Dumb & Dumber moment

This morning I had a moment that I like to call a Dumb & Dumber moment. Regardless of your take on that movie, the illustration works. In this film Lloyd Christmas, played by Jim Carrey, is in a bar in Colorado, and as he walks out he sees this framed newspaper that proclaims "MAN WALKS ON THE MOON", and he shouts out 'No way! That's great! WE LANDED ON THE MOON!' Now what makes that even funnier, is that the film takes place in 1994, about 25 years after the moon landing took place.

So here is my Dumb & Dumber moment. Sitting at Big Apple Bagels (my new 'office') I sat down to read some Word, and continued where I left off. Starting at Hebrews 1, I had to stop at verse 3. I don't think I'd ever read that before. It goes like this:
"He is the radiance of the Glory of God, and the exact imprint of His nature....."
I kid you not, I almost shouted out "No way! That's great! He is the radiance of the Glory of God!" That is how new and fresh that one verse was to me.

Now, before you say I shouldn't call myself dumb, I get that, and I don't. I said Dumb & Dumber moment, because, I've read Hebrews probably 50 times, or more. And I don't think I've ever picked up on that. So it was as if God had just scribbled it on the page right before I read it. Very cool.

But that wasn't it. There were several more Dumb & Dumber moments that took place for me throughout Hebrews, and I gotta tell you, they were awesome. You may say it's a sad day when a 20+ something year Christian gets a piece of the bible that they've never seen before. I say, it's stinkin' awesome because, it means God is still speaking to me through His Word.

And so I will leave you with this: Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!

Fulfill your ministry

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV)

1. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom; 2. preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3. for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5.As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

When Paul was writing to Timothy, his protege, little did he know that on March 28, 2011, I would be sitting in Big Apple Bagels, in the small town of Ramona, California, feasting on the Word of God. Little did he know, that apparently my name is Timothy, as well. Also unknown by Paul was how his words would impact me today.

In Verses 1 & 2 he is basically saying to me:
Look man, it's not me telling you this, it's God. And so right here in front of God and Jesus, I'm telling you this. You gotta do this: Preach it, all the time. When you are ready, and when you aren't. Teach it well, patiently, correct and love.

I've known this for years, but I haven't KNOWN it. I haven't lived it. I haven't owned it. If anything, maybe I've rented it, but I've never owned it. Not until today.

Paul says a lot here, but verse 5 says it all so well. 'As for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.'

My ministry. Not mine in a selfish pride kind of way, but mine in the sense of 'the one God has laid out for me' the one He's entrusted me with.

Father, I will own that which you have given me. That which you have trusted me with. Lord give me strength to do so. Amen.

So what is your ministry to fulfill? You know you've got one.

Get totally wrecked for God today.

Jeff

Here we go!

Something I've been toying with for a while, (and by toying what I'm trying not to say is running from God) is putting on paper, or in this case flash drive, the thoughts that God has placed on my heart regarding parenting.

Now before you say it, I'll beat you to it. What do I know about parenting? Well, considering I've fathered two boys, and 'parented' well over 100, I've discovered that I "know" a little. Not a lot. But the things that I know, I know only because God has revealed them to me. What did I know about parenting before my boys were born? Despite the underlying knowledge of every teenager that they know everything, I really knew nothing. There was no manual! There was no Wiki-parent! I had nothing! Nothing but God. And that, by any stretch is way more than enough.

So some of my knowledge comes from first hand experience with my boys. Other pieces come from the 'parenting' of countless teens through over 15 years of youth ministry. And still other pieces come from my Jerry Springer like family members and their 'How Not To Parent' examples. And yet some come from very good friends and their real life moments of parenting genius or lack thereof.

What I'd like to offer you is this. An opportunity to sit back and read some tales of parenting triumphs and tragedies, masterpieces and mishaps, and epic advances and epic failures. Not to read it with the thought of 'This book has all the answers to all my parenting issues!' But to read it with the thought of, 'Hey, real people have raised real kids, and they turned out ok, for the most part! Maybe I can do this too!'

So, this journey begins with the title, and a short thought. I could have titled this:

• Parenting Today's Teen: Lessons To Learn From
• I've Done a Great Job of Raising my Kids, and Now You Can Too!
• Ten Tips to Raising Spiritually Mature Teens: A Guide to Successful Parenting.

But that would be too 'normal', no what God has placed on my heart is to title it this:

Has A Llama Sucked Your Toes,
and Other Things You Never Thought You'd Have to Talk to Your Teen About.

This title came out of a talk we had with our oldest son about a year ago (he gave me permission to share) about a really rough spot he was in. We had realized that Satan was having a field day with him, his heart, his worth, his very existence, and we knew that we had to press all the way in on this one, or it was not going to go away or get better. So we stayed up very late hashing things out. Asking question after question, trying to get to the root of the problem. Nothing seemed to be working. But still we trudged on. Finally after what seemed like hours of getting nowhere, my wife felt the Lord leading her to ask the question 'Has a llama sucked your toes?' in the most serious manner she could muster. That was the pivotal moment in that battle for our boys heart and life. The freedom that came out of that entire transaction was huge. That is the reason for the title, and maybe also it might carry with it a little of the freedom of God to be just a little bit non traditional in our parenting techniques.

