Contemplative

So 2012, I have been away from blogging for a while.  but with the start of 2012 and several things that I have seen and heard it is obvious God is moving more prevalent in 2012 at least in my life it seems.  I guess I should explain.  I stopped blogging due to time constraints at work, and many of you know my work situation so I will not go into that.  Starting mid December I began being very contemplative about what my relationship with Christ was like as I was growing up and the Christian music that was coming about at that time.  When Jan 1 hit and Chuck Smith announced his cancer I began feeling God tugging on my heart.  You see I used to go to the free concerts at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa every week and it was a great time of growth and fellowship for me and my friends.  I watched an interview that Greg Laurie did with pastor Chuck and as I listened I began thinking about those times and how I felt about my relationship to Christ and Church.  God has blessed me so much with a fantastic wife and my kids are just awesome!!  They are all about serving and ministering for Christ!  What I don't know is if they could truly say they were totally stoked to go to church (I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord! Psalm 122:1).  You see I was always glad to be at the church and bring my friends to church when I was growing up, all my friends were and did as well.  I wonder if my kids truly could truly say that.  I have not asked them yet but I am praying about what God has for me in 2012 and I can tell you this I feel change is coming and I am excited about doing His work.  My goal has always been to be in full-time ministry and that has not come to fruition up to now, and I don;t know if it will but i know He is moving and I want to be part of what He is doing.  I saw a shirt that I also purchased at the Barrett Jackson aution,  It says in bold leaters on the back UNLEASHED.  I think that is my theme for 2012 Unleashed for Christ!!  I believe that His message to me is what are you waiting for I have unleashed you now go and do what I have told you to do!!  Thank you Lord for trusting me a sinner with Your message and ministry!!  Be blessed my friends and always seek Him in all you do!!!!!!

How Real Do You Want Me To Be?

OK, so I am back from vacation which was great went to Florida, Spent some time with my parents and son doing some fishing.  Then my wonderful wife surprised me with a 3 day trip just her and I to Beaver's Bend Oklahoma!  Again I had a great time re-connecting with my wife outside our busyness at home.  As I was uploading the pictures I took in both places I was amazed at the beauty of God's creation.  Not that it is new but he allowed me to get some great pictures of landscape and animals which a couple people sometimes never get to see in real life.  I was sitting there pausing and thanking Him for the opportunity to get these images and he brought to my mind a time when I was living in California and during a preparation time for teaching youth He asked me a question.  Not that I heard his audible voice, but I knew this was from Him.  Are you ready? The question was " You keep praying that I will be real to you and these kids, welhow real do you want me to be?"  He brings this back to me periodically when I am struggling with something or just am discourage with where I am in my life.  So I have been meditating on this question for the past several days.  How real do I want God to be in my life?   That sounds like a stupid qustion for a Christian because we all should want God to be totally real in our lives right?  I do want that butwhat I find is I let  others things creep in and all of the sudden I feel far away from God and lost in what I am doing.  As I look at my life God has shown His provision for me both before my marriage and all through my marriage.  The times I seem far away from God when I look I realize He has not gone anywhere it is I that have walked away.  I don't mean walked awayfrom Christianity, let me draw you a mental picture see God is a perfect gentleman and He allows us to choose remember that as I go on painting here.  So He holds us in His hand to protect us from evil nothing can take us out of His hand or separate us from Him right.  I however can choose to walk out of His hand.  He does discipline those He loves and I have found He prods me to get me back around.  So back to the answer to the question.  I want Him to be very real in my life both to and through me!!  Once again we go back to being intentional.  I would not expect t have a close personal relationship with someone I never spend time with or hang out with.  Same goes for God if I want to be close to Him and allow Him to be real, I mean really real to and through me I have to spend time getting to know Him and learning from Him through the Bible (His word) and others He brings into my life.  He knows allabout me there is nothing I can hide from Him!  He also loves me so much He waits for me longing to be totally real to me and it is I that hinder that!  Lord please help me get out of the way!!  So those of you that are journeying with me God has asked me to pose the same question to you " How Real Do You Want God to Be?"  both in your life and through your life.  I love you guys and thanks for listening and walking with me.  Feel free to email or make comments on this and let's grow together.  God is begining something le's watch together and get involved in His work around us as He orchestrates His plan.  Thanks again for reading

Let's get together for coffee!!

