In order to learn, to grow, to be better and more wise, we need to listen. We need to be willing to not only share our thoughts and desires, but also the thoughts and desires of others. I have learned to be open to others ideas, thoughts, and experiences. This characteristic has allowed me to view, as Robert Kiyosaki wrote in his book, "Why "A" Students Work for "C" Students, "see two sides of the coin from the edge". Having this ability allows one to make wise decisions about a situation, verses a bias decision, although human nature and personal interests can sneak in, it is still better to understand both sides.
Being able to "see both sides" is a great characteristic to have and indicates a level of wisdom that not all possess.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
My Testimony
My testimony is one of endurance and evolution. I was infant baptized in the Catholic church, raised in the Methodist/Presbyterian church, grew up questioning organized religion. I didn't understand why giving money to the church was helping the poor. I believed that we needed to help and serve others. I have grown in my faith and continue to strive closer to God on a daily basis, here is the rest of the story.
Growing up my parents figured out that I wasn't interested in church (but still made me go). Understanding this and wanting me to serve others they signed me up for a summer work weekend at our local church camp. Since I love building and working with my hands this was a perfect fit for how good could use me. In collage they offered me an opportunities to go on a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico. Through this opportunity God showed me how he can use every skill and strength that he blessed me with to bless others. I was able to added a second floor office stairs, ceiling over the baby room, figure out a way to install a sign on the roof of the church, design brackets to hang the sign, and have them built by a local metal smith, and with spare time and some scrap wood made wooden blocks for the kids to pay with and easels to hold up display boards in the Sunday service. As I sat one of the nights on the concrete wall of the church compound that we working and living in, looking up at the stary sky, God revealed to me that all this was for his glory.
After graduating collage I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, and got a job designing aircraft. Pretty much a dream job out of college. I told myself I need to find a church. Through that I got a chance to serve on another work construction mission trip. This trip took a team to an orphanage in Guatemala City. I was primed and ready to serve in pouring concrete, laying bricks, installing roofing! Well, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. God had other plans. Due to lack of materials and the progression of construction they were not ready for us to do the tasks scheduled for our team at the work site. God said,"this isn't about you". We did end up doing some minor construction projects, but a majority of our time was spent doing some over due neglected tasks around the compound and loving on the kids. The chance to love on those kids was priceless. They showed more unconditional and unafraid love by sitting on our laps and playing with us even with a language barrier. God doesn't always use us as we plan!
I got opportunities to serve on multiple other trips, have been baptized as a believer and continue to walk in faith that God has a greater plan. After having kids, my mission field turned to raising 4 people to knowing the Lord. God is still working on me and I have my struggles and ups and downs, but God is my refuge in this broken world.
Currently I serve in my community as a member of the town council, coaching sports and robotics, the Lions Club, and Cross Timber's parking lot team (Parking Lot Cowboy).
Divorce
This has become an epidemic in our country. If we are a Christian nation this is a good reflection that we are not truly serious about our values. There are a few items I would like to address when it comes to divorce.
Covenant
When we get married we are making a covenant with God. A covenant is a promise, an agreement that goes beyond a contract. I think a lot of people believe that a marriage is a "contract", contracts can be broken if the the other side does not follow thru with there commitment, they can be changed, updated, ripped up! A covenant is a lifelong commitment, your word, your promise. When we stand at the alter we are committing for a lifetime. This is where the man is called to be the leader of the household. This is a very important responsibility that God will hold husbands accountable for as he has called men to be the leaders of the household.
Selfishness & Forgiveness
When we commit our souls to a covenant we are committing for life to love, hold, and take care of one another. This is a 100 percent, a 100 percent agreement, I am committing 100 percent to this relationship. Our culture has taught us to be 50/50. We set our expectations on the ideal marriage situation. My new spouse will take care of me now, cook, clean, buy wonderful things for me, shower me with adoration, and protect me from whatever the world throws at us. This is an unrealistic reality. We need to reprogram ourselves to be 100 percent in. This is not easy to do, me and my wife have struggled with this in our own marriage. When we give 100 percent, a key to this is being able to forgive 100 percent. We are all humans and we mess-up a lot! I know some of you are thinking that forgiving is the same as forgetting, its not. We need to communicate our desires for ourselves and our marriage so that we can work toward those ideals together.
