Two Dudes and a Urinal

I know the title of this blog is enough to make anyone stop and go "uhh." But let me explain...

We just got back from our annual trek to Pensacola, FL and we were welcomed back to Oklahoma with snow. I know Saturday was the first official day of Spring but it would seem as though no one told Oklahoma it was now officially Spring. From 75 and white beaches to 30 and snow, wow is all I can say.

So on with the two dudes and the urinal...

If you have ever been on a long road trip, then you can understand the term "pack light". This is a term, I have recently learned, that teenage girls are not able to understand. I said "pack light" and they heard "mwa mwa mwa mwa mwa mwa", you know the sound that Charlie Brown's teacher made every time she talked. So before we can even get on the road I spend the first "official" two hours of our vacation playing a game of tetris with our luggage on top of our car.

So with luggage packed, a stack of DVD's for the passengers, my trusty itouch, and a full tank of gas we start our journey almost mid morning last Saturday. The trip, in-spite of the rough start, was uneventful and everything was going great. We stopped every couple of hours so we could stretch and walk around have a few laughs and keep moving towards Pensacola Beach, a vacation at last, no phones, no worries just a stress free drive to the coast...

The scenery was great, the conversation was good, and the weather was warming a little at each stop the further south we went. We said to ourselves, "this is amazing, this is great what could go wrong..." Have you ever asked a question, that after looking back at it you wish you could take it back? Yeah, me too and that one was it.

So we make a stop in Bunkie, LA for drinks, restroom, snacks, the usual stuff. We all head in to the store and go our separate ways at the door, each of us on a mission. My mission was the bathroom because of a 6 shot Americano from Starbucks. There were a lot of people at this place and like the women, the men were taking turns in the bathroom too. When all of a sudden there are two guys to my right yelling at each other over who's turn it is to use the urinal. It would seem one came in with what was an "emergency" for him cutting in front of another guy. I'm thinking that this can't really be happening, can it?

So everything escalates, from a few harsh words to a full yelling match and then it happens... "THWACK!" The older guy hits the younger guy and I'm thinking to myself, "this really isn't happening is it?" But it is. I try to get out of the way, thankful for once that I'm not a part of or the the cause of this.

What I didn't know was my whole family who were in the store heard all of the ruckus and they came running towards the bathroom to try and get a glimpse of the guys at each other thinking the whole time is was me at the center of it.... again...wow...

So this one little event would mark a week full of other little events that I would sit back and look at with one simple thought.."wow, really?...."

But God used all of this during the week in my bible study and He kept bringing me back to this same verse in Habakkuk 2:20 "But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him."

No matter what was going on around me,
God was still in control.

Living in an out-of-control world

As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, That's enough for now! You may leave. Acts 24:25

Paul went all over the Roman Empire preaching the grace of God and the salvation that comes only through faith in Jesus. He was quite emphatic about God’s mercy, both in his arguments and in his letters. We are saved by grace alone. So why, when defending himself to Felix, did he speak of righteousness, self control and the judgment to come? Why didn't he speak of grace?

Maybe Paul meant to portray himself as a lawful citizen, not a troublemaker who would stir up Felix’s territory. Maybe he was trying to tap into whatever moral sentiment had attracted Felix to his Jewish wife. But a likelier reason one that is very relevant to our times is that Felix was a Roman, largely unacquainted with the law and satisfied with the options of the Roman pantheon. The empires religion had numerous patron gods to pick and choose from, most with their own easy morality. In such a lifestyle, grace means nothing. Conviction must come first. Righteousness, self control, and judgment must be taught.

What does grace mean in our society? Our generation? In the minds of those who are convinced of their sinfulness, it is like a refreshing oasis of relief from a dry spiritual desert. But for those who have embraced a fuzzy, relative morality the 'whatever you like' ethics of our age, grace means nothing.

Why would a generation that has defined its own easy standards need a merciful God? What is there to forgive? That's why we must live in a way that conveys Gods purity not holier than thou judgment, but a radical, sacred, change of lifestyle. Instead of fearing that our friends will respond as Felix did, we should rather fear a generation that has lost any concept of sin. Self control is a foreign idea in our society.

Live in a way that makes your friends, family, and co-workers want what you have. Live in a way the your life will stand apart, and your world just might see its need for God.

Walk by faith, not by sight....

I was finally able to take a Sunday evening off (even if it was because of the super bowl). We decided that we would have church at 4P super bowl Sunday so everyone could be home in time for kickoff.

