So I want to write a children's book. What do you all think? But I have no idea how to produce the manuscript, where to send it, if it would be a profitable experience or a complete waste of time? I have already began writing the story which takes place on a horse ranch and involves a couple of very cute donkeys but there is this voice in my head, no maybe it is more of a feeling of doubt that is telling me to stop before I even try and get the paper and pen out. So here I am asking my small and humble readership "What do you all think?". The story will not be another cookie-cutter religious book about Noah building the ark or a cutesier little A B C book, although the latter sounds like an easy project, but rather a real life drama where the actors are donkeys.
Doubt and fear are two of our very worst enemies. They always are with us, they never really go away but hide inside our souls like a retro-virus just waiting for the opportunity to appear bringing with them all of their trappings of defeat. These feelings are not from God because God is not like that, He wants us to prosper. He wants us to realize our dreams as long as they fit into His will for our lives. So where do these enemies of doubt and fear come from? Well, just think about the fear of failing for a moment. What is the worst thing that can happen to us? Lets jump into skydiving as an example, if your parachute fails to open you will surly die and the seconds leading up to death would be horrific. Or maybe sailing to Hawaii, where the sail boat could spring a leak brought on by the repeated ramming from a large pod of Killer Whales who are waiting and eyeing you as the boat disappears beneath the water. OK, so I get fear so lets look at doubt. I'm standing on the side of the freeway its rush hour traffic can I successfully run the entire width of the freeway without getting hit by a single car. Or maybe I have smoked cigarettes all my life. Say, 5 packs a day and I'm doubting if this will increase the likelihood that I will get lung cancer?
How many people actually make it to the top of Mt. Everest or swim the English Channel? Not many, is it because its only super people who train and have developed skills that allow them to conquer their fears and doubts? OK, that is kinda true so now we are getting somewhere. I'm convinced personally that anyone can accomplish anything if they only would put their mind to it. Is it possible that your parachute wont open? Yes! Is it possible that your sailboat might sink? Absolutely! But life is for living and we need to take some risks in order to keep our fears and doubts in check. Do you know that there are people who do not leave the false security of their own home?
Some folks never venture out the front door of their houses and what a tragedy this is. Contently sitting on their couches watching the Nature Channel while nature is just waiting for them in their very own front yards just steps outside their front doors. Get Off Your Couch! Then there is the group of people that most of us are in who hear and read about life's success stories and wonder if we could invent something or accomplish some great task that no one has yet to complete. This group is a very large group of people of which you and me are a part. Our problem is that while the front doors to our houses do not present a problem we allow other people with their own doubts and fears to cloud up our skies and bring those dark, gloomy rain clouds that will eventually put out our fires and rain on our parade.
So I'm gonna throw caution to the wind, get my butt off my couch, step out of my front door, turn my laptop on and write this children's book about 3 donkeys Bonnie,Clyde, and Roxy. It might not ever get published let alone end up on the New York Best Sellers book list but I will have the satisfaction of thumbing my nose at my fears and doubts and sending them back into their dismal hibernation. So, are you ready? All donations and advance signed book sales can be sent to PO Box 771 Alpine Ca. 91901 , please include a postpaid self addressed book-sized envelope. And please allow some time for my doubts and fears to beat me up a bit.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Doldrums
Doldrums. Do you know what they are? Do you know where and why they exist? Did you know that 75% of the earth's surface is covered with sea water. The great oceans of the world are a large part of God's design for us to be able to live and thrive on planet Earth. The oceans are teaming with life and the majority of that life is found along the shallower, continental shelves of the continents on which we live. I live in San Diego, California where the ocean has a large part in contributing to our local economy. Commercial fishing boats regularly haul in tons of fish, other boats harvest kelp that can grow up to 18" in a day. Sport fishing boats too add another dimension to our economy by offering tourists a ride out to the rich, fish laden kelp patties off our local coastline. Sailing boats also grace the surface of our local waters as their sleek hulls glide effortlessly through the crest of a glassy, rolling sea wave. Its on these sail surfaces of sailboat's large, triangular sails where the wind's power can be captured and redirected. This force when redirected through the mast and tiller breaks the water's surface tension propelling the boat through the water.
Its interesting to me that Dr. Luke, inspired by God writes that on the day of Pentecost God's power was revealed from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind that filled the whole house where they were sitting. When the Holy Spirit filled them, they all began speaking to and hearing each other in their own native languages. The experience of the filling of the Holy Spirit was so severe that some men, who were not involved in the filling, said in mocking voices " They are full of new wine".
It is the filling of these humble men, who by the way were ready and willing to receive, that I wish to contemplate. In some ways God's children are like the sails on a great ship that when we make the choice to open ourselves up it then becomes possible for God to fill us with His great power. And just as in the mechanics of a sailboat, we then allow God's power to propel us through the waters of life. If one has ever been on a sailboat it quickly becomes clear that wind can appear in all shapes, sizes and sometimes chooses not to show up at all.
The doldrums are found on an area on our globe, which is located at the equator. It is an area where winds are not consistent but are actually for the most part non-existent. Many sailors have drifted for probably what seemed like endless days and nights before finding the beginnings of a light trade wind. What hope that light breeze must have offered to them after bobbing around on the surface of the sea. The doldrums give you a feeling of despair where all of your hope evaporates into thin air. A haunting feeling that God has forsaken you, taken away His Holy Spirit and that your faith has gone overboard and is somewhere lost at sea. It is during these hopeless and trying times that as human beings we might desire death as a welcomed friend.
Friends, if you ever feel like this know that you are not alone. Hold fast to your faith in God. If you don't yet have a relationship with Him, call out to Him and He will hear your prayers. And know that when you are in the doldrums it might look like a hopeless situation from your viewpoint but be reassured that your drifting will not last forever. For on either side of the doldrums there is always waiting new hope! For while the Earth continues to turn God's refreshing gentle breezes will always be waiting for you to open up and fill your sails with His never ending, powerful, rushing wind!
Its interesting to me that Dr. Luke, inspired by God writes that on the day of Pentecost God's power was revealed from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind that filled the whole house where they were sitting. When the Holy Spirit filled them, they all began speaking to and hearing each other in their own native languages. The experience of the filling of the Holy Spirit was so severe that some men, who were not involved in the filling, said in mocking voices " They are full of new wine".
