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

What a week

Wow!!!  What a week!  I have been just kinda flowing through the week praying and doing my thing and then realized with the revelation of God that my intentional life post was great but look at what you are doing.  What does that mean you ask?  Well my job keeps me hopping as well as working many hours during the week.  This makes it challenging to get things done my days have to be planned very tightly and the slightest deviation causes me to get behind real quickly.  As I revisited my prayers the past few weeks they went something like this " Lord here is what I have planned today help me get it done so I have time to spend with my family and serving you."  Sounds like an OK prayer on the sureface trying to get my work done, spending time with family and serving him right?  Well I was challenged by this cause if you know me you know or I have probably shared that I struggle with this.  I seem to get caught up in my schedule and what I need to accomplish.  Well I need to work on this cause I know what I should be doing yet I keep falling back into this mode.  Lord help me to seek your schedule first and then plan my schedule around yours.  Let me look for where you are working throughout the day and then adjust my schedule to be involved however you want me to be involved. 
My prayer for anyone reading this is that you will not fall into the same habits I have of asking God to bless your plans but instead ask God to show you his plans and how your plans can work within His plans.  Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you!!!!

Have a blessed weekend

What is Intentional Life?

So here we go!  Lately I have been contemplating what is going on with me and how did I get where I am currently.  We had a great sermon preached on Sunday talking about the principle of the path which reminded me of the book I read a year ago by the same title.  They both talk about how each of us are on a path and decisions we make affect where we go on this path and the direction we take.  Example:  If I get in my car and get on Hwy 75 south and keep going south as it turns to I-45 south and I want to get to Oklahoma I can pray, I can stop and ask for directions ( yeah right I'm a guy we don't do that!), I could call a friend and get some counsel.  One thing that will never happen is I will never get to Oklahoma unless I turn around!  So as this week has been going and God has been speaking to me and putting on my heart to start his blog I thought well what have you been telling me God this week and even the past few months?  As I reflected it became real clear that in the past few months and up to Sunday's message God has been reminding me that if I want to live the life he has set out for me then I have to be intentional about it!  You see God has a plan for each of us and specific things He wants us to accomplish, however he does allow us to make decisions and because we are all sinful we often times make the wrong decisions so basically we are going to Oklahoma via Florida, or as the group Supertramp might say we are taking the long way home. 
What He is reminding me of is the fact that I should wrestle and bring every decision to Him for guidance and He will get me there a lot quicker.  The Bible says be in prayer continually ding ding ding!!!!!  talking to God all the time all day long what a concept!  You see for me it is so easy to get distracted and caught up in the day to day that I start making decisions on my own and next thing I know I am way off course.  So what is intentional life?  for me it is making a conscious decision each morning to think and take intentional steps to live like Christ would live.  See where God is working and get involved.  If you stop and look you will see Him working!  Join me and lets all be intentional with our lives, what we do and how we do it to glorify God!!