The Cup

It had never happened before. As I picked up a communion cup, from the tray filled with small cups, I realized the cup I had chosen was empty.

I am part of fellowship that practices weekly communion. I have been a Christian 40 years. In over 2000 times of taking the cup it had never been an empty one. It made me smile. I could smile because I know that though there might be an empty cup there is also an empty tomb. Because of the empty tomb, I know that the cup of His spirit will always be full.

All that from an empty cup.

Song of the day:

Jesus' Blood
Delirious

Dedicated to everyone who desires the discipleship of Jesus

There's a secret I must tell
Of all the love I've found
And it's hidden in my heart
The day you tore my world apart

Hallelujah, King forever, friend and Saviour

Jesus' blood never fails me,
Jesus' blood never fails me,
Jesus' blood, Jesus' blood

And this secret, it will run
To the corners of the earth
Where every woman, every son
Will carry high their chains undone

Hallelujah, King forever, friend and Saviour

Jesus' blood never fails me,
Jesus' blood never fails me,
Jesus' blood never fails me,
Jesus' blood, Jesus' blood

Sing your songs of freedom
Praise the God of heaven
Love that never fails me
Jesus' blood, Jesus' blood

AARP

Since I have recently turned 50, I have been invited to join AARP. I am looking at 20 or more years of working, so why would I think I fit in a association of retired people. I think AARP should rename itself: AAOP. The American Association of Old People. Even though I do not think I fit in that group either, there are those people who think I do.

Song of the Day

Older
They Might be Giants

Dedicated to evryone 50 and older

You're older than you've ever been.
And now you're even older.
And now you're even older.
And now you're even older.

You're older than you've ever been.
And now you're even older.
And now you're older still.

TIME! Is marching on.
And time.. is still marching on.
This day will soon be at an end and now it's even sooner.
And now it's even sooner.
And now it's even sooner.
This day will soon be at an end and now it's even sooner.
And now it's even sooner.
And now it's sooner still.

You're older than you've ever been.
And now you're even older.
And now you're even older.
And now you're even older.

You're older than you've ever been.
And now you're even older.
And now you're older still.

Good Seeds

Many people are trying to recreate a past time. "If only it could be that way again!" If we could only ...!" The problem is the past is never as good as we remember it to be and the present is not as fragile as it appears to be. Our fears cloud our sight. We allow this process to cause us search for something that never was and keep us from what could be.

I want to live with hope. I want to shatter the darkness. I want to watch for what God will do.


Song of the Day:

Thistle & Weeds
Mumford & Sons

Dedicated to all the Shiloh college freshmen (and freshwomen)

Spare me your judgements and spare me your dreams
Cause recently mine have been tearing my seams
I sit alone in this winter clarity which clouds my mind
Alone in the wind and the rain you left me
It's getting dark darling, too dark to see
And I'm on my knees, and your faith in shreds, it seems

Corrupted by the simple sniff of riches blown
I know you have felt much more love than you've shown
And I'm on my knees and the water creeps to my chest

But plant your hope with good seeds
Don't cover yourself with thistle and weeds
Rain down, rain down on me
Look over your hills and be still
The sky above us shoots to kill
Rain down, rain down on me

But I will hold on
I will hold on hope

I begged you to hear me, there's more than flesh and bones
Let the dead bury the dead, they will come out in droves
But take the spade from my hands and fill in the holes you've made

But plant your hope with good seeds
Don't cover yourself with thistle and weeds
Rain down, rain down on me

#4

It is the night before we take my fourth child to college. I am full of mixed emotions: joy, pride, sadness, excitement. One emotion that is absent is fear. My we always live without fear to what is to come. My we always know the peace that comes from God as we move forward.

Song of the Day

Dedicated to #4 :)

In the Hands of God
Newsboys

We have raised our hopes and our cities high
We have followed fragile dreams
But only One could take the measure of our goals
And we've stumbled over the trials of life
And we've wrestled the unseen
But only One can calm the storm inside our souls

In the hands of God we will fall
Rest for the restless, and the weary
Hope for the sinner
In the hands of God we stand tall
Hands that are mighty to deliver
Giving us freedom

When our strength gave way to the weight of guilt
'Til we strained for every breath
Only One could lift our shame and make us well
And when all is finished and we face
The fearsome power of death
Only One has overcome the gates of hell

You're amazing
You're amazing, You are
And we praise You, Lord
For what Your hands have done

Some Days Are Like That...

The following video depicts what my life is like some days:

Some things are not as easy, rewarding, or satisfying as we think they should be.