It is the filling of these humble men, who by the way were ready and willing to receive, that I wish to contemplate. In some ways God's children are like the sails on a great ship that when we make the choice to open ourselves up it then becomes possible for God to fill us with His great power. And just as in the mechanics of a sailboat, we then allow God's power to propel us through the waters of life. If one has ever been on a sailboat it quickly becomes clear that wind can appear in all shapes, sizes and sometimes chooses not to show up at all.
The doldrums are found on an area on our globe, which is located at the equator. It is an area where winds are not consistent but are actually for the most part non-existent. Many sailors have drifted for probably what seemed like endless days and nights before finding the beginnings of a light trade wind. What hope that light breeze must have offered to them after bobbing around on the surface of the sea. The doldrums give you a feeling of despair where all of your hope evaporates into thin air. A haunting feeling that God has forsaken you, taken away His Holy Spirit and that your faith has gone overboard and is somewhere lost at sea. It is during these hopeless and trying times that as human beings we might desire death as a welcomed friend.
Friends, if you ever feel like this know that you are not alone. Hold fast to your faith in God. If you don't yet have a relationship with Him, call out to Him and He will hear your prayers. And know that when you are in the doldrums it might look like a hopeless situation from your viewpoint but be reassured that your drifting will not last forever. For on either side of the doldrums there is always waiting new hope! For while the Earth continues to turn God's refreshing gentle breezes will always be waiting for you to open up and fill your sails with His never ending, powerful, rushing wind!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Crossroads
Have you ever been down that road? Its a road that you know where it will take you and so you travel down it with the knowledge and security that you will reach the end and your final destination. But what about those unfamiliar journeys? Where the road does not seem so familiar and you pass street after street and don't know if and where you should make your next turn. You have arrived at the crossroads.
The young man stood very still in the twilight hours of that November morning. The air was heavy with dew and there was a distinct fall snap that chilled Chuck to the bone. He had three things with him as he stood in the dark shadows of the trees which were growing along the shoulder of the dirt road. In his hand was his guitar case that he held as if it was a trust-worthy weapon, in his heart was his faith which his mother had instilled in him at a very young age and covering him were just the clothes on his back, old and worn, a steady reminder of why he was running away in the first place. Chuck was the eldest son of a Louisiana share cropper who was setting out on his own in search of fame and fortune.What he would find was his fate.
"What do you have there?" a voice shatters the stillness of the morning and sends Chuck's heart rate into an irregular beat as a huge push of adrenalin courses through his blood vessels. Chuck startled, backs up a couple steps in the opposite direction of the voice. "Is that some kind of an instrument?" the stranger's voice while still hidden in the shadows begins to sound slightly less threatening to Chuck but instinctively he takes another couple of steps backwards. "Who are you" Chuck musters up a bit of courage and begins a conversation with the darkness.
"Who am I? Who are you is the question of the hour or better yet who would you like to be?" Now the voice was beginning to sound very familiar almost like Chuck's father only with a touch of charm and class not associated with a southern cotton farmer. Now as the first light of the morning began to beam over the distant hills Chuck could begin to see the silhouette of a tall man. He was very well dressed in a black suit, white silk shirt complete with a tie and felt hat. There were no wrinkles in his face but he had the aire of a man who was well educated well beyond his years.
"Well...." sheepishly Chuck begins "I would like to play this here guitar in New Orleans!" The tall stranger stepped out of the shadows and into the light "I'll make a deal with you my young friend" the tall man says as a hearty smile reveals two rows of perfectly straight white teeth. "What kind of a deal" Chuck reluctantly offers in a bid to discover who this stranger was and what he really wanted. "I know allot of people son and I can make your dreams come true not only in New Orleans but in Nashville too!" Chuck set his guitar case down and offered the man his hand. The man's grip was strong, warm and he felt as if this man was telling him the truth. "Why it wont cost you any money" the tall man chuckled "But it might just cost you your soul...So do we have a deal?" Chuck's load now lightened he began to feel like he was as free as a bird with no burdens and reached out once again to shake the tall man's hand only to watch it dissolve into thin air. In fact the tall man had completely vanished as quickly as he had come.
This story while being part of our American folk lore has some interesting parallels to our lives today. If we say that the tall man was the devil himself then we know him to be the father of lies. Coming as an angel of light Satan wants to deceive us and see him as a good man and not the hideous creature that we have heard conjured up in our children's stories. Its this red humanoid, grotesque face holding his devilish Triton that helps to convince people everywhere he is nothing more than a mythical creature. This view is definitely unfortunate but probably part of his plan anyway. In his beginnings Satan was in fact the most beautiful creature God created. Key word here is created, Satan is a created being. What fills Satan and caused him to fall in the first place is pride and that is why God hates pride so much as a sin. Satan offered to give the young man his dreams and the young man gladly shook on the deal.
While our dreams are important sometimes they are not really what we need in the end. The fame and fortune of a popular musician may lead to an empty life of loneliness, pain and suffering. Many musicians have died due to drug and alcohol abuse an affliction which is usually brought on by loneliness. Being in the lime light and those velvet curtain calls are not what you might think they are. Being on the road day after day eating fast foods and staying in endless hotel rooms is not my idea of fun. Gobs of money in the hands of a lonely man can only bring bitterness and destruction. Most, but not all, of Hollywood's Stars have had turbulent lives that usually end in their premature deaths or loss of their initial fame and fortune. God says "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but ends up losing his soul?"
A couple of weeks ago I was up in Tustin, Ca. where I met Kenny who played "Pugsley", a childhood star on the 1960's hit sitcom "The Adams Family". The show still runs world wide and has developed into a "Cult" classic. Kenny was cheated out of his residual program stock years ago. And at the age of 50 he was however not happy, successful or gleaning anything from his stint as a child actor on the glamorous studio sound stages of Hollywood. In fact at the age of 12 he was told by his agent that his career was over and that he had been "Type Casted" and nobody wanted to hire him. Ouch, what a blow for anyone especially a child to take, a blow that must have sent Kenny reeling. At the spry age of 14 depression began to set in and led him away from school and into a life full of drugs and alcohol abuse. He has worked on and off as a "Grip" performing behind the scenes lighting and camera set up and rail moving. Today, Kenny has a long black beard, kind eyes and a testimonial of where stardom has deposited him...homeless on the streets of Pasadena.
