Mar 12 2012

Satan vs. the Family

Last week, we heard of a tremendous act of both courage and responsibility in a woman by the name of Stephanie Decker. As tornadoes whipped through her Marysville, Indiana home, she did the only thing she knew how to do – protect her children at all costs.

When she saw that things were getting rough, she took her kids into the basement, wrapped them up in a blanket, and help on tight by placing her body over them. She had one leg that was nearly severed and another that was crushed. At one point, she saw a brick coming at her daughter, so she maneuvered her back in a dodging motion so she would take the hit and not her children.

They emerged with their lives, but she was severely injured. She lost one leg over the knee and one just above the ankle. She had seven broken ribs and also suffered a punctured lung. The children, they were absolutely fine. Not a scratch on them.

This woman did what I would hope any mother or father would do in this situation. Protect those who can’t protect themselves. Do whatever you can to spare them from physical harm. Don’t let the weather and the elements affect them in any way. That’s what most of us would do.

What’s interesting is that we face storms and trials like this every day, but not nearly as many parents defend against them. Satan is constantly attacking our families. Satan is always throwing storms our way, shooting darts toward us daily. We would do just about anything to protect our families and friends from physical harm, but what about spiritual harm?

Just like you would run into the road to knock your child out of the way of an oncoming vehicle, we must be prepared to do the same thing against Satan every day. Why is it we’re so eager to protect against the physical problems and challenges in life, but we’re not nearly as willing, or even aware, of the dangers we face daily from the evil one.

Pray for your family and friends.

Pray that God will shield them from Satan and his attacks.

Pray that God will be victories and Satan will be defeated in all things.

May we have the courage, like Stephanie Decker, to wrap our friends and family up tight in prayer and devotion. May we step in front of the darts that Satan throws our way to protect them. May God be praised in all we do.

Mar 9 2012

Dance With Her

Tuesday nights are becoming my favorite night of the week.

My wife, Kristen, gets to go be with the girls from church. They have their “fit” night. If its nice out, they go for a walk. If its cold or rainy, they’ll do an activity inside. While Kristen is hanging out with the girls, I get to hang out with my girl, Josie.

Josie, the greatest bundle of a 3 (almost 4) year old you’ll ever meet. Tuesday nights are our night. Sometimes, we’ll spend time playing with her baby dolls. Some nights, we’ll build towers with her blocks. Some nights, we’ll sit and cuddle and watch a show.

A few weeks ago, we were sitting in the living room on a cold night while Kristen was exercising. I pulled out my iPad and we played some games on it, and then she asked to play “the robot” game. The robot game is a robot app that plays music when you touch the screen. She loves to hear his robotic sounds and different ways he sings them.

After we played with the robot for a while, she asked if she could play the piano. I have the Garage Band app on the iPad, so I started it up. I started playing some different songs with her, when she got up and started dancing around the room. I love watching her dance. She gets really into her performance. She closes her eyes, raises her arms over her head, and starts twirling and jumping – almost like a break dancing ballet.

She danced around the rug in our living room. As she danced, I couldn’t help but think of all the people in my life who have lost their children to a way too early death. Here I am, getting to watch my little girl twirl around the room with all the joy in the world, and they don’t get to do that. Its not fair. Its not fair that I get to experience such happiness, and they have to experience so much grief. God has truly blessed me more than I realize.

Fast forward to this past Tuesday night. It had finally gotten warmer out, so I asked Josie if she’d like to go for a ride in her new wagon. She excitedly agreed, and we set out for a wonderful walk around the campus of Lipscomb University, Josie and her baby doll in the wagon, and I in the front pulling them around.

I don’t think Josie went more than 7 seconds without asking a question, saying a word, or singing a song. Everyone we passed, she said hi to them. One guy walked by us on the way to the library, with his backpack on, and Josie said “Hey daddy, he’s got a backpack just like mine…except…his doesn’t have a turtle on it!” The young man turned and got a kick out of it and chuckled.

