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Money in Your Mouth

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

This past week I joined with several others in a book discussion of The Hole In Our Gospel by Richard Stearns.  This post was my first entrance into that discussion.  The next day I wrote this post as a follow-up to one of the responses to that post.  For the rest of the week and all weekend long I have pondered what I should do about this situation.  Before going anywhere else please go here to get a closer look at what I am referring to.   I lost my mother to cancer in 2004 and miss her a lot.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to have my mother go through the cancer treatments and medical costs that Josh’s mother has experienced.  Why am I mentioning this?  Because one of my readers of this blog is Carol’s husband.  His name is Ike and he has been a reader for quite awhile now.  I really couldn’t tell you when he began reading and commenting but I can tell you I have been praying for he and his wife for quite awhile.  I did not know it was this serious!  Ike was a laborer for years (I believe a bridge builder) and not only has he had the weight of his wife on his shoulders, you can see by Josh’s blog that his father is now disabled.

So…here is what I am asking you, my readers, and those you know to do.  Check out Josh’s blog about his mom here. Then consider being a part of the solution…no matter how big or small.  I realize that for many of us money is tight.   But if we just gave up one night of eating out or one or two days of our special coffee or five purchases of Diet Dr. Pepper Polar Pop we could make a small contribution to help Ike and Carol.  It is not the amount but the heart that makes the difference.

Several disclaimers: I have never met Ike, except on the pages of my blog.  I may not always agree with him or visa versa but that is not the issue here.  He is my brother in Christ and I need to put my money where my mouth is. Second, Ike did not ask me to do this.

For Ike: There may be some not comfortable using PayPal (I am one of them).  Would you please provide a physical address where a check might be sent?  Thanks.  (Check the comments for it if you are one of those who don’t want to use PayPal).

Thanks everyone for helping.  If you Tweet or FB consider passing it along.  I do neither of those social media outlets but I know many of you do.   Happy Labor Day and thanks to all who have kept and keep America rolling!

Posted in Christian living, Church, Friendship, Miscellaneous | 6 Responses »

Do What You Say

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Certain sayings stick with a person.  For example:

“It is better to keep your mouth shut and thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”   Abe Lincoln

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  Jim Elliot

“No one can rock the boat and row at the same time.”

“It is amazing how far a church/business/organization can go when no one cares who gets the credit.”

There are more, of course.  But one that continually rocks my world is the one by the founder of World Vision, Bob Pierce: “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” That messes me up every time I read it.  It does a number on me when I pray it.   But when I hear Brooke Fraser sing it in “Hosanna” it hits me like a ton of bricks.   Oops, that was from the Prologue last week (which I missed).  :P

Now for this week: As a pastor, one of the hardest things to do is to sit by and watch people (and I am guilty also) say they care about those less fortunate but then walk right on by or do nothing to act upon their words.  If we take the gospel seriously as Christ-followers, I think I am safe in saying that is anathema.  Compassion for those who were hurting physically, mentally, socially or spiritually oozed out of Jesus.  I don’t think there was a broken heart He did not mend, a need He did not meet, or a hurting person He did not feel for.  If I am to be a follower of His,  should I not have that same type of compassion?  Some will say, “Well, you can’t be a bleeding heart for every lost or hurting person.”  That may be true but I simply want to ask a question: “Why not?”  Maybe that is a lofty goal (and it would wear you out if you did) but perhaps it is wiser to break it down into saying:   Choose one person with whom you can make a difference in his/her life. You pick…but pick someone.  We are truly being like Jesus when we are showing compassion and concern tangibly to someone else.

Have you ever struggled with caring too much or not enough?  How do you deal with it?   Please go back and read Bob Pierce’s statement again.  Have you ever prayed that?  What is your reaction to it? I welcome your thoughts.

I am taking part in a book discussion of The Hole In Our Gospel with several other bloggers here. I haven’t figured out the widget thing yet and since I will be out of town all morning, I thought I would direct you to Jason’s site and he can take it from there.  Maybe by next week (or even later today) this technologically-challenged individual can figure things out.   Yeah right. :P

Posted in Book Discussion, Christian living, Church, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous | 35 Responses »

Changing Change

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Tim Stevens in his book, Pop Goes the Church, writes these words:

Change is hard.  Change requires time.  Changing too slowly frustrates leaders, and changing too quickly intensifies emotions.  Bad change will cause people to leave your church.  Good change will also cause people to leave your church.

If you have read his book you know that he is referring to using visuals (not flannelgraph boards) :) but videos, clips from movies, etc.  This post is not about that type of change.  The church I pastor welcomes the use of any video aid to our worship experience…within reason of course.  I, myself, try to be sensitive to what I use.  I have sometimes found movie clips that would work and then when I watch it I have to say, “Doggone it.  Why did they have to go and use THAT word!”

The change I am talking about is the kind of change a leader has to make that may lead him to “eat” his words or change his plans.  Take last night, for example.  I am writing this Tuesday morning because I wanted to see what reaction I would get from a suggested major change AFTER an announcement had already been made. In my post here, and then this past Sunday, I announced that we would be having our first worship service at our new property on October 3rd under a tent and then follow that with a picnic lunch.   Come to find out  that having our all-church worship service in a tent will be a logistical nightmare.  Having a tent and setting up chairs will the easy part.  We will have to have adequate electrical service (can you say a box or a heavy duty snake?), the Power Point and projector will be hard to see in the type of tent they plan to provide, plus set-up and tear down will require hours of manpower, all on a Sunday morning.  We will lose the $500 deposit (which hurts) but in the long run we will save a whole bunch more.   I know it isn’t all about money but for me it goes beyond money.  It involves the people who “run” that as their ministry and take great pride in things being done right.  I have to admit that my suggestion to have a tent meeting was done without consulting those folks.  Two things come to mind: 1) bad move; and 2) poor communication.  So last night I bit the bullet and attempted to right the mess.

Change is good but change for change’s sake is not. It was not a bad idea that we meet in a tent.  Not at all.  It would have been nice to have the folks all together to celebrate.  But, in the long run, it was not a good idea.We would have had less than a week to pull things together and the cost could very well have escalated (the other half of the deposit plus unseen costs). So we will start out with two services from the get-go and move the picnic to October 10th.  We are going to ask people to provide tents and their own camping chairs for the meal plus we have plenty of trees. We will have a good time regardless and the worship will work because, in spite of the smaller meeting place, God is going to show up!  I know that because we have been praying for it.

We changed change.  It isn’t always easy but sometimes it takes a willingness to admit a mistake for something better to happen. It was a good idea but, in this case, changing that change was a better idea.  What are your thoughts?  Would have stuck with your guns on your original plans?  Have you ever had to change a change?  What happened as a result?  I would like to hear your thoughts.

Posted in Church, Just Wondering, Leadership, Miscellaneous | 20 Responses »

Input Needed

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

So…here’s the deal.  I need want your input.  Let me explain.  The church I pastor will be moving to a new facility that we just purchased.  We originally thought that September 12th would be the target date.  As you probably already know, planned projects seem to take on a life of their own.  :)   Guess what?  Yep, you guessed it.  The renovations needed to make my office usable as well as the secretary’s office and the nursery have taken longer than expected so we have pushed the first day of worship in our new building to October 3rd.  Since we will have to start with two worship services, that first Sunday will actually be in a tent followed by a picnic.  We are also using it to celebrate our 6th anniversary.  So…when we talked about the September 12 date, I began making plans and preparing messages for the final three weeks in our current facility in order to prepare us for that first Sunday and a sermon on “Why We Exist” (Love God, Love People, Impact the World).  That schedule got skewed but after a lot of thought and prayer I decided to go ahead and preach the three sermons I was already working on.  It is the “Story of a House” series (here and here so far).   That leaves one more for that series.  But that also leaves me 3 weeks of limbo before that first service and the “Why We Exist” sermon. I have wracked my brain and prayed a bit :) about it and here is what I have come up with: continue the series only focus on the New Testament idea of the church.  The first three were focusing on the Temple (next week is from Nehemiah) so take the next three and focus on the New Testament idea of the church.

So…here is where I need your input all you preacher people and all you non-preacher people.  How would you develop these next three weeks of sermons? I am not looking for outlines although…  Just kidding.  I am looking for ideas and Scripture. Keep in mind they are designed to prepare the folks for the move and God’s idea of the church being the people not the building. All ideas will be considered.   SO…HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!! I don’t have a prize to offer except the grand prize of you and your idea mentioned on this blog.  That, and 74 cents, will buy you a Diet Dr. Pepper Polar Pop.  :P    FIRE AWAY!!

Posted in Church, Little Bit of Fun, Miscellaneous, Preaching, Sermon Series/Topic | 28 Responses »

Moving On

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

If you have been with me on this journey this week, you have read this post,  this one and this one.  First, I want to sincerely thank you for hanging in there with me and for the myriads of comments.  I am afraid that in some way I may have given the wrong impression about my “state of affairs.”  One comment in the last post point blank asked me, “What is missing?”  As you can see by my answer I was not at all offended by the question.   So, let me start off by saying, “I am okay (although some might doubt that).”  As I stated in my response, I am “up” 99.44% of the time.  I am an extreme extrovert which brings with it its own set of challenges-one of them being that I tend to wear my feelings on my sleeve.  When I am up I am up.  When I am down, people know it.  I am not going off the deep-end.  I am not having a crisis of faith.  I have been in a rut that I need to break out of.  It used to be that before roads were paved they had signs that said, “Choose your rut wisely.”  Sometimes we get in ruts and things get routine-too routine for our own good.  It never hurts to do some self-evaluation and since I blog I chose to do that online with friends whom I encourage to share their thoughts.  So…thanks for doing so.  But let’s move on.  Let me give you what I have decided are the three main reasons (not necessarily in order) for my “funk.”

Reason #1: Tired.  Physically tired. You young bucks may not realize this yet but one of these days those long days and nights will catch up to you. While I have always been a morning person and nights are made to sleep and not play, I have been burning the candle at both ends.  My day starts at 3:00 and typically ends about 9:30 when I collapse into bed. I have been going almost non-stop for far too long-much of that involved in a new location for our church fellowship.  I have had enough divided loyalty.  I am a pastor not a building inspector.  Some things I cannot avoid but others I am delegating. It took being away last week to remind me how much I have missed slowing down to be with Jo and just enjoying her presence, her closeness, and not rushing from here to there.

Reason #2:  The Tyranny of the Urgent. I know I have that booklet somewhere in this office but packing does that to you, you know?  :D   This is sort of a follow up to some of what I stated in Reason #1.  Sometimes that which is important gets kicked aside for that which is urgent. Priorities get skewed and out of whack.   Things are pushed aside and then panic sets in when it is “Oh no!  That was supposed to be done!”  I think we have all fallen victim to the tyranny of the urgent.

Reason #3 (This may be behind it all): Spiritual warfare. That’s right…good old-fashioned spiritual battles waged in my heart and soul.  I believe with all my heart that there are battles waged in the heavenlies (unseen) between the forces of God and the legions of demons.  There are too many Scriptures that bear that out. However, it helps to be prepared.  I am ashamed to admit that I had let my guard down and was not. I was trying to fight battles in my own strength (never a good thing).  I was trying to fight battles on sheer will power (again…never a good thing).  And I was trying to fight battles on a weakened spiritual condition brought on by Reasons #1 & 2 and the previous post. All of that spelled disaster and “reality check needed.”   I had let my shield and sword down and had failed to “dress” properly (see Eph.6: 10-17).

But God is wooing me and restoring my spirit.  He is being true to His Word. I have no clue what He has in mind for me in the future but I do know that whatever it is, this latest dry spell has been for a reason (but not His fault).

Can you relate to any of what I have written?  What would you like to add?  Feel free to share your thoughts.  And thanks for praying for me.  You have no idea how much those prayers mean to me.

Posted in Christian living, Church, Friendship, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous | 31 Responses »

Finding a Cure

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Where do I start?  Hmmmm I don’t know.  I reckon I could start by saying, “WOW!”  As I read your responses to my last post on Body & Soul Relief I have to admit to some emotions that crept to the surface.  It really meant a lot to me to know that many of you are/have struggled with the same thing and even that many of you are NOW in the same place I am.  It meant even more for people I have never met in the flesh to say you were praying for me.  I do need to clarify that I am not “gone, ” in the sense of way-out-there.  I think Julie may have said it best: it is like the wilderness.  But, at the same time, I am not totally there either.  I almost feel somewhat like I am in a state of purgatory (which I don’t believe in)-sort of in between gigs.  It is like I want desire to have this close intimate relationship with Jesus but also find that the prayer life and the Bible reading (herein called QT for Quiet Time)  is on cruise control right now.  Does that make sense to you?  As I have spent some thinking of things last week while away from the office and then again this week now that I have returned to my routine, I think there are several reasons these times happen.  This list will certainly not be exhaustive because I am sure you can come up with more.  Two things I want to say before I start: 1) everyone is different.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.  But just because something is so elementary doesn’t mean it can should be taken for granted; 2) this particular post will be one of two in dealing with this due to length. So…what brings about these time of (if I may use the term) flat-lining?

One big one, and I am not sure if this is the #1 reason or not, is unconfessed sin. I don’t care whether you happen to be a pastor or a “regular Joe,”  unconfessed sin can be anyone’s downfall.  But I want to take it further by also adding “blatant unconfessed sin.”  See, we all may have sin that we have failed to confess.  God surely knows I can’t confess everything I have done.  He would really have to sit down for that one!  :P   It is the blatant sin that gets us into trouble.  The sin we tell ourselves isn’t so bad.  The sin we rationalize.  Take flying off the handle: “if he/she wasn’t such a jerk I wouldn’t lose my temper.”  Or take porn: “If he/she would do such-and such then I wouldn’t have to resort to this.”  The tragedy is that sin takes a hold of us before we realize its grip is so strong.  I think you know I cycle.  I am not very handy in the maintenance department so I sometimes let things go a little too long.  Like cleaning the chain.  I like to ride so much that day after day I will hop on my bike without giving much thought to how dirty my chain is getting until it feels sluggish or my rear cog is gummy.  Sin is like that.  A compromise here, a compromise there, and we find ourselves sucked in and wonder, “How did that happen?”  We are continually warned in the Scriptures that the enemy lurks waiting for the moment to pounce.  Be forewarned! Be aware!

I think a second one is when the disciplines we practice (QT) become rote. Truthfully, I don’t know if this is the symptom or the cause of the symptom.  What I mean by that is I don’t know if the QT becoming rote is the cause of the dryness/ wilderness or if the dryness/wilderness causes the QT to become rote.  It is sort of like the old argument of “which came first?”  Funny (not haha funny) thing is that I have been having my QT all along. Well…least I thought I was.  Maybe it had become rote.  :)   See what I mean?  I hate to admit that I was still reading and praying but I can’t honestly tell you much of what I have been reading lately and even though many of you have been prayed for on a daily basis, I sometimes feel like it is more of a shopping list than a heartfelt talk/listen session with God.

Maybe, just maybe, realizing this is the first step to getting back on my feet.   This post has gotten too long so I will stop here and continue it tomorrow.  I hope you will tune in as I give what may be the biggest culprit of all.  Until then, what are your thoughts on today’s post?  Did I touch on any sensitive subject with you?  If you care to share I would love to hear from you.  Perhaps we can work through this thing together. :D

Posted in Christian living, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous | 29 Responses »

Body & Soul Relief

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

You have probably heard by now, in some form or another, the story of the world traveler who was also a hunter.  He wanted to trek back deep in the jungle but was on a tight schedule so he hired a local guide to lead him and some natives to carry all his equipment.  After pushing them hard from sunrise to sunset for two days, the morning came for the third day and he was upset when those carrying his equipment refused to move.  When he complained to the guide, the guide simply said, “They are attempting to let their souls catch up to their bodies.”   Honestly now…has that ever described you?  In a recent post called Catching Up I expressed some similar feelings.  Not in those overt words but in more veiled language.  I am not too proud nor am I too ashamed to admit “I am there.”

I have so appreciated the comments many of you made-from the choice of blogs to read to what warns you of your breaking point. (I encourage you to check out the comments given).  One thing is certainly apparent- something I stated a time or two-we all cope in different ways.  For example, Michael said he eats.  I don’t eat…I cycle.  But both can be seen as avoidance to pain or emptiness or some emotion.   Jaycee brought up an excellent illustration of a glass being emptied but it needs refilled again and again.  I understand my job as a pastor requires emptying and refilling but can there be a point where a saturation is reached and it takes something extra to refill?  I think Yes.   Ivan mentioned journaling.  I tried that but soon tire of the discipline required.  (Does that say something about me?)  :)   Tony’s comment about how his attitude goes downhill sure hit home with me.  One of the things I notice (and have noticed lately) is that my attitude is not so much stinky but I find myself saying or writing things that come out wrong.  I am too fried to think clearly.  Am I alone?  I doubt it.  Pinky talked about being retired and not finding time to do things.  I cannot relate to being retired but I can relate to what I wrote about the Tyranny of the Urgent.  Robin talked about her DIY projects that have been consuming her time.  I can relate to the curse of busyness!  Finally, Julie talked about the desire to please everyone.  For someone who says he is beyond that…I am not beyond that I have found out.  I still want to smooth waves and be a cool head within rough seas.  Julie also nailed it here for me.

