Happy New Year! (2011)

Welcome to the beginning of another year! For those of you whom followed me through 2010, it's great to be with you again. For anyone who's new to my blog, welcome aboard! I don't have some radical mission statement, or cliche to kick off with. What I can promise, is to be completely honest with what's going on in my life, one day at a time.

Let's start with today.

After downloading the latest podcast from the Daily Audio Bible at around midnight, I set off to sleep. After waking up and sipping a cup of coffee, the morning and early afternoon were lazily spent with my wife. We accomplished nothing, but the kids were content playing video games, reading to us, or watching Netflix. My wife and I also needed the down-time together.

Church was pretty amazing. Instead of the prepared message this evening, Pastor John shot from the hip (and threw together artwork for the multimedia slides) at the last minute. The thrust of his message? 2 questions:

1. How are things between you and Jesus?
2. How are things between you and other people? (family, friends, coworkers, etc.)

What happened next was "all Holy Spirit". During the worship set after the message, our worship pastor Cory appeared to be breaking down. Although I can't be certain, it appeared as though the words he was singing were actually coming from his heart. About one-third of the way through the song "Mighty to Save", he simply stopped singing. The backing vocals were still present, and the instrumental swells were powerful, but the silence- that was pretty humbling to witness.

I've seen the man occasionally miss a word here or there, or get caught up in the lyrics on a slide, but he's an absolute professional. I've never seen him stop. After a few slides, there was a designed break from the vocals, as the musicians and congregation marinated in the music. It was during this time that an impromptu solo from one of the female backup singers began. It was unplanned, unscripted and beautiful. Low light, no words on a screen, just pure and intimate sincerity. I was moved.

After a great date night with my wife (with four children, even a DVD at home qualifies as a "date"), I honored my commitment to step through the Bible again in 2011. I began with Genesis 1:1, but also kicked off Matthew, Psalms and Proverbs. If you haven't committed to making the journey through the Bible, it's never too late to begin. You can begin with today- you don't have to worry about making up, or catching up. Just dive into the Bible in printed form, read it online, or listen to it each day, like I do.

Something caught my attention tonight in Matthew. It was in chapter 1, verses 1 through 17.

Matthew 1
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
1 This is the genealogy[a] of Jesus the Messiah[b] the son of David, the son of Abraham:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Interesting. That's basically 42 generations, from the time God made the promises to Abraham, to Jesus' birth through the tribe of Judah. 42.

That number reminds me of something. If you are a fan of the original, or the remake of "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy", one of the more random and catchy elements of the film was the concept of the "Deep Thought" computer calculating an answer to a question over 7.5 million years.

"What is the meaning of life?" The answer? "42".



It would appear to me, that the Lord has a sense of humor. It's pretty neat from this Christian's point of view, that the meaning of life is perfectly addressed in the simple answer "42". It's Jesus. He's the meaning of life.

Good Night

Goodbye 2010

It's hard to believe that 2010 is about to be written into the history books forever. 365 days have literally felt as though they've flown by. Where did the time go?

Each day you've read my rants, listened to my complaints, pondered my thoughts and have been there to laugh and celebrate when God had shown up. This year was full of ups and downs. Sometimes, life's curve balls brought about humility, or developments in character (or revealed how far I have to grow). Thankfully, God saw us through each trial. Sometimes His blessings weren't in the format we anticipated, but He always made a way. We've made it!

Hebrews 13:5-6 (New International Version)

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

6 So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

2011 is merely hours away, and it holds the promise of infinite possibilities. Anything is possible; it's a blank canvas that's begging to be painted. Dream a little. Talk with God a little. Ask what His will is for your life and make 2011 the year to begin doing what the Lord says. He'll help you through anything.

Matthew 19:26 (New International Version)

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

My assignment is complete- I've finished the race! My 1 year commitment to journaling the daily walk of an ordinary Christian life is a success. I hope to reflect on these blog entries in the future; to glean wisdom, remember successes and learn from failures. I'm hopeful they were meaningful to you as well. God bless you.

Goodbye, 2010.

The Day After

No, I'm not referring to the made-for-Television movie from 1983. I'm talking about the day after Christmas. The gifts are unwrapped, the meals eaten and exchange of goodwill between family and friends are, for the most part, complete. We've only a few days left of 2010 and then the birth of a new year is upon us.

The Holidays will soon be over; decorations and lights will be taken down and songs of celebration will give way to the sounds of everyday life. Things will soon be back to 'normal'.

What does normal look like to you?

For me, it's a circular pattern of weekdays and weekends that intertwine work, (home) family and church. Quite predictably, I'm spending almost all of my time in one of these three places, doing basically the same things throughout the year. It's not a bad thing; in fact it helps keep me grounded as a Christian man. However, sometimes it's a good thing to plan on doing something new.

What are your designs on 2011? I'm not talking about New Year's resolutions that are often made in haste, and have no staying power. I'm talking about honest to goodness change.

Perhaps before you can honestly answer that question, you'll need to evaluate the successes and failures held within 2010. Would you do or handle any of life's situations differently now, if you were pressed to face them again today? Do you have any regrets? Are there lessons learned that need applying?

Ponder 2010 for awhile, and maybe write down some bullet points. Don't worry, I'll wait right here.

Now that you're back, what did you come up with?

I plan on spending more quality time with my wife and children. I'm not talking about just being in the same house or room, and calling it "quality time". More activities, meaningful conversations, meals, fun and laughter are in store for 2011. With each birthday, I'm reminded of just how quickly their childhood is fleeting- and I already have far too many regrets about what should have been. I also plan on being a much better husband to the wife the Lord has blessed me with. She deserves nothing but the best, and I feel that she often gets short-changed. I'll be a better friend to those who call me friend, as well.

At work, I plan on giving it my all- day in and day out. Even when nobody is watching. At church, I'll honor my commitments in volunteering. I'll work to be more reliable, and if I can't accomplish something within a reasonable time-frame, I'll learn to say "no".

Above all else, I plan on diving deeper into a relationship with Jesus. I'll spend less time placing my demands and more time listening and learning about Him through the daily expression of the Word (reading it myself, or via podcast).

So, what am I planning to do differently in 2011? Nothing. And, everything.

Perhaps you'll consider joining me?

Good night.