Crazy Christmas Eve

We plan and plan for special days. We think in getting the details the way we think they ought to be that everything will be better. Then the craziness begins. The plan and reality do not cooperate. What do we really think we control? What else do we need but to be safe in the hands of God. When we come to understand His safety and protection, we can actually enjoy the craziness all around.

Here are a few of the highlights from Christmas Eve 2009:

• Walmart had no pumpkin, but Super Mercado Monterrey did. Super Mercado Monterrey had no manzana but Walmart did
• Getting a prescription filled at Walgreens in 5 minutes (is that possible?)
• A call from Peru to ask about a recipe
• Videos made in the snow
• Grilling fajitas in the snow (well maybe more drizzle)
• Attempted enforcement of traditions by the youngest.
• Electricity going out
• All but one of the online purchase being delivered
• Not only tracking Santa, but also Caleb as a 4.5 hour trip turned into 12 hours
• Children asking to sleep late on Christmas morning (except for one)

It is better living to be watching for the unexpected than expecting the living to follow our plan. May you enjoy a life of watching God do more than you can explain or imagine. 

Song of the Day 

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

Weezer

Dedicated to my kids (thanks for giving me the joy of being your father)

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Love and Like

Greg McKenzie wrote the following recently:

I've heard that love is a verb, not a feeling. It's something we do, a choice we make. That's an important thing to understand if you plan to love your enemy, or even just your neighbor. This jives well with the other proverb I've heard. I don't have to like you, I just have to love you. I guess that liking in that scenario is the feeling and love is the doing. The point is, we must choose to act in love even in the absence of positive feelings toward others.

I wonder, though, if the real force of Christian teaching isn't undermined by the idea of loving without liking. Looking at myself, suspicion arises when the enormous feeling of relief follows the realization. I can still despise you? Loath you? All I have to do is take the moral high road and treat you nice? Whew, that was a close one. Now, I'll admit, treating an enemy with love is no small thing. But somehow it's not as hard if I don't have to stop feeling disgust, scorn, resentment or animosity.

Maybe that is the sense of Jesus' comparison of murder with anger, insult, and contempt. Maybe it's not so easy to compartmentalize emotion and action. Maybe like is a verb too.

Great thoughts. Here is what I added:

I think like follows love. That is why love is first. Often I will not love someone if I have to like them first. When I truly love, I then come to like the person that fear, prejudice and ignorance once prevented me from liking. As I grow in Christ I desire to have a smaller gap between loving and liking. Someday I may even approach being like Jesus in the ability to love and like at the same time.

May you find someone more likable today. See them as Jesus sees them. Live for Him, show the world that he is still among us.

Song of the Day:
Emmanuel, God With Us
Amy Grant

Dedicated to Robbie Goldman

We dim the light.
We stoke the fire.
We breathe the evergreen.
Young ones wait
While the old ones make up
Tales of how it used to be.

China dolls,
Candy corn,
Painted wooden toys,
Treasures found
To the wondrous sound
Of carolling the savior
Born to us on christmas morn.

Emmanuel, God with us,
Emmanuel!
Emmanuel, God with us,
The son of Israel

And still he calls
Through the night,
Beyond the days of old.
A voice of peace
To the weary ones,
Who struggle with the human soul.

All of us,
Travellers,
Through a given time.
Who can know
What tomorrow holds?
But over the horizon,
Surely you and I will find.

Emmanuel, God with us,
Emmanuel!
Emmanuel, God with us,
The son of israel.

And the years they come,
And the years they go,
Though we may forget somehow
That the child once born in bethlehem
Is still among us now.

Emmanuel, God with us, (emmanuel.)
Emmanuel! (emmanuel.)
Emmanuel, God with us, (emmanuel.)
The son of israel. (israel.)
The son of israel.
The son of is...israel. (son of israel.)

Christmas Puzzle

I like jigsaw puzzles. They stress some people but it is a great way for for to relax and think. For a number of years I have put together the same Christmas puzzle:

One year I was giving my kids a hard time about not helping on the puzzle. To get more assistance, I suggested that the child who helped the most would inherit the puzzle after my departure. This year Hannah worked hard with me on the puzzle so that it would be done before Sarah came home from college. The competition for "favorite child" is great fun.

I do not know who will "win" the puzzle. However after I am gone, I know this puzzle will bring back many memories. I know it will represent many fun times.

How will you be remembered?


