Remember Me - Thinking Out of the Box

So as you log in to blogspot, enter your password, etc., there's a little check box a the bottom that says "remember me?".

Poor little check box! So insecure! So worried that he'll be forgotten that he has to ask the same question every time someone comes around.

I tried to sit down and analyze him. "Excuse me Mr. Check Box". I said with a disarming smile. "My name is Brad. I know I haven't been here in awhile but I'm glad to be back. Anyway, I was wondering. Why do you ask the same question over and over and over again?

He was quiet. No response. I waited. Not wanting to seem pushy. No... no response.

"I was just thinking," I continued, "Is this is a deep seated psychological problem or a deep spiritual truth that you're trying to teach." Nothing. But suddenly, I was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. This may not be paranoid psychosis. It may be quiet strength... Maybe he was trying to say something profound.

"Are you trying to refer me back to the story of the communion dinner between the Lord and His disciples. Whoa! That's deep." He said nothing, but I sensed the hint of a smile, even as my monitor flickered. That must be it.

"So knowing the temptations and distractions of the web, you have set yourself up as a reminder that as we surf, we should do so remembering Christ. What would Jesus do? Where would Jesus surf?" The point was hitting me now. "You also are trying to remind me that before I log in and surf the universe, I should ask myself 'have I remembered to spend time with Jesus? Maybe I shoud spend more time with my Bible and prayer than I do on the web." Conviction... from a hollow polygon on a computer screen! Wow, he really knows how to use silence to drive a point home.

"Ok. I get it. I'll finish typing this and go do the devotional I neglected this morning. Thank you for your dedication to doing the one thing you know to do. Your use of your one talent has encouraged me. See you later. And thanks! Maybe you're not such a square!"

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"Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary." quote attributed to St. Francis.

Stopping by the woods on a Snowy Evening...

This is one of my two favorite poems by Robert Frost. And as I look out the window at the sunny sky glistening through the glass and feel the heat pushing through the window pain, I stop to ask myself a question. What happened to winter?

Then I remember that I am in Texas...

My blogs have been few and far between as the album nears completion. I am finding that I have perfectionist tendencies... (Stop laughing!) I really do! So I will continue to wade through them while you enjoy this classic poem.

Stopping by the woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Blogarhythms

So I thought that I migh change the name of the blog....

Blogarhythms... sounds cool, right?

But I don't know if it actually says anything.

I thought that maybe I should change it to "Mercy Streets" to go with the new CD. But I'm going to do that as a seperate blog.

So I sat up late and then got up early and came to work. I pondered it while I did my job. I pondered it in my spare time. Then I sat down and started typing different ideas...

Then I realized that I was rambling on and on, probably due to my lack of sleep...

Suddenly, I decided that the current title may not be so bad.

She

It’s amazing to me that anyone loves me
But it’s even more amazing that someone likes me.

She does…

I heard a song called Beautiful Soul…

“I don’t want another pretty face. I don’t want just anyone to hold. I don’t want my love to go to waste. I just want you and your beautiful soul.”

I do believe she is beautiful on the outside. But I amazed with her beautiful soul.

Billy Joel was right. Some women just have a way about them.

She does. And I love her way. I sit back and stare at her sometimes and just wonder if she has any idea of how much I love her. I don’t know if she does. I don’t know if I can always find the words… I can’t sleep well when she’s not here. I miss her when I’m gone and I can’t wait to come back home when I’m away. I prefer home to any place in the world. My kids, my wife… that’s my home.

She’s my home…

We don’t always see eye to eye. I respect that about her. She has her own mind. She’s nobody’s fool and has strength to her that I’ve never seen anywhere.

I am not the nice guy people believe I am. She knows that. She knows me better than anyone. And yet…

She loves me.

And I love her. Through the years I continue to be amazed at how much I love her. We have walked through fire and flood. We have laughed and cried together. And we have been responsible for causing both smiles and tears for each other. And yet when I look at her, I smile somewhere deep down inside of myself. This woman who began as my friend is still my friend but also the love of my life.

I love her deeply. I don’t always say it. I don’t always know how. My words sound clumsy and unpoetic. And I pray that through the fumbling she hears my heart. I pray that she always knows how much I love her.

And she loves me… and she likes me.

She completes me.

It’s amazing to me that anyone loves me
But it’s even more amazing that someone likes me.

She loves me and likes me and… I’m pretty sure she plans on spending the rest of her life with me…

I love you, Dawn Irons! Happy Valentines Day!

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.