So if you are ever somewhere you didn't expect to end up and a tall man, nicely dressed appears out of nowhere and offers you your dreams, you had better take a deep breath and ask God which way He wants you to turn.
The young man stood very still in the twilight hours of that November morning. The air was heavy with dew and there was a distinct fall snap that chilled Chuck to the bone. He had three things with him as he stood in the dark shadows of the trees which were growing along the shoulder of the dirt road. In his hand was his guitar case that he held as if it was a trust-worthy weapon, in his heart was his faith which his mother had instilled in him at a very young age and covering him were just the clothes on his back, old and worn, a steady reminder of why he was running away in the first place. Chuck was the eldest son of a Louisiana share cropper who was setting out on his own in search of fame and fortune.What he would find was his fate.
"What do you have there?" a voice shatters the stillness of the morning and sends Chuck's heart rate into an irregular beat as a huge push of adrenalin courses through his blood vessels. Chuck startled, backs up a couple steps in the opposite direction of the voice. "Is that some kind of an instrument?" the stranger's voice while still hidden in the shadows begins to sound slightly less threatening to Chuck but instinctively he takes another couple of steps backwards. "Who are you" Chuck musters up a bit of courage and begins a conversation with the darkness.
"Who am I? Who are you is the question of the hour or better yet who would you like to be?" Now the voice was beginning to sound very familiar almost like Chuck's father only with a touch of charm and class not associated with a southern cotton farmer. Now as the first light of the morning began to beam over the distant hills Chuck could begin to see the silhouette of a tall man. He was very well dressed in a black suit, white silk shirt complete with a tie and felt hat. There were no wrinkles in his face but he had the aire of a man who was well educated well beyond his years.
"Well...." sheepishly Chuck begins "I would like to play this here guitar in New Orleans!" The tall stranger stepped out of the shadows and into the light "I'll make a deal with you my young friend" the tall man says as a hearty smile reveals two rows of perfectly straight white teeth. "What kind of a deal" Chuck reluctantly offers in a bid to discover who this stranger was and what he really wanted. "I know allot of people son and I can make your dreams come true not only in New Orleans but in Nashville too!" Chuck set his guitar case down and offered the man his hand. The man's grip was strong, warm and he felt as if this man was telling him the truth. "Why it wont cost you any money" the tall man chuckled "But it might just cost you your soul...So do we have a deal?" Chuck's load now lightened he began to feel like he was as free as a bird with no burdens and reached out once again to shake the tall man's hand only to watch it dissolve into thin air. In fact the tall man had completely vanished as quickly as he had come.
This story while being part of our American folk lore has some interesting parallels to our lives today. If we say that the tall man was the devil himself then we know him to be the father of lies. Coming as an angel of light Satan wants to deceive us and see him as a good man and not the hideous creature that we have heard conjured up in our children's stories. Its this red humanoid, grotesque face holding his devilish Triton that helps to convince people everywhere he is nothing more than a mythical creature. This view is definitely unfortunate but probably part of his plan anyway. In his beginnings Satan was in fact the most beautiful creature God created. Key word here is created, Satan is a created being. What fills Satan and caused him to fall in the first place is pride and that is why God hates pride so much as a sin. Satan offered to give the young man his dreams and the young man gladly shook on the deal.
While our dreams are important sometimes they are not really what we need in the end. The fame and fortune of a popular musician may lead to an empty life of loneliness, pain and suffering. Many musicians have died due to drug and alcohol abuse an affliction which is usually brought on by loneliness. Being in the lime light and those velvet curtain calls are not what you might think they are. Being on the road day after day eating fast foods and staying in endless hotel rooms is not my idea of fun. Gobs of money in the hands of a lonely man can only bring bitterness and destruction. Most, but not all, of Hollywood's Stars have had turbulent lives that usually end in their premature deaths or loss of their initial fame and fortune. God says "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but ends up losing his soul?"
A couple of weeks ago I was up in Tustin, Ca. where I met Kenny who played "Pugsley", a childhood star on the 1960's hit sitcom "The Adams Family". The show still runs world wide and has developed into a "Cult" classic. Kenny was cheated out of his residual program stock years ago. And at the age of 50 he was however not happy, successful or gleaning anything from his stint as a child actor on the glamorous studio sound stages of Hollywood. In fact at the age of 12 he was told by his agent that his career was over and that he had been "Type Casted" and nobody wanted to hire him. Ouch, what a blow for anyone especially a child to take, a blow that must have sent Kenny reeling. At the spry age of 14 depression began to set in and led him away from school and into a life full of drugs and alcohol abuse. He has worked on and off as a "Grip" performing behind the scenes lighting and camera set up and rail moving. Today, Kenny has a long black beard, kind eyes and a testimonial of where stardom has deposited him...homeless on the streets of Pasadena.
So if you are ever somewhere you didn't expect to end up and a tall man, nicely dressed appears out of nowhere and offers you your dreams, you had better take a deep breath and ask God which way He wants you to turn.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Road Rage
"Get Out of My Way!" the woman in the red sports car screams at the top of her voice while cutting three lanes of traffic, running a red light as she continues flying down the center divide in search of an opening in rush hour traffic. Sound familiar? Road Rage is an all too common event of late. I am also guilty of that ugly crime and deserve a scarlet "RR" around my neck, fettered hands and feet to be left on public display in community stocks.
So yesterday God nailed me and the verse "Be sure your sins will find you out" came to my mind. I usually can be described as a normal, defensive driver with the occasional "You Idiot" now and again. But today my old nature reared its ugly head allowing God to hold me accountable. I was driving on Jamacha ( which is pronounced Ham-a-shaw not Jamaica for all you East Coasters ) in the left hand turn lane with my blinker on as the left hand signal arrow flashes beckoning me to begin my turn onto Chase Ave. As I start to turn an older man in a red truck opposite me figures he does not have to stop and wait his turn at the red light so he executes a California rolling stop and basically rolls through the red light.
