Fun for One Person Could be Weird to Another
In 2000, I discovered I weighted 220 pounds so I went on a diet; I lost 45 pounds. From 2000 to 2005, I gained about half of it back. In 2006, I put myself on a diet (again) and added going to the gym; I lost what I gained. My exercise routine at the time was walking on the treadmill for an hour. When I lost my weight, I kept going to the gym and added weight training and swimming. I went from walking on the treadmill to running outside. In 2007, Teresa told me that the route I would run was equal to a 5K so I started training to run in my first one in 2008. My first 5K was in April of 2008 and I never looked back. In that same year, I race an 8K mud race and the Va Beach Rock-n-Roll half marathon. The following year, I ran in another half marathon and my first extreme trail race (“Muddy Buddy”). I enjoy running in regular foot races but I’m starting to love these extreme trail races. In 2011, I’ve only done one street race and I’ve done two extreme trail races with another one planned for October.
After completing the Merrell Down and Dirty on August 28, I sent this note to some friends;
“After this weekend, I wanted to register for a race called “Tough Mudder” but I saw that it was all full. The race is Oct 22-23 and it was full by July 7. I may try to do it next year if they come back to VA. The good thing about it being full is that I won't be missing church because the race is in Wintergreen, VA. I was talking with one of the directors here at work about how I wanted to do one more extreme race and he told me about "Warrior Dash." I looked it up and I've told Teresa I want to do this one. It's just south of Richmond and it's being held on a Tuesday (Oct 1). If Teresa agrees, I'll take a few days off from work and we'll go up as a family. I look at it this way, I can do these things now and one day I won't be able to but I'll have the memories.
Remember, pain is weakness leaving the body. Sanity is over rated! PEACE!”
The Warrior Dash has obstacles that are little more intense than what was in the Down and Dirty but I think it will be fun. Below are some photos from my last race. Remember, what is fun to me might make others wonder if I’m crazy. The answer is yes but sanity is overrated.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
We Are Not Okay
I’ve been thinking about how we (humanity) have a strange way of comparing ourselves with others. I know we do this to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. We can always find someone fatter, dumber, poorer, and the list can go on. I think that’s why so many people like to compare their sinfulness with others. They think, “I’m not as bad as Joe Blow, so I’m okay.” That is so far from the truth.
There are no degrees of sin. Sin is sin. Homosexuality is not worse then gossiping; they are equally evil in the eyes of God. It goes back to where Jesus spoke regarding the person with the 2x4 coming out of their eye trying to tell the other person to get the speck out of theirs. God is the ultimate judge where sin comes in. He says in the book of Romans that everyone (all of humanity) has committed sins and because of our sinful acts, we are fallen short of His glory. God also says in the book of Romans that the wages or earnings of sin is death (both physical and spiritual).
The New Testament uses 5 main Greek words for sin, which together portray its various aspects, both passive and active. In each case either a standard is failed to be reached or a line deliberately crossed. It is assumed throughout scripture that the law was established by God. It is, in fact, His moral law, which expresses his righteous character. Sin is in itself self-centeredness.
In the book “Whatever Became of Sin,” Karl Menninger (a psychiatrist) shares his thoughts on how society has removed the word sin from our vocabulary. In describing the indefinite feeling of western society, its general mood of gloom and doom, Karl Menninger adds that “one misses any mention of ‘sin.’” Enquiring into the cases of sin’s disappearance, Menninger notes first that “many former sins have become crimes, “ so that responsibility for dealing with them has passed from church to state, from priest to policeman, while others have dissipated into sicknesses, or at least into symptoms of sickness, so that in their cases punishment has been replaced by treatment. A third convenient device called “collective irresponsibility” has enabled us to transfer the blame for some of our deviant behavior from ourselves as individuals to society as a whole or to one of its many groupings.”
You can see how our society has removed the seriousness of sin out of our thoughts. We think that what I do in my house or mind is nowhere near as bad as my co-worker, neighbor, family member, etc. I’m okay. It’s not until we are shown how bad we are in our sins that change can happen, but we cannot change ourselves.
Religion is man’s attempt to work on making ourselves better. Jesus told the religious leaders of His day that they were white washed tombs; looking pretty from the outside but were full of death and decay. It is God that can change us. God paid for the sins of humanity in the form of Jesus Christ; the gift of God is eternal life through the washing of our sin in Jesus’ blood. Once we accept this gift from God, we are forever changed.
Christianity is not a religion; true Christianity is a relationship with God through the gift of Jesus Christ, and the drawing of the Holy Spirit.
