Lose something

Recently my eldest daughter, Cady, lost a tooth. I don't know if you remember losing a tooth but it is a really exciting thing for a child. You may be thinking, "Of course it is exciting, because of the whole tooth fairy thing." but around here we don't do the tooth fairy. Even though, there was no promise of a philanthropic mystical being to sneak in and share her wealth while my daughter was sleeping, she still had great excitement about losing her tooth. She was actually losing a bone in her body and she was excited. Aside from children being excited about losing a tooth, I assume that the only other person excited about losing a bone from his body was Adam. You know that when you turn in a "rib" and get an "Eve", that's not a bad deal. It seems that Cady is just excited to be on the dental journey that requires the gain and loss of teeth. There seems to be this wonder in the loosening of the tooth, curiosity of when it will being fully gone and then the anticipation of a new tooth to come. It is absolutely exhilarating to her.

Jesus invites/demands (Matt 10:37-39) that we lose our lives if we are to follow him. Yes, I realize that what I gain is far more valuable than what I lose, but sometimes my attitude about losing my life is not so rosy. What I would like is to have excitement about losing my life because it is part of the greater adventure of following Christ. I would like to have excitement about where following him will lead me next, curiosity of when I will fully lose this life and an anticipation of the life that I now have in him and the one that is coming. Hopefully, I will live in the the excitement of loosing this life.

Have you looked behind your oven?

A raw macaroni elbow, cooked noodles from soup, a pill, a rubber band, Grumpy (from Snow White), several dust elephants (the small ones are bunnies and these were much bigger), all of these items were found behind our oven today as I went to clean up the soup that I had spilled. All of these item have piled up over time.

Also, I saw a friend today who said that he wasn't that tight with Jesus anymore. I asked him about it and I could tell right away, that he was ready to leave that conversation. What my friend was doing was dropping things behind his "oven" to be dealt with later. The problem is that those things that we hide behind our ovens grow. They grow from dust bunnies to elephants or worse.

God is ready to gently clean up things if we let him. The earlier that we let him at those things that are behind our oven the better.

I Can Pour My Own Cereal

The other day may eldest child, Cady, who is almost 6 years old made an interesting statement while we were at the dinner table. She stated rather confidently that when she turns six she will be able to take care of herself. My wife had a I gave a out a surprised, "Oh really!" and asked Cady to explain why she thought that she could take care of herself when she turned six. She replied to that question by saying "Well, I can pour my own cereal." and I will add that does not include pouring her own milk without spilling it.

It is amazing the confidence that we can have when we gain knowledge, talent, position, and/or resources. When we gain these, we can forget where these things came from, and we can forget our limitations. These past couple of years have reminded me that God gives me daily bread. That is he takes care of me every moment of every day. Sometimes he allows me to use my own strength to satisfy some daily needs, but I am reminded that if I have strength or resources it is only because God has give them to me.

Take note of the passage below, where the the nation of Israel is warned to remember God when the have prosperity.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

Pouring our own cereal is fine, but let's remember who gave us the cereal, the strength to pour it and who will even give us help to pour our milk when we need that.

A New Way of Accounting.

Dependence on the God is such a beautiful thing, because within dependence our spiritual vision is sharpened and we are able to appreciate, with the vividness of HD, the great love of God for his children. But it seems that in times of prosperity, independence sets in and we forget that we must rely on the Father. So, while enjoying the luxurious life we tend to slip further away from the "Giver of Life".

So what is the remedy of the our human tendency to slip away from our Father's provision in times of prosperity? I propose a new way of accounting. Instead of counting how deep our pockets go, lets count how deep our relationship with the Father is. If we, his children, live luxuriously in his love then the first temptation to turn to independence will feel like throwing away the very air we breathe. Go ahead, try not to breathing for a while. If you try it, then you will find that you will always come back gasping for the very air you tried to live with out. Let's try a new way of accounting and learn where the true luxurious life comes from, because anything else will leave us gasping for our Father.

Glory be to ... Who?

"After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you." -  John 17:1

Often, when people find out that I am a musician several have asked, "Are you famous?" to which I answer with a smile, "If you have to ask then that means the answer is no." It seems that one of things things that people want to know or wish for me is fame. And I suppose that is cool and I believe it comes from a heart to bless me. The issue I have with fame is that most often it seems to be used in such a self serving way. An entertainer, athlete, public official or whoever, can use that notoriety to glorify themselves, make money, get that next job, etc When this happens it leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. Jesus, as usual, turns things upside down. He uses his fame, power and position for the purpose of putting the spotlight back on his Father. For every entertainer some amount of fame is part of the package. For me I pray for the ability and desire to use any fame I receive the highlight my Father in heaven.

It this important?

Conversation between my wife (W) and eldest child (EC)

EC - Momma, What is this? (Looking at a brown smudge on her finger)

W - I don't know. Where did you get it?

EC - From my ear. 

W - Oh, That's ear wax.

EC - (with a slight it of uneasiness in her voice) Is it important?

My wife and I laughed about that conversation for a while. What a good question? Is it important? I wonder how many things that I just let go or hold on to without asking God the question, "Is it important?" How many passing thoughts about someone have I missed because I haven't asked, "Is it important?" How many times have I held on to a wrong done to me without asking, "Is it important?" Life on this earth is only so long. I really want to make the most of what I experience here. My God, please give me the humility to ask you, "Is it important"

Vote for Don't Stop Praising on www.indieheaven.com (Click the latest songs added tab)

Living on a prayer

Last Tuesday, I was in Austin and found this sign on the side of the road. Which certainly looked like the handy work of a homeless person. "Living on a prayer. Please Help" I was taken back by the sign enough that I took it home. I read the sign and I thought, "Now isn't that true of all of us." Take these events from the last week.  A couple that I know well continue to struggle with a painful illness that is said to have no cure, a friend just found out he has some form of lymphatic cancer, my daughter was sick with a 105 fever today and was taken to the emergency room, the finances are tighter than "under armour", the car is acting funny, and I have a friend who is working through suicidal thoughts. We are all living on a prayer and we need help in every aspect of our lives. To my unknown sign making friend, Thank- you for reminding me that my life is lived on a prayer.