Take a guess at what came out of my mouth? Yes, you guessed it, "You Idiot!". First, why did I have to respond that way? And second, It was my turn to be sure but whats the trouble if I allow him to go ahead of me how much could that possibly slow me down? Why do we feel like we own the road in front of us? Well, I was not gonna have it any of that today so I gunned the accelerator, came up along side him and gave him a look that could kill with my brow wrinkled and firmly displaced against my normal, sweet and precious looking face. In the back of my mind something "clicked" and I thought there was something here that looked familiar. Oh well, what ever no big deal he will get over it after all I am a black belt now. So the car I am driving in is my work truck complete with my company name and cell phone plastered on the tailgate and yes, you are one step ahead of me, my cell phone rings.
So courageously, I did not answer it. When I checked my messages I found the message to be an old friend who I had not seen in fifteen years who was the old man driving that red truck who, saw my name, phone number and decided to call it what it was "Road Rage"! The blood rushed to my face and sheepishly I dialed his number back. "Hey Bill", as I put my tail between my legs "So Dean, having a little road rage are we?" on and on he rattled off how much I was a total idiot. Ouch! it hurts to be humbled but I took my punches like a man let my tail back out into its resting position. Bill was right I was being selfish and God used him to rebuke me and keep me accountable.
Folks, we need this kind of accountability especially if it hurts. We need to slow down, I mean really slow down, take a very deep breath and remember we as Christians are representatives of Christ. Its no wonder people don't want to go to church with a bunch of us who act as selfish as the rest of the world. We have become new creatures in Christ so let us start acting like it. The human race needs more accountability. The law is like a mirror in our faces pointing out our flaws and how much we need grace. Christians are the salt and the light of the world so it has to begin with us! If we can be nice others will want what we have if we are just like the world what kind of witness is that? Lets take a first step and when we go home lets remove all Christian bumper stickers and plastic fish from the rear of our autos until that day when we can be gracious people. Step two let us all stop being so selfish. Don't forget to Breathe in and out.
So yesterday God nailed me and the verse "Be sure your sins will find you out" came to my mind. I usually can be described as a normal, defensive driver with the occasional "You Idiot" now and again. But today my old nature reared its ugly head allowing God to hold me accountable. I was driving on Jamacha ( which is pronounced Ham-a-shaw not Jamaica for all you East Coasters ) in the left hand turn lane with my blinker on as the left hand signal arrow flashes beckoning me to begin my turn onto Chase Ave. As I start to turn an older man in a red truck opposite me figures he does not have to stop and wait his turn at the red light so he executes a California rolling stop and basically rolls through the red light.
Take a guess at what came out of my mouth? Yes, you guessed it, "You Idiot!". First, why did I have to respond that way? And second, It was my turn to be sure but whats the trouble if I allow him to go ahead of me how much could that possibly slow me down? Why do we feel like we own the road in front of us? Well, I was not gonna have it any of that today so I gunned the accelerator, came up along side him and gave him a look that could kill with my brow wrinkled and firmly displaced against my normal, sweet and precious looking face. In the back of my mind something "clicked" and I thought there was something here that looked familiar. Oh well, what ever no big deal he will get over it after all I am a black belt now. So the car I am driving in is my work truck complete with my company name and cell phone plastered on the tailgate and yes, you are one step ahead of me, my cell phone rings.
So courageously, I did not answer it. When I checked my messages I found the message to be an old friend who I had not seen in fifteen years who was the old man driving that red truck who, saw my name, phone number and decided to call it what it was "Road Rage"! The blood rushed to my face and sheepishly I dialed his number back. "Hey Bill", as I put my tail between my legs "So Dean, having a little road rage are we?" on and on he rattled off how much I was a total idiot. Ouch! it hurts to be humbled but I took my punches like a man let my tail back out into its resting position. Bill was right I was being selfish and God used him to rebuke me and keep me accountable.
Folks, we need this kind of accountability especially if it hurts. We need to slow down, I mean really slow down, take a very deep breath and remember we as Christians are representatives of Christ. Its no wonder people don't want to go to church with a bunch of us who act as selfish as the rest of the world. We have become new creatures in Christ so let us start acting like it. The human race needs more accountability. The law is like a mirror in our faces pointing out our flaws and how much we need grace. Christians are the salt and the light of the world so it has to begin with us! If we can be nice others will want what we have if we are just like the world what kind of witness is that? Lets take a first step and when we go home lets remove all Christian bumper stickers and plastic fish from the rear of our autos until that day when we can be gracious people. Step two let us all stop being so selfish. Don't forget to Breathe in and out.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Through The Crawl Space
I hate my job! Do you have a crawl space under your house? Have you ever gotten up the courage to open the hatch and crawl in? Its dark, wet, cold and there are mice, rats and spiders that lurk in the dark shadows that conceal ere corners underneath your house. So lately, Ive been writing on my facebook page that I would do almost anything at anytime to have some work during these dismal, dark days of unemployment. Well, be very careful what you ask for you might just find yourself opening the hatch and dropping down into the great abyss of your house's crawl space.
It's Monday morning, I disdain Monday's, the phone rings "Hello its Greg! Hey, I have a water leak in a copper pipe under my house would you like the job?" Greg frantically asks. "Well, ah sure, great when do you want me to do it?" Dean reluctantly responds. Knowing that the words "What are you doing right now" were forming on Greg's tongue even before he had finished speaking. Now, I dislike being unemployed and because I am self employed I do not collect unemployment insurance checks like the rest of you. So with a glad heart and a reluctant "Hi ho Silver and away!" I loaded all my tools, materials, grabbed my overalls and headed into the twilight of a new morning.
When I opened the hatch to the crawl space there was something like a rushing wind and a sound like air releasing upon the opening of a hermetically sealed coffin. The breeze rushed past my face pushing my hair out of my eyes as my mind ran wild with thoughts of what unknown fate awaited me in the pitch black recess below the floor boards. I could hear the sound of something scampering away from the new light that was now shining in through the hole and whatever it was sounded big enough to stop me from venturing down into the 24" by 24" opening. My flashlight needed new batteries but from the faint, orange glow I could make out footprints in the damp soil directly below me. Cautiously, I dropped into the hole, lowered my head and held my breath as the last thing I saw was an extremely worried expression on Greg's face as he breathed a sigh of relief and farcefully offered the encouraging words "I'll be right up here if you need anything!".