I’ve been thinking about how we (humanity) have a strange way of comparing ourselves with others. I know we do this to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. We can always find someone fatter, dumber, poorer, and the list can go on. I think that’s why so many people like to compare their sinfulness with others. They think, “I’m not as bad as Joe Blow, so I’m okay.” That is so far from the truth.
There are no degrees of sin. Sin is sin. Homosexuality is not worse then gossiping; they are equally evil in the eyes of God. It goes back to where Jesus spoke regarding the person with the 2x4 coming out of their eye trying to tell the other person to get the speck out of theirs. God is the ultimate judge where sin comes in. He says in the book of Romans that everyone (all of humanity) has committed sins and because of our sinful acts, we are fallen short of His glory. God also says in the book of Romans that the wages or earnings of sin is death (both physical and spiritual).
The New Testament uses 5 main Greek words for sin, which together portray its various aspects, both passive and active. In each case either a standard is failed to be reached or a line deliberately crossed. It is assumed throughout scripture that the law was established by God. It is, in fact, His moral law, which expresses his righteous character. Sin is in itself self-centeredness.
In the book “Whatever Became of Sin,” Karl Menninger (a psychiatrist) shares his thoughts on how society has removed the word sin from our vocabulary. In describing the indefinite feeling of western society, its general mood of gloom and doom, Karl Menninger adds that “one misses any mention of ‘sin.’” Enquiring into the cases of sin’s disappearance, Menninger notes first that “many former sins have become crimes, “ so that responsibility for dealing with them has passed from church to state, from priest to policeman, while others have dissipated into sicknesses, or at least into symptoms of sickness, so that in their cases punishment has been replaced by treatment. A third convenient device called “collective irresponsibility” has enabled us to transfer the blame for some of our deviant behavior from ourselves as individuals to society as a whole or to one of its many groupings.”
You can see how our society has removed the seriousness of sin out of our thoughts. We think that what I do in my house or mind is nowhere near as bad as my co-worker, neighbor, family member, etc. I’m okay. It’s not until we are shown how bad we are in our sins that change can happen, but we cannot change ourselves.
Religion is man’s attempt to work on making ourselves better. Jesus told the religious leaders of His day that they were white washed tombs; looking pretty from the outside but were full of death and decay. It is God that can change us. God paid for the sins of humanity in the form of Jesus Christ; the gift of God is eternal life through the washing of our sin in Jesus’ blood. Once we accept this gift from God, we are forever changed.
Christianity is not a religion; true Christianity is a relationship with God through the gift of Jesus Christ, and the drawing of the Holy Spirit.
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Extending Grace
I’ve learned much from Roger Allen (Senior Pastor of Common Ground) over the last 6 years. In leading people and working with a volunteer labor force, he is good in dealing with people and extending grace. He always says, “You never know what they maybe going through so give grace” when they fail to show up. There is accountability but it’s accountability with grace. I have to admit, with my personality, I’m an extremist with everything. In my commitment to God and His church, I am either all in or not in at all so it’s hard for me sometimes to understand when people say they will do something for God or the church and never do it or do it half hearted.
We had something that happened Sunday that broke my heart and again Roger encouraged me to give grace. I’ve been getting my arms around our little church’s children ministry and getting it to run smoothly. We have two very committed ladies who are taking turns leading the weekly children church. They are both very committed and I thank God for them every week. In the 6 years I’ve been with Common Ground, I’ve known a different lady who has committed twice to help with the children’s ministry but either doesn’t stick around or drops the ball completely. The lady knows her stuff with children’s ministry and has worked in this ministry at other churches but seems to never follow through when it comes to our little church. She is back with us and wants to help with this ministry. She’s filled in during the summer and I know she is ready to get connected in the rotation. I had scheduled a meeting after church this past Sunday to discuss the plan for the fall and I had a call from her helper before I left for church. The lady was on her way to a local amusement park with her grandchildren. Through text messages, I saw that she had forgotten about the meeting and didn’t see the reminder e-mail. What broke my heart is that she says she is committed but she doesn’t come to church on the weeks she’s not teaching. I will extend grace when I call her this week and let her know what the plan we discussed on Sunday for the fall.
In my Bible reading today, God allowed me to see 1 Thessalonians 2: 7 (But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.). With Ripley, my 21 month old daughter, I extend grace to her all the time because she is learning to obey Teresa and me when we are trying to teach her. I think that I should extend the same to the people that God has entrusted me to shepherd. I am so thankful to God for giving me eyes to see what He wanted me to see today in His love letter to me.
I’ve learned much from Roger Allen (Senior Pastor of Common Ground) over the last 6 years. In leading people and working with a volunteer labor force, he is good in dealing with people and extending grace. He always says, “You never know what they maybe going through so give grace” when they fail to show up. There is accountability but it’s accountability with grace. I have to admit, with my personality, I’m an extremist with everything. In my commitment to God and His church, I am either all in or not in at all so it’s hard for me sometimes to understand when people say they will do something for God or the church and never do it or do it half hearted.
We had something that happened Sunday that broke my heart and again Roger encouraged me to give grace. I’ve been getting my arms around our little church’s children ministry and getting it to run smoothly. We have two very committed ladies who are taking turns leading the weekly children church. They are both very committed and I thank God for them every week. In the 6 years I’ve been with Common Ground, I’ve known a different lady who has committed twice to help with the children’s ministry but either doesn’t stick around or drops the ball completely. The lady knows her stuff with children’s ministry and has worked in this ministry at other churches but seems to never follow through when it comes to our little church. She is back with us and wants to help with this ministry. She’s filled in during the summer and I know she is ready to get connected in the rotation. I had scheduled a meeting after church this past Sunday to discuss the plan for the fall and I had a call from her helper before I left for church. The lady was on her way to a local amusement park with her grandchildren. Through text messages, I saw that she had forgotten about the meeting and didn’t see the reminder e-mail. What broke my heart is that she says she is committed but she doesn’t come to church on the weeks she’s not teaching. I will extend grace when I call her this week and let her know what the plan we discussed on Sunday for the fall.
In my Bible reading today, God allowed me to see 1 Thessalonians 2: 7 (But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.). With Ripley, my 21 month old daughter, I extend grace to her all the time because she is learning to obey Teresa and me when we are trying to teach her. I think that I should extend the same to the people that God has entrusted me to shepherd. I am so thankful to God for giving me eyes to see what He wanted me to see today in His love letter to me.
Friday, August 05, 2011
One Powerful Book
Back in December, Teresa, Ripley, and I attended our small group’s Christmas party. Part of the celebration was exchanging gifts, but we made it a game. You could either keep the gift you got or take the one from the person who choose before you. After the dust settled, I came out ahead with a $15 gift card for Lifeway Book Store. No one wanted to take the card from the pastor; score!
I tend to order my books through Amazon.com because there prices are better than any Christian Book Store, but I left my book at the house on Thursday and I wanted to read so I went by the local store to see what they had. I prayed that God would have me pick the book that I could use to further His ministry. After looking at several sections, I found Max Lucado’s newest book “Outlive Your Life.” I’ve read several of his books and have never been disappointed so I used the $15 gift and paid the difference; $3.50. After working out at the YMCA, I relaxed and opened up the book.
I started reading it and finished it in five and half hours. Granted, I’m a very slow reader but this book has so many gold nuggets that I couldn’t put it down. This book is a study of the first 12 chapters of Acts. The book shows how a few faithful people can change the world. It’s a story of simple ordinary people, fishermen, and tax collectors. Acts is a story of a movement that exploded like a just-opened fire hydrant out of Jerusalem and spilled into the ends of the earth.
The content of this book hit me between the eyes several times. God convicted me on how I should be doing more for Him. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to do a small group study out of it.
I highlighted two sections of this book that hit me the hardest. The first one is in the 2nd chapter. The sentence is “God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.” The second section is actually the last 4 sentences of the book. My eyes were so filled with tears; I had to wipe my eyes to read them clearly. It reads, “None of us can help everyone. But all of us can help someone. And when we help them, we serve Jesus. Who would want to miss a chance to do that?”
If you’ve been wondering what can the church do to reach the lost world; this books simply shows how the early church did it with examples of what is being done now. God is still at work.
Back in December, Teresa, Ripley, and I attended our small group’s Christmas party. Part of the celebration was exchanging gifts, but we made it a game. You could either keep the gift you got or take the one from the person who choose before you. After the dust settled, I came out ahead with a $15 gift card for Lifeway Book Store. No one wanted to take the card from the pastor; score!
I tend to order my books through Amazon.com because there prices are better than any Christian Book Store, but I left my book at the house on Thursday and I wanted to read so I went by the local store to see what they had. I prayed that God would have me pick the book that I could use to further His ministry. After looking at several sections, I found Max Lucado’s newest book “Outlive Your Life.” I’ve read several of his books and have never been disappointed so I used the $15 gift and paid the difference; $3.50. After working out at the YMCA, I relaxed and opened up the book.
I started reading it and finished it in five and half hours. Granted, I’m a very slow reader but this book has so many gold nuggets that I couldn’t put it down. This book is a study of the first 12 chapters of Acts. The book shows how a few faithful people can change the world. It’s a story of simple ordinary people, fishermen, and tax collectors. Acts is a story of a movement that exploded like a just-opened fire hydrant out of Jerusalem and spilled into the ends of the earth.
The content of this book hit me between the eyes several times. God convicted me on how I should be doing more for Him. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to do a small group study out of it.
I highlighted two sections of this book that hit me the hardest. The first one is in the 2nd chapter. The sentence is “God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called.” The second section is actually the last 4 sentences of the book. My eyes were so filled with tears; I had to wipe my eyes to read them clearly. It reads, “None of us can help everyone. But all of us can help someone. And when we help them, we serve Jesus. Who would want to miss a chance to do that?”
If you’ve been wondering what can the church do to reach the lost world; this books simply shows how the early church did it with examples of what is being done now. God is still at work.
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Audience of the One
Over the years, I’ve learned what it truly means to worship God. Worshipping God is more than just singing praise and worship music over singing traditional hymns because I can worship God through both. When I was a Minister of Music I thought using praise music was leading the church to worship God and some of our folks did worship Him. Worshipping God is more than sing praise songs. We worship our God everyday, in the things we do, the words we say, and what we don’t say. We should live our lives for the audience of the One. I’m not saying we should live our lives like those with the philosophy of pleasing only themselves but living our lives in a way that will honor our God and Savior.
Remember, God is everywhere at one time. If you are a Christian, God indwells you in the form of the Holy Spirit. Whatever you do (good, bad, or indifferent) God is aware of it. If we truly understand the idea that God is with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days in a year, then that really should affect how we live our lives. We should live in a way that our lives should be a sweet smelling fragrance offering to our God; well pleasing to Him.
We will never be prefect this side of heaven, but we should have a walk that should be pleasing to God. King David was called a man after God’s own heart but if you ever read the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and see some of the things he did. It’s amazing the bad things he did yet he’s called this. Even through he did bad things, he also did great things for God and when it was all said and done, David confessed his sins and asked forgiveness of God. That’s why he is called a man after God’s own heart; he confessed his sins and sought out forgiveness.
One of my favorite worship songs is “The Potter’s Hand” because I can relate so much to it. I’ve put the words to the songs below to close out this posting. I pray the song makes you think.
Beautiful Lord, Wonderful Saviour
I know for sure, all of my days are held in your hands,
Crafted into your perfect plan
You gently call me into your presence guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life through Your eyes
I'm captured by Your holy calling
Set me apart, I know you're drawing me to yourself
Lead me Lord I pray
Chorus:
Take me, Mold me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the Potter's hand
Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter's hand
You gently call me into your presence guiding me by your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life through your eyes
I'm captured by your Holy calling
set me apart, I know your drawing me to yourself
lead me Lord I pray
Over the years, I’ve learned what it truly means to worship God. Worshipping God is more than just singing praise and worship music over singing traditional hymns because I can worship God through both. When I was a Minister of Music I thought using praise music was leading the church to worship God and some of our folks did worship Him. Worshipping God is more than sing praise songs. We worship our God everyday, in the things we do, the words we say, and what we don’t say. We should live our lives for the audience of the One. I’m not saying we should live our lives like those with the philosophy of pleasing only themselves but living our lives in a way that will honor our God and Savior.
Remember, God is everywhere at one time. If you are a Christian, God indwells you in the form of the Holy Spirit. Whatever you do (good, bad, or indifferent) God is aware of it. If we truly understand the idea that God is with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days in a year, then that really should affect how we live our lives. We should live in a way that our lives should be a sweet smelling fragrance offering to our God; well pleasing to Him.
We will never be prefect this side of heaven, but we should have a walk that should be pleasing to God. King David was called a man after God’s own heart but if you ever read the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and see some of the things he did. It’s amazing the bad things he did yet he’s called this. Even through he did bad things, he also did great things for God and when it was all said and done, David confessed his sins and asked forgiveness of God. That’s why he is called a man after God’s own heart; he confessed his sins and sought out forgiveness.
One of my favorite worship songs is “The Potter’s Hand” because I can relate so much to it. I’ve put the words to the songs below to close out this posting. I pray the song makes you think.
Beautiful Lord, Wonderful Saviour
I know for sure, all of my days are held in your hands,
Crafted into your perfect plan
You gently call me into your presence guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life through Your eyes
I'm captured by Your holy calling
Set me apart, I know you're drawing me to yourself
Lead me Lord I pray
Chorus:
Take me, Mold me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the Potter's hand
Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter's hand
You gently call me into your presence guiding me by your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life through your eyes
I'm captured by your Holy calling
set me apart, I know your drawing me to yourself
lead me Lord I pray
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