The floor of the carpenter's shop

moved on...moved out

2012-01-01T22:59:00.002-05:00

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. Elie Wiesel

My best friend used to be Jackie. He lived around the corner from me in Shawnee Estates. He and I connected because we were both the creative kids that did not fit in sometimes with normal kids. That is code for we were weird. We parted ways in 1986 when I moved to Lewisport but I don't really think that is when we stopped being friends. I am sorry to say that before I moved I stopped being his friend. Real relationships require time and attention and I must say that I had stopped putting in the requisite time. I was a bad friend before I moved. The move was what broke physical connection but I had stopped connecting with him socially before the moving van came.

I spend my work days listening to one side of relationships that have faltered. I am in the business of trying to stop the proverbial moving vans from leaving the neighborhood. I, like many of my peers, see that we are trying to fix something too late. What people need to do is fix the problems before they have problems. We spend a whole mess of resources to get families to weekend retreats that give them resources to fix their early stage issues. The problem is that people don't care to fix their problems in the early stages. They want to leave it alone until they become a bigger problem. That is too late. The fact of the matter is that if a relationship is going to work then each participate needs to care enough to be concerned for the other person.

I have been considering my relationships today. I want to be a friend that keeps things connected. I want to be someone that places an appropriate amount of time in the important relationships in my life. These are investments that I need to make for my future. This time spent translates to relationships kept. I resolve to not let my relationships decline from apathy.

"Rust, fire and explosions are the same process, taking place at different rates."Mark Crane

Crossfire

2011-11-24T13:05:00.000-05:00

This thanksgiving I am thankful for a cornucopia of blessings. I have a great family that has been a great example of living in love for one another. We have been blessed with great friends that will hack into your facebook while watching your kids. I am thankful for a great job with a great unit. I am thankful for a full belly and a full fridge of extra. I am thankful for a beautiful wife of almost 13 years that accepts me and my faults.

Today I read of another source of thanksgiving. I am an Army Chaplain. I live everyday in the crossfire of the zeal of fervent belief and the love of country. I balance freedom everyday in my work. Our great nation is founded in religious freedom. That means that every citizen is free to exercise their own faith. That includes those that do not agree with anyone but themselves. One of our fellow chaplains seems to have been corrected in his zeal. I could have made the same mistake. This chapel on a base in the box is a symbol of our religious freedom and the freedom of all who are sheltered by our mighty nation. I am thankful that we live in a nation that does not force my religion on others. I am thankful that America is still a place that people can worship out of conscience not obligation.

I welcome your comments.

Going West

2011-08-20T16:09:00.000-04:00

We have a big trip planned. We are headed from NC to WA to our new home. What a great adventure! Stay tuned here for more updates.

Tomorrow we journey to Franklin, Kentucky.

When the world comes crashing down

2011-06-28T08:02:00.000-04:00

I am in prayer today for the fallen. Not just the families affected by the loss of loves but the ones that have fallen to their knees in brokenness.

May the Breather of life lift your eyes to the hope that we have in Jesus our Savior. May he break through your brokenness with his holy hand. Let Him be praised.

Service

2011-06-20T07:40:00.000-04:00

I ran across a cool picture that I wanted to share. It is a pic of a worship service in Anzio in 1944. This is quite a gathering considering the threat that was faced by all.

This Easter Service was held in the woods with protection of smoke. Church services were always hard to have as it was not wise to put many people together in a small area. The danger of shelling and strafing was always a serious threat but this Easter service brought a good gathering. (Anzio 1944) source

2011-05-20T10:50:00.000-04:00

I am heading into the unknown
I don't know where this road ends
or if when I get "there" I will know that I have arrived
The road is long and beacons me
the road is narrow and guardrails guide
the road is steep revealing only the next peak
trusting
walking
jogging
stumbling
I walk in peace
I trod in faith
Hope
Perseverance
wonder

160 years

2011-04-25T20:52:00.000-04:00

I am not sure how many church folks read this but I wanted to communicate how much I am blessed to be a part of their history. I have scanned something like 240 pictures of a wealth of history and I am amazed at the life of my church. This group has a great history. I hear story after story of the greatness of this congregation. Notice my words have chosen to look at the people not the facilities. I wish I had pictures that went back further because I want you all to see that God has done great things in you. I have a great friend, Shane, that told a church where he was interim something that inspired me for this time. God is still here. He did not leave with the last pastor and he wont leave when I go. You have a great history yet to be lived. Go with God and make it happen.

