Hitting the Nail on The Head

"To the man with only a hammer in his tool box, everything looks like a nail."

I do not remember which of my friends said that, but it is one of the coolest statements I have ever heard.

Hmmm... can't find a screw driver? Hit that thing with a hammer and it will go in. Can't find a pair of pliers? Maybe if I loosen it a bit with this hammer...

Sing with me! "If I had a hammer... I'd hammer in the morning..." - Stop! Hammer time!

I've got good friends with good hammers, some with wrenches and some with screwdrivers. My medical struggles as of late have helped me see that some times I have to avoid the guys with just hammers. One guy hammered me a while back and basically said my negative confession and the fact that I keep acknowledging the sickness and going back to the doctor may be why I haven't seen my healing. I am already healed but God is not going to show it to me until I stop saying I'm sick. Everytime I take a pill, I prove my lack of faith. It sounds a bit warped, but I run into that from time to time. Like.... when I got sick recently.

Uh oh... maybe I'm not supposed to say that I got sick. It shows a lack of faith. Ok, so how does this sound. When I got beset by a multitude of symptoms...

Nope. I was sick. The bed spun, the floor spun. The only thing not moving was the ceiling fan. Or maybe it was the only thing that was really moving.

I think up until then I had been in denial about this diagnosis from the doctor. I move a thousand miles an hour. Sickness can slow me down, but it's never stopped me. Until now. And lying there in bed, rolling over and falling to the ground... finally managing to crawl across the floor to the bathroom... and finding that the floor was moving just as much as the bed; my prayers of denial became prayers of faith. Because now I was fighting a real enemy. Any one can be cocky during the cold war. But when the missiles began to fly, you suddenly see that it is real and you only get to win or lose. There will be no draw.

Here's the deal. If I don't believe that I am sick, then how can I pray the prayer of faith?

I once heard a preacher say... "I don't say I'm sick, even when there's a manifestation of sickness in my body!" Then what's the point of the prayer of faith? What's the point of the laying on of hands? What's the point of all those healing prayer lines that you have at all those conferences where all those people donate all that money while you pray for sickeness you just told them not to confess? Don't they prove they don't believe your teaching by coming up front? Don't you show that you don't believe your own teaching by asking them to? Better to have them stay where they are, close their eyes, assume the lotus position and chant boogie woogie.

Why didn't Jesus just tell people to confess by faith that they were not really blind, lame, sick, etc.? Because the sick need a doctor. They need the healing touch of the Great Physician. And if saying you have no sin means your a liar, wouldn't saying you're not sick be similar?

Hey! I'm pretty good at swinging this hammer myself. Watch out, Thor!

I don't know all the answeres... Heck, I don't even know half the questions. But as I'm looking through this toolbox to find a way to deal with what I am struggling through, I think I'll slip past the hammer and look for a screw driver. After all, my friends are always telling me I have a screw loose.

Neighborhood Murder in Fort Worth

This story is only minutes old. It is, unfortunately, not fictional.

The shots were outside of our building. We didn't hear them because we were behind walls living our lives. I was blogging about a friend at the church. Two ladies from our building were parking their car after lunch.

Suddenly, shots rang out. Followed by sirens, police cars, helicopters. Chaos. A young man was dead. His murderer escaped and is now loose in the neighborhood with desperation and the police on his heels.

Please pray for the safety of those around. There were children outside playing who witnessed this murder.

Life gives us constant reminders of biblical truths. We are fallen. We need a savior. Not just idividually. All creation is groaning... Can you hear it?

Like Jason

In my next post, I'll put up a few photos from this month's Altar service. But first, let me tell you about a great man of God I know.

He's young in years but full of wisdom. He thinks he's not really a "social person" and yet I watch his peers listen to him and talk to him. What he thinks is distance, is something felt by most leaders. And he is definitely a leader.

I have a book at home called "The Pursuit of God" by AW Tozer. This is Jason. This book seems to encompass a good definition of the rare type of young Christian I meet today. Today when most people his age are pursuing goals, careers, marriage, fame and whatever else, he is seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things are being added to him. He is pursuing God. And It is that pursuit that inspires me in so many areas of my life.

Tozer says (paraphrase), "one day someone is going to pick up the Bible and simply believe it. And then the rest of us will be embarrased at our spiritual destitution and lack." We will suddenly understand that we could have had a roaring flame of romance and relationship, but settled for a candle flickering in the distance that was pretty, private and provided no sufficient warmth except for an emotional feeling inside. That's what happened when I met Jason. He was not pursuing an idea or concept or religion. He wasn't trying to be a "good boy". He knew God was real. And knowing that, he would not, could not settle for anything less than the relationship promised to him by the scriptures. A real romance, fatherhood, sonship, adoption, abba, friend to friend, face to face relationship with the King of Kings. Like Moses. Like David. Like Peter. Like John. Like Jason.