While everyone was watching the super bowl and trying to bust the halftime-low-tide-myth I decided that it would be a great night to finally relax and watch a movie at the theater (if you are from anywhere south of I-40 it is pronounced theee-ate-er). If you know me, this is something I rarely have time to do, so I always try to pick a movie where at the end everyone dies in a nuclear holocaust. So this movie pick was no different than all of the other movies that I choose to watch. So, off to the movie house we went already having chose to watch The Book of Eli.

The Book of Eli is the story of a man on a journey across our country side after a near apocalyptic event has left most of the people and landscape destroyed. The man is Eli (Denzel Washington), or at least that is what we seem to discover well into the movie. He is a man of mystery, a man of few words, but armed with a shotgun, and a blade; he is a deadly weapon. He is similar to Clint Eastwood’s nameless strangers from the old westerns.

This is a very complex film about Faith and Humanity. It is so thought provoking, with so many lessons in it, that I can't wait for it to come out on blue ray so I can see it again. I truly believe all should see it at least once! One would be hard-pressed to walk away feeling anything but introspective. At one point, the main character turns to his friend and states, "I have been so focused on the task at hand that I forgot the main point was to treat others as I would want to be treated." What a thought, I believe, do unto others as you would have them do to you. If we treated everyday as a celebration of love, this world would be an even more incredible place to reside!

"Walk by faith, not by sight."- Denzel Washington, The Book of Eli

And this has to be one of my favorite lines of the movie. I, myself, need to paint this on a wall, so often I forget the importance of faith and am so easily distracted by all that is going on around me. I need to stay focused on what is important, I need to walk more by faith! All the time I waste with worry and anxiety, I was reminded today that the worry and stress does nothing to change the end result, it only makes it a more difficult journey (see Matthew 6:27)!

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Valentines Day

Every 2nd Sunday we all get together for a church lunch. This month was a little bit different. Our awesome youth cooked the adults lunch and even served us all. It was a wonderful time for fellowship as always.

Nobody Loves Me...

"I have loved you with an everlasting love..." (Jeremiah 31:3)

Re-read that verse and focus on the wording...

Do you see the way it is worded? It's not "I will love you" or "I'm going to love you"...it is 'I have loved you'- meaning not only has God loved us a long time; He has actually loved us before time was even invented!

Maybe you thought that when the doctor held you up as a brand new baby, God looked down and said "How cute! I think I'll love that little bundle of joy forever!" Or maybe you were under the impression that Jesus didn't smile on you until you trusted Christ as your only hope of salvation? Well I'm sure His smile got a little bigger that day, but His love was coming your way before you even came your way.

So how does that make you feel?

I don't know about you, but that blows me away. God's love for me is the most constant and unchanging thing in the universe. In fact, it will still be going long after the universe is gone!

You know what else? Stop worrying about the security of your salvation. You are God's precious jewel...is He so irresponsible that you would be dropped and lost? You are the apple of God's eye.

If there was ever any possibility of God losing His affection towards you, it would have happened a long time ago, because He's loved you for a long time. But don't worry, because the opposite is true- He grows crazier about you each day, and the engine of His emotion does not have a reverse option!

If we could only let just a little bit of that truth sink in, it would change our lives completely -

-We wouldn't worry about "being good enough"

-We wouldn't care as much about what people think

-We wouldn't stress out about whether anyone likes us

-We would always know that Someone cares

And so on and so on.

In the days ahead, try focusing on this truth, and see if it doesn't help you have a "lovely" day!

Church Sunday the 31st

Due to the "blizzard" Church services are cancelled on the 31st of January. Hope everyone stays safe and warm, have a wonderful week!
The rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish. Isaiah 55: 10.

Wealth and Happiness

Our Sunday School lesson for today was from Ecclesiastes 2:5-10 and dealt with the meaning of wealth and happiness. Solomon was a selfish man for much of his life building gardens and acquiring harems, but nothing filled the void he had in his heart. He was missing something, his life was meaningless and without God his monetary wealth was nothing. As 20-somethings, sometimes it's difficult for us to separate our goals and objectives for adulthood from making money and having material possessions. It's important to remember the importance of God, family, and the blessings that may not produce a flat screen T.V. and a new car. As you go through this week check yourself for holes in your heart and remember the blessings you receive with God's love are the true measure of wealth.

P.S. During the sermon today a video was played that truly touched us. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA