Can you say "obsessive"...

Alright, so when I started today I had an idea about a topic for a post here, but that is not what you're going to get... Let me explain. This morning I decided to find a new place to run as I had kind of a long one scheduled, and I'm getting a bit bored with running around my neighborhood. So, I jumped in my car and headed to Fort Fraser Trail in Lakeland. It's only about a 15 min drive so not bad, and it is a relatively new trail. Anyway, the trail is beautiful: asphalt paved over a gently rolling path. There was plenty of scenery to keep me occupied on a 7 mile run, and to top it off there were inspirational quotes posted in large electrical poles with banners attached along the way. This is where my previous idea for the post comes in.

One of the quotes is the sports favorite:

"Quitters never win, and winners never quit."

Great quote used by stage mothers and little league baseball coaches for years. The funny thing is that on the trail this quote is attributed to none other than Emily Dickinson! Ok, so I thought, "Wow, how ironic that someone who pretty much lived in seclusion and rarely ventured outside her home would be the author of such a positive and 'go-getting' sentiment!" So, I had this whole idea for a post that was built on the premise of that irony.

But, being a journalism major in college, I always back up my source. So, when I get to work I set about the business of making sure that attribution is correct...no luck... I try every Google search I can think of. I ask people around me. No luck... then I get desperate... I call the City of Lakeland Public Works Department... no, I am not kidding. Well, they don't know but they hired a city works consultant out of Orlando for the job, and they give me the company's phone number. Now, before I go any further, I want to admit, that I think most sane people would have stopped the search at this point. I mean calling the public works department isn't that bad, but to go any further would be crazy. Well...note the title of this post... So, I call the consulting company. I have the name of the lead consultant, but he is out of the office until March 3rd. Probably on vacation. But they ask, "Would you like his email? He is checking it." (I pause briefly to consider how much of a jerk I would be to email a guy on vacation about a pretty silly question...briefly.) "Sure", I say. And as I write, this poor guy is getting an email from me asking how he and his come came to attribute the aforementioned quote to Emily Dickinson.

Now, what's point here? Why did I waste my time, and now your time on this little project? I mean, don't I have anything better to do? Well, yes. But the point is that I acted on something that has consumed my thoughts all day long.

What is that consumes your thoughts? Your job? Your kids? Your spouse? Bills? Some hobby? The joys of the weekend?

In the book of Proverbs chapter 23, it warns not to eat with a stingy person because they will be as stingy with you as they are with themselves. But what is significant is verse 7 in the Amplified version it says,

"For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."

What we are obsessed with, we act on. For me... today it was that Dickinson quote. Normally, it's with my family and our future, my service to God in His church, and its future, or really just the future. I ask myself, "Will it all be okay?" "Am I doing right by God and my wife?" "Are the plans Julie and I are making, good ones, godly ones?" "How will they be accomplished?" Now, understand, I'm not worried about those things necessarily...though sometimes I do...but those are the questions that drive my life's actions.

What are the questions that drive your life?

so they say it's your birthday...

Okay, so I have never been one to really get into my birthday per se. I mean I am totally glad I was born...obviously...but I'm not one to really get into a big celebration and party and all that. I don't know...I get self-conscious...and truth be told I am really an introvert at heart and so big parties that focus on me don't float my boat. Now, I love making a big deal of other people's birthdays. Ask my wife. She doesn't get a birthday, she gets a birthweek...and she loves it. She really embraces it. She enjoys the hoopla, the cake, the presents...and fortunately for her I love doing that for her, much to the chagrin of our budget some years.

The thing is my wife really loves my birthday as well. When I got home last night, late from a meeting, the whole house was decorated with balloons and streamers and just for me. Not for a party or anything, just for me. Now, that is sweet by any standard, but something about that hit me right. It has set today up to be the kind of birthday that suits me.

I have also been overwhelmed by the little things people have done for me today. I have had little gifts left on my desk, gotten a cake from the office staff here, received more mail in my inbox than I know what to do with, had phone calls and voicemail messages from friends to wish their best, and had lunch with my Mom. For all of you that have sent birthday wishes...I really appreciate it! You have no idea!

Now this is not a plea for those that haven't done anything to say, "Oh crap, I forgot!" and to frantically fill my inbox with e-cards...that's not my point...but if you want to send money out of guilt that would be ok, I guess. Just kidding.

