Getting Rich

Yesterday, for whatever reason, I decided to pull up some old Rich Mullins on my mp3 player. Immediately, my boys shouted, "Daddy, we've never listened to this song before!" It occurred to me that maybe in the last four years, we had listened to Rich Mullins some, but not enough for the boys to recognize it. Truthfully, many of the students I work with now probably don't even know who he is. I think that's a shame, and maybe I can still do something about that.

Most current teens don't know about him because in September of 1997, Rich Mullins was on his way to performing a benefit concert in Kansas, and was involved in an automobile accident, and died. Seems like a downer of a story. However, if you know about him, you know that he is finally home.

Rich Mullins was easily one of the best songwriters in Christian Music. One could argue that he was a great songwriter in ANY genre, but the mainstream world has a hard time accepting music whose lyrics bring honor to God, proclaim the Truth of Jesus Christ, and challenge people to step beyond themselves and become more of who God hopes we will be. That's what Rich Mullins' songs do. Notice it's in the present tense. Even though he is gone, his challenging lyrics will continue to reach into the heart of those that dare to let them in, and will shine a light on areas that need improvement or will encourage those that need it.

Rich Mullins covered alot of ground in his lyrics. Probably his two most known songs are the Praise & Worship song legends, "Awesome God," and "Sing Your Praise to the Lord." Others have risen to the top of my personal fave's such as "Screen Door," which is a challenge from the book of James to put some action to your faith, a strange looking title of a song called, "allrightokuhhuhamen," which is simply a song about the power of God's word, and then "If I Stand," which is a humble song about a man who wants nothing more than to trust in God and follow where He leads.

Rich Mullins did alot of work building relationships and teaching music on Native American Reservations in the Midwest, and had a heart for people who were some that Jesus might call "the least of these." He chose not to live in the lap of luxury, trusting elders from his home church to oversee what he made from his career in Christian Music, and allowed them only to pay him an amount to just above poverty level, so that he would never be driven by greed. The rest of his money was put towards some of his work on the Reservations or other charitable causes.

It is safe to say that Rich Mullins had an impact on me. If you have never had a chance to get to listen to any of his music, I recommend it highly. I'm thankful that not all the stuff on the internet is garbage, because it can be a resource to learn some really good stuff. Check out this video of Rich in Concert. It's a small portion of a full concert, but you can get a good glimpse at this man who spoke his mind, seemed pretty likeable, and was a great musician and songwriter. I'm sure he's playing greater music where he is than any he left here, but I'm glad he left some good stuff for us!



(Check out more on Rich Mullins HERE.)

Like me some LEGO Star Wars

This weekend, I did something kind of stupid. I stayed up until 1:30 AM playing LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. To some of you, that's not such a big deal. To the Father of two pre-schoolers who needed to be at his best for church the next day, it was quite the bad choice.

But, I can't help myself! Once I get started wielding the light-saber, and smashing up the little blocks, I just don't want to stop. I'm not particularly great at it, but as far as video games go, I'm better at this one than most that I play. (Except for Guitar Hero--I ROCK! Or at least the game said I do...)

My favorite way to play is in the "Free Play" mode. That way, I've already made my way through once, and have a chance to go back and use different characters to do different things that I didn't do before. I especially like using my own created character, which is actually really nothing special. I just created Darth Maul from the "newer" versions of the Star Wars Saga. But, lest you get too excited, you can't use a double-sided light-saber like in Episode I. But, it's red, so it's allgood.

I used to stay up late all the time in college, and even now, I can handle the late nights. What was really dumb about the whole thing was more that I was not even considering what Saturday night means in the preparation for worship the following day. Our Pastor says it all the time, that Sunday Morning worship is not just about being in the room, but just as much about preparing our hearts in advance for what God will do there during the worship. So, by staying up until 1:30, focusing on a video game, I very obviously made my choice about what was taking priority in my life this weekend.

Then, to top it all off, one of my boys came to see me at 5:15 on Sunday morning. There was a minor night-time potty incident, and I had to change sheets, and made it back to bed by 5:33, only to have to get up at 6:15 to get ready for church. I'm not saying God made my son pee to teach me a lesson, but I certainly learned one.

I learned another one on Sunday, as well. In spite of how I wasted the previous night, and regardless of how sleepy I thought I was, God showed up on Sunday, and I was incredibly blessed by the worship service. I pray that my worship was pleasing, but God's Mercy and Grace demonstrated to this LEGO-loving video-game-a-holic, was much greater than "the Force" ever could be.

I Scream for Ice-cream

I really like ice-cream. It’s quite easily the closest thing to a food addiction that I have. My very favorite is Mint Chocolate-chip, and it would be a toss-up between Mayfield or BlueBell as to which is my favorite brand of it. (Both are now available in your friendly, neighborhood Harris Teeter stores.) However, due to the cost of these particular brands here in Virginia, I have had to find some alternatives. I also began to realize that I need to branch out and try new flavors.

I really enjoy chocolate-chip cookie-dough, Rocky Road, Party Cake with Icing ribbons, and one from Kroger’s brand called, “Black Raspberry Chocolate Chunk.” Without a doubt, most people have their favorite Ben and Jerry’s flavor picked out, but these are also quite pricey and must be saved for those very special occasions. Like Thursdays.

For awhile there, you could not enter our house without expecting to find at least 2 half-gallons of ice-cream in the freezer. We would indulge in a small bowl just about every night. However, around this past Christmas, I decided that I had been eating way too much of it. Yes, I said it. I was just as shocked to hear the words coming out of my…off of my fingers…well, I was as surprised that I thought it, as some of you may be that I typed it. Make sense?

