New Twitter Account

If you are interested, I have a new Twitter Account that will have daily positive messages to encourage Fathers and Husbands.

Here is the link: http://twitter.com/Fathers4Jesus

Values Survey

Please take this survey about the Values that make good Husbands and Fathers.

Click here to take survey

I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

I'm not sure why I am this way, but it is very difficult for me to just sit. I almost feel guilty for not working on something; home improvement projects, this blog, cleaning house, washing the car, organizing the garage, organizing the basement storage, etc...

It wasn't difficult for me to make that list. It seems these things are always on my mind. I know what I want and I know what's important, and many times I do follow my values, but there are times that it is difficult. I wonder if others have the same issues with choosing what to do with their time?

For example, if my kids are awake, I can either be in the moment with them, get down on their level and spend quality time with them, OR I can wash the dishes. There are days where quality time gets shoved aside and my excuses aren't very convincing.

And I know, in my heart of hearts, that moments missed with my two kids cannot be recovered. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. That cheesy Aerosmith song about "not wanting to miss a thing" starts running in my head. And maybe at first I am driven by guilt to spend time with my kids, but then I start to enjoy it and anxiety starts to leave.

So my new found wisdom can be summed up in a few words: "THE DISHES CAN WAIT!!!"

Continuity Insights Magazine

I just had an article published in Continuity Insights Magazine...it's on pandemic preparedness for business. This is in their January/February 2010 issue.

http://www.continuityinsights.com/Magazine/Issue_Archives/2010/01-02/Pandemic_Planning_Protective_Measures.html

Where's Your Refining Fire?

Eight years ago I stood on the balcony of my apartment, smoking a cigarette and thinking abstractly. Staring into the dark, star filled sky, feeling empty myself, I pondered akwardly out loud the question, “Is this all that life is about?” Over the next several weeks it felt like my life was on pause, this single question still hanging from my lips. I remember feeling overcome with hoplessness and defeat.

But God reached out to me and challenged me to learn more about Him. I eventually learned that God was not who I thought He was. To me, God was just another authority figure who had rules to control me and limit my life of fun and happiness. At this time, God just wanted me to see Him better and to continue on this path ever so patiently learning more about Him.

Now, I feel as if I’ve found Heaven, buried it in a field and walked away. I haven’t sold everything I own and purchased the field. And the only answer to the question Why Not? I can come up with is “because I am a lukewarm, consumer christian who lacks the type of faith Jesus REQUIRES”. But, that’s not who or what I want to be. God knows it, I know it.

For years, I have focused and spent my energy on things of this world. A good job (instead of being a good employee), higher salaries (instead of what’s needed), promotions (instead of promoting God), having good friends (instead of being a good friend), cool tech gadgets (unnecessary), my ideas that would make me money or fame or popularity (instead of my ideas that would bring Glory to God and serve only Him) and a countless number of other things that won’t last past this life.

I’ve got this desire to let the cares of this world go, but the other part of me says “that’s not very practical”.

God, I need You to get me past this, I need you to refine my current state. God, thanks for bringing me here. Glory and Honor to you, in your place and in this place.

Spiritual Disciplines: A Better Personal Understanding

As I stated in a previous post, some of my friends and I have been practicing what are known as the "spiritual disciplines". We are doing this for the purpose of better understanding these through experience.

Upon first study, I would have declared the purpose of practicing the spiritual disciplines was to bring one’s “will” into submission; to bridle the “will” by sheer repetitious exercise. But, after further study and experiment, I now understand that the purpose is to allow God to bring our “will” under His submission and transform it to His “will”. Otherwise stated, we must allow God to overcome our “will” and transform it. We cannot do this by sheer “will” and right thinking.

The important difference here is that the first declaration requires one’s “will” to overpower itself, which is obviously both impossible and ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is the fact that this is exactly what we in the church have been trying to do for centuries; it is in our teaching, our conversations and in our thinking.

Truly, a stronger “will” is required to overcome the weaker. One’s “will” cannot overcome itself. Our “will” and God’s “will” simply cannot co-exist! A failure to understand this truth has allowed our current condition to remain unchanged.

Isn’t it interesting that God will not overpower our “will” unless we desire and allow Him to do so? In every case, the spiritual disciplines are an exercise of depriving the “will”. Consider the “will” to be an empty bucket and each day it desires to be filled with some thing or another. Instead of filling the bucket with the thing that our “will” desires, we purposefully leave it empty and allow God to fill it with what His “will” desires.

