Cooking rice…

So I was reading a friend’s blog this morning (hey Rue).  She was talking about her trials and tribulations in cooking rice.  I must say it is definitely an art-form.  I got pretty good at it in college after living in Japan for a summer and having my  Japanese brother, Soichi, as a roommate for a year back stateside.

I like rice.   That is a good thing.  I leave for India next Friday and I will be there for 16 days.  They eat a lot of rice.

I love steak.  That is unfortunate.  Indians do not eat very many cows.

I really love Jessica.  She is gone for a week in California and will not be going to India with me.  So here are the facts:

In India they have:

1).  Lots of rice.

2).  Little beef.

3).  No Jessica.

It will be a challenge not having my wife or my babies with me.  I am glad I will have Jesus.  He will carry me through it.

I am sure I will learn to appreciate my family a lot more while I am away.  I might even gain a greater appreciation for Longhorn’s.

Man, I am spoiled.  I am excited about the trip….

Passion….

I know that His suffering is called the Passion for different reasons, but I like to think that His passion is us.  The whole reason He gave Himself up to death on a cross was for me.  Wow, that’s tough to even type.  That the One Who made me and gave me everything, and tolerates my insubordinate existance, came down in flesh and humbled Himself even unto death on a cross, simply because He loves me and would move heaven and earth just to know me.

Oh how lovely are You, Lord!!!!!

Now for the interactive part….

My wife and kids are my first passion in Him.  They give me a lot of joy and purpose.

But I also was made to play guitar.  This is not about being the best at something, so do not get the impression that I think I have skills or anything.  But when I play guitar for Him, I feel Him smiling over me, and dancing over me.  Sometimes, when I am deep in worship, I can actually feel Him take over my hands and play through/for me.  I lose complete control over my body and let Him command the ship for a time and nothing in all the world compares to it.

Eric Liddell was an olympic runner, fastest man in Scotland, & missionary who said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. “

What do you feel like God made you for?  What is your passion?

Things that test…

Well Tuesday night was a moment for me. I went to eat dinner with my friend, TJ, from Tech over in Dunwoody. I thought I had to play at Tech, but forgot they were on Spring Break…so I had my guitar and stuff with me.

I still have my guitar…but my cables and pedals got snatched out of the truck while I was eating. Some needy individual decided that my dad’s black, leather bag was too comfortable resting in my back seat, so he “gently” shattered my window and lifted the bag with my stuff in it.

For the most part, I am OK. It is just stuff. So what if I am out about $500 worth of gear? It can be replaced eventually. I have already forgiven whoever stole it. It doesn’t mean that what he did wasn’t wrong, but me being angry wouldn’t change anything. I have turned him over to God and hope that he finds salvation before it is too late.

There are 3 things that still suck about the incident.

1). That window cost me a couple hundred dollars to replace.

2). That bag was one of the last things my dad gave me before he passed. Meth-boy can keep the pedals, but couldn’t he have just left the bag?

3). Unless you get caught in the act, stealing in this country is no longer illegal. This is the 4th time in my life that something has been stolen either from my home or my vehicle. The police always say they have too many other more important things to deal with than to check out the incident. Yeah, got to sit and get those speeders (who for the most part are everyday, law-abiding, productive citizens). I know there are cops who are excellent and serve with the utmost integrity…but there seems to be a general feeling of apathy/laziness in law enforcement these days. I have driven through 2 intersections in the last month where cops were “directing traffic.” In both of those situations, the officers were standing in the middle of the intersection with their arms at their sides and none of the cars had a clue as to what to do.

Is it because police are underpaid? Is it symptomatic of our entire society?

Thank Papa for Divine Justice,  cuz social justice ain’t getting it done!

Limbo…

Today, I am not pondering the depths.

Today, I am just trying to get through the work day without slacking or wandering.

Today, I am post-deadline and pre-trip to Asia.

Today, I am bored out of mind.

Today, I am wondering why my co-worker that loves Jesus is so bent out of shape over someone parking in his unreserved space.

Today, I am wondering why I, who loves Jesus, have gotten bent out of shape because someone parked in my unreserved space.

Today, most of all, I am thankful that God gives me life, love, and provision.

Where I’ve been…

Isaiah 63

1 Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in splendor,
striding forward in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.” 2 Why are your garments red,
like those of one treading the winepress?

3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;
from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered my garments,
and I stained all my clothing.

4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my redemption has come.

5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm worked salvation for me,
and my own wrath sustained me.

6 I trampled the nations in my anger;
in my wrath I made them drunk
and poured their blood on the ground.”

7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD,
the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the LORD has done for us—
yes, the many good things he has done
for the house of Israel,
according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

Yep.  That’s my Jesus that old man Issie is talking about.  Doesn’t sound like the Jesus we like to talk about does it?  I first want to give props to Shelley Hundley for sharing this word at Kingdom Expansion (which expanded God’s Kingom in me).

As I reflect this week on Jesus’s  first entrance into Jerusalem as King, I find myself longing  for His triumphant return.  This verse is significant because we all like to picture Jesus’ blood covering our sins.  But this verse talks about the blood of His enemies soaking His garments.

The wages of sin is death.  Every evil deed must and will be paid for with blood.  In the last couple of weeks, this has freed me of some deep pain in my life.  I can release things that have been done to me into His hands, knowing that He will deal with them at some point.  I am understanding what it means to forgive people and release them into His care.  Although I do not have to hold onto the wrongs that have been done to me,  I am now free to pray for those who have hurt me.

I pray that it will be Jesus’ blood that covers them, not their own.  So God, please lead them to You.  And use me to bring people who have hurt somebody else to You.

I am so immensely thankful that Jesus shed His blood for me.  It still confounds my brain 15 years after taking the plunge just how much He loves us….

Praying for a hooker….

No, I am not praying that I would get a hooker…I very much love my wife and my amazing children. I am praying that God would redeem a specific prostitute that is in the national spotlight right now. Her name is Ashley and I feel compassion for her. She is one of the ladies caught up with the governor of New York and today I saw her name, her life story, and her photo splashed across the front page of CNN’s website. Wow. Talk about a scarlet letter…having your face associated with being an adulteress for the whole world to see. Shame on CNN. I am not saying that what she did wasn’t wrong; but who are we to judge her and call her out in front of the planet? This desperate woman desperately needs to know the Father’s love, not people projecting their own shame & guilt onto her.

I have known (not in the Biblical sense) strippers in the past. These were ladies who had children, no husband/boyfriend, little education, and stripped to make ends meet. None of them really enjoyed it and all of them had wounded hearts from their past and their present. I have gotten to see someone from this lifestyle turn her heart towards God and had her life changed by Him…it was then that she found her beauty…in His eyes. I pray that Ashley experiences Him and is able to use her life song to testify to God’s goodness.

Hello everybody!

I have finally wrestled the angel of Blog for long enough and here I am with my own spot.

Looking forward to getting some of these pent up ideas out of my noggin.