. (Darwin, Minnesota in case you are curious)
• Hang out with Dave Ramsey

James writes that the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Everyone has his or her own definition of what it means to be rich. But I think that James is not trying necessarily to characterize the rich as being in a certain tax bracket as much as he is describing those who pursue things rather than God. The poor and the rich alike can fall into the same trap of the pursuit of the temporary. The gospels tell us that Jesus did not pursue economic stability; “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Hosea wrote that God hates it when we chase after our lovers and forget Him. Can we be in love with money even when we do not have any? Yes. Our pursuit of financial freedom can be so overwhelming that we do not have time for anything else. Some of us even blame God for the situation in which we put ourselves. The rich are those who pursue the things of this world and leave God behind.
No one can attain riches for we have deceived ourselves. Those who are truly rich are those who know Jesus as Savior. If God thought the answer to life’s ills was money then Jesus would have come with plenty of cash. But instead, he came as a carpenter’s son, riding a donkey colt, no place to lay his head, brutally murdered for our sake and raised in glory all without a dime. God’s grand vision for us to relieve us of the bondage of money and to give us what matters most, eternal life. Guess what? It does not cost you a single penny. Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God.

Underdog

I love watching football. Especially this time of the year because it is playoff time! My team (Colts) is already out of it and my second favorite team (Falcons) is also sitting at home. Out of the four teams left in 2009, I have to root for the Cardinals for one simple reason – the team name. Is there anything more menacing and intimidating than a Cardinal? Actually, they try to make their logo on their helmets look mean…but I just have to laugh! Now the names Steelers and Eagles are somewhat daunting and I can even see Ravens being a little disconcerting ever since Hitchcock, but Cardinals? Since it would be great to see a little red bird win, go Cardinals!
God many not watch much football but he is sure all about ironic justice. All one has to do is read the Bible to see how God loves to take the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. Paul states it this way in I Corinthians 1:27-29, “…God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” God loves to use the “little guy”. He loves to use the unassuming and weak to shame the haughty and strong. For instance look at David and Goliath, Gideon, Elijah, Moses, Mary, Peter and many more. Gideon has to be one of my favorite characters. God came to him while he was hiding from the enemy and made him the general of the troops of Israel. He then took thousands of soldiers away from him and gave the remaining men torches, jars and trumpets and said go fight. Do what? The whole point however is what Paul writes about in the passage mentioned above, so no human being might brag about what he accomplishes. God won that battle not Gideon.
How much credit does God get in your life? It is odd how we are so good at giving him the credit for such things as loss of job, loss of a family member, various struggles that pop up in our lives and various other negative things. But do we give God credit for the victories in our lives that He so richly deserves? My wife and I have a close friend who is extremely talented and uses her talents for the benefit of so many people. However she refuses any compliment we give her and just points to the sky and says, “All for Christ.” At first I thought it was just false humility but now I know that she really means it. We have enough problems with self-centeredness without begging for the praise of others. God will use you and He will conquer big giants in your life in some of the most foolish ways. I would rather be small and unassuming with God in my corner than big and powerful alone.

Stessing Out?

Stress relief is an essential element to a happy life and that is all there is to it. How do you handle stress? Do you use one of those stress balls or hit your head against the wall? As Christians, hope should drive us to optimism, but man do we have our days. What stresses you out? How about your stubborn computer at work, screaming blessings of kids at home, bills and taxes, an aching and aging body, the broken handle on the mini-van, the vacuum cleaner belt that will not stay on, the garage that never stays clean, double booking yourself and the very loud ring of your phone. Not that I have experienced anything like this…sure. Stress relievers like hitting golf balls really hard at the local driving range (naming each ball of course), hitting the heavy punching bag in the gym or just flat our screaming at the top of your lungs, are really effective.
Jesus concerned himself with our concerns however in Matthew 6. “…Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Many have claimed that if we would just lay our anxieties at the foot of Jesus, he will take care of it. I believe this to be true, but how do we quit worrying when situations, people and things are just so unreliable? Peter writes, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” The key in this passage is humbling oneself under the mighty hand of God. Laying down your worries at the foot of Jesus means to have more faith in Him than in the very situations, people or things you are worrying about. All things finite, left to their own devices, will fail. When we put our confidence into the finite we end up anxious and usually with good reason.
The way it works for me is to find a stress relief of some sort, be mad for a while and then pray. It is so difficult for me to pray when I am angry or stressed out. I need to just admit it, I am surely not always spiritual. We all rely on the mercy of God to carry through to the next day. The great news however is that God is a Father who is big enough to take anything I dish out and then he will be right there to hold me. So I still need to scream at the top of my lungs sometimes, nevertheless when I am finished God reminds me to trust in Him regardless. It is the regardless part that scares me because I am convinced that I am wiser than He. Peter knew what he was talking about – humility translates to trust and trust translates to stress-free. Jesus never fails.

