The One: Is marriage possible? (in three minutes)

There is a story behind this teaching from over a year ago, I cannot tell it now...but one day I will.  My friend Scott talks about where dreams can carry to the wrong goals, but that yes, marriage is possible.  Below is a transcription of the best part, about 3 minutes.

QUESTION:  Is it really possible for marriage to work? …to commit themselves for a lifetime? If you look around maybe not, statistics say 1/2 the people who get married don't make it. …If possible, what does it take?  ….

RESPONSE: "....we talked about this thing:  how we all, at a young age, we start looking for "the one", you know  its just something that is "ingrained" in us. We start looking for the one. 

We think If we just find the one, our life will be complete. Young adults and single people you know it easy sometimes to get  obsessed with finding "the one". 

Sometimes you get married and realize that "I choose the wrong one" and you you start looking for "the one" again.

Even little girls from a very young age: there are fairy tales about the princess and the knight, the one knight who comes and rescues them and little girls as they grow up and start dreaming and planning at a very young age their wedding night (or their wedding day).  I guess its the boys that are think about the wedding night.  

So the girls' think about the wedding day, and think about walking down the aisle, they think about their dress, making their vows, getting married, they think about having a family, having the 2.5 children that we have, and just living happily ever after. 

What we said that first week is that maybe "the one" we are looking for is the wrong one.  Maybe "the one",  as followers of Christ, as Christians, maybe the one everyone should be looking for is actually God. And its a relationship with Christ that we need to find and discover and pursue in our lives.  And have that as the foundation.  And then once we have that as "the one" with Christ, then we can go and start looking for our "two".  And we set ourselves up for a much more likelihood of success if we have the one in order and pursue our two that we want to marry and spend our lives with. 
…..

Full teaching here... Thank you Scott Himes, it was good to remember brother
 http://blip.tv/file/3258565?filename=Lifechurchindy-SurvivingAsOne972.m4v

LOGOS Leadership

If you can only take away one thing, it was a successful meeting, conference or whatever.

A consultant from LOGOS institute a communication agency, came to teach senior leaders at work.  I got a surprise invitation, even though my pay grade just didn't match the audience.  I sat for less than an hour...but couldn't help thinking about how it might help me talk to my son, and talk to God about those who NEED help.

LEADERSHIP is understanding where they might be, meeting them where they are.  Attentive to what they care about and focus on that first. LISTEN

1. Prevent confusion: too much communication spent fixing self-inflicted harm
2. Facts are rarely persuasive:  You lead with data, most people don't respond well to data.
3. Need to be intentional: Listen

I AM

This literally popped up on my screen today...I've no idea where it came from, then again, maybe I do. 

1. “I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1).
2. “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14).
3. “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 6:7).
4. “I am the Lord who heals you” (Exodus 15:26).
5. “I am gracious” (Exodus 22:27).
6. “I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Exodus 31:13).
7. “I am your portion and your inheritance” (Numbers 18:20).
8. “I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people” (Psalm 22:5-7).
9. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10)
10. “I am the Lord, that is My name” (Isaiah 42:8)
11. “I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:3).
12. “I am the Lord, who makes all things” (Isaiah 44:24).
13. “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me” (Isaiah 46:9).
14. “I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last” (Isaiah 48:12-13).
15. “I, even I, am He who comforts you” (Isaiah 51:12).
16. “I am He who speaks” (Isaiah 52:6).
17. “I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:8)
18. “I am ready to perform My word” (Jeremiah 1:12).
19. “I am merciful” (Jeremiah 3:12).
20. “I am married to you” (Jeremiah 3:14).
21. “I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth” (Jeremiah 9:24).
22. “I am weary of relenting!” (Jeremiah 15:6).
23. “I am a Father to Israel” (Jeremiah 31:9).
24. “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh” (Jeremiah 32:27).
25. “I am the Lord who strikes” (Ezekiel 7:9).
26. “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you” (Ezekiel 13:8).
27. “You are men, and I am your God” (Ezekiel 34:31).
28. “I am God, and not man, the Holy One in your midst” (Hosea 11:9).
29. “I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy” (Zechariah 1:16).
30. “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?” (Malachi 1:6).
31. “I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6).
32. “I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).
33. “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
34. “I am among you as the One who serves” (Luke 22:27).
35. “I am the bread of life…. I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:51 35,).
36. “I am One who bears witness of Myself” (John 8:18).
37. “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:23).
38. “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58).
39. “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).
40. “I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7).
41. “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).
42. “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).
43. “Where I am, there My servant will be also” (John 12:26).
44. “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am” (John 13:13).
45. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
46. “I am in the Father and the Father in Me” (John 14:11).
47. “I am the true vine…. I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:1,5).
48. “You say rightly that I am a king” (John 18:37).
49. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End…who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).
50. “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore” (Revelation 1:18).
51. “I am He who searches the minds and hearts” (Revelation 2:23).
52. “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16).

