Why is sex often the go to sin for the church? Is it because for many people it is what they are hung up on and don't feel free enough to discuss? Is it easier to just label and blaspheme someone who dares to venture into sexual waters that you don't agree with?
Why is sex the bigger sin? What about people who judge people for sexual
preference while they fudge a business deal during the week to aid
their bottom line? Is that a pretty big deal or just a little white lie as Forrest Gump's mama said?
What about if your neighbor is hungry and you have food overflowing in your house? You drive past them on the way to church.
I have heard some interesting conversations lately and a great example yesterday by Pastor Steve. Are you going to go Old
Testament on someone over sex, or anything else for that matter? People
already know where they are at. He spoke of setting God's love free.
Lavish people with love and see what occurs. Let God worry about the
rest. Just love them. Wow what a concept. I am telling you that if the
church did that I believe the buildings would be overflowing everywhere.
I lived in darkness for most of my life and I knew it. Someone telling me what I already knew was of no help and if anything pushed me further away. But authentic people reaching out to me with the love of God, now that spoke to me. The most spiritual man I ever knew was Horace Hilton. He knew my lifestyle and while he did not agree with it never once was I judged. He offered love and with it hope. He granted me an open door to his home. He came to see me whenever my Mom asked him too. He prayed for me when I was in his presence and when I was not. He believed in the good in me when I did not. Wow what a gift that is. Steve used one of my favorite words at the conclusion of the service yesterday...encourage. Now that is a word for all of us to grasp and liberally dish out. Let's face it. Life is difficult. Everybody has stuff they are dealing with. If we can be honest with our heart and not be afraid to look inside and uh oh be wrong. We will be humbled by our shortcomings. I sure have many but one I don't have and by the grace of God I never will is to walk arrogantly with our Lord. I wrote an earlier blog about The Path and how I viewed it. Safe to say if I begin to walk arrogantly that is when I have stumbled off the path and I am in the brier patch. And on another note let's be real careful about saying I would not do this or that when you have not had the life experience to even be confronted with such an occurrence. Pride does indeed go before the fall.
Choose to live with an honest heart and one thing I can assure you is you will be humbled. I am there right now. My last blog was Pressing In. I wanted to do better when obstacles emerged. No sooner than that blog was out it has been one obstacle after another and I have failed miserably. My wife has not. She has stood in her faith which exceeds mine.
Do you think Jesus is giving up on me right now? Is He judging me for doubting, for questioning where He is when I need Him to move? Should I just believe the lie of the enemy that I am just not good enough. That things will not change.
The Old Testament judging leads people to think they don't measure up even after they have been set free by Jesus Christ. They are not good enough because they did this or that. Guilt is a powerful tool of darkness. Why not model how we view things as how Jesus did them? Wow, what a concept.
The woman at the well. Did Jesus judge her or offer her hope? Mary Magdalene appears to have had a checkered past. Did Jesus set her completely free? All sins eradicated. Do we really believe that?
I told a minister once after his ridiculous sermon on sex that I did not care if a woman was a prostitute on Front Street. The moment she turned to Jesus and accepted him fully into her heart she is pure.
Do we believe that? Not with our words but our heart. Do we?
I do.........
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Pressing In
 | |||
| It is much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one! |
The quote in itself certainly is true is it not? We can go along our merry way being close with our Father right up to the point where someone ruffles our feathers. So many subjects out there to argue about. Politics, religion, sports, any news item in our 24/7 world. How about a bad boss? Most of us have enjoyed that wonderful experience. Many are dealing with it right now. As I was returning to Jesus the last person I had to dig deep and find forgiveness for was a Director that I worked with for eight years. I would not mouth the words forgiveness when in my heart I hoped he was homeless living under a bridge wearing a tacky Christmas sweater somewhere. But in time I believe it is as simple as this. The more residence of Jesus I allow in my heart the more fruitless stuff like the resentment of someone I will probably never see again moves out. I can actually pray for that man now and mean it. And if that is not God I don't know what is.
We all have families and they can be the most difficult to react as Jesus would have us too. We can hold on to the patterns that can be rooted so deeply in family lore. Once you are labeled in a family isn't it hard to ever be anything else? Or, once we brand a family member in one way do we offer them the grace to change?
