tough...

WOULD YOU BE HAPPY IN HEAVEN IF CHRIST WERE NOT THERE?

The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—

is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the

friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and

all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beau-

ties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no

human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with

heaven, if Christ were not there?

God is the Gospel by John Piper

i am reading/listening to a book and this quote is from another book ... make sense?

i will try and un-pack some of my thoughts on this later, but i would love to hear yours.

mid-day friday post

i don't think that i have posted many mid-day posts, or at least it has been a long time.
this is my mid-day rant...i hate the preperation work. i hate sitting in the office trying to make sure that every thing is ready for the actual work that has to be done. i hate getting everything lined up, straightened out, double checked...i hate it all. your like...'dude, that's a lot of hate!' ...'yes it is!' , because that is how much i dis-like what i classify as "busy work".

i have a new account that is going on-line tomorrow. so, things have to be right and ready!

although i hate the prep work, it is absolutely necessary that it is done and done right. otherwise, when the "real work" happens...we have the potential to look like idiots. so, i procrastinate and i complain while i am doing the prep work.

i think this is my life most times. i am a big picture guy. get me at the front of the deal, center of the program and i am happy, comfortable and successful. or let me throw out 50 ideas of how things ought to be and cast a compelling vision. just don't ask me to dabble in the minutia of details. unfortunately or fortunately...depending on how you look at it, i am learning that true success happens because of the details. not in spite of them.

back to work! have a great halloween weekend!

legacy

what will be my legacy? i dont know if i have asked my self that lately, but i have been thinking about legacy. i have been thinking about my actions among others that i have influence over. about, what matters in forming a legacy. is it self perception or being able to step outside of your self. or if you think about legacy, does it mean that you probably won't have much of one...?

i dont know. somehow i think that our disciplines will determine our legacy. mark batterson had a quote on fb the other day, 'your ultimate destiny will be determined by your daily disciplines'. i liked that a lot! and it kicked me in the junk a lot at the same time.

i have no idea what my legacy will be, i really don't know that i am concerned with it too much. about the here and the now of legacy, when we are gone...make sense? but i am concerned with my ultimate destiny and making my life count for what counts! and it comes down, so many times, to the simple things. the daily things.

i posted several weeks ago that i was thinking about legacy. this past sunday, a student who i had ministered to about 3 or 4 years ago, ran into me as i was coming out of church...he was walking in. when i first met him he did not have a bible and i really had no idea of his spiritual background. but sunday he held up a tattered bible and said to me, 'look what i still have!' it was a bible that i had given to him at an outreach event the very first time i met him...it felt so good to see him holding that bible! it was something i needed to see...it reminded me of what God had done through me. the Story that He has included me in. the fact that He isnt done with me.

i am thinking legacy has to do with obedience. suffering instead of status. selflessness instead of selfishness. maturity. following more than leading. remembering and looking forward at the same time.

thanks for allowing random thoughts to flow from me... 2 posts in one week! you gotta be kidding me! have a good weekend. see ya in a week or so...

baseball

if you know me very well, if you don't let me enlighten you, i did not grow up a baseball fan. in fact, after the 94-95 MLB strike, i said i would never watch it again. i did not play baseball growing up, ever! no little league, no jr. high, no wiffle ball, no soft ball, no nothing. i didn't like it, why would i play it?

well, it is funny how your kids can change you... eric played baseball all summer and i help coach. we went to springfield cardinal games, we went to st. louis cardinals games, we practiced two days a week and sometimes had two games a week. we started practicing in may and played games until the very end of august.

eric improved so much through out the year and i had a blast. i was like a kid learning how to play. (i didnt let the parents know about my baseball knowledge or skill level...lol) i helped to coach with a buddy of mine from HS and a friend from down the street. it was a blast!

but now, i am a fan. a cards fan. not much cheering after their weekend elimination from the ALDS. and i have to ask my self, how do life long fans handle the disappointment? like cubs fans, year after year... you lose. how do you get geared up for the next season? now, let me say, i love wrigley field. eric and i got to go there last summer with a HS friend of mine and his son...and it is awesome! so much history and tradition and such raving fans....how do they do it?

anyway, just some random thoughts... i have a goal of getting back to more regular blogging. no promises, we'll see how that goes.

hmm...

let's see if i remember how to do this...

thoughts on safety-

i am thinking that safety is an unattainable illusion. don't get me wrong, i want safety...for my family, for my life. i want it, i plan for it, i pray and hope for it. but at the end of the day, it is unattainable.

as americans, one of the most dangerous things that we most of us do IS.... drive a car! really?we pray and pray for safety. we plan for it, we hope for it...and then we get in the car and do not even consider that this is the most dangerous thing we are going to do in our whole little life is drive a car. not to mention when i text, email and look at facebook while i'm driving. (don't frown...i know some of you do too.)

the funny thing i have been thinking lately is that when i read the scriptures, i don't often read about people who were worried about their safety. think about it, especially after Jesus had ascended.

i have no conclusions...just thoughts. i spend a lot of time thinking about what it takes to get things done in our business. i don't like to rock the boat, it typically isn't good for business. i want things to be safe, little risk. i like my life like that too. problem is, it doesn't line up with scripture very well.

what have you risked lately? i dont want to simply be a "boring" car driver...i want to live a risky life.

thats all i got for now...see ya next sunday night, maybe sooner.

hello

been thinking about blogging a little lately. i have some ideas that are floating around in my head, stuff that i am wrestling with.

i am either too tired or too lazy to do it, blog that is.... maybe later this week.

topics to discuss (in no order of importance)

-safety

-baseball

-legacy

-balance

-maturity

hope to see you soon!

discipline, envy and honesty

ok, this thought has been going through my head lately..BUT, this is not a thought out post...make sense?

i am very envious of people who are highly disciplined.  that is the honesty part of it...people who work out, run...people who are organized, people who are task and goal orientated....people who are have strong spiritual disciplines.  i am envious of those people.  not the people who can for a season be disciplined...but the one's who set out for a life of disciplined action.

i am not one of those people, yet.  and, to be honest again,  it pisses me off !  i know what is good for me...we all do.  if not spiritually then at least health wise, why is it so hard to be disciplined.  spending money, managing time, setting priorities, spending time on the important things, spending time with the Lord.

anyway...i am envious.  i am thinking through this stuff right now.  how do i become more disciplined?  i am guessing it isn't just as easy as it sounds. if it were people would just react, i would just set a plan of actions and follow them.  the problem isn't the set of actions it is the motive behind the action.  i am guessing it goes deeper into another level.  or i might just be over thinking it...