Which wolf do you feed more

A Cherokee LegendAn old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him angry at a friend who he felt had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story...

I too, at times, have felt a great resentment for those who have taken so much, with no seeming sorrow or remorse for what they do. I have struggled with these feelings many times."  He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me engaged in a challenging conflict.”

"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.”

He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. He does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

Sometimes, it is a challenge to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit. The same challenge is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Do you ever stop to ponder….which wolf inside of you do you feed more?

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The apostle Paul states that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we are a new creation.  2 Corinthians 5:17  17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!  Paul talks about the battle inside of each of us, the old self (our bodies dead to sin) and the new self (we are a new creation adopted as Sons & Daughters of God because of his gift of his Son Jesus Christ.

This morning in men's group's we talked about idolatry and the ideas of hoarding (both physical and mental and spiritual).   The hard part about life is that we each have our own proverbial baggage.  That is, to say, that we have stuff to deal with.  Stuff that could be given to us through brokenness from a family or from a habit or from any kind of manifestation of our past.  The key to this is to be content (or what I refer to as the secret to life verses found in 1 Timothy 6:6-8 and Philippians 4:11-13).

Which wolf (which "self") do we feed more?  The old hymn of Turn Your eyes upon Jesus is so relevant to this post:

O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior, And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting.  He passed, and we follow Him there; O’er us sin no more hath dominion— For more than conqu’rors we are!

His Word shall not fail you—He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well: Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!

So where to start today of doing some house cleaning in our physical, mental and spiritual lives is to put some good disciplines in our lives:  1) Read the word every day 2) memorize scripture 3) get involved in a bible study (men's group) 4) listen to preaching and teaching 5) worship and 6) pray continually - ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those "idols" in our lives that we need to remove and 7) Repent of these things and become new.

We can take a portion of such a great chapter in the Bible:

Psalm 119

 ³³ Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;and I will keep it to the end.^[f]34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your lawand observe it with my whole heart.³⁵ Lead me in the path of your commandments,for I delight in it.³⁶ Incline my heart to your testimonies,and not to selfish gain!³⁷ Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;and give me life in your ways.³⁸ Confirm to your servant your promise,that you may be feared.³⁹ Turn away the reproach that I dread,for your rules are good.⁴⁰ Behold, I long for your precepts;in your righteousness give me life!

Make this your prayer today!  Teach me Lord your ways (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, body and strength and love your neighbor as yourself, on these two commandments all the Law and prophets hang).  Give me wisdom and discernment and understanding.  Lead me in the paths that you want me to take.  Incline my heart for your will O Lord that I may listen and do your will.  Turn my eyes upon Jesus.  Confirm in me that I am doing your will and not mine (less of me and more of you O Lord).  Turn away those things in my life that you no longer want from me.  Behold my life and my heart and my ways and reveal to me your desires.

Thoughts?

Dante

My faith and a zip line...Man up, Part 3 of....

  Man up, Part 3 of ....Strongholds versus God's KingdomThis past week my whole family and I were up in Michigan on vacation.  This place we go to has it all (beach, pool, hiking, zip-lines, rock-climbing, preaching and daily teaching and a kids' program to boot.  One of the days I took all 2 of my 3 kids, some cousins and my sister-in-law zip-lining.  My wife stayed back with our youngest who was not old enough for the zip.  When you cut through the trails and up the hill you see this long tower that you have to climb before you can be strapped on to the Zip-line.  There is a moment of apprehension that can be viewed in some of the kids that attempted this trial.  The picture to the left is my middle child.  She had no apprehension whatsoever in her.  She climbed, she trusted and then she jumped right off the tower trusting with wreck-less abandon.   Meanwhile, her cousin, who usually has no fear, climbed to the top without any hitch until she got to the point of complete trust in the Zip-line and the assistant who would undue the climbing rope and attach the Zip-line.  She freaked and she shook and she didn't want to let go.