I spent the next 12 hours in that crawl space below their house cutting, fitting and soldiering the copper pipe that had deteriorate through a process known as electrolysis. I never actually saw any monsters below their house or found a treasure chest full of gold bullion but just a long day of hard work and perspiration. The next day I was extremely sore from laying on the damp concrete and soil that the foundation of the house was built on. I woke up feeling like someone had repeatedly me hit me with a sledge hammer and then left me for dead.
I'm looking forward to the day when I will be a full time pastor and can leave my tent making days behind me. I'm feeling pretty certain there wont be any physical crawl spaces in the Christian ministry arena but the reality of human misery still lends me to believe that there will be other problems to solve and mountains to climb. God was teaching me something down there in the damp, dark crawl space. The lesson was that we need to be certain of the deals we make with Him. I don't believe sometimes we really think He will deliver but deliver He will! Remember that whatever we ask for we might just receive! Fully exhausted, I climbed out of the hatch, dusted myself off, climbed into my truck and headed back to the office to await my next fatal phone call.
It's Monday morning, I disdain Monday's, the phone rings "Hello its Greg! Hey, I have a water leak in a copper pipe under my house would you like the job?" Greg frantically asks. "Well, ah sure, great when do you want me to do it?" Dean reluctantly responds. Knowing that the words "What are you doing right now" were forming on Greg's tongue even before he had finished speaking. Now, I dislike being unemployed and because I am self employed I do not collect unemployment insurance checks like the rest of you. So with a glad heart and a reluctant "Hi ho Silver and away!" I loaded all my tools, materials, grabbed my overalls and headed into the twilight of a new morning.
When I opened the hatch to the crawl space there was something like a rushing wind and a sound like air releasing upon the opening of a hermetically sealed coffin. The breeze rushed past my face pushing my hair out of my eyes as my mind ran wild with thoughts of what unknown fate awaited me in the pitch black recess below the floor boards. I could hear the sound of something scampering away from the new light that was now shining in through the hole and whatever it was sounded big enough to stop me from venturing down into the 24" by 24" opening. My flashlight needed new batteries but from the faint, orange glow I could make out footprints in the damp soil directly below me. Cautiously, I dropped into the hole, lowered my head and held my breath as the last thing I saw was an extremely worried expression on Greg's face as he breathed a sigh of relief and farcefully offered the encouraging words "I'll be right up here if you need anything!".
I spent the next 12 hours in that crawl space below their house cutting, fitting and soldiering the copper pipe that had deteriorate through a process known as electrolysis. I never actually saw any monsters below their house or found a treasure chest full of gold bullion but just a long day of hard work and perspiration. The next day I was extremely sore from laying on the damp concrete and soil that the foundation of the house was built on. I woke up feeling like someone had repeatedly me hit me with a sledge hammer and then left me for dead.
I'm looking forward to the day when I will be a full time pastor and can leave my tent making days behind me. I'm feeling pretty certain there wont be any physical crawl spaces in the Christian ministry arena but the reality of human misery still lends me to believe that there will be other problems to solve and mountains to climb. God was teaching me something down there in the damp, dark crawl space. The lesson was that we need to be certain of the deals we make with Him. I don't believe sometimes we really think He will deliver but deliver He will! Remember that whatever we ask for we might just receive! Fully exhausted, I climbed out of the hatch, dusted myself off, climbed into my truck and headed back to the office to await my next fatal phone call.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Directions
"Please! Don't ask me to stop while I am driving to ask for directions!" he exclaimed as the car motored past yet another highway exit. " You don't know where you are going, do you?" Alice chided him. "Just keep your silly kids quiet so I can concentrate on what off ramp to take" Fred exhausted, was mumbling and feeling a little like maybe Alice was right, he was lost. It was now 4:30 pm and the night was falling quicker than usual, daylight savings time had now come and gone. The shadows of the freeway signs were stretching out into long ghosts of figures and the kids were getting more and more restless, Fred too was getting mighty hungry. "Alright, I'll pull over at the next exit, we can grab some fast food, stretch our legs and I'll ask for directions" Fred reluctantly gave into Alice's request and with a crack in his usually confident voice heralded the hoisting of the white flag and an early surrender.
Let let me ask you a question. When you buy something from a department store and it needs some assembly do you first pour a cup of coffee, sit down with your reading glasses on and pour over the directions until you completely understand the order of assembly? These instructions or directions were left in the bottom of the box printed neatly on a piece of white paper sometimes in seven different languages. No! Why would you do something so silly like that after all you are a man! Who is fully capable of assembling anything, anyone can throw in your lap. Hey, and even if you do end up with some extra parts maybe they were included by a company employee who was just bored stiff with his job and wanted to mess with you. Or possibly the extra parts were just a manufacturers oversight.
So there you are it's Christmas Eve, the fireplace is glowing seven times hotter than hot, it is 11:59 pm and you have several presents hidden in the basement that you have been assured by your wife only need some minor assembly. Now someone has thoughtfully laid out a plate of freshly baked, hot chocolate chip cookies and a glass of ice cold milk that takes you less than a minute to down. Feeling like super dad you soar over and rip open the box that looks way too small to contain a bicycle. Now you are thinking "How hard can this really be?" and then you remember not wanting to pay the extra $ 25.00 dollars to have the cocky, teenage, Christmas bike builder assemble it for you. After all you are a man and completely capable of completing the task. A decision that would turn out to be your first mistake but not your last. It is now 12:30 am the cookies and milk didn't settle as well as you would have liked when you remember turning 48 last year and receiving a lactose intolerant badge for your birthday.
The clock begins to click and tick off the minutes to 2:00 am as you feel blood coursing through your veins and hear drops of perspiration dripping from your brow. As you wipe your forehead, you reach for the wrench you will need to align and tighten what you think is the last nut on the bicycle's back wheel.You notice a small, zip locked, plastic bag sitting on the floor by the empty bike box. The baggie contains some small parts, your eyes are not what they use to be but the large bright orange letters on the label clearly say "Important Brake Parts...Safety spring must be installed prior to mounting the back wheel." Your life flashes before your eyes, you can feel an irregular heart rhythm and the cookies are on their way up!
