From The Desk of a Geek

From The Desk of a Geek:

Like Iron Sharpens Iron

One of my favorite movie characters is Doc Holiday in Tombstone. He’s not a model of Christian by any means, but there’s one scene that has always moved me. 

Doc and Wyatt Earp are seeking to liberate an area from the “Cowboys,” but Doc has grown ill with tuberculosis.

Nevertheless, out of love and loyalty, Doc rises from his deathbed to fight with Wyatt. 

In one solemn dialogue, Turkey Creek Jack Johnson asks, “Why are you doing this, Doc?” Doc replies, “Because Wyatt Earp is my friend.”

When surveying the life of the apostle Paul, we see his firm belief in the sufficiency of the gospel and his willingness to suffer for it. But there’s another, often overlooked, feature of the Paul’s mission: friendship. 

As Paul planted churches throughout the Roman world, he didn’t do so as a one-man band.

Paul was relationally wealthy. He traveled with friends; he stayed with them; he visited them. He worked alongside them; he preached alongside them; he was beaten alongside them. He even sang in prison with friends. He encouraged them, and was encouraged by them. At times, Paul disagreed with his friends. And at times, he reconciled with them.

A quick read through Acts shows Paul’s commitment to, and genuine concern for, his friends: Barnabas, Titus, Silas, Luke, Priscilla, Aquilla, Lydia, Onesiphorus, Epapharoditus, John Mark, the Ephesian elders, and more.

In Romans 16, he mentions more than 30 names. The whole list oozes with affection; it also magnifies the gospel, demonstrates beautiful diversity 

(race, rank, gender), and contains moving expressions of honor.

Paul’s constant interaction with his friends was a sign of maturity, not deficiency. Even the mighty apostle needed friends—and he needed them for the same reasons you do.

As people who mirror God, we were made for relationships. In the Garden of Eden, everything was glorious, everything “very good,” except one thing: Adam was alone.

We need friends because we are human beings, not trees. Our hearts ache when a friend or loved one has died. We miss their company. And when we’re on our deathbeds, it won’t be our accomplishments we long to hold (books, diplomas, trophies, house keys, and so on); we will want to hold people.

God regularly strengthens us through the presence and ministry of others. Consider Paul’s statement about Titus: “For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus”. 

God used Titus to lift and strengthen Paul.

We need these kinds of friends because our hearts are fickle; because sin never sleeps; because Satan rages; and because the gospel is of first importance. 

We must not underestimate the importance of coming alongside one another in the fight of faith.

After sharing his vision to visit Rome, Paul tells the church of his desire to see them—in person. He’s just written them a long letter, but he wants more: “I want to enjoy your company”  and “be refreshed in your company”. Even though Paul could communicate through writing, he knew that deeper joy and refreshment could only be experienced in person.

Don’t settle for Facebook friends. We are emotional beings. You might be able to convey aspects of who you are online, but the online world will always fall short. The internet can’t replace being physically present with people. We are people who feel, imagine, and react; we touch, move, and communicate through nonverbals.

Loyal friends are priceless gifts from God.

Lonnie...

From The Desk of a Geek

From The Desk of a Geek:

The Past Is In The Past

Without realizing it, we often carry something around with us everywhere we go. We bring it out in our conversations, and it shows up in our attitudes. 

Whatever that thing is from the past may never have really existed, yet its power lives inside us and keeps us from moving forward.

Listen to people talk throughout the day, and take note of where their conversations are grounded—in the future, in the present, or in the past. Where would you guess most conversations draw from....

The answer is "the past."

Some of us take our negative past with us everywhere we go, towing it along behind us. But God commands us, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” because we will miss the new thing He is doing right in front of us!

When people talk about or think about their past, it seems to take on the characteristics of a real-life being. The past cannot breathe, talk, think, or do. However, it is immensely powerful and can take over our future if we let it. 

It’s like the sirens on the shore, luring you toward the rocks over and over again. Focusing on the past will certainly limit your choices for the future.

For a lot of people, I know the past holds a difficult childhood, an abusive marriage, or a financially draining job loss. Yet no matter how painful our past may have been, for some strange reason we often choose not to let go. 

In order to get on with our future and simplify our lives, we must choose to make a clean break and leave the past behind.

There’s an engaging Peanuts cartoon where Lucy is apologizing to Charlie Brown for missing a fly ball during a baseball game. She’s sorry she missed the fly ball and says it’s because she started remembering all the others she missed. “The past got in my eyes,” she says.

Each of us has a powerful choice. We have the ability to create our own simplified future by starting with a blank sheet of paper and a heart surrendered to God’s will for our lives.

Choose to leave the past behind, and begin living a life filled with new possibilities!

Lonnie....

From The Desk of a Geek: Life Is Not a Family Sitcom

From The Desk of a Geek:

Life Is Not A Family Sitcom 

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find an example of what we would call

a “healthy family” in the Bible? 

It’s a lot easier to find families with a lot of sin and a lot of pain than to find families with a lot of harmony. For example, here’s just a sampling from Genesis:

* The first recorded husband and wife disobey God.

* Isaac and Rebecca play favorites with their twin boys, whose sibling rivalry becomes one of the worst in history.

* Sarah’s grief over infertility moves her to give her servant, Hagar, to Abraham as a concubine to bear a surrogate child and when it happens, Sarah abuses Hagar in jealous anger. 

Why is the Bible loud on sinfully dysfunctional families and quiet on harmonious families?

Well, for one thing, most families aren’t harmonious. Humanity is not harmonious. 

We are alienated from God through sin. So put alienated, selfish sinners together in a home, sharing possessions and the most intimate aspects of life, having different personalities and interests, and a disparate distribution of power, abilities, and opportunities, and you have a recipe for a sin-mess.

But there’s a deeper purpose at work in this mess. The Bible’s main theme is God’s gracious plan to redeem needy sinners. It teaches us that what God wants most for us is that we: 

* Become aware of our sinfulness and

our powerlessness to save ourselves. 

* Believe and love his Son and the gospel he preached.

* Graciously love one another. 

You know what, it turns out that the family is an ideal place for all of these to occur.

But what we often fail to remember is that the mess is usually required for these things to occur. Sin must be seen and powerlessness must be experienced before we really turn to 

Jesus and embrace his gospel. 

And offenses must be committed if gracious love is to be demonstrated. So if we’re praying for our family members to experience these things, we should expect trouble.

Family harmony is a good desire and something to work toward. But in God’s plan, it may not be what is most needed. 