Song of the Day

12 Days of Christmas (with a nod to Toto)
Straight No Chaser

Dedicated to Zach (keep after me)

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me

doo doo do do doot dooooooo
doo doo do do doot dooooooo

On the twelfth day my true love gave to me
12 drummers drumming like olympus above the Serengeti
11 pipers piping,
10 lords a leaping

9 ladies dancing they were dancing for meeee
8 maids a milking they were milking just for me

I had Christmas down in Africa
I had Christmas down in Africa
I had Christmas down in Africa (5 golden rings)
I had Christmas down in Africa (5 golden rings)
I had Christmas down in Africa (5 golden rings)
gonna deck the halls and do the things we never had

doo doo do do doot dooooooo
doo doo do do doot dooooooo
partridge in a big pear tree
partridge in a big pear tree

Fall Back!

There are some things that everyone seems to like. Falling back from Daylight Saving Time is universally anticipated. Therefore I suggest that we fall back at 2 am the first Sunday of each  month. :D

Song of the Day

We Want a Rock
They Might Be Giants

Dedicated to One More Hour

Everybody wants prosthetic
Foreheads on their real heads
Everybody wants prosthetic
Foreheads on their real heads

Poisoned Candy

One of the scariest days for some parents is Halloween. The fear is not of demons or witches, but of tainted candy. However it is not a factual fear. Joel Best of the University of Delaware studied this issue, going back to 1958. He found no report of a child being killed by tainted Halloween candy. Nothing wrong with being safe and using common sense. However I dislike the use of irrational fear to direct actions. Many things are possible but not probable. For those who need something to fear and also like candy corn:

Song of the Day

Mother
Pink Floyd

Dedicated to all who struggle with fear (may you break down the walls)

Mother, do you think they'll drop the bomb?
Mother, do you think they'll like this song?
Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?
Mother, should I build the wall?
Mother, should I run for President?
Mother, should I trust the government?
Mother, will they put me in the firing line?
Is it just a waste of time?

Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry
Momma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true
Momma's gonna put all of her fears into you
Momma's gonna keep you right here under her wing
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing
Momma's will keep Baby cozy and warm
Oooo Babe
Oooo Babe
Ooo Babe, of course Momma's gonna help build the wall

Mother, do you think she's good enough
For me?
Mother, do you think she's dangerous
To me?
Mother will she tear your little boy apart?
Mother, will she break my heart?

Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry
Momma's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you
Momma won't let anyone dirty get through
Momma's gonna wait up until you get in
Momma will always find out where you've been
Momma's gonna keep Baby healthy and clean
Oooo Babe
Oooo Babe
Ooo Babe, you'll always be Baby to me

Mother, did it need to be so high? 

Where Was This Google All This Time

More from William Kamkwamba, the boy who built a windmill from a picture and brought electricity to his village.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
William Kamkwamba
www.thedailyshow.com

What can you do with the abundant resources that you have?

Song of the Day

Grace
U2

Dedicated to Dry Bones and everyone making a difference

Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace
It's a name for a girl
It's also a thought that
Changed the world

And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness
In everything

Grace
She's got the walk
Not on a ramp or on chalk
She's got the time to talk

She travels outside
Of karma, karma
She travels outside
Of karma

When she goes to work
You can hear the strings
Grace finds beauty
In everything

Grace
She carries a world on her hips
No champagne flute for her lips
No twirls or skips
Between her fingertips

She carries a pearl
In perfect condition
What once was hurt
What once was friction
What left a mark
No longer stings

Because grace makes beauty
Out of ugly things

Grace finds beauty
In everything

Grace finds goodness
In everything

Write a Book

On occasion, it has been suggested to me that I might write a book. I am not adverse to the to this project, however there is something more important. Whether or not I every write a book, I want to be a book. I want my life to be read as a witness to the power of God.


2 Corinthians 3.3
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

May my life reflect in its fragile imperfection the glory that can only come form being shaped by  the art of the hands of God.


Song of the Day
The Poem of Your life
Michael Card

Dedicated to all who walk the path of a disciple



Life is a song we must sing with our days
A poem with meaning more than words can say
A painting with colors no rainbow can tell
A lyric that rhymes either heaven or hell
We are living letters that doubt desecrates
We're the notes of the song of the chorus of faith
God shapes every second of our little lives
And minds every minute as the universe waits by

The pain and the longing
The joy and the moments of light
Are the rhythm and rhyme
The free verse of the poem of life

So look in the mirror and pray for the grace
To tear off the mask, see the art of your face
Open your ear lids to hear the sweet song
Of each moment that passes and pray to prolong
Your time in the ball of the dance of your days
Your canvas of colors of moments ablaze
With all that is holy
With the joy and the strife
With the rhythm and rhyme of the poem of your life
With the rhythm and rhyme of the poem of your life

World Champion

If I were going to be a world champion at something, I would want to be world champion at something like the guy in the following video:



There should always be people who do not get it and ask, "Why?"

