Thursday, January 28, 2010
A Great Event
Just want to drop a quick note with some info about an amazing event that is coming up here in Phoenix. One of the reasons I started writing this blog comes from an outreach that I attended just under a year ago. It was an outreach put on by David Cook and some of his fellow christian friends who happen to play on the PGA and LPGA Tours. He is back again this year with some of his other friends to spend a night here in Phoenix telling Tales From The Tour. It is going to be a great night February 22nd at the Bird's Nest by the TPC of Scottsdale. And the best part of it is the cost of the event, FREE!! Thats right you can attend this great evening free of charge. I added the link to the page here. All you have to do is click on the link and follow the directions to get your free ticket. I will go into more detail about this event later, but trust me, you don't want to miss it!!
Monday, January 25, 2010
The Plan
Well Jes and I are officially within one month of meeting little Payton!! We are so excited to step into the giant shoes of parenthood. We are both very thankful for all of your prayers and support during this great time of change for us. Jes has been an amazing trooper through this whole pregnancy. I know I say thanks every day that I was not born a female. Kudos to all you moms and moms-to-be out there, us guys get off easy during the whole pregnancy. Hopefully I can make up for it after she gets here. I am already to be a part of the nightly feedings! I am extremely blessed to have such a great wife. I know she is going to be a fantastic mom.
Today as I was studying The Book I began to realize another amazing gift that God gives to us. You see throughout this whole pregnancy Jes and I have been planning and preparing for every possible scenario that may come up after the arrival of our little girl. We’ve prepped the nursery, we’ve stocked the changing table, we took the birthing classes, stocked the freezer, we’ve packed the bag, and we’ve even been reading some books. All done to plan as much as we can in advance so that we will be as prepared as we can to be the best parents possible. For all of our planning and preparing we are still left with many questions unanswered. This is where the beauty of The Bible comes in. There is scripture on planning.
Proverbs 16:9
9 In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.
Do you see that wisdom? It is here where the Lord says yes there are going to be times where you need to plan things out. Do some testing and figure some things out on your own. But it doesn’t say He won’t be there. As we go about our planning God will be right there by our side directing us along the path He has chosen for us. If we are faithful He will be faithful. He will not let us falter in achieving what He has planned for us. He will perfectly guide our steps along the route he has chosen ultimately leading us to the destination of His choice.
There are a lot of things that we don’t know about Payton yet. We can’t say for certain she will fall for any of our planning. All we are praying for is a healthy baby. Sure we have some things ready for her as I mentioned above. We have done some test runs on things in hopes of easing the beginning of the parenthood process. But our faith is with God. We will do our very best to abide by Him in this whole process.
This works in all aspects of life.
Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Take serious note of this verse. Trust with ALL your heart, don’t rely on just YOURSELF, and ALWAYS give credit to the Man above. Do all these things with complete and total faith and He will take care of your path. Why wouldn’t He? I mean He drew it up right?
I have come to realize that He knows what He is doing. That took some convincing a few years ago, believe me. But during this whole pregnancy I have learned, once again, that my worries are futile. Yes there is going to be some bumps and yes we are going to have to work, sometimes hard, to figure things out. But ultimately He has it all drawn up somewhere and all we have to do is follow the directions. Our life, with the birth of Payton, is going to look like quite a different roadmap. Fortunately for us our almighty Father knows where we are going and He has laid out all of the directions in His Book. All we have to do is follow the signs.
Today as I was studying The Book I began to realize another amazing gift that God gives to us. You see throughout this whole pregnancy Jes and I have been planning and preparing for every possible scenario that may come up after the arrival of our little girl. We’ve prepped the nursery, we’ve stocked the changing table, we took the birthing classes, stocked the freezer, we’ve packed the bag, and we’ve even been reading some books. All done to plan as much as we can in advance so that we will be as prepared as we can to be the best parents possible. For all of our planning and preparing we are still left with many questions unanswered. This is where the beauty of The Bible comes in. There is scripture on planning.