Don't we all have our hot button behaviors that rile us easily, regardless the offender? Mine is don't talk down to me. I don't care how smart, rich, religious, or beautiful you perceive yourself to be. My first reaction is not good in these situations and my second is usually not much better.
The second part I saw in this quote is not about how I react to people as much as how I react to situations. I guess it has always been rooted in my personality that I react a certain way to obstacles that suddenly emerge. It is not a horrible way to deal with these challenges. I just think there is a better way.
Step 1. Obstacle appears from nowhere.
Step 2. It knocks me back and all I can see is this problem.
Step 3. I start to gather myself and think of solutions to the problem.
Step 4. Hey, wait a minute. Lord, you can do all things and you can assist me in dealing with this problem. You can even bring good to this situation.
Now I may mouth the words to Step 4 during the Step 1 phase but that is uttered with my mouth and not with my heart. I am still seeing only the problem.
This is me and I have been this way for a long time. Except for a long period when I didn't care about Step 4 at all. And if I did it was to blame God for yet another failure in my life. I wasted much of my life in anger.
But I no longer accept that this is who I am. I will accept that it is who I have been but I am leaving the door open to God to help me change.
(Ephesians 3:20) Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us
Where I want to be is this. Problem emerges from nowhere and my first inclination is to press into the Father.
Father this situation has suddenly come about and I do not have the answers to solve it. What I choose to do is lift it to your capable hands and trust that you will see me through it. You will find the answer that right now I can't. You will give me the strength, courage, and wisdom to walk through this place. You will even bring good to this time that right now I may not be able to see. I trust You completely with this matter and all things. You love me and I am your child. I am comforted in the knowledge that I do not walk alone but You walk with me.
Amen..
The year is 1967 and Wilmington, NC, like much of the nation is embedded in racial turmoil. Bret Marin and Money Wilkins, two boys on the cusp of manhood meet on a basketball court where each earns a measure of respect that leads to an improbable friendship.
Bret’s life is constructed around his love for his little brother Alex and hatred of their cruel wealthy father.
Money Wilkins possesses no external luxuries but thanks to his proud black father, Clarence, a builder of houses and lives, he has the greater riches. When his beautiful sister Teke visits it sets off a series of events no one could foresee. The most chilling being the dark night the Klan appears.
The River Hideaway
Monday, January 27, 2014
Overcoming our Childhood (Part 2)
The previous blog I wrote, as I commented later was not at all what I sat down to write.
What I took from that blog and I think there will be more to write about in a different format than this was the comments on Facebook about how people were so glad I was not on that boat. It really made me think.
Maybe I could have recovered from being on that boat eventually but it is certain that I would not have the life I am blessed to have now. Sometimes we (I) get caught in this thinking that I am just one person and not all that special. Sadly there is the other side of people that do so much damage because they become arrogant in their walk with the Lord. So as one person we can do good or harm, and we will do both in our lives. We can choose to be humble with the good and take ownership of the harm. I think that best.
Your comments made me think of that wonderful Christmas Movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."
One person removed due to bad choices or one person willing to go where he or she is led.
I thought what if I would have been on that boat. What good and bad would not have happened not only for me but for others.
1. I would not have Micah Beasley as my son.
2. I would not have my later in life gift of my wife Julie who exceeds this dreamer's dreams.
3. It might well have destroyed my mom long before dementia cruelly grasped her.
4. I would not have worked 32 years as a Park Supervisor and have a pension today that enables me to pursue my dream of writing full time.
5. I would not have so many of the wonderful friendships and relationships that I treasure today.
6. I would not have had the privilege of kids calling me "Coach" for 20 years. And even as adults, some in their forties now, and I am still "Coach" to them. Some have wrote me of how they have taking lessons taught on a basketball court and applied them to real life. What greater compliment could I ever be paid? It humbles me beyond belief.
7. There is a good chance I would not even be here.
These are but a few examples if I would have been on that boat. I could write one hundred good and bad and not touch the subject.