Spent some time with a great friend the other day and as we were talking and sharing he shared something from a book I hadn't read in a long time titled "Ordering Your Private World" and that was meeting with God.  He shared that it hit him that he had been doing his quiet time as an assignment or because he felt he had to.  What it should be is like when he and I get together.  It was great as we talked through this!  You see if he and I set a meeting for coffee we show up it would  be very uncomfortable for either of us if we just didn't show up.  Then we got into how many times have we left God hanging cause we set an appointment with him to hang out and talk and because something came up or we just couldn't wake up we don't show up!  I will be the first to say guilty on many occasions myself!  I also as I discussed in an earlier entry tend to go to God and say Lord here is my day bless it, instead of asking Him what are you gonna do today and how can I get involved.  You see we always think that God is going to ask us to do something that will disrupt our lives.  I challenge this, I think that God wants to use us in our sphere of influence so I think He is moving all around us we just miss it so many times cause we are all caught up in everything within that looking external is hard.  It all  again comes back to living intentionally for Him!!  It is hard, not because it really is hard but because we are human and we are sinners and get distracted.  Like the dog Doug in the movie Up "Squirrel!!!!"  God knows this He knows us that is why in the Bible it says many times keep your eyes on Him don't get distracted by the squirrels.  Let's all re-focus and set our eyes on Him!  He will work in us and through us, oh and He will also be there for us when we fall on hard times ourselves.  Let Him use you!  Thanks for reading and doing life with me!!!  Talk to you soon!!

Fat Little Babies

Great Sunday of worship and praise!!  The message was on serving and as my pastor Bruce Miller was bringing the message I was reminded of an Amy Grant song called "Fat Little Baby" and as I was pondering that song the great thing was Bruce looked straight out into the congregation and made the comment "Are you just gonns take?"  Things to ponder!  As I was speaking to some friends after the service we all agreed we were glad we were serving and as Bruce walked up we told him we appreciated him making that statement.  I know it is easy to sit and judge but that is not at all what was going on.  You see Christ calls us to serve!  He re-itterated it by washing his disciples feet.  I am not saying you have to shut everything else off but in some way shape or form as Christians we should be serving.  What is your passion?  What would you do if money was no object?  Start serving toward that capacity.  God has put that desire in your heart for a reason.  My passion happens to be marriage and I try to do whatever I can to help as many marriages as I can.  Many times it is just lending an ear, or my wife and I providing a meal.  The great thing about it is it never gets old helping others with their relationships and watching God move in their lives.  So this weeks blog post is a short one but for those of you that read my challenge is find what your passion is and begin serving God in that capacity then watch as He begins to minister to and through you!  He is the God of miracles and the second(third, fourth, fifth,etc..) chance!  It is never too late to jump on board with what He is doing around you and move in the passion He has given you!  Thanks for reading with me and doing life together with me.  Have an awesome week all!  Talk to you soon!

Love is a decision

OK so part of intentional life is my marriage!  I know some of you have read my facebook status when I have written how much I am blessed by God giving me my wife.  As I listen to the radio and watch TV I look at how we as a culture have minimzed marriage!  If you are happily married great if not then I will pray that God will work on your heart and help you see His plan.  You see I am truly blessed, but it isn't always easy there are frustrations and times when I don't feel loved or that my needs aren't being met.  What need to tell you is that doesn't matter you see it's not all about me.  God has trusted me specifically with my wife Jan and all my Kids ( That aren't so much Kids anymore).  That's right for some reason God thought that I could lead them spiritually.  I don't mean lording it over them but setting the example, talking through things with them, basically doing life together and working out our Salvation.  They watch me and how I handle things and how I talk to people.  Am I perfect (Ha,ha,ha,ha) talk to Jan and you will see how far off I am but that's OK cause you see God takes up the slack for me.  Does that mean I don't have to try absolutely not it just means that when I totally screw up ( which I do many times) He is there and gives grace to me!  He somehow allows my wife to put up with me and she sometimes gets very frustrated with me.  Now some of you out there are divorced and you know that happens.  It is not God's plan but it happens there is grace for that as well if you are re-married then love that spouse.  You see you decide who you love and who you do not love.  Yes that's right oh there is infatuation and lust and attraction and twitterpatedness but ultimately you make the decision who you are going to love and not love.  I made a decision  over 23 years ago now to love my wife.  Not love her if or because but just to love her and God has honored that by giving her the patience to live with me.  Guys we are told in Ephesians to love our wives as Christ loved the Church that is not a suggestion that is how we are commanded to love our wives.  You know what that means?   No matter what we are to love them.  Every morning I wake up and look over and fall in love with my wife all over again and say to myself God you have blessed me with this wonderful woman and I choose to love her thank you for this blessing!  My prayer is that each of you reading this will find that whether you are dating, happily married, not happily married, divorced and dating, divorced and re-married.  Look at the other person and remember they are a child of the King and He has blessed you for this time to be in their lives so enjoy the blessing don't let the enemy edge his way in!   When frustration or whatever come in remember you decide what you are going to do are you going to choose to love through it or not the decision is yours!  Now if you are in an abusive situation then I would say get out cause I believe God does not want that!  If you are divorced this not a condemnation but to let you know God can and will forgive that but please understand what kind of love He is telling us to have towards our spouse and don't date someone you would not consider marrying guard your heart!  I love you guys and thanks for listening to my rant!  I just don't want the enemy to win against marriage and family and it breaks my heart where we have gone.