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church 160th

2011-03-29T13:09:00.000-04:00

I am in!

2011-03-23T16:48:00.000-04:00

Praise God!
I have gotten the news this afternoon that I have been selected to serve as an Active Duty Chaplain in the US Army. I am excited and humbled by the selection. I pray that God gives me the wherewithal to be His man among the men and women of the Army of these United States.

Go Army!
Pro Deo et Patria
Praise God!

How far?

2011-03-21T20:02:00.000-04:00

I am in a place of waiting right now and that is all ok. I was telling church folks last night that I have finally let God have this decision. I have stopped making my plans for my future in the Army Chaplaincy and I am letting the Lord decide this. I also told them how I find it funny that many times we find the big things easy to give up and the little things are the opposite. Why do we work like that? Maybe I am just like this and no one else is. The question is how far are we willing to let the Lord lead us.

I am ok with going. That is all good for me. It is the lack of distance that causes me heartburn. What do we do when he says dont go. What do we do when he says just a little instead of go the distance. How far?

A Battle

2011-03-02T12:12:00.000-05:00

This is the kind of war that we are in. The latest attack hit us in relative safety. I am guessing that the attacked were unarmed and caught completely by surprise. They were not in a warzone. This is the kind of war that we are fighting.

May God bless the survivors and the families of the victims.

On our spiritual front, dare we suggest that this is the way that the enemy wants to attack us. Unawares. I am choosing to be on guard today.

One

2011-02-28T12:13:00.000-05:00

I came across a great cause to get involved in. Truthfully I clicked an ad. I don't recommend doing that for anyone really, but I did it. It was on a legitimate site and for a legitimate site (excuse). I ran into for the first time the ONE organization. Wow they are taking on some huge issues that I think we need awareness of in America. Poverty and hunger have come to the forefront as the hot issues through a great push in the TV networks (food network, Biggest Loser, Jeff Gordon's sponsor to name a few) and here is another great area. ONE has a powerful mission statement

ONE is a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures. Cofounded by Bono and other campaigners, ONE is nonpartisan and works closely with African activists and policy makers.

I really applaud the cause. I have a bit of an issue with the method however. They seek to pressure government bodies to spend resources on this cause. I think that is important to fund but I don't agree with their source. Give your money to the cause they have listed. I want the people to get the medicines and much needed food but I don't want it to come from my tax dollars. I want it to be an act of love from individuals and organizations like churches. Let us find ways to pressure the wealthy (me included) to give to such a cause by choice not by compulsion. I do not want my senator to approve funding from American coffers for this kind of thing. I want American people to give willingly. If you are one of the 5 people that might read this blog then consider giving to this cause. I delve deeper and find that they serve as the voice for the cause not handling the money so give instead to one of their partners here is a list. I would suggest the Baptist World Alliance. Give and thanks.

For Mentors

2011-02-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you. You have taken the time to take me under your wing and show me the ropes. I am so grateful. This opportunity would not have been available in any other situation. You have invested much in my future ministry and I pray along with you, I am sure, that the Lord blesses the work that is yet to come.

Mike and RJ thanks.

Our Edges

2011-02-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

Brothers and sisters we have missed the mark. We have missed the bullseye. Consider with me Leviticus 19. No not the "Love your neighbor" part but good guess. I am talking about another portion of that law. There is an obscure passage sandwiched in-between the disjointed recounting of the Decalogue along with another obscure instruction about the eating of peace offerings. I am talking about verses 9-10.