Song of the Day

Dedicated to all who live in the paradox of confusion

Running to Stand Still
U2

And so she woke up
Woke up from where she was lying still
Said I got to do something
About where we're going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain
Maybe run from the darkness in the night

Singing ha la la la de day
Ha la la la de day ha la la de day

Sweet the sin
Bitter the taste in my mouth
I see seven towers
But I only see one way out
You got to cry with out weeping
Talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice
You know I took the poison from the poison stream
Then I floated out of here

Singing ha la la la de day
Ha la la la de day ha la la de day

She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under a black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging, she is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will suffer the needle chill
She is running to stand still

Batman

Saw this today.
Saw this and laughed out loud.
Saw this and thought of Casey Mott!
:D

Song of the Day
Even Better Than the Real Thing
U2

Dedicated to Casey Mott

Give me one more chance
And youll be satisfied
Give me two more chances
You wont be denied

Well my heart is where its always been
My head is somewhere in between
Give me one more chance
Let me be your lover tonight

(check it out)

Youre the real thing
Yeah the real thing
Youre the real thing
Even better than the real thing
Child...

Give me one last chance
And Im gonna make you sing
Give me half a chance
To ride on the waves that you bring

Youre honey child to a swarm of bees
Gonna blow right through you like a breeze
Give me one last dance
Well slide down the surface of things

Youre the real thing
Yeah the real thing
Youre the real thing
Even better than the real thing
Child...

Were free to fly the crimson sky
The sun wont melt our wings tonight

Oh now...here she comes

Take me higher
Take me higher
You take me higher
You take me higher

Youre the real thing
Yeah the real thing
Youre the real thing
Even better than the real thing
Even better than the real thing
Even better than the real thing

Living with Hope

It is a fine balance; living with hope, expecting more and better and at the same time being content with what you have. I want to be dissatisfied with what is wrong, not settling for things to remain just as they are and at the same time to be excited by what could and not dissatisfied with the way they turn out at the present.

It has to be hope. Hope allows us to know the best is yet to come and yet to wait patiently since we live with the assurance that it will come. That is why we need our young. They still have the ability to live in the present but to look forward with hope. They can see what is and dream of what could be.

Noah captured this spirit perfectly this morning. We have been getting a hint of fall in the last few days. It has been cooler in the morning, the humidity lessening in its oppression. This morning it was 64 degrees. Also we have had a steady downpour since early morning. As we were getting ready for church Noah said, "If it was only 37 degrees cooler it would be snowing!" If you do not live south of the I30 snow barrier you might not understand the full impact of this expectation. In 17 years in Tyler we have never had a snowstorm and only flurries of snow on rare occasions. It is hope that allows Noah see what could be.

As Christians our hope is not just what could be, be what will. We look to that day. The greatest moment in time is yet to be, but it will come. I will see you on that day.

Song of the Day

I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For
U2

Dedicated to the new college freshman. May you dream and hope for what can and will be.

I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like a fire
(I was) burning inside her

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
But yes I'm still running

You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross
Of my shame
Oh my shame
You know I believe it

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

On Her Birthday

Today is the day, October 3, on which my mother was born. I honor her memory today with a story...

When I was about to get married my mom gave me a wrapped present. It was a small, jewelry type box. I opened it to find two small strips of cloth. She asked, "Do you know what those are?" Since I had no idea I responded, "No." She went on to tell me they were the apron strings. She then explained that she understood that I was starting my family. She was "cutting the apron strings. She expected for my loyalty to be to my new wife and future kids. She gave me permission to put my family before her, my dad and my siblings. She had loved me and now she was setting me free to love as I had never done before.

28 years of marriage and 5 kids later, this remains one of the greatest gifts I ever received. May I bless others in similar ways. May I continue to show the love to others that you showed to me. May I continue to grow love in my family that I first learned from you. May I release it in the next generation.