When we passed the swings on campus, Josie had to get out and sit with me in each one. Flowers had just been planted on campus, and Josie had to get out and smell each new section we passed. Then her baby doll would sniff them as well, and we could move on.

After we walked to the other side of campus, we started on our way back home. We passed by the commons area next to the student center, and there was a group of Lipscomb University students practicing for their “Singorama” show. There were about 20 co-eds, dancing around. Josie took notice of them immediately.

“Daddy, can I go dance with them?” she asked.

“Well Josie, they’re practicing for something important, and while I’m sure they’d love for you to dance with them, we better let them do it alone” I said.

“Daddy, can I just dance over here instead of with them?” she inquired.

“Well Josie, that may distract them, and that would hurt their practicing, so maybe we shouldn’t. Is that okay?”

“Okay daddy. I understand” she said.

We watched them for a bit more, and then walked around the corner to the other side of the building. When we could no longer see the students practicing, she asked “Daddy, since they can’t see us now, can I dance?”

I started to answer her with a “It’s getting cooler and we need to get home” answer, when I thought of the movie “Courageous” that recently came out. In that movie, a daughter asked her daddy to dance with him, and he said no. He was too embarrassed. Later on in the movie, a tragic turn causes the dad to realize he should have taken advantage of the opportunity.

So I looked down at her face, and I parked the wagon, and there in between the student center steps and the auditorium on Lipscomb’s campus, while many students are walking around, going back to their dorms or going off to play in their intramural games…I let my daughter dance. And I danced with her. And it was the greatest moment of my life.

Now, I didn’t dance like she did. She closed her eyes. She began to twirl and jump. She covered an area much like a gymnast does on the dance floor. I stood off to the side and did my best, but mostly just watched.

I watched my little girl who has grown up way too fast, dance like she didn’t care who was watching her. I watched her as her heart was full of joy and happiness. I truly believe she thought the whole world was watching, that all the eyes of every person were keyed in on her. For that brief moment, nothing else mattered.

When her performance was done, she took her bows, climbed back into the wagon, picked up her baby doll, and told me we could go on home. And so we did – and she continued to ask questions. She continued to want to stop and smell the flowers. She continued to want to sit in every swing.

And I continued to want to let her.

Take time – dance with your children. Shut the laptop and play with them. Put your work down and love on them. Forget trying to be perfect and try to be silly. Whatever you do, don’t let time slip away without dancing with them.

Mar 8 2012

Praying for Guidance

Proverbs encourages us to stay on the path of wisdom, and to be careful not to start “to the right or the left.”  In 4:25-27 it states: “Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

Is this a problem for you?  Ask yourself these questions while thinking about your attitude and behavior in life:

– What is your influence on others?  Whose life have you genuinely touched and changed for the better in recent years?

– What is your direction and purpose?  If you continue to work of the next ten years as you are currently working, what will you have gained?  What will your life look like on its current path in ten years?

– Are you honoring God?  Can you cite three things that you have done in the last year that you believe have clearly brought glory to God?  What are some ways in which you have honored Him at work, in your home, and in your community?

– Are you avoiding evil?  What one thing have said “no” to in the past year in order to “remove your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:27)?  What did it cost you?  What did you gain?

– What is your testimony?  What one characteristic would you say clearly distinguishes you from non-Christians in your workplace, school, neighborhood, etc.?

Feb 17 2012

The Joy of Giving (In other words – we’re doing something right!!)

Being a parent is really tough at times. Our child has gotten to terrible 3s. (The 2s weren’t so bad…but the 3s…let me just tell ya!)

She has reached an age where her vocabulary is full enough to talk back to us on purpose. She has become adventurous, louder, and extremely OCD about how everything should be lined up. Her imagination is on full blast, and she gets caught up into these imaginary worlds and often times forgets to come back to earth. She has darted away from us a few times in public, scaring us silly.

Sometimes, I feel like we’re going a stellar job raising her. Most of the time, I feel like a colossal failure. I see other kids sitting still in class, and ours decides that since a crayon is on the floor under the table, rather than tell the teacher, or wait till later, she hops up and pushes the girl next to her out of her chair so she can climb under and retrieve the crayon (remember, OCD, it has to be picked up now and put in its proper place).