Now for the thought.

Too many times, we as parents want to be "cool" to our kids. We want to be their friends. We try hard to make them happy. (I said 'we') When those things don't 'work' we feel like we've failed. I would offer you this, nowhere in scripture did God ever call, commission, or anoint you to be cool to your kids or to be their friend. He did however in both Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6 charge us with the responsibility to make Him known to them and to raise them in His ways.

I would challenge you with this:

Can you take a step back and look at your relationship with your kids, and ask yourself, 'do I try harder to be a friend or a parent according to Gods standard?'

I'm in no way casting blame, guilt, or shame on any of us. My goodness, I've found myself way too many times to count, falling into the friend category, but God, in His infinite grace and mercy gently brings me back.

That is my prayer for you, that God would direct your parenting the same way He is directing mine. After all, He is the ultimate parent!

I will rejoice!

All too often, I find myself in a place where I come up short. In my sports abilities. In my teaching abilities. In my finances. Whoa! Hold on, did I just say that?

Yes I did!

But how can that be? Don't I serve an amazing God, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills? As a matter of fact, I do. Then how do I come up short there? Well the answer lies in the fourth word of the first paragraph in this blog.

I.

You see that is my, and I'm assuming your problem as well. But I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about me. (this is my blog after all.)

I have always been the type to try to fix things when they go bad. To try to straighten out my problems. You can ask my mom, and she would be the first to tell you, my catch phrase growing up was, "don't worry, I got it covered." Used anytime things didn't seem to be going right.

Well, that is something all through life that I've carried. But recently, God has been working on me and my Mr. Fixit status. I say recently, but what I really meant to say is for the past 2 years. But what I really meant to say is, it seems like decades. But really it's only been a few years.

My good friend Dave says, its fun to watch from the outside. I'm glad you are enjoying it Dave. :) (people in Oklahoma must be lacking for good entertainment!)

And I must admit, to the casual observer, there might be some enjoyment. And to the deeply spiritual observer (i.e., Dave) I'm sure the "fun" he speaks of is the pleasure of seeing God at work.

But from time to time, I wonder, who connected me to Job. Except for losing everything valuable, worth anything, family, possessions, and stuff, oh and the boils. Ok, so maybe I'm not Job.

But I sure do feel like I'm at the point of serious bad juju.

However, in that, I also know that the promises of God are Yes! and Amen! So I rest in that, knowing that my God, my Dad, my King, loves me, cares for me, and provides. No matter what the circumstances look like around me. No matter what is crashing down.

I will STAND!

Jeff.

What are we designed to do?

What are we supposed designed to do?

This question has been rolling over in the cavernous space that is my head for some time. I know what I do for a living, and for those that don’t know, I am a shepherd. My flock is probably one of the most tricky to define, and yet one of the most rewarding to serve. I hesitate to put this here, but I will. Much like a police officer, or a school teacher, I don’t do this for the money. I do this for the love of what I do.

I’ve had my moments of questioning this calling, this thing that God has chosen me for. I’ve even had moments of people questioning if I was really called to do this, or just really liked it enough to think I was called. My answer to that is, ‘have you ever done youth ministry?’ While it’s true that it takes a special sort, it also takes a called sort. You see I could understand the thought of maybe I just haven’t grown up yet, and enjoy hanging out with teens. If I had been new at this, or only done it for a few years. But having been involved in ministry to teens and preteens for the better part of 17 years, I’m pretty sure that I’m either called to this, or insane. ( NO COMMENTS!)

But, like Romans 1:29 says, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” I read that to mean, that what God has called me to, that He’s not going to say, oh wait, I was wrong, you are supposed to be a puppeteer, or a elder. Or whatever. But I know that I’ve been called to this, my question is, for how long? Must I some day, as is often the question to Youth Pastors, grow up and become a “Real Pastor”? Or is this something that is “without repentance,” and will just change the appearance of what it looks like on the surface, yet remain the same in my heart?

I have no desire, no drive, no pull, to be a Pastor of a church. Yet at the same time, I have every desire and intent to fully live what God has called me to, regardless of what it looks like. It is my belief that someday they will pry my old, decrepit body from the pulpit of a youth room somewhere, and have a homecoming service for me, somewhere between the dodge ball game, and the youth worship team singing Marvelous Light. That is how certain I am of my calling. That is how certain I am that this is what I was designed to do.

The bible says in 2 Peter 1:10, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:” I would leave you with this thought: Have you made your calling and election sure? God is calling, are you listening?

Undignifed and unashamed.

Jeff

Of Super Bowl ads, and the masculine assumption.

So, like most of the country, I watched the Super Bowl yesterday with a group of friends. And what a game it was. Absolutely awesome until the Steelers won. Then it was just a good game. Not that I'm a Cardinals fan, I'm a Chargers fan, but since they weren't playing, I went with the next best thing.

