How to be an Artist

“If you work with your hands, you’re a laborer.

If you work with your hands and your mind, you’re a craftsman.

If you work with your hands and your mind and your heart, you’re an artist.”

—Saint Francis of Assisi

In Defense of Defense

With the Superbowl just around the corner, everyone is gearing up for their Superbowl parties and dusting off their footbal lingo ("Spread the D!", "Hit the gaps!", "Stay in your lane?", etc.). One of my favorites is "The best offense is a good defense," whatever that means. And what game would be complete without those overused letter "D" cutouts with the white picket fences?

One of my favorite stories about DE - FENSE is from the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 17. Little shepherd boy, David, is wanting to fight this great big ol' dude named Goliath in DEFENSE of his God and his nation. This guy has been talking bad about the two things David cherishes the most, and he has had enough. Even though everyone else is scared to death of the warrior champion Goliath, David will not stand by and allow this injustice to go on. It is time someone came to the DEFENSE of what is right and good and true.

He tells everyone that he wants to go fight the giant and they try to talk him out of it. When David will not be persuaded to drop the matter, they send him to the king, Saul. Saul tells David that he's too young to fight this battle proven Philistine. So, David tells a story.

 [1Sa 17:34-36 KJV] - [34] And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: [35] And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered [it] out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught [him] by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. [36] Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.


And you know what? David went out on the battle field, and with well-practiced execution, did exactly what he set out to do. He killed the giant and won a great battle in DEFENSE of the things he loved.
 
But what I wanted to point out is this, be careful what you defend and how you defend it. If you are going to defend someone or something else, you'd better be ready to defend yourself as well. David saved that little lamb from the lion, and awesome display of defense of a helpless creature. But what happened next? The beast arose against David next. David's defense of the lamb turned into David's defense of himself.
 
When you defend others from attack, oftentimes the attack turns toward YOU.
 
That's why you should be very careful. However, when your defense includes the Name of the Lord, without a doubt, there is no OFFENSE better than that DEFENSE!

Mistreated?

Okay, so it's been a little while since I've blogged. (Understatement alert!) But Liz told me that she's starting to send people to the blog, which is her way of shaming me into action. So, here we go again.

Quote for today = "For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God." 1 Peter 2:19

Well, that's not a very popular philosophy now-a-days, is it? So, many people are clamoring and fighting and whining over their "right" to not be offended or treated unfairly lately. How dare you make me feel uncomfortable?! But the Bible kind of squashes that way of thinking altogether, here. You mean, being mistreated can be a GOOD thing? How?

Here's how; "because he is conscious of God." You see, no matter how badly or unfairly people treat you, it should always make you mindful of how badly and unjustly we treated HIM... yet He loved us. As a matter of fact, He loved us so much that He gave His only begotten son to die for us. Was that FAIR? Was that JUST? No, but I sure am thankful.

So, it CAN be good to be treated badly IF you don't let it make you angry. Let it make you thankful instead.

Fruit Must GROW

I have been thinking about the Fruit of the Spirit today.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

This little passage comes right after the author is talking about the "works of the Flesh", where he lists off a whole bunch of bad things that people really shouldn't do. I found the comparison very interesting. The apostle, Paul, the writer of this passage, is very careful in the words he uses. He talks about "WORKS of the flesh" vs. "FRUIT of the Spirit".

I think that many times we try to battle against "works of the Flesh" with "works of the Spirit", but Paul says that's not how it's done. These good things that we are all striving to posess, they are not things that we can WORK up, really. You can't go off and "work up" some more peace. You can't really bear down and concentrate and drum up some extra faithfulness. You can't work really hard and crank out some gentleness any more than you can crank out a banana. No amount of elbow grease will "work up" an apple.

This is the nature of FRUIT; it has to GROW.

Stop trying to "work up" your fruit. It will only frustrate you. Fruit takes time. Consistent time in the sun, periodical watering, and absorption of nutrients in the soil, that's how you grow fruit. Just walk, steadily, in your relationship with God through prayer, Bible reading, worship, and fellowship. Don't rush the process. The fruit will take care of itself if you just let it GROW.