It is impossible for God to fill our buckets if they are already filled with our own selfish desires.

The exercise of these spiritual disciplines for any other reason would be a waste of time. If your “will” desires to practice these disciplines to become “good” in the eyes of others then I assure you, you will become arrogant and haughty in the eyes of your friends and family.

You must practice these disciplines because your soul desires a transformation of your “will”, because your mind understands your “will” is God’s enemy and your enemy too. In fact, Satan desires nothing more than the desires of your “will” to be completely fulfilled and overflowing. Satan knows that your “will” is very much like his and he has no purpose for changing it.

Lastly, we cannot expect God to transform our “will” into His “will” by just hoping it will happen. We must stop doing the things that fulfill our “will’s” desires and start doing the things that deprive our “will”, but for the right reasons.

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your “will” be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

Here is a way of describing the spiritual disciplines, but there are many other true and accurate ways to describe these complex exercises.

Solitude – Deprive your will of the company of others
Silence – Deprive your will from speaking your mind
Fasting - Deprive your will of providing your body with sustenance
Frugality – Deprive your will of seeking pleasure through material things
Secrecy – Deprive your will of seeking praise from others
Sacrifice – Deprive your will of seeking security in anything other than God
Study – Deprive your will of seeking knowledge for knowledge’s sake
Prayer – Deprive your will completely of everything
Service – Deprive your will to seek significance
Submission - Deprive your will of seeking self satisfaction
Worship – Deprive your will of focusing on worldly things
Celebration – Deprive your will to worry and focus on today’s suffering
Fellowship – Deprive your will of isolation and selfishness
Confession – Deprive your will to hide your sin

Spiritual Discipline

Recently, some men that I share life with, have begun studying and practicing the “Spiritual Disciplines”. Our first two disciplines to learn about and practice were Solitude and Silence. As Jesus shows us, sometimes you have to get away and be quiet to hear God. That is the general idea around this.

At the end of our two week trial run with Solitude and Silence, we all realized just how difficult it can be to carve out time for these two disciplines. Nevertheless, we all did carve out a small amount of time and can say that while none of us had any life changing experiences (which wasn’t expected) we did realize the value of this discipline. For me, this could lead me to make some major life altering decisions.

For the next two weeks, our group will be practicing the spiritual disciplines of Study and Prayer. Some of us plan to read some commentary, or a good Christian book and others will stick with our Bible. One of the men in my group reminded us that when you read the Bible, you should be asking yourself, “what does this say about God?” and not necessarily the named characters in the story. I think this is excellent advice!

Solitude and silence coupled with prayer and study…it is easy to see how this could be a powerful combination. I should point out how surprised I was to read that study and prayer are not necessarily designed to make us knowledgeable, rather they are designed to help shape our character. I can say that my character definitely needs work…so I hope God puts that on his “To Do” list and that I give him that opportunity.

What I am struggling with today…

Like most Christians of our time, I have heard countless sermons and I have seen many techniques deployed for conveying a message to a starving crowd of believers. And, I can honestly say that I have learned quite a bit from these sermons.

I wonder though, what good do we expect to come from these sermons each week? Has this technique proven its value or ability to adequately prepare us for the spiritual walk into which we have been called? I mean, for 200 years, the church has focused on the same techniques (sermon, singing, prayer, small group) and it does not appear to evaluate itself very often.

I think we can say with authority, that for most of us, attending church, participating in group bible study and bowing our heads during scheduled prayer does not lead one toward a path of Spiritual Discipline.

Dallas Willard Quote:
“Bible study, prayer and church attendance, among the most commonly prescribed activities in Christian circles, generally have little effect for soul transformation, as is obvious to any observer. If all the people doing them were transformed to health and righteousness by it, the world would be vastly changed. Their failure to bring about the change is precisely because the body and soul are so exhausted, fragmented and conflicted that the prescribed activities cannot be appropriately engaged, and by and large degenerate into legalistic and ineffectual rituals.”

It is this thought that spurned me towards practicing the spiritual disciplines. So, while Sunday sermons continue to be part of my walk, they are not the sum total of my life of faith in Jesus Christ.

Peace!