Contrarian Thinking

A book I am reading by Larry Osborne (Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God) has really got me thinking... I am going to sum up some of what is found in Ch 10 of the book...

The focus of my thoughts and actions in life should not be how much I believe in God or how much faith that I have, but rather how much I am willing to obey God in the little faith that I have.

Don't we often worry that our faith is too weak or that we need to be sure that we remove any doubts that we may have about God. Instead we should be thinking about what areas/things God is asking/telling us to obey Him in. Let me give some examples to help...

1. Acts 12 : Peter is in jail... Peter's friends were all at home praying for him... An angel breaks Peter out of jail... Peter doesn't believe it, he thinks it is a vision... Peter goes to his friends house... They don't believe it is him... the words used were that they were astonished to see him... they were praying for this to happen, but didn't believe it when it did.

2. Daniel 3 : Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego... refuse to bow down to the idols (because God told them not to)... Nebuchadnezzer says he will throw them in the furnace... they say that God will save them from it, but "even if he does not," we will not disobey what he has told us... and they are thrown in and come out alive

3. 1 Samuel 14 : Jonathan and his armor-bearer are pitted against a large group of Philistines... Jonathan says let's go over here, "Perhaps, the Lord will act on our behalf"...Jonathan and his armor-bearer go through the outpost and end up killing a bunch of the Philistines... it was the first attack in Israel's rout of the Philistines

None of the people in these stories, or in many other stories of the bible have a 110% all out belief that God is going to save them or answer what they are asking for. But the one thing they have in common, is that they all are doing what God has told them to do... they are all being OBEDIENT to God.

I must admit that I am not very obedient at all. I often look for ways that I think my faith will grow, like reading books, following rules, reading blogs, or joining bible studies. I am being challenged that for my relationship with Christ to go deeper, I must begin obeying him more with the faith that I have.

God may we come to find that it is not how much we "believe" in You, but rather how much we obey You, that will have the greatest impact on our relationship with You. May we be astonished at the things You do when we are obedient in our faith. May are faith in turn be a "faith that acts and obeys, even when it is riddled with doubts."

Donald Miller and Barack Obama (the emails)

This may not be funny to you... however I love the humor found in the email correspondence. Go to this page and scroll down to where it says "Donald and Barack Exchange Emails"

Why Christians Will Not Help the Poorest Nations

I read this post by Bob Roberts Jr... whom I am beginning to greatly respect and admire... and found it very challenging. But what am I going to do about it? Maybe we can START!!!

Why Christians will not help the poorest nations

DIRECTIONS

"Recently a pilot was practicing high-speed maneuvers in a jet fighter. She turned the controls for what she thought was a steep ascent - and flew straight into the ground. She was unaware that she had been flying upside down." - Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard


The moral of this story is either that women are not supposed to fly jet fighters... OR ... That it is of GREAT importance that you know the direction you are pointing before you begin to make your move.

A Couple of Crazy News Stories

1. The guy or group that has started this has it all wrong. It really bugs me... actually it really just made me laugh...that someone might actually give money to this cause.

2. WOW!!! Check out this lawsuit!

Source: relevantmagazine.com

REMINDERS

I often forget about the kind of life that I want to live. It is easy to get off focus (at least it is for me)... and forget that I don't want to waste my life. Too many things attempt to capture my attention and pull me off course. I thank God that he sends me reminders. This video is one of those reminders. I know that the video advertises for an event that happened in California, but I still love the message... it reminds me of the kind of life I want to live.

Get Glocalized!!

I just finished the book Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage a Flat World by Bob Roberts Jr. the other day. I highly recommend this book for anyone who... well... anyone really. I love the way Mr. Roberts sets a challenge to the church and to the individual as to really serving God in the world today. My view of "changing the world" has been greatly encouraged, challenged, and strengthened in reading this book. Please buy a copy and read it. I don't think you will be disappointed. I already want to read it again.

For more info about Bob Roberts and Glocalization, check out Glocal.net

My name is Brian and I'm addicted to...

