Hooked.

Went fishing for a little bit yesterday afternoon. It was a lot of fun as the fish were biting. Most of them would barely qualify as minnows. It was interesting to watch as I would pull my topwater fly in fish would inevitably come to the surface and take a bite. Sure enough I would set the hook and the game was on (for me). The fish would desperately do everything they could in their power to head back to deeper and safer water. But it was too late. Next thing they knew they were gasping for air on the bank of the pond as I would remove the hook from their mouth. Fortunately for them I let everyone of them go back to the water. No keepers. It wasn’t my intent. As far as I know all the fish survived despite their rude awakening.

It really got me thinking about us as humans and sin. We get “lured” away by enticing and seemingly innocent things. It could be a TV show or an innocent relationship, but then SNAP! Just like that we are hooked. What appeared to be innocent and ok at the time was really a trap or a deception. We think we can handle it or Satan places something in front of us and we get hooked. Next thing we know we are gasping for air as our lives are crumbling and tumbling all around us.

Jesus told us to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” We want to believe that we have what it takes to withstand any temptation. We want to believe that on our own we can avoid most if not all trouble in life. We want to believe that our struggles are the result of us being innocent victims of some cosmic tragedy. The reality is that we are the ones to blame. We are the ones who took the bait. We are the ones who got hooked and it is only by staying in the power of Jesus and His Spirit that keeps us safe from those lures.

What’s got you hooked? What lures do you fall for most?

Prayers and Incense

So what happens to our prayers? Revelation 5:8 says: “…the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” I’ve always thought that incense referred to the aroma produced by burning something. Not true. Incense is the material burned which in turns produces the aroma. So our prayers? They are a product that produces a holy and acceptable aroma to God as He sits on His throne. I wonder if they smell like patchouli or sandalwood or probably something way better than all those…
What do you think your prayers smell like?

The Measure of a Man

Some say the measure of a man is found in his accomplishments.

Some say the measure of a man is found in the measurement of his strengths.

Some say the measure of a man is found in the depths of his love.

I don’t excel at any of those things, so I say the measure of a man is found in his friends, and yesterday (my birthday) I felt like a man!

Shhh…quiet…

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.”

I’m trying to listen, but there’s so much noise and commotion.

What are you hearing?

Drinking the Kool Aid.

Even though today is Free Tea Day at your local McAlister’s Deli I chose to drink the Kool Aid. Not just sip it but tip the jug and chug! For me drinking the Kool Aid is reading the latest news about controversial events or reading all the blog posts about what’s right and wrong with the Church.

It gets my blood pumping.

It focuses my mind.

It makes me feel engaged and intellectual.

The end result though is devastating. I get mad. I think I’ve got all the answers. My spirit rises on the wings of my arrogant thoughts and knowledge. I have to remind myself that our battle is not against flesh and blood. I’ve got to focus the battle against me. Not the events and news happening 1000 miles away. Not the rantings of some anonymous or not so anonymous blogger. Its me and every selfish desire that places me above all else. The cure is not blissful ignorance (I will still be keeping up on current events, probably cutting back on the number of blogs I read though). The cure, I think, for me is to slow down. Think more. Talk less. Respond less. I don’t know.

What Kool Aid have you been drinking lately? What’s your cure?

Ahh…the mountains.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

In a couple of weeks I get to head to the mountains of New Mexico with the family. I am very excited even though the temperatures have taken an unexpected dip lately. Mostly, I am looking forward to the opportunity to do some flyfishing. I’ve hit several trout parks in Missouri and love just about every aspect of flyfishing. But now it’s time to take the training wheels off and head out to the wild. No guides, no private stocked ponds, just me, a fly rod, some flies and a New Mexico state fishing license. So for all you seasoned flyfishing veterans out there…

What do I need to be prepared to flyfish Red River/Rio Grande/Enchanted Circle area? Where would you recommend that I go? What flies do I need to stock up on?

For those of you who have traveled recently to the area…

What activities do you recommend? Where do we need to go?

PS We will be staying in a house on the golf course in Angel Fire.

When it comes to serving…

I had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call with Dino Rizzo from Healing Place Church in Baton Rogue, LA. He has recently published a book called Servolution. The bottom line: when it comes to examples of churches embodying the idea of serving your community they are doing it very well. So I was challenged. I’ve always been one to talk big about serving and I’ve tried to live it a little. The truth is that I often find myself sitting at my desk, doing stuff on the computer, looking out the window with the feeling that something is not right. I’m a pastor. I’m supposed to be out serving people. Loving them. Showing them how much Jesus loves them. Yet I’m very content to sit inside, in the AC, manipulating binary code on a computer, all in the name of Jesus. (I don’t doubt that some of what I do on the computer is essential to accomplishing kingdom tasks.) So my challenge to myself this week. Get out of the office and go serve somewhere. Kick my butt if I don’t!

When it comes to serving, what do you do to get yourself out the door?

New Stuff

I am on staff at The Heart Church here in Tulsa and we have just switched over to a newly redesigned WordPress based website. I’m very excited about this and hope that this new site gives more people more opportunities to connect not just with The Heart but the story of God’s amazing grace. You can check it out here.

Don’t Waste Your Life

Took the family down to OKC to see live and in person the Don’t Waste Your Life tour. (You can find all the details here.) Awesome concert. I had heard Lecrea’s song Don’t Waste Your Life on another website and eventually ended up downloading the entire Rebel album from iTunes. Then my daughter got hold of it and asked if I could burn a copy of the CD for her to listen to in her room. The lyrics, on EVERY song, are solid. In fact, the concert left an impression on me that I hope won’t soon wear off. 2 maybe 3 times during the concert they stopped the music in the middle of a song and reiterated that they were not rap stars and that they were not there to exalt themselves, but they were there only to bring glory to Jesus Christ. The reason they stopped to say this? Because there was a group of young girls up front who would scream at the top of their lungs anytime one of the artists would lean over them or come close. Why was this so impressive to me? 1. I’ve seen this behavior at other Christian concerts before and I’ve never seen the artist stop to address it for what it was. 2. All these artist rap about Jesus being first and only in their lives…AND THEY LIVE IT! At times I felt like I was at a rap concert put on by seminary professors because of the depth of their words.

These guys are gifted. They are leaders. They are focused on Christ. And it all came together for a powerful night.

Let’s Go Crazy

Me: “I’d like to buy 2 rolls of postcard stamps.”

Post Office: “I’m sorry we no longer sell stamps here.”

Me: (confused look on my face)

Post Office: “I know. We should sell those here, but if you go to the store around the corner you can buy them there.”

————–

Me: “I’d like to buy 2 rolls of postcard stamps.”

Store: “Sure. That will be $56.”

Me: “Sweet!”

Store: “Sorry, we don’t take Discover.”

(That’s my afternoon in a nutshell. How’s your afternoon?)