CROSSTALK

It has been so long since I decided to write a blog that I literally forgot my login and password. But thanks to good people I now have it back. So I hope that everyones summer was fun, relaxing, and productive in the arena of family enrichment. Mine was very busy, but Mary, the kids, and myself did find small sections of time to escape reality and go away for a few days. Now that work has slowed a little and routine can settle back hopefully perspective and purpose can move forward. Over the summer God has done some amazing things in our lives around here, one is that we have had the ability and opportunity to focus and begin the foundation of a wonderful college and young adult gathering entitled, “COR”. I know I am so not into the whole name that ministry game, but I really beleive God is going to do great things with this, in spite of little ole’ me int eh mix. Basically it is a very laid back worship and bible study. Form acoustic worship, by the great Josh Fergueson, to journying through the Word and really taking a bite out of what the pretense and setting is when the great annointed ones were inspired by our Great God. Then we go eat, hang out, take movie field trips, and evne have nerf wars afterwards. I just feel there is a missing element in ministry today in reaching and meeting need of non-youth/non-married adults. So on Thursday nights at 8:30 pm at Carpenters Way we meet, and really bring things down to a setting of humility and worship.

O.k. now that we have pushed COR I want to say kuddos to all you guys who put effort and time into loving people out there, you are so awesome. Just coming out of this hurricane into another really makes you think. I mean it is kind of like God may be gut checking his church to se if we will step up to love all people. Those who look good and tithe well along with tose who stink of fecies and urine with no clothes or teeth. So hope fully we can accept the torch , get our hands dirty, our bibles ragged, and our faith strong so we can be a city on a hill for those who seek hope and peace.

It has been a while since I last wrote on here. I am sorry for those of you who try to keep up with it. But now lets rant! For the past several weeks I have ben going on a journey mentally, and spiritually. I not only knwo and feel that God has much more for us than weekly gatherings and fake smiles, but he really wants us to enjoy life. Some say this is the field to work and the fun comes later, bull pooky. It is a mission field, I agree, but it is also a playground of collosal mystery and adventure around every corner. We take life way to legalisticaly and water down a hope and a love that Christ offers to all. We no longer believe the words on the page, for if we did it would be practiced in love and enthusiasm. when people hurt, it makes us hurt. When people laugh we laugh. But when people seek truth or question your point of view, we retaliate with anger, disgust, and repulsive speech.

 So I ask, what are we doing and wher are we headed? I truly believe God allows us to bath in his prescence and be a player in His show, but has no eternal or pressing need for humanity. If God can not heal a heart he created without our help he is ultimately not God! True? It is a privilage to enjoy people and to enjoy life. Loosen up, and show the love of a God who ultimately loves us! God does no need the church, we need  Him! So next time we go to draw a sword of battle in conversation I think it would be wise, for myself at least, to put it away and throw out a hug instead, it would accomplish much more.

Ok I may this is probably not healthy for the ministry aspect when it comes to appealling to the “church” but I have to say it. I have always been taught the bigger the better when it comes to church. The more people you run through the doors the better it is. Well that is so phoney to me! I mean come on, the sanctuary is a retreat for believers to come worship adn fellowahip without the worls interfering. And we are to go out and work in the field and come back to the clubhouse for a break. Does the Homeland Security office invite terrorists or forigners into its main offices for evaluation of its programs and strategies? Why are we stuck on mega this and bigger that? Love wins, thats it. Stress comes from the idea of having to be so stinking busy hearding up the worlds cattle to come and sit in a service that they can not understand, I want to see a church evolve that just loves, gives a message of hope to the people to relay, and minimizes the stresses of life. If our spiritual siblings need help then seel what we have and offer it to them. Corportate America has now penetrated the sanctuary of God, and since America’s economy is in the dumps, what does that say about everything it has infected? Lets just go simple !

You just gotta love the wonderful world of East Texas. People say that the seasons are unpredictable around here, I totaly disagree. Lets see, in Summer you can bet your bottom dollar we will have lows of around 80 and highs around 103 with a heat index of HELL, aand in Winter Fall it only drops temperature about 3.5 degrees with a little more wind. That is why it is called fall here, the temp. drops 3.5 degrees. Winter brings lows in the mid 50’s and a bunch of rain to keep the tropical humidity going, feels like a sauna, so you do not need to use you local spa, and Santa can dress ahead of time for his hawaiian vacation after all those cookies .Then comes Spring and the glorious pollen, yes the green stuff that makes you want to take a pair of pliers and tear off your nose. You just have to adore the wonderful sinus pressure and chest congestion. Pollen is natures way of getting back at all the stupid people who trash up the environment. So now we suffer from headaches, body aches, and voices that resemble yoda on a jedi mission.  So now you tell me, is this not the East Texas repeditive schedule. I should me a weatherman!

Ahhh Monday’s, you got to love them. It is crazy that we constantly think Mondays are horrible. yeah we go back to work, start all over in the ritual of everyday life. But hey, we still have it, life that is. Is it just me or does it seem that every week seems to go the same. Wake up, coffee, bathroom, drive to work, lunch ( with someone if you feel frisky! lol) work, home, kids and wife, dinner, t.v., bath kids, kiss kids, put kids in bed, take shower, put kids back in bed, get kids drink of water, t.v., catch kids hiding out of bed, and finally go to bed.  Sound familiar? well I am going to try to mix it up, heck yeah I am all baout living on the edge! So here is what I am going to do … ready? Wake up happy ( though wking up normally stinks because it is early and dark), shower, kiss wife adn kids, go to work, eat lunck with someone who needs to be loved, Drink coffee in the middle of the day so I can have energy to play with my kids after work, bath kids and kiss them as we watch a family movie or play a game, put kids in bed and read them a story, stay with them until they fall asleep, and finally turn the tv off so I can talk with Mary.

