After a long and sensational ordeal of witnessing the wrestling match between God’s miraculous power and the stubborn heart of Pharaoh, the Israelite people have finally been led by God out their bondage of cruel slavery in Egypt.  He chose Moses, an imperfect knucklehead, so that all would know Who had really delivered them.  After several days of marching toward their long anticipated home in the Promised Land, the people follow God’s direction via Moses to settle their camp on the bank of the Red Sea.  Just as they are settling in, they realize that the whole Egyptian army is hot on their trail, led by an infuriated king who has decided he is not ready to let his vast supply of slave labor slip away so easily.  The Israelites are understandably very upset, anxious, and afraid.  And they turn on Moses, blaming him for leading them to their seemingly unavoidable and rapidly approaching doom.  To attempt to swim across the Red Sea would have meant certain death.  And to stand and face the terrible army of Egypt would have meant death, just as certainly.

Picking up the story right here, check out Exodus 14:13-15 (New Living Translation)…

But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid.  Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today.  The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.  The LORD himself will fight for you.  Just stay calm.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?  Tell the people to get moving!”

I LOVE the paradox reflected in these three verses!  And I find this message is at the heart of recovery from my old life of self-reliance and self-indulgence, as I desire to grow in the freedom of walking in God’s will.

My flesh is so given to worrying.  Fearful fretting and hand-wringing WILL NEVER HELP!  Focusing on the problem – or worse yet, on the fears of how much worse it could get – will only make my situation seem that much more bleak and terrifying.  And I will only get sicker.  I must focus on the solution – the loving hand of God, and doing my best to grasp His hand by surrendering to His will.  Trust God and calm down.  That WILL ALWAYS HELP!

At the same time, my flesh is so given to sitting on my backside, whimpering to God to somehow make my problems go away without me having to do anything challenging or painful.  And so often, His response to me is to ask me what I expect HIM to do for me, when He has already told me what I need to do, at least in part.  I am reminded of the clever and insightful poem, “Buttprints in the Sand.”

Like the nation of Israel, I so often find myself caught between death and death.  The death of flesh-driven self-destruction on one hand, and the death of flesh-sacrificing surrender on the other.  And when I am willing to receive God’s grace, deny the impulses of my flesh, and surrender to God’s will in the moment, it sill amazes me to see the way He parts Red Seas in my life still today.

• This post brought to you by the impact of feeding daily on God’s Word for a continual month, assisted by the One Year Bible reading plan on the YouVersion Bible app for the iPhone.

Ever get into a funky place where you seem restless, irritable, and discontent?

Well, I do.  Sometimes for long stretches, I am sad to say.  And I have found that when I get into one of these grouchy seasons, there is one question that lurks at the heart of the murkiness.  It is a terrible question.  A question that drives me, when I let it.  “What is the Matrix?”  No, that’s not it!  Here it is…

“What do I FEEL LIKE DOING right now?”

Sooner or later, living by this question day after day drives me into the ditch.  It is a lame question for any of us to follow, particularly someone with an “addictive personality” like me.  But we all have a sin nature that calls out in various fleshly ways, convincing us that this question is actually a very reasonable approach to life.

It is not.

Far better to guide my actions from day to day with questions such as these…

“What would be good for me to do now?”

“What is God’s will for me today (as best I can tell)?”

“How can I bless someone else?”

And the irony of it is this: When I pursue those things that I feel like doing, I am rarely, if ever contented by them.  But when I am willing to pursue those things that God would have me do to bless others, I find within my self a growing sense of contentment and joy that I am simply not capable of contriving on my own.

Have a great day – bless someone else by doing God’s will!

I know, another video link, rather than original blog material – lame.  Oh well, it’s where I am, and today God reminded me in His wonderful, powerful, wild, calming way how true is the Message of this song.  May you be blessed with the peace of embracing His presence in your life today.

Sorry about the “S-word” in that video, but he just nailed this issue, so I’m sharing it.  This will be short and sweet…

I am “on” my iPhone too much.  Facebooking mostly.  But also texting, taking silly pictures, and just looking for stuff.  This needs to change.  I am missing out on life.  I am missing out on my wife.  This is ridiculous!  So, here’s the plan, at least as a starting point.

After 9pm, the iPhone goes to the charger and stays outta my hands.  And the one I’m really wrestling with is this one – Don’t get on Facebook unless I have taken the time to either write a meaningful blog post for the day or read something meaningful from a book for at least half an hour.  I don’t want to get legalistic about it.  Believe me – I know what an epic fail that path is for actually solving any kind of heart issues.  Been there, done that.  But I need structure, and this thing needs turning around.  My wife tells me I share too much on Facebook.  True.  Maybe this post is too much.  But I’m thinking some of you can relate and could use an encouragement and a helpful idea.  And you may start finding some helpful stuff on my website again soon.  : ]

#NeedFreedom

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Now watch this video…

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I dare you to watch the first one again now.

Maybe you’re not an LSU fan, so it’s easy to dismiss.  And perhaps you genuinely don’t care about football.  This pair of videos kicked me in the teeth.  More importantly and to the point, my heart is convicted.  Thanks to my friend, Joey, for sharing these with me.  Pray for me, as I pray for you to be set free of the idols in our lives.  As far as I know, I will still be watching the big game on November 5 and cheering for the LSU Tigers.  Nothing wrong with that.  But I want to be totally willing to do something else with my time if the Holy Spirit calls me elsewhere.  And I don’t need to be worshiping LSU or Coach Miles or the defense or the offense or the “Honey Badger” or any of that as I watch the game.  As Joey so eloquently and succinctly put it – “GEAUX JESUS!”  Thanks again, Joe!