What may be most needed is for our family to be a crucible of grace, a place where the heat of pressure forces sin to surface providing opportunities for the gospel to be understood and applied. And when this happens the MESSES become MERCIES.

My point is this, if your (AND MINE) family is not the epitome of harmony, take heart. God specializes in redeeming messes. See yours as an opportunity for God’s grace to become visible to your loved ones and pray hard that God will make it happen.

Trusting Jesus is hard. It requires following the unseen into an unknown, and believing Jesus’s words over and against the threats we see or the fears we feel.

Lonnie....

A Time For Such As This

From The Desk of a Geek: 

A Time For Such As This 

The book of Esther has a huge caution for anyone with feelings of hatred towards others.

There is much that can be discussed and learned from reading the Old Testament Book of Esther.

Often times we take away from it lessons of courage, faith, and God’s sovereignty. But what about the story’s villain, Haman?

Looking from Esther’s perspective, we see a story of triumph and God’s control. From Haman’s perspective, we see the sad consequences of what happens to someone when they’ve become so consumed with hatred and prejudice.

Haman is introduced in the third chapter of Esther after he has been promoted to a ranking so high that everyone in the land must pay homage to him and bow.

The trouble begins when Haman sees Mordecai, a follower of God, refusing to bow down...

“When Haman saw that Mordecai was

not bowing down or paying him homage, he was filled with rage. And when he learned of Mordecai’s ethnic identity, it seemed repugnant to Haman to do away with Mordecai alone. He planned to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout Ahasuerus’s kingdom.” – Esther 3:5-6

Haman didn’t just want Mordecai dead. In his rage, he wanted the entire Jewish race slaughtered. And when Haman's wife, Zeresh, suggests he builds a gallows to execute Mordecai, it says that this delighted him.

Haman made a plan to execute Moredcai, but in the end it backfired spectacularly.

First, Mordecai's plot was uncovered. Second, he was forced to honor his enemey Mordecai publicly. And finally, the king ordered that Haman be hanged on the very gallows he built to execute Mordecai.

In fact, not only did Haman’s hatred get himself killed, but his family suffered as a result too.

God's Word is full of warnings for those who act like Haman.

 In the book of Micah, the prophet condemns those who plot evil, and God says they will be repayed for their hatred: “I am now planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.” 

So how are we to live instead?

The Great Commandment, given by the Jesus, states that we are to love God and our neighbor.

And we are also told that every one of us will have to face Jesus someday and be held accountable for what we’ve done. 

Now it may be easy to think this doesn’t apply to us so much because we’re not as evil as Haman was.

But we need to remember that God knows our hearts. He knows our unkind and unloving thoughts.

Personally, I’ve had to ask myself several times if I am doing my best to love everyone, just as Christ called me to. 

Often times I have to confess my sin and repent. I have to ask God if there’s any favoritism or pride that is holding me back from Him.

Even if there’s just one person out in public, church, or my job that I hate, that is disobeying what Jesus instructs me.

All it took was Haman hating just one person, and look how that turned out.

Let's thank God for His salvation that covers our sin and changes our hearts, and look to individuals like Esther and Mordecai for inspiring faith and courage. 

But let us also remember Haman, and the sad truth of what blind hatred can do to a person.

Lonnie

From The Desk of a Geek: Cowboy

From The Desk of a Geek 

Cowboy Up

When I (on rare occasions) ride horses with my wife, I always imagine I'm a US Marshall like Wyatt Earp, or a gunslinging gambler like Doc Holiday.

I love to watch Western themed movies. It doesn't matter if it's the Lone Ranger of the 1950's, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly with a young Clint Eastwood, or the movie I watched tonight...

The Magnificent 7, a remake of a 1960's classic. 

The story goes like this..

Looking to mine for gold, greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue seizes control of the Old West town of Rose Creek. With their lives in jeopardy, Emma Cullen and other desperate residents turn to bounty hunter Sam Chisolm for help. Chisolm recruits an eclectic group of gunslingers to take on Bogue and his ruthless henchmen. With a deadly showdown on the horizon, the seven mercenaries soon find themselves fighting for more than just money once the bullets start to fly.

In old western movies, when trouble came and you had to get away from the bad guys, the stagecoach driver was the one that kept the wagon moving so not to give the bad guys an easier way to get control of the wagon. But there was another guy up front that carried a shotgun and would use it to protect the driver and passengers from the would-be attackers. This is where we get the famous phrase, “riding shotgun".

1 Corinthians 16:13 reminds us..

"Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong".

From this Scripture, one could say that the stagecoach driver is God, and He is calling us to ride shotgun. The verse tells us to “be on our guard” and spot the dangers that could destroy us and our precious cargo (which in most cases, would be our family). We are called to guard our families from the devil and his evil schemes! How do we do this? We are to pray, love, and protect our spouse and our kids.

We are told to be courageous, to be strong, and stand firm when the enemy attacks. We are to build our family up through providing words of encouragement and acts of kindness so that when temptation rears its ugly head, they aren’t lacking these things and fall to temptation. We need to fill our kids’ minds with the truth of Scripture so that they can stand firm in the face of an attack. We need to take advantage of every opportunity to show them how to fight spiritual battles with the supernatural weapons of God.

Satan would love nothing more than to destroy us and our families. This is why we as husbands and wives and fathers and mothers need to ride shotgun—always on guard, standing firm in our faith and being courageous!

At the end of the movie 

The Magnificent 7, Ms. Emma makes a great and truthful quote.... she says

"What ever they were in life, here, at the end, each man stood with courage and honor. They fought for the ones who couldn't fight for themselves, and they died for them, too. All to win something that didn't belong to them. It was - magnificent."

What ways are you riding shotgun for your family? 

What areas do you need to be more on guard in order to protect yourself and your loved ones?

Lonnie..

From The Desk of a Geek: To The Batcave

From The Desk of a Geek:

To The Batcave..!!

Holy anniversary, Batman! It’s been 55 years since the Batman TV series burst onto our screens, catapulting Batman, Robin and a cavalcade of fearsome foes into viewers’ homes. Its run may have been relatively brief three series and one movie, and its budget minuscule in comparison to Batman’s later big-screen appearances, but the impact of this show shouldn’t be underestimated.

Here are a few reasons why Batman '66 was the best

Adam West as The Batman-

It’s probably fair to say that none of the big-screen Batmen since Michael Keaton donned the cowl in 1989’s “Batman” are fully convinced in the role as much as the late great Adam West.