I wrote an earlier blog about "That One Person." Ed Wilson, my former coach, my mentor, took a chance on me when no one else would. I don't think it a stretch to say, God used this man to save me from that boat and all that would have followed. I wrote in an earlier blog about him...
http://billybeasley.blogspot.com/2013/03/that-one-person.html
Jesus Christ saved me but Ed Wilson rescued me.
One person, and to a God who can grant us more than we can think, dream, or imagine my suggestion is don't place limits on yourself and especially don't place limits on Him.
"It's a Wonderful Life," Isn't the best part of that movie when his brother Harry rushes in and toasts his big brother George, "the richest man in town."
What I took from that blog and I think there will be more to write about in a different format than this was the comments on Facebook about how people were so glad I was not on that boat. It really made me think.
Maybe I could have recovered from being on that boat eventually but it is certain that I would not have the life I am blessed to have now. Sometimes we (I) get caught in this thinking that I am just one person and not all that special. Sadly there is the other side of people that do so much damage because they become arrogant in their walk with the Lord. So as one person we can do good or harm, and we will do both in our lives. We can choose to be humble with the good and take ownership of the harm. I think that best.
Your comments made me think of that wonderful Christmas Movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."
One person removed due to bad choices or one person willing to go where he or she is led.
I thought what if I would have been on that boat. What good and bad would not have happened not only for me but for others.
1. I would not have Micah Beasley as my son.
2. I would not have my later in life gift of my wife Julie who exceeds this dreamer's dreams.
3. It might well have destroyed my mom long before dementia cruelly grasped her.
4. I would not have worked 32 years as a Park Supervisor and have a pension today that enables me to pursue my dream of writing full time.
5. I would not have so many of the wonderful friendships and relationships that I treasure today.
6. I would not have had the privilege of kids calling me "Coach" for 20 years. And even as adults, some in their forties now, and I am still "Coach" to them. Some have wrote me of how they have taking lessons taught on a basketball court and applied them to real life. What greater compliment could I ever be paid? It humbles me beyond belief.
7. There is a good chance I would not even be here.
These are but a few examples if I would have been on that boat. I could write one hundred good and bad and not touch the subject.
I wrote an earlier blog about "That One Person." Ed Wilson, my former coach, my mentor, took a chance on me when no one else would. I don't think it a stretch to say, God used this man to save me from that boat and all that would have followed. I wrote in an earlier blog about him...
http://billybeasley.blogspot.com/2013/03/that-one-person.html
Jesus Christ saved me but Ed Wilson rescued me.
One person, and to a God who can grant us more than we can think, dream, or imagine my suggestion is don't place limits on yourself and especially don't place limits on Him.
"It's a Wonderful Life," Isn't the best part of that movie when his brother Harry rushes in and toasts his big brother George, "the richest man in town."
Friday, January 24, 2014
Overcoming Our Childhood
Very few of us escape our childhood unscathed. Recently I listened to someone share publicly that their most hidden secret was something they did in the first grade. I don't make light of it at all. There are many things in my childhood I would like to turn a switch in my brain and never have reappear again.I do not know where I once read this quote or who wrote it, but I have never forgotten it.
"You spend the rest of your life trying to escape your childhood."
I once shared with my then teen age son that I believe one of the most unfair things in life is that teenagers must begin planning their future and make adult type decisions that can and probably will influence their adult life. Think about how young kids are today when the start taking PSAT & SAT's & deciding on a college. What major should they go for? They are still kids being asked to make adult type decisions and they for the most part are not equipped emotionally to handle it. Some are blessed to have great guidance and that is certainly an asset, though certainly not foolproof.
Lou Giglio spoke on this matter at Passion 2012 and he was funny but all so true. He started checking off the things young people were expected to do. Good grades, high SAT, pick a college & major, graduate, get a job, move out on your own.....
Looking back at that time period for me was a way different story. I was in high school and along with two partners my marijuana dealing reached a point where we were buying it in fifty pound allotments. We were pretty much for a period of time the biggest dealers on our side of town. I routinely had several hundred dollars in my pocket and life was a party pretty much every day of the week. Was I equipped to understand the repercussions when I came home to six narcotic officers and being the headline on the six o'clock news? No.
