Trusting God’s Heart

We attended a church staff/spouse retreat last week in the mountains east of Salt Lake City.  It was a relaxing time.  I even convinced Jen to join me for a round of golf.    She shot a 49 on 9 holes.  Of course we played 18 and she only counted the nine she did acceptably well on.  Those were the only holes she put on the scorecard.  The rest of the holes she just recorded a smiley face.  (  

The main speaker at the conference was a Pastor from Georgia, Frank Cox.  His topic, “Trusting God’s Heart.”  The sub topic, “When you cannot trace God’s hand, trust His heart.”  That comes from a quote by Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“God is too good to be unkind,
He is too wise to be mistaken.
When you cannot trace His hand,
You can always trust His heart.

That is a terrific statement of faith and hope.    If you are interested in his story, he has written a book.  It is called, Trusting God’s Heart, Finding Peace in Times of Sorrow.    I recommend it.

Independence Day Greetings

A long weekend every once in a while is really nice.  Today, Monday July 3, 2006, I didn’t go in to the office so I could spend the day with Jen doing some of the chores around the house that pile up.  Actually I tried to finish the deck I have been building, but alas, there is still more to do.  

When Jen works Holidays, and she seems to work most of them, it isn’t much fun celebrating by myself.  Instead, I plan to use tomorrow to get several days study and planning done.  Everyone else will be busy so I should have the day to myself.  Unless I go play golf, or work on the deck some more, or go see some fireworks, or take a hike in the mountains, or . . .  well you get the idea.  There are always a million things to do.  

Tonight some friends invited us over for an American Revolutionary Period Dinner.  All of the foods were from recipes from the Revolutionary period.  At my plate I used a fork and knife from that period.  The fork was like a serving fork, two tines, very sharp.  It was like the fork you use to hold the turkey still while you carve it, only it was personal size, not serving size.  It had an antler handle, a real antique.  The knife was like a regular butter knife except the blade was about 3 times as wide and very thin.  I enjoyed the experience.  

Happy 4th of July.  (BIG BOOM)

The Heat is On

Just in case you ever wondered, Fresno, California is one hot casa.  Whew.  I am here for a Peacemaker conference.  I would like for our church to become a church with a culture of peace.  It is difficult to serve the lord, teach discipleship, reach people for the Lord, and at the same time continually deal with Christian people who can not or will not get along.  

I pray with Jesus, that we might be one, as he and the Father are one.  Would that be fantastic or what.

When I was in Israel, you often heard the phrase “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”  Looking into the meaning of the name, Jerusalem, it probably means “foundation of peace.”  The city called the foundation of peace is one of the most unpeaceful cities in the world.  

Having to pray for peace among Christians because we can’t get along is along the same line.  Anyway, that is why I am in Fresno.  
  

In Times Like These

New experience at our age don’t come along very often.  Yesterday we had one.  Our friends Robert and Donna Marshall invited us to a rappelling adventure.  So we went to the mountain and experienced rappelling.  I had done it once before at a men’s retreat.  That was off a tower.  This was different.  And it was Jen’s first time.  

After instructions, it is time to fly.  Those first steps over the edge of  the cliff are the adrenalin moments.  Then it is pure delight as you descend, totally in control of your speed.  See the joy on Jen’s face as she experiences the freedom of controlled falling.  

Rappelling is an experience of faith.  At first you have faith in Robert.  He knows what he is doing. Doesn’t he?  Then you have to believe the equipment will hold you up and hold you back from descending too fast.  Then you have to believe the safety person at the bottom can catch you if you make an error.  

Perhaps the strangest faith factor is trusting that the unknown person who put the anchor in the rock, who knows when, it was already there when we started, did the job right.  Everything depends on the anchor holding, and gripping the solid rock.  

Not unlike our faith in Christ.  “Be very sure, your anchor holds, and grips the solid rock.”  (From the hymn, “In Times Like These.”  

A Walk In Postmodernism's Woods

A Walk in the Woods is a book by Bill Bryson. Several years ago he decided he wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail (AT) is a hiking trail that stretches over 2100 miles from Georgia to Maine, or from Maine to Georgia depending on which way you walk. They started their hike in Georgia, and after 6 weeks on the trail they were in a Park Service Visitors center when they saw a map of the whole trail. They realized that day that they were not going to be able to ever hike the whole trail. So they gave up their goal, split up, and decided to meet in August in Maine to finish the trail.