Vehicle Design-

Over the years, there have been numerous Batmobiles in comics and film, from barely-modified cars to armored tanks. Although there’s much discussion about which vehicle is the greatest, it’s really no contest: the Batmobile from the TV series is the clear winner. For starters, it looks beautiful, having an instantly recognizable design. Then there are all the gadgets contained within, including the Emergency Bat-turn lever

Bat Gadgets -

Adam West’s Batman certainly loved his gadgets. As well as the gazillion gadgets secreted inside his utility belt, the Batmobile was chock-full-to-bursting with all manner of devices. One of the most entertaining things about scenes set inside the Batcave is that they offered a chance to see some of the gadgets stored within, made possible by Batman’s helpful tendency to label even the most innocuous of items.

Of course there are numerous other things that make Batman '66 an iconic staple in television and comic book entertainment:

The Bat Cave

Bat-Morality

Villains

Batgirl

Batman’s Utility Belt and so on.

Noah, Moses, David, Peter, Mary, Jesus…these are names we all know well. They are the subject of the well-known Bible stories heard in the church nursery and long into our adulthood. 

Like Batman '66, the Bible contains narratives about countless people who were part of God’s redemptive story—people who get overlooked when we focus on the more well-known names.

Deborah (Judges 4-5): Deborah was the sole female judge of Israel in the days prior to the Jewish monarchy. She was a bold leader and prophetess, who declared God’s truth to His wayward people. Not only did she gather Israel together in unity, she used her God-given wisdom to guide Israel into victory. Together with her military leader, Barak, Deborah led Israel against the army of Sisera and the Lord completely defeated the enemy. When Sisera fled from the defeat, he met with Jael– another strong woman of God who helped accomplish His purpose in that generation

Mordecai (Book of Esther): You might be familiar with Mordecai if you’ve read the book of Esther; he is Esther’s uncle. Though we often focus on Esther in this book, Mordecai is an incredible man of God. It is his advice that encourages Esther to approach King Xerxes with her appeal. Mordecai was known for his good character and work ethic even though he was working for a king who did not love the Lord. Because of his faithfulness, Mordecai is honored by the king.

Philip (Acts 8): Moving to the New Testament, we meet Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples whom He specifically called to be part of the Twelve. Philip was known as The Evangelist, partially because of how he shared the gospel with the Ethiopian courtier in Acts chapter eight. Philip was quick to take an opportunity to share the gospel and explain God’s Word to someone who didn’t yet understand it.

Priscilla (Acts 18): Last but not least, Priscilla is the wife of Aquila and friend to the apostle Paul. Priscilla is mentioned throughout the books of Acts and Romans. She served the church alongside her husband and played a role in the advancement of the gospel in those treacherous early years. She also helped teach Apollos, another early missionary and teacher, correct theology so he could continue to draw people to the Lord.

There are many more characters in Scripture who could be included in this list. Next time you read the Word, keep an eye out for those little-known people who play a part in God’s redemption story

Lonnie..

From The Desk of a Geek

From The Desk Of a Geek:

Wish Granted 

Today I had the opportunity to take Landon, Alex, and my nephew Tyler to some comic book stores, and Barnes and Noble book store, and of course we can't visit Lexington without stopping at Popeyes Louisiana Chicken.

 

Anyway, after spending to much money at the comic book store we headed over to Barnes and Noble to check out some more books. 

While looking around I noticed something I just had to have for my desk at home....

"Zoltar Fortune Teller Machine" from the hit movie Big. 

If you never seen the movie Big, here is a quick take on it.

Twelve-year-old Josh Baskin, who lives with his parents and infant sister Rachel in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, is told that he is too short for a carnival ride called the Super Loops, while attempting to impress Cynthia Benson, an older girl. He inserts a coin into an unusual antique arcade fortune teller machine called Zoltar, and makes a wish to be "big". It dispenses a card stating "Your wish is granted" and the rest of the movie is about Josh being a child in an adult body and the misadventures of being "big".

Most people are obsessed with the future. They worry, they wonder, they obsess about possible scenarios. And some, in desperation, seek to learn what is ahead by seeking fortune-tellers

What are your plans for tomorrow?  You are not sure, right?  Some have is the attitude, “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die!”  If that describes you, the something important is missing in your life–it is hope, hope that tomorrow will hold the answers to the questions and problems that have you baffled today.

Is it presumption to pin your hopes on tomorrow?  Not for a moment.

Some 61 times the Bible speaks of tomorrow.  While it warns about being presumptuous, about avoiding your duty or responsibility today, thinking that you will get around to something tomorrow – it nonetheless speaks of tomorrow as a new opportunity to see God do things which aren’t going to take place today.

Long ago Joshua told Israel to cleanse and purify themselves because Joshua told the people, (in his words) “tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you” (Joshua 3:5).

Is it only wishful thinking to focus on tomorrow?  No, and here’s why!  God doesn’t always give you instant solutions to the problems of today.  Some things can’t be fixed with the rapidity of making instant coffee or just saying the words, or waving a magic wand in the air.  

But because you believe God is still in control – that the promises of His word are true – you rest your hope on tomorrow and face the day as best you can.

Today is the bridge that takes you to the sunrise of tomorrow!  And with the rising of the sun, there is new hope that your life can be different – that your life can be beautiful!

Do you remember the Broadway musical Annie?  There is a haunting and fun song sung by the heart-capturing redheaded little girl that goes, “Tomorrow, tomorrow.  I love you, tomorrow. You’re only a day away!”

The very good news is that nothing that ever happens in life comes as a surprise to our Heavenly Father, so when tomorrow arrives God will be there to welcome you and to take your hand and help you understand tomorrow can be beautiful!

Never, ever give up hope that tomorrow’s sunrise will bring tomorrow’s blessings and that as today’s dusk turns to night, there is rest and sleep to give you new strength to face tomorrow!

Lonnie

From The Desk of a Geek

From The Desk of a Geek:

A Servant’s Heart 

One of the most common questions asked by students to their teachers is, “Why do we need to learn this?” 

After learning they have to do another series of conditioning drills, athletes often ask their coach, “Why do we need to do this?” 

Many students ask, “What’s the purpose?” when talking about mandatory service hours for school. 

We all want to know the purpose behind the things we’re doing, yet often the answer we get is, “Well, that’s just what needs to be done,” “That’s how we’ve always done it,” or “It’s for your own good.” 

Thankfully, when it comes to service as a follower of Jesus, we have a much better purpose behind what we are called to do.

As followers of Christ, we are called to imitate the example that He set for us. Jesus says in Mark 1:45 that He “did not come to be served, but to serve.” 

We are to serve others just as Jesus served them. 