After several minutes and a lot of encouraging from the ground level (cousins, uncles, mom and others) she crawled to the edge and sat down and finally let go and zipped down the hill.  As we said, she loved it, she loved it so much that she did it two more times.  This of course, made me think and reflect with how we are with God with some of the strongholds in our lives.  That is, to say, the things that we still want control over and that we don't want to give up to God.  Say for instance:  Finances, hobbies, sports, extra-curricular activities, or you plug-in what you are thinking of this very instant.  For me, it is really good and easy to trust when things are going without any problems or pain or hurts.  I mean, I know I love God with all my heart and that I trust him (most of the time) but then there are instances where I find myself putting me in front of him and trying to weather the storm or do it my way or maybe I think that I can handle it and maybe I feel like I just don't want to bother Him with such minute details.  Who are we kidding, right?

I would think that most of you reading this at one point or another in your lives are brought to this very point in your lives (your walk of Faith).  We climb to our own successes and we get to that point where we are about to let go of the climbing line and strap onto the zip-lines of our faith.  That moment when we let go and let God.  For some of us, we have had pasts that we are to afraid to let go.  For others, we don't want to give up that control to trust (that stronghold in each and every one of our lives) and for others it is just plain fear.  If we are honest, I would bet that 100% of us fall in one of these descriptions in our lives.  Maybe it is co-habitation and we are afraid to commit and trust God's plan for our lives.  Maybe it is finances or some major decision in our lives that we will trust ourselves but are afraid to trust God.  Maybe for some of us it is those dark places in our lives that we don't want to let go of (alcohol, pornography, sexual promiscuity....(you fill in your blank)) and we are just too afraid to let go and let God.  For me, it was the point of my marriage (early in my life) when I had created my own sets of morality based on my twenties (not walking with God) and was in my early 30's trying to justify sin in my life to a Holy God.  I was in the early years of my marriage and finally had to have an honest talk with my wife and prayer with God.  I was reading through the Bible and was deeply convicted of my false sense of morality (making myself a god instead of trusting our Holy God).  I had to confess this false sense of morality and impurity to both my wife and to my Lord.  I asked for forgiveness to the both of them and my wife didn't judge me (like I thought she would) in fact, she told me to do something about it (get serious in my walk).  Basically to let go and let God do this work in my life.  So I did!  Both her and I started serving more in church and building in community.  I got more and more involved in the men's ministry and had brothers who (to this day) keep me accountable and pray with me and for me.  I have a wife who isn't insecure of our love and who trusts me  because she trust the God in our lives who is convicting me to lead a life worthy of His Salvation for me.  Not by works, I cannot earn my way to Heaven, but by Faith.  My act of worship (thankfulness and adoration) is my walk and worship of Him and to let go and Let God do this in my life - complete trust and complete obedience.  Do I always get this right, no!  As a matter of fact, I sin every day and I mess up all the time (I am a man and not God).  He knows my strengths and he knows my weaknesses as well).  He has plans for me, plans not to harm me and plans to prosper me.

Wherever you are in your walk right now, reflect on these things that I am saying and ask yourself, ask God and His Spirit to reveal the things in your life that you have to let go of.   Pray on these things and ask that he will remove the strongholds in our lives (our own kingdoms) and that he will show us His Kingdom in our lives and what he requires us to do for Him.  When you find yourself climbing that "proverbial tower" in your life (like my niece did this past week) and you are about to let go of the climbing line and jump in faith to what God has in store for you and your life then and only then can we see his will for us, his plan for us and what he desires most for us.  Hebrews 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.  Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Four years ago (and then again 3 years) ago, I almost lost my wife.  She was extremely close to renal failure 4 years ago.  At that time, I had a 5-year-old, a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old.  I had a hard time trusting.  I had many nights of arguing and tears shed and battles with God.  After I put the kids to bed and did all the work that needed to be done while my wife was in the hospital, I would fall into bed and argue with God.  I don't recall all the tears or words that were said, but I did ask if this was his plan for my life?  Really?  I couldn't believe it.  That night I heard this song performed by Tree63 called blessed be your name.  There is a part of that song that says, "You give and take away, BUT blessed be your name!"  Job prayed that and said that when he lost everything (personal wealth, children, homes, etc.,) yet he praised God.  Oh, the weak faith that I have at times.  But that night I prayed that part of the song, knowing that he could very well take my wife home to be with Him.  I cried and I let go.  The next day I had this incredible peace (it was day 5 of the 6 days that my wife was in the hospital) and the phone rang that morning.  It was the lady who was the head of our prayer team and she said to me that her and 6 other ladies were praying for me that very hour that I had the peace.  My mother-in-law, who was 1500 miles away at that time had the exact time of peace - God is in control and all he asks is that we let go and let God.

