where i have been

i have been in Austin, TX for the last few days.  i love this city.  i have never been here, but it is a challenging city for me.  it is very ... organic, in more than one sense of the word.  very local.  it has it's own personality...it isn't cookie cutter at all.  that is cool to me.  

i am here for Q.  you can read about it at the web site.  i can't write about it just yet.  my mind is reeling, but i will say this.  Q is the best conference i have ever been to.  there is such an authentic desire to further the gospel, to engage culture, to be authentic.  Gabe Lyons, founder of Q, said on the first day.  "There is not much difference between presenter and participant."  That seemed like just words to me, until I experienced intimate conversations with several of the presenters.   These are very real people, not super star pastors or super star business leaders...although some of them are.  they aren't.  

i'll try and post more later as some of this stuff later, as i hash it out in my head/heart.

forgetting

i forget lots of things!  eric cooper was walking out of the house the other day and had forgotten something that he needed to have.  in a moment of haste, i said,"buddy...why is it that you can remember so many little things about stuff that happened 4 years ago, but you cant remember to grab your back pack!?"  he said something like, "i don't know dad.  i guess i don't have a good memory."  he felt very dejected.  i felt like a jerk.  

i had to stop in that moment and remember that i do the EXACT same thing!  so, i told him.  "You know who else does that very same thing?  ME"  and we went on to have a great conversation and i am sure there were even doves flying around or something...maybe not the doves, but it could've happened.

anyway, i read a passage of scripture this morning that reminded me of my good, selective memory. 2 Peter 1:5-9 It is a pretty recognizable passage of scripture.  add faith to goodness, knowledge to self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.  we are supposed to make every effort to have these qualities.  because if you have these, they will keep you from being unproductive and ineffective.  BUT if you don't have them, i love what scripture says, "he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

i have a selective memory AND i can be very nearsighted.  i am focused on things that happen today or even down to an exact moment.  i forget sometimes how i am.  sometimes it seems like i forget who i am.

then, i had to do an inventory of those qualities.  i had to remember that i am not who i was.  i had to remember i have been CLEANSED.  

maybe you need to remember that today as well...or maybe just me.

love/hate with flying

i am not a huge fan of flying.  it isnt probably a hate relationship...but i do get a little nervous at every take off. landing and any turbulence.  BUT i LOVE flying by myself and the reading time i have to my self.  it is like i have to shut down...no internet, no phone, i hate dragging my lap top out unless i have to...so i read.  

i get more reading done on a 2 hour flight than 2 weeks at home.  right now i am reading 5 dysfunction's of a team by Patrick Lencioni.  GREAT BOOK for anyone having to lead up forming a team, working with a team or leading a team!  and it isn't your typical 'leadership' book, it is a fable.  so it reads like a novel.  very cool!  i am about 2/3 of the way through it.  

so, hope you have had a good week!  talk to ya later!

playing

uncle daniel...get outta my face.

uncle daniel...get outta my face.  

i'm sitting on my meme with my peepers.

i got out of icu today...  

thanks for all the prayers.  everything that could have gone right, did.  thank you LORD.

prayer update...

well, he made it through the surgery great!  thank you LORD. And he is now in recovery and very heavily medicated to keep him from feeling the pain.  so, now we need to pray for a speedy recovery!  he is so young and been through so much! it really is a reminder how fragile life is....  

another post maybe....  keep praying for now!

AND thanks to all of you who have been praying!!!  God bless you all!!!!

pray

this is lincoln.  he is 2.  he is a stud.  he is my nephew.  he is having open heart surgery in the morning to remove a growth on his heart.  the doctors say it isn't a big deal.  they don't know how much he means to us.  so, if you would...please, remember him in your prayers.  

i believe this passage in scripture, so i am asking in Jesus name.  keep this little boy safe.  give his parents a peace when they hand him off to the nurses.  let him recover quickly.  praise God for every moment he gives us.

the Church, the Bride...what does it look like?

as we have talked about on here, our small group is SLOWLY going through The Shack.  It has been well documented that it is fiction and a good story and fiction...we discussed this on here a while back in this post.

a great thought is in chapter 13 when Mack had been to see the judge behind the waterfall, he comes out and is talking with Jesus.  He says;

"Was i seeing heaven when i was seeing missy?  it looked a lot like here."  

"Well, Mack, our final destiny is not the picture of heaven you have stuck in your head--you know, the image of pearly gates and streets of gold.  Instead, it's a new cleansing of this universe, so it will indeed look a lot like here."

"Then what's with the pearly gates and gold stuff?"

"That stuff my brother," Jesus began lying back on the dock and closing his eyes against the warmth and brightness of the day, "is a picture of me and the woman I'm in love with."

...

"It is a picture of my bride, the church: individuals who together form a spiritual city with a living river flowing through the middle, and on both shores trees growing with fruit that will heal the hurts and sorrows of the nations.  And this city is always open, and each gate into it is made of a single pearl..." He opened one eye and looked at Mack.  "That would be me!" He saw Mack's question and explained, "Pearls, Mack.  The only precious stone made by pain, suffering, and - finally - death."

what a beautiful description of the C-hurch.  i made the comment, i would love to find a church like that!  one member said something like, well if you do, there wouldn't be any people in it.  just jokingly.  but it got me to thinking... is it possible to find something like this now?  a church like this now?  not perfect, but similar.  if these verses in 2 Peter are true, wouldn't it be true that we ought to be looking more and more like the church that is being described in Revelation 21-22? I'm not saying it will look exactly like that, but shouldn't the C-hurch be looking more and more like that?

Maybe it is?  I don't know.  I'm just asking is it possible for a local new testament body to look more and more like this description?  

am i a terrible person?

i have a small confession to make.  i would rather listen to secular radio stations over christian radio stations.  most days...i don't think christian radio stations are that good.  the dj's seem like they are either WAY out of touch with anybody who MIGHT not be a christian and actually listen for more than 20 seconds.  OR they just try way too hard to be some shock jock christian radio person or something...  

the music is ok from time to time and i do listen to worship style, contemporary christian music from time to time.  a lot of the time actually...but it is usually from a cd or on my ipod.  

i am in my car a lot.  i travel in my car for a living, so i listen to stations all over this area.  not just the greater springfield area...and almost inevitably, when channel surfing in a new area...i can tell if it is a christian radio station before they identify themselves as one.  the way they talk, the music, the commercials, them always asking for money...listener supported in their tag line.  so, by me saying i can identify them as a christian station, to me isn't really a positive...

anyway, dont know if i was feeling convicted or what...just thought i would confess my sins to the world wide web...lol  

is anyone with me or am i a terrible person all by myself?

thanks eric cooper

my boy is a little like his dad sometimes.  he is a bit obsessive from time to time.  every since he was little, i am talking like 3 or 4, he has worn his socks inside out.  not only are they inside out, all of his socks are one particular kind.  why?  because the others hurt his feet...

i have always poked fun at him because of this...well, today, i would like to say i am sorry.  i am realizing how brilliant he really is.  i never can find matches to my socks, b/c they are all different kinds.  so, i need to eliminate all but my favorite kind and i won't have that problem.

i told you he always wears them inside out.  why?  b/c of the line at the foot of you sock where they sow it together...it bothers him.  so, when you turn it inside out....your toes have the same smoothness the rest of your foot enjoys!  this morning, i found the pair of socks that i believe to be one of my favorite brands.  put them on, went to the gym to run.  the socks feel really good, except for the toes...hmm...turned them bad boys inside out and voila!  perfect socks! 

it is taking me a while, but i am coming around to his way of thinking...