What Does It Take?

What does it take to get to the point where you feel comfortable surrendering to God? What does it take to get to the point where your one and only reason for being is summed up in the words "service to the King"? These are the things that I think about, that I worry about, that I long for the answers to.

You know, it's kind of funny, really. I am more interested in the Elijah's, the Jeremiah's, and the Paul's of the Bible than I am in Jesus. Their examples are far more perplexing to me than Jesus'. As a military man, I understand sacrifice. I understand unconditional surrender to the greater good. It means nothing to me to contemplate what it takes to be that type of person and then accept it as reality. Just like Jesus.

What I can't bend my mind around is surrendering my will to God in the way that Paul, or Jeremiah, or Elijah did. At least Jesus understood His position in the greater Scheme of things. He created the Heaven's and the Earth. He understood that for all mankind to receive salvation, He needed to be the One True Sacrificial Lamb. But the others, they didn't need to follow God unconditionally. They lacked the added dimension of being God. They were mere mortal men, just like me. They had free-wills borne of an inherent sinfulness inhereted from Adam. They weren't perfect. Just like me.

Oh that the One True Living God of all the Galaxies would hear my plea...don't let me leave this Earth without the opportunity to brush the hem of Your garment. May I have the courage to do so should the opportunity arise!

Cheers

What Is Worship?

On Sunday we had some missionaries to Argentina visit our church. I really love Missions Sunday! Where else do you find out just how spiritually shabby you really are! Man!

Well, on with the story... Rocky, the missionary, brought along a video of the Bible College he heads. To see the sincere look of worship on the faces of his students left a huge impression on my mind and a gaping hole in my soul! I don't worship like that. I don't pray fervent, effective prayers like that. My relationship with God isn't like that. I, for all that I have materially, am a desperate beggar without a sign!

To show just how empowered they are, consider this: on their weekends they go out and start street churches. They preach to people on the bus, the subway, and at the checkout stand. They even preach to those that hold them up at knife/gun point! And they are leading people to Christ! What have I done today? What have you done today?

Signed,
A Spiritual Pauper

Rethinking Life

It's so easy to get into the habit of constantly running. From here to there and back again we tread the same tired ground. It's no wonder we are constantly exhausted.

For quite some time now Christina and I have talked about getting rid of all of the junk and excess clutter that we've accumulated over the last ten years or so. Now we have finally gotten to the point where we are doing something about it. For the last couple of weeks we have gotten rid of several bags of trash (stuff you thought you might need at a later date...ha!) and quite a bit of other stuff sold. Unfortunately, we are still swamped by the junk we haven't gone through and gotten rid of yet.

While thinking about what to keep and what to get rid of, I have come across a desire that has started to affect me substantially. I want to start reading the Bible everyday so that I can deepen my faith. I have somehow managed to get to a place that is very comfortable to me but which does not seem to be all that fruitful. So, in the next several days I am going to start reading through a one year Bible reading plan. I plan on using this blog as a place to document my reading schedule and my impressions of what I have read. I will also start doing book reviews (as I come across books of note).

Cheers

Synopsis of the Last Month or So

Here is a quick synopsis of the past several weeks:

1. We drove, as a family, to Ohio.
2. Christina's cousin, Melanie, got married to Andrew. It was a beautiful wedding. Unfortunately, I spent a good part of the ceremony babysitting my youngest daughter.
3. Right before I left Aunt Elaine's house to head back to Mississippi, I had to save my 5 year old and 9 year olds lives. They were in the pool, splashing about, when Amanda started walking from the shallow end toward the deep end. I was standing several feet away from her when I warned her not to go any further, as she might end up going too far. No sooner had I let the warning slip from my tongue when she slid down the portion of the pool that leads to the deep end. She went under and struggled to break the surface. Unable to do so, and watching her slip deeper, I mindlessly dropped to the prone position and extended my arm. Barely reaching her, I grabbed her under arm pit and hoisted her out of the water. After standing her up on the side of the pool and ensuring that she could breathe properly, I heard a woman's voice yelling. Finally able to understand what she was saying (my mind hadn't quite come out of auto-pilot yet), I noticed that my 9 year old, Katie, was struggling to remain above water. After watching her slip under and then back up (which took all of maybe a second), I reached down and grabbed her and pulled her out. The lady who was yelling to me was standing in the pool, water nearly to her waist. I thank God that she was willing to risk her own life to save one of my children. I am especially thankful that no one was hurt. To prove just how odd my children are, they got mad at me for not letting them get back into the pool!
4. I left them in Cleveland and proceeded to the Mississippi, again. I spent three weeks having my skull crammed full of knowledge. So intense was the course that no one who graduated was spared the effects of having their stomachs tied in knots. I very nearly wanted to go to the latrine and puke my guts out. I could have sworn that I would have been lucky to pass the last test with anything more than a 70 percent. Strangely enough, I passed with a 96 percent. Strange things still happen, I suppose.
5. I made it home safely and spent a couple of weeks there before going on another adventure. That adventure is known to the Royal Rangers as summer PowWow. To us here in South Dakota, that means September. Somehow, we managed to place it on a cold weekend. It got bitter cold, with plenty of wind. Typical South Dakota. Where else can you get a fifty or so degree spread from high to low? The stars were very close and very bright. Absolutely brilliant. God sure knows how to light up a night.

Now, we have found out that, God willing, we will be moving to Spain sometime after the start of the New Year.

Cheers

Will Update...Soon

Well, things haven't been exactly crazy but I haven't been exactly willing to sit down and write an update, either. So, this is my notice to you that I will be bringing this up-to-date then moving forward with some new thoughts and such.

Cheers