Everything in balance

This is a quote from a book I am reading … Take some time to read it… The statement in yellow: Mark 1: 15-16 it says …15 The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" 16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen… Jesus was asking people to repent and believe what? What was the good news? Some have suggested that the good news was that God had once again come to the world. It had been over 400 years since God had any real interaction with the people. Now Jesus God’s ultimate high priest and in part fully Himself had come into this world. I have to say differ slightly with the first statement. I believe that the cross is still the main thing we need to help explain to those with out that starting point of the kingdom. I do agree that the very best news is that Jesus had come into the world and started the formation of God’s Kingdom here a...

In the past three days I have been really struggling in find my way out of a odd spot. I have several ideas that I would like to talk about but they are all coming up short in the writing. I have been writing and half way into a thought, I stop, and go I do not really know if I believe what I just wrote or I will find so many holes in my own logic that I wonder where did that #$$# come from. I like to think big about things. I like theology and philosophy but lately these ideas and conversations have just annoyed me. I feel like I am spitting out words that have no meaning. I feel like I am a huge source of noise pollution. Even as I put out these blogs in the unknown world of cyber space I wonder why, is anyone even reading them? At first I think this was more of a cathartic process, maybe a clearing of the mind for me. Now I find my self afraid of creating noise. I heard a young girl on Youtube that said “if you use words in a twisted way they just die and dead words are very sad…” I...

Ok what a couple of days!!!! I have been buying parts and rebuilding my home computer system. For those computer geeks out there like me, we (mainly my wife) now have a really nice home base system with a 22 inch monitor. For those that do not know she is an artist and she really needed it. There have been some very interesting thoughts happing at the same time. You see I took a student loan out that would allow me to buy a new computer. My goal was to purchase a new laptop that mainly my wife to use because I have a work laptop. The problem was that to get a good one and warranty it would have about $400 more than we really had to spend. So I decided to revamp the idea as a whole and upgrade our home system and buy a small play system for my kids. It worked well until I tried to put it all together LOL. It was then that my plan ran into a ton of snags. I just thought I will simply slap all the parts in and away we go. This did not happen of course. I had all the right pieces and I ha...

Today I was drinking form a Styrofoam cup and talk to my wife, ok I was not drinking and talking but you get the idea. As we were talking I noticed the sun hitting my cup and became fascinated by the make up of it. No, I was not ignoring her talking it was during a break in the conversation. This cup was made up of thousands of little individual Styrofoam pieces. Have you ever seen the little balls that are in stuffed animals if not you will have to trust me they are a pain the buttocks. They stick to anything and get all over the place. However, that is exactly what this cup was made up of. They through some process were pressed flat and stuck together. There were no two pieces alike that I could see. They did not make a pattern nor of any kind. It was a very random and unprocessed grouping of individual pieces. There were actually spots that there were no foam it seemed that what ever was holding them together was also filling in the empty spots. I then broke off a piece of the cup a...

Today I am meditating on 1 John 13 to 21 (NIV) 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. This is very interesting to me. If I am reading this right the more we love the more this world hates us! Not a real good motivational point! But I understand that this world has a hard time with unconditional love. Everything has to have something in it for me, everything has an hidden agenda! It is true love that is in Christ does have a hidden motive to show and introduce people to even more love than they can imagine! In a world of hate and self centered culture people that love will not be welcomed to easily. Once we decide to follow Christ one of the ways we know we have changed is that we love our “brothers” for it says those that do not remains in “death” that in my opinion means sin or with out God. The question I have is how we define the word “br...

Well today is mainly a recovery week for us. We have been hit every which way with sicknesses. The entire family has been fighting sickness for about 3 months now. We seem to cycle one after another. So send up a prayer for us if you feel lead to! We feel that it is finally coming to an end (we pray)! I did have a thought today though. Have you ever thought about all the different churches and how this must sound to people that have never been to church? I was thinking about how to explain this division to people. I mean how do you respond if one asks you why can’t the all the Christian churches get along? Why do they think the others are wrong? It seems that a God that loves and wants people to live in unity is sure subdivided on rule interpretations. The thing is how can we argue with that? It dose not only seem like it is but it is exactly what it is. I like what John Wimber (the founder of the Vineyard Churches) said “he tired to find God in every church he went to.” This is the he...

Addicted to process? That is the question running in my head today. They say that an addict is someone who can not function on a normal level with out a given substance but I think it that the psychological aspect of addiction can have the same effect. Think about normal everyday life. When you wake up what is the first thing you do? When people shower some studies have said that 99% of people shower the exact same way every time. Psychologists say that we all have an internal compulsions and that is why we do the same things the same way. I would argue that we are addicted to process. (note I said we) When I read about the shower thing I tried to change the process and I found it very humorous. I had to really think about what I was doing. It actually messed my day up because I was not able to just think about what was going on that day while I was showering. I have since experimented with this but find it much easier to just let process of the shower happen. How many time have you dr...