Can we man up?  Can we let go of the strongholds in our lives and let God tear them down and peel those layers away?

Thoughts?Dante

Man Up, Part 2 of....

Man Up....Sexual PurityIt is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8)

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body....You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18, 20)

Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished. (Proverbs 6:27-29)

Early this morning I was reading through the Book of Acts and as I was getting ready for work, I found this article on Flipboard:  "British Prime Minister David Cameron today will announce an aggressive plan to crack down on online pornography, as part of an ongoing campaign to protect children from its "corroding" influence. Under Cameron's plan, online porn will be blocked by default for all new UK household internet connections, meaning consumers will have to tell their internet service providers (ISPs) whether they want to disable the filters. The plan will also make it a crime to possess "extreme pornography," such as images or video of simulated rape, the Daily Mail reports. "By the end of this year, when someone sets up a new broadband account the settings to install family friendly filters will be automatically selected," Cameron will say in a speech to the child protection group NSPCC on Monday. "If you just click 'next' or 'enter', then the filters are automatically on."  "YOU HAVE A DUTY TO ACT ON THIS — AND IT IS A MORAL DUTY."Cameron is taking aim at violent and illegal child pornography, in particular, and will call upon major search engines to do their part to prevent "sick" people from accessing such content. Under the initiative, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) will draft a blacklist of objectionable search terms, while a UK-US joint task force will be established to help combat obscene websites."

I find it interesting that the Prime Minister of England realizes that devastation that sexual immorality is having on our children.  The moral decay of society can be attributed to those who turned away from Biblical principles and instead turned to worldly cultural norms.  It's almost as if he has been reading the Bible?

Shocking Statistics - The Epidemic of Pornography Use in America

Out of all countries, the United States is the top producer of both pornographic websites and pornographic videos.  In fact, the United States has produced 89% (244,661,900) of the pornographic web pages in the entire world.  The average age of first exposure to Internet pornography is 11.  (http://internet-filter-review.toptenreviews.com/internet-pornography-statistics.html)

350 members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the nation’s top 1,600 divorce attorneys, met in 2002 for an annual conference. Almost two thirds of these lawyers said that the Internet had played a significant role in divorces they had handled during the last year. The problems most cited by the attorneys were:1) Met new love interest over the Internet - 68 percent2) Obsessive interest in pornographic sites - 56 percent3) Excessive time on computer - 47 percent4) Excessive time communicating in chat rooms - 33 percent(accessed on 9/21/10 from the original press release from American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers) <More to this article click on headline>

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There is so many reasons why purity is so important to our walk as Disciples of Christ.  As I have been reading through the Bible, you cannot help but realize what idolatry (sexual vices and so much more) did to the Jewish people.  It caused them to turn from God and then a whole heap of problems occurred thereafter.  If you think you can serve and walk with God, yet have unrepentant sin in your life, you and I are truly kidding ourselves.  Our very nature will turn us from God and turn us back toward our old flesh.

Even the Apostle Paul talked about his old sin nature and his new body and said that which he knew he should do he doesn't and that to which he shouldn't do he does.  Our bodies are at war with ourselves.  Our walks as disciples (legacy dads) puts us at odds with the evil one.  If we, turning toward idolatry (even sexual impurity), doesn't throw us in to a world of hurt, you can expect spiritual attack to ensue thereafter.