After a few days in Maine they decided that they had hiked enough. So they quit completely. But as they talked one of them tried to convince the other that they had walked the AT. After all, they had hiked on both ends, and some places in the middle. They had suffered and worked hard, so even though technically they had not hiked the whole trail, they decided that they had.

This is just another example of our culture. Here we believe that if we feel like we hiked the trail, then we are hikers.

I wonder how that transforms into our spiritual lives. Just because we feel like we are spiritual, without practicing the spiritual disciplines we are not. And it doesn’t matter how we feel.

Paul said he goes into strict training to be spiritual.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 (NIV)
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

When you go into strict training, you practice spiritual disciplines. In Timothy he invites us to train to be godly.

1 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.
8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.


Don’t think you are a spiritual person because you want to be, or because you feel like you are. Train yourself to be Godly.

Cell Phone Mania

How fun.  A spiffy black SUV pulls over in the slow lane right in front of me, then slows down.  I pull around to pass and I realize what has happened.  The SUV driver has received a phone call on her cell and is having trouble driving and talking at the same time.  The slow lane is a good place for her.  I exit the freeway and pull up to the red light.  In a moment there she is, and now I see the real difficulty.  She is one of those who can’t speak without her hands.  So in one hand she is holding the cell phone to her ear.  With the other she is gesturing as she talks, pausing occasionally to re grab the steering wheel.  What a hoot.  I hope she arrives at her destination safely without hurting anyone else.

Vacations Tire Me Out

Vacations tire me out.  It isn’t the vacation itself that does it, it is getting ready for it and then catching up after I return.  I haven’t posted for one month since returning from Baltimore.  I have been terribly busy with the stack of stuff piled on my desk from being off for two weeks.  Hey I am not complaining you understand.  I really enjoyed the time in the desert and the time with the kids.

Another thing that has really suffered this spring is my golf game.  I decided to get an official handicap and play in a men’s league.  Since I signed up for the handicap I haven’t had one decent score.  Not one.  My new handicap should come in next Thursday, and I will be lucky if it is under 20.  The last time I had a handicap it was 11.  

Hmmmmm, maybe I am working too hard and playing too little.  

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.  Stay safe.

Alternative History

Yesterday I went to the first Smithsonian Museum I have ever been to. The Museum of American History. I have to tell you what a refreshing experience it was.

After finally being run out of the Museum at closing time and finding Jennifer waiting on the front steps outside, we sat down on the steps to rest and reconoiter.

I asked Jen, "You know what I find most interesting about all the displays?"

"What?" She said.

"I have looked at three days worth of American History now, all over Washington, DC and I have yet to see one single reference to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, or The Book of Mormon. We really do get a distorted view of American History when all we get is filtered through the eyes of Utahans."

P.S. I haven't found anyone who didn't know New Mexico is a state of the United States.

In Memory

I didn't know Virgil very well. We went to school together from Jr. High on. I was never in his home, nor he in mine. We played on the Jr High and High School football teams together. I was present at the state wrestling tournament in Johnson Gym in Albuquerque when Virgil won the state championship in his weight class.

Today I saw his name on the Vietnam War Memorial. Panel 34W line 61. KIA in Vietnam in 1969. I was a little choked up as I thought of a classmate who has missed these last 37 years. My thoughts go out to his family for their loss as well.

Then as we walked on a litte further there was an athletic letter lying among the tributes. It was a big blue K. And at that point I realized the loss of 58,000 guys who have missed the last 37 years. George W., we need to win this thing in Iraq so in 40 years the people looking at the Iraq War Memorial won't be struck by the number of their buds that lost their lives in an unsuccessful war.

Today's blog, In Memory, Virgil Jessie Roberts.

Dog Gone Vacation

This camping trip to the desert could be called the Dog Gone trip. We had some dog on problems. She got a bath before we left but we forgot to put her collar back on. So she had no tags, including identification. No problem right. Wrong. Cause we lost her.

That’s right, Ms, Uma Ruth, Ruth because where you go I will go, decided to go hiking by herself. Actually, while we were stopped at a remote wash, getting ready to go hiking we decided to try our hand at a little tin can plinking. (Jen said to tell you she hit the can) I guess the noise was too much even if it was only a 22. When we were through shooting and ready to hike, No Uma. After about an hour of searching, our friend Neal found her and we were able to take our hike.

