Back from Tampa

We just got back from Florida land and Nekki's parents. They always take good care of us - and feed us to the brim. That's one wild family, but It's awesome how they love to praise and thank God. They have been blessed. It's obvious. Many people that have been blessed so quickly forget to turn, bow, and praise God for it.

We went down to celebrate Thanksgiving ... but to these guys everyday is Thanksgiving - the only difference was one dry turkey.

Nekki put it the best way when jokingly she told me, "Yeah it was aweful! We had to go through the trouble of opening one of two garage doors, backing up one of 6 vehicles in the driveway just to open the second freezer to get out the multiple bags of leftover food. Oh, the horror!"

Even though I was under the weather for the entire trip, I got my think on. The creative side of my brain has been working overtime as of late. It started I believe with studying the parable of the talents ... long story short - wasting talent. I meditated on what God had blessed me with and realized I was "hiding my master's money." Time to repent and start using what the good Lord gave me.

Serve to Lead

Matthew 20:25-28 (New Century Version)

25 Jesus called all the followers together and said, "You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority. 26 But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant.27 Whoever wants to become first among you must serve the rest of you like a slave. 28 In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people."

Enough said, right? Struck a nerve ... thought I'd share

Well done good and faithful servant

The words above all others I ever desire to hear. These words have been with me nearly my entire life. They come from the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). This is the one where the master gives 3 servants different amount of talents. When the master came back to settle accounts, the one with 5 now had 10 and the one with 2 now had 4. He spoke these amazing words to them both, and added "you have been faithful over little. I will set you over much." The servant to whom he gave but 1 talent went and buried his. When asked to give account he blasphemed his master with ridiculous logic. He was found wicked and slothful. So his talent was taken and given to the servant with many. "Even what he has will be taken away." A huge lesson - sometimes the most evil thing we can do is nothing.

I often feel I've been hiding my master's money. I know I'm guilty of squandering "talent". The good, comforting news is "if our few talents be rightly used, neither our own conscience nor our Master's judgement shall condemn us for not having more." - Charles Spurgeon

I pray to hear those words from the mouth of God one day ... "Well done, good and faithful servant." Nothing else could ever fulfill me more.

GOALS

I feel I'm prime for remotivation. Time for new goals and a renewed focus. Just feeling stagnant lately - wondered why - looked around and realizing I was hitting my target .... cause I was aiming for nothing. New Goals - call it early resolutions. Here's my 1st draft:

• Spend at least half an hour every day meditating on God’s word (not
including prayer).
• Create a categorized book of quotes, ideas, and illustrations
• Write a book – Christian themed – Publish
• Get a copy of dad’s songs – re-record, release, etc.
• Out of Debt (everything but house) 2012 or sooner
• Healthy Living
- Research & implement diet
- Daily exercise (be creative – change at least every 2 months)
- Add seasonal sports
- Replace old habits with new healthy ones - the best way to get rid of weeds
is to plant crops
- 1st Goal: 25% BF and under 210lbs
• Always Plan Tomorrow
• Purchase a pick-up truck by June 2009
• Read a book/mo.
• Write a new song/mo.
• Learn a new song/mo. (focus on worship songs)
• Find a mentor
• Family Biz – 2012 or sooner
• Own a home – between 2010 and 2014

Big Church!

Thanks Fusion EDGE youth team! Nekki and I got to go to service today and worship. My batteries got recharged. It was awesome to see Seth and the band again ... to see Pastor Tony live. As always, the sermon hit home - exactly what I needed to hear. Jesus walking on the water and Peter going out to meet Him - one of my favorite passages. I have heard literally over a dozen sermons on that passage - it's applications are inexhaustable. Anyways, I've missed service and was thrilled to be there again.

King Rooster Mayhem To Be Wed

The Rooster himself will be wed tomorrow. The event set at the Payne Corley House in Duluth, Ga. It's a gunslingin' affair - cowboy hats - boots - and firearms. Can't believe my boy's tieing the knot .... again. Wil is a lifelong friend from Vidalia - a town known only for onions. We have a sordid family history in which Wil ended up adopted by the Shivers.
All the brothers will be brought back together for an evening - bad things are bound to happen.