Proverbs 16:9
9 In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.
Do you see that wisdom? It is here where the Lord says yes there are going to be times where you need to plan things out. Do some testing and figure some things out on your own. But it doesn’t say He won’t be there. As we go about our planning God will be right there by our side directing us along the path He has chosen for us. If we are faithful He will be faithful. He will not let us falter in achieving what He has planned for us. He will perfectly guide our steps along the route he has chosen ultimately leading us to the destination of His choice.
There are a lot of things that we don’t know about Payton yet. We can’t say for certain she will fall for any of our planning. All we are praying for is a healthy baby. Sure we have some things ready for her as I mentioned above. We have done some test runs on things in hopes of easing the beginning of the parenthood process. But our faith is with God. We will do our very best to abide by Him in this whole process.
This works in all aspects of life.
Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Take serious note of this verse. Trust with ALL your heart, don’t rely on just YOURSELF, and ALWAYS give credit to the Man above. Do all these things with complete and total faith and He will take care of your path. Why wouldn’t He? I mean He drew it up right?
I have come to realize that He knows what He is doing. That took some convincing a few years ago, believe me. But during this whole pregnancy I have learned, once again, that my worries are futile. Yes there is going to be some bumps and yes we are going to have to work, sometimes hard, to figure things out. But ultimately He has it all drawn up somewhere and all we have to do is follow the directions. Our life, with the birth of Payton, is going to look like quite a different roadmap. Fortunately for us our almighty Father knows where we are going and He has laid out all of the directions in His Book. All we have to do is follow the signs.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Just let God do His work in us
On Sunday my pastor made one of the most profound statements I had ever heard during his sermon.
Well let me re-phrase that. I have heard this statement before, however after listening and reflecting on this weekend’s sermon the statement clicked with me in a way that it never had before. He said that God must work in you so that later he can do great things through you. I just kept saying that over and over in my head until it sank in. You see he was kicking off a series on the prophet Elijah, and in describing his obedience to God he said that phrase.
Elijah was arguably the most famous of all of Israel’s prophets and to quote my pastor “he kind of got the shaft” because he didn’t even get his own book in the Old Testament. But the work that God did in him, so in turn He could do great things
through him was a lesson that we all need to take notes on.
When God sent Elijah away in solitude he had nowhere to turn for his daily provisions except to God. And God was faithful in providing what he had promised. Elijah was fed and given water on a daily basis to the point that all his needs were met, and remember this was during a great drought. Let’s think on that for a moment. Imagine if you, in your daily obedience, were to just wake up and wait for God to provide what He has promised all the way down to your basic needs. What would that look like? Well to most of us it would be a little scary. You see we probably take for granted our daily needs, but that is a topic for a different day. During Elijah’s three years of isolation he learned to solely lean on God for his provisions. It was during this time that God was doing some serious work in Elijah so that later He could do some great things through Elijah.
In 1 Kings Elijah gets to perform the most incredible miracle, he raises a boy from the dead.
1 Kings 17:21-23
21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!"
22 The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive!"
Not too many people in the bible were entrusted with the gift of raising the dead, but Elijah had it. Throughout his whole isolation God was preparing him for that moment and many others to come.
This is happening to all of us now. If we could take the time to push all the other stuff off our plate and just for a moment lean on God for all provisions He could begin His work in us. By allowing that, He can transform us to His desire so that later He can do great things through us. Will we be able to raise the dead? Who knows? That isn’t our concern, but think of all the great things God could do through us if we just would allow Him to prepare us.
When I look back and reflect on my life experiences I start to pick out the spots in which I realize God had been preparing me for. For instance there was that conversation with a non-believer, the opportunity I got to teach youth, and the moment I met my wife. When I think of those moments, it is at that point, that I realize how long God had been preparing me for those chance moments.
