weekend retreat

Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Genesis 2:22-24 TNIV)

Our church is sponsering a couples retreat this weekend at Chateau on the Lake in Branson, MO. It is always nice to have a weekend away from home with your spouse. It is especially nice to do that with other Christian couples. We try to seek the Lord's will in our lives as individuals, and it is good to seek God's will as a couple also. We will miss the kids and pets for a few days, but look forward to a time of renewal. And I cherish the time alone with my best friend.

The Great Outdoors

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
(Psalms 24.1 TNIV)

Today felt like the first day of fall around here. Crisp clean air and a beautiful blue, cloudless sky that just beckoned me to get out there and see it. So I grabbed my Ipod and hit the sidewalk for what turned out to be an hour long stroll around the neighborhoods. I couldn't get over how beautiful God's creation was, and how I so often overlook the simple beauty all around me while I'm going from one 'thing' to another. It's easy to miss the forest for the trees, and to loose sight of things that are important when we can only hear the squeaky wheel. I pray that I can slow down enough to talk and listen to my Lord, not just at the start or end of my day, but in everything I do during the day that He gives me.


Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalms 46.10 TNIV)

Living the Faith

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22 TNIV)





Many people have written many books on what it means to be a Christian. If I were to ask 100 people what a Christian is, I am sure I would get 100 different answers. Hopefully, though, they would be variations of some basic ideas. In it's basic, distilled form, a Christian would be a "Christ follower". But from that one idea sprouts many paths. But to take this basic idea just one step farther, you could say the being Christian involves both belief and action.


This is not unique to Christianity. Anyone, following any religion or belief system, requires you to have beliefs that lead to actions in your life. The diference with Christianity is the radical claim that Jesus made; that he was God. If we are truly to be his followers, we must both believe and act. Without action, belief cannot be faith. It would only be mere mental assent.

We are called to love God with all our soul, mind, and strength. We are no longer our own; we have been bought with a price. The old is gone; the new has come.

salt and light

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. You are the light of the world. (Matt 5:13 HCSB)





As a Christian believer, I am called to be salt and light to the world. I am to be a witness to God's truth and love, and when others see me, they should get a glimpse of God. When they see my life, others should want to have the same thing that I have. I wish that I could say that this is always true, but, alas, it's not. I am a sinner like everyone else, and I am not a good witness always. I am saved by grace, though, by a loving Father that loves me in spite of myself. Yet I want non believers to see something that is missing in their lives. Which brings me to 'salt and light'.



I want to stand out, but for the right reasons. Too many times I have seen Christians defined by what they are opposed to rather than what they stand for. I our American culture today, there are many things that are not God-honoring. Yet rather than spending all my time condemning those practices, I feel that living the Christian life and speaking God's truth is what I am called to do; to live out God's message in my life.

There are plenty of people that spend their time point out wrongs, and there are plenty of wrongs to point out. God's word is filled with many examples of people who were called to do exactly that. But if we spend all our time pointing out the sawdust in each others eyes, we'll miss the plank in our own. And fortunately, the Lord doesn't require us to do it all, only to go where we are called and tell what we know. And I pray that I am faithful in that.

Well, this is the first post of a new blog. Hopefully it'll lead to a greater understanding of life and where God wants me to fit in it.