back to the grindstone

Well, after two barbecues, a pontoon ride (and near sink) and a last meal at Moe & Johnny's, my sister left for Honduras again. The capital city, Tegucigalpa (Tegus for short), is still shut down to airplanes so she had to fly into San Pedro Sula instead.

She landed a couple of hours ago and is heading back to Esuela El Sembrador (which is now 8 hours ago instead of 4.)

Pray for her as she travels and pray for the kids at the school and the missionaries there that God would be glorified in their midst through the spread of the Gospel in Honduras.

-joe

the rbf

For those who missed the most amazing event of the year, the RBF (or Round Barn Festival for those city-slickers who don't know), it was incredible.

My sister has a sweet picture post you should check out.

And if you're wondering why we think the picture with the VFW cannon is so funny, let's just say there was a certain "incident" my dad's senior year of high school that involved a canon, a sheet, a lit up switchboard, the high school, handcuffs and about 12 people.

Don't ask too many questions...the details are a little fuzzy. (But I'll be glad to recount the whole thing to you sometime.)

-joe

simplifying life

I unsubscribed from about 120 blogs today in a small effort to simplify my life.

I've done this in other areas as well. I've stepped back from reading several books at a time to just 2 (ok, 3...but the third one is fiction.)

I've also started going to bed at a reasonable hour in the hope that I'll start getting up earlier. (It has worked a little bit. I'm getting up about a 1/2 hour earlier now.)

The more I simplify the more I'm reminded of how simple life really is.

Get up-trust in God.

Work-trust in God.

Hang out-trust in God.

Go to bed-trust in God.

Plus, with having 120 less subscribtions to read, I can blog more regularly.

-joe

this is jeopardy

I'm a fan of Jeopardy. It has a certain appeal for a lot of folks, despite the fact that most of us have no idea what the answers are...and most of the time we don't have any clue what the clue means. But, we still watch. It amazes us that people know the things that they know.

We are mesmerized by knowledge or the appearance of knowledge. There is no doubt that some of the folks on Jeopardy are some of the smartest people on the planet, but most of the contestants aren't that smart...they've simply memorized tons and tons of random trivia.

As I was watching tonights episode (which is close 18,400; 10,800; and 18,000 heading into the final clue) I couldn't help but think of this sad reality in churches.

Too often we let the person with the most "trivia" knowledge of Christianity be the teacher. They know a ton of stuff about a ton of stuff but many times they know little of Christ and the momentous weight it holds for believers. They can often spend hours talking of little known things in the history of Christianity or in Scripture but can't spend more than a few minutes discussing the implications of the resurrection of Jesus.

Perhaps we'd be wise to choose more foolish teachers. After all, we're told that the cross is foolishness and to avoid myths and speculations (trivia).

I often wonder if at times I look more like a Jeopardy contestant rather than a lover of Jesus when I teach.

Lord, make me a treasurer of the Gospel and a teacher of truth.

-joe

guitarring

I had forgotten how much I enjoy just sitting around strumming my guitar. I spent about an hour the past couple of evenings picking and plucking my way through a bunch of stuff and it was a lot of fun.

One of the benefits of being able to play an instrument (especially guitar...or piano...or banjo...or something of that sort) is that you can play accompaniment for yourself for any tune you know.

Tonight I spent most of the time singing through hymns that I've transcribed for guitar and it was a good time of worship, praising my God for his great salvation.

Find some time to do the same, if you can.

-joe

back on the wagon

Well, it's been nearly a month since I posted anything...but I've gotten my life almost halfway normalized, so I figured it was time to start writing again.

Once of the most difficult things in life is to own up to mistakes, sins and blunders. It is never easy to say "I was wrong" or "I said something that was hurtful and I apologize." Over the past month I've had to own up to a lot of junk. And, man, it has been tough at times.

On the other hand, it is easily one of the best feelings in the world to be free from the weight of unconfessed sins and mistakes. It takes a burden off that is hard to describe. I encourage all to confess freely...it brings freedom.

The other side, which I have found equally difficult, is to accept grace and forgiveness. I always thought confession was the hardest...but it is almost harder to accept forgiveness when you know there is no reason other than grace and love.

Ponder the weight of this in regards to salvation and the tears are sure to flow. You and I have stolen glory from God for years (and we continue to do so daily) and yet he loves us...for the sake of his own love. What an unfathomably great grace he bestowed in his Son, Christ Jesus.

Amen,

-joe