Being The Man of The House (Competing Desires)

"...And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
[Luke 1:17 (ESV)]


I love that phrase and passage. It comes from an Old Testament passage from Malachi. It is describing the coming of John (The Baptizer) and his job description. Isn't it interesting that a father's heart aimed at his children is a major indicator that a man is living like He's ready for the coming of Jesus?


Here's a simple litmus test for us dads who want to live like we're living for Jesus:
"How much focused time & energy do I spend towards my kids in comparison to my other desires?"
It's not about bible studies, breakfasts, sermons, events, church volunteer work, sports, TV, Facebook, phonecalls, coaching, working, schooling, hobbies, etc. Grow up and realize that THAT STUFF SHOULD COME AFTER THE FAMILY!

"What am I leading better than my kid's?"
Love & lead your kids like nothing else because this will leave the greatest, longest, and largest impact and my guess is that it will bring the most rewarding life too. Trust God's Word enough to live it out.

Good Morning Class, Time For A Pop Quiz

If the aforementioned title scares you, continue reading for some help:

"22 I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did."23 That is why the Lord left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all...4 These people were left to test the Israelites—to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses." [Judges 2:22-23, 3:4 (NLT)]

I was reminded (again) of the importance of the little pop quizzes (aka. pivotal moments) that God allows/orchestrates in our lives. He's been doing it since the beginning, you know! The whole run-in with the fruit and Adam & Eve wasn't some sort of accident it was their pop-quiz; a pivotal moment that could only end in 1 of 2 ways:  pass or fail. They obviously failed. (And the funny thing is that it wasn't one of those "trick" quizzes that aren't even on the material covered in class, it was right out of the Teacher's mouth.) And, as I'm reading the book of Judges

The only people who don't like these "pop quizzes" are the people that don't understand that a pop quiz is the best way to see if we've got this whole free-will-love-and-trust-in-God-thing down. There is always a purpose behind it; if God has everything in control, then he is orchestrating the pivotal moment(s) that faces you right now.

It's time for a pop-quiz. Are you going to pass or fail?

Put Your iTunes Library Online

Thanks to Lala.com now you can put your entire music library online. You can also download your Lala library to your iTunes library. Now your music libraries will be sync'd...for FREE!

check out Lala for the details.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:  it's not a true backup, so don't get rid of your regular backups.

Repition Reinforces Learning, But It Also Ruins Things For Me

Caden, being a typical 2-year old, wants to watch the same show & listen to the same song over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. It helps him learn. Apparently.

The Little Einsteins DVDs and Hillsong United's "Freedom Is Here" have now been ruined for me.

What The Angels & Kyokushin Karate Masters Taught Me This Week

It's funny what can turn into a teachable moment for me. One minute I'm just sitting down watching a show and all of the sudden a huge life lesson is emerging. It's kind of scary actually. I think it upsets people too. I'll lay out the life-lesson I was just reminded of and the look on their face tells me they're saying, "Can't you just have fun & stop thinking for a even a moment?!" [ I think my wife does this sometimes =) ]

Well, here's two major life-lessons that I was reminded of while watching TV this weekend (I hope they encourage you as much as they encouraged me):

1. Even when things look hopeless, never, ever, ever quit playing the game. - When the Angels were down to their last 3 outs of the game, down by 2 runs, at Fenway Park, my faith in an Angels' win was gone. But the Angels didn't loose hope, didn't give in, and they made one of the most spectacular come-backs I've seen in years!
   
2. Real strength is only built through experiencing real pain. - I found myself obsessively watching "Fight Quest" when they were highlighting the fighting style of Kyokushin Karate in Japan. I nearly stopped breathing when the Karate Masters were training their students in the woods and having them punch trees! A Master can apparently use a tree as a punching bag and throw punches at full force. Incredible! That is just one highlight of showing their real strength, but to truly grasp how strong they can be they have had to endure extreme pain. This principle drives all their training; they have a purpose behind the pain. I cannot begin to know how strong a person I really am if I never experience some pain. Pain is what builds and proves real strength.

A Simple Picture (Quick Thought On Life)

Two things you've got to know about me:  I love simple and I do better with pictures.
With that said, maybe you do too. This is why I had to share this thought.

Life is a journey of choices. Today's journey always impacts tomorrow's.

Toddler Hard At Work

Mom (aka. my wife, Ashley) was away for an entire weekend in September at a women's retreat, so that meant The Boys (aka. Caden and me) got some "man-to-man" time. What better way to have some "man-fun" than to wash our cars.
I washed mine and showed him how to wash his. I've never had so much fun washing my car before.