9 “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God."
Leviticus 19:9-10 (NIV)

The Question is...Where are your edges? What can you do to keep a little aside for the poor. For those in our church we are working this month on collecting for our homeless shelter. That kind of giving uses our abundance for those who are lacking. I think that is scratching the surface of this call to ethical righteousness.

Be a good steward of the things that the Lord has blessed you with.
Have a budget. Here is a link for a good example of a family budget. Don't go beyond your means.
That means that you might want to pay off the credit car this month instead of letting the interest catch up with you.
That means that you might want to hold off on the soda at the restaurant and instead drink water.
That also could mean not upgrading your cell phone plan when you get the chance (oh they are so handy but that extra $30 for data may not be within your budget and it might just be that you can give that $360 a year towards a cause that meets the needs of someone else.

‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy."

Adventures in the Wild

2010-12-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

We made it to Tallahassee safely yesterday. It is good to see all of Heather's family together. Today we are going to an amusement park that is called Wild Adventures. There are all kinds of "wild" animals that you can see there. We will see giraffes, lions and a multitude of other beasts. We will ride a train through the animal habitats and see the animals in their "natural" habitats. I am sure that this is more wild than normal. In reality the prepared environment is not much like the wild of the natural habitats.

Mark Batterson, pastor and author, talks about the idea of religious captivity in his book. Have you ever considered how wild we ought to be? We have set up whole systems of "living wildly." We live in controlled wildness. We invent roller coaster rides that bring all the excitement of wildness without the true danger of lack of control.

In many ways this is what we do with our spiritual lives too. Church offers opportunities to give and serve. These controlled adventure in service are just tastetests of wildness. The Christian life is not about living in the zoo but truly in the wild spaces of the real world. Breaking out is hard to do.

youth days of Christmas

2010-12-19T16:04:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday

2010-11-06T15:41:00.000-04:00

Well, someone in my church, Edwin, will have his 90th birthday on Monday. I am so blessed by his spirit and I wanted to let you know about his loving heart. Have you ever sat with someone and just been blessed by their outlook on life. Well that is him. He is spending his days taking care of his sweet wife of 67 years. He does not have the pep in his step that he had 10 years ago I am sure but I see in him a willingness to serve that is so often exemplified in his generation. Where in the world would we be without men like him. He fought as a medic on the beaches of France. He worked for a lifetime in the factory. He spent another lifetime being retired and doing the work that needed to get done. I admire him and all men like him. The lessons that you have taught us have deep roots. Thanks Edwin.

Serve the Lord with gladness

2010-09-28T14:25:00.000-04:00

Psalm 100

There is an interesting link here that we find as we look at the text in different translations. The NIV says "Worship the Lord" in v.2 whereas most other translations use the word "serve" instead of "worship."
"abad" is the Hebrew word and it is used most for our word "serve." It is also used for bondage, servitude, labor, worship and even manufacture. I think that this difference reveals a different way that we should look at our service and our worship. When we serve joyfully it is worship to the Lord. When we worship in our hearts and come to the Lord in humble manner then we are also serving the Lord. It is interesting also that as I study Islam I find that the word islam is in fact this same idea. To be a muslim is to be the Lord's servant. We could take a lesson from Islam on this one. It is not far from the idea from Romans 12. Be a living sacrifice and you will worship God. Serve the Lord with gladness and a joyful heart for this is what we are to be about.

Dare to be unbroken

2010-06-17T16:07:00.001-04:00

Psalm 34

I was a fan of Lost. I loved the mystery and the quest to solve the unanswered riddles of the show that lasted for 6 seasons. There is a pivotal scene in the last season that reveals how the chosen keeper of the island gains their power to protect the light that lies within the island. Jacob’s adopted mother hands over the mantle of protection to Jacob with a blessed cup of sparkling river water. Jacob, as a younger man takes the power and then passes it to Jack then Jack to Hugo. It is profound that the symbol chosen was a blatantly Christian symbol of discipleship. The drinkers of the island water discovered that the blessed water was bitter sweet as it required that they would give their lives for the island.