Today we took the kids to a free movie the local theater offer for families in the summer. We went to see the veggie tale movie about Jonah. The other option was a Garfield movie. It started at 10 am but we had to be there earlier to get in we were told. We pulled up at 9:30 and there was a line of about 40 kids and families already in line. As we got in the theater several hundred other families came in and a couple of summer camp busses. Once we got robbed at the concession stand for $10 for a small drink and small popcorn and a micro bag of skittles. We rushed to get our seats. The seating was for about 150-200 maybe a little more, so we got our seats and waited for the in flow of people. In the half hour we waited it got maybe 60 more people. That meant that all the others including a Christian day camp went to see the other movie. Not a big shock to me. May be movie based on God’s love can not hold up against Garfield. As we watched the movie there is one scene in particular that ...

Well today I had a chance to take a walk in two of the most popular stores in the local mall with the teens/twenties generations. One of these stores was full of black and red clothing, lots of spiked stuff. It sold the “extreme music” and it had t-shirts with pop culture icons and sayings. Oddly enough they also were selling shirts with old timer bands like Slayer and Mega-death. The other store had much of the same but it upped the anti on the sexually focused and drug related items. Some of you already know what stores I am talking about. Now I would love to see everyone that calls themselves a “Christian” would take time to walk through theses and other stores like these. Then again maybe I don’t? You see there were several younger people in these stores and they looked at me like I was way out of my place by being in there. Now this is where I worry about other “Christians.” How did I react to them? How did I react to the stuff in the store? That is what the...

I see them walking in the malls – I see those drinking lattes at the coffee shops – Some look so confident and others look so defiant – Both are just hiding behind a wall for protection… Yet I hear their souls crying for a direction – Than I hear you asking me: Reach them, teach them, and be Me to them – Lift Me up to them so I can draw them to Me – I stand here at a loss – I have no idea how to do what you are asking me to do? I hear you asking me: Reach them, teach them, and be Me to them – Lift Me up to them so I can draw them to Me – How do I reach them – How do teach them – Our culture is shutting down my voice it is saying there is no truth or absolutes – Lord I am afraid of messing up for you… Still I hear you asking me to Reach them, teach them, and be you to them – Lift you up to them so you can draw them to you – I sit here crying waiting for answer from you ----- Then from deep inside I hear your reply Love them, be friends with them, met them where they are… Then you can le...

Today on the way back from our picnic at the park when my son made me realize that not sometime questions no matter how valid they may be to the asker might not be answerable. We where driving by a popular area that is used as a beach mainly on the weekends and holidays. It is really just a long stretch of sand that leads to a long connecting bridge between St Petersburg and Tampa. As we drove by he said “why do people like this place?” I, wanting to be the wise insightful father said “I don’t know.” (deep, huh?) He then continued “What beach has the record for the most people?” Again being the wise and well trained counselor said “Son don not ask questions that no one can answer or even know!” He quickly answered “Well how do I know if a question is a question that no one knows if I don’t ask?” I sat the driving and shrinking by the minute. Yes I have a BA in psychology and almost a MA in Mental health counseling and I had missed the most obvious simple thing. All I could do is laugh ...

Today I sit here thinking just how today seems like a total waste of time. I had no contact with anyone that I can say was of any use. I suppose not everyday can be positive. I would not say it was a negative day more of a neutral type of day. I suppose one would think it was in balance but I do not think it was. I said yesterday that my mind was off today it felt like my spirit was just not in line. It was not like I was void of God today just in more of a neutral spot. As I think about it I wonder rather neutral with God is good or bad? There was a point that I woke up this morning and started praying I felt connected but as the day wore on I felt more of a negative slide. What is interesting is the outcome this neutral place. I was a little to sharp mouthed today with my family and for that I was and am sorry. I had more of a chip on my shoulder than I have had in a long while. I got frustrated faster with other drivers today and very little went my way as a whole. So what is the le...

We are defined as body, mind and spirit. Some days we find a balance other days we have one that just throws us off. Today I was off in the mind (LOL) Some days you find the mind part of being a human is very tiring. Today ended up being one of those days for me. It started out by getting a call from the principal of my school telling me that one of my students from last year had been arrested for murder. I have this bad habit anymore; I do not watch TV News. I find it depressing and completely biased one way or another so I gave it up a long time ago. After this call, I surfed on the net to find the details. It was there as big as life. Tom (not real name) shot and killed a man in what the police believed was “a random act of violence.” I can not say much do to confidentiality issues and my job as a public school teacher. I will however say it put life and my job into a new perspective. You see in Fl, first degree murder is a capital offence and could if what they are sayi...

Interesting thing came to mind today as we sat at the beach. There was a young teen there doing some skim boarding. For those that might not be familiar with this sport let me give you an over view. It utilizes a very thin board shaped like a short fat surf board. The rider stands on the shore looking for the right wave. As the wave gets ready to brake on the shore the rider runs and tosses the board into the incoming water. Then they attempt to jump on the skimming board and ride it as far as they can before they loss the water. I watched this young girl stand and watch the waves. She would stand a look waiting with great anticipation if the right wave to come. She had to look past the waves coming in at the moment and look for the ones coming in. When she saw the one she wanted to ride she took off at full speed throwing her board out ahead of her and then running to catch up to it and attempting to mount it for what turned out most of time to be a very short 3 to 5 secon...