Getting God Fit

I really enjoy exercising. Especially with the kettlebell. The kettlebell is the bomb diddy and I do not even know what that is, but it is better than good. I have a Dr.'s order not to do kettlebells for two weeks. I am sure he was concerned that I was getting to strong for my own good. So I am going to have to run more over the next two weeks. The best part of running is that I can think while running. 

Yesterday I had several cool thoughts but one that is going to stick. I was running and thanking God for the time he has given me to exercise. Just reflecting on the blessing I receive from exercise and glad that the Father has given me that joy. I then decided for a time I would give God the time back plus 10%.

So here is what that will look like. I ran for 28 minutes and did some work in the garage with Jerod later for about 40 minutes. So I got to exercise for an hour and 8 minutes yesterday. Today I will give that time back to God plus 7 min. Today I will spend an hour and 10 minutes, listening to God, reading his word, writing in my journal and praying. I am really excited about this. This morning my time was wonderful and I will finish later tonight.

The Lent season starts tomorrow and I have decided this will be what I give up for lent. I have no sense that I am really giving anything up, I guess that is OK. I think God has given me a win win. I get to exercise and I get to spend time with Abba. Life is good.

Peace, todd

What's Love Got To Do With It?

What's love got to do with it? Sounds like a good line for a song. I have a few thoughts left over from valentines day. I am not a big fan of valentines day. It is a marketing racket that forces you to do something nice for you sweetie. The whole thing seems to loose  some validity when you and every other guy on the planet does something nice for someone they love. And by the way if this is the only time you do something special for that special person in your life, "shame on you."

 I am seeing more and more that love is a choice. V-day seems to eliminate some of your ability to choose. You can choose the type of flowers, the special gift or where you might go to eat, but the choice has been made for you when all of this is going to happen. For me something is lost in this. It feels forced. But I am straying from my real thought here. Was not really intending to rail on V-day just that I am not a fan. Although it did cause me to think a little about love. So, what does love got to do with it?

I have decided that maybe love has everything to do with it. Scripture tells us that, "God is love". This seems the very essence of who God is. It is funny to me how we attempt to explain God. Explain him, explain how and why he does the things that he does. Even though he clearly states in scripture, "My ways are not your ways." I don't fully understand God and actually kind of glad that I don't. But I do think about the fact that his love must be very different. A more excellent kind of love. A love I wish I could extend to others more often.

Maybe the challenge then begins how we would define love. That is where we get in trouble. Many ideas about what love really is. Most of them have to do with feelings and emotions. Specifically our own feeling and emotions. I have a thought, and it is just a thought related to this idea that God is love.

I think it is safe to say God's love is not based on an emotion that comes and goes like the Texas wind. Safe to say as well that his love is not based on, "what have you done for me lately." Some how he does not love one more than another. His love does not hinge on my response or lack of it. His love really is other. It is other than how we typically define love.

God's love seems to be a choice. He has simply chosen to love. That kind of love is other. It would not sale very easy in our culture. What if you told a man who grips about his wife, "you need to simply choose to love her." What about the wife who's husband forgot V-day again! The council was simply, "you can choose to love him." People would be lining up for that kind of council. Wouldn't they?

God's love is transforming. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that, he has chosen to love.  So, what's love got to do with it? Maybe everything, "but hey, it's your choice."

Peace, todd

With You I Am Well Pleased

One of the big moments in the life of Christ, was his baptism. God affirmed him that day in a public way. He blessed him with the words, "you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." God models to fathers and mothers how important the words are that are spoken over our children. I want to publicly affirm my son Michael.

Michael is  our oldest and a Sr. this year. Hard to believe he is in his final months of high school. This reality makes his mother sad and makes me reflective. Tonight is senior night for the basketball team. One of many things that will take place over the next few months that will mark the end of this season of Michael's life. So today I reflect on Michael's basketball career. 

Michael has taught me some valuable lessons through his basketball journey. I will be a better father in this area for Mason and Madison because I got to practice on Michael. Mason and Madi you really owe your brother a huge thank you for this. Maybe even a big hug. Michael I have told you many times. This was uncharted territory for both of us.

Michael taught me I was his dad not his coach. These are very different functions. The gift I have been given is to be Michael's dad first. I would forget this sometimes. Dad's love and encouragement are to be first. They also instruct from time to time but I would get the order backwards sometimes. I am slowly learning to not lead with instruction. It was often heard as criticism. I have started to see that now, but did I mention it is senior night. We are at the end and I am just know starting to see some of this. 

Here is the subtle difference. When I lead with love and encouragement I am communicating my value is in Michael as my son. When I lead with critique and coaching I think I sometimes communicated his value was somehow tied to how he played basketball. Not a good message to send to my son.

So on senior night I want Michael to know. "It really has never been about basketball. It has always been about you." Understand I enjoy basketball and I have enjoyed watching you play. But it was never about basketball, it has been about you.

So on senior night I want you to know how much I love you and how proud I am of you. You have modeled perseverance. Something you will need in life. You have worked through set-backs and disappointment. Broken wrists and sprained ankles did not stop you. You never said "why me", you stayed the course and are finishing well. I told you they do not typically give awards or do write ups for team players. But you have modeled what it means to be a team player. You have done what the coaches have ask you to do. You have worked to fill your role whether a starter or a key person off the bench. You have been about team and that is a quality we do not see much anymore. 