Today’s Psalm challenges us to taste and see that the Lord is good. Do we dare? Letting the blessed water touch our lips brings us into the Lord’s protection. That is obviously a good thing as we see in the Psalm. Check out all the blessings that are part of the deal.

Deliverance

No Shame

Saved from Trouble

Protection

Lacking Nothing

HE Sees and Hears

HE is Close

Unbroken Bones

Redemption

Not Condemned

That is quite the list. I want the blessed cup. Pass it over. Is it that simple? I have found that the sweetness is certainly there. It is not deceptive. Ok, it looks like it sets us up for a tougher job that we expected. That is probably the case as well. The promises that are contained here are true.

The situations that we are saved from are potentially worse, that is true too. I mean, look at v. 19. The righteous “may have troubles.” Can you name a saint that does not or has not had trouble? To some of us that makes us pull out the covenant and read it over to see where that trouble fits. For some of us we look and see if we have held up our part of the bargain. Vv. 11-14 reveal that our end of the bargain is harder than we remembered. The blessings are for those that revere the Lord, not just for everyone. It could be that you find yourself delinquent in your part of the covenant. Simple cause and effect finds that many of our troubles are self-inflicted.

Seeking this blessing brings with it a discipleship that calls us to a great deal of soul searching and discovery of our own sin. His ways are good. His covenant is true (many times even when we are unfaithful). Taste and see. Try His ways out and see where you end up. I dare you to break your ways to find yourself unbroken.

Real Vision

2010-03-26T14:16:00.000-04:00

2 Cor 4:13-18

Hurley is my favorite by far. Ok, so you may not have a clue who I am taking about. He is the robust character that is on LOST. I like him because he is the most real of all of the inhabitants of the strange island world. He was once in the mad house. Hurley sees things that no one else can. He sees dead people. One episode shows his interaction with an apparition that he knew in the real world. This season they have him talking to all kinds of dead people; Jacob and Isabella are just a couple examples.

I understand that odds are you don’t have a clue what I am talking about. Do you know a daydreamer or someone with a great imagination that can be there but seem to be on another world? This is something that most of us have grown out of through the years. Some suggest that when we do that we are using the right side of our brain. This is the side that is our creative center, not the part that is all analytical.

Paul, in his letter to the church in Corinth, is telling us that we should fix our eyes on the unseen. I find it interesting that he uses the visual image to suggest the invisible. He is not talking about seeing dead people or living in our imaginary worlds but to live in the world of faith. This is hard to do. This puts the focus of our lives on things that are not evident. Eyes fixed on things unseen are eyes that look beyond the current suffering to see the future glory. These eyes see beyond the wasting away and see the day by day renewal. These eyes peer through the darkness of Golgotha to see the King of Kings in his place of true glory.

True Faith

2010-03-25T15:06:00.000-04:00

Psalm 142

I don't think that I have ever been that lonely. I certainly have not been that low in my life. I have had some times in my life when I felt lonely and alone but David's low is way down low. He was twice in cave situations that were similar to this; Adullam (1Sa 22:1), and Engedi (1Sa 24:3). I can only imagine what despair to that extent does to a person. This is not the worst kind of despair though. David calls out to God. He cries out to someone that he truly believes hears him. Even when he looks to the right and left and finds no one who is on his side he still cries to God. He still puts his great faith to the test. That is really when we are able to tell if we really believe. It is easy to believe when we have friends and allies. It is much harder when we cant find a hand to hold to. Let us not forget that we have a God that hears us in our hardest of times. Let us not forget that our Lord Jesus felt despair like this on the cross. Read this psalm in a different way. Read it as a prayer of great faith that is tested and true.

