I scratched a car today

Today at work I scratched one of my coworkers cars.  Immediately I wanted to pretend it didnt happen, but thats not something I would do.  I was taking out a ton of boxes from unloading drum kits and one of the boxes had a staple in it, the wind shifted the boxes and before I could catch it-oops.  I went inside and waited until my coworker was going to leave and told him that I wanted to walk out with him.  I told him what happened and he told me that “because I was doing the right thing, it was not a big deal”.  Him and I both were convinced that it would easily buff out, however I am still liable.  He reassured me several times that it was no problem and not to worry about anymore.  HOORAY!!!!???????? maybe?  No!!!!!

No, because there still has to be restitution made to make it right to the offended party.  Either I pay for the car to get repaired, he pays for the repair, or the car will forever remain in a state of scratched sadness.  There has to be restitution.  In this situation restitution is coming in the form of a cloth, some wax, and elbow grease, but ultimately someone had to pay in some form or another for the car to be made whole.  I could give my coworker $500 (I made this number up) to fix the car but unless he applies the money to make it right, the $500 means nothing for the car and making it whole.  

I felt a huge feeling of relief after talking to my coworker.  I felt that even though I had wronged him, he forgave me.  I will still ask him tomorrow if he would like for me to pay to get the car fixed and he has all the right in the world to ask me to have it made whole.  The point being made is that forgiveness was offered and even though I feel like trash for scratching his car, he said its forgiven.  (by the way, it is not some massive deep scratch, but it is still a scratch)

I believe that the Bible teaches that we are removed from God due to our sin and when it comes to forgiveness, we are unable to reconcile ourselves back to God.  The Bible also teaches that because of our sin we have offended God and due to our sin we are sentenced to hell.  Therefore, the only way for us to go to heaven is if someone pays the way for us.  The Bible teaches that Christ lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose again on the third day-heavy stuff right?  The Bible also teaches that when we die we will either go to heaven or hell.  According to the Bible there is no way to God except through His Son and His Sons death on the cross.  All we have to do is accept His forgiveness and restitution will be made.  True forgiveness is that while in our sin, Christ died for us.  Lets make it personal-While I was breaking into houses (thats a different blog waiting to be written), hurting those around me, living a life for myself-Christ died for me.  When I was cussing God and denying that He even exist-Christ died for me.  Do you see it?  In spite of all my dirty, nasty sin, Christ wiped me clean.  He is willing to do the same for you and all you have to do is ask.  

Thoughts???

Waiting...not settling

No not waiting tables, even though I have done a lot of that throughout my years.  We have been waiting on where God would place us for over two years now- TWO YEARS!!!  We have had opportunity to take jobs elsewhere, but feel that it was because that was what we wanted, and not necessarily where we were supposed to be.

I am tired of waiting, however, I also do not want to settle.  Settling is definitely worse than waiting.  People settle daily and usually do not realize it.  When I was little I wanted to be a superhero and save everyone.  I still do just differently now.  I want to help save people out of the mess their lives are and show them a brighter, more promising future- thats what superheroes do.  I can only imagine how the children of Israel felt walking through the wilderness for days...weeks...years...decades.  They knew that in spite of the current situation waiting was definitely better than settling for a strange land.

As you are going through life and hopefully taking guidance from God, it is important to remember that in seasons of waiting do not settle.  Don't settle for some guy/girl just because they give you attention.  Don't settle for a job when you that it is not what you are supposed to be doing.  Don't simply settle.  All throughout the Bible we are promised more and yet we settle.  We are told that we are more than conquerors yet we walk around defeated all day.  We are told that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, yet we allow others to define our worth and not God.  We are told that joy comes in the morning, yet we fret about tomorrow.  We are told that a loving God cares for the birds, yet we doubt that He knows what is best for us.

I could go on and on about this, but want to leave you with one thought.  Pursue God with all that is in you.  Do not allow your life to be one of mediocrity and regret.  I have thought about simply settling on many occasions, but I know that the promises God has are far greater.  Look at Joshua 1.  Moses had just died and there is no one to take up the position that Moses held.  God tells Joshua that "Moses my servant is dead, therefore, arise."  God was telling him do not sit and mourn and live a life of regret but get up and make a difference.  Pick up the slack that was lost Moses died and make a difference.  God then tells him in Joshua 1:5, "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.  Just as I was with Moses, so i will be with you.  I will not leave you or forsake you."  Do you see it?   Joshua was told what to do and when God commanded him, He also gave Joshua a promise.  God doesn't simply tell us what to do and expect us to go blindly.  God commands and He prepares a way.  God has commanded me and my family, now we are waiting for Him to show up the prepared way.