Dealing with anger

Men just do not have many outlets any more for anger. If we physically do anything to release anger then we are looked upon as violent. If we say anything, then we are unruly and if we even look angry we usually get called on the carpet by someone. Our society is so sissified now compared to the way life used to be. Men used to be almost admired for their grit and strength. Nowadays men are supposed to display ultimate sensitivity and coolness (which translates into constant control). Most men only have the option to see their anger played out on the movie screen or on the football field by others. It is sad but true. I’m not suggesting that we bring back the gladiator arena or anything, I’m just acknowledging that maybe every man at least needs a heavy punching bag in the garage. In fact, that really is not a bad idea – i think I might buy one. I find it odd that the garage has become a hang out for so many men. I remember one guy in my neighborhood who rarely left his garage. He had a tv set up in there, all his tools, etc. and he would just piddle. He would be there early in the morning and I would see him in there late at night. Odd? A doghouse? I don’t know but for some reason I think he believed his manhood was threatened and retreated 24/7 to the garage (a symbol of manhoood).
I don’t need to stay in the garage 24/7 but I think i will hang a punching bag out there.

2009 New Year’s Predictions

“It is not hard to live through a day, if you can live through a moment. What creates despair is the imagination, which pretends there is a future, and insists on predicting millions of moments, thousands of days, and so drains you that you cannot live the moment at hand.”

-André Dubus

 

I always wanted to try my hand at New Year predictions so here it goes, my top ten predictions for 2009, drum roll please:

10.  The State of Minnesota will count votes all year just for “fun”

9.  Warren Buffett will star in a new reality show on the food channel called “The Buffett Line”.

8. Scientists will discover in 2009 that washing one’s hands can prevent colds.

7.  Brittany Spears will be accused of actually “making sense” at least one time this year.

6.  Fighting will break out in the Middle East.

5.  Brett Favre will retire 4 times by the year’s end.

4.  The Lottery will officially change its name to “Government Bailout”

3.  Barry Williams of Greg Brady fame, will introduce a new fashion line for men who love the 70’s (complete with the white belt)

2.  Gas prices will fluctuate in 2009.

1.  House and Senate seats will come available on Ebay

 

There is my semi-lame attempt at predicting what will happen in 2009.  It is difficult for me to read this aforementioned Dubus quote without being intrigued by it.  What does he mean by saying that imagination pretends there is a future.  Isn’t the future guaranteed?  Do we not plan for tomorrow like it is today?  Do we not know that tomorrow always comes?  The Scripture tells us in James 4:14, “…yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For t you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” James goes on to say that we need to ask God what his will is before we do anything in life. Wow, what a change of lifestyle!  Imagine asking permission for everything we do?  Ironically, my independence has created my anxiety. Why be apprehensive about tomorrow when you do not know what it will bring.  Our nation has become so cynical that we assume the worst.  I know that greed and evil deeds are coming home to roost but we must have hope and faith in the one who holds tomorrow in his hand and not in tomorrow itself.  Living through a moment is vital to hope itself in one’s life.  Do not give in to the temptation of looking so far down the road that you miss what is right in front of you. Our lives are truly like a mist and there is no guarantee of many more tomorrows.  Give your anxiety over to God today.  Pray for the Lord to give you peace.  Do not grow weary, do not lose heart and do not fear because the Lord is near and holds you in his hands.