The older I get I now see how important it is to follow directions. Step by step, from 1 to 2 and then on to 3 its an order of operation that clearly works and was designed to save time and energy from having to redo and repeat a task. You know, our lives can be just like that. We have been given much freedom to be sure but God has a plan for our lives that when followed step by step it will help us from repeating difficult and often painful situations. If we choose not to follow God's directions which He has carefully outlined in His book then we have to accept the consequences of broken dreams and a box full of extra parts. Also, I have a couple of Christmas season suggestions: Pay the $25.00 bucks to have the bicycle assembled for you, don't drink the glass of milk and read your bible.
Let let me ask you a question. When you buy something from a department store and it needs some assembly do you first pour a cup of coffee, sit down with your reading glasses on and pour over the directions until you completely understand the order of assembly? These instructions or directions were left in the bottom of the box printed neatly on a piece of white paper sometimes in seven different languages. No! Why would you do something so silly like that after all you are a man! Who is fully capable of assembling anything, anyone can throw in your lap. Hey, and even if you do end up with some extra parts maybe they were included by a company employee who was just bored stiff with his job and wanted to mess with you. Or possibly the extra parts were just a manufacturers oversight.
So there you are it's Christmas Eve, the fireplace is glowing seven times hotter than hot, it is 11:59 pm and you have several presents hidden in the basement that you have been assured by your wife only need some minor assembly. Now someone has thoughtfully laid out a plate of freshly baked, hot chocolate chip cookies and a glass of ice cold milk that takes you less than a minute to down. Feeling like super dad you soar over and rip open the box that looks way too small to contain a bicycle. Now you are thinking "How hard can this really be?" and then you remember not wanting to pay the extra $ 25.00 dollars to have the cocky, teenage, Christmas bike builder assemble it for you. After all you are a man and completely capable of completing the task. A decision that would turn out to be your first mistake but not your last. It is now 12:30 am the cookies and milk didn't settle as well as you would have liked when you remember turning 48 last year and receiving a lactose intolerant badge for your birthday.
The clock begins to click and tick off the minutes to 2:00 am as you feel blood coursing through your veins and hear drops of perspiration dripping from your brow. As you wipe your forehead, you reach for the wrench you will need to align and tighten what you think is the last nut on the bicycle's back wheel.You notice a small, zip locked, plastic bag sitting on the floor by the empty bike box. The baggie contains some small parts, your eyes are not what they use to be but the large bright orange letters on the label clearly say "Important Brake Parts...Safety spring must be installed prior to mounting the back wheel." Your life flashes before your eyes, you can feel an irregular heart rhythm and the cookies are on their way up!
The older I get I now see how important it is to follow directions. Step by step, from 1 to 2 and then on to 3 its an order of operation that clearly works and was designed to save time and energy from having to redo and repeat a task. You know, our lives can be just like that. We have been given much freedom to be sure but God has a plan for our lives that when followed step by step it will help us from repeating difficult and often painful situations. If we choose not to follow God's directions which He has carefully outlined in His book then we have to accept the consequences of broken dreams and a box full of extra parts. Also, I have a couple of Christmas season suggestions: Pay the $25.00 bucks to have the bicycle assembled for you, don't drink the glass of milk and read your bible.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Footprints
What do you leave behind as you travel through your busy day? Footprints. They are everywhere, some going here and there leaving a rabbit trail for others to look back upon and discover how you lived your life. Police use our fingerprints to solve crimes, they also use tire tracks from the cars we drive and they use our footprints that the soles of our shoes impress on the soil beneath us as we walk. Man has left his footprints on the surface of the moon and in the snow packed glaciers high atop Mount Everest. When rainy days come we continue our walking journal by trudging in mud onto the carpets and floors where we live and work. The desert sands are so dry and void of any moisture they don't hold the shape that our feet express as we walk upon them. The sides of the impressions just slip and slide back into place, crumbling into their original shape, almost like we had never been there in the first place. Do you leave behind enough evidence to convict you of being kind? Do you leave behind evidence of selflessness or do your footprints reveal a strictly prideful life of only following your self interests? What kind of impressions do you make on your world?
I found some footprints on my garage floor and front walkway. Someone had spilled some black, powered dye on the ground and had tracked footprints everywhere. You could see where all the footprints had traveled round and round, up and down the front steps, back into the garage and of course they made their way into our house. Everyday we have a new opportunity to make footprints! We make choices to go here and to do this or that. What if everywhere we ever walked in life and everything we ever did in life was recorded by God? Would our footprints lead to others who may have needed our help in one way or another or would they be seen as just a pair of lonely feet walking selfishly onward actually avoiding groups of others who may have needed someone?
Well, I'm here to tell you that for people who have put their trust into Jesus Christ there will be a life review. It's referred to in the bible as the Bema Seat Judgement of Christ and it is where believers in Christ will be rewarded for what they did with their spiritual gifts and abilities that the Holy Spirit imparted to them. Being a Christian is like being molded into the expressed image of God's Son, Jesus. We become little Christs or rather Christ like. Now this is going to be a very joyous day for many who have ran the race to end in the image of their God but for others in our Christian community its going to be a very disappointing day where they receive little or no reward what so ever. If you don't believe in God or have never heard His plan for your salvation then you have a bigger problem and are in grave danger!
So leave footprints and take only memories as you travel along your path through life. Look at all the life around you while taking time to stop and smell the roses, thanking God for what He has done. Look down at your feet and discover where they are taking you and where you have been. Make changes in your course that will steer you into the paths of others, get involved in life. Use your hands to reach out to others. People are dying everyday and some are all alone longing for a visit from anyone. Keep in touch with your family and renew relationships with your friends. Make lots of footprints!
I found some footprints on my garage floor and front walkway. Someone had spilled some black, powered dye on the ground and had tracked footprints everywhere. You could see where all the footprints had traveled round and round, up and down the front steps, back into the garage and of course they made their way into our house. Everyday we have a new opportunity to make footprints! We make choices to go here and to do this or that. What if everywhere we ever walked in life and everything we ever did in life was recorded by God? Would our footprints lead to others who may have needed our help in one way or another or would they be seen as just a pair of lonely feet walking selfishly onward actually avoiding groups of others who may have needed someone?
