Have you been drafted? (2011 NFL Draft Day)

Today sports fans will keep a NFL window open on their desk tops or their iphones open to the messages to track NFL draft updates. Everyone is hoping their team will get the best talent to eventually end up in the Super Bowl.  

It makes me consider my own draft experience. The day Jesus knocked again and I finally answered. Unlike today’s picks, I didn’t have anything to offer a team but a willing and open spirit. I was eight. I walked down the aisle to my pastor who brought his 6’4” frame to his knees to bring us eye to eye and take me into his arms. He said, “we’ve been waiting for you.” 

How exciting it was to be chosen for a place on God’s team! Day by day I waited in great anticipation for what God would ‘draft’ me to do in His kingdom.

Would I be a missionary? Would I go to a foreign land? Would I be sent to the inner city? Would I be on a church staff? Would I lead Vacation Bible School? Would I teach the Bible? Would I be a pastor’s wife? How would God prepare me for this work?

I asked these questions in great wonder of how God works.

Now, I realize God drafted me to simply be a part of His kingdom, real and free. When I accept His simple invitation, all those other things will pour from me. 

What about you? Have you been longing to be chosen to be on a team? Jesus is near, waiting with great anticipation for you to turn to Him.

It’s not enough to “like”

I notice something this week about ‘like’ ‘unlike’ and comments. Many people click the like or unlike button on other posts. Not so many people leave comments. 

It is interesting in topics I follow there are usually more likes to unlikes, but the comments are general negative. 

Our efforts to produce ‘remarkable’ content should prompt responses  from both those who agree as well as those who disagree. 

It is easy to click a button, but more risky to make a comment. 

If a majority of the comments are opposite what the general consensus, the reader is left with an invalid perception. 

If we agree with a post, we should be willing to speak up for them.

It’s not enough to click ‘like‘ if we want to influence the world.  

Remember Me

Satan thought that he had won

When God turned away from the Son.

But his time was done before it begun

In the Son’s death a soul was won. 

A heavenly host proclaimed your birth

And God the Father acknowledged your worth

But Your death was graced by a sinner’s plea

And praise God he spoke for me.

Remember me in Your kingdom

Remember me on Your Throne,

If you walk for me through the gates of hell

Remember me when You come home. 

Turns out the work of the cross isn't easy

Every March my church has an auction as a fund raiser. I’ve always wanted to create an original fabric art piece for it, but never had time. This year I was determined to submit something. I came up with what I thought was a simple idea for a picture of a cross. The original idea was to sew sins patchwork style and ‘nail’ them to the cross with 2 french knots. Then I could  add the 3 nail holes and pretty much be done.   

Once I actually started, it didn’t quite work out the way I thought. In BSF, we were beginning to study Isaiah’s prophecies of the Messiah. These passages would not let me take an easy way out of showing the work of the cross. The phrase ‘Sorrow and love flow mingled down’ from When I Surveyed The Wondrous Cross kept crossing my mind. 

I added the blood and water flowing between the sins. But the fabric wasn’t enough, I used a running stitch to outline the blood and water. There were times I felt the pain as I stitched 

I spent a three and a half solid weeks on the cross alone. The week of the auction, my Mom said she wanted to bid on my work. It was such a relief. I didn’t believe I could finish it on time, and I was really sick. 

We made a donation and I have more time to work on it. I’m glad, I know there is so much more to do. This is a work in progress. I’ve learned a lot from this project, but nothing more important than there is nothing easy about work on the cross.

The Easter Bunny made an appearance at my house

The Easter bunny visited my house in 2011

She dropped by last Thursday, a little early this year. No doubt drawn by the fresh cut weeds/grass. And the fact the dogs were inside most of the day due to the rain.

This is, of course, a Texas Easter Bunny (a jack rabbit). She took off the second I walked into the yard.

This is the second year in a row she has made an appearance at Easter.

Are you looking for good devotional in this Holy Season?

Are you looking for good devotional in this Holy Season?

I heartily recommend Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling - Enjoying Peace in His Presence. DiAnn Mills recommended it to me this spring at the Church Library Conference. I was able to get a copy in the vendor area.