My name is Brian and I'm addicted to Fantasy Baseball. I admit, since our player draft in the spring, I have been addicted to Fantasy Baseball. It is nothing new for me... in fact it has happened every year for the past 4 years. A day does not go by that I don't have to 'check-up' on how my players are doing, compare my team to other people's team, and/or monitor players on my "watch" list. For instance, over the past several years I have starred at the computer and watched almost entire baseball games as the computer updates what is going on in the game... I am not even watching the actual game, it is just writing and numbers on the computer screen that tell me what is going on in the game.

You may say... WOW! You have problems. The only real problem is that I know that I am not alone in my addiction. Because every time I see someone in my league, we begin to talk Fantasy Baseball... and I am often not the one who initiates the conversation.

Am I writing this to state that I am giving up Fantasy Sports?
No way! I am just entering my first AA meeting, except that instead of AA, it is FA. They say that the first stage is recognizing the problem... Well check off stage 1 for me. But for now that is all I am going to check.



May I become addicted to following after Jesus as I am to Fantasy Baseball. May everyday I become addicted to transforming my heart and mind to become like Him. Thank you that something as simple as Fantasy Baseball helps me to recognize areas of much needed growth in my life.

POOLSIDE

I am sitting poolside on a lovely evening in Gulf Shores. I am the only one back up at the pool, everyone else must be enjoying the beach or some seafood. Meanwhile, I came up to use the wireless to check my Fantasy Baseball and mess around on the computer. As I pittaled (that is not spelled right? I am sure I have never written that word before and spell checker is not even making a attempt at fixing it), checking up on blogs I read, I once again realized the huge failure that my blog has been. Much like many other things I have started and stopped or started and gave up on, my blog has not been what I had hoped it would. I started my blog to help me put my thoughts into words and helping me to keep track of important things going on in my mind and life, what I realized was that I felt like I must have something important to write in order to post it on my blog... Thus completely ruining what I had hoped to get out of my blog. Therefore, I think I will make another attempt at "blogging". Hopefully this one will be better than my first.

I CAN'T WAIT!

Ride:Well Team

Bloglessness

So I recently got out of my short stint of blog life due in part to several reasons, but most noteably was the indolent behavior (indolent is a new vocab word for me...I asked my wife for another word instead of lazy). What I attribute the cause of my behavior to were the many snow days we had at school. Instead of actually getting stuff done that I needed to get done, I did a bunch of meaningless tasks... thinking much about my blog, but lacking the motivation to do something about it. I do however have a list of 10 posts which I plan on writing soon.

It is strange how if we aren't careful, our circumstances can drastically affect the decisions that we make in our lives. I get so wrapped up in what is going on around me that I often miss what is the most important. Usually the people who are most affected by my decisions made in these cases are the people who are closest to me. I guess that I was really reminded of this with my first real feeling of spring today... I realized that for the past 5 springs, I have had most of my time taken away in coaching a sport. I am really looking forward to having this 'coachless' spring. I feel a renewedness (is that a word?).

I promise to get some of my list of posts up soon. Thanks

TOP 5 PODCASTS

So I started blogging, and then realized that it is pretty hard for me to have something useful or meaningful to write down often. I would really hate to be wasting anyone's time who reads a wasted post, especially considering my title is My Life as a Vapor, which is obviously hypocritical considering if our lives are so short why waste it reading a stupid post... anyway... here is one...

If you are into listening to podcasts or think you may someday, here are my top 5 favorites. I love to put one of these on while driving or while spending some down time at home. I am currently way behind in my listening, so look for some of my thoughts/notes on some of these in the near future.

#5 - TED Talks - Ideas Worth Spreading : Though I can't say that I agree with all of the ideas that are presented here, I have watched some neat videos on various topics... Scientists, Educators, and even one from Rick Warren.

#4 - North Point Community Church : Anything by Andy Stanley is good... from books to bible studies to sermons

#3 - Elevation Church : Pastor Steven Furtick ... just listen

#2 - New Spring Church : Pastor Perry Noble is funny, challenging, and life changing

#1 - Mars Hill Bible Church : Rob Bell consistently opens the words of scripture to me in ways that I never understood until I began listening several years ago

Snapshots of the Globe (part 2)

Disease

• 30,000 people will die today from preventable diseases... that was PREVENTABLE diseases TODAY!
• 3,000 people lost their lives on 9-11... not to diminish those lives, but rather to call attention to the first fact
• a child dies of hunger every sixteen seconds
• 40 % of the world lacks basic sanitation facilities
• Over 1 billion people have unsafe drinking water
• the #1 way children in Mozambique contract HIV is by sharpening their pencils with their father's razor blades

- Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-term Missions with Cultural Intelligence by David A. Livermore

"Everything the Church is NOT about... seeing someone in our midst struggling, and being alone" Rob Bell

I admit that our concerns about disease and health care in the United States are trivial compared to many other places in the world. May we recognize the importance of committing to using our resources to aiding all of God's people of the world.

