What do you think?

"Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

What exactly did Jesus mean when he said that?

Seems to me like there is a pretty sizeable chunk of the church in the US that views denying themselves in terms of "don't rules". You know, don't be gay, don't have abortions, don't drink, don't smoke, don't cuss, don't fornicate, and don't hang out with anyone who does any of that. These folks have a lot of rules but not much love.

This group seems to have made an idol out of morality and they like to impose morality on the unregenerate population. Isn't this the essence of pharisaism? {Don't misunderstand. I think those rules are pretty important for Christians to live by. Its just that our lifestyle has to be born out of love for God and for others, not for following rules.}

Then there is another pretty big portion of the church in America whose version of denying self (it seems to me anyway) is to "be relevant" to the unregenerate population. This group wants to get everyone saved, which is admirable. However, they're really worried about offending anyone. So they spend their time trying to keep lost folks happy and be their buddies. Unfortunately, I think its all to seldom that they actually get to the gospel with them. They forget that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, not relationships.

Some birds have two retinas in each eye. That way they can focus on multiple obstsacles as they flit through the treetops. Maybe the church needs to do a better job of focusing on more than one thing. Maybe we can take a stand for holiness, be nice to people, and still manage to tell them that Jesus is the only way to God. Maybe? What do you think?

Spring begins

Fall is definitely my favorite time of year. While folks up north are still shovelling snow and trying to keep warm, here in Central Texas we are already seeing definite signs of my second favorite time of year, spring. The days are getting longer and quite a bit warmer. The warmth feels good to me after being cold all winter. About three weeks ago the first trees started to bloom. Redbuds will be flowering shortly and a tree in my neighbor's yard has leaf buds on it but I'm not sure what kind it is (I think it is an Ash tree). There are lots of little forbes (weeds) flowering; including dandelion, mint, sheep sorrel, and others. Soon we will see the first robins stopping in the backyard on their way back up north. In another two or three weeks the dewberries will be flowering. I'll spy the little white flowers while driving around town and try to remember where all the patches are so I can pick some when they are ripe. They're great on cereal and make incredible cobbler. And soon the blue bonnet and indian paintbrushes will start blooming, reaching thier zenith some time in April. I'll try to remember to post some pictures then. It really is a thing of incredible beauty to see a roadside or pasture completely painted in the blue and red of these little plants (its not actually the flowers of the indian paintbrushes that give them their great colors, but the bracts).

Spring around here really is nice. There is a problem though. Here, spring starts while it is still winter and lasts about three weeks. That means summer weather starts really early. So summers here are looooong and blazing hot. Thank God for air conditioning. But, its okay, we adapt. I'd rather be a little hot and sweaty than shivering and freezing cold.

Things you'ld just as soon not hear your kids say

-"I ate a cicket leg once."
-"Hey Jeremiah, where's the screwdriver?"
-"Jeremiah's stuck to the tree!"
-"Don't worry about us."
-"We fished with sticks and sometimes we got a drink out of the lake."
-"I'm gonna grow a grape in the microwave."
-"You know that thing you said had snakes under it? We climbed to the top of it."
-"Holy guacamole, all the juice came out."

Lucky me, so far this weekend I've heard all of that. Never a dull moment here. But that's okay. I'm so thankful for my boys.

Just An Old Married Couple

There have been several things floating around in my mind that I have wanted to write about. The changes and beauty of springtime here in Central Texas & public education are the two main ones. However, there just hasn't been enough time.

I'm on vacation today so I finally have a few minutes to write. The aforementioned items notwithstanding, I will devote today to the celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary. Kris and I were lauging this morning that we did not get each other any gifts and the day is so busy we will hardly see each other. I decided we're just an old married couple and Kris decided that was a good thing. And she's right.

Kristin Lea, you really are right that the little things we do for each other every day are much more important than candy, flowers, jewelry, expensive clothing, or anything else that will eventually just be firewood. We have given each other ourselves and two incredible boys. What could be better?

When I think about what I want the boys to remember about us in 50 years I surely would not want them to remember a bunch of stuff. It makes me think of the Rich Mullins song...
"Talk about your miracles,
talk about your faith.
My dad he could make things grow
out of Indiana clay.
Mom could make a gourmet meal
out of just cornbread and beans.
They worked to give faith hands and feet,
but somehow gave it wings."

If we can give faith wings for Jonathan and Jeremiah to see, that's better than all the money in the world--and I know we'll have more fun doing it. Happy Anniversary. I love you!