I say chance because to us it seems like it was a chance meeting, or ironic happening. I now realize that nothing has been left to chance and that nothing happens ironically. God has it all laid out perfectly. All we have to do is get on board and ride along by faith. I pray that we can live by a faith so strong that we lean on Him for all things.
How amazing would the world be if we all lived by a faith that will allowed God to work in us so that in time He can do all His great things through us.
Well let me re-phrase that. I have heard this statement before, however after listening and reflecting on this weekend’s sermon the statement clicked with me in a way that it never had before. He said that God must work in you so that later he can do great things through you. I just kept saying that over and over in my head until it sank in. You see he was kicking off a series on the prophet Elijah, and in describing his obedience to God he said that phrase.
Elijah was arguably the most famous of all of Israel’s prophets and to quote my pastor “he kind of got the shaft” because he didn’t even get his own book in the Old Testament. But the work that God did in him, so in turn He could do great things
through him was a lesson that we all need to take notes on.
When God sent Elijah away in solitude he had nowhere to turn for his daily provisions except to God. And God was faithful in providing what he had promised. Elijah was fed and given water on a daily basis to the point that all his needs were met, and remember this was during a great drought. Let’s think on that for a moment. Imagine if you, in your daily obedience, were to just wake up and wait for God to provide what He has promised all the way down to your basic needs. What would that look like? Well to most of us it would be a little scary. You see we probably take for granted our daily needs, but that is a topic for a different day. During Elijah’s three years of isolation he learned to solely lean on God for his provisions. It was during this time that God was doing some serious work in Elijah so that later He could do some great things through Elijah.
In 1 Kings Elijah gets to perform the most incredible miracle, he raises a boy from the dead.
1 Kings 17:21-23
21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!"
22 The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive!"
Not too many people in the bible were entrusted with the gift of raising the dead, but Elijah had it. Throughout his whole isolation God was preparing him for that moment and many others to come.
This is happening to all of us now. If we could take the time to push all the other stuff off our plate and just for a moment lean on God for all provisions He could begin His work in us. By allowing that, He can transform us to His desire so that later He can do great things through us. Will we be able to raise the dead? Who knows? That isn’t our concern, but think of all the great things God could do through us if we just would allow Him to prepare us.
When I look back and reflect on my life experiences I start to pick out the spots in which I realize God had been preparing me for. For instance there was that conversation with a non-believer, the opportunity I got to teach youth, and the moment I met my wife. When I think of those moments, it is at that point, that I realize how long God had been preparing me for those chance moments.
I say chance because to us it seems like it was a chance meeting, or ironic happening. I now realize that nothing has been left to chance and that nothing happens ironically. God has it all laid out perfectly. All we have to do is get on board and ride along by faith. I pray that we can live by a faith so strong that we lean on Him for all things.
How amazing would the world be if we all lived by a faith that will allowed God to work in us so that in time He can do all His great things through us.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sense vs. Cents
Well my wife and I are creeping up on the 34th week of pregnancy!! Hopefull little Payton will stay in there and "cook" a little while longer. We do have the bag packed and all routes to the hospitals have been mapped out! Both Jes and I are extremely excited to meet this little girl. It will be an amazing change and addition to our lives. Throughout our pregnancy I have spent some time reflecting back on my last 5 or 6 years and have realized what exactly the Lord has done in my life. For those of you that have known me for that long can attest to the Lord's work with me. God has blessed me with great sense of contentment and stabilty. Two things I was never able to realize without Him and His guidance.
