The Way of the Cross

My wife and I will use this phrase from time to time, "The Way of the Cross..." We will use it in sentences like, "The best way to go is the way of the cross..." or "I have just decided that I am going to go the way of the cross..."

But what are we really saying?

We asked ourselves this question the other day when things weren't turning out quite right in a situation. Was this way of the cross really what we were hoping it would be? Now that we are thinking about it, did the way of the cross end up all that well?

We know that ultimately it does, but what about in the here and now? Doesn't the way of the cross lead to ... a ... well to a cross? Isn't there a certain amount of sacrifice and death associated with His way? Maybe that is why Jesus said, "...take up your cross daily, die to self, and follow me..."

Well, this isn't meant to be a long drawn out post, full of in-depth explanations, so I will get right to it:

Following after Jesus, and doing things His way doesn't always look so pretty and so spiritual. Sometimes it is messy and challenging and sometimes there is a cross there. A cross where you have to die. Loving your enemies requires a little bit of that kind of death. So does showing joy in trials and reigning in your tongue and choosing to overcome your fear with love and working hard as if you were working for the Lord and being meek and humble and...

But. But there is not other way.

And in the end... What a wonderful way it truly is.

Running on Dunkin

Have you seen this Dunkin Commercial?

Good Listening

I just bought Keith Green the live experience CD/DVD Combo.

I went into the store to buy my wife a CD for Mother's day. While I was back browsing the CD's I noticed this one out of the corner of my eye. I am recommending it because I absolutely love it.

I have always loved Keith Green. And even though I didn't start listening to him until after he had died, he was still a major influence in my life. His music opened my eyes to a much different perspective of Christianity than I was completely familiar with. His message is still impacting me.

So, I heartily recommend this CD and DVD. Especially if you are already a Keith Green fan, you will really enjoy this. There should be some clips on the right hand column of this blog. If there aren't, please drop me an e-mail.

Eager Expectation

The first dog I can remember was named Smokey. I am not sure what happened to Smokey. He simply faded out of my most ancient memories. I don't recall anything specific about him, other than the fact that I owned him and now I don't.

The second dog I owned was named Smokey (Or Smokey II, if you will...). He ran away more times than I can remember, but always came back. At least he came back everytime but the last time. The last time he got away was the last I ever saw him.

The third dog I owned was named Norman. I picked him out of the pound, all on my own, while my parents were away on vacation. More than once a day he would knock over my little sisters and make them cry. Then he chewed a piece of siding off of the garage and made my dad cry. (Actually, he didn't really cry. It was sort of like a pot of water coming to a boil.) We got rid of Norman, which is a funny story on its own, but I don't have time for it here.

The fourth dog was named Sophie. I am not going to lie to you, I loved Sophie. She was a good dog. She was run over by a Ford Explorer (front and back tire) and survived. She taught me about loyalty, despite treatment, she gave me great practice with parenting, and she showed me that I had an anger problem. We had to give her up because of our busy schedules.

The final dog came by way of a Christmas present to our children, and a friend of my wife's. His name is Milo, and I have to say that that I have grown fond of this dog, though I swore I would get attached. What is more important, and what has inspired this post, is the dog's fondness to me.

To be sure, he will eagerly await all of us to arrive home at the end of the work day, but once I arrive, he becomes my shadow. He will follow me room to room and find comfortable spots that are as near to me as I will allow. The picture shown at the top of this post is a picture taken when I was gone on my trip to Charleston. My wife sent it to me, telling me that is how he had been sitting throughout the night.

I am not putting too much into the thoughts and sentimentalities of dogs, but I have to say that it paints a great mental image to our own eager expectations of Christ's return. Do you sit at the window, anxiously awaiting Him? Is the one thing you want, to sit at His feet? Are you yearning to be His shadow?

He which testifieth these things saith, "Surely I come quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:20 (KJV)

What Would a Mom Say?

I saw this on TV somewhere. Then I heard it on the radio the other day, but Greg Adkins found it on YouTube.



[ht: Greg Adkins]

Some recommendations...

Here are a few web sites that I use regularly, that you may or may not have heard of.

Remember the Milk

Remember the Milk is great for those of you who like the to-do lists and also like quippy little names for websites.

It is a great organizer and it also coordinates with your Gmail and Google Galendar. There is also an offline feature that comes in handy. I highly recommend this site.

Jott

Jott is awesome. I cannot tell you just how awesome it is. It is a phone service where you can call in and it will transcribe your voice into text, but that isn't even the half of it.

You can also send jotts. I can call and it will send a text message to my wife.

OR... I can call and send a jott to myself. It will send me an e-mail of my words. But before you hang up, it will ask you if you want a reminder. If you say yes, then you can pick the date and time for that reminder. It will then send you a text message at that time. Cool.

Jott also coordinates with services like Google Calendar, Remember the Milk, and Blogger, just to name a few.

Grand Central

Grand Central was purchased by Google last year. I guess they aren't taking any new users right now, which is too bad, because it is really cool.

It is one phone number for all of your phone numbers. If you call my Grand Central number, it will ring all of my phones. If you are one of my contacts, you will get a personalized voice mail message and maybe even a personalized ring. All of my voice mails through Grand Central will go to my Gmail inbox.

Check out some other features of Grand Central.

give them an inch...

 
While on a field trip, you must maintain control of students at all time. This is an absolute imperative. Control must be maintained!

Losing this control can be dangerous for the students and also for the teachers. This is why you cannot give them an inch. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. And you might end up in a situation like this...