My "non-spiritual" post....or not!

I started Running awhile back.

Anyone that knows me from back in the day...honestly, anyone that knows me now is fully secure in the fact that I am not a runner.

Something happened about a year ago. My wife, Sarah Lynn, started training for a 10k. She loved it, she had more energy, and she started encouraging me to run.

Now...like I said, I am not a runner, I dislike,, no hate, no LOATHE running. I decided to give it a try though and something miraculous happened.

I DIDN'T DIE

You may laugh, but seriously, I thought I might after the first couple of steps down the street.
I wanted to go back to the comfort of my warm house, soft couch, and Roadhouse BK Biggie big thing!

I trained and I ran the race, I loved it, I mean REALLY LOVED it.

I knew I had crested a hill in my life, I was going to run. Then something happened.

The Race was over.

No more training, no more fear of embarrassing myself whilst running, although more than one lady with a stroller passed me, super ego boost...yeah.

I stopped. quit totally gave up!

Sarah Lynn kept running, it was awesome! She is amazing and will do laps around me, I love it.

I was having a Galatians 5:7 moment...who cut in on me...I was running a good race.


So slowly, ever so gently, I started nudging myself off the couch again and putting one foot in front of the other at something other than a snail's pace...to me at least!

I love the word PERSEVERE, it is my word that gets me Amped! It makes me think of all the cool car chase scenes, Braveheart, anything that shows people overcoming things!

per·se·vere-
Continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no
indication of success.

and that is what Paul does that for us in the scriptures, he calls us to Persevere!

He says, in Philippians 3:12-14 "Not that I have already
obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,
but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus
took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider
myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has
called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Following Paul’s Example, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead! YES YES YES! Strain, Push, put your shoulder too it, Move mountains, we can do it through HIM who gives us strenght!

I love Paul's writing. He has just said before that everything that he had was okay, no RUBBISH! compared to knowing Christ and being found in Him! He says all that was GARBAGE, TRASH, NOTHING, when held up to a relationship with a loving Savior, and he starts running. He presses on through trouble, hardship, beatings, reprimands, people not having faith in him, and runs with perseverance the race marked out before him.

This is a call to action for all of us.

Don't be lulled, deceived, fooled into living a mediocre life, live a life running...and running to do something more than just stay in shape.

Run in such a way as to get the Eternal Prize!

PERSEVERE

I have calmed and quieted my Soul

You ever have a song, an experience, or an object, that every time you see, smell, hear it, you are reminded of that time, you are taken immediately back to to that moment? Psalm 131 is one of those things for me. But it is the Psalm performed to music that takes me back, makes me stop, and....quiets my soul.

I was doing my daily reading today and I read Psalm 131. In our lives I think that there are things that resonate with us, that strike at our core and bring peace, hope, strength to our lives. Psalm 131 hit me right between the eyes this morning.

I had an insanely blessed time of growing while I was in College. When I went to ACU I prayed, and I prayed hard. "God, give me friends that want you more than anything else, don't let me fall into the "rut of life."" He answered... and he answered big, no HUGE. I had a tribe around me, a crew of warriors that pressed on to take hold of that which had taken hold of them...Christ seekers, followers of the WAY, Christians.

We were able to love on one another, encourage each other, and do life together in ways that I had never experienced. I think that is one of the joys of college...or it can be.

We did everything together and everyone was welcome. We had parties...HUGE PARTIES where we came together, hung out, and prayed. Nice to know that this is not an oxymoron. It was a revolution of my heart and I loved every moment.

We also played and listened to, were ministered too, lived music together.

There were a couple of bands that always spoke to us, that crept past the gates of our humanity, quietly but boldly walking into the sacred places of our heart, and set up shop to do business with us.

Waterdeep was one of those bands. They were good, no AMAZING
musicians, their songwriting struck a natural resonance with our souls. It brought us to our knees, made us stand in worship, and called us to be transformed.

So...Psalm 131. It is a simple Psalm with no pomp or revelry band, just a simple, quiet, yet powerful scripture.

1 My heart is not proud, LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.

3 Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

The Matthew Henry Commentary says, "The psalmist aimed at nothing high or great, but to be content in every condition God allotted. The love of God reigning in the heart, will subdue self-love."

Let us trust in the Lord, let us be stilled, be quieted, and confidently trust in Him and what He puts before us. And why not... His is CREATOR, FATHER, ALPHA and OMEGA...He is our GOD.
"‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven." Matt. 6:9,10

I love these words, I resonate with these words, they shake the dust of the dry bones, crying out to something cryptic that lies in all of us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within us out into the world, miracles happen."