Jesus washing the feet of the disciples (John 13:1–17) occurred in the upper room, during the Last Supper and has significance in three ways. 

1. For Jesus, it was the display of His humility and His servanthood. 

2. For the disciples, the washing of their feet was in direct contrast to their heart attitudes at that time. 

3. For us, washing feet is symbolic of our role in the body of Christ.

Walking in sandals on the filthy roads of Israel in the first century made it imperative that feet be washed before a communal meal, especially since people reclined at a low table and feet were very much in evidence. 

When Jesus rose from the table and began to wash the feet of the disciples (John 13:4), He was doing the work of the lowliest of servants. 

The disciples must have been stunned at this act of humility and condescension, that Christ, their Lord and master, should wash the feet of His disciples, when it was their proper work to have washed His. 

But when Jesus came to earth the first time, He came not as King and Conqueror, but as the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. As He revealed in Matthew 20:28, He came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The humility expressed by His act with towel and basin foreshadowed His ultimate act of humility and love on the cross.

Jesus’ attitude of servanthood was in direct contrast to that of the disciples, who had recently been arguing among themselves as to which of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24). 

Since there was no servant present to wash their feet, it would never have occurred to them to wash one another’s feet. When the Lord Himself stooped to this lowly task, they were stunned into silence. To his credit, though, Peter was profoundly uncomfortable with the Lord washing his feet, and, never being at a loss for words, Peter protested, “You shall never wash my feet!”

This truth is just one of several from this incident that Christians can apply to their own lives. First, when we come to Christ for the washing of our sins, we can be sure that it is permanent and complete. No act can cleanse us further from our sin, as our sin has been exchanged for the perfect righteousness of Christ on the cross 

(2 Corinthians 5:21). 

But we do need continual cleansing from the effects of living in the flesh in a sin-cursed world. The continual washing of sanctification is done by the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, through the “washing of water by the Word” (Ephesians 5:26), given to us to equip us for every good work 

(2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Further, when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, He told them (and us), “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” 

(John 13:15). 

As His followers, we are to emulate Him, serving one another in lowliness of heart and mind, seeking to build one another up in humility and love. When we seek the preeminence, we displease the Lord who promised that true greatness in His kingdom is attained by those with a servant’s heart 

(Mark 9:35; 10:44). 

When we have that servant’s heart, the Lord promised, we will be greatly blessed (John 13:17).

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: Who Will

From the Desk of a Geek:

Who Will

We are a pretty busy family, and by all means far from perfect.

We argue, disagree, lose our tempers, and even sleep on couches 😀

Pest Control, Geeks With Grace Podcast, Youth Group, Church, the boys with their activities and now with Cathy finishing Nursing School, doing her preceptorship working 12 hour shifts at Georgetown Community hospital we need God more then ever to keep us grounded and at times bring us back to His priorities.

I thank God everyday for the blessings and responsibilities of being a dad. But sometimes it can be hard and alot of times it is scary being a father, especially what is going on in the world today.

I think sometimes we all need a gentle reminder how important our role as a father is.

We talk about our moms as the center of the family. And in certain critical ways, they always will be.

But as fathers we have just as important a role to play in the lives of our children that goes beyond carrying the family’s mantle of leadership. 

We must get back to the father’s traditional roles of provision and protection. A picture comes to my mind – a big, old tree in the backyard, an oak that spreads its branches across the sky like open arms, an oak that kids filled with energy run to in the morning or sit beside for comfort in the afternoon. 

I think of that feeling of unshakeable security, that sense of always being there for you.

What is the biggest crisis facing families today? Many feel that it is the failure of fathers to fulfill their God-given roles. In fact, according to a recent report issued by the National Center for Fathering, 72.2% of Americans believe that fatherlessness is “the most significant family or social problem facing America.”

The evidence about the influence of fathers on their children is overwhelming. A survey of more than 20,000 parents found that when fathers are involved in their children’s education, “children were more likely to get A’s, enjoy school, and participate in extracurricular activities and less likely to have repeated a grade.” 

Even one-year-olds with fathers who were involved were “less likely to cry, worry, or disrupt play than other one-year-olds whose fathers were less involved.”

The Bible tells us that the family unit was designed by God, and that the health of the family depends on every person fulfilling his or her role. The role of the man is particularly central, as a husband and as a father. Yet, tragically, millions of men today are failing to fulfill their role.

Fathers need to understand the impact they can have on the lives of their children and their wives. 

Paul warned fathers not to aggravate their children, or they might become so discouraged that they quit trying.

If you are a father, seek to become more involved in the lives of your children. “Don’t aggravate” them. Make sure to pray for all the fathers in your life. 

Our families urgently need men who fulfill the role God designed for them.

The need a child has for a father is well documented and fairly widely accepted. When a biological father is not available or willing to be a father, we believe that it is the role of the church, both corporately and individually, to stand in that gap. 

We serve a God who calls himself a Father to the Fatherless (Psalm 68:5). As His ambassadors here on earth, it is our role, our responsibility, to act on His behalf in that capacity. Yes, it is time for fathers stand up for their families and for their kids, but it is also time that we, the church, have the courage to stand up for these kids who have no father and point them towards their Heavenly 

Prisons are full of men and women who loved recklessly after being abandoned by their fathers, wounded by the men who should have loved them the most. Many now follow the same pattern of irresponsibility that their fathers did.

While so many mothers have sacrificed to help their children survive. 

They were never intended to carry the weight alone. We thank God for them.

Research is proving that a child also desperately needs a father. There’s no way around this fact! I believe that God desires every father step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. 

More than just being there or providing for them he’s to walk with them through their lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their Father in Heaven. 

A father should love his children and seek to win their hearts. 

He should protect them, discipline them, and teach them about God. 

He should model how to walk with integrity and treat others with respect and should call out his children to become responsible men and women who live their lives for what matters in eternity.

I tell you as a father, and a Minister of the Gospels you are accountable to God for the position of influence he has given you. 

You cannot fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or hobbies have no eternal value, but the souls of your children do! 

God’s Word shows us that God desires for every father step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. More than just being there for them or providing for them, he is to walk with them through their young and older lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their Father in heaven. 

Who will accept the responsibility of providing and protecting your family?

Who will pray for  your children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do?

In my home, the decision has already been made. You don’t have to ask who will guide my family because, by God’s grace, I will. You don’t have to ask who will teach my sons to follow Christ because I will.

Will you for your family?