Song of the Day

Love Grows Love
Caedmon's Call

Dedicated to mom

you said to “put on a happy face”
on a high school stage
but I read what you really meant
in your handwriting on a Bible page
you waited like you told me
though we knew it right away,
it took eight and a half more years
to finally say

I fell in love with you
and that love became something new
it keeps getting stronger
than we ever could have longed
love keeps growing more love

when we got the news
we had to call our families
and start painting the room
a nice, bright blue
our vows they started breathing
and they took on flesh and blood
and we held them in our arms
and tasted God was good

I fell in love with you
and that love became something new
it added a name and it added a smile
it keeps getting bigger every further mile
there on your bended knee
we sewed the seeds of our history
they’re coming up stronger
than we ever could have longed
love keeps growing more love

if love is an echo of the heart
the heart is a canyon
that stretches wild and free
without an end
and breaks through every wall
that holds us in

I’m on the other side of the world
to see what changed you so
my heart breaks with the broken
and it dances with the hope
you told me I would find here
but I could not understand
until I’m walking here beside you
hand in hand

Hope Comes

This video Inspires me to use the abundant resources that I have to the Glory of God. I wished to be blown to new places by the Spirit of God!

Song of the Day

Rushing Wind
Keith Green

Dedicated to All Who Hear the Call

Rushing wind blow through this temple,
Blowing out the dust within,
Come and breathe you breath upon me,
Ive been born again.
Holy spirit, I surrender, take me where you want to go,

Happy Day

Noah has never had a birthday party with any of his friends. We have been in Abilene for ACU camps for everyone of his birthday celebrations. So last night he had a birthday party. His birthday was over 3 months ago, but it did not diminish the celebration. The exact day seems to be overrated. It was the reason and the company that made the night.

God gives us a gift everyday. He gives us a new day. Day to be reminded that we are washed by the blood of His son. A day to celebrate the relationship we have with Him. A day to celebrate the relationship with the people around us. Enjoy today.

Song of the Day #2

Explosions

Devo

Dedicated to Noah (Happy Birthday again!)

We like explosions that leave you feeling good
We like ideas that change the world for good
Theres nothing past the stop n go
Theres nothing but the ebb and flow
Theres nothing like some in and out
Theres nothing more than what you know
We like new places that jets cant take you to
We do like music when it does what it should do
Yes oh yeah
Yes oh yeah
Yes (we like) oh yeah (explosions)
Yes (we like) oh yeah (explosions)
We like explosions its only right we should
We like ideas we thought you understood
We like new places until theyre overrun
We do like music -- loud shots from the big spudgun

Tino Came to Texas

One amazing thing about the family of God is the relationships you can have. Last week a friend from Denver came to visit me in Texas. The thing that is amazing is not that we are friends, but the fact that we even met. I met Tino because I took some kids to Dry Bones in Denver. I went to Dry Bones because my son was interning there for the summer and one of the leaders used to be a punk kid from my home church. This punk kid later was my deacon when I worked in Dallas. Now he was helping my kid learn to be a better servant. Tino used to live on the street, but now reaches out to those who are where he used to be. That is where and why Tino and I became friends.

Tino had never been to Texas before this trip. So I did not mess around. I took him to the best ribs I know of in East Texas. We threw in some Don Juan's, working at the Karing Kitchen, moving walls for the Habitat House, cooking for the Wednesday night meal, and doing some sorting for LTC. After a stop for Taqueria Lugar and Tino fixing his style of ribs for my family, we ended the week with a full day at the Habitat House.

The good news Tino survived the humidity...barely. The better news is that I continue to marvel at the richness of relationships that God puts in my life. I look forward to new adventures with Tino and other people I know, but I also look forward to the adventures with those I have not even met.

Song of the Day

Dirty

Audio Adrenaline

Dedicated to Tino (Great working with you)

Tired of being clean, sick of being proper
I wanna live among the beggars
And dig out in the dirt
Step outside the walls we built to protect us
Don't be afraid to get some mud on your face

Come on, come on everybody
Come on, come on and serve someone

Let's get dirty, let's get used
No matter where you come from
If you're beaten up or bruised
Let's get foolish - let's get free
Free to be the one thing you were meant to be
Let's get dirty

You might get a bruise or some blisters on your fingers
You might start a question and wonder what it's worth
You may slip and fall from the burdens that you carry
But you can't have this treasure
'til you dig it from the dirt

You Think You Have It Rough

The Song of the Day

Dogs of War
Pink Floyd

Dedicated to Caleb ( for the dog and Pink Floyd)

The dogs of war dont negotiate
The dogs of war wont capitulate,
They will take and you will give,
And you must die so that they may live
You can knock at any door,
But wherever you go, you know theyve been there before
Well winners can lose and things can get strained
But whatever you change, you know the dogs remain.