Being Whole

2010-03-11T22:11:00.000-05:00

1 Cor 12:12-26

Doug, my father-in-law, is in Haiti today. He is assisting on a medical team that is working to fit people for prosthetics. As I understand there have been great issues with injuries that have needed amputation but many did not get the amputations because the risk of infection was perceived, if not actually greater when the diagnosis was first given. It was planned that Doug was to make castings of the existing, yet soon to be removed, limbs. He will travel back with the castings and the next team will take completed prosthetics to the injured and fit them with their new legs and arms. I pray that as he is there that he is able to give hope for a people who have lost much.

In light of our passage today I have to ask “Are we whole?” I have a feeling that we are missing pieces and parts and have been content to leave it like that. I see this as an issue at the local church level. Some of us are not chipping in. This leaves our church as amputated and incomplete. There are parts of our body that don’t work properly because they are confused about which part they are supposed to be. Arms acting as eyes and fingers acting as feet. Silly to think about but can’t you look at the church and see it? We need to be working where we are gifted by the spirit.

We have a bad history in the church of cutting others off from us. We divide into denominations and we don’t even really have fellowship with our own kind really. Maybe this is a Baptist problem. I think it is bigger than that. Baptist brothers and sisters we need to be called to unity again. We need to become one with the body of Christ again. I am not calling for us to stop being who we are for this is our gift of uniqueness. We are many parts. I am calling for us to unity as we belong to the same body even though we have differences. This would change us in great ways.

"T" or "t"

2010-03-10T11:51:00.000-05:00

Psalm 119:129-144

Truth is hard to come by in our world. Deception is the common theme in business and politics and at times even the church. But I am not really talking about lies. I mean the truth that I want to put a capital T on. We live in a wishy washy world that rides the waves of public opinion. We don’t hold onto anything for long. I don’t even think that you need an example. How about that flat world, Earth centered universe, or climate change. Lets not get all philosophical here but something has to be right. There has to be some unchanging thing in this universe that I can hold on to. I am going to put my foot down with the psalmist. The law of God is true and His statutes are forever right. I hunt for this Truth and when I find it I will hold onto this, defend it and get my life from this alone.

No words...

2010-03-08T10:33:00.000-05:00

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2010/03/laying-a-marine-to-rest.html

Rest in peace.

Faith of a nation

2010-03-05T17:58:00.000-05:00

Gen 47:27-48:7

Where are they going to put you? My Papa is beside the church where he grew up. My Grandpa is beside Grandma in Central City, KY. I never really cared where they put me. I guess Arlington would be a nice place but not at all like home. If my ancestors that are yet to come were to visit me there they would find some cold hard granite monument that gives no information about who I really was. The setting tells you something. I served our great nation. That does not really reveal all that will be.

I read stories from my fellow patriots of our soldiers’ last journeys home. This is important to me. These men and women need to come home. They deserve a final rest in their homeland. Solemnity and honor are the proper response for such occasions. The red and white stripes in our flag take on additional meaning with this life lost in defense of something greater than themselves.

I say that I don’t care where you put me in the ground. But I guess I do care. Don’t put me in Egypt. I have nothing there. I am not from there and don’t want to be from there. I don’t think that I would need to make that request in my final days, thank goodness.

This passage is much bigger than the 6 foot hole location. This is really about the covenant. Not the covenant with Jacob and Joseph so much. That one is important, even though a little awkward for today’s culture (covenants were made that that in those days (see Gen 24)). The promise that must be kept in mind is the one made to Jacob in Luz. God made some covenants that had to be kept in mind by his people. Jacob did not want to be buried in this foreign place because this is not the place that God promised to him. I can hear him saying it.

“I want you to visit me when I am gone but I don’t want you to travel back to this place. Come and remember me but remember the promise from out God. Our people won’t end up here. Your kids won’t live here forever. Our descendants will not call this home. I trust what God told me and he will make good on what he covenanted with me and my father before me. Take me back to our past and future home when I am gone.”