Every day in reading this book, I've heard Jesus speaking to me. This sensation is so powerful, that I often find myself turning to the book's cover to remind myself that Jesus was not actually the author.

One day this week, I had a couple of meetings and emails which left me wondering what was my mission and direction. My mind kept spinning phrases over leaving my sleep disturbed. The next morning every word spoke specifically to my needs. The central context were these words, “I died to set you free, and that includes freedom from compulsive planning. When your mind spins with a multitude of thoughts, you cannot hear my voice.”

There are several variations of the devotional. I have a feeling I will be adding this to my Kindle library in the near future.

Here is a link to amazon for this devotional.
http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Calling-Enjoying-Peace-Presence/dp/1591451884

Which side of the crack are you on?

This week marked the 16th anniversary of the Oklahoma CIty bombing. I remember exactly where I was when I learned of this tragic event.

A relaxing retirement luncheon at the local Steak and Ale ended. For a final time as co-workers, we spent 2 hours in great fellowship. We reminisced about the years together, the good times and the bad. In celebrating our friendships, we experienced the loss our friend’s departure created, yet cherished the hope of our own retirements. Well fed and humored, we passed the bar as we left. On the mounted TV was the image of half a building. We stopped and stared. For a fleeting second, the question passed through our minds, “What side of the crack would I’ve been on?”

As federal employees located in an off-beat location, the sight was chilling. As quickly as the shocked filled us, an urgency to get back to work replaced it. We were all classified as ‘essential’ personnel.

The image of half a building has never left me. Reinforced by the stories from survivors and victims loved ones it lasts. The crack, where seconds before, co-workers stood. The break time phone call to home and suddenly no one on the other end.

Every time a fire alarm sounds, I wonder - what side of the crack am I on?

There is a more important crack. C. S. Lewis described it in The Great Divorce, the crack between heaven and hell.

Today, on Good Friday, which side of the crack are you on? Unlike bombing victims, this is a choice you make. Will you turn to Jesus?

The First Earth Day, 1970

I was a Senior in High School on the first Earth Day, in 1970, which was on a Wednesday. Our class talked the administration into letting us have a day off from class in honor of this great event to clean up our city. A Service Day, of sorts. Reluctantly, they went along with it. Loaded with garbage bags and gloves, in small groups, we picked up litter around Duncanville. Many of the rural crown black top roads we cleaned are now three-four lane paved streets with curbs and drainage.

It was a beautiful spring day. My Dad let me use his ’64 Olds convertible. It was one of my favorite times to drive that car.

It felt good to be picking up trash. It felt like a brave step forward to be doing something for the world. It felt like the beginning. Graduation was a month away. Yes, the world was large, but is wasn’t scary. We were going to make it different, better.

Now, I wonder...have we? Maybe, it still isn’t too late.

Who is the Jesus, the leader of the resurrection parade?

Are you looking for your life purpose? Are there things broken in your life, family or your work? Turn to Jesus...

Who is this Jesus?

He is the Son

The Son of the God we cannot see

He has God’s original purpose in Him

He has been here from the first

He started everything

Everything finds its purpose in Him

He holds all things together

He organizes the church

He was supreme in the beginning

He lead the resurrection parade

He will be supreme in the end

He towers over everything

Everything of God finds its proper place in Him without crowding

Through Him

All the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe -

all of the people and things, animals and atoms -

will get properly fixed together in vibrant harmonies

This is all possible because of his death

when his blood poured down from the Cross.

(Colossians 1:15-20, The Message)

Loving and praying for others

Being able to claim, ‘I was prayed for before I was born’ is one of my great spiritual privileges. I am confident of this by not only knowing my family, but seeing the results of these prayers in my life.

Any parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle can and should tell a child they are loved. As believers we can go to the next level of assurance for our loved ones and pray for them.

What confidence and assurance it gives me to know the prayer that surrounds me. It is important to tell people we are praying for them.

