Context (and soccer in Heaven)

So, remember high school?  Crisis to crisis, each one the very end of the world, right?  So we thought.

Consider this:  When you’ve been on high, in Heaven for about 200 years, and you’re out one afternoon playing soccer on a pitch more perfect than you had ever imagined, maybe it will finally be really sinking in how your short life on earth was really all about worship and sharing.  In that day, you’ll be looking back with a little smile thinking, “wow – when I walked the earth, I was awfully busy bouncing from crisis to crisis, juggling, job, kids’ extracurricular stuff, mortgage, service clubs, networking, weekend trips here and there … how did I busy myself so with all that schedule stuff that I lost sight from time to time; I was fearfully and wonderfully made, uniquely designed to worship; how did I so often forget that?”

Learn today from that hypothetical look-back.  Call it ‘forest for the trees’ call it ‘soccer in Heaven’ — whatever you like, but do this:  look past a lower-case life and look on your upper-case Life, turn your eyes up and out, to a much broader horizon.  Find real focus.

(Footnote:  Pray today.  Acknowledge to the true Sovereign that you do not understand, but that you trust The Great I Am to make September 11 better, to take what it means to so many and use it somehow to His Glory.  Don’t give into temptation, don’t ‘politely’ suggest to God how He should handle it, because guess what?  He’s already looked so far beyond it.  Healing human hurt … pretty much his expertise.  Pray.  Do it now.)

Cross Eyed Life

• it’s ‘an infrequent blog‘ (so you don’t have to read every day)
• Andy enjoys wrestling with the Bible
• It’s apparent he ‘gets’ tech
• Pastors a church who makes available Godcasts and the latest sermon video (you know I dig it)

He writes stuff like this (excerpted from ‘Is this God’s Will or Indigestion’) —

… problem is that there really are no easy decisions, period. By the way, if you end a sentence with the word ‘period’ follow by the punctuation mark also named as such, is that officially redundant? OK, there may be a few easy decisions out there, but they are never about major things. Where are we going to eat tonight? Does this dress make me look fat? What’s on TV? These are all questions that we either already have the answers to, or really don’t need the answers to. But, the major decisions of life; the big ones that come along about jobs, love, life, kids, money and all that other high stress stuff, those decisions are never big fat slow softball pitches over the middle. Those decisions are always tough ones. Why couldn’t the choices be more like these: I could stay at this job that I hate, or move to my dream position for three times the cash and the beach house…hmmm I could stay single and searching, or I could marry this drop dead gorgeous supermodel with the morals of Mother Theresa who keeps throwing herself at me… hmmm I could continue to wander spiritually wondering what to do with my life, or I could open up this glowing letter with the return address marked Heaven that has been floating in my living room for the last month… hmmm

Still reading?  (What’s it take to get you to check it out?)

• I notice he signs “Seeking more of Him and less of me,”
• He pastors a church with a very cool additional site — Venue 302
• And I’m not completely certain, but I think I remember him wearing a mullet in the 80’s.

From out of the mouths …

Just learned a lesson from my daughter.  And she wasn’t even trying.

She was enjoying a special princess movie.  Having seen that one, I recognized the villain and quipped, “Isn’t that the mean lady?”

Her reply:  “Daddy.  No, she just does mean things sometimes.”

Boy, sometimes they really find you where you live.

I can still learn.

You can too.

Cardboard Testimonies

[Share the words on your own cardboard sign — ‘before and after’.  Post anonymous if you like; just share!]

**I’ll bet you’ve never read Cross Eyed Life ! Check out a great one by Andy Addison!**

Twitter and The Gospel

Link:  Tweet the Gospel.  Brian Baute’s brainchild:  tweet the Gospel. That’s right, per the limitations of Twitter, how would you describe the gospel in exactly 140 characters?

Mark Mofield: Was happy with taking the bad with the good. Jesus showed me the good could be great and the bad could be gone forever.

Paul: Christianity is not about what you do, but what God has already done.

David Wilcox: God’s perfect. We’re not. God punished Jesus, the perfect Man, in our place, on the cross. Believe this, turn from sin, and live forever.