Well, I'm here to tell you that for people who have put their trust into Jesus Christ there will be a life review. It's referred to in the bible as the Bema Seat Judgement of Christ and it is where believers in Christ will be rewarded for what they did with their spiritual gifts and abilities that the Holy Spirit imparted to them. Being a Christian is like being molded into the expressed image of God's Son, Jesus. We become little Christs or rather Christ like. Now this is going to be a very joyous day for many who have ran the race to end in the image of their God but for others in our Christian community its going to be a very disappointing day where they receive little or no reward what so ever. If you don't believe in God or have never heard His plan for your salvation then you have a bigger problem and are in grave danger!
So leave footprints and take only memories as you travel along your path through life. Look at all the life around you while taking time to stop and smell the roses, thanking God for what He has done. Look down at your feet and discover where they are taking you and where you have been. Make changes in your course that will steer you into the paths of others, get involved in life. Use your hands to reach out to others. People are dying everyday and some are all alone longing for a visit from anyone. Keep in touch with your family and renew relationships with your friends. Make lots of footprints!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wondering Out Loud
Have you ever caught yourself wondering about things? Like what kind of machines are used to make toothpicks or jawbreakers? If you stop once in awhile to smell the roses or read the ingredient list on the label of manufactured goods then maybe you've read what is in toothpaste? There are radioactive isotopes in it and a waste product from aluminum production called fluoride. Huh, why am I putting that stuff in my mouth when the dental hygienist wears a lead apron and stands behind a shielded wall before being exposed to X-rays? Also, along the same lines I have heard that mercury is put into vaccines to preserve them then it gets injected into our bodies? The EPA has passed laws that remove lead from the paint that you roll on your walls but the FDA allows mercury be used in our vaccines?
Why do the people who park in disabled parking places never look like they have any disability or limp, use a wheelchair and are usually in fantastic health? Red lights mean stop, green lights mean go so why do yellow lights mean go faster? One day while driving to work, I passed a young man in the middle of the street with a sign that said "Homeless and need money!" but he had a venti, mocha-carmel latte in one hand, dressed in nice clothes and with his other hand was talking on his cell phone. Now the funny thing was I watched as people stopped to give him dollar bills. When I was growing up gasoline was .25 cents a gallon, water and air were still free and usually someone came out to pump your gas and wash your windshield.
Do you ever really take time out to ponder things? Why every election year we hear "Change, change, change" from the candidates but get little or nothing that even resembles that the last guy who was in the office has even boxed up his things? Why do we have such strict sewage restrictions on land but our oceans are all one huge toilet where its legal for ships to dump sewage and what ever else they wish untreated right out into our waters? OK, our public governments like the Building Department for an example, they are here to protect and serve so have you ever been down to your local building department? Your visit will not feel much like you are being protected or cared for in fact they should pass out cyanide tablets and razor blades as you take a number for counter help. Why do highway crews always close down one lane of traffic during peak traffic hours like at 8:00am or 3:00 pm? When you bake fresh bread at home it will last maybe 3 days before getting mold on it but store bought bread will be looking perfect for three weeks?
I think Christians are like that loaf of 3 week old bread, they look really good on the outside but inside their hearts are spoiled and full of filth. They have received a mountain load of grace but spoon out very little of it to others around them. They are quick to tell you how to live but slow to make changes in their own lives that reflect being Christ like at all. Christians often shoot their own wounded and leave them to slowly bleed to death along side the road of life with a quick smile and a bold "I'll be praying for you!". Christians are a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Some Christian groups are like one big "Hypocrites Anonymous" meeting where you can hear "Hi! my name is Dean" lets shake hands and be friends but please don't ask me to really help you do anything or be honest about what my life is really like. Christians often drive too fast, never put their turn signal on but always have a bumper sticker plastered to the back of their car with the words "I'm saved but your going to hell!". They cheat on their taxes, race to take the front parking spaces at church and are always fighting to be first in a line. I say its time to change people!
Maybe things have become that way because we are just too busy and selfish to make time to change. God said that we are to meditate daily on His word. He also instructed us to be washed by the water of the word. How is your prayer life and are you reading your bible or are you contributing to the stench in our pews? Do you ever wonder out loud?
Why do the people who park in disabled parking places never look like they have any disability or limp, use a wheelchair and are usually in fantastic health? Red lights mean stop, green lights mean go so why do yellow lights mean go faster? One day while driving to work, I passed a young man in the middle of the street with a sign that said "Homeless and need money!" but he had a venti, mocha-carmel latte in one hand, dressed in nice clothes and with his other hand was talking on his cell phone. Now the funny thing was I watched as people stopped to give him dollar bills. When I was growing up gasoline was .25 cents a gallon, water and air were still free and usually someone came out to pump your gas and wash your windshield.
Do you ever really take time out to ponder things? Why every election year we hear "Change, change, change" from the candidates but get little or nothing that even resembles that the last guy who was in the office has even boxed up his things? Why do we have such strict sewage restrictions on land but our oceans are all one huge toilet where its legal for ships to dump sewage and what ever else they wish untreated right out into our waters? OK, our public governments like the Building Department for an example, they are here to protect and serve so have you ever been down to your local building department? Your visit will not feel much like you are being protected or cared for in fact they should pass out cyanide tablets and razor blades as you take a number for counter help. Why do highway crews always close down one lane of traffic during peak traffic hours like at 8:00am or 3:00 pm? When you bake fresh bread at home it will last maybe 3 days before getting mold on it but store bought bread will be looking perfect for three weeks?
I think Christians are like that loaf of 3 week old bread, they look really good on the outside but inside their hearts are spoiled and full of filth. They have received a mountain load of grace but spoon out very little of it to others around them. They are quick to tell you how to live but slow to make changes in their own lives that reflect being Christ like at all. Christians often shoot their own wounded and leave them to slowly bleed to death along side the road of life with a quick smile and a bold "I'll be praying for you!". Christians are a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Some Christian groups are like one big "Hypocrites Anonymous" meeting where you can hear "Hi! my name is Dean" lets shake hands and be friends but please don't ask me to really help you do anything or be honest about what my life is really like. Christians often drive too fast, never put their turn signal on but always have a bumper sticker plastered to the back of their car with the words "I'm saved but your going to hell!". They cheat on their taxes, race to take the front parking spaces at church and are always fighting to be first in a line. I say its time to change people!
Maybe things have become that way because we are just too busy and selfish to make time to change. God said that we are to meditate daily on His word. He also instructed us to be washed by the water of the word. How is your prayer life and are you reading your bible or are you contributing to the stench in our pews? Do you ever wonder out loud?