Colossians 1:9-14 gives 10 steps on how to pray for others. (Taken from The Message)

1. Pray non-stop from the first word of the person
2. Ask for a wise mind for them
3. Ask for their spirit to be attuned to God’s will
4. Ask for them to understand on how God works in the world
5. Pray they will live well for God
6. Pray they will learn to work well in God’s orchard
7. Ask for strength for them to stick it out for the long haul, not just teeth-gritting strength, but God’s glory-strength so they may endure the unendurable and be filled with God’s joy
8. Thank God for them to have His strength to take part in every bright and beautiful thing He has for the person
9. Ask and thank Jesus for rescuing them from their dead-end alleys and darkest dungeons
10. Ask and thank Jesus for giving them the opportunity to be a part of His Kingdom, bringing them out of the pit and taking away the sins they are doomed to keep repeating.

Puzzling Day

Have you ever had a day when life circumstances made you feel you had missed your true life purpose? This was one of those days for me. None of the events truly related to this missed purpose, but the feeling of dread certainly came over me today.

Was it the deceiver making me doubt my life?

Was it the Spirit preparing my heart for a new direction?

I can resist the doubt and look forward to new directions.

What about you?

Are you satisfied with your life?

Are you satisfied with your life?

Maybe, you’ve tried many different avenues to fulfill your deepest desires. From theses efforts, you probably have filled your life with wonderful people, wonderful things.

Yet, when everyone is in bed and the lights are out, you find yourself thinking of the old Peggy Lee song, ‘is that all there is?’

Instead of having a party, turn to Jesus.

Jesus spoke of himself in John 10:10b

“I have come so they might have life and have it in abundance.”

Review of Out of the Overflow

Out of the Overflow, Stories of God’s Love from His Heart to Yours, is a collection of over 100 contributed stories from the attendees at the 2010 CLASS Seminar Christian Writer’s Conference showing how God’s love has overflowed from their into the hearts of others. This book is categorized as Religion/Inspirational. The ISBN-13 is 978-1-60615-104-4 and is listed at $15.99 onChristian books.com or $18.99 at Winepress.

Disclosure: My first published poem, When I Sing to Jesus, page 127, is included in this collection.

This book was compiled at the annual CLASSeminars Christian Writers Conference At the Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico. Attendees met daily in small critique groups to edit and polish their submissions.

The stories are as unique in style, format and circumstances as their authors. Yet, through out them is a consistent message of how God’s love meets needs causing living water to flow out of their lives into the lives of others.

These heart level written words touched and often inspired me. I found delight in how often the stories resonated with me even when the life circumstances were so different from mine.

This book would be a welcomed encourager for anyone looking for hope. A portion of the proceeds for this book will be contributed to the Dan Penwell Scholarship Fund of CLASSeminars.

The link to the book at Winepress.

Do you want resurrection power?

March was a whirlwind of activity for me. A variety of weekend writing and church ministry conferences. I was spiritually challenged and inspired. This Sunday’s lesson was in Philippians 3. Paul describes what he is willing to give up to share in the resurrection power of Jesus and his Father. Nor can Paul understand why anyone wouldn’t want that same power for their lives. What about you? Why wouldn’t you want A God on your side who has the power to raise the dead?

From The Message

Phil. 3:10 ¶ I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.

Phil. 3:11 If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

A great Sunday Afternoon

I spent a great “Pathways” afternoon being a part of P3 training. For me, I see my training every day I really live. I catch myself running my numbers or worse the specter of my special name comes over me. I hate that more than anything.

Even a couple of hours of being back ‘in the room’, hearing strangers share their hearts revives means reminds me of the work that happens every month.

To my class, 226, what we did 6 years ago was significant. It was significant for each of us as individuals and for us as group. Hearing the old songs took me back to those moments we shared. I could close my eyes and see the moments we spent together.

This afternoon also reminded me that every person is significant to me. Maybe you are reading this at a coffee shop or at home. Look around you, every person you see is important to you and no doubt needs you in their life.

Some of my favorite phrases from the afternoon an some I heard at a new heart level, ‘chip away at what doesn’t belong’, ‘I want to be real’, and ‘faith of the heart’.

The real question I have to ask myself from today is, “while I’ve always known I have wings, why am I still not ready to fly?”