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: Saving the World Starts at Home

From the Desk of a Geek:

Saving the World Starts at Home

Every Wednesday night, Landon, Alex and myself sit down and watch 

Superman and Lois a new TV show on the CW, and now that Cathy is done with Nursing School she will have more time to watch it with us.

The show took the iconic Superman story and gave it a more modern twist.

Clark is now a husband to Lois Lane, and a dad of two teen boys, who like every teenager we know are going through "growing pains".

We follow Clark/Superman and Lois each week dealing with parenting and problems that we all deal with, all while trying to save the world, or write that Pulitzer Prize winning article.

Infact, Lois has a great quote she says

"Every family has problems, even the extraordinary ones."

When I first became a Minister of Family and Students/Children, and then a parent myself, I was very scared.

There was an overwhelming theme I heard from other parents, church members and Christian books that was consistent: 

Protect your children at all costs !!

As Christian parents, we were told to Not let our kids:

Consume any media unless it was the Adventures in Odyssey radio program.

Listen to secular music (and even some Christian rock was considered too edgy)

Play with kids who weren’t from Christian families (unless they were specifically doing so to eventually invite them to church.

Fear is a very powerful force. 

It can make us fear our kids will make the wrong choices. It can make us fear a lack of control. It can make us fear being viewed as bad parents. I’ve also seen how fear can absolutely be the most destructive tool in our parenting bag.

Instead of fear, God longs for us to see His power and love and grow in self-discipline. 

As 2 Timothy 1:7 encourages us, 

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

So how do parents transition from parenting out of fear to fearless parenting? I’ve got a few ideas.

*Talk about the steadfastness of God. God has given us a spirit of power and we are powerful because we are His. Make sure your kids know the power they possess because of Who lives in them.

*Teach your kids how to love others well. You are their first example and their first teacher of loving well. Loving when circumstances are tough and when your kids are difficult are both great examples. Then, teaching your kids to love people even when they are unlovable is one of the best skills they can possess.

*Transition from the role of protector. 

It’s easy to want to stay in the role of our kids’ protector longer than we should. And with all that goes on in the world, who can blame a mom for wanting to keep her family safe?

As our kids grow, our job is to fearlessly transition our parenting from protecting to preparing our kids and trusting them to God. And He’s given us the ability to do that because of His power in each of us.

God gave Abram a promise of blessings, but He also promised suffering and delay. It seems He knew that the faith of the Israelites would be increased by the sanctifying power of their bondage in Egypt. 

God knew His people could remain strong in the midst of suffering, and that their faith would abound because of it, rather than in spite of it!

When we rescue our children from consequences and fill their lives with material blessings, we deprive them of some of life's most important lessons. Remember that God's blessings are found not only in "great possessions," but also in suffering and delay. 

Once we grasp this concept, we are more likely to parent in a way that benefits our children eternally.

Walk beside your children when they experience the blessings of trials.

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: The Stars Belong To The Sky

From the Desk of a Geek:

The Sky Belongs To The Stars

While researching for an upcoming podcast. I been learning more and more about life in the 1950's, both the joys and pain felt by so many.

On February 3, 1959, American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson.

The event later became known as 

"The Day the Music Died."

Charles Hardin Holley, known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll, with mega hits like Peggy Sue, That'll Be The Day, and Maybe Baby.

Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson Jr., known as The Big Bopper, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and disc jockey. His best known compositions include "Chantilly Lace" and "White Lightning", the latter of which became George Jones' first number-one hit in 1959.

And the youngest....

Richard Steven Valenzuela, known professionally as Ritchie Valens, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement.

Valens had several hits, most notably "La Bamba", which he had adapted from a Mexican folk song. Valens transformed the song into one with a rock rhythm and beat, and it became a hit in 1958.

God created us because He loves us. God never intended for tragedy and prejudice, wars and hatred, lust and greed, jealousy and pride. God meant for Earth to be a paradise, a place where there would be no death.

But a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, rebelled against God. This act of rebellion said, “I don’t need you, God. I can build my world without you.” As a result, mankind must suffer and die.

Physical death is just the death of the body, but the spirit lives on. If your spirit is separated from God for eternity, it will be lost forever.

God has provided a rescue in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Is God mad at me, because bad things happen to me..NO!!

God is not angry with you. In John 3:16, the Bible says that He loves everyone.

However, because we live in an imperfect world, we all deal with good and bad. 

God is aware of everything that happens and has the ability to take what was intended for evil and use for good. The evil in this world does not render God powerless. 

It is quite the opposite. He promises to be with us – and, if we live life in relationship with Him – to guide us into a life of peace and freedom from fear.

It often feels like difficult circumstances are directed at us. We live in an imperfect world and the Bible it rains on the just and unjust.

We all live through painful and uncomfortable things. Who are we trusting when those things happen to us? Are we self-reliant or do we rely on God? If we reach out to God in time of need, then we are accessing the One who created the universe. 

The Bible says that He is waiting for our response. He has already made the invitation through His Son Jesus. Why you? Because He loves you. He wants you to look to Him so He can rescue you and bring you peace.

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: Youth Room Couch

From the Desk of a Geek: 

The Youth Group Couch

Why is your church's youth room couch so important?

That beat up, ripped, stained couch serves as a springboard to launch our students into a mission field that can change the path of the church.

God has a track record of choosing teens to accomplish great spiritual feats.

From Joseph, to Timothy, to Esther (who won a beauty contest then saved a nation), God has used young people in big ways to do even bigger things. 

In 1 Samuel 16 when the prophet Samuel goes to the house of Jesse, it’s not the strapping, strutting older brothers of the house that God chooses to be king. It’s the underage runt of the litter that got annointed as the future leader of Israel. 

One chapter later, this kid named David, who was delivering cheese and crackers to his older brothers in the war, got ticked off that a nine foot giant was talking smack against the God of Israel. His anger left an impression on Goliath…a deep one.

But its not just in the Old Testament that God demonstrates his predisposition to choose and use teenagers. For the most part Jesus mostly picked teenagers to be his disciples. 

In Matthew 17, when Jesus, Peter and the disciples go into Capernaum, only Peter and Jesus pay the temple tax (although all of the disciples are there!) According to Exodus 30:14 the temple tax was only applicaple to those twenty years old and older. If I’m reading that right, that means that Jesus was a youth leader with only one adult sponsor.

[READ THAT PART AGAIN]

And God used this “youth group” to reach the world! He can use yours to do the same!

Teenagers are idealists, visionaries and unrealistic. Their brains are literally not fully developed yet! That’s why they’re willing to try crazy stuff, both good and bad. 