I know, I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. She is only 3. But that doesn’t mean she should chuck her tennis shoes down the stairs at someone’s head after class time at Life group does it? Or if she falls down the wooden stairs because she’s jumping on them in sock feet, she should learn her lesson and not do it again immediately after we wipe the tears away, right?

Enter Valentine’s day. We woke up and had heart shaped sweet rolls, and gave Josie a Veggie Tales movie about God’s love. She had a good day at Mother’s Day Out at Crieve Hall. I got home, and we sat down for dinner. We went through the mail, and Josie had a card from my parents, her grandmommy and granddaddy.

She opened up the card, and out fell a crisp $5 bill from them for Valentine’s Day. Immediately, all on her own, Josie said “Oh daddy, look, I can give this like the lady did at church!”. I wasn’t exactly sure what she was talking about at first, so we asked a few clarification questions.

Come to find out, she wanted to give all she had like the widow had done when she gave her two pennies to God. She wanted to give the $5.00 grandmmommy and granddaddy had sent her to God.

All of a sudden, the running from us, the random screaming, the hard times in parenting, the lack of sense in some of her decisions…didn’t matter.

I realized that she is listening, and paying attention. She isn’t just a bundle of energy ready to explode. She IS paying attention to her Sunday School lessons and Wednesday night lessons. She IS paying attention to what mommy and daddy are teaching her at home.

Never stop teaching your children what is right. Train them up in the way of the Lord, and they will not depart from it!

Jan 2 2012

My Prayer for 2012

As I think back on the year we have just finished, I can’t help be be ever so thankful to God for what He has blessed me and my family with.  Our God is an amazing God, and there is truly none like Him.

Even though God is not confined by space and time, we here on earth are bound by its limitations.  The start of the New Year is probably not that big of a deal to God.  For various reasons, however, we as humans are infatuated by the end of a year and the beginning of a new one.  

For many of us, it gives us a chance to put something behind us.  For some, its a time to make resolutions for the new year.  While thinking of how I want to start my 2012, my mind goes to Colossians 1:9-14.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.  And we pray this in order that you may life a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in ever way:  bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all peer according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

I look at this and wonder about a lot of things, namely:

1.  What would our lives look like if in the past we had taken time to pray this prayer for ourselves and each other?

2.  What could our 2012 look like if we do the same?

When was the last time you prayed for God to fill you with the knowledge of His will?  Not just a tiny bit, but filled!  Wouldn’t you love to be filled with the practical knowledge of God’s will?  Wouldn’t you love to understand even more what God has in store for you in your life?  Instead of guessing, why not pray that his will be revealed in your life?

In verse 10, Paul prays that the Colossians will also bear fruit in every good work.  Not just one good work, but in every good work, so God will be glorified!  Are  you being fruitful?  Are you willing to pray for God to help you bear more fruit for Him in 2012?

He also prays they will grow in their knowledge of God.  Think of the impact you can have on your life and others if you pray to grow in the knowledge of God, and pray the same for others!  How will you daily increase in your knowledge of God this year?

Finally, Paul prays they will be strengthened with all power so we can have endurance and patience.  There is a power to experience, a glorious wondrous power to experience, if allow God to do so.  Remember, Philippians 4:13?  I can do ALL things through Christ.

He also prays for their patience.  Were you lacking in patience in 2011?  Maybe its time to step up and pray for more of it.  I know I need it.  Patience is so hard to have, that maybe it would serve us well to pray for more of it!

God, will you bless us in 2012?  May you help us to desire to be filled with your will.  May we be filled with your wisdom and spiritual understanding.  In 2012, may we walk in a way that is worthy of wearing your name.  

May we bear good fruit this year.

May we grow in our knowledge of you.

Will you please give us the endurance we need to make it through this year?  We know there will be constant attacks from the evil one.

Will you give us patience with each other, with the world, with everyone we come in contact with?