  Ok so this is going to be hard, but it is necessity, just for the record, the family is the hub of all ministry and example of love. Jesus set the bar of quality time with his mom and disciples. I think slowing life down and relishing every moment is the key to true happiness and the center of contentment with God and God alone. If we take time to see the detail of love in all of his creation we see the multitude of love He lavishes on us. it is amazing that through love the world and all that is in it was created, and in all created things resides Gods love! Thank you Dad!!!

Last night our family made a trip to K-Mart to get a few items adn my boys first pocket knives! Well after making our rounds through the toys, sporting goods, automotive, video, adn finally chasing mom and sister throught the clothes department, the boys adn myself ended up looking at clearance racks in clothing. As I was looking at some pants on a box rack, I hear Josiah, my oldest at 7 years old, sounding out words. And in the back of my mind I am so proud because he is very smart and loves to read, to bad the next thing I hear is ” Daddy, what does f*** y** mean?” AHHHHHHH, was all that went through my mind as I looked at him and said, ” Where did you hear that?” Well he did not hear it, he read it inside of the clothes rack! Someone took the liberty of sharing their very small adn ignorant vocabulary skills in the line of my child sight. So not at all mad at him, he had no clue, he was only practicing what he was taught in reading class, he felt horrible.

 I guess my thought is now we shoulddo more preparing than sheltering. Do not get me wrong sheltering is good, but we can’t do it forever. Josiah had no clue what the word is or even meant, and though we have parental filters, blockers, eyes in the back of our head and interview all creatures who come in contact with our kids, sin will creep in somewhere, so we have to equip them to fight it and recognize it. So I challenge anyone with children please feed them scripture morning and night and teach them to pray. They have no other defense or solid foundation outside of the two.

Man it is so crazy listening to talk radio today. Whether it is “Christian” or ‘Secular”, it is all about they did me wrong, or theydo it wrong, or public school sucks, homeschool sucks, it should be home church or traditional, progressive, contemporary,….. oh my gosh! What are we thinking. Fact is that it is no different today than it was all through history, especially American history. Look fact is is that our country was started by a bunch of hacked of Catholics from the church of Englund, who wantd reliogious freedom! Well religion hasno freedom, it wraps you up like a burritto and smothers the lfe out of you through repetitious guilt, constant commitment to do something, and telling you how horrible you are. But real faith in Christ releases us from bondage of religion, at least that is what I read. Jesus let us go from the burden of religious oppression and set us free in truth and grace. No life here is not butterflies and roses as a Christian, but this is as bad as it gets for us. So when you here people bashing Christianity, remember Jesus said they wuld hate us, so where is the suprise? America has always been in a ditch, in the beginning we killed people and animals for land, in the first few centuries we owned people and treated them as animal or worse, this continued all the way up until the fifities. then we go into today where it is all about selfish ambition and get all you can. So the church should not be mad at the world, this is as good as it gets for them, we should be pursuing the lost adn praying dilligently for their salvation in Jesus. If you do not like the pblic school system, then sell your home and make a monetary sacrifice and pay for Christian school or homeschool! Understand, tis is the lost peoples haven, and our field of harvest! Our vacation for eternity will come soon enough, lets focus and take as many with us as possible adn share love with people in a world of selfish hate!

I now see the why humiliated stinks so bad when it refers to you! Because it humbles you to the core or the earth. Have you eve shot your mouth off about something you really had no idea about? Or you were educated enough on the subject to be dangerous not only to you, but everyone around you. Well good ole’ Jeb has outdone himself, and no I am not saying about what I said, But from now on I will keep my mouth shut if I am not educted about the subject, issue or intity more than a pre-k student. So I challenge the rest of you whom share in the wonderful world of ministry, use your mouth wisely, it could make you fall faster than Rome!!!

   We all have had those moments when we read the Word and leave thinking ” huh?”. If you have not had any moment like that, please come and sit with me and show me your secret to complete understanding every time you open the word!! All sarcasm aside there is a reason for that, it is simply called the mystery of the scriptures and the one whom inspired them. If we understood it all at one time without divine revalation at a crucial moment, there would be no driving force in continually seeking. But in one of the most awesome and mysterious books, in my opinion, Hebrews, it is made very simple and on a level that we can connect. Whether we are a new believer in Christ, or a verteran of the scriptures and ministry, Hebrews tends to let it be very clear. For example in chapter one we see an eample of a Father loving his child so much, that God constantly lifts up Jesus in encouragement and showing His love for him as his child. This is a simple explanation of how, why, and who Jesus is as the messiah and Son of God.

   Also, God directs that same love and affection in chapter 2 to us. In warning us not to stray from the word, for it holds shakey and uncontrolable ground. that is why it is written ” For the message of God delivered through angels hass always stood firm…” It has, never has God sent an angel with a message and it not be right on the money. But in chapter 2 we also see Jesus taking the place as the peoples High Priest. A loving caring and merciful high preist, who knwos the hurts of humanity,for he endured them all. This is so significant and awesome, because at the time the high priest of the temple tried to cheat people out of money thrugh offering ” real spottless lambs” for sacrifice and breaking the people banks. Also the priest was so self righteous and religious the relationshp of the people with their God was not the priority, and niehter was serving, but selfish gain and political power through the mis-handling of the Jewish law was now top shelf for them. But with Christ now divinely taking the place of the ” peoples high priest” ( Hebrews 2:16-17) can offer a sacrifice that does not cover sin, but takes it away PRAISE GOD!!! Thank you Lord, for being my Shepherd!! And our redeemer. And most of all, caring for me as a child, brother, servant, and sinner!