No, my point is that normally I would be feeling pretty self-conscious most years at this point, and frankly I would kinda turn into a jerk...again, ask my wife. I don't really know what has changed in me this year as opposed to past birthdays, but I have sorta turned over a new leaf about celebrations (see previous posts about Christmas). I mean, Ecclesiastes says,

1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

The thing with me is that I tend to listen to the "time to cry" passages more than the "time to laugh" ones. And I grab onto the "time to grieve" statements more than the "time to dance" ones...I don't dance. At some point in the past year I decided I just cannot live like that anymore. I have to live with the "joy of the Lord as my strength" and to really embrace the true and genuine times of celebration...like birthdays and Christmas.

So, I say bring on the cake, the cheesy song, and the candles. Happy Birthday to me!

I'm a major nerd...

Flying into space... and falling back again

When I get fascinated by something I really get fascinated. When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut, not like for a day or month or year but from the time I was 5 until I was 11 it was all I really wanted to do. I had books, posters, even a very rare astronaut Cabbage Patch Kid. (no its not a doll its a collectible!) It didn't hurt that I lived on the Space Coast of Florida and got to see quite a few launches as a kid. Anyway...even though the desire to strap myself to a rocket and travel around the Earth at over 17,000 miles an hour has past, the fascination with space science and its technology hasn't. I mean I love to watch the launches and search for random videos pertaining to the space shuttle. I keep up with what the crew is doing and any developments NASA is working on. The reason that I am so fascinated now by space and the sciences is because to me they demonstrate how truly great our God is and how much He must love us. Check this out from Psalm 8-

1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
2 You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you.

3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—
7 the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.

9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

There are alot of really cool things about this Psalm (which might be my favorite by the way). First, when you look at creation... the stars, moon, the clouds, the animals...you experience the greatness of God. Even Romans 1:19-20 says that God is obvious by what He has made. Now there are quite a lot of atheists out there who look at creation and say they don't see God but merely impersonal forces acting upon one another in randomly selected ways that evolved over time to create life. But when it comes down to it they cannot account for even a fraction of all of the millions of trillions of things that had to randomly come together perfectly to maintain and sustain life on this planet. For instance, the Earth is the perfect distance from the sun to gain all the light and heat that it needs to sustain plant animal life. If it were closer everything would be scorched, if further away permanent winter. A lot of Christians say that we should ignore scientific developments because they only serve to challenge our faith. But in actuality science does more to confirm our faith than deny precisely because God created it all anyway. There has been no scientific development that has conclusively disproven Christian/Biblical claims about God. And the ones that cast doubt for some people means they have misunderstood what they have observed. I could go on and on and bore you to tears with details, but I simply want to say that when I see the views on television that the astronauts beam back to Earth all I can say is "O Lord, You are pretty flipping awesome!"

The second thing we see in Psalm 8 is that God has a very special place for human beings. Initially, we seem tiny, insignificant, totally irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I mean, everyday we find that the universe is far bigger than we expected, and every time we think we have discovered the smallest of all the building blocks of matter (like the atom) we find something more basic and smaller (like protons, neutrons, etc). It's easy for us to feel like just one small cog in a very vast machine, but the beauty of this Psalm is that in the midst of all the greatness and massiveness and hugeness that is God we have a special place. In Genesis 2 we are created in the image of God. No other creature is given that distinction. And the proof of that is space travel. You don't see giraffes, or lemurs, or dogs building rockets and heading to the edge of Earth's orbit and just cruising around. Because we have attributes that are like God in many ways He has given us the ability to explore, and create, and have a purpose and meaning in life beyond mere existence.

The caveat is what we do with those great abilities. Do we use what God has given each one of us to demonstrate how great we are? Or do we use them to demonstrate how awesome He is?

lullaby and goodnight...

Have you ever known anyone who was a sleepwalker? Or sleeptalker? Okay, now admit it... Have you ever done anything weird in your sleep? It's okay, just about all of us have... Embrace it. Own it. The question I have always had is why? I mean, why all the freaky behavior when we shut our eyes? Alot of websites attribute the causes of somniloquy (sleeptalking) or somniambulism (sleepwalking) to stress or even genetics but the bottomline is that when we are asleep, we are reacting to the reality we are faced with in our dreams. We are unconscious and don't know what we are doing. We act irrationally as it appears to those who are awake but to the person sleeping...in that moment, whether they know it or not, they believe they are being perfectly normal. For those that are around others that are sleepwalking or talking it can be very frustrating. I know...I've had roommates who talked in their sleep and admittedly I've done my share of walking and talking. What happens when you try to wake them up? They can lash out at you or ignore you or get scared or scare you... In any case, it isn't fun.

Often times I get really frustrated watching television or reading magazines or listening to people on the radio who have no idea about the reality of God and what he has done and is doing. They misunderstand life itself and act irrationally, but of course, from their perspective they are acting totally sane. Romans 1 says that all people have a knowledge of God (whether consciously or unconsciously) but that most people exchange the truth of God for a lie. People are sleeping. And if we are honest, even those of us that know God as a friend often find ourselves falling asleep. But the truth, the truth of God is that he is a real and personal God who is in control of all things. He created all things and all things belong to him. He has called his people to himself and because of the sacrifice of his Son Jesus our sins are forgiven...we have been given a new heart that is capable of doing good work, and have the hope of a future spent with our Lord in the new heavens and new earth. As such, God deserves our faith, obedience, and worship. That's a tough wake up call for those that are sleeping, but it is one that needs to be made.

Yet, those of us that are awake often fear giving that kind of wake up call to people. We are afraid of being ignored or lashed out at or considered intolerant. But when you're dealing with someone who is actually sleepwalking and they are about to trip over something or hit something, we wouldn't hesitate to stop him/her regardless of the consequences. The fact is if we really believe in God then we know the consequences for spiritual sleepwalking are much more serious. But do we really trust what God has said or are we falling asleep too?

rooting for the underdog...

Okay so last night was the Super Bowl... and even though I live in Florida and had really no interest in the teams playing per se... I was definitely rooting for one team over the other... the New York Football Giants... Now, I know what you're thinking... "of course you were now that they have won you can say you were rooting for them!" But understand I never really thought they were going to win and to be honest I wasn't so much hoping the Giants would win as much as I was hoping the Patriots would lose. That does sound incredibly harsh, but there is something in me that almost always pulls for the underdog to win especially win it comes against a team that has put up unimaginable offensive numbers, hasn't lost, a game, is led by a pretty-boy Hollywood quarterback with a supermodel girlfriend, and who EVERYBODY is picking to destroy the other team by 2+ touchdowns. Some people like to see perfection... not me... at least not in football.

But what is it about me that pulls for the unlikely candidate? What is it that roots for the Giants or casts a vote for Mike Huckabee or loves the movie "Napoleon Dynamite"? Why the underdog? Well, there is probably some deep-seeded psychological thing where I identify myself personally with those that are considered underdogs and a victory for them is perceived as a victory for myself... but let's not go there... instead I like to think there is a more spiritual reason behind it.

Over the past several weeks in church our pastor has been going over the Beatitudes from Matthew 5. It's been an interesting study and as a result I have read that passage of Scripture over and over again, and it occurred to me this morning that God is rooting for the underdog... check it out...

3Blessed (happy, to be envied, and [b]spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

4Blessed and enviably happy [with a happiness produced by the experience of God's favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace] are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!

5Blessed (happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth!

6Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be completely satisfied!

7Blessed (happy, to be envied, and [k]spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!

8Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and [n]spiritually prosperous--possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God's favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!

9Blessed (enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!

10Blessed and happy and enviably fortunate and spiritually prosperous (in the state in which the born-again child of God enjoys and finds satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of his outward conditions) are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake (for being and doing right), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

11Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.

12Be glad and supremely joyful, for your reward in heaven is great (strong and intense), for in this same way people persecuted the prophets who were before you.The Amplified Bible

I love the Amplified Translation here because it points out something about the word "blessed" it means (in the Greek) someone who possesses enviable happiness! Why is that? It's because while those that mourn, or who are poor in spirit are the under dogs here they have a guaranteed victory beyond this earth. Even the Son of God came from an unlikely place. Even his own disciples initially thought where he came from was questionable (John 1:43-46) and the people he grew up with were sure he was merely a carpenter's son. God values those that most people don't, and He calls us to look past cleanliness, and self-confidence, and a well-spoken manner to look at the values of the heart.

So, if you feel like an under dog... as most of do from time-to-time... don't worry. We have the greatest of advocates and the best of champions in our corner.