So, where am I at these days?  That is a good question.  I have soooooooo much to be thankful for.  A wife who loves me unquestionably.  Two wonderful daughters; a good son-in-law who loves my daughter; and an extra special grandson (the best one in the whole world and I will fight you on that).  :P   I serve a good church in a small community that loves me, whom I love, and is about to make a giant move.  I serve a powerfully loving God who continually showers mercy and grace on me in abundance.   But even with all that I have to be thankful for, I find myself out of sorts.  But I think I know why now and tomorrow I plan to post what I think has brought this about.  (Bet you can’t wait!)  :o

So…how are you doing these days?  Have you found yourself in a wilderness of sorts lately?  What are you doing to claw your way out?  If you are already out, what did you do to bring relief?  I know it will require honesty and some are not comfortable with that.  I understand.  However, if you care to share I would love to hear from you.

Posted in Christian living, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous | 43 Responses »

PTI: Birthday Time Here!!

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Pardon The Interruption! I interrupt this blog and its theme to bring you a special announcement:  Today, August 23rd, is my (Jo thinks I should say “our” as if she had something to do with it) youngest daughter, Janna’s 31st birthday!!  (Do you know how old that makes me…feel?)  I know many, okay most of you, don’t care about whether it is her birthday or not, but I am proud of Janna (as I am of Tami) so I thought I would write this post as sort of an “Open Letter to Janna.”  You can listen in if you want.  If not, see you next post.  :P

Dear Janna,

It hardly seems possible it is your 31st birthday.  I can remember when you surprised us with an early morning entrance into this world with a middle of the night awakening.  You weren’t due for another 3 weeks and C-section babies weren’t supposed to do that, but like so much else in your upcoming life, you had a mind of your own.  Where Tami has gobs of brown hair, you were almost bald (or was that blonde hair?)  Your mom’s first words were “Oh Bill will be so disappointed.”  See, that is why you have to love me more than her because I was thrilled you were here. :)   I have to admit that I was fully expecting a boy, especially since I had been so foolish to say from the pulpit one day, “I know this one will be a boy.  I put my dibs in with God.”  Since God has a sense of humor, I used to joke that He probably changed the sex after the announcement. :)   I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to have you home until I realized that my world was now changing again.  Gone was the easy-care life of having an older daughter (now 4) and here was the diaper-changing, smelly formula, and carrying-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-when-you-leave the-house syndrome.   But we survived, even the middle of the night feedings that I finally hood-winked your mom into doing because it wiped me out for the day (she was a stay-at-home mom).

As you grew, that little independent streak first evident on the nightday of your birth became more evident.  You were not one to sit on my lap and learn to read books like your sister nor were you one to sit on the floor and learn your shapes with that shape-thingy.  No…you walked away whenever you had a chance, however, it was just a week or so later that we caught you sitting on the floor doing it yourself.  Do you sense a pattern here?  :P Your hair grew out blonde and straight except, of course, when you had that perm done during the “big hair days.”  Aaahhh yes, the glory of blackmail.  The school system we were in at the time thought it was okay to start you a year early to school and even though you were certainly glad you graduated a year earlier than you would have, I am not too sure you were very keen on us at times.  But you hung with the studies (and I forget how many boyfriends) to graduate.  Then you threw us for a loop with “I don’t want to go to college.  I want to stay and live at home.”  Aaah no!!  So, off to college you went, kicking and screaming.  We were so proud of you when you wanted to go back and back and back and graduated.  And I will never forget your words when you went away: “I don’t want to be married; I don’t want kids; and I don’t want to work with kids.”  You just gotta be careful with statements like that you know?  You are married, have a child of your own (the greatest grandson in the world), and you work as an Assistant Director in a DayCare.  Ain’t life grand?

While I can continue reminiscing, I can wrap things up with this: we are sooo proud of you- of the wife and mother you have become and and the woman of God you are becoming.  I pray God grants both you and us many more years because it will be thrilling to see what all He has planned for you.  Happy birthday honey.  I (and your mom) love you very much.