When we play with fire, we can risk getting burned.  When we play with sin we can risk our walk with God.  When we have sin in our lives and we do not repent then we are putting ourselves "the us" before "Him".

Colossians 3 & Romans 12 and Job 31:1 are a place to start if you are serious about turning from old self to new self.

Why put this off any longer?

Who would you rather entertain?  Jesus or our old sin nature?

Thoughts?

Dante

Man Up, part 1 of ...

Why look at the tree in front of you instead of looking at things through God's perspective (looking at the whole forest).   I sometimes find myself wallowing in my old self habits and struggles and even moreso getting caught up in the daily jaunts of life and losing perspective of where I have come from instead of where God wants me to go.  As Christians, we are called to go and make disciples unto all the earth.  We are called to love the Lord our God with all our heat, mind, body, soul and strength.  Secondly, to love one another as ourselves.  Jesus says of these two commands all the others hang.For just a moment, imagine yourself doing your most healthy thing to enjoy life and or relax.  Hold on to that feeling and ask yourself if it gets any better than that.  Now for just another moment think about fast forwarding your life to meeting Jesus (we all will one day whether we know him personally or whether he doesn't know us).  Ask yourself what else could have done with my time, talent and treasure that God has given me.  Seriously take stock in this and, if you are like me, you will conclude that nothing in your life was earned, but it was truly given to you by our Lord.  All things come from him and all things are under him.  He made us, he formed us in our mothers' womb.  Now that we can agree on this, then what.

MAN UP!

For some these two words can be peeking your interest - do I read on.  For others, you could be immediately turning this website off as you either get this from home (your wife and family, from church, and/or from your work), thus saying to yourself, "Self, why do I have to get this here too?"  My answer, don't fret, read on, please!  This post will not be me condemning or chastising myself or you, but rather to challenge each and everyone of us to reach our full potential in what God has in store for each and everyone of our lives.   1 Thessalonians 2:11-12:  "(ESV) ¹¹ For you know how, like a father with his children, ¹² we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory."

I want to give you three stories that have personally impacted my life as a man, a father, a husband and dramatically impacted me as a husband.  First, there was this family who had to deal with a violent and terminal illness is their life, the second was a husband and a wife who had to deal with multiple affairs and a divorce and a split home with their kids (shared custody) and the third was a set of parents who raised children who I can only hope and pray that our three children will model their lives after (a Christ-centered, fruit bearing relationship with their family, friends and intentions through life).  All three of these stories are still a work in progress.  The beautiful thing about us being followers (disciples) of Christ is that each one of us find our lives to tell, share and bring good news to others through our lives.  God has a plan for each and everyone of us!

The second story is still near and dear to my heart and I still am watching and participating in this story working itself out.  Even though the husband (my old friend) is divorced and living with another woman and unfortunately taking a different path then following Jesus, that doesn't mean that I have given up or stopped praying for him.   Let's talk about the good things from that husband and wife, they are raising two wonderful children and they really have full lives and giving parents.  As much as I want to be angry that he has walked away from God, I can see that he is being a good father, even though he walked away from his family responsibilities (Read Ephesians 5 & 1 Peter 3:7).   Unfortunately they took paths that didn't turn back to God's plans for their lives.   I hate divorce and I hate that children have to be pulled from one house and go to the other especially when there are not truly God-healthy influences in the other house.  That being said, I want to apologize to you if I seem that I am being too judgmental - that is not my intention - I had hoped that they would come back together.   I believe that I sin everyday and in the event that I don't then I will admit that on those "pretty good" days I still find myself with a divided heart (meaning I confess that my attention is not always on God's will, but rather my will).  Thank God that his love never fails, never gives up and never walks out on us!   I still am praying for my old friend that his life will get right with God and that he will put Jesus first and in the center of his life - that would be exciting.