Bless us in these ways, so we can share in your inheritance!

Nov 28 2011

I Sound My Barbaric Yawp – Psalm 100

Last Wednesday, I asked my morning Bible class to take a moment and write out some things they were thankful for – here are some, not all of the responses and these are completely anonymous:

-Christian Friends
-Good health
-Grandchildren
-Health to be able to help others
-My well being
-Church and Christian friendships
-Children who live nearby and who are faithful Christians
-Mothers and Fathers who taught them how important the Bible is and how to live a Christian life
-Conquering cancer…twice
-Life’s hard knocks that taught me lessons and made me stronger
-American military for protecting me for so many decades through WWI and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and more.
-God’s sustaining power throughout the problems of life.
-For children who decided to take me in and take care of me, and for God helping me realize that I needed -someone to be responsible for me in my older years.
-And of course my personal favorite was this one: I’m thankful for my handicap placard

Psalm 100 starts out by saying “Shout for joy to the Lord,” and I believe this starts with thankfulness.

I envision this being a shout of joy to the Lord that comes from the very depths of your being.


Maybe He has given you the direction to go. Maybe He has provided a blessing, and you realize that it has come from God. So from the depths of your being you proclaim your praise.

Back in 1989, a movie by the name of “Dead Poets Society” was released. It took place on the campus of Welton Academy Prep School, whose ethos is defined by the headmaster as “tradition, honor, discipline and excellence.”

The teaching methods of a new English teacher, John Keating (played by Robin Williams) are unorthodox by the standards of Welton Academy. He tells the students to call him “O Captain! My Captain” in reference to a poem by Walt Whitman.

In one part of the movie, Keating has asked his students to write a poem. One student named Todd who is very timid and does not fully appreciate the radical nature of Mr. Keating, does not write a poem. The students are reading their poems outloud.

Keating approaches Todd’s desk. and says “Mr. Anderson, I see you sitting there in agony. Come on, Todd, step up. Let’s put you out of your misery.

Todd says: I, I didn’t do it, I didn’t write a poem.

Mr Keating responds by saying: Mr. Anderson thinks that everything inside of him is worthless and embarrassing. Isn’t that right, Todd? Isn’t that your worst fear? Well, I think you’re wrong. I think you have something inside of you that is worth a great deal.

Keating walks up to the blackboard and begins to write.

“I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world.” W. W. Uncle Walt again. Now, for those of you who don’t know, a yawp is a loud cry or yell. Now, Todd, I would like you to give us a demonstration of a barbaric “yawp.” Come on. You can’t yawp sitting down. Let’s go. Come on. Up.

Todd reluctantly stands and follows Keating to the front.

Keating tells Todd: “You gotta get in “yawping” stance.”

Todd and Mr. Keating then go round and round. Mr Keating tries to get Todd to let out his barbaric Yawp, but Todd keeps mumbling, not getting into it. Mr. Keating starts to frustrate Todd, and finally Todd screams out YAWP!!

Mr. Keating looks at him and says “There it is. You see, you have a barbarian in you after all.

I think of this dialogue every time I read this verse – Shout for joy to the LORD! What the Lord has done for us deserves a Shout for Joy! And that is what the Psalmist is saying. “Suddenly you realize that God has been so good to you that you can’t keep it inside any more. From the depths of your being you shout your joy unto the Lord.” You let out your YAWP of praise.

So go ahead, shout for joy to the Lord!

Nov 21 2011

Don’t Be So Hard on Them

I’ve been a daddy for almost 3 1/2 years now. For most of that time, I’ve probably been way to hard on my little girl.

I need to realize that my child is not 33 years old like me. She can’t comprehend all the things I ask her to do. She doesn’t quite understand the principle of cause and effect. She doesn’t quite see that what we tell her is for her own good, and not for our entertainment.

I’ve always been overprotective of things. I never wanted our family dog to wander too far away from my sight when I was a kid. When other parents are a little more carefree than I am, I seem to be the one making sure they don’t break their leg while trying to balance on an upside down chair while doing a one handed hand stand. While other parents may be able to look past these things, I seem to be the one who is worried all the time that my child will run under some elderly person at church and cause them to break a hip.

