A CHRISTmas Gift - the gift of Joy

In keeping with doing life differently I wanted to make CHRISTmas 2007 different not partake in the materialism of culture. This letter to my Grandmother should summarize how giving something from the heart is what Jesus wants us to do.

Dear Gram- 12-27-2007

A late merry CHRISTmas to you! The three DVDs you see in this package are pictures of our family taken over the past 40 years. I have scanned and organized over 2,000 photos dating back to the 1940’s. After having scanned all the paper photos to digital I then organized them loosely by decade. The next step was to put them into a format in which I could share them with anybody especially those who don’t have access to a computer. The DVD can be played on any DVD player that one has attached to their TV.

I wanted to also share with you the reason for making this project. It was about the Joy of the past. Photos are a great way to remember the GOOD in life, the joy of specials days like CHRISTmas, birthdays, births and family visits. It is our human nature to remember the bad parts of life; the tough days but we need something to remember the joy. I hope this brings tears of happiness to you as it did for me. It reminds of how blessed I am to have lived a life filled with great people such as you.

In making this project I wanted to show my kids the joys of my life as grew up. It is important that they see the people who shaped me. So as I show them these same movies they ask lots of questions and it is in those times I share with them the great and joyful memories of the past.

Lastly this project was about celebrating the birth of Jesus the way he would have wanted us to celebrate how his birth changed us all. I believe he wants us to share joy of his new covenanted; his new way of life and life that was so different then that of the Old Testament. Jesus showed us how to love everybody no matter what. In this season of CHRISTmas I celebrate in a new way, to give gifts to which tell them how much I love them. This means giving from the heart not the wallet. Its not about the material things its about gifts of love. To give something that means something or crafted by your heart means so much more than a shirt that goes out of style in a few years. A great example of this is the fisherman’s sweater you knitted and gave to me at CHRISTmas many years ago. I still wear it and it keeps my heart warm thinking about how great of gift and its memory of you and the time it took you to make it. Thank you!

In closing I am also sorry for not being present in your life. I promise to make in a priority to make it to Maine this summer with the kids so they may get to know you.

With great love I give this gift. May you remember the joy of time spent with us and the family you bore, a family that makes earth more like God’s intended kingdom.

Love, Michael

Here is a little 3 minute sample of the video I created using Microsoft PhotoStory 3.

Things I don't do enough of

Things I don't do enough of;

-showing my kids how much I love and respect them.

-telling my co-worker how much it means to have them apart of our mission.

-telling my mom and dad how thankful I am for moral support, for how they raised me, for being role models, for being nice people.

-telling my mom how much it means to me that she loves my daughter and shows it all the time.

-offering my friends more of my time.

-praying for God to help me with my flaws

-showing the joy that I have inside.

-telling my sister how gifted and proud I am of her strength and capacity.

-telling everyone how much I enjoyed being married.

-expressing how hard divorce is on me.

-telling how hard being an entrepreneur is everyday.

-playing with my kids.

-giving hugs.

Help me God with these things you so want me to do.

Remodeling Success

I so struggle with the need to be successful although I am feeling less and less compelled to it as I am releasing culture’s pressure to be that way. My kids don’t care they ask for nothing beyond our means and I love them for that beyond what I can show them at their age. When I use the term success to mean doing better than my peers. Making more money have more stuff. As I peel those layers away I very aware of how my needs have changed.

What really matters is I pay my debts for my past materialistic behaviors. Those are debts I have promised to pay and I will make good on them. It would be a scary edgy feeling if I was debt free, owned my own home and car outright what I might be able to do instead I chance more money to repay those debtors. Do I so every regret my past arrogance and belief that I am so good that I can repay that debt anytime. What a burden it has put on me for so many years. It caused so much stress on me that I sometimes kick the cat so to speak.

My father was such a great role model who saved his money and is retired without a financial worry at 60 years old. He is so tight that his flare jeans he received as a gift in the 70’s are still like new in the closet and now are back in style.

Maybe my issue is thinking that I am at this center of this world and everything I do I have control over. When in reality I control nothing. This thin flimsy belief in my abilities is so wrong and so stressful I could just blow up at times and I did when things weren’t perfect. Now I realize my gifts, my God given talents are not about control or money or status or what I own or posses it’s about giving my gifts to others.

I have also realized that giving my gifts is both rewarding and also flat out scary. My success now is about giving my gifts to everyone I meet. I know some will not like the gift but that is not my responsibility. If I give you something it is because I had too. The longer we go without giving our gift the farther from joy we stray.

Xmas Conspiracy! Are you a part of it?

Christmas has just seem all wrong to me for so many years. It just felt like it was about what each of us was going to get or give to one another. Its not like any of us in "cupcake land" need anything that is given to us or our gifts to others is really that meaningful at least thats my take. The time factor alone it takes to think and then acquire these gifts seems like a huge waste time or missed placed energy.

Is Christmas really about giving gifts to friends, family, co-workers or is about the birth of Jesus? Yes, thats right its to celebrate the birth of a baby that change the course of life for all of us.

