Simply A Night Owl

Author’s Note: I originally wrote this piece back in September. There has been a lot of activity on this subject as of late so I thought it would be appropriate to bring this piece back to top of the list ~ Mike

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything

Ephesians 5:23-24

This, in my opinion is one of the most misinterpreted scriptures in the whole Bible. OK, maybe it’s not misinterpreted per se if one believes in inerrancy but I think that there’s a missing point. It’s my feeling that some believe that when the wife submits to the husband, it is an act of submission to the Lord. There might be some truth to that but it really just reeks of pride to me and that’s what I hear when I hear people speak of submission in this way. For most, submit means to yield or to defer; “I am the man; the head of the household and what I say goes”. Try saying that to my wife and see what kind of response you get.

Let’s look at this from another angle. The word “submit” is from the Greek word, Hypotasso. This is a military term which means to “line up under”. Of course being American, I think of the American military which is still a volunteer force. Submission is voluntary. Christ never forced me to submit to him, it was my choice and always has been. I agreed that the way I was living was in contradiction to what he wanted from me. Agreement; this is the definition of submission that seems to be forgotten in lieu of the more popular version. We agree to undergo something like a change in lifestyle, a marriage, mission; the list just goes on and on. Symbolically, the man is like Christ in that he is the provider and protector of the family. That should not be lorded over the wife though. Marriage is one of the greatest examples of unity and diversity existing in the same space at the same time. Opposites attract, remember? It is this duality that exists that allows us to remain sane. For instance when she’s down, I’m up. When I’m emotional, she’s rational. Our diversity, when used properly, is a solid foundation for us.

Gwen submits to me a lot on things like what restaurant to go to, what movie to watch or how the garage should be set up. She submits to me by letting me take care of the needs of the dog, mowing the lawn or washing the cars. Seriously though, she is my partner. Just as we are fellow workers with God, Gwen and I are fellow workers together; in life, in ministry and in general. The greatest act of submission that Gwen ever gave me was the day she said, “I do”. In that moment, she agreed with God that she wanted to be with me for the rest of her life.

Keep that in mind guys because here is my point. When you truly treat your wife as Christ treats his church you might find that there truly is a little bit of heaven on earth.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God’ once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy ~ 1 Peter 2:9-10

We are supposed to be building Jesus’ church right? So it occurred to me that this is a construction job. The chief cornerstone is in place and the foundation has been laid for us. Now we are the building stones. We’re the the trusses, the insulation, the drywall, the wiring, the plumbing, the roofing materials, etc., etc. We are all of the building supplies that are needed for God’s kingdom to be completed and He has chosen us for his building materials.

How long have we been sitting on the third shelf from the back on the right side of the warehouse? We were once a simple stack of lumber or some decorative fence posts with nothing better to do than to age, rot, and collect dust; eventually to be given away as kindling and burned in somebody’s fireplace. Now we have been taken down off of the shelf and put into use. We are called to a higher purpose; a priestly one. We are to speak high praises of the contractor who has chosen to use us in his project. We do this by telling others of the difference in us. Where we were once only a bundle of twelve gauge wire, we now bring light to those in darkness. Where we were once a humble six foot section of copper piping, we now share living water with others.

God’s grace is awesome but how much greater is it when it is shared with others. It is our testimony of what God has done for us that is the glue that binds others to the church. That, however, is only the beginning. The final and complete attachment comes from nails and those have already been provided.

I promise that I will start writing again here soon.  Things around here have been crazy with work, the baby and the crazy schedule to match the crazy people.  Along with that, I started writing a series on the Book of James and it is turning out to be more “book size”.  I may actually try and get it published eventually.    Oh yeah, speaking of the baby, I posted an updated pic in Children and Adoption.  Man, he is getting so big so fast.  Next thing you know, he’ll be in college. 

If I don’t post for awhile, it’s cause I have some year end stuff to clean up. 

With much love

Another Reason to Stay in School

I wondered whether I would ever come out and make a political statement.   Well, now I have and having done that, I want to share a joke I heard recently.  (HT:  Chris)

 The old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years, he had faithfully served the people of the nation’s capital in Washington, DC. He motioned for his nurse to come near.

“Yes, Father?” said the nurse

“I would really like to see President Bill and Senator Hillary Clinton before I die,” whispered the priest.

“I’ll see what I can do, Father” replied the nurse.

The nurse sent the request to the Senate and waited for a response. Soon the word arrived; the Clinton’s would be delighted to visit the priest.

As they went to the hospital, Hillary commented to Bill, “I don’t know why the old priest wants to see us, but it certainly will help our images and might even get me elected President. After all, I’m IN IT TO WIN IT.”