This morning, I realized I was robbing my child of joy. I went home for an early lunch of pb & j, and while I was eating she kept telling me “Daddy, watch me!” and she would jump as high as she could on the rug in our living room. After about 4 attempts at trying to jump over the rug, I told her to stop. She was shaking the whole house, and I could just see something falling over and breaking.

While Kristen and I were talking, I heard that familiar sound of those feet landing on the floor again…and I reacted quickly. I went to her and said “Daddy asked you to stop jumping in the house” and gave her the stern look that is supposed to work but never does. She looked at me and gave me a frown, and walked away. I took away her joy.

I think there’s a fine line between letting a child have fun and letting a child run wild. I’m always very aware at church service not to let her run too wild. But what’s wrong with her jumping in the house? Not a thing at all. Relax Lane, its just a little girl jumping with all her might. She’s having fun. Lighten up a little, and maybe she’ll see you for the fun guy you really are instead of the grumpy old troll who lives under the bridge. Jump as high as those little legs will let you!

And if you break something, let’s blame mom.

Oct 9 2011

Where We’ve Been and What’s Going On

On September 12, Kristen, Josie and I packed out bags and headed eastbound and down to Nashville, TN. After serving as the Associate and Worship Minister for the West University Church of Christ in Houston, TX for the past 3 years, God called us home to be close to our family once again.

More importantly, God called us to a new church home at the Granny White Church of Christ, where I now serve as the preaching minister. Never in my life could I have imagined how welcoming and inviting this church family has been.

From even 2 days before we arrived, church members gathered at our home to unload all our belongings into the house. Most of these people had never met us, but had just met us via video. When we arrived in Nashville on the 13th of September, we knew immediately how loved we were. We were met with a giant sign on our front porch welcoming Josie specifically from all the kids in the church. I think that first night we had about 20 visitors that just stopped by to say hey.

Since that day, we’ve hit the ground running and haven’t stopped. Preaching full time has been an adjustment, but I think I’m handling it okay. We’ve had many events to go to, many people to get to know, visits to make, and unpacking to do.

I don’t know that I’ve had a free weekend since I arrived. The GW church is so very active and always seems to have some great event going on, from the youngest to the oldest.

It is an honor to serve at this blessed place. We miss our friends from Houston, and really wish we could have packed them up and brought them here with us. Please pray for them as they continue in their search to replace my position I held there.

There are some great things going on at Granny White, and I want to personally invite you to come be a part! Hope to see you!

Aug 25 2011

Josie, The Turtles, and God


Today, we received some rain in Houston. This may not seem like big news to some, but its HUGE to us here. Read a post from my wife’s blog below, and then read some thoughts below that.

Oyster Creek
There’s a park here in Sugar Land called Oyster Creek Park. It has a fantastic running trail that weaves in and out of wooded areas along the creek for about 4 1/2 miles. I used to run over there all the time, but now I’ve gotten lazy and just run in our neighborhood. It had been a while since we’d been over to the park, so this morning Josie and I loaded up on the bicycle and rode over there to play on the playground and see the turtles. We played on the playground for a while and ate a snack, then got back on the bicycle to go a little further down the trail to the bridge where the turtles swim. I was shocked as we got close enough to see that the creek was COMPLETELY dried up. We haven’t had significantly measurable rain in the Houston area in over 250 days, so I don’t know why I didn’t expect this. It was really sad. There used to be hundreds of turtles swimming around in the water. We did see one turtle out in the middle of the trail, obviously looking for water. If I’d known somewhere to take him, I would have. The whole place smelled like death and there was a big group of vultures in the middle of the dried-up creek bed.
But at least it presented a “teaching moment” for Josie. I told her we needed to pray and ask God to send some rain so the turtles can swim again. She said “Okay, tonight when I go to bed and we say our prayer, I’ll ask God to send rain for the turtles.” So, then I got to teach her that we don’t have to pray just at mealtimes or at night before we go to bed. I told her that God can hear our prayers anywhere at anytime. So, we said a prayer right there while riding on a bicycle together. Then she asked me “Where is God?” and I was relieved when she accepted the answer, “God is everywhere! He’s all around us!”. Not sure if I’m ready for deep, theological questions yet!