His flame has rekindled my own passion. My flame is rekindling the passion for others. And without a doubt I am sure that Jennifer Moore and her sold out heart for God, played a part in fanning his passion for God. So now I constantly ask my self, who's flame is my life fanning?

Robitussin's Revenge

In a word... Yuck!

I don't like Robitussin! I don't know of anyone who likes Robitussin! What's with this stuff? Is it supposed to taste bad so that you won't be tempted to overdose? No wonder people use pills. Can you imagine pouring several bottles of this stuff down your throat. "One more swallow, and it will all be over." I feel like that after my first teaspoon!

But there I stood arguing with myself.

"Take it! It will make you feel better!" But my "inner child" clamped his mouth shut and said... No. Which takes talent! I even tried to bribe the kid. "Take the tussin and you can wash it down with a Dr. Pepper!" But who wants that combined taste in their mouths. I finally gave up. "Fine! Go ahead and be sick then. See if I care." So I marched out with my inner child in tow feeling like he had won some victory. He climbed into bed, grabbed the remote and tuned into the Cosby show. He clicked on his little laptop, smiled and settled in for a relaxing day in bed.

And then the coughing began.

It started as a little thing... barely noticeable. The laptop bounced a bit but nothing major. The next one was the cough from hell. And it felt like hell... a place of everlasting torment... He could feel the smoke clogging his breathing and the burning in his chest. When the chest heaves and wheezing finally stopped, my inner child looked at me in tears. "Hey, Mr. grown up!"

"Yes?" I said, snickering.

"What's wrong with me?"

"You need some cough syrup, kid. So you can either march your self back in there and take it or suffer the next coughing fit." With a defeated look on his face, he went back into the bathroom, filled the tussin cap up and quickly downed the required amount.

"This tastes awful!" But he realized that the consequences of not staying on top of things could be worse than the meds.

And me, I knew the real truth. We would be ok... for four hours. Then we'd have to go through this again.

Retreat or Advance?

Photo - General Custer Portrait

Heading out for a staff retreat this weekend...

Remember when everyone started calling them advances? I remember one minister saying, "we are not retreating". Hmm... I think that minister is no longer in ministry. In fact, I remember him burning out publicly.

I worry about people who don't want to retreat. What's the old saying, sometimes "discretion is the better part of valor." I think about Joshua who was losing the battle in Bible and realized that he needed to stop and seek God about the issue. God was able to reveal the problem, but it took a retreat, not an idiotic advance. "Fanatacism is redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim."

My friends and I went to a Men's retreat back in the Fall. We did some skeet shooting! Ok, they did skeet shooting. I only took two turns. But I remember watching them, especially the more experienced ones. The skeet would fly. They wouldn't just fire, hoping to hit it by multiple shots. They would aim and, if they missed, refocus and fire again. If they hit the first one, they would still need to continue focusing and aiming to hit the second one. It was not a given.

Staff retreat... we have had so many "hits" this year. But we know that there is still a need for refocusing, renewing, refreshing and reviewing. The best way to do that is to stop and take a look at where you've been, where you are and where you want to be. That's what I'm doing this weekend in many many areas.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. (Quoting the song, not the scripture). Surely if there is a time to advance, there must be a time to retreat.

We're Off...

And we're off! - No smart comments!

The new year is here. My first resolution this year was going to be not to make a resolution this year, but, I blew it. It's human nature I guess.

I sit here bouncing up and down with excitement! My voice has returned from it's long haitus in the fields of allergens and pathogens. I have almost collected all the money I need for the CD. I have been diagnosed with some weird disease... And the list goes on. It's a wonderful life!

My eyes opened this morning and I decided to get out of bed. Really. I realized that it was my decision. I didn't "have to"! Getting out of bed and going to work is a decision. So I got up and did it, after only hitting the snooze button four times... (two fo the times it wasn't even ringing.) So I made the decision not to hit it again. It was thankful.

I got in my van and went to work. I drove past McDonalds and decided to not stop... not even for just a hash brown and juice. Another decision. I got to work and finished my morning assignments... more decisions.... I took a break and decided to pay my bills online and write in my blog... more decisions.

So this moment of monotonous rambling has been brought to you by Brad Irons and enabled by the Trinity. I would like to thank Jesus Christ, who, beyond the salvation of my spirit, soul and body, has blessed me with abilities and opportunities to make decisions for the betterment of myself, my family, my friends, my work, my society, and my planet so that I might have an abundant life.

Happy New Year! Gotta go ramble!

And we're off!