To Live or Die

So a friend of mine posted a comment on his facebook about changing the question from "If you died would you go to heaven?" to "If you knew you would live forever what kind of person would you like to become?"  this got me thinking about me and my sphere of influence and how some of the conversations I have had with good christian people the comment has been made I would die for Christ or the gospel.  That is great and if it ever came to that and my death would glorify Christ then so be it, however I think too many times we get caught up in the dying for Christ and not so much on the living for Christ.  It is true we are to die to ourselves that means living sacrificially.  The real challenge I feel is actually living for Christ wherever you are.  It is no secret that I struggle in my job and the hours I put inand some of the situations I am placed in by my employer, but this past week as I am wrestling with this whole thing I was sitting sround co-miserating with a friend and he made a comment that I haven't heard since my grandmother passed away years ago.  The comment "Well it is up to me to bloom where I am planted"  wow God you sure know how to meet us where we are at!  Thatis it in a nutshell to live for Christ is to bloom where I am planted be a willing participant in what God is doing around me.  Whatever  God has called me to be doing when He comes back I had better be doing.  I would be devistated if I was doing my own thing and I get a tap on the shoulder and there is Christ asking me what I was doing when He asked me to be doing something different.  There are many times I am so frustrated I can't see straight but the one thing that keeps me is the fact that knowing somehow God will use me where I am if I let Him.  My prayer for all of us is that we learn to see God working around where we are and take part in it!  Again it leads me back to living intentionally for Him.  It is becoming clearer why He wanted me to name this blog Intentional Life.  He keeps bringing me back to that truth.  Please know that I am not preaching cause as stated in my first entry this blog is a window to anyone who wants to see what God is doing in and with me, with the hope that He will use it to minister somehow to someone else out there that needs to see what He can and is willing to do if we let Him.  Thank you for reading and I hope you will continue to follow and walk with me.  Let's all get out there and live for Him and His glory!!!

The Christian Bubble

Yesterday I was struck by a conversation that was being had via facebook with my wife.  At first I was angry at what was going on on the conversation then saddened and then frustrated for God.  You see it all started with the asking of an opinion of Harry Potter and the movies that are so popular.  OK now I am going to be messing with some and with others you know my heart and that is to further the gospel of Christ!  Of course the person who asked for the opinion then proceded to state that these movies were evil and that anyone in leadership should never see these movies.  Look I am not perfect and I try my best not to judge but in this case I say shinanigans!!  I truly believe that some people based on their history and spiritual condition should absolutely refrain, but I get so tired of Christians that want to eclude themselves in a the what I call the Christian bubble.  In 1 Cornthinas 9 Paul talks about liberty and that he became all things to all men so he might win more to Christ.  Why is it that Christians want to separate themselves from the world all together?  It is amazing to me that when a young person decides to go into full time ministry we cheer and pray and for some reason they are placed on this higher plane yet those young people that want to play music or act or be involved in anything other than church work they don't get quite the same support and prayer.  We as Christians get so caught up in dont listen to anything but Christian music or watch anything other than Christian TV or movies.  How am I supposed to minister to things I have no clue on?  I have non-Christian friends that love Harry Potter it would be great if I could take some things from Harry potter and use them to help turn these people on to Christ.  But that would never happen if I don't have knowledge of Harry Potter as we are talking about movies.  You see my God is so much bigger than what the movie is or the music is or the TV show, or if I am in a bar.  My God can use anything for His Kingdom's glory!!  Now let me also say though it would not be wise if I am an alcoholic to go to a bar to try and win people to Christ, if I am addicted or struggle with pornography then I should take care as to what movies and TV I watch.  My old Pastor Ed Tandy McGlasson used to and probably still does go to pool halls play pool and share the gospel with those there.  He doesn't beat them over the head he just plays in such a way that in conversation they find out he is a pastor and they are in such dis-belief that a pastor would be at a pool hall playing pool that they are now open to speaking to him about things other than pool but he can get in and get to the hurts and pains in their lives and share Christ with them.  Ladies and Gentlemen my challenge to all of us is as the salt of the earth we need to get out of the shaker and actual begin to season and flavor the world instead of hiding behind the we are Christians and we should not touch or do anything that is not quote Christian.  When Christ prayed for his disciples he prayed that God not take them out of the world but that He protect them as they stay and work in the world.  Working in the world is just that so you might get a bit dirty but God has promised to not let us go as long as we keep our eyes on Him.  Trust Him be racical get involved talk to people live life with people don't judge them pray for them and serve them and watch what God will do in you and through you!  My prayer for all of us is that we will all step outside our comfort zone and actually make a difference for Him.

Thanks for listening to my rant everyone may God use it somehow