Majority of the state of Texas is in a severe drought. The city of Houston is starting to regulate water usage. People can only water their lawns on certain days and at certain times. We’re encouraged to take 5 minute (or less) showers, which I’d be happy to do if they could increase the water pressure so I can rinse the soap off faster! Unfortunately, meteorologists don’t see an end in sight unless we get a tropical storm this direction. So, please pray that God will send some rain (even in the form of a tropical storm!) to Texas!

Last night when I said goodnight to Josie, she said “I’m sorry the creek is all dried up and the turtles don’t have anywhere to swim.” I told her to pray to God for rain so the turtles could swim again. She said with a smile – OKAY!

She woke up this morning, and at breakfast she busted out into a spontaneous prayer, and again, prayed for rain for the turtles.

Oh how faithful God is, because he sent some rain this way after a sweet and devoted faithful girl prayed to Him for rain. How great is our God indeed.

Aug 9 2011

Model Christianity or True Christianity?

Today, our house went on the market.  We have lived in this house since April of 2009.  It has been a great home to us.  Josie learned how to do so many things here.  We’ll forever have memories of our lives on Coopers Post Lane.  The great thing about our home – its been lived in and loved.  When you walked into our house, you would see photos of family and friends, you would see Josie’s toys on the floor, you would see Christian verses on the wall, and you would smell something cooking in the oven.

So imagine if you would, how hard it has been the past few days getting ready to sell the home.  Since we have a bit of a time crunch on our hands, we decided to pay a little extra money and stage the home.  This is a common tactic and works very well.  Our realtor says she has much better results when a client will stage their home.  She recommended a lady, we hired her, and she came on Saturday to “stage” our home.  When she walked in the door, she was full of life, and told us in the most cheerful way “After I’m done today, you’ll hate me, but your home will sell if you let me do my job”…and it began.  She started taking pictures off the wall, moving things around, telling us that our home didn’t look like a “model” home.  She said buyers want to see it as a model home, not as a home that’s lived in.  That’s a challenge, because until we move, we still have to live there!

Our home now looks similar, but different than it has the past few years.  Josie can’t have toys out, I had to move my La-Z-Boy Recliner to the hall, we have to have place settings out all the time on the table so it looks like we’re always ready to have dinner, all in all…things are just not who we really are, but I have to tell you, it looks good.  When the photographer came to take the photos, I couldn’t believe it was our house.

The problem is that is not how we live.  Its a burden to always have everything looking “phony but real”.  For someone looking to buy a home, they will walk in and think it looks wonderful.  For someone living there, we sit there and think “this looks silly…no one would live like this”, and that’s the point.  No one would live like that, but the way it has been staged is set up to feature the best parts of our home and draw your eyes to those features.

I stop and think about how this works in our lives.  I try my hardest not to hide anything about who I am.  I am not perfect by any means, and if I tried to make people think I was perfect, that would take a lot more effort than its worthy.  How tiring would it be to always have to pretend to be someone you’re really not?  Its so much easier just to live your life truthfully to everyone, so they can always know who they get when they see you.  Don’t be one way in front of your church family, and a different way in front of your work family.  Eventually, the two sides may meet, and one of them is going to see your “fake” side.  Wouldn’t it just be easier to be true to yourself and to them all the time?

I don’t want people to see me and think, “I wonder if he’s being genuine, or if he’s just being that way to make me think he’s a Christian”.  True Christianity can’t be taken off.  It can’t be hidden, and it can’t be taken away.  Its who you are.  Its not a model home to show off, and once the people looking are gone you get back to living your normal life.  Its a 24/7 life that God has called us to live.  So which are you living?  A life of Model Christianity or True Christianity?