This lack of realism and judgment allows them to see visions and have dreams that those of us who have been worn down by the realities of life may no longer see. Adults tend to use microscopes while teenagers have a penchant for telescopes. 

We tend to get worn down by life and they tend to get fired up by causes. We wonder how much money it will take and they just don’t care.

An old French proverb goes, “The most dangerous swordsman in France is the one who has never wielded a sword.” Why are they dangerous? They don’t know the rules so they just hack away and break the rules of engagement until they win. 

Teenagers don’t know the rules of engagement which can help them win souls. They can break the foolish patters of their forefathers which, for the most part, has kept the Gospel locked within the four walls of the church sanctuary.

They don’t know that they can’t reach the world for Christ just by spreading the gospel so they are willing to do it. They don’t know that they can’t reach their schools for Christ without market research so they just reach it.  

The average teenager has 425+ online and face-to-face friends. They can use their social media clout to spark Gospel conversations in ways we could never imagine as adults.

Some ask the question, “Why teenagers?” My answer is this, why wouldn’t you focus on teenagers? They come to Christ quicker and can spread the Gospel faster and further than most adults! 

It’s time to awaken the sleeping giant!

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek

From the Desk of a Geek:

The Good Old Days

I sometimes sent and daydream what it would be like to live in certain places and time.

One of my favorite dreams is living in the 1930s and 1940s the sights and sounds of Swing, Jazz, night clubs, and dress up in a tuxedo for dinner and the theater.

Reflecting on the "good old days" can bring back warm thoughts and fond memories. But could longing for a lost past diminish the joy of the present and the hope God has in store for your future?

Sometimes you hear people talk about the "good old days"—a time when life was simpler, more carefree, without the troubles and confusion of today's world.

Do you ever long for the "good old days"?

When the "good old days" were depends on your frame of reference. Some would argue that the good old days were the 1930s, when life was simple and the country was built on church and family values.

Others might say it was the 1950s, when everyone seemed to enjoy a rapidly growing standard of living. Still others might look back on the 1980s as a time of prosperity and rejuvenation of national pride.

Were the good old days 1952? Postage stamps were only 3 cents, pocket-sized transistor radios hit retail stores and Singin' in the Rain was one of the top movies.
Of course, for the thousands suffering and dying in the Korean War, those days weren't so good.

Maybe you fondly remember 1964. The Beatles were all the rage, and John Wayne was a popular movie star. Science promised a future of leisure, with plenty of prepackaged food and no disease.
But then maybe you remember the fear you experienced as a child as you and your classmates practiced getting under your desks in case of thermonuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Some of you may remember having to sit in the back of the bus because of the color of your skin.

The truth is that human nature, and the human condition, have always been a mixture of good and evil. The good old days were never as good as they seem.

Do present financial uncertainties, family problems, political chaos, loss of spiritual purpose and deterioration of morality throughout society have you longing for some lost good old days?

Here are three steps you can take to allow God to make today meaningful and help you grasp the future He is offering you beyond today.

1. Seek God's future for your life.

2. Seek God's purpose in your life now.

3. Don't allow present difficulties to sidetrack you from the future God is planning for you.

Are you allowing today's problems to rob you of your present peace of mind and hope for the future?

God wants to clean up your life. He wants you to turn to Him as the source of life and as your Father. He wants you to be His child forever in His Kingdom. This is His future for you. The question being asked of you is this: Do you want His future by living His purpose in your life today? 

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: Mississippi River Adventures

From the Desk of a Geek:

Mississippi River Adventures 

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is an 1876 novel by Mark Twain about a young boy growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. 

In the novel, Tom Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend Huckleberry Finn. Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best selling of any of Twain's works during his lifetime

Tom Sawyer’s cousin, Sid, “had no adventurous, troublesome ways.”

He went quietly about his business, did his chores, and caused no ripples. Tom, however, was different. He had a nose for trouble. 

Occasionally, very occasionally, he “stumbled into obedient conduct,” much to the delight of his long-suffering 

Aunt Polly. 

But even then things were not always as they appeared.

It is impossible to imagine a book called The Adventures of Sid Sawyer. Who would want to read about a good kid who never got into trouble, never rocked a boat, never finagled his way out of a fix? We prefer the escapades and scrapes of an adventurous rascal. 

But as appealing as these characters are, their mischievousness can be disruptive.

Why do some people seek out trouble and home in on it like a heat-seeking missile? Perhaps it’s the thrill of matching wits with authority. Maybe it’s an indication of a restlessness of spirit that seeks a satisfaction not found in legitimate activities.

In the days of Isaiah the prophet, God asked his chosen people, “Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel for ever?”

The people’s rebellion and unacceptable behavior were inviting God’s punishment. In fact, the Lord was so disgusted by their behavior that he even told them that the donkey and ox recognize and appreciate their master, but his people’s behavior didn’t even reach the standard of those servile animals!

God is the one who defines acceptable and unacceptable behavior, if we question whether a man should concern himself with the eternal consequences of his actions, a brief reading of God’s dealings with Israel will show the facts. 

God displays his righteousness by dealing rightly with his people. That includes ensuring that they live with the consequences of their actions.

But the question remains. Why do people continue to invite punishment?

Why do we persist in rebelling against God? The answer is found in Isaiah’s statement. We invite punishment when we take from God all he provides but do not “appreciate his care.” We invite trouble when, after years of instruction, we “still do not understand.” 

We continue to rebel when, prompted by our wicked hearts, we willfully turn “away from the Lord.” We behave like God’s ancient people when we cut ourselves off “from his help”.

People who persist in rebelling and inviting God’s punishment are asking for trouble. And there’s nothing appealing about that!

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: The Delta

From the Desk of a  Geek:

The Delta

I don't consider myself a "blues-man" although I've been spending alot of my extra time researching The Blues, and the men and women who became legends because of the blues for an upcoming podcast.

Artist like "Son" House, Muddy Waters,

John Lee Hooker, Mamie Smith,

Blind Lemon Jefferson, and the great 

Robert johnson.

Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the style. 

Vocal styles in Delta blues range from introspective and soulful to passionate and fiery.

There are many legendary folklore that go with the blues, one in particular is the story of Robert Johnson and his deal with the devil down at the old crossroads.

Legend says that, as a young man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Johnson had a tremendous desire to become a great blues musician. 

Johnson was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight.

 There he met the Devil who took the guitar and tuned it. The Devil played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. 

This story of a deal with the Devil at the crossroads mirrors the legend of Faust. In exchange for his soul, Johnson was able to create the blues for which he became famous.