Jacob is a man of faith even in this last request in life. What a powerful promise that he was holding to. I think that it was hard to see a generation later that God was going to do as he promised. The grandchildren may have never thought that they would see it. They undeniably never would. They would become a threat and enslaved but they would be freed by the God of this covenant. They would be led by the fire and smoke from this covenant LORD. They would feed on the manna of this providing Father. He made good on the promise. He is continually doing it as far as I can see. It is hard to see that from Egypt though. I wonder what they felt when they got to the spot where he was buried. Do you think that they remembered?

Anybody there?

2010-03-04T20:34:00.000-05:00

Psalm 83

I want God to react at times. I mean, sometimes things are so hard that I can’t take it anymore. I know that he knows what is going on. Where is his hand? His action is no where to be seen. He is still. He is quiet. Or so it seems. I have heard this cry from his people so many times.

Lord, the enemy is surrounding me. Lord, my grief hurts so badly. Lord, terror is all around me. My God, do something here. Father, I need your direction for this hard decision. My Lord, your church is falling apart. Lord, where is the peace that you promised? Father, they are saying that you are not there. Heavenly Abba, where are you? Adonai, they are killing us.

Admit it, you probably have been there. This echoes from cotton fields, prison cells, concentration camps, gallows, firing lines, and quarries. It seems to be one of the great challenges of faith. “Where is He? I am in distress and He promised.”

Our first reaction is to ask ourselves where we took a wrong turn. Job’s friends certainly went there. Sinners are punished and the righteous are blessed, right? Job never accepted that. I don’t think that we must either.

The psalmist lists the forces arrayed against the people of God. They aligned and allied against “your people”. They want destruction in the extreme. But the song does not stop with the first verse. The second verse recognizes the victories from the past. He has been our strength before. He came to our rescue. He saved us from the enemy in the battles before this one.

We must get to the final chorus. This ceases to be about us. “Your kingdom come.” At some point we have to accept the stones and say “Lord, for your glory.” At some point we must accept the splinters, the thorns, the nails and the sword for His glory. “Not my will but yours.”

Millstones at the ready

2010-03-03T16:53:00.000-05:00

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

The issue is a hot one, for Paul and the church in Corinth. They seem to be living in a society that venerates wood and stone at the level of deity. This seems strange to us. We live in a post-sacrificial society. There are not people in our society that kill animals specifically to appease their guilt with their god. This is foreign to us to the extreme. Yet, here is Paul, teaching that there are not other gods. “An idol is nothing at all in the world” is his take on the validity of their actions in Corinth. He has placed the idols upon the stone goods shelf and the wood pile because that is all they are worth to him. He gives us a place of interaction with the polytheistic idea. The place is not one of accommodation but of recognition of the one true deity.

This is peripheral to his message here. The real message is that of knowledge and love. There are things that I find unapproachable and sinful because my conscience will not permit it. There are things that I know are not sin for me. I live in community though. This changes the game. No longer can I do only as my conscience allows because in community I must be aware of other’s ideals. There are some that might fall along the way if they followed my conscience leading because for them they cannot withstand the pressure.

I watched an interesting documentary about the development of space stations. They went through the first station that went around the earth for something like 21 hours. They proceeded to the current International Space Station. That is quite and amazing thing. Along the timeline they told of a meeting of the American spaceship and the Russian space station. It was a great meeting of the Cold War enemies on common ground. The issue was that one of the ships used lower pressure pure oxygen and the other used a mixture and pressure like that of Earth. They could both breathe fine in their own craft but the pressure difference would be catastrophic for one of the crews if someone just opened the door and let the air rush in.

We are all different and come from different backgrounds and have different knowledge. We cannot all do as we wish as our Americanism tries to tell us. Not when we live in the community of the Church. Freedom is a good thing. Don’t turn it into a bad one as it causes someone else to fall along the road.