I have always loved this classic song by the Byrds, inspired by Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about stress, demands, busyness, self-discipline, entertainment, enjoyment of life and family and work and play, and the intersection of these things.  (Yes, there are always lots of wheels turning inside my noggin.  It’s like a funhouse in here – trust me!)  Today I find myself especially considering the role of electronic gadgetry in the midst of this swirling mix.  I got an i-Phone a couple months or so ago, primarily because there is an app for my online scheduling system, and I hoped it would improve my business efficiency.  Well, it has certainly done that.  My scheduling process has never been smoother for me or my clients!  In addition, I have found this little gizmo to be an immensely helpful tool in many ways – from helping me navigate trips to boosting my enjoyment of amateur photography to assisting me in organizing my overall schedule to providing a handy-dandy light to navigate the toy-infested waters of my son’s room for a late night kiss on his cheek before going to bed.  But the impact on my life doesn’t stop there.  Consider also…

Words With Friends and the Facebook app and just how easy it is now to text like a maniac.  With such powerful distractions just a slide and a tap, tap, tap away, it is easy for my attention, my mind, my spirit, and my life to get seriously out of balance.  Not good.  And I’m a 37 year old man with the Holy Spirit, years of walking with Christ and attempting to live in surrender to the Father’s will, and even a doctorate in studying the role of mass media in family life all to assist me in making wise choices.  Imagine the impact on the fourteen year olds!

And this is not to mention the place of the Wii, XBox, Playstation, laptop computer, internet itself, i-Pad, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.  And I shudder to consider this new technology with its unprecedented implications.

My point is this.  As parents – as adults – we need to live in view of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.  You know, while we’re at it, let’s go ahead and live in view of all of chapter 3, and might as well throw in Romans 12 for good measure!  All very difficult to do when I am giving my best to an electronic idol.  Ouch, did I really just post that on my website?!!  Our kids need us to be sober-minded, well-balanced guides to show them how to live rightly and humbly before God.  How are we doing?

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Picking right up where we left off…

On Sunday morning Chemaine wasn’t feeling well, so Shep and I headed off to church in my truck.  Father-son time with our church family.  Worshiping God, studying His Word, building relationships, good coffee, fun play – should be great!  In the midst of singing and talking with Shep on the ride to church, he somewhat brazenly asserts that, “At least I get some screen time during children’s worship!”

Oh, CRAP!  Hadn’t thought of that!!!  Yes, indeed, Shep’s elementary group in the children’s ministry at church is just getting started good in a new string of lessons based on a video series.  Dad.  Gum.  It.  What to do about the Screen Time hiatus?!?

I dropped the lad off in his Sunday school class (the video time comes next hour), went to my Sunday school class (Sorry, Dr. Steve – “Adult Bible Fellowship”) led by my Eminem-lovin, Facebook eschewing friend, Hans Googer, and then checked with one the children’s worship leaders to ask which part of their service would include the video.  After discussing the situation with Lisa for a couple of minutes, she told me she totally understood and supported our being serious about impressing important character lessons on Shep, and that pretty much their whole class would center around the video (I was considering either bringing him up late, or getting him out early).  Basically, it was going to be all or nothing.

When I got my son from Sunday school and brought him into “big church” with me, as we do every week before the youngins are dismissed to go upstairs for their special worship and lesson time, I honestly had not made up my mind what I was going to do.  In hindsight, I should have called Chemaine and prayed about it, but at the time neither occurred to me.  Shep saw his buddies line up on the front row to watch the youth choir perform a special mini-concert during worship time (GREAT job, guys!), and he wanted to go sit with them.  That’s cool.  Sit on the end, and I’ll sit next to you.  Still positioning, waiting, and considering.  Finally, Shep made my mind up for me with a very smug, “At least I get some screen time during children’s worship!”  Okay, Mr. Big Shot Screen Addict, that’s it!

“No,” I say very quietly and firmly to him.  “You aren’t going upstairs this morning.  You are staying here with me.”  And then I saw Shep set his jaw and speak with more resolute defiance than I knew he had in him.  “Yes, I am.  I AM GOING UPSTAIRS WITH MY FRIENDS!”  And when they announced the dismissal of the kids, and his friends got up, he stood up and looked at me.  “Sit down.”  A glare.  A huff.  Then submission.  Now tears.

He crumpled his body over me, buried his face in my lap, and began softly sobbing.  Cut off from his friends.  Cut off from his precious big screen.  Ouch.  I gently rubbed his back and let him cry it out for several minutes.  When he finally came up for air, I offered to go get his Garfield book out of the truck for him to read during church (It’s a really progressive congregation!), but he very respectfully declined.  Then he grabbed my arm and wrapped it tightly around him self.  A few times during the service, he pulled back to glare at me with a crushed, yet defiant gaze.  But then he would nuzzle in close again, and I would rub his back or shoulder or hair, affirming that I love him, and that my love is motivating my actions even in my “hurtful” decision.  Somehow in the midst of this, I realized I had been moved by The Spirit to teach Shep a powerful lesson about The Father’s love for us.

He cares far more about our character and obedience than he does about the little things that capture the temporary attention of our hearts.  Yes, He delights in giving us good gifts and saying “Yes” to our deepest longings.  But sometimes he withholds these things for a season to free our hearts from our sinful ways or attachments to the things of this world.  And He keeps His loving arm around us, gently speaking love to us through His abiding presence and voice of truth.

And for those of you who think I’m over the top with this screen time punishment…he came home from church and rode his bike without any assistance whatsoever for the very first time!  Coincidence?

But don’t burn a Qu’ran.

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