Philippians 4:11-13
11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
I think as men we naturally can get caught up in the life of “keeping up with the Jones’s”. Heck society practically promotes us to. The most popular shows on TV are reality shows that advertise what the affluent have. It can only make one desire to be like them or have what they have. I mean seriously most of us actually get caught up in what pro athletes drive or what they have in their homes more so than their performance on their fields. I lead the list of men I know who got caught up in this rat race way of thinking. About 5 years ago when I lived in Oregon I owned a business, belonged to a country club, and would party, and travel, wherever and whenever I wanted. Quite frankly I didn’t have the money for any of that but you wouldn’t know it by my actions. I had no respect for what God had blessed me with at the time. The one thing that God didn’t bless me with during my time of complete foolishness was a sense of stability and contentment. I would spend all morning painting myself up in this mask so no one would recognize what I was hiding. Out of fear I hid it from my parents and from my closest friends around me. Fortunately for me it was during this time of masking that God allowed me to hang around a few strong Christian people. During this time with them I noticed the one thing I could see they all had was this wonderful sense of calmness and contentment. Rich or poor they were stable and content. I was a spiraling train wreck and couldn’t figure out why. One thing was for sure, I was getting to a point where I was willing to trade what I had for just a small slice of stability and contentment.
Over the course of two years God blessed me with losing my business, practically going broke, and one by one he kept taking possessions away. At that point I started to listen to Him out of fear, and boy did he speak clearly. I followed His lead back to Arizona where He turned everything around. He introduced me to a youth pastor and great friend named Bradley, who for the most part, taught me how learn about Christ and to how to follow His lead. He blessed with a great job and then, once He knew I could handle it, introduced me to my beautiful wife, and has since blessed us with a child to be. All along the way He has continued to bless me with all that I need.
I know that my wife and soon to be child are the two greatest blessings I have been entrusted with, but quite frankly I am almost as thankful that he did whoop my butt a few years ago and “blessed” me with those hard times. Those hard times prepared me for where I am now. I can say that I have never felt more stable or content in my short time here on earth. I know that we go through different seasons, and who knows which one we are headed for. But I do know this, He will get us through, He will provide what we need, and most of all He will love and forgive us. We can do all things through Him, because He gives us the strength, and I pray that we can be content in all situations. And I hope that we can learn that a sense of contentment is worth a heck of a lot more than any amount of cents you can have in a bank.
Philippians 4:11-13
11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
I think as men we naturally can get caught up in the life of “keeping up with the Jones’s”. Heck society practically promotes us to. The most popular shows on TV are reality shows that advertise what the affluent have. It can only make one desire to be like them or have what they have. I mean seriously most of us actually get caught up in what pro athletes drive or what they have in their homes more so than their performance on their fields. I lead the list of men I know who got caught up in this rat race way of thinking. About 5 years ago when I lived in Oregon I owned a business, belonged to a country club, and would party, and travel, wherever and whenever I wanted. Quite frankly I didn’t have the money for any of that but you wouldn’t know it by my actions. I had no respect for what God had blessed me with at the time. The one thing that God didn’t bless me with during my time of complete foolishness was a sense of stability and contentment. I would spend all morning painting myself up in this mask so no one would recognize what I was hiding. Out of fear I hid it from my parents and from my closest friends around me. Fortunately for me it was during this time of masking that God allowed me to hang around a few strong Christian people. During this time with them I noticed the one thing I could see they all had was this wonderful sense of calmness and contentment. Rich or poor they were stable and content. I was a spiraling train wreck and couldn’t figure out why. One thing was for sure, I was getting to a point where I was willing to trade what I had for just a small slice of stability and contentment.
Over the course of two years God blessed me with losing my business, practically going broke, and one by one he kept taking possessions away. At that point I started to listen to Him out of fear, and boy did he speak clearly. I followed His lead back to Arizona where He turned everything around. He introduced me to a youth pastor and great friend named Bradley, who for the most part, taught me how learn about Christ and to how to follow His lead. He blessed with a great job and then, once He knew I could handle it, introduced me to my beautiful wife, and has since blessed us with a child to be. All along the way He has continued to bless me with all that I need.