Beautiful? Yes you are....

A message worth Sharing...and the Song from Mercy Me:


This weekend from the John Piper Conference (Children Desiring God), I was reminded of the centrality of a father's praise for our boys as they demonstrate those biblical qualities of manhood (self control, protection, provision).   The same praise is needed for young women as they respond in ways like a biblical woman of inner beauty. 

Its just a shadow of the message that God delivers to those who are saved through His Son  “....You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22

God doesn't make mistakes, and Bart explains from a fathers heart how ‎"It should blow your stinkin mind!"

"The world tells you that you are unlovable...but because of the Cross, we have value. That's far greater than what the world says, and its far greater than our good works. We DESPERATELY NEED JESUS."

"You... didn't just stumble in here. He tells the stars when to shine, and He is madly in love with you."




Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight. They are nothing in the Shadow of the Cross....you are made for so much more than all of this....you are beautiful in His eyes. You are treasure, you are sacred you are HIS. (YES YOU....)





I'm Holding a Miracle,

A card from my brother

"A mighty wind blew night and day.

It stole the oak tree's leaves away, Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark Until the oak was tired and stark. But still the oak tree held its ground while other trees fell all around. The weary wind gave up and spoke, "How can you still be standing, Oak?" The oak tree said, "I know that you can break each branch of mind in tow, carry every leaf away, Shake my limbs and make me sway. But I have roots stretched in the earth, Growing stronger since my birth. You'll never touch them, for you see, they are the deepest part of me. Until today, I wasn't sure of just how much I could endure. But now I've found, with thanks to you, I'm stronger than I ever knew.

Especially now, try to remember that you're stronger than any problem you encounter or any disappointment life will bring. Thinking of you, believing in you, caring for you."


A note from my brother Eric...maybe his first card...a doozie. Well timed during a tough week where The LORD was blowing out the "dead branches": Dependence on job, children, etc. for fulfillment. I keep getting seduced into thinking I am done with that stuff. He keeps pursuing. PNUEMA, the wind, the Spirit. 


I have two brothers, Eric and Scott and a sister named Tracy.  Once my dad set up a small business for us, he called it BEST.

Hounds of Heaven? Do you see what I see?

There is a poem, called "hounds of heaven", that speaks not of hounds at all, but of the relentless pursuit God impresses on us....and in fact, the wonderful satisfaction of drawing near to Him even as we are "chased", when part of us wants to run the other way. 

Sometimes I write, just to document these events that seem more than chance.  Tonight by 4X, I was reminded...see if you see what i see.

1. On my way home this afternoon, a conversation with an old friend about the redundancy of "Sovereign God".  If he is God, then he is sovereign. 
2. As we ride in the truck, fatherly guidance for my son who had a strong opinion about not wanting to do something, and I reminded him to be able to embrace even those things we do not prefer, or risk being able to see God.
3. At church around youth group I heard from two different sources the question from Hell..."How does a loving God allow bad things to happen to good people".  Don't get me wrong, we have all been tempted by this, but to be sure....God is always good, people are not.  Any other conclusion, no matter how saintly or innocent, will lead you to a place you do not want to go.
4. Finally, I am late, but I have to talk to a dad going through a divorce who tells me he is reading Job.   He is struggling with one of the oldest stories in the bible.  God never answers Jobs "WHY" question, Instead, he asks the questions that remind Job WHO the creator was.

All this was in the same evening....no kidding.  Hounds of heaven, or a God in hot pursuit?  Depends on your perspective.  :)