Got the time?

I saw a guy brushing his teeth on the way to work this morning and I couldn’t help thinking, “If you are so busy or disorganized or ill-adjusted to going to work every day that you need to brush your teeth in the car…you need some serious help (and possibly a beating).”  Shaving or putting on your makeup in the car on a regular basis, just means you are a little dimwitted.

Think about how long the whole process of shaving takes.  Five minutes from lather to toweling off?  That’s getting up at 6 instead of 6:05 or 7:15 instead of 7:20 or…you get the point.  Why can’t someone adjust for that little time in their life?  Breakfast on the run (I’m not talking about a bagel from Panera)!?  That’s laziness, not convenience.  Alarm clocks and snooze buttons do what we program them to do!

Here is what I know to be true.  People that can’t make it to work on time choose to be late.  Folks that miss deadlines did so on purpose.  I once had a guy who worked for me who was late the same 5-10 minutes every day.  How can you consistently be late the same amount of time and not be able to reorganize your life to come to work 5-10 minutes early!?  The reality is that the morning routine he chose (and stuck with) didn’t include coming to work early.  It included coming to work 5-10 minutes late everyday.

Time is precious and life is fleeting.  There are hundreds of illustrations of small amounts of time being the difference between wins and losses, huge deals and lost ones, and even life and death.

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”
Benjamin Franklin

MIND DUMP – Conflicted Edition

• It feels like everyone I meet goes to church somewhere.
• Those that don’t have no interest whatsoever.  What does that mean?
• I feel like I write good sermons, but my delivery is less than average.
• It’s probably because I only get to do it once a month…but that’s how often I believe God wants us to do it!?
• My kids are at the perfect age and are incredibly fun.
• Yet, I want them to grow up and be successful at following God and leading others to do the same.  Guess that means they can’t stay cute forever…
• We have 3 cars (an 2004 F-150, an 2000 Accord, and a 2002 Trailblazer), but we only need 2 of them (the F-150 sits in the driveway and collects leaves anyway).
• I’d like to get a Honda Odyssey for Carrie, which means trading in the truck (only one worth anything), but keeping one of the other 2.  Can’t decide which one to keep…
• I’ve learned to like/drink coffee…makes me feel grown up.
• To make it good takes a bunch of sweeteners, which makes it sweet as soda.  They both have caffeine and soda tastes better.  Not sure why I did this to myself!?
• I might be able to get a nice pair of sunglasses (these or these) for 50% off.
• As good of a deal and great opportunity as that is I’m not sure I should, because they will probably get destroyed like my $10 pair?

I’m going to need counseling to get through all this…

No Training Wheels!!

Connect the Dots

Let’s be honest…most of what you have accomplished in life you couldn’t have done on your own.  For me to get everyone of my jobs I needed divine intervention, because there were surely many qualified candidates that were turned down to make room for me.

Take my first teaching job.  I had no teaching degree and no real credentials, yet I ended up being in one of the best districts in Fort Worth.  All I did was relentlessly hand out my resume in person to principles and pray…nothing else.  I guess I did brush my teeth!?

God has always blessed a combination of my own effort or initiative with His sovereign provision.  If you aren’t sure what I’m talking about look at the story of Isaac getting a wife in Genesis 24.

Essentially, Abraham wants Isaac to have a wife from his own people.  To know whom God intends for Isaac to marry Abraham’s servant takes off on a journey and begs God to show him who he should bring back.  Through a little scenario he thinks up when he arrives on the scene Isaac has a wife…nose ring and all.

No matter how literal you want to apply this to your circumstances you know that God has often put you in right place at the right time to receive His goodness.  You can also probably remember when you put yourself in a bad spot and thus got into trouble.

My advice: Be an answer to your prayers (action), pray for provision (supernatural ammo), see where God is working and pounce (faith in action).

Fleeced

When you go into a restaurant it should cost whatever it costs for the meal and service in one single fee.  Tips are stupid and an annoying tradition that should be outlawed immediately…but that’s just me.