I know that my wife and soon to be child are the two greatest blessings I have been entrusted with, but quite frankly I am almost as thankful that he did whoop my butt a few years ago and “blessed” me with those hard times. Those hard times prepared me for where I am now. I can say that I have never felt more stable or content in my short time here on earth. I know that we go through different seasons, and who knows which one we are headed for. But I do know this, He will get us through, He will provide what we need, and most of all He will love and forgive us. We can do all things through Him, because He gives us the strength, and I pray that we can be content in all situations. And I hope that we can learn that a sense of contentment is worth a heck of a lot more than any amount of cents you can have in a bank.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
JPT
I never in a million years would have thought that I would have started writing a blog. I was never much interested in reading, much less writing about anything I read until February of 2009 rolled around. You see last year I attended an outreach put on by David Cook and a few PGA and LPGA tour professionals. It was based on a book that David had written called Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at The Links of Utopia. It is about a troubled sort-of pro golfer who was having a hard time keeping it in the fairway of life. The purpose of the book was and is is to get readers directed toward the real book of life, The Bible, and man did it work. Shortly after that outreach I was invited to join a small Men's group that met every week to discuss that book and how it directs us to the Bible. Since meeting with those men I have felt moved over the last year to write down what I learn while studying the Bible. I have found that after reading the Bible, then spending some time reflecting on what I read and gatering my thoughts on paper, I really have been able to gain a much better and deeper understanding of His teachings.
My goal for 2010 is to make it all the way through the Bible one time. Stopping along the way, of course, to reflect in writing certain verses that jump out at me and apply directly to whats happening in my life and my family's life.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
What a great verse!! Short, sweet, and to the point! If only we could get out of our own way long enough to realize how simple it really is. Usually when times are good its incredibly easy to be joyful, to give praise, and to be thankful. Its when, and I say when because ineveitably it will happen, our faith gets tested or things start to go south we usually forget about two of his commands and go right for the middle one. When times get rough its reactionary to drop to your knees and beg for God's help, believe me I have scars on my knees to prove it. Its in those same tough times that, as hard as it may be, we need to give thanks and try as we might to be joyful. That will show the true strength of your faith in God. It doesn't read Be joyful some of the time, it says to be joyful all of the time. He doesn't want to just hear thanks part of the time, He commands us to be thankful all of the time!
In James 1:2-3 it reads Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. It is from that perseverance that our faith will become stronger. God wants us to lean on Him in all seasons of our life. That is how he designed us. We need trials and tribulations in our life to become complete and mature in our faith. Jesus never said that believing and following Him would be a nice casual stroll in the park. In fact, He promises quite the opposite. However those who find their strength in the Lord can rest easy at night if throughout every day they live out their faith by being Joyful always, Praying continually, and giving Thanks in all situations. Its as simple as JPT.
My goal for 2010 is to make it all the way through the Bible one time. Stopping along the way, of course, to reflect in writing certain verses that jump out at me and apply directly to whats happening in my life and my family's life.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
What a great verse!! Short, sweet, and to the point! If only we could get out of our own way long enough to realize how simple it really is. Usually when times are good its incredibly easy to be joyful, to give praise, and to be thankful. Its when, and I say when because ineveitably it will happen, our faith gets tested or things start to go south we usually forget about two of his commands and go right for the middle one. When times get rough its reactionary to drop to your knees and beg for God's help, believe me I have scars on my knees to prove it. Its in those same tough times that, as hard as it may be, we need to give thanks and try as we might to be joyful. That will show the true strength of your faith in God. It doesn't read Be joyful some of the time, it says to be joyful all of the time. He doesn't want to just hear thanks part of the time, He commands us to be thankful all of the time!
In James 1:2-3 it reads Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. It is from that perseverance that our faith will become stronger. God wants us to lean on Him in all seasons of our life. That is how he designed us. We need trials and tribulations in our life to become complete and mature in our faith. Jesus never said that believing and following Him would be a nice casual stroll in the park. In fact, He promises quite the opposite. However those who find their strength in the Lord can rest easy at night if throughout every day they live out their faith by being Joyful always, Praying continually, and giving Thanks in all situations. Its as simple as JPT.
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