We all have bad days, and we all feel like singing the blues but how we categorise our bad days as such depends on our individual outlook. 

For some of us a rainy day and getting splashed by a car on our way to work is all it takes to doom the day ahead. But for others a bad night's sleep, transport delays, a wardrobe malfunction and an unforeseen work emergency would not be enough to dampen their spirits.

Regardless of how much or how little it takes for us to feel fed up with our day, the prospect of a new day brings with it exceptional hope. It means a clean slate, a fresh start and a chance to begin again.

In a similar way but on a much greater scale, as Christians, our relationship with Christ offers the same things. 

Even our best days before we came to know Christ could appear to be not really that good once we come to know Christ. 

But once we open our hearts to Him, even our bad days could become some of our best.

When we let the Lord lead us we have so much to look forward to. And that goes for here and now and in heaven.

But sometimes the scary stuff that's happening all around us can make it hard to see the glory that God brings. During times like these, it's comforting to hear His voice and flood our thoughts with His ability to bring about a new day and a new us.

If you're having a bad day, spending some time meditating over any number of the following pieces of Scripture can help to lift your mood. 

Even if you're not going through a bad time at the moment, these Bible verses could help a friend who is. If you can think of someone who's down today or in the days to come, why not share these uplifting and optimistic biblical extracts with them?

Psalm 30:5 — "For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favour lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."

Ecclesiastes 7:14 — "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future."

John 16:33 — "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Lamentations 3:22-23 — "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek

From the Desk of a Geek:

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200.00

Choose you this day whom you will serve…  Joshua 24:15

When I was growing up we always played board games and I still enjoy playing them with my kids. My favorites are games like Boggle and Scrabble because I love words. Guess you can tell how much I like words by how much I write.

I think the game all my family likes to play the most is Monopoly.  We don’t do that one as much because the game usually lasts so long we end up taking breaks and then coming back to it. Sometimes we go back to it the next day.

Our board games are all stacked up in the corner of our living room and I was looking at that stack recently and thinking of all the strange names they all have.

Those words they use for game names have stuck around in my head for several days now and after thinking about them for a while, I decided we could learn a little about choices we make in our lives from some of them.

*Monopoly

What’s monopolizing your time?  What is monopolizing your thoughts?  What is monopolizing your life?

Do you take chances with your witness?Are you showing up in places or doing things that you know could tempt you? That can cause consequences.

*Sorry

Do you confess your sins so you keep your fellowship with the Lord?  Do you follow the biblical guidance on forgiving others

*Twister

Are you twisted up with sin?  Sin has a way of entangling you.  You can’t serve two masters.

*Trouble

Are you a troublemaker? Do your actions cause others to stumble 

*Chutes and Ladders

I noticed this game wasn’t in our stack of games in our living room, but as I was thinking about these game names, that one came to mind. 

My kids have outgrown it now but when they were little, they loved it.

Are you climbing higher in your Christian life or are you sliding down? Are you growing and moving forward

Like our Christian lives, here we are moving ahead and climbing higher, but when we don’t stay in the Word or start skipping church, and swish, we slide down that chute and have to pick ourselves back up and push forward again.

We play games as entertainment, to spend time with our kids, or just for the plain enjoyment of the game.  We think of games as lighthearted things, but everyday living isn’t quite so lighthearted.  We move space to space and hit high points and low points on the way.

The thing is that we don’t move around that great gameboard of life by taking some dice in our hands, rolling, and seeing what numbers come up before we move. Our spaces and directions we move in are all by our own choices.

Only we have the power to decide which way we are going to go, how many steps we are taking, and how long we will stay at a point.

We don’t go along and then have to stop and pick up a card that says, “Today you will spend time with the Lord in prayer” or “Today you will sin”.

It doesn’t work that way. We choose what we end up doing.  We have control of the board. Sure, circumstances and things come up in our lives but only we choose how we deal with them. Only we choose how we are going to live from day to day.

In Joshua chapter 24, it is talking about where Joshua brought all the tribes of Israel together and reminded them Who God was.  The people had gone off to serve other gods and Joshua gave them a powerful demand that day, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve”.

It’s what we’ve got to think about ourselves every day.  Are we going to serve the Lord today as we take on life step by step?

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek; Cowboy Up

From the Desk of a Geek:

Cowboy Up

I'm not a country boy, a cowboy, or a farmer. That's my wife, with the exception of being a "cowgirl" not a cowboy.

But sometimes I daydream with my guitar while sitting on a hay bale watching my wife ride or work with her horses.

I daydream about being a cowboy in the old west. Maybe a peacemaker like Wyatt Earp, or a gambling gentleman like Doc Holiday, and sometimes I sit and daydream about legendary rodeo star Lane Frost,  an American professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding, and competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, and left this world way to soon...

Just like getting on the back of a bull or reaching out to grab that steer, finding salvation takes courage.

It means looking closely at yourself and your beliefs and, as an adult, overcoming the challenge of believing in something you cannot see or touch with what might require child-like faith.

Jesus was real. Beyond what we see in the Bible, he was a real, walking, talking, historical figure verified in more than the Bible itself. But He was much more than just a prophet or a good teacher as many describe him–Jesus was the Son of God, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies of a coming savior.

And like the courage needed to compete in any rodeo sport, finding salvation, a perfect eternal life in Heaven, means finding the courage to believe with all your heart that Jesus was the Son of God and believing the sin we are born into keeps up separated from God without Jesus.

Think of the rage an infant is capable of expressing, untaught, to understand we’re born into sin and it is that sin that separates us from God. 

Isaiah 59:2 says..

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that he will not hear”.

But while God shows both wrath and love, He is also just and in his justice, sin must be dealt with 

Romans 6:23  reminds us "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord”. 

The last part of that verse tells us, God is also good and has provided a gift to us in his Son, Jesus Christ. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Christ was sent to die for our sins, to receive God’s wrath that was meant for us, before being resurrected so that through our faith and belief in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we could be ‘saved’; given eternal life in Heaven because through Jesus we could be see without sin and allowed in the presense of God.

The Bible documents the willingness of Jesus to die an agonizing death, nailed to a cross. It documents His resurrection three days later and the preparation of His disciples to spread the word of salvation to the rest of the world. 

Since that day about 2000 years ago, generation after generation of Christians have been spreading that message, helping others find Christ and the salvation he offers. 

If you can find the courage to ride a bull or wrestle a steer, can you find the courage to make Jesus the lord of your life.

