Ignoring God

I am not a quote guy. Rarely do you here me say, "so and so said this or so and so said that." Don't get me wrong quotes are good but probably what we should quote most often is the Bible. Saying all that, here is a quote that has given me much food for thought;

"As Romans 1 teaches us, once we ignore God, we inevitably misuse the goods of creation as we mistakenly make our own rules. So our sin in the vertical direction (ignoring God) inevitably causes disorientation on the horizontal level (as we lose our sense of reference and direction)."

from the book Unfashionable
Tullian Tchividjian

Simply, the question that I have been asking myself lately is, Where am I misusing the goods of creation? How am I making my own rules? Ignoring God is serious business. So many of us have lost our sense of reference and direction. Tullian's quote points us back to the Vertical sin of ignoring God that leads to disorientation.

May we all take some time and ponder how we are ignoring God. Repent and become vertically oriented once again.

Times Stands Still When...

Time stands still when you are doing the things that you love to do - those things you do where the opinions of others, their critiques, or their inputs don't matter. Time stands still when I am racing my stock car. The race is usually ten to fifteen minutes and yet in the cockpit it feels like an hour. There's no one telling me why I should or shouldn't do it. No one telling me how to drive or where to drive. I have realized that time stands still when I am involved with the things that make me uniquely me. It is easy to spend ones life filling time vs fulfilling God's dream for you.

Time stands still when you are talking about things that you are most passionate about. I realize that when I have opportunity to share with people my love for God or answer their questions about Him. I become incredibly focused and aware. There is nothing more time-halting then that moment when I am able to explain the truth of the Bible to someone. I want time to stand still each and every day of my life.

Time stands still when you are with people who you love and desire to be around. I can remember so many times with my children where we would have the day or week committed to each other. Nothing to do and nowhere to go. Time stood still in those moments. It is amazing to think about all the opportunities we have to touch the lives of other people. I remember playing tennis with my children in Colorado four years ago and what we talked about. I don't remember who won the last political debate I was in. God help me spend time with the right people!

What love does.

Okay, I admit it... I do not even like dogs or cats or animals for that matter. They are fun to look at but in no way do I enjoy owning one. So the picture with the dog is a bit miss leading.
The long story short is this; I promised Matt a dog when we moved from Ohio to Illinois when he was 13 years old. What love does!

I look back on that committment to him and identify the love I have for him, and his happiness far out weighed the inconvenience of dog hair, late nite bathroom walks, chewing on all of our valuables and even eating our couch. Yes, Hercules ate a portion of our couch, attempting to retreive his tennis ball. What love does!

Now that Matt is at college, he has given us the responsibility of taking care of Hercules. Daily attention, feeding, cleaning up that stupid hair and the late night bathroom breaks are all ours. I asked myself last night as I was called on by Hercules to take him out at 11:57 p.m. , "Why do we even have this dog?" I quickly focused on the love that I have for Matt because that is what love does!

So what is love doing in your world? Are there any sacrifices being made? Are there ways that you demonstrate love to your children that isn't easy? Does love get sifted through your selfishness, busyness, and desire to take the easy way?

Looking back on my eighteen years with Matt, that gift from me to him was the most powerful expression of love that I could have ever given him. It was not my thing. It was certainly not easy, in fact I hated then and I almost hate it now, BUT tonight Hercules will take me out for a pee at 11:57. Oh by the way, I am taking Hercules to see Matt tomorrow at Greenville College. What love does!

This is my first post. I have been encouraged to use a blog to communicate to others about different aspects of my life, family, marriage, hobbies, and ministry. I believe it will be helpful for me. Getting what is in my head out into a readable form will affirm my life goals and the reasons why I have been left to serve my Saviour on earth. Spending the bulk of my time on the planet around people, has given me insight to their challenges, victories, defeats, temptations and sorrows. I CHERISH all the people who have made my life rich and those presently who fill my days with richness and joy. I am a blessed man who recognizes that little matters on this earth and the goal is to fill up our time enjoying God and impacting those around us. I truly pray that we all recognize the great day that we have in today!!