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Friday Testing
I have always hated testing. I detest it. Testing during my school years was the very worst thing I can remember. I had one teacher in the 5th grade at Ballentine Elementary School, Mrs. Gott, who made the entire class on each Friday of the week march out to the baseball diamond in single line formation, stand behind home plate in a group and at the sound of her whistle begin to run a race. A race that launched us out to another home plate on another diamond that was at the diagonal to our own at a distance that seemed extremely large for the average 5th grader to run. The start of the race would begin when she decided to blow her silver whistle. The actual time that it took her to blow the whistle and for my nerves to stop turning my stomach upside down and inside out seemed like an eternity. But then almost suddenly the shrill came and tennis shoes started kicking up the infield dust as the mongrel herd of kids competed for first, second and third place. Every Friday.
I made a mistake that first Friday morning while racing around the course, I came in first and won. Now, you would think that winning this race would be a good thing and a mighty accomplishment but it was not. For the rest of that entire school year I hated Friday mornings. My nerves were shot by 10:00 am race time on Friday making it almost impossible to think about or focus on anything else, especially my studies.
I use to pray to get a twenty four hour flu bug on Thursday night. Saturdays became the first day of the week for me and every Thursday became "Dead Man" walking day. To me it really was like taking that final long walk to the gallows every Friday only over and over again. You see as I kept on winning the class race each Friday another week would bring yet another challenge to my crown. A challenge and a crown I would have gladly given up at any moment to any one asking if I only could of.
The other kids suffered too. There were two other kids, Gary and Barbara, who were literally right on my heels every Friday race day. I wonder what they were thinking as they tyred to catch me and if they knew what they were doing to me by pushing me to run faster and harder than they did? There was something to be said about the rest of the kids because they were the smarter ones by staying in the back of the pack not winning or losing they gracefully jogged the course while joyously laughing and talking on their way back to home. But it was very different for me.
Randy was always last. I think I understand Randy better than most of the kids. He quickly became the brunt of all jokes about how he carried more baggage than most of us and won his own title of being the biggest loser. Randy was in the same boat with me except he endured additional punishment from the other kids. During that particular school year I believe I lived my entire existence from birth to death and beyond. I only wish Randy and I could have been in the flock with the rest of the sheep having avoided being standouts at all.
So now let us time warp to the year of 2010 when once again I feel like I am being tested only this time it is by God. Unemployment is a pit. A pit that at times can feel like its deeper than you can climb out of, darker than the actual day where shadows cast mountainous but hollow images of our reality that keep our eyes on them and away from our God. All my prayers these days have been focused on two, no three areas of life, my family, getting work and the new church plant. God is faithful for sure. I remembered this morning during prayer what I had asked God to do for me (this is an ongoing prayer of mine). I have been asking that He would refine me by pulling away the dross, cutting out my heart of stone and to put a new heart inside of me. A heart that would always respond to Him "Here I am Lord send me!". I want to be a servant, a vessel that God can fill at any time for His purposes. I want to be totally submitted and surrendered to Him. Now here I am at a point in life with zero work leads, no income pushing a wheelbarrow of debt when I realized I am in the exact place where I asked God to put me. A place where I am totally depending on Him. Not on my skills or my government to bail me out but only on Him, my loving God the Shepherd of my soul. I know the shadows will continue to cast their long scary figures at dusk in their attempts to keep my eyes off my God but I will not fail this test as Proverbs 3:5,6 remind me to: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. I am going to win this race not on my own merit but only through God's unending love for me!
I made a mistake that first Friday morning while racing around the course, I came in first and won. Now, you would think that winning this race would be a good thing and a mighty accomplishment but it was not. For the rest of that entire school year I hated Friday mornings. My nerves were shot by 10:00 am race time on Friday making it almost impossible to think about or focus on anything else, especially my studies.
I use to pray to get a twenty four hour flu bug on Thursday night. Saturdays became the first day of the week for me and every Thursday became "Dead Man" walking day. To me it really was like taking that final long walk to the gallows every Friday only over and over again. You see as I kept on winning the class race each Friday another week would bring yet another challenge to my crown. A challenge and a crown I would have gladly given up at any moment to any one asking if I only could of.
The other kids suffered too. There were two other kids, Gary and Barbara, who were literally right on my heels every Friday race day. I wonder what they were thinking as they tyred to catch me and if they knew what they were doing to me by pushing me to run faster and harder than they did? There was something to be said about the rest of the kids because they were the smarter ones by staying in the back of the pack not winning or losing they gracefully jogged the course while joyously laughing and talking on their way back to home. But it was very different for me.
Randy was always last. I think I understand Randy better than most of the kids. He quickly became the brunt of all jokes about how he carried more baggage than most of us and won his own title of being the biggest loser. Randy was in the same boat with me except he endured additional punishment from the other kids. During that particular school year I believe I lived my entire existence from birth to death and beyond. I only wish Randy and I could have been in the flock with the rest of the sheep having avoided being standouts at all.
So now let us time warp to the year of 2010 when once again I feel like I am being tested only this time it is by God. Unemployment is a pit. A pit that at times can feel like its deeper than you can climb out of, darker than the actual day where shadows cast mountainous but hollow images of our reality that keep our eyes on them and away from our God. All my prayers these days have been focused on two, no three areas of life, my family, getting work and the new church plant. God is faithful for sure. I remembered this morning during prayer what I had asked God to do for me (this is an ongoing prayer of mine). I have been asking that He would refine me by pulling away the dross, cutting out my heart of stone and to put a new heart inside of me. A heart that would always respond to Him "Here I am Lord send me!". I want to be a servant, a vessel that God can fill at any time for His purposes. I want to be totally submitted and surrendered to Him. Now here I am at a point in life with zero work leads, no income pushing a wheelbarrow of debt when I realized I am in the exact place where I asked God to put me. A place where I am totally depending on Him. Not on my skills or my government to bail me out but only on Him, my loving God the Shepherd of my soul. I know the shadows will continue to cast their long scary figures at dusk in their attempts to keep my eyes off my God but I will not fail this test as Proverbs 3:5,6 remind me to: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. I am going to win this race not on my own merit but only through God's unending love for me!
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