My record was clean up to that point so I escaped prison barely. I had a two year suspended sentence hanging over me and you would think the fear in me would keep me from ever wanting to deal again. Oh, I had no illusions about stopping my partying and especially my marijuana smoking. I did every drug available but marijuana was my God. I worshiped it. I was convinced that anyone not spending their life stoned was missing out. I use to say that if I had preached the Gospel as fervently as I touted the benefits of pot half the town would have been saved. Of course I jest, slightly.
I went back to dealing, though far more careful. Rarely was I involved in the transaction. I just hired people. And where did I get the money? My parents went to California and left me with $150 for grocery money. I bought one pound of pot. By the time they came home six weeks later I had over a thousand dollars and the fridge was full of food.
Why would I risk all this? Being a marijuana dealer was my identity. I lost it when I was going to court and had no money, no power, little of anything worthwhile. Strangely many of the friends I thought I had turned away when I no longer had a couple of grand in my pocket.
So I had to go back to the life that I knew, that defined me. It was about one year after my reentry into the life that my two partners were busted on a ship with tons of marijuana. I should have been on that ship that was a set up before they ever left the local dock. My life at nineteen would have been virtually destroyed. Considering my prior conviction I would have probably been sent away for up to ten years.
There is but one reason I was not on that ship. During that year I was walking down the street one night looking up at the sky and I felt a whoosh from head to toe, followed by a voice, "Come and admit you are wrong. Come and sing my glorious song."
I have wrestled with this calling. Why me? Why not the other two guys? I have little answers. Maybe my mom's prayers? My Little League Baseball Coach, Ed Wilson who took a chance on me when most people shunned me?
Sometimes today as I write this blog I feel a little guilty. I didn't deserve this. I turned away from God for decades. Oh, I would speak to him at night, usually in anger with horrible cursing at him for making me a part of this damnable life. I think I came out of the womb angry.
Sometimes today as I write this blog I feel a little guilty. I didn't deserve this. I turned away from God for decades. Oh, I would speak to him at night, usually in anger with horrible cursing at him for making me a part of this damnable life. I think I came out of the womb angry.
Here I am today with a beautiful wife and a long sought after book deal. Somehow my childhood has been overcome. Oh, I have flashes of youthful memories just as the speaker I alluded to in the beginning of this story shared. But they don't haunt me any longer and there are many far worse than what I have shared.
The identity of being a dealer and all the other identities I thought were truly me. They were all lies.
I am deceived no longer. My identify is clear. I belong to Jesus Christ. I am his child, even his friend.
Think about that. I am not talking religion. My friend and pastor Jim once said, "Jesus did not like hanging out with religious people either. He came to the sick. He came to me. He will come to you. He is as real as he was that night he showed himself to a lost, sick, troubled, young man.
Disclaimer :) I sat down thinking I was going to write something entirely different.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Sydny & Devotion
This morning I woke before Julie and enjoyed the quiet time before the day began calling. Coffee in hand, Sydny & I huddled near the gas logs, reading from the gospel of Matthew. Well, I was the one reading as Sydny is not quite that advanced yet. But give the old boy time. He has learned a lot of new tricks since he moved in here full time a little over a year ago.
Later as I was preparing for the morning workout I was listening to Joyce Meyer and she said, "We should not be thinking how much can I get away with & still make it to Heaven."
I lived that way for most of my life. Many of us have. And what is the reason for that? I can answer only for me. I trusted what I wanted with my life way more than I trusted God. To follow God completely would be zero fun right? It would mean giving up my dreams.
Yesterday I had a meeting with our Senior Pastor Steve Mattis. It was a wonderful hour spent sharing the good news as it applies to our lives. The meeting was scheduled to discuss my upcoming novel The River Hideaway, which will be released April 20, and we did chat about it, however, we spent more time talking about letting go of the wheel and really turning it over to our Father.
I did just that about two years ago for really the first time in my life. Oh, I was Born Again when I was 19 in dramatic fashion but I was always hesitant to really let our loving Father decide the path best suited. I believed but I charged ahead in my own steam. Later when I felt that God had failed me and did not really love me I rejected anything he may have wanted for my life.