Bill agreed–it was a very good thing for her campaign once they put out a press release about it.

When they arrived at the priest’s room, the old priest took Bill’s hand in his right hand and Hillary’s hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest’s face.

Finally Bill Clinton spoke. “Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?”

The old priest slowly replied, “I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

“Amen” said Bill.

“Amen” said Hillary.

The old priest continued…
“He died between two lying thieves. I would like to do the same.”

“Those Who Trade Liberty For Security Have Neither” ~ Ben Franklin

I read with interest this article in reference to the new standards for entering the U.S.    Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that the rules are necessary to prevent another September 11- style attack. 

“Starting Jan 31st, a driver’s license and oral declaration of citizenship will no longer be enough to enter the United States for Americans and Canadians age 19 or older. People will have to present proof of citizenship, usually in the form of a passport or a birth certificate. A driver’s license is not proof of citizenship.”

I cannot say that I am surprised at this action nor can I honestly say that I am picking at it specifically.  It seems to me to be a symptom of a bigger problem.  Americans are slowly but surely loosing their freedoms.  The worst part is that it is not terrorists that are taking them away, it is our own government.   Terrorists win their battles by creating fear in their intended targets and that is exactly what has happened to this adminstration.   Either that or it was a well constructed plan to create absolute tyranny which begs the question of whether or not our current administration was in league with the terrorists to begin with. 

“Not implementing these changes would be a tragic mistake. I can guarantee if we don’t make this change, eventually there will come a time when someone will come across the border exploiting the vulnerabilities in they system and some bad stuff will happen.”

Oh, don’t worry.  It’s only one little sacrifice for the security of our country.  That’s the way it starts, they do a little thing and people get used to it.  They do something else and people get used to it.  Slowly but surely our freedoms are simply whittled away.   It reminds me of gas prices and how our own refineries have hosed us over.  They have us to the point now that if all of the sudden, we were to only pay $2.00 per gallon of gas, that would be really exciting stuff.  Think about this though; do you remember what your reaction was when gas went up to $2.00 per gallon?   So what’s next?   Will the Federal Government require us to “show our papers” when we go from state to state, county to county?   The bottom line here is that if terrorists (or anybody else for that matter) really want to attack this country, there is very little we can do to keep it from happening.

“Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff tells critics to grow up“

Well Mr. Chertoff, I have done a little growing up recently and in my growth, I have realized that the government of the United States of America has become the type of government that we left Great Britain to get away from in the first place.  I wonder if it’s a coincidence that the British monarch then was named George and the American ruler now is named George.  That’s really one of those things that make you go hmmmm.

Let me remind you of a few lines from the Declaration of Independence. (Emphasis Mine)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Make a change!  Research the candidates.  Make an informed choice and get out and vote!!  It’s only your freedom at stake!!

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith ~ Hebrews 13:7

It’s probably a good thing that I never actually published this work the day I initially wrote it. This was originally written during a time when I had another bad experience with my congregational leadership and when this particular scripture came up, I just sat back and laughed; so hard in fact that I lost my objectivity and simply could not be constructive. I didn’t want to be negative but I couldn’t think of anything to say about the leadership that was positive. I tried writing anyway and when I came up with something, it was negative.   I was like, “Imitate the faith of my leaders, yeah right! Whatever!”

As flawed as it is, I tend to look at things like leadership through the lens of my own little life filter. When my filter starts letting the unwanted pollutants through like questioning the faith, loyalty or devotion of my leaders or sending me messages such as, “this person is bringing down the whole group”, this becomes what I want to vent about. It gets worse you know. My filter tells me that hierarchical leadership in religious community can lead to blind obedience and submission to human authority. Those concepts are like chum to me.  I’ll follow them right to the source; that is I’ll swim right up to your boat every time. Surprisingly enough, as one who spent years in the military and who is now in a paramilitary career, I question everything. Quite simply, it doesn’t make any sense to me to submit to someone who I don’t believe in and who, in my opinion, acts contrary to the good of the body or organization. This also goes for all matters secular as well as religious.

Well that’s where I was and because of that, this article started into a tirade about all the great leadership throughout the Bible and I was going to show just how flawed they all were. Well God has a little tool he uses for his children who like to write and often have tantrums. It is called Writer’s Block. It took me about a week of “mind fog” before one morning, (God likes mornings for some reason) the answer was clear as a bell; “Hello, I use flawed people, now go read the rest of the chapter”.

The altar of God is not specifically for insiders who want to keep it all to themselves and control access to it. (The way it was always done) Sometimes that’s exactly how I feel things are done. (The way we’ve always done it) Sometimes I feel that the idol called control often overpowers those in leadership to a point where ministry by others is squelched. Is this the type of leadership I’m supposed to follow, emulate and support? Could you? What’s the message here?