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: Junk

From the Desk of a Geek

Whatcha Going To Do With All That Junk

Life has a funny way of teaching us more about God and His ultimate desires to improve our lives. No, this isn’t a Prosperity Gospel message, actually quite the opposite. 

The Lord, and my wife 😀 have been speaking to me in the last months about getting rid of old belongings instead of adding to the collection!

In most homes there is at least one junk drawer. Hidden deep inside this drawer are pieces of things that are broken, miscellaneous keys, obsolete cellphones, and items that we would hate for our guests to see.

The same is true for many of our spiritual lives. Buried deep inside us are bits and pieces of spiritual junk that should be discarded; yet for some reason we hang on to them. Consider what James tells us can happen whenever we fail to clean out our spiritual junk drawer.

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  

(James 4:1-3)

James refers to fights and quarrels. Perhaps the struggles he is speaking of are conflicts among the believers. Perhaps the struggles he is referring to are the struggles within the believer. Sometimes we can be hiding junk in our hearts that clutters our relationship with God and causes us to live a life that is spiritually disorganized. 

How can we clean out our spiritual junk drawers?

Whenever I find myself struggling over something, I turn to the Word of God and prayer. I have found that only God’s Word can give me the truth I need to get back on track, and only prayer can bring peace to my heart.

Hearts have junk drawers filled with indifference, jealously, resentment, and envy. Periodic cleaning is required. Today is a perfect day for a heart search. The kitchen drawer can wait.

So are you ready to clean out your spiritual junk drawer? Don’t be afraid. God already knows what’s in your heart and He is waiting to help you sort your way through it. 

Having gone through this process many times myself, I can promise you that you will be much happier once you allow God to help you get your life back in order.

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: How Do I Love Thee

From the Desk of a Geek: 

How Do I Love Thee

Well here we are Valentine’s day 2021, so what better way to start my little encouraging devotion then to talk about some interesting Valentine’s Day facts..

There really isn’t any other day on earth like it.  If you just look at Valentine’s Day by the numbers, it boggles the brain a bit:

♥  $130.97 – The average estimated amount an individual will spend on Valentine’s Day.

♥  $224 million – The estimated number of roses grown for Valentine’s Day.

♥  $18.6 billion – The projected total amount Americans will spend for Valentine’s Day.

♥  $1.6 billion – The amount people will spend on candy

♥  $1.9 billion – The amount people will spend on flowers

♥  $4.4 billion – The amount people will spend on diamonds, gold and silver.

❤.....and finally over six million folks will propose on February 14th 

The word “love” might bring to mind a familiar phrase:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

On one episode of Jeopardy, the contestants couldn’t name the book of the Bible where these verses are written, but they recognized the words.

Many have heard these verses recited in wedding ceremonies or seen them written on Valentine’s Day cards. 

And they are found in 1 Corinthians 13, often called the “love chapter” of the Bible.

At a certain point, some might say 

1 Corinthians 13 has been quoted too much, which can cause words to lose their meaning. 

People might think, “Yeah, yeah, ok. ‘Faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.’ I know. I’ve heard it all before.”

Others have heard someone say, “I love you,” but a happy ending didn’t follow. For some, the word “love” has been exhausted. 

That’s because if we read or speak beautiful words about love again and again, but do not do it with intention or understanding, then the words begin to sound like empty statements.

In fact, 1 Corinthians 13 teaches that people must connect to love, specifically the love of God, in order to live meaningful lives.

Valentine’s Day brings good news because–whether single, married, divorced, separated, or any other sort of status–people can connect to the best kind of love, God’s love.

This Valentine’s Day, remember that love is so much more than flowers and candy and cards.  It is even more than the deepest feelings you experience, because real love is expressed by unconditional commitment and unwavering dedication to our loved ones—which should be everyone!

Picture yourself as God’s living Valentine to a world that needs His love.

Lonnie

From the Desk of a Geek: Yes Drill Sergeant

From the Desk of a Geek:

Yes! Drill Sergeant 

Men and women enlist in the armed service of the United States every day. When they do, they sign up and make a commitment to serve. They’re provided with new clothes. Their old identity as nerd, athlete, or dodgeball hero is all gone. 

They just become a soldier. Then they go into basic training where they endure physical challenges that get their bodies in shape and their minds in line with the rules of the service. In exchange for all this, the government feeds, clothes and houses them during this time and pays their way.

Did you know that as a Christian, you have been enlisted as a soldier representing the Kingdom of God? You no longer represent yourself. 

In God’s Kingdom, He will clothe you, feed you and provide for you. He also will train you through the Word of God through your pastor’s teaching and your personal devotional time. 

There are some hard things you have to endure in your soul (mind, will and emotions) and your flesh- like forgiving people and being kind when you don’t feel like it.

Paul wrote a letter to Timothy and encouraged him:

In 2Timothy 2:3-4 we are reminded “Therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one who wars tangles with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who chose him to be a soldier.”

The purpose of hardness we endure is to get us in shape. We don’t always feel like praying or reading our Bible, but we know we have to spiritually fit to combat the attacks of the enemy, the devil. 

In order to win the battles of life, we have to submit to being trained or disciplined by God’s Word so that we win! Just like a soldier in Basic Training, it’s not always joyful- but it reaps a great reward. We learn how to live as a team, rather than just for ourselves.

Hardness does not include sickness or depression. God never trains us with these- these are attacks of the enemy, the devil. We’re never to endure sickness or depression. Soldiers aren’t trained with these things.

You may be trained through a job with a tough boss. You may be trained in school with a tough teacher. You may be trained through a irritating brother or sister to walk in love and forgive. 

Just remember, every time you submit to this training and respond correctly, you’re getting in better shape all the time to be a good soldier in God’s army.

Sabine Baring-Gould had a brilliant mind. Born in 1834 in Exeter, England, he mastered six languages, became an author, archaeologist, architect, artist, teacher, and folk song collector. He also was a full-time minister.

In 1865, the school at the church where he was pastor planned to join with the school in a neighboring village. He wanted his children to sing while marching, but could not think of anything quite suitable. He sat up that night and composed a hymn called “Onward, Christian Soldiers.”

He pictured the Christian life as a battle. Like soldiers, we should march as to war, “with the cross of Jesus going on before.” 

We are imitating the leading of Jesus, our “royal Master.” He saw the church as “a mighty army” that was following in the footsteps of saints who had lived before. 

Remember you, too, are a soldier in God’s army, fighting a non-stop spiritual war. Do your part to win the battle by serving God with all your time, talents, and treasures. With God on your side, you can be confident of victory! Be bold and go into battle today.

Lonnie