I love the young man you are growing into. Your time playing ball will help you as you move on to the next season of life. Your hard work, dedication, perseverance and being a team player will be characteristics that help you succeed. I believe at the core of this is a faith that I am seeing in you more and more. A faith that is becoming your own. Keep wrestling with that, keep searching and remember God is faithful.

Today I echo the words of the Father. "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

Love you Michael!

Peace, dad

Thank You Sir, May I Have Another

Have you figured out that in the Kingdom things seem to be upside down. I am convinced the closer our walk with God becomes the more we start to notice how opposite He is from the world we live in. God is trying to teach me something and I am slowly starting to listen. His world is other.

God is clear He wants all of me. The struggle for me then becomes. How much of my life am I willing to submit to Him? I ask God to fill me with His presence and He is always willing, but He understands better than I that the process at best can be a little uncomfortable and at times even down right painful. 

Here is one of the ways God is other. The world is all about pain avoidance. It promotes comfort, quick fixes and raising to top as quickly as possible and if you cut a few corners or walk over a few people on the way, so be it. God calls us to lay down our lives. A process that involves dying to self. But somehow in God's economy when we die to self we actually find life. Doesn't really jive with the typical day to day message we hear in the world. But maybe we need to listen with a different ear.

Last night on Lost. If you are not watching this show be reminded, God's grace is sufficient. Sawyer and Locke are having a conversation. Sharing a quick, not exact summary here. Sawyer is questioning Locke about some past events and the pain and discomfort they created for Locke. Sawyer basically says, "Don't you wish you had made a different decision and avoided the pain it caused. Locke's answer is "other".  He responds, "No, because I would not be where I am today." He understood that, discomfort for a time ended up being life giving.

Last night I picked up some anti-inflammatory cream for my elbow that a Dr had prescribed. I rubbed it on before I went to bed and this stuff lite me up. I thought my flesh was burning from the inside out and literally could not sleep for the majority of the night. I called the Pharmacist this morning wondering why he would give me battery acid in a tube to rub on a already aching elbow. He explained how the medicine worked to block pain receptors and said something very interesting. "This is going to sound counter intuitive, (ding-ding) but what you need to do when the pain gets to intense is put some more cream on." I am thinking, "are you nuts, I just lost a night of sleep because I put this cream on my elbow, and you are telling me the thing that cased the pain will actually help relive the pain if I put more on. Sounds like a bad plan to me.

His instruction was "other". It made no sense and I did not want to follow his directions. But I also want my elbow to heal. For two months I have had no relief with methods that were comfortable. So this morning I followed his advice even though I did not want to and so far it has not been as bad as it was last night. 

What if the pain we feel sometimes, even the pain we feel that is God inflicted, is pain that might lead to healing. What if God loves us so much, He would be willing to let us experience pain and that pain was our path to healing and wholeness. That my friend is other. It is counter intuitive. 

God's ways are not our ways. I tend to forget that some days. God is eternal and He sees through a  totally different lens. I believe God understands, a little pain that can move us closer to Him, to wholeness, healing and dependence on a loving God is well worth it in the long run.

Peace,todd

Have some Faith and pass the Cream

Growing up we lived with my Grandparents for a while. They lived on a farm in Missouri. It was actually a wonderful place for a young boy to experience life. Rummaging through an old barn, playing in the hay loft or exploring the woods I was always content. No need for video games or even playmates there was always an adventure and many lessons to learn if you were attentive to the world around you.

We also had dairy cows that were milked each morning and night. Which also meant we had fresh milk in the fridge at all times. This milk was very different than the milk my children drink today. After sitting in the fridge the cream would rise to the top of the milk. You could either stir it up or skim it off the top, but left alone the cream and milk would separate even though they were in the same glass jar. 

Today I realized faith and religion are very similar to cream and milk. You can mix the two together and while similar they tend to want to separate themselves. Let me explain.

I have listened to my self and others for years talk about the difference between faith and religion and have know they are different but have not always been able to articulate that difference. Today I believe they are very different. They can coexist but it is important to understand the difference.

The Apostle Paul calls us to "live by faith not by sight". Religion tends to give us a visible road map we can follow. Faith calls us "to be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Religion calls us to plans and processes that have shown they will work.

Seth Godin says it this way in his book Tribes. "Religion at its best is sort of a mantra, a subtle but consistent reminder that belief is okay, and that faith is the way to get where you are going. Religion at it's worst reinforces the status quo, often at the expense of our faith."

Those words jumped off the page at me. Go back and read his quote again. Religion is in no way bad, unless it gets in the way of faith. I believe in my own life and what I have seen in the lives of others, our religion often does get in the way of our faith. The church today does not need any more religion. She needs more faith. Jesus was  first and foremost a man of great faith. He pushed the envelope, he challenged the status quo and pushed back on the religious leaders of his day. He refused to settle, he hoped for what was not seen and he knew God had more to offer his people. 

Faith always leads to hope and it overcomes fear. If there was ever a time in our world that people needed to experience more hope and less fear it is now. So go skim some faith off the top of your religion and lets be the body of Christ to the world around us.

Peace, todd