There really is too much of a good thing when it comes to ice-cream. While I may not have been putting on weight, per se, I know that there were probably things going on inside of my body that I could NOT see that were just as dangerous to me. Cholesterol, sugar intake, and whatever else I’m forgetting from my basic college Biology or health classes. Just because I could not see the dangers, didn’t mean they were not there. I decided it was time to cut back. I only eat ice-cream on the weekends now, and while there are days that I miss it, I know it’s better for me.

In the great, grand scheme of things, ice-cream is not usually considered a terrible danger to many people. Sure, there are diabetics and people with allergies that would disagree, but my point remains the same. Even things that are considered harmless by many folks, can carry some degree or element that can do more damage than good when abused or used incorrectly. Jogging is considered a healthy way to exercise, but if you have bad knees or a bad back, then not so much. Reading books is a good way to expand your mind, but if you read worldly books that influence your beliefs and actions in a negative way, then maybe you should go back to shrinking your mind.

My point is this. Almost anything that we consider to be good and helpful can be misused and turned into something harmful. We have an enemy that takes anything he can use, and tries to harm us. Whether by destroying our reputation, or character, or our health (such as the ice-cream), he tries to get the best of us.

Fortunately, our God is bigger and better than our enemy. What the devil intends for harm, God can use for His purpose—which is always good. I’m not sure how that all fits in as far as ice-cream goes, but when you find yourself in a rough time, when the world seems out to get you, and you really are doing your best to make your decisions according to God’s leading and instruction, then know that HE is at work in your life. HE is watching you, and HE will lead you through with new insight, new faith, and a renewed sense of who you are in Christ. That’s better than any mint chocolate-chip!

Driving Woes

You know, I enjoy my children. Alot! So, when someone on the road uses very poor judgment, or is just plain obnoxious, I have a hard time not getting angry, since they are actually putting my children in danger by doing so. Especially when they're pulling up in my back seat or cutting me off and barely missing the front fender. "These are my kids you're endangering, dude!" I shout these kinds of things at them--sure that it will help them change their ways.

Yesterday, as I was heading out after two sick days in a row, I noticed a large red Dodge Ram coming up quickly on my rear bumper. I already had intentions of changing into the right hand lane, and was reaching for my blinker when the guy started to swerve into the right lane. He quickly realized what I was doing, stayed in the lane behind me, and apparently gassed it, as suddenly he was just about on top of me. I must not have changed lanes fast enough, because as he passed, he pretended to swerve close to me as if to offer a warning.

Now, I'm not a violent guy most of the time, but I WANTED to pull the guy from his truck and force him to learn some manners. What I did was to have an inner war and hold my tongue and actions to a very minimal , “What a stinker!” (Remember, my boys were in the car, and I did NOT want to teach them that behavior. Let them learn it from their friends at school, where we all learned it!)

The truth is, what I saw as rude, obnoxious, and juvenile, is exactly what people observing my life would feel about my behavior at times. I don’t believe any of us is exempt from doing things that fall short of the socially acceptable norms. Sure, some like to argue that we should each do “what’s right for me,” and have no consideration for how their actions affect others. But, the moment my “what’s right for me” is inconvenient to those people, suddenly, there is a set standard they want to pull up.

The truth is, if we would all just kind of follow the Golden Rule of “Treat others the way you want to be treated,” I believe things could be a lot better. Oddly enough, Jesus said something like that, too. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” was how He said it.

So instead of worrying about what all of the Red Dodge Ram guys do to me, what I should consider is how can I be pro-active in how I treat them? What can I do to demonstrate the type of behavior I wish to receive? To some, it seems naïve, and everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion. But, I am going to choose to try and follow Jesus words. So the next time I see Red Dodge Ram guy, I’ll move out of his way earlier, and hope that he stays safe on the road!

Not Feeling so Good

Well, it's the time of year where lots of peole get to feeling pretty rough. I myself, have done everything I can do to avoid it, but it has caught up with me. I have these waves that pass over me that feel very flu-like. I get kind of loopy feeling, and go through fits of coughing where I feel like my toes are being pulled inside out and passing through my mouth.

But, I will get better. It may take a few days, and I will do my best to take the right medication to treat the symptoms. Then, after some time passes, I'll be back to my normal self.

As I like to do, let me take this to another level. How many people out there are sick in a spiritual sense, and don't realize it? Sure, they feel like they're doing well, but the truth is, the illnesses just lie dormant for awhile until the right time when they will wake up and terrorize the host. These may be things like lies, lusts, cheats, thefts, and a host of other "viruses" that attack the spiritual condition of people. When the conditions are right, they rear their ugly heads, and manifest themselves in equally horrible ways.

What if you forget to study for a test--that "cheater" germ begins to drop subtle symptoms. What about when you get caught doing something you shouldn't be doing? "Liesus fromya mouthus" is the clinical name of the disease that can strike at this point. Be careful when you surf the internet, because "Lustius Maximus" is an aggressive parasite that latches on to the host and can cause a lifetime of hurt.

You get the idea. (Hopefully.) Do what you can to avoid these illnesses, and if you discover that you are suffering from one or more, then go straight to the source of healing, and pray for relief. God will hear your cries, and if your heart is committed to the treatment, no matter how difficult it may be at times, and you're willing to follow-up with preventative care in the aftermath, then you will see results and succeed in breaking free from the spiritual sicknesses in your life.