In the old way, the High Priests would offer the animals in the Most Holy Place but then take them outside of the camp to be burned. In the same way, Jesus was sacrificed outside of the gates of the city. The message burned into me was to seek Jesus outside of the gates (church walls) and because of that choice, I will likely bear disgrace from those that I leave behind. I have read many testimonies of those who bore that disgrace when they chose to go outside of their gates. There are those who have been shunned, harassed, disgraced and looked down upon simply for a choice to seek Jesus outside of “tradition”. Shakespeare wrote, “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. Call this whatever you want, it’s all the same thing; Pharisaical judgment.

It’s when I seek Jesus outside of the gates that I truly find Him and his purpose for me. For me, this is about getting outside of the four comfortable walls of the church, going into the world and letting Christ lead me to those He wants me to find. I’m not saying for a moment that I have left but I still hold to my belief that organized religion is only the beginning of understanding, not the end. I am trying to balance the organization with my desire to be missional and I get closer all the time. I feel called to be relational with those that are marginalized by society and I can’t do that from inside of a church building on Sunday morning. “For here, there is no enduring city but out there, we are seeking the city that will come”.

Jesus’ church is right outside the gates waiting to be discovered.

Here are the latest search terms that have brought people to my site.  Let’s see if I can destroy them!! 

MWUA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

1.  Doggy Duty Bags
Someone was actually searching the internet for these things?  Go to my paypal site.  For $5.00 U.S. each,  I have some great Walmart bags for you  OR  you could just use your old plastic bags from shopping and even an old ziploc bag will do in a pinch (depending on the size of your dog, of course)

2.  Planet Nebula
This is actually the tenth planet in our solar system and it is only visible when the Hale Bop Comet passes through the orbital path of Mars on it’s way by the sun.  By the way, the next time that will happen will be in approximately the year 4377.

3.  Quicksand
A lot of people have been looking at quicksand lately and I really have to ask…..why?

4.  Owl Night Wear
2007 has seen a comeback of the fleece pajama bottoms with a matching tee shirt.  Any pair of socks will do and the shoe of choice is Gekko’s or some other form of that shoe.

5.  Blind Old Night Owl
OK!  Who posted the webcam pic that I took when I was just having fun?

6.  In The Blink of an Eye Movie 2007
The shortest movie of the year.  Don’t blink!

7.  Owls That Come To Your Window At Night
Are not looking to see what pajamas you’re wearing. 

8.  What Do You Call A Newborn Owl
Uhm…..an owl?

9.  Psychosomatic Max Lucado
That must be a pseudonym that he is writing under now.
Yes! You’ve heard of him!  You’ve read his work!   Now for a short time only, get inside the brain of Max!
 
10. Night Owl Theme
For those who are really interested, I have posted it at the bottom of the sidebar.  Enjoy the music.

11. The Lives and Loves of a Night Owl.
The newest ABC Daytime Drama…Airing in Spring, 2008. 

Until we come to “terms” again!!

Told ya!!

Bet you just couldn’t help yourself!!

Rachel came up behind me when I wasn’t looking and TAG!!!!
(Ouch, that hurt!!)
Now I have to be really honest and tell you about some of my quirkiness

First, here are the rules:
Link to the person that tagged you
Post the rules on your blog
Share six non important bizaare things/quirks/habits about yourself
Tag six other people, link to their blogs and then let them know by posting a comment on their blog.

So off we go then with the unimportance!!

1.  I have never beat my wife at a game of Skipbo. 
I’ve often thought of beating her with it though. 
Not really honey…..just kidding… 

2.  If you give me a line from the movie “Wyatt Earp”, I can tell you the very next line.  OK, I can do that for the Star Trek films as well. 
Now I should write a screen play about Wyatt Earp in the 24th Century.  (The phaser battle at the Rigelian Corral)

3. I do impressions. My fave is “The Reverend Jim“
Taxi was the show for those who don’t remember who he was.

4.  I twiddle my thumbs when I watch T.V.

5.  I will turn my truck around and drive five miles back to my house (even at the risk of being late for work) if I even think that I left the coffee pot on.  Can you say O.C.D.?
Update: The medication appears to be working. 

6.  I believe that sometimes at work, it is necessary for me to eat a complaint simply in order to say what’s really on my mind at the time.
I know that’s essentially wrong, but there’s just this little mischievous guy who comes out of me to play sometimes. I think that I saw him last week and he wears green and has a beard.

Now I tag

Sean (yeah, I know, big surprise)
Stacie
Kelly
John
Adam
Lauren