So two years ago and fresh from hearing his voice clearly again but not trusting myself to surrender, certain that I would fail again. Do you sense a pattern here? Me, me, me.
Yesterday I shared personal insights with Pastor Steve about this calling by God. I have had two great callings in my life. I had one dramatic encounter when I was 19 and the second when I was an angry man in my 50's a more gentle calling of the Holy Spirit.
But even as I shared what has happened in my life since I turned the wheel over in January of 2012 to recap it still seems surreal. It would be way more than a blog to attempt to explain it fully so I will hit the highlights.
Regardless of whether I was going my own way or walking the path with my Father as I am now I had two great desires of my heart.
I wanted that one exciting relationship with a woman that would love me, enjoy me, protect me, and could handle the depths of my heart. A love that would not grow stale. Many times I ventured down ill fated roads in search of this woman. It reached a point where the ride was not worth the fall. I told God one day I did not want to be alone forever but if it was not a spiritual woman and a relationship that he not only approved of but would bless it then close all the doors. I would be better off alone.
The day I said that I just have this image of God surrounded by his angels and saints. He says, "Okay everyone, I have his attention. Let's go to work."
The second great desire of my heart was that I wanted to be a published writer. Not for glory or fame, but simply to be walking down the beach one day and see someone reading and enjoying a book that I wrote.
April 6, 2013 Julie Morgan and I were married on the strand at Carolina Beach. I lack words to describe all she is to me. She certainly does love me. We enjoy each other and laughter often spills out for no apparent reason. My friend Todd mentioned just this week about how he loves Julie and how he sees not only how much she loves me but how protective she is over me. She does indeed handle this big complex heart of mine. Last night I had a dream that I don't recall in detail but the sence of it was that I was going through a breakup and strangely the person in the dream was no one I had ever seen. I woke a little out of sorts and then I reached over and touched my wife and smiled. She will not only love me and be there for the good times. I have had that many times in my life. Julie means it when she says she is standing right there with me for the challenging times as well. She is a loving beautiful woman and she is a rock for God and for me.
September 5, 2013 I received the following email.
Now that we've had the opportunity to review your novel, The River Hideaway, and get a sense of your marketing perspectives, we would like to offer you a publishing agreement.
One day short of five months and both desires of my heart granted.
visit me on Facebook at Billy Beasley-Author
Later as I was preparing for the morning workout I was listening to Joyce Meyer and she said, "We should not be thinking how much can I get away with & still make it to Heaven."
I lived that way for most of my life. Many of us have. And what is the reason for that? I can answer only for me. I trusted what I wanted with my life way more than I trusted God. To follow God completely would be zero fun right? It would mean giving up my dreams.
Yesterday I had a meeting with our Senior Pastor Steve Mattis. It was a wonderful hour spent sharing the good news as it applies to our lives. The meeting was scheduled to discuss my upcoming novel The River Hideaway, which will be released April 20, and we did chat about it, however, we spent more time talking about letting go of the wheel and really turning it over to our Father.
I did just that about two years ago for really the first time in my life. Oh, I was Born Again when I was 19 in dramatic fashion but I was always hesitant to really let our loving Father decide the path best suited. I believed but I charged ahead in my own steam. Later when I felt that God had failed me and did not really love me I rejected anything he may have wanted for my life.
So two years ago and fresh from hearing his voice clearly again but not trusting myself to surrender, certain that I would fail again. Do you sense a pattern here? Me, me, me.
Yesterday I shared personal insights with Pastor Steve about this calling by God. I have had two great callings in my life. I had one dramatic encounter when I was 19 and the second when I was an angry man in my 50's a more gentle calling of the Holy Spirit.
But even as I shared what has happened in my life since I turned the wheel over in January of 2012 to recap it still seems surreal. It would be way more than a blog to attempt to explain it fully so I will hit the highlights.
Regardless of whether I was going my own way or walking the path with my Father as I am now I had two great desires of my heart.
I wanted that one exciting relationship with a woman that would love me, enjoy me, protect me, and could handle the depths of my heart. A love that would not grow stale. Many times I ventured down ill fated roads in search of this woman. It reached a point where the ride was not worth the fall. I told God one day I did not want to be alone forever but if it was not a spiritual woman and a relationship that he not only approved of but would bless it then close all the doors. I would be better off alone.