GREEN TUESDAY

For the past year or so, I have decided that I want to join the 'go green' bandwagon. When I first began, I tried to do everything 'green'. I started collecting cans, newspaper, and plastics to recycle. I stopped using my air conditioning in my car and because running the water while brushing your teeth isn't environmentally friendly, I started not brushing my teeth. Needless to say, my "attempts" at being a radical environmentalist ended very shortly. In fact, at one point I even burnt my collected plastics and newspapers in the barrel in my back yard... which by the way is actually worse for the environment than throwing them away.

I have decided that I MAY start to dedicate Tuesday's blog as Green Tuesday. You may not give a rip about the environment and thus stop reading my blog forever now because it is our world to do what we want with it, and I don't have the time to mess with it OR you may say that Going Green is interesting but "I will one day start doing that stuff" OR you may think "WOW... what an awesome, cool way to take care of a great thing that God has given us, Brian you are probably one of the smartest people I have ever met, I think this is the greatest thing I have ever read!"

If you are like me... you probably would agree that 'going green' is something you wish you could do to some extent, but you really don't have the time to worry about it, nor is it at the top of the list of concerns you have about the world. That is how I feel. But I still do feel that it is important to take care of our world because we are supposed to, and I really do want to cut out $ that I am WASTING, when I could be using that to open up my financial resources toward some other direction. In saying that here is my first "tip" and maybe only post on GREEN TUESDAY...

So more recently I have tried a different approach than the cold turkey approach. I have now tried to start small. One thing that has worked pretty well for me have been the following:

1. Because we don't really trust our well water for drinking daily at our house, we were using individual store bought bottled water.

FACT: it takes 1.5 million barrels of oil to make the bottles of American's bottled water. If this oil were turned to gasoline, the amount of oil would fuel 500,000 station wagons for coast-to-coast road trips (the green book: the Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time, Rogers and Kostigen 2007).

We now have a water dispenser, for our drinking water, that uses 5 gallon recycleable water jugs. Not only has this eliminated our use of plastic water bottles, but we have saved money as well. Buying plastic water bottles, by the double dozen can get expensive... what a waste of my financial resources...If I don't want to waste my life, I surely don't want to waste my resources.

Snapshots of the Globe

Poverty vs. Wealth

• 20% of the world live on $1 per day
• 20% live on $2 per day
• 20% live on more than $70 per day
• 40% are somewhere in between
• 8% of people in the world own a car
• the combined income of the 447 wealthiest people in the world have more money than 50% of the world's population...447 people have more money than the combined $ of 3.25 billion people

- Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence by David A. Livermore

May my eyes be opened to the world I live in. May I see the difference in my wants and my needs. May I come to understand the eternal value of my resources.

Story

I recently listened to, relistened to, and then listened to again, a message entitled "Story" by Donald Miller. I really, really liked what he said. In the message, he identifies the techniques that are used to write/tell a story that make a story meaningful. He compares stories in movies and stories in the Bible to the 'story' that we are writing with our lives. Anyway... here is a brief overview of the 8 pages of notes I took...

In order for a story to be meaningful it must have

I. Lead character(s) (protagonist)-

• at the end of the story, if you don't believe they are a 'good guy'... then you don't care if they win
• hero: can't think of himself as better than others
• Phillipians 2:3-8 - imitating Christ's Humility

II. Lead character must have an Ambition (what they want)-

• God wants us to want much... it is just what we want that really matters
• What is the Movie Poster tag line: This year... Bob is going to... get a Volvo
  - will that have you weeping in the end?
• If the protagonist dies... what will happen with the ambition? what will not go on? what doesn't resolve at the end?
• An ambition must be risky. It must be something that could cost something.