The first story is painful and bitter sweet.  There was a very godly men who exuded true biblical contentment.  He was a co-Elder serving with me and he loved God, his wife and family and his church.  This was a man that I wanted to get to know more.  I wanted to learn where his strong faith welled up from.  His wife has recently went home to be with the Lord and then he followed her two weeks later.  His kids were wonderful at the wake.  They even looked content even with the loss of two parents in two weeks.  You don't find that type of humility and contentment from the world - you can only find that from God's Spirit and his Son Jesus Christ.  In the short time that I served with him I learned one important lesson - Jesus is my rock and my shelter! (PERIOD!!!).  I learned that no matter what ails us in this life - this flesh of ours is fleeting and that we have another home that Jesus has prepared for us  and that nothing can take that away from us.  I also loved this guy because I too had some health scares with my wife, and fortunately I learned this lesson:  (Proverbs: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding and acknowledge him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight!).

The third story is truly a blessing in my life.  This couple has been leaders in our church for quite some time.  They both love serving with humility and they love children's ministry.  They love their kids and they have raised three incredible children who are independent, confident and bear fruit for the love of Jesus.  Translation:  The parents faith was passed on to their children.  The children in return have built a relationship with Jesus Christ and their fruit is clearly evident.  They have blessed my wife and I with their love for our children.  My wife and I want to get to know them better - to learn from them more and to understand what their good and bad moments where as parents.  We all make mistakes no one is perfect except Jesus Christ our Lord.  They love Him and their lives bear that fruit.  This is inspiring to me in a world like this.  It encourages me to think that these kids can share their faith and life experiences with the world and will be  light to the world.  How awesome is that!

I have to confess to you something that was shared to me by my middle child this week.  My wife and I have noted this spirit of disobedience with her.  Partly because she is on summer break and has strenuous activities and needs her sleep.  Partly because she likes to challenge the parental system and partly because when she is like this she can really push our parental buttons.  I do not want to put her in a bad light because honestly I would describe her as an "old soul".  She can relate to children of any age and she is a go-getter.  She loves to be around old people and she is really respectful to others around her (not always the case at home to her mom and to her sister) but that is what we are working on.  Any way, to my confession, the other night when I was kissing her good night and singing to her a night night song, I asked her why she acts like that and told her the consequences that can happen from her attitude and actions from this.  As we got done praying I asked her what does she think that mommy and daddy want from her life.  Her answered made me reflect a lot on where and what my wife and I are trying to do.  She said, "to obey and to be good all the time."  I asked her again what she really thought and she said eventually that we wanted her to love Jesus and then again she said to be good and obey.  (that crushed me).  That is not want I want my eight year old daughter to be raised with.  I want her to own our faith.  I want her to have a true relationship with Jesus Christ and then I want her to educate herself and to find a godly man to be her husband.  When I told her this, I also said, "listen to me my little little love, your daddy messes up all the time and even when I do, God still loves me.  He sent his son to die for me and no matter what nothing can take away that love from me."  I also told her that that is how her mother and I feel about her and her sister and brother - nothing can ever make us love you less.

As an Elder and a leader of men's ministry I find instances that break my heart.  I once heard that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result each time.  I think that is like the junk (sin) in our lives. You all know what I am talking about, the parts of our lives (our little kingdoms/idols) that we do not surrender to Jesus.   Maybe it is me at times, or if you are reading this and this strikes a nerve with you, then maybe it is high time that we man-up and follow God's plan for our life and not our own.  If we surrender our wants, needs and desires and give those to Him.  What if we looked for his guidance and direction in everything we did before we took action - what would that look like at the Judgement seat of Christ- maybe, just maybe we would hear, "well done thou good and faithful servant."