Side Notes and Random Thoughts:
1. Finished reading Heaven and Hell by Edward A. Donnelly - a must read
on a controversial (and danced around) subject.
2. Had a Sunbelt upgrade this month.
3. 5-hour energy drink + vitamins w/ niacin + herbs w/ niacin + caffeine = bad day
4. Cats are crazy
5. Income Tax = Communism Fair Tax = Capitalism
6. UGA must win

Keep on Truckin

Hard hits and great Godly gifts last month. I am amazed at how little we actually control. We may be fooled into believing that Circumstance + Response = Outcome, but if you have ANY relationship with God you know this to be untrue. Amazingly, this is a concept preached and supported by so called "Christian" success wizards - those guys that run around the world doing seminars and selling ideas. If they really do have a genuine relationship with God Almighty I have no idea how they came to this conclusion.

God never ceases to amaze me. Some days I feel I've messed up so much I'm just waiting for God to strike me down. I get the feeling that some form of punishment is inevitable. Then God graciously blesses. I am humbled.
I'm not pretending that our behavior has no ramifications. I don't mean to suggest that we have a ticket to be screwballs. But I now work in the sales field, and nothing is pushed more than this 100% accountability theory. Let me explain. I have no problem accepting the failures and knowing they could have been avoided with some proactive anticipation. It's the unearned successes I have a problem claiming credit for. In other words ... all in all God is in control. We can forecast, speculate, hindsight, organize, interpret, review, analize, etc. In the end, there is one answer - God's purpose.

God Provides

Strange how even after so many times God has come through for me that I still worry so. I guess the rug never really stops getting swept out from under your feet. I need to invest in some tumbling mats.

Well ... God has never failed us - even when there seemed to be no solutions. Sometimes friends and family step up. Sometimes it just comes out of nowhere. But it always comes.

Scrubbin Surfboards

I firmly believe that everyone should work. We should all do our part, but we Americans are wrapped up in this work-centered life. Back in April I began a whole new career. It was quite a jump - from karate instructor running a small business to selling office supplies. Upon entering unfamiliar territory I thought it good to study up on sales. I've read several books from Stephan Schiffman's Telesales to Spencer Johnson's Who Moved My Cheese .
The sales guru that sticks out the most however is Jeffery Gitomer. He writes those books ... Little Red Book of Sales, Little Black Book ...
Don't get me wrong, it's great info and I've studied and used much of it. But it all serves in the end to put a bad taste in my mouth. The more I read about Gitomer, the more it seemed to me that what he was suggested was to live, eat, breathe, and poop sales. Don't watch T.V - study sales. Limit your activities outside work so you can study sales. The picture in my mind was of, at the time, a fellow karate instructor near Daytona. This guy didn't just have a Napoleon Complex ... he was Napoleon and a work FANATIC. He swore off relationships (even the one with his current wife) and tossed himself headlong into studying sales, internet media, you name it. I already new it was bad how much his life revolved around work, but I had no idea until we heald a leadership conference in Denver, Colorado. Here at one of our many dinner outings, this guy reveals that he manages his time so well that he now has a computer tray in his bathroom so he can continue working on his laptop while he poops. C'MON MAN!

Anyway, I know that's extreme, but our society nowadays praises these workaholic nutcases. Even our norm is retarded - 40-50 hour work weeks - 1 week vacation - 3-6 personal days/year. Then we're preached at that if we really want to be successful - we have to spend even more time on our own reading and studying our trade. Well I submit that my new trade then will be nurturing important relationships in my life. I will study on how to be a better husband, friend, brother, father (eventually), uncle, etc. I submit, especially as Christians, that our trade should be people and relationships.

Therefore my new ambition is to live on a beach with my wife spending my time speaking with friends, reading, publishing the lifetime works of my father, and scrubbing surfboards.

Not good enough

Ever get that attack? "Your not good enough." "You can't handle this." "You failed and you will again." "Your not worthy." Fill in your own. You know the feeling. Yeah me too. I felt compelled to blog - mostly out of temporary insomnia. That voice, whatever the source, harms us more than we realize. Just realize ... that whisper, that voice we learn to listen to. It says, "I'm good enough - for anything." It's God with his longsuffering reminder we grasp briefly and then lose.

Remember headstrong Peter walking on the water towards Jesus. What faith! But when he took his eyes off Jesus he began to sink. It's easy to be distracted by the waves ... easy to doubt. Come back to the source and remember who's in control, what He's capable of, and the goodness of His heart.

Pray. Seek. Thank Him. We have little need to understand what He is doing though it's often our strongest desire. Trust and He will provide. Get back up and follow. No time for rolling in pity and shame.

We are capable of the worst kind of sin apart from Him and if I've learned anything ... I stray. Come back and be thankful. Rejoice! He opens His arms with acceptance. We CAN'T be unadopted! But without simply talking to Him daily we CAN be miserable. He's our Daddy. KNOW that He adores you. He weeps with you. He laughs with you. He smiles with great pleasure when; outside of our nature; against all odds; in the midst of strife ... we rejoice ... we love ... we sing ... we endure ... we trust ... we believe ... we witness ... we obey ... we worship. How proud He is! The creator and source of all. Can you believe we move the emotions (lack of better word) of God. He gave us freedom to choose to love Him.