III. Conflict (hard times)-

• as soon as there is ambition, there will be conflicts and fear
• Best way to get rid of conflicts and fear = not want anything (no ambition)

IV. Resolution (comedy or tragedy)- how will it end?

• Doesn't always happen as you expect
• Is the end going to be that the protagonist gets the Volvo?

Our Stories

• Our lives are stories... God is the inventor of stories
• The decisions we make our telling the stories of our lives
• God has written our climatic scene... we will stand in front of Him and he will say, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant'
• Life isn't meaningless, the story we're writing is
• Most of us will not lead a great story, we may live an ok story, but not a great story
• Characters are defined by what they DO, not what they think or feel

May our life stories be page turners. May we make decisions in our lives that make us a character to root for. May we discover and develop the ambition of our lives. And may we each give God the pen and paper of our lives and trust Him to write a GREAT story.

Sunday Thought

Tonight I was "reaffirmed" (as I am many times) as to why I love the church so much. The church has so many problems, yet it still remains the hope of the world. One of my favorite quotes about the church or really one of my favorite 'challenges' to the church is by Rob Bell.


"Can you imagine what would happen if a group of people with untold resources, passion and energy started asking the question, 'How do we hear the cry of the oppressed?' What if they were actually willing to wade into the cultural, economic, racial, global and personal issues involved without fear, with the confidence that no matter how painful, messy and volatile it got, Jesus would guide them the whole way?

You'd have some church on your hands."

- Rob Bell

That usually boring genealogy stuff...

The other day I started reading the gospel of Matthew. In most other previous times I have started reading Matthew, I have fastforwarded (is that a word?) to verse 18. I am pretty confident I am not the only one who does that, because I hate to say it, but who really cares about who is whose daddy and who did whoever marry inorder to have the son who is father of someone else... and so on and so on... Right, exactly why I always skipped to verse 18. I understand that the genealogy of Jesus is very important... in this case it introduces us to "such themes as the son of David, the fulfillment of prophecy, the supernatural origin of Jesus the Messiah, and the Father's sovereign protection of his Son in order to bring him to Nazareth and accomplish the divine plan of salvation from sin (Carson, D.A.)."

Thanks to bible commentaries, I can put things in quotes and fell like I am smart or even have any clue about what I am talking about.

Anyway....I know all of that is important... way more so then I understand.

But that day I read. And as I read through the list of moms, dads, and sons, I then came to verse 17 which reads, "Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah."

After I read that verse I paused.

And I thought... Man, I know that the line of people we can trace back the lineage of Jesus to is important. And I know that God likes to use certain numbers, like 3, 7, and 14, to do really cool stuff. And I've always heard and believed God's timing to be perfect. But what I didn't ever realize is that God's timing is not only perfect, but it is... the most perfectest (because I can't think of another better word).

I mean really, I have a hard time organizing my closet, keeping my desk clean at work, or even planning my weekend. But to have worked out generations of peoples' lives, whom they will marry, what kids they have, whose going to be king, whose gonna live where, and so on and so on... now that is some organizing, that is some planning, and that is the most perfectest timing.

And then I realized that God has done this for far more than 42 generations of people... rather he has always done this, continues to do this, and as far as I know will remain doing this. He has a plan... He will work out his plan in His timing... And it is up to me how I will play out my part in God's storyline.

May we realize that God's timing is perfect and that how we live out our part of His-story is really the thing that is important to someone living a life that is a vapor.

Bobby Knight

So... I often for some strange reason root for sports personalities that many times the majority of fans don't like. I am not sure why it is, but I have always liked Charles Barkley more than Michael Jordan, Bill Romanowski more than Joe Montana, and yes... Barry Bonds more than Mark McGwire (back when everyone loved McGwire). So, I guess that it doesn't surprise me that I paid more attention tonight to Bobby Knight retiring than I probably will whenever Coach K evently hangs it up at Duke.

I do not agree with everything that Mr. Knight has done in his life. But what I do know and understand is that there have not been very many, if any, other college basketball coaches in the history of the sport that have ever been as dedicated to the teaching of young men the game of basketball as Mr. Knight has. For somebody whose life that has completely been committed to the game of basketball, you must have respect for how he has "lived his life" for his game.