Words that Fit

Well, obviously, it's been a long time since my last post. The busiest time of year is behind me now, at least for a little while, and I'm starting to breath again.

Lots has changed since I last posted, my family and I moved back to my old home town. Don't you just hate moving? It is very good to be back with old friends and family, though. I'll tell you, it is such a relief to let the kids run outside and play or go next door to my grandparents' house and not have to worry about traffic or creepy people or getting lost. Small towns are just wonderful... most of the time.

I have been thinking about words today. Do you know how powerful and important your words are?

Proverbs 25:11

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."

The right word said at the right time can be a priceless thing, like sweet fruit ripe and pleasant to taste, loaded with seeds of potential and health and growth.

The wrong word at the wrong time, however, can be bitter and rotten and sickening.

We've all been careless with our words on occasion, and our timing hasn't always been good. But if that is the case, one thing is ALWAYS timely and appropriate; an apology.

What kind of words are you sharing today?

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

7 years ago today I couldn't wait for that older guy standing next to the girl in white to say, "Her mother and I do." As much as I love Mike Dugan, I just wanted to rush down that aisle and push him out of the way so that I could take my place next to my girl. I couldn't wait to be her husband, her protector, her provider, her confidant, her friend for ever. It's still my favorite thing.

We've gone through a lot in 7 short years: love, hurt, happy, sad, high, lows, better, worse, two cats, two kids, a dog... We've even passed through the very valley of the shadow of death. And I wouldn't change a thing. You see, now I know what true devotion is, what true loyalty, true love, true caring, true joy is. I know because Liz showed me.

Now, I'm far from perfect, but I'm a better man today, all because of a girl. I still love walking down store aisles with her arm in mine. I still love holding hands in the car. I still can't wait every day to come home from work or wherever and rush over to my place next to my girl. She is my favorite person, after all.

Happy Anniversary, Lizzy!

Who's Laughing Now?

Finally, I’ve found a quick minute to blog again! It’s nice to get some time for my own brain for a change.


I said that I wanted to talk about some of those amazing questions that God used in the Bible to teach us some amazing lessons. The first one I would like to address is found in the story of Abraham and Sarah. God made an awesome promise to Abraham, saying that he would be the father of many nations. God said that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, would have a son. Well, when God was having this private conversation with Abraham, Sarah, as wives have a tendency to do at least in my experience, was being a bit nosy. She was eavesdropping on the whole conversation. (Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind my wife being nosy. I wouldn’t remember anything or get anything done if she wasn’t. Something tells me Abraham wasn’t much different from me in that regard. My wife calls it “Male-itus”.) Naturally, when people start talking about you, you want to hear what they have to say. And this wasn’t just “people” this was GOD, Himself, talking to her husband about her. Can’t you just see Sarah, crouched outside the tent, her ear hovering at the tent-flap opening? The Bible says that Abe and Sarah were very old and “well advanced in age”. How long had they been married? How much had they gone through together? Anything that concerned and affected her husband affected and concerned her. So, she listened.

“He thinks I’m going to have a baby? Ha. That’s a good one!” Sarah, close enough to overhear God speak but far enough away to think that He couldn’t hear her, began to laugh at the absurdity of the idea.

Genesis 18:13-14


And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear [a child], since I am old?' 14) Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."

With a quick question, God exposed Sarah’s lack of faith and reminded her of exactly who she was dealing with. Sarah endured a lesson I believe God is anxious for us ALL to learn.

How many times has God spoken a promise to us? How many times has He placed a hope or planted a dream inside of us? And how many times have we looked at the absurdity of that calling, of that idea, and laughed at it? “Yeah, right! Like I could ever do that! Please!”

But God is thinking, “Why are you laughing at my plans for you? Is anything too hard for me?” I think we would be amazed at what God wants for us and what He could do through us IF we could just open our tiny minds and believe.

So, the next time some awesome thing comes to mind, some vision of greatness that you could achieve for the Kingdom of God, don’t laugh to yourself and push the thought away. Ask yourself, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Don’t underestimate what God can do through you. Remember Sarah, step into your destiny, and enjoy your promise.