The next day in a decision very unusual for us we decided to go hiking inside a National Park. Most of our hiking is in the wilderness areas. We knew that she had to be on a leash in the park. We left our Tahoe at trails end and got a shuttle to the trail head. There we started up the trial only to discover that even on a leash dogs are not allowed on the trail. So what could we do? The first guy we met on the trail thought we should just go back to the trail head but he was too obnoxious to offer a ride to the Tahoe.

So Ms. Uma Ruth got her second day in a row of breaking the law. We got her off the trail as soon as possible thanks again to Neal and his wife Cindy.

Anybody interested in a little white dog that got her start as a Texas tramp and has turned into a lawbreaker? I think it is appropriate that the hike she took with us illegally was to Cassidy Arch, named after the notorious outlaw, Butch Cassidy.

He is not here! He is risen!

He is not here! He has risen. Indeed the tomb is empty and the Lord is alive! It was the day of transformation for the followers of Jesus. It was the day they changed from a fearful band of disappointed men and women into the army of God that marched across the world with the Good News. He loves us enough to die for us. He is powerful enough to defeat death. He offers new life to you, too.

How can you be sure? Well look in the tomb. It is empty. He is not here! He has risen.

I know that an empty tomb today is not proof of something that did or did not happen 2000 years ago.I know that we cannot be positive we know which is the correct tomb. But the afternoon I looked into the garden tomb, my heart leapt for joy as I shouted, much as Peter and John must have shouted. “It is empty! He is not here!

You can visit the tomb of almost every other religious leader, founder, prophet, etc., but when you get to the tomb of Jesus, IT IS EMPTY! Praise God.

Happy Resurrection Morning.

Prepackaged Communion

I don’t know if this is the epitome of modernism or the proof that postmodernism is in full swing. Today I received in the mail perhaps the most ridiculous item ever. I mean, I can handle almost anything in the way of convenience. Years ago I had a church treasurer refuse to buy me a baptismal robe and waders until I convinced him that it would make it convenient for us to do baptisms in the middle of a worship service. He reluctantly agreed.

But this is over the top. Tell me, is it modernism run amuck or postmodernism getting a firmer foothold. The item: It is a prepackaged communion set. It comes in just the right size to fit in our service trays. There is a little cellophane tab that you pull up and the wafer is exposed. Then you pull the foil top and the grape juice is ready to drink.

The advertising says they will last without refrigeration for 12 months. They will be less expensive because there is less waste. No preparation time or clean up time is involved for the deacons/ communion committee. They are packaged and sealed for purity. I mean, haven’t we already sanitized our faith enough? And of course it would save time because the servers would only have to make one pass, you get the bread and cup at one time.

I can think of a couple of other ways we could use them. We wouldn’t need as many Deacons present for a service as they wouldn’t have to be hand passed, they could literally be passed out. If someone dropped one they wouldn’t spill. They are sealed.

If the service ran long, those who don’t have more than an hour to spare for worship could leave early and just pick up a pack on the way out and observe at the first stop light. The scripture is printed right on top of the cellophane so you could read it out loud to yourself as you opened the tab.

We might need to change some of the words. “This is my body, pre packaged for you.” Doesn’t that sound more sanitized than broken?

I am sure my postmodern friends and children will accuse us moderns of this abomination. I don’t know though. There has to be a reason it didn’t find its way to market until 2006.

Please pray with me that the Communion Packaging Company of Sanford, Florida will be short lived.

Think About This Too

In a book published so long ago the copywright date is in Roman Numerals, I think it says 1961, Vance Havner, long time evangelist made this statement.

"In this nuclear age we must remember that survival is not the chief end of man. A little boy was asked what he hoped to be twenty-five years from now. He replied, "Alive!" But it is better to die for a conviction than to live by compromise. 'Tis man's perdition to be safe when for the truth he ought to die,' said Patrick Henry. He did not say, 'Give me liberty, death, or peaceful coexistence with George III.' Teddy Roosevelt said that among the things which would destroy America were 'Peace at any price' and 'Safety first instead of duty first.'

from Pepper and Salt, page 31

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:9 (NASB95))

Paul has just used “at home or absent” to refer to being alive or dead. (look at 5:6 & 5:8) In this sentence then he is saying that our ambition ought to be to please God whether we are dead or alive. Wow! I think it pretty much goes without saying, we will please God when we are with him in heaven. The question then is, “Do I please God more in life than I will in death?”

What do I need to do today to please God?

Send Me The Trophy

Send me the trophy.  In my bracket challenge group, I am the champion.  After years of fumbling near the bottom of the pack, I have won my first bracket challenge, and the final games haven’t even been played.  All my challengers are out.  None of their teams made the final four.  And who pulled me through?  UCLA.  Go Bruins.  