And that is what I guess that I can take away from a life like Bobby Knight's. Whatever you love, have a passion for, or enjoy doing... dive into it, work at it, struggle through its hard parts, learn everything you can about it, share it with others, etc. I think that is 'part' of what Paul means whenever he says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters" (Colossians 3:23 TNIV). I can't say that Bobby Knight was teaching the game of basketball as if working for the Lord or not, my guess is that he probably was not... but what I can say is that as a Christian I should have some of the same disciplines and the same dedication to my "work" as Mr. Knight has had. The "work" should never take the place of Christ, because it should always be 'in tune' with Him.

30 Days to Live, Bucket List, and John Mayer

There are major events in people's lives that spark change. I feel I have recently entered into one of those times in my life.

30 days to live (a message series from my church) has helped me to begin a life change that I desperately need to make. My Pastor has reminded me how brief my time on earth is. The key verse for the series... and verse worthy of memory... was Psalm 39:4-5 (NLT) -

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath."

I NEED daily reminders of this verse. I NEED reminders of the reality of this verse. I don't want to waste my life. I want my life to count for something. I want to be able to live in the moment. I long to leave a legacy for Christ. I desire to fight for peace in my relationships. I need to say what I need to say. And I understand that to do that I must keep an eternal perspective.

I started this blog as a result of the need I have to constantly remind myself that my life is a vapor (James 4:14). We are only here for a little while, then we vanish. My prayer is that in viewing my life in this way, I may learn to treasure Christ in ways I am not prepared for, nor ever expected.


By the way... Go see the movie Bucket List. The only conflict I have with the movie is that now every movie I see Morgan Freeman in I think he is playing the role of God... thanks Evan Almighty.

A WASTED LIFE

Holiday At The Sea

On several occassions, I have heard or read John Piper comment on a quote from C.S. Lewis in his sermon, The Weight of Glory:

"If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are halfhearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mudpies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

I have spent many hours of my life reflecting upon this quote since I first heard it several years ago. Everytime I have come to the same conclusion... I admit... I settle for mudpies. I am the ignorant child who cannot understand that a holiday at the sea awaits me. I am far to easily pleased with MY goals, MY ambitions, MY dreams. The "desires of MY heart" that the scriptures talk about, do not come close to the desires of GOD'S heart.

Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do more... sorry... immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine.

My Pastor always says "dream wildly." I think God shouts the same to us. He does not want us to be satisfied with our desires, He wants us to find the "infinite joy" found in the "holiday at the sea."

-Father as I continue to align my desires with yours, may you continue to remind me that my desires are small, and yours are large.

Above All Else...

Above all else, here's what I want you to know:

Mom and Dad- I will forever be grateful for the way that you have raised me and continue to raise me. I could not ask for a better set of parents. There is no way I would ever have come to know Jesus, if it were not for the way that you raised me. Thank you for teaching me how to treat people, how to treat each other, and how to live a life that is worthy of respect.

Mom- if I continue as an educator for the rest of my life, I hope that I will be like you... that even after 30 years in education, it will still bother me when I feel my students aren't achieving the goals that I have set for them. I have yet to meet another educator with the simple passion and honest caring for students that you possess. You have also always shown your love to your own kids, even when we haven't shown it in return.

Dad- if I ever make someone smile or laugh at anytime in my life, I know that I have learned from perhaps the best one-line comedian of them all. There is no other person in my life that makes me laugh inside like you do. You have been a great role model. The simple things you do for people have not gone unnoticed.


Laura Beth- Ever since you were little, I have always been PROUD of you. Thank you for putting up with a brother who many times was not there for you. If you ever got hurt or mad (and I bet you did) because of that, you never showed it. Even whenever I wasn't there, know that I have been so PROUD of your every accomplishment. When I think about my sister, my heart jumps! All I can really say is I would not trade you for anything.

Anna-Marie- You are truly the love of my life. You challenge me in ways I need to be challenged, and you reward me in ways that make me feel unbelieveably blessed. I enjoy getting to spend my life with you. I could not imagine my life without you! Thank you for your smile that makes me smile, your "laughs" that make everyone laugh, and your love that my words can't express.


To all of you-

HOME WILL ALWAYS BE WHERE YOU ARE.