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Value of Debate

I have an amazing relationship with my wife. I thank God for our ability to communicate even when we do not see eye to eye. Which happens to be often. Many a Sunday the car ride from Worship Service is spent in a sort of quasi argument over what we heard in the sermon or what really touched us in the service. It is in these times that iron is sharpening iron. (Yes men, you may be sharpened by communicating with your wives about scripture. I fear that a misunderstanding of Peter and Paul's writing along with a sexist dogma that has been instilled in us has led to the belief that women have no credibility when it comes to matters of faith and this is far from the truth.) Some of the greatest lessons I have learned, God has shown me through my wife and daughters. With that in mind, I have this fear that due to the new norm (being a sissy is cool) people are more and more afraid to share what they really believe even with those they should be the most intimate with. (Intimacy is muc...
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Another lesson from my 3 year old

So for what seems like forever I have heard it said that one of the most annoying traits of young children is their nonstop questioning of everything with the word "Why." Apparently, though she does sometimes use the word "Why" (mostly when we make a decision that contradicts what she wants to do) that is not Madi's favorite question. Madi will do or say something and within a few seconds will ask the question "That right Daddy?" or Mama if she happens to be closer to Nichole. This of course got me thinking about what she's really asking. She's asking for our validation. She needs reassurance that her opinion or action or thought process and verbiage is correct and we accept her for it. Maybe she's advanced for her age in doing this, but it's my thought that for many of us that is all we are looking for as well. I believe that many people are dissatisfied with their occupations because they either don't get told that they did a good...
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Life, Death and Learning

This has been a tough year for many of those closest to me as well as myself. 2 months ago we had a miscarriage and all I could lean on was the fact that God is sovereign. There is no swaying that and allowing myself to believe otherwise would not enable me to be there for my wife as she grieved, which in turn I put off because I was focused on the kids and her. Then I was listening to a sermon (can't remember if it was Piper, Driscoll, Stanley, or Dukes) but the term grace was used. This word grace set off a sensor in my brain that took me back to a place from a year earlier when my small group had studied 1st Peter and we looked at the story of Noah. It says in Genesis that Noah was shown favor, that of course is the OT (Old Testament) term for grace. And I thought on this word favor which led to my writing the following couple paragraphs which I have never published until now: Sovereignty has been something disputed. Is God sovereign or isn't He? He obviously can't be it...
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What is hindering me?

So as I was working last night I listened to a sermon on the "Sermon on the Mount" more specifically the section of Matthew 5 we all refer to as the "Beatitudes." One of the verses seemed to stand out for the pastor and it also has stood out for me. God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God Matthew 5:8 New Living Translation. After spending many months in deep study of 1 Peter with my Life Group, it became clear that God is a refiner. He wants our hearts to be pure, and the reason why is obvious so we can see Him, for that in and of itself is the blessing. The blessing is not having a good job or a good retirement, it is not having kids who listen or excel in school (though having kids in and of itself is a blessing God allows us to have to get just a small picture of His immense love for us), it's not even having good health or any health for that matter, it's seeing Him. So suffice it to say death in and of itself for a Christian is a...
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Life Just Doesn't Stop

It amazes me when people say things like I'll get to it when I have more time or right now my life is too busy it'll be better in a couple of years. Not only are we not guaranteed tomorrow, as I get older one thing I realize is you don't have any more time today than you did yesterday. A major reason why time is so short and life is so busy is thanks to children. Our little girls are now 9 (Ariel) and 2 (Madilynn), both are at ages that require lots of individualized attention. Ariel is at the point where she just wants to spend time with friends regardless of the hour and if she can't be with them then get ready to listen to her talk your ears off (just ask any member of my family). I really don't know where all the words she has to say comes from. We have to share her weekends with her biological dad, it's been tough but we have accepted it and God has let us know everything was going to be alright thanks to the bear he brought us (which if you ask me I'll...
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Living A Life That Causes Questioning

I was listening to a Pastor not long ago who asked the question "Are we living lives that cause people to question us?" It made me start thinking about all Peter has been saying to our Life Group as we have been studying 1 Peter. He makes it clear that we have been set a part. We are a chosen people... a royal priesthood... but do we act like the rest of Middle Class America? The observation was made by Voltaire that "God created us in His image and now we have returned the favor." What this is saying is we have so manipulated our image of God that the God we think we serve looks just like us. The kicker beyond that is we look just like the rest of society, the only difference most of the time between the "Churched" and the "unChurched" is who gets perfect attendance on Sunday. Peter says any sinning you have done it's enough... you don't need anymore. It was enough to cause the separation from our Heavenly Father and it's enough of o...
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No More Re-Mixes

It has been a long time since I posted anything, not that anyone cares, but I have decided I needed to write down my thoughts on an issue that is driving me crazy. I have read many "Christian" books as of late on the state of the "church" in America and they all seem to come to the conclusion that what we need is a RE... Any of you who are in church culture know the re I am speaking about and for those of you who are not lets just say we need a 2.0 (little tech savvy term). All I read is statements like Re-invent, Re-surge, Re-connect, Re-interpret, Re-define, Re-think... and many, many more other Re's. As I see it all the Re's are just to market new philosophers offering the same opinions on the same subject with updated rhetoric. We do not need a Jesus 2.0, a Great Commission 2.0 or a Vision 2.0. What we need is to follow the original commands to love God and others and share that love. We need not spend out time discussing our differences, we need to star...
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