Jen thinks it is silly to get hyped about winning something in which I don’t win anything at all.  But I do win bragging rights for a whole year, and that is something after being trashed talked to year after year.  After all, I am the 2006 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tourney, McConkey Boys Challenge, CHAMPION.  “Cut down the nets!”

Poor Old Lobos the Worst is Yet to Come, Hey!

The worst thing any team can have happen to them is for me to choose them to win. Mercy! I lost half my final four on Sunday afternoon. Admittedly I didn’t choose number one seeds, but I chose teams that should have at least made it into the sweet sixteen and on into the elite 8. Instead, I only have two left for the final four.

Tonight when I got home from work I turned on the women’s tourney. New Mexico was six points ahead of Baylor. I watched for only a few minutes and the Lobos were down 11 points. A 17 point turnaround. I got disgusted, and Bill O’Reilly came on, so I switched. Only to discover that in the last minute and a half the lobos got it back to four points.

I decided the best thing I could do for them was to not watch the second half, but ESPN made that decision for me. They went back to another game. Unfortunately that didn’t work and the Lady Lobos went down by 20.

Not a good year for Lobo fans. No bowl game for the football team. No post season for the basketball team, not even a NIT bid. And the ladies didn’t make it to the sweet 16 again. We can only wait til next year.

On Fire for Jesus?

I was reading about a church in a mess in a local paper.  (A church is in a mess when they are writing about the troubles in a local paper.)  One person they quoted though, really inspired me to think.  He said, “The church will be ok.  We have a lot of people who are on fire for Jesus.”

Am I on fire for Jesus?  Is anybody in our church on fire for Jesus?  Do I really know anybody who is on fire for Jesus?  What does it mean to be on fire for Jesus?  I want to be on fire for Jesus!  Does anyone think I am on fire for Jesus?  (I am not asking you to respond to this blog.  I may be afraid of the answer.)

How do we become on fire for Jesus?  I want to be on fire for Jesus.  

I read somewhere the following.  “Some people hate sin, but they don’t love Jesus. Some people love Jesus but they don’t hate sin. The secret is to Love Jesus and hate sin.”

The first person is a legalist.  The second is a libertine.  The third is where we need to be.  I want to love Jesus, be on fire for him, not just hate sin.  

If Sports Championships were determined like Oscars

The Academy Awards are a joke. What would happen if we chose the football championship the same way. There wouldn’t need to be a super bowl. Instead we could have an awards banquet, ala Oscar night and choose the champion by a vote of the league presidents and a few other undisclosed voters. Whichever team evoked the most emotion, tried to break down previous taboos, or had the saddest story would be this years champion.

If you add the box office receipts of all the nominated best pictures it doesn’t equal the take of the number 4 best attended movie. Whoever thinks that Hollywood is about entertainment is mistaken. It is about messages. And that is ok, I guess, but lets at least be honest about it. Which ever of the 5 nominated pictures win, it isn’t the best picture of 2005. Not by a long shot.

I think I will skip the show and listen to Wolfman Jack on my XM radio.

A Starbuck Moment

I stopped by Starbucks this morning on the way to the office.  I usually get my morning Starbuck coffee fix at Albertson’s.  This morning I had no need to go to the store, so I just stopped at the stand alone Starbucks.  After all, I told myself I have two Starbucks gift cards that I have been given lately.  (I also have a couple of Einstein’s gift cards as well.)

As I started to pay for my brew with the card I just kind of wondered aloud, “I wonder why people give me gift cards instead of inviting me to coffee?”  The cashier heard my rambling and said, “Maybe you are just a difficult person.”  

Hmmmm.  Maybe I am.

Greatest Snow on Earth

     I set my alarm for 5:30 Thursday morning.  When I went to bed it was snowing and Jen had to work Thursday.  That means I have to get enough snow off of the driveway by 6:20 that she can get her car up to the road.  Sure enough, Thursday morning showed about 8 inches of snow.  I went out and fired up the snowblower.  It was awesome!  The snow was the type that gives Utah the title, “greatest snow on earth.”  It was dry, light and fluffy, so light the blower shot it all the way into the street from the bottom of the driveway.
     When Jen came out to go to work I told her it would be a great day to call in sick with the Alta Flu.  Of course she didn’t and we missed a great chance for powder skiing.  We tried to make up for it today.  The skiing was great, but the powder was mostly skied down.