Covenant
When we get married we are making a covenant with God. A covenant is a promise, an agreement that goes beyond a contract. I think a lot of people believe that a marriage is a "contract", contracts can be broken if the the other side does not follow thru with there commitment, they can be changed, updated, ripped up! A covenant is a lifelong commitment, your word, your promise. When we stand at the alter we are committing for a lifetime. This is where the man is called to be the leader of the household. This is a very important responsibility that God will hold husbands accountable for as he has called men to be the leaders of the household.
Selfishness & Forgiveness
When we commit our souls to a covenant we are committing for life to love, hold, and take care of one another. This is a 100 percent, a 100 percent agreement, I am committing 100 percent to this relationship. Our culture has taught us to be 50/50. We set our expectations on the ideal marriage situation. My new spouse will take care of me now, cook, clean, buy wonderful things for me, shower me with adoration, and protect me from whatever the world throws at us. This is an unrealistic reality. We need to reprogram ourselves to be 100 percent in. This is not easy to do, me and my wife have struggled with this in our own marriage. When we give 100 percent, a key to this is being able to forgive 100 percent. We are all humans and we mess-up a lot! I know some of you are thinking that forgiving is the same as forgetting, its not. We need to communicate our desires for ourselves and our marriage so that we can work toward those ideals together.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Celebrate Differences
We have rich, strong, and wonderful cultures that differ from one another. These differences are what make us unique and interesting! We need to explore our differences and learn from one another. We need to celebrate those differences not suppress and conform.
I have visited may parts of the world through my business travels. These trips have allowed me to experience the people living there ordinary lives. That is ordinary to them, but for me it was an opportunity to see people that shared common concerns as a mother or father, manage work life and family life, living in a city vs. rural, living with financial abundance and without, etc. In all my experiences it has been wonderful to take in and observe human nature and its reaction to these influences in our lives. These experiences have made my life richer. As we live in this world of political correctness, that wants to separate us from exploring our differences and discussing them, we are robbed of experiencing a rich life.
Let us open the door to experiencing the richness that fills all our lives, the struggles and the triumphs. Just like telling our testimony to others, to ourselves, our life seems dull and boring, yet when we are able to express the highlights that have made us who we are, suddenly there is a richness that others can experience and gain from.
I have visited may parts of the world through my business travels. These trips have allowed me to experience the people living there ordinary lives. That is ordinary to them, but for me it was an opportunity to see people that shared common concerns as a mother or father, manage work life and family life, living in a city vs. rural, living with financial abundance and without, etc. In all my experiences it has been wonderful to take in and observe human nature and its reaction to these influences in our lives. These experiences have made my life richer. As we live in this world of political correctness, that wants to separate us from exploring our differences and discussing them, we are robbed of experiencing a rich life.
Let us open the door to experiencing the richness that fills all our lives, the struggles and the triumphs. Just like telling our testimony to others, to ourselves, our life seems dull and boring, yet when we are able to express the highlights that have made us who we are, suddenly there is a richness that others can experience and gain from.
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Relationships
This year my resolution was "relationship"; a relationship with God, a relationship with others. My focus was to be intentional about getting to know the people that are around me better, to go deeper than just "hi" and "how is your day". Philippians 2:4, "not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." I have had those opportunities, but I have also not been successful as I would have liked. Either way, that is what God put on my heart at the beginning of the year, and I hope it continues to foster being intentional about building deeper relationships as we come up on a new year.
It is interesting, we just attended the Heritage Fair in Waco after Thanksgiving, and one of the events I attended was the "Creative Writing" class. The Instructor Amanda talked about how our social media access has changed our level of creativity in our writing, and I would add our relationship with others. This form of communication has added to our social connections by connecting us to what I would call, the "greater community" and in other ways it has hindered our face to face connections by offering connections via the internet that falsely represent a "relationship".
We need to look for ways to be intentional about our relationships. One of the first steps is connecting with our neighbors. Saying "hello" over the fence or stopping to talk while someone is walking their dog, to go a little deeper and learn about what is happening in the neighborhood. Another way is to get involved with a local community group. This could be your church, HOA, town government, school, or other civic group.
As an introverted guy in today's society it is not easy connecting with others in a deeper more meaningful way. One way I have been been able to do this is through a small group bible study. It has been a great experience connecting with those that we can safely share our life struggles, challenges, and triumphs. This is great for becoming stronger in God's will for our life, but we must also expand our reach outside our Christian realm and embrace or at least engage with those that don't know Christ.