The day I said that I just have this image of God surrounded by his angels and saints. He says, "Okay everyone, I have his attention. Let's go to work."
The second great desire of my heart was that I wanted to be a published writer. Not for glory or fame, but simply to be walking down the beach one day and see someone reading and enjoying a book that I wrote.
April 6, 2013 Julie Morgan and I were married on the strand at Carolina Beach. I lack words to describe all she is to me. She certainly does love me. We enjoy each other and laughter often spills out for no apparent reason. My friend Todd mentioned just this week about how he loves Julie and how he sees not only how much she loves me but how protective she is over me. She does indeed handle this big complex heart of mine. Last night I had a dream that I don't recall in detail but the sence of it was that I was going through a breakup and strangely the person in the dream was no one I had ever seen. I woke a little out of sorts and then I reached over and touched my wife and smiled. She will not only love me and be there for the good times. I have had that many times in my life. Julie means it when she says she is standing right there with me for the challenging times as well. She is a loving beautiful woman and she is a rock for God and for me.
September 5, 2013 I received the following email.
Now that we've had the opportunity to review your novel, The River Hideaway, and get a sense of your marketing perspectives, we would like to offer you a publishing agreement.
One day short of five months and both desires of my heart granted.
visit me on Facebook at Billy Beasley-Author
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Resoulutions for the New Year
I am not a big New Years Resolution person, but I often set goals for the coming year. And usually I come up short.
I have two goals for the coming year. One is physical and it will require discipline. I want to weigh under 210 and maintain it. Many years I have been able to stay in a range from 215-220, though I fear if I step on the scales right now it may be closer to 225. This goal is not for vain reasons though most of us want to look better and there is no harm in that. My hope is if I can do this it will be less weight on my troublesome ankle and other ailing body parts. I also hope it would lower my cholesterol back to the good old days of well under 200. I love exercise so that is not a problem but this will require even cleaner eating, less cocktails, and a lot a prayer on my part, which leads me to my second goal which is spiritual.
Recently I have been feeling frustrated and disconnected over my prayer life. The words that came to me and that I shared with Jesus is I want more weight to my prayers. Simply a better prayer life. My thoughts on how to achieve this is to make the quiet time. Turn the machines off and find that place of calm and peace. Begin the day, every day, not with the Internet but with the Bible and prayer. Sometimes I can be pretty good about this but other times not so good. It just seems to reason if God is who is really most important in our lives than we might want to begin each day with him.
Do you notice how often when you read the Bible that words like first, all, and everything emerge? I spent most of my life skipping over those words because I wanted what I wanted, not what God wanted for me. It is so easy to trust our judgment, our plans, then a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...Ephesian 3:20.
I don't know about you but I have a big imagination.
Here are two additional scriptures that have resonated with me lately.
Matt. 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...
Happy New Year to everyone.
I have two goals for the coming year. One is physical and it will require discipline. I want to weigh under 210 and maintain it. Many years I have been able to stay in a range from 215-220, though I fear if I step on the scales right now it may be closer to 225. This goal is not for vain reasons though most of us want to look better and there is no harm in that. My hope is if I can do this it will be less weight on my troublesome ankle and other ailing body parts. I also hope it would lower my cholesterol back to the good old days of well under 200. I love exercise so that is not a problem but this will require even cleaner eating, less cocktails, and a lot a prayer on my part, which leads me to my second goal which is spiritual.
Recently I have been feeling frustrated and disconnected over my prayer life. The words that came to me and that I shared with Jesus is I want more weight to my prayers. Simply a better prayer life. My thoughts on how to achieve this is to make the quiet time. Turn the machines off and find that place of calm and peace. Begin the day, every day, not with the Internet but with the Bible and prayer. Sometimes I can be pretty good about this but other times not so good. It just seems to reason if God is who is really most important in our lives than we might want to begin each day with him.
Do you notice how often when you read the Bible that words like first, all, and everything emerge? I spent most of my life skipping over those words because I wanted what I wanted, not what God wanted for me. It is so easy to trust our judgment, our plans, then a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...Ephesian 3:20.