Being fleeced doesn’t stop there.  If you really pay attention to your cell phone bill, your closing costs, or your utility bill it will make you feel like you are getting fleeced all over again.  Everyone is piling on the charges to what should be simple and straight-forward bill.

I think the local church is doing the same things with Haiti.  If the church really wanted to help people (both inside and outside) they would build  disaster relief into their budget.  It doesn’t take a genius to know another one is coming around the corner.  There were 7 major ones this decade…9/11, Katrina, Ike, Indian Ocean Tsunami, Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar, Sichuan Earthquake, Kashmir earthquake, and Bam Earthquake, Iran.  All these represent billions in actual and residual damages, plus half a million casualties.

It seems like every church goer in America got fleeced over the last month, because there was a horrific tragedy in Haiti.  Should the church help…absolutely.  Would we want someone to do the same things for us…yes.  I just don’t think taking up lots of extra offerings, or fleecing people for their spare change, truck payment, or coffee money is the answer.

Even after the offering I would venture to guess it’s still a fraction of what a church could do if people actually tithed.  Sure we will never get everyone to tithe, but that doesn’t mean we should rescue the widow, the poor, and the orphan by fleecing people by flaunting a tragedy before their eyes.  Essentially, the church has resorted to taking an offering to pay for budget items (or things we value) and take up special offerings every time we want to look good.

Thoughts?

Centrifugal Force

At some point as a kid you’ve probably proven that centrifugal force exists.  Maybe it was a risky move like whirling a can of paint round and round, or a less risky endeavor like a bucket of water outside in the yard.  Either way you couldn’t help notice that even when the bucket was upside down the liquid stayed in the bucket.  Hence, the rule of centrifugal force is proven.  Objects tend to move away from the center of gravity…even if that means smack dab into the bottom of the bucket.

Spiritual things tend to result in a similar reaction.  Most people find it much harder to get up early for church, then for a trip to the beach.  It’s easier to buy new jeans then put money into the offering.  Meeting a friend a Starbucks is much more fun then lunch with a pastor.  Essentially, it’s much easier for us to run away spiritual things then to go toward them.

If we don’t challenge ourselves to find the bottom of our bucket, whatever it may be, we will always find ourselves running from God.  Ignore the Holy Spirit enough…you won’t notice when He is speaking.  Stop reading the Bible regularly…your decisions will be based on something lacking.  Avoid church and you will find yourself alone when you experience a setback or need hope.

Does your bucket have holes or is your water all gone?

Top 5 Christmas Movies

I don’t know if age has anything to do with the following, but I think I actually like Christmas movies better then the Holiday much of time.  Just to clarify…we are well beyond the point of arguing about the Holiday being consumerism wrapped into a big red ribbon or not.  For Americans and the vast majority of businesses that’s exactly what it is.

Anyway,  I really couldn’t care less about getting presents.  It’s not that I’m a Scrooge, but more because I’m very blessed.  There just isn’t anything that I need and really even less that I want.  I’m sure as our kiddos get older that will change, but until then I have the movies.

Here are my Top 5 Christmas Movies:

1. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
2. It’s a Wonderful Life
3. Scrooged
4. A Christmas Story
5. Elf

Agree or Disagree?

Vision/Thanks!

Just force it!

If you have taken Physics somewhere along the way you have heard of this agent of nature.  Force = Mass X Area.  In other words if you have a sharp object that weighs a lot pressing down, its going to leave a mark.  If you pick up a marshmallow off a table, nobody would even be able to tell it was there.

I learned a long time ago that in preaching “force” is critical.  If you deliver a sermon full of insights, research, and Scripture, but people aren’t moved to do anything you preached about…then your sermon lacks force.  If you have a creative talk, full of pithy sayings or proverbs, and moving stories that cause people to seriously evaluate their lives…your talk had adequate force.

Some preachers get a bad rap for being too deep enough and other pastors that are full of insights and observations are criticized for not being meaty enough.

At the end of the day you can boil down anointed preaching to one thing…force.  If you audience leaves the same as they came into church, then there is a strong chance the preaching lacked force.

Anything cuter?

I think not!