Finish Well, do good and let go and let God.  I think 1 Timothy 6 finishes this post well:

1 Timothy 6

English Standard Version (ESV)

6 Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants^[a] regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. ² Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

False Teachers and True Contentment

Teach and urge these things. ³ If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound^[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, ⁴ he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵ and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and^[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

¹¹ But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before^[d] Pontius Pilate made the good confession, ¹⁴ to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.  ¹⁷ As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸ They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, ¹⁹ thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. ²⁰ O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” ²¹ for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.  Grace be with you.^[e]"

Let me know your thoughts,

Dante

Raising my son and daughters thru difficult times in my life

“The man of pseudo faith will fight for his verbal creed but refuse flatly to allow himself to get into a predicament where his future must depend upon that creed being true. He always provides himself with secondary ways of escape so he will have a way out if the roof caves in. What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day.”  A. W. Tozer, The Root of the RighteousThese past 3 weeks have been trying at the least.  I was in South America the last two weeks visiting Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.  The second Monday of the trip, as I called to talk to the family, my wife passed the phone to my middle child.  My daughter was crying and told me that she missed me so much and wanted me to be home soon.  When I returned, I missed the funeral of the wife of an Elder due to my travel and then this past Thursday (two weeks after he buried his wife) he went home to be with his wife and Savior.  Another Elder and I visited a man, who is single, and is raising a son by himself.  He was diagnosed with cancer and had two surgeries these past two weeks – and doesn’t know how and why to make sense of this. 

On top of this, we have two weeks of Summer Camp at our Church and we are hosting four female college girls at our house.  They work long hours with so many kids an do such a stellar job in what they love doing – it is actually infectious to watch and witness.  As I got home today, my wife told me that she was exhausted from the week (likely from the last 3 weeks as she had to do it all without me 2 of the 3 weeks).  I found myself, this afternoon, for a brief moment feeling sorry for myself and falling into a rut – into a despression.  Work was extremely busy, the demands of dad seem to be increasing and my wife and I have been working with our son and youngest daughter these past few months (will talk about this one later).  The news that we received will be challenging and trying at times, but I heard something from a doctor friend that made so much sense to me that I had to write it down.  Okay, now that I think about it, I might as well spill it.  We know that my son is gifted and has been tested as twice exceptional, but we also knew that he has a learning disability (a processing disorder).  We have been working with this doctor to test him, analyze him and counsel him, us, his teachers on how to bridge these gaps along the way.  He is such a smart boy, it even amazes me that God has given him to my wife and I.  We want him to achieve his ability and to have a happy life along the way.  We pray that we make and do the right God-honoring decisions.  Anyway, as we learned the diagnosis about our son (and we are having our youngest daughter going through the same tests) the doctor said something that blew my mind:  The doctor said that when he has kids like this, he turns them to the Bible and has them read (memorize and study) the Bible.  Because in his experience, when they focus on what God’s will is for us, then they stop looking at the proverbial tree in front of them and are able to focus more on the “forest” of God’s will for our lives = wow!

These are things that Lance and Gary and I know.  THese are things that we write about.  I think what surprised me most is that i heard this from a doctor who is a physchologist and very qualified in his profession telling me how important the Word of God is for life!  (Deuteronomy 6; Galations 5 & 6; Romans 12; Colossians 3; 1 Timothy 6 and so so much more).  So as I was ranting about my stress and my life and my busyness, the Lord brought me to this place (that ever so quiet voice in your head and heart) that said to me, “Count your blessings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  I have a two brothers on this blog who mean the world to me.  Lance and I have been talking a lot about things that are coming down the pipeline (cannot wait to see where God takes us).  I have a wife who loves me without question, who is smart (okay, she did marry me?) and who is a great mother and wife.  I have three wonderful and happy and healthy children.  I have a great job.  I am an Elder at my church (and there is so much blessing in that role).  I am a leader in our Men’s Ministry.  I have men that lift me up, pray for me and carry my burdens.  I have two really good accountability partners.  I am content!

The next time that I lead our men’s group (Men of Faith) I will be doing a lesson on 1 Timothy 6:

1 Timothy 6 English Standard Version (ESV)

6 Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants[a] regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. 2 Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

False Teachers and True Contentment

Teach and urge these things. 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before[d] Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

Grace be with you.[e]

Sometime life throws us into the trees in our life and instead we need to focus on God’s word and see the forest like God sees it!

Thoughts?

Let me know,

Dante

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