I don't know about you but I have a big imagination.
Here are two additional scriptures that have resonated with me lately.
Matt. 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us...
Happy New Year to everyone.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
That Perfect Christmas
It is Christmas Eve morning and my son sleeps in his bed and my wife stirs in the next room. Sydny our little Chihuahua mix is happy, his belly full, and well into his first nap of the day. Life is good. Better then ever.
Christmas is always a time of great reflection for me. Most have been consumed by more sadness than joy brought on by my unwise decisions. Even now Christmas retains bittersweet moments mixed in with times past that I treasure. Pretty sure it is that way for most of us.
One thing I have learned is to place little demand on Christmas. Imagine how truly wonderful Christmas could be if families would just turn the pressure valve off? Stop trying to have people conform to what we want them to do. Be where we think they should be.
I was tested last night when plans went awry and my son was pulled in another direction. There was a time I would have been more than just a little sad, and I would have sulked that he did not abide by the original plans. Not now. It is not his fault that he is the product of a long ago divorce. That blames lies solely with his parents.
For many years I have hosted a small gathering before Christmas. We call it Christmas Lasagna. I use to worry about picking the right date where everyone would be free to attend. Now I set the date weeks in advance and God bless everyone that attends as well as those that can't. This might seem like a small thing but it is about letting go. Let go of expectations, the right gifts, the perfect dinner... Breathe and let it go.
This Christmas I have a new gift. I have a new wife who loves me the way I have desired to be loved my entire life. We have our moments as any couple does but we both can go to each other and say, "I am sorry. I was wrong." During the difficult times we try to remember that neither of us are the answer and we press into a loving Father who so desires intimacy with his children.
Let's call this last section the Jim Glasgow influence, my friend first, my minister second. Would it not be a great time to let go of any harsh feelings? It does not matter who is right or wrong. Rarely is the blame solely on one party. This applies regardless of how right you believe yourself to be.
Regardless of the presents that I will open tonight and tomorrow, I have a wonderful gift already and it did not come wrapped in fancy paper. I lay my head down at night and hold offense to no one. I wish harm on no one. Regardless of how they feel about me I want them blessed.
Reaching this point is not because of me. It is because my Father granted me a new heart.
Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Merry Christmas Everyone...
Christmas is always a time of great reflection for me. Most have been consumed by more sadness than joy brought on by my unwise decisions. Even now Christmas retains bittersweet moments mixed in with times past that I treasure. Pretty sure it is that way for most of us.
One thing I have learned is to place little demand on Christmas. Imagine how truly wonderful Christmas could be if families would just turn the pressure valve off? Stop trying to have people conform to what we want them to do. Be where we think they should be.
I was tested last night when plans went awry and my son was pulled in another direction. There was a time I would have been more than just a little sad, and I would have sulked that he did not abide by the original plans. Not now. It is not his fault that he is the product of a long ago divorce. That blames lies solely with his parents.
For many years I have hosted a small gathering before Christmas. We call it Christmas Lasagna. I use to worry about picking the right date where everyone would be free to attend. Now I set the date weeks in advance and God bless everyone that attends as well as those that can't. This might seem like a small thing but it is about letting go. Let go of expectations, the right gifts, the perfect dinner... Breathe and let it go.
This Christmas I have a new gift. I have a new wife who loves me the way I have desired to be loved my entire life. We have our moments as any couple does but we both can go to each other and say, "I am sorry. I was wrong." During the difficult times we try to remember that neither of us are the answer and we press into a loving Father who so desires intimacy with his children.
Let's call this last section the Jim Glasgow influence, my friend first, my minister second. Would it not be a great time to let go of any harsh feelings? It does not matter who is right or wrong. Rarely is the blame solely on one party. This applies regardless of how right you believe yourself to be.
Regardless of the presents that I will open tonight and tomorrow, I have a wonderful gift already and it did not come wrapped in fancy paper. I lay my head down at night and hold offense to no one. I wish harm on no one. Regardless of how they feel about me I want them blessed.
Reaching this point is not because of me. It is because my Father granted me a new heart.
Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Merry Christmas Everyone...
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