Janna occasionally reads my blog (I think) so if you want to send her a greeting you can respond here.  I will make sure she reads it (she is sort of independent you know?) and sees any thoughts you may have.  :D

Posted in Family, Miscellaneous | 28 Responses »

Catching Up

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

As many of you know I took some time away from the office this past week.  For the most part it was also a time away from blogging and responding to blogs.  I have to admit that I sometimes get frustrated with some bloggers for various reasons.  Those who blog, for example, but leave no place for comments.  It is almost like they are saying, “Listen to what I am saying but to tell you the truth, I am not the least bit interested in what you have to say.”  Maybe that is sort of harsh and unfair but while I know he/she may have some good things to share I sort of stopped going to their blog.  Okay…not sort of…I just stopped.   That alone sounds arrogant on my part since it is almost like saying, “Unless you want to hear what others say (especially me), I am going to take my ball and quit.”  Another frustrating thing for me is when people want you to read their blogs but then fail to read others, and if they do, leave a comment occasionally.  This past week I was guilty of the latter.  While I blogged very little on my own, I commented even less.  I know this may not mean a whole lot to many of you but I still read every blog in my Google Reader (ask Jo) and some hit me where I needed to be hit, but I chose not to take a lot of time commenting.   I am guessing not many of you asked, “Where is Waldo, I mean, Bill?”

Frankly, I am not sure I can even answer that right now.  The mini-vacation I took was just that- a mini one.  But even as I was gone, I had things I had to deal with.  Today as I write this it is Friday, my day off and the last day of my time off, and as I was cycling with two buddies today one of them asked me how my vacation went.  I had to honestly tell him that “it was too short and I need more time away.”  The word that would describe me right now would be “well done.”  Not quite fried but toasty.  However, I do not want this post to be a “poor Bill” post so I will stop at that.  In fact, this post by Jay and this one by Scott  and this one by Jason’s wife, Andrea, sums it up well for me.  Here Tom tells me what I need to know and do and Michelle tells me I can have Victory here. These are all well and good but it still comes down to me because frankly, I know it is easier said than done.

But let me ask you a question: how do you know when you are reaching that breaking point, that point where you find yourself looking for an escape (and I don’t mean drugs, alcohol, etc)?  Second part to the question: what causes it?  I have my own thoughts, for sure, but I would like to hear some of yours.  I will be writing some about my/your thoughts this coming week so feel free to comment however you like.  And yes, I will be back to commenting on your blogs as well.  (I know you missed my opinions). :P

Posted in Christian living, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous | 41 Responses »

On Being Casual

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

If you haven’t read my last post (here) then I encourage you to do so first.  I am taking a few days away with my wife in Madison, IN and just relaxing.  I went for an early morning ride and rode new roads, climbed one hill twice and then had to do another one on the way back.  The hills are great!  One was long and taxing and the other taxing after doing the other twice.  I loved it!  While mileage is important, it isn’t in this case. Quality is. But that got me thinking about my own spiritual life.  It is so easy to allow a relationship with Jesus to grow stale, to look at the longevity and forget about the quality of that relationship.  It really doesn’t matter who it is (pastor, pastor’s wife, teacher, elder, etc) or how long it has been going on, it can happen to anyone.  It is sort of like getting something new as a gift and being excited about it, but then as time moves on it loses its luster.  I am in the process of trying to “refresh” my relationship with Jesus.  As I think about that, I can’t get a song out of my head.  Please take a listen before you automatically say, “Oh a song.  Delete or move on.”  It packs a punch.

It’s more than a wish, more than a daydream
More than just a passing whim
Yes, I’ve said this all before
A thousand times or more
I don’t wanna waste my life in chains of sin

CHORUS

I don’t wanna be, I don’t wanna be a casual Christian
I don’t wanna live, I don’t wanna live a lukewarm life
But I wanna light up the night
With an everlasting light
I don’t wanna live the casual Christian life

This life is filled with strong distractions
With pulls from the left one from the right
I’ve already made up my mind
Gonna leave this world behind
Gonna live my life a living sacrifice.

How is your spiritual life these days?  Are you doing any renovating?  What are you doing to make it happen?  I know I am and hopefully soon will be able to tell you how I am coming along.

Posted in Christian living, Just Wondering, Miscellaneous | 10 Responses »

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