So what is left? An admonition, a cry, a plea

O Israel, people of the WAY, followers of Christ, Trust in the Lord....period

and a link, a link to the song that started it all. So stop...still and quiet your soul... and Listen, and don't just listen, let Him come into that inner sanctum and speak to you.



Blessings

Who Am I?

Going through my yearly reading and I am in 1 Samuel chapter 9.

The Israelites have come through an intense season of following the Lord through the desert, finally getting into the promised land, and struggling with following God the whole way. The whole time God is with them, a cloud by day and fire by night, leading them tangibly and keeping them safe. I love this imagery but that is for another time. They are led by prophets of God, there is an order, a God's plan way that they are following as they have this new freedom.

Then something happens. They look around at others. This is probably one of their first mistakes. I know in my life when I start looking around at others, what they have, or what they do, there are times when that can get me into all kinds of trouble, because, just like all of us, I am human.

They cry out, "We want a King," just like all the other nations, Samuel tries to knock some sense into them but, then, they are sheep, and they just keep bleating for their way. God tells Samuel that he is going to give them what they want.

This is where we get to our text. It is a time of honesty and purity that I love and where Saul's thoughts are pure and in line with what God has for Him. Samuel says to him while he is looking for his donkeys, "And to whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?" And this is Saul's reply, his "who am I" moment, he says, "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?" I know that Saul has a rough time later on and makes some serious mistakes but in this moment, in this one moment I love Saul! He basically says....who am I that I would be chosen, I am nobody, from the tribe of nobody, from a clan of nobody! It is awesome, I honestly wish more of Christendom was like this and had that same spirit, instead of chest puffing and "do you know who I am" isms, a spirit of humility and an acknowledgement of his position.

Before anyone gets to bent out of shape in the wake of my, "Thanks for being humble Saul" moment I also love his next action, he OBEYS. I know that there can tend to be two extremes in our culture today and both are hard for me. One is the attitude that has a haughty prideful spirit and the other is a ruling spirit of I can't do it. Both are hard for me. I have to say honestly I would rather have someone who isn't quite confident than someone who pridefully thinks they have it all together while they make a mess of things. Saul listens to what Samuel has to say and obeys the words that have been given to him. He doesn't wallow is self deprecation or say that he is a loser, he takes Samuel's words at face value, acknowledges who he is, and follows.

Samuel, like many of our leaders, takes the opportunity to walk alongside of Saul. It says in verse 25 of the 9th chapter of 1 Samuel that Saul and Samuel talked together on the roof of Samuel's house. Samuel took him to a solitary place, encouraged him and spoke the words that God had for him, and as we see later, walked out this plan with Saul, even when he had to speak hard, but truthful words to him.

So let us walk humbly with our God as we desire to trust and to follow Him. Let us not choose the honored seat as it speaks of in Proverbs but in honesty of spirit and humility sit in a humble place and if you are so honored, let someone call you to another place. Then obey.

MM

Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes

I am loving Social Distortion's new album "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, it is amazing!

Diamond in the rough is playing right now. "you're dirty and you're damaged all you need is a little love, The inside sparkles like the stars up above"

Social D has always walked that fine line to me of punk rock nihilist rebel and spiritual seeker. He goes from songs like "I was wrong," "When the Angels Sing," and "Gotta Know the Rules" to songs like "Down on the World Again." I know that a lot of this has to do with late guitarist Dennis Danell who became a believer and a voice for Christians in music, especially the "punk" scene. White Heat, White Light, and White Trash is perhaps one of the more spiritual albums that I have heard across the board. On both sides I hear people scoffing and "begging to differ" but there is a heart yearning and longing in Mike Ness' music that wreaks of real life and a desire for something more.

He once sang, "the funerals are nicer when you are there" on When the Angels sing and we all know it is indeed true. Especially upon reflection of Dennis' death and the grieving of Ness' long time friend. I have walked this line several times in my own life, seeing friends and family dying and it taking me back to a spirit of thanks for what Christ has done in our lives. The funerals are nicer when you are there and honestly, all of life is walked, free from the yoke that this life puts upon us, when we journey with Christ.

So I thank Mr. Ness for the encouragement, even if it is from an unlikely place, resonating with the pain and struggle of life but the spark and desire to carry on and Persevere!

Rocking Steady