Thoughts?

Watch Your Step

I recently washed some dried duck poop off of a stroller.  Welcome to fatherhood.  These are the type of things no one warns you about when you become a father.  I started by attacking the poop with a stick, just like dad used to do.  That didn’t work.  I then rubbed it on the ground because that fixes everything.  I even thought about putting a newspaper over it like on Big Daddy but decided against it.  Eventually, I used a miracle wipey thing that Erin bought and it was good as new.  It made me laugh that while I used to consider myself to be a cool guy that my life now consisted of wiping duck poop off of a stroller tire.  But why.  Why did I need to do this?  Simple, the poop was nasty and shouldn’t be there.  I don’t want my daughters fly ride to be ghetto and nasty.  She deserves the best.  Her stroller even has an ipod hook-up so she can jam to her kid music while good old dad huffs and puffs trying to catch his breath.  I started thinking about the poop and I realized it had to be removed.  

In Deuteronomy there are alot of weird laws that make no sense- a lot of them.  But in the 23th chapter, the Bible says that if you have to poop while at camp you should bring a shovel with you and when you poop you should bury it because “the Lord, your God walks in the midst of your camp”.  This makes no sense to me, or it didn’t for many years.  (By the way,  I call this passage doodooronomy the twenty-turd chapter)  

The reason is because God is holy and perfect.  God wants to meet with us, however, we are told to be holy because He is holy.  God’s desire is not for His people (those who have placed their faith and trust in Him alone for salvation) to walk around in poop all day, but rather for His people to be set-apart from all the crap the world has to offer.  We are not called to waller around like a pig in our filth, but to put the poop aside and “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). 

 Often, we make the choice to settle and surround our life in filth and God is telling us to get rid of the filth and fill our lives with peace, love, long suffering, etc.  The biggest problem though is that we are often skirting around the poop as if we are walking across a mine field.  This clouds our judgment makes us unable to focus on the right things.  We see the trash all around us, but not the blessings that are right in front of us.  We are like the plower who looks back to admire his work, only to have the plow lines (I don’t know what these are called) get crooked.  Fortunately in Ecclesiastes we are told that God can take that which is crooked and make it straight.  In my life I lived a life that was far from straight and I was constantly turning off path because my path was being illuminated by my own desires and I wanted nothing to do with God.  Many of us are in the same boat.  We are so busy looking over our shoulder that we cant see the amazing life that God has put before us.  Check out Proverbs 28:1 for more on this.  

Thoughts?

You're Full Of It

Day 1.5 and I am already doing another post...crazy I know.  Here we go...

When my daughter was little we would give her a bottle with two ounces in it and as she got older we bumped her to an astonishing three ounces-three whole ounces.  She would drink and when she would get down to the extra ounce, she looked defeated.  She reminded me of “that guy” at the gym who would grunt extra loud on his last set only to fail miserably and look pathetic.  (if you are that guy, I’m just kidding, don’t hit me)  She would try to drink it all and have milk coming out of the corners of her mouth, it would be all over her clothes, and she would just look happy, but defeated.  Sometimes she would finish her three ounces and other times she wouldn’t.  When she was full that last ounce would sometimes be to much and she couldn’t take any more in.  

In my walk with God I have found that when I am full of Christ I do not want anything else.  Nothing else even looks appealing, not even something that looks really good.  (Sorry Bill Cosby but there isn’t always room for jello)  I feel that I am able to do anything He has called me to with reckless abandonment.  God + me = majority right?  Go get em!!!! However, when I am empty or running low so to speak, I find that I am doing my own thing and while I still do my “thank you for this food” prayer, it is borderline meaningless.  Its like the football player who prays after scoring, but cusses and pitches a fit like a baby when he is sacked or missed a pass.  I have on many occasions ruined my testimony because I was empty and not allowing myself to be full of God and His accomplished work on the cross.  

The Bible says in Proverbs 27:7 that when we are full we desire nothing, but when we are empty even something bitter taste sweet.  

What happens is that when we are full of Christ we no longer desire what the world offers- its worthless anyway right?  The reverse of that though is when we are lacking in our relationship with who God is, we will take something bitter and think it is sweet.  More times than not, when I am living in the flesh and not according to the Bible, I make poor choices.  I am more irritable and want to do my own thing because I’m selfish.  The BIble says in John 3 that God needs to be glorified and we should be made less, yet we often think we need more stuff.  My desire is that I would desire Him more and desire the worlds stuff less.  

Basically, be full of Christ and empty yourself of what the world has. 

Thoughts???