No WE can't do it. God can. Take the pressure off. He bears it freely.

O God, help me to keep you first in my life.

On my desk at work I keep a small glass box of Bible Verse cards and daily inspirationals. Each day it reminds me to stop and pray before I face the day's challenges. Lately has been a little more difficult than normal. Nothing too dramatic or negative has taken place ... it's been life's simple patience-testers that seem to have taken a tole on my attitude (thanks for your blog Greg). My card today says, "O God, help me to keep you first in my life." To date, this is the shortest, seemingly most simple prayer card. However, I think this is actually one of the toughest challenges we face as believers. Circumstances, work, family, etc. often require our focus. Sometimes it's difficult to "Live for an audience of One".
Proverbs 3:6 reads "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Again, a short-but-sweet verse loaded with a command and a promise. I claim that promise today and pray that God leads me on the path he created for me. Isn't it amazing to have a God who desires to be sought with genuine interest and discovered by hopeful wisdom? More than anything he wants us to talk to him daily. He waits anxiously to bless us and draw closer to us. Sounds like a loving daddy, doesn't it?

Desire

"Earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way."1 Corinthians 12:31

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."Matthew 5:6

"Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart."Psalm 37:4

Story #1
A young man visits Socrates in search of wisdom. To the young man’s surprise, Socrates takes him out to a lake and dunks his head under water. As the man’s struggle to come up for air, Socrates holds him under. Later, after recovering, the young man asks Socrates why he nearly drowned him.
Socrates replies, “What is it you most wanted when you were under water?”
“Air,” the young man replies.
Socrates responds, “When your desire for wisdom is as great as your desire to breathe, you will find wisdom.”

Story #2
In a bizarre scientific experiment, a researcher found that a rat preferred a sense of pleasure to food or water, even to the point of self-exhaustion. Adam Keiper provides more detail:
James Olds was a Harvard-trained American neurologist working in Canada when, in 1953, he discovered quite by accident that a rat seemed to enjoy receiving electric shocks in a particular spot in its brain, the septum. He began to investigate, and discovered that the rat “could be directed to almost any spot in the box at the will of the experimenter” just by sending a zap into its implant every time it took a step in the desired direction.
He then found that the rat would rather get shocked in its septum than eat—even when it was very hungry. Eventually, Olds put another rat with a similar implant in a Skinner box wherein the animal could stimulate itself by pushing a lever connected to the electrode in its head; it pressed the lever again and again until exhaustion.

Conclusion
The problem with goal-making is that our desires and pleasures often contrast with each other. What we desire often has no pleasure connected with the activity, and what we find pleasing is often at odds with our desires.
For example, look at exercise. Almost everyone makes goals to exercise more at New Year’s. We may truly desire to exercise, but the activity lacks the pleasure that would see us through. Consequently, we do what is more pleasing — sit around watching movies. But deep down we don’t desire to watch so many movies; it’s just pleasing.
Another example is finances. Many people desire to spend less and save more, but there’s not much pleasure in frugality. Naturally, we do what’s more pleasing to us — make a bunch of unnecessary purchases at the mall. However, while pleasing, few people really desire to spend all their money on unnecessary things and rack up credit card bills.
To make good goals, you have to align your desires with pleasures — either by making the activity you truly desire fun, or by turning pleasurable activities into something you actually desire.

Commitment

Scared already? That bad word ... commitment. What's better ... free love?

See, all of us want intimacy. It means being close to someone. It's giving to and receiving from another person the deepest parts of who we are. As humans, we desire to be known in loving safety, explored with genuine interest, discovered by hopeful wisdom, and touched by the source of spiritual power. An author I know wrote, "You might say that intimacy between a man and a woman is the icing on the cake of a relationship headed towards marriage." If that's intimacy, you can easily see that most of our dating relationships are no more than icing. They usually lack purpose. We date because we want to enjoy the emotional and physical benefits of intimacy without the responsibility of real commitment.

Simply put, pursuing intimacy without commitment awakens natural desires that neither person can justly meet. Therefore we are being frauds. Intimacy without commitment (icing without cake), can be sweet, but it ends up making us sick. The results aren't what we hoped for, and we're left feeling emptier than before. The intimacy is superficial. The sex leaves us dissatisfied and hungry for something real, something true.

The joy of intimacy is the reward of commitment.