But I'm not really wanting to talk about the game. I want to share something that really is on my heart, and was since yesterday.

The commercials.

It used to be that I watched the Super Bowl only for the commercials. And over the years there have been some good ones. My favorite last year was the office workers having a huge battle with the barbarians. That one was great. This year there was one I really enjoyed. The Mean Joe Green redo with Palamalu. That was good. Funny thing was, we were at a party with some young 20-somethings, who had no idea why we were laughing. Man, that made me feel old.

But like in years past, there is of course the objectional commercial or two. And yesterday was no exception. Oh how I wish I had a set of penalty flags, I would have thrown my own yellow flag more than once, and not just during the game.

Go-Daddy. Yes the website domain thing. Go-Daddy. The main sponsor of the Dannica Patrick race car. Yes that Dannica Patrick. The one who at one time said she wanted to be known for her race car driving, and wouldn't use her femininity to get ahead. Well that same Dannica was in a commercial yesterday that should have been on late night TV if anything.

I'm sorry, I'm as male as the next guy, but there is really no reason to put her naked in the shower with another woman. No reason at all. Except to say that every advertiser out there along with the NFL, must think that every man living and breathing, watching the Super Bowl, is going to enjoy that emensely. Unless of course they are gay. I don't know, maybe not every advertiser, maybe that is too broad a statement. But many. How's that?

Look, I'm not gay. I'm not effeminate in any way. I've been married over 13 years to the same wonderful woman. Just to give you insight, in case you don't know me, to my orientation. I am a guy.

Let me say that again. I AM A GUY!

One more time. I AM A GUY!

And I was greatly offended at that Go-Daddy commercial as well as the Courtroom commercial from them. Both commercials did two things very effciently. No make that three things.

First, they objectified women to the point of making them simply about sex, boobs, and other body parts designed only to satisfy men.

Second, the stereotyped men to the point of saying if you are a man, then you must want to see two women naked in the shower, or see another women flash her breasts to another, and if you don't like it, there must be something wrong with you.

Lastly, pissed me off enough to write this blog and send a copy of it to Go-Daddy.

What will it accomplish? I don't know. But it does me precious little good to be angry and show no effort to voice that anger.

Now for those of you who were, shall we say, enticed by either of those commercials, I'm saddened. Saddened, because typically those that read here, are those that Walk with God. And while I'm no expert, I'm pretty sure Jesus didn't want to go online and look for the unrated finish to those commercials.

I don't mean to shame anyone who enjoyed it, but rather to open eyes to the subtlety of the enemy. The Devil is no fool. He knows God designed man to be attracted to woman, and he will use that to his advantage, and your destruction.

Trust me I know.

Father,
I pray right now that you would remove those images, thoughts and rememberances of the above mentioned commercials from my mind. Purify my thoughts and heart. Let me be free from the power of the enemy over my desires. Lord replace those things with pure thoughts. Thoughts of you Lord. Fill my mind with the beauty of your entire creation. Lord and give me a healthy respect for your daughters. Lord cleanse me from every ill thought, every fantasy that may have been sparked by those things. And Father, let me walk as Jesus would walk. Keep my eyes on You Lord.

In Jesus' name
AMEN

If you read that and prayed it as your own, and want to talk about what that means. You can let me know you'd like to and I'll get in touch via email.

Strength and Honor.

Freedom?

I have, for some time now, been walking with God in Freedom.

Freedom from the long arm of the church, so to speak. The self-policed version of sin-management, dictated by the aforementioned church. Not to name any church names, because I'm sure I would miss yours. :)

But at anyrate, I communicate much over the years in an internet forum that promotes greatly, this freedom. And for the most part, the guys there walk in freedom well. For the most part. Often there are times, when a Freedom newbie shows up, still "tainted" by the effects of the church, and is "educated" as to his lack of understanding of Freedom. Well intentioned? I'm sure. Well received? I don't know.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Asking God how to describe this. About a week ago, we were watching the movie Wild Hogs. If you haven't seen it, its a tale about 4 middle aged guys going on a motorcycle road trip cross country. Its a great film. Anyway, in the movie, the antogonist is played by Ray Liotta. His character, Jack, is the leader of a real biker gang, the Del Fuego's. At one point in the film, he's calling out the four heros of the story (played by Tim Allen, John Travolta, William H. Macy and Martin Lawrence) as posers trying to experience the freedom that he and his biker buddies have. He tells them basically, get on your bikes and go home, you can't handle this freedom! And so without spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it, they leave.

Later on in the film the four "posers" stand up to the 50 hard core bikers. When all hope looks lost, in walks Damian Blade, played by none other than Peter Fonda. He's the founder of the Del Fuego's. Jack says hello, and proceeds to tell him these four "posers" burnt their bar down. Damian looks at him in all his coolness and says, four guys stand off against 50 bikers....and THEY'RE the posers?

I love that! The group that thought that they had all the answers. All the Freedom. Thought they had everything all figured out, basically called out as posers. Wow.

So that made me wonder which one am I????

Which one are you????

I just want to be real. I want to walk in all the freedom God has given me.

Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Have a great day!