In all our relationships we need to be Christ like and show others the love of Christ even if we don't advertise that this is love that we are showcasing. As Christian's we are representing the hands, feet, and love of Jesus whether we like it or not. This really is the essence of being a Christian in the world today.
Friday, December 2, 2016
Immigration
I was reading an article last week about the Christian view on immigration (http://www.wnd.com/2016/12/bible-response-to-refugee-crisis-missing-from-u-s-debate/). It was very interesting and shed a little bit of light on why, I think, there are proponents of open borders. Having open borders allows everyone that wants to come into our country to enjoy the benefits of this great nation and the ability to do so unimpeded, spreading the blessings to all that wish to come here. This is a great and noble cause, but it is a bit flawed when it comes to reality.
In the past (and for the most part still are) we have been a country founded and operated on Judaeo-Christian values. These values have been the cornerstone of our government and society in general. Our legal system was established and is based upon upholding biblical truths no matter your religion, an economic system based on your willingness to participate, your inventiveness, and hard work, and having individual freedoms. These values have caused people from all over the planet to flock here and legally go through the immigration process to be a part of this great experiment. That immigration process is part of what makes this country great, because it is based on laws and being fair.
The issue with immigration today is we do not operate on these principles and values any more. It is not fair that some can walk across and work, commit crimes and not be held accountable, or steal our services and benefits. We need to uphold our laws, this is a reflection on our values and loving everyone, including foreigners, equally and without judgment.
Not all people that are coming here today are coming to experience the Judaeo-Christian values. As we have become lax in our values and laws we have also shown that we are not serious about upholding the values that made this country great. When others are not being treated fairly, it is hard to not judge the person getting the benefit, don't make decisions that cause this to happen. Love is when we humble ourselves, are grateful for the opportunity, and can celebrate being welcoming into a "family". It is ease to extend and accept love in that scenario. When you are sly, doing things you should not be doing, and hiding in the shadows, it is hard for that person to accept love because they know they have done something wrong. Let us not put people in this situation. When we don't uphold our values, why would others coming here want to uphold those values. We need to get serious about respecting the values that made this country great. We need to make it a place where struggling people can come and experience the love, justice, and forgiveness of God again. Let us personally show those around us this love, and let us nominate and elect representatives that uphold and honor these values when we go to the voting booth.
Sidenote: If we make it easy to become citizens, what does that show you about our seriousness to uphold the values that made this country great? We need to get serious about what our values are and what values have made this a great country for others to want to come to.
In the past (and for the most part still are) we have been a country founded and operated on Judaeo-Christian values. These values have been the cornerstone of our government and society in general. Our legal system was established and is based upon upholding biblical truths no matter your religion, an economic system based on your willingness to participate, your inventiveness, and hard work, and having individual freedoms. These values have caused people from all over the planet to flock here and legally go through the immigration process to be a part of this great experiment. That immigration process is part of what makes this country great, because it is based on laws and being fair.
The issue with immigration today is we do not operate on these principles and values any more. It is not fair that some can walk across and work, commit crimes and not be held accountable, or steal our services and benefits. We need to uphold our laws, this is a reflection on our values and loving everyone, including foreigners, equally and without judgment.
Not all people that are coming here today are coming to experience the Judaeo-Christian values. As we have become lax in our values and laws we have also shown that we are not serious about upholding the values that made this country great. When others are not being treated fairly, it is hard to not judge the person getting the benefit, don't make decisions that cause this to happen. Love is when we humble ourselves, are grateful for the opportunity, and can celebrate being welcoming into a "family". It is ease to extend and accept love in that scenario. When you are sly, doing things you should not be doing, and hiding in the shadows, it is hard for that person to accept love because they know they have done something wrong. Let us not put people in this situation. When we don't uphold our values, why would others coming here want to uphold those values. We need to get serious about respecting the values that made this country great. We need to make it a place where struggling people can come and experience the love, justice, and forgiveness of God again. Let us personally show those around us this love, and let us nominate and elect representatives that uphold and honor these values when we go to the voting booth.
Sidenote: If we make it easy to become citizens, what does that show you about our seriousness to uphold the values that made this country great? We need to get serious about what our values are and what values have made this a great country for others to want to come to.
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