Scott Ammons: God made man. Man made mistakes. God still had a plan to fix us all, revealed over time. His son Jesus died for all, even you and me. Sweet.

David Rudd: Aligning with Jesus means giving up my life for his, and accepting his death for mine. God’s pleasure with Jesus is transferred to me.

Jeremy: Being saved is not about what happens when we die, but what begins when we realize God always loves us and wants us to transform the world.

Atom: Wages of sin, death. Gift of God, Jesus. Say Jesus I give you my life, Forgive Me! I’m Saved. I’m Going To Heaven I have Jesus in my heart.

Glory Beam: “Loving God, loving each other” because He first loved us, & gave His only Son to die for us. Go & walk like the child of God that you are!

Gus Kroustalis: Since we didn’t listen when God told us how to live, He sent His only Son to show us. Jesus lived for us to see, then died so we could live.

See brianbaute.com for more (including Brian’s entry).  Add your own below in the comments.

From “A Soul Searching”

Link: We Need a New Language :  a fellow blogger posted something a few days back, and I hope I’m not out of line by quoting it in full.  Please see “A Soul Searching” for this:

We need a new language to describe God
How can a creature know what it means to be God?
How can a fish describe what it is like to be a horse?
God is beyond naming
I am who am – Yahweh – I don’t have a name – I don’t need one
God is more than a being
“God is love” may be the least inaccurate way of describing God

What does this mean? Perhaps
It means that God is more verb than noun
More a spirit than a being
God is a decision

God is a decision to bring unconditional love to every situation
We do God by bringing love to our relationships
God is a decision to embrace the good in others despite their shortcomings
We seek to do God’s will – the next loving thing
God works through people
To know God, love yourself and give yourself away

If you love yourself and your neighbor, you love God
Jesus is the great example of how to love, how to live
Whoever believes in love, believes in God
God is alive within you when you live to love

“No one could tell me where my Soul might be.
I searched for God, but God eluded me.
I sought my Brother out, and found all three.”
— Ernest Howard Crosby

Thank God

(It’s not a figure of speech. Ever.)

We thank him for grace and mercy, for the ultimate gift, for the amazing sunset … but on occasion we look past the miracles right under our noses.

Today, at snacktime, take a second look across your couch; thank the One who tells the sun when to set for the little glowbugs in your life:

1,581 Days in his Brett Favre jersey

Associated Press reports: Connecticut boy takes off Favre jersey for good after 4 yrs

“GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Finally, David Witthoft shunned his Brett Favre jersey for the first time in 1,581 days.

The Ridgefield, Conn. boy, 12, wore the No. 4 jersey every day since receiving it as a gift for Christmas in 2003. David’s father, Chuck Witthoft, said Monday that his son’s last day wearing the jersey was April 23 — his 12th birthday. …”

So, you know where this is going. What are you wearing? Does it surround you, permeate your daily life such that people cannot help but notice? No doubt, as he walked through their day, folks said, “there goes David — he sure loves Favre.”

Google Image

Here comes the take-away: As you encounter others today, what are you leaving with them? If you are leaving folks with “he/she sure loves _____”, how does the phrase end for you. Are you so proud of your Saviour that you just have to let it out. What’s on your shirt? WHO
is on your shirt?

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Blogged with the Flock Browser

I met God

And I mean literally.  When I walked out this morning He was right in front of me.

I didn’t hear for a second, but then it was clear … he was reminding me:  look what I can do.

Have you seen God today?

Church Admin Series

Link: Woolsey Life.

John Woolsey, an associate pastor at Impact Church in Murrieta, CA, is working on a series to highlight the tools (software/web-service) they use at Impact. In his words,

“… since lately I have been contacted by several pastors and administrators asking my opinion on things church admin I would put it all down here in a blog post mini series. So here is the outline, I will get started on it imediately but this is what you can look forward to reading, or just clicking ‘mark as read’ if this isn’t your thing.

1. Church Management Software
2. Church Calendars
3. Team Communication
4. Event Management
5. Assimilation Management
6. Ministries”