How can you not be some what perplexed that on December 25 some 2,000 years a child was born that so changed the world you cannot name another moment in history that even comes close to matching the magnitude of life changing event. The material feeding frenzy so ingrained in our culture that most people have no idea what they are celebrating. This way of celebrating highlights our selfish human nature, the need or greed to satisfy ourselves is so immense I doubt that anything apart for the 2nd coming of Christ will every change the direction of our culture. Please take a minute to consider this website's message http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

Join the cause to reclaim Jesus's birthday. Let's give him the same birthday you would give your son or daughter.

This year I pledge to give gifts to my friends and family that not materialistic but memorable. After the New Year I will provide you a list of gifts I gave to everyone.
Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus

Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for each of my friends for all that you teach, share with me and give of yourselves to our relationship. A true heartfelt thanks for being a part of my life. May you find peace in knowing that being connected to each other matters more than we know.

I’m convinced being generous is a better way to live.

I’m convinced forgiving people and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live.

I’m convinced having compassion is a better way to live.

I’m convinced pursuing peace in every situation is a better way to live.

I’m convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live.

I’m convinced being honest with people is a better way to live.

- Rob Bell from his book Velvet Elvis

Cultural Beating

This past week I had realization as to the effect that our culture has on young men. The effect I am referring too is young men's inability to be able to connect, share, and express their fears, worries, joys, pains, loses, and feelings to their friends, parents, girl friends and siblings. What is it in our culture which encourages young men and men in general to suppress these innate human feelings?

I discovered this first hand about 12 years ago when a guy friend of mine told me over the phone he loved me. My first reaction was to say nothing (for years) because no man has every told me he loves me. Further thoughts ran threw my head like only gay men say that to other men. What a sick feeling that is to take a honest communication of love and turn it into a sick feeling. After a few years of my friend telling me that I finally gave in and told him as we hung up the phone I loved him too. What a freeing experience to really know that another man can tell me he loves me and I can do the same.

No wonder most marriages are in difficulty. Culture has bread into men this inability to know how to connect to others and our spouses get the direct effect of this lack of ability to connect emotionally. Women must know this and spend time helping men learn how to connect. Teach us, hold our hands, get us to focus, and reward us for connecting to you.

When it gets down to it all we really have in this physical life is our connection to one another. Heaven is probably a place where our sole lives forever amongst the connections to others for eternity. What a joy it will be to live amongst a realm of love and emotional connection.

Black Button - Short Film

So true the temptations we face are so powerful. This video is in your face and mine. What are your temptations and can you be bought? I think we all have been bought at times. New bike, white lye, in anger, cheated a little. There is a cost and our debts will all be repaid.

Rezlife Sermon Series - Under the Influence

Great message from Jason Gant youth minister at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection. Jason's message talks about our influencer's in our daily lives and it doesn't stop after we are teenagers. Some of the same people have hold over our actions throughout our lives. Take a few minutes and listen to Jason's word.

Under the Influence Part 1

Under the Influence Part 2

Under the Influence Part 3

Special shout out to Jason Watson for his incredible graphics. Jason's Blog

Gripping Realization

So well put by Oswald Chambers;



If you can tell where you got the call of God and all about it, I question whether you have ever had a call. The call of God does not come like that, it is much more supernatural. The realization of it in a man's life may come with a sudden thunder-clap or with a gradual dawning, but in whatever way it comes, it comes with the undercurrent of the supernatural, something that cannot be put into words, it is always accompanied with a glow.





For me it was a dawning and a gripping realization of a gift that has always been with me. I have tried to follow the call in my life thinking it was about me and what I could extract from life. What I have realized was it(the Call of God) has always been there in my spirit and ways this strange love he breaths into us to serve those around us and not of ourselves.



God gave us the ability to self actualize without Him. Why would he give us a path to follow if he knew some people would choice to leave Him out? Without the ability to choose it would lead us to be robotic and nothing in God's creation is robotic. I just think it would bore Him. By giving us the ability to choose he knew some would not. I think he wants us to Choose Him at some point in our lives. Those who choose Him will enjoy their supernatural gifts to a level not fully understandable until we die physically.

The Warrior's Tools

We are warriors created here by God to engage the dog eat dog world. Realize our tools are those that Jesus taught us by becoming flesh and showing us a radical way to love and give to one another. Love always wins as history has showed us.

These are the weapons of real warriors.
-Loving
-Acts of kindness
-Hugs
-tell someone you appreciate them or better yet say you love them
-objecting to little sins
-call a friend out on a wrong
-give back of you time and talents
-witnessing Gods and Jesus's work/will in anf for your life
-SAYING HELLO TO STRANGERS

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. Paul

How have you been to God?

Consider the people around you and chew on this

Watch the kind of people God brings around you, and you will be humiliated to find that this is His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. --Oswald Chambers

Test of Faith

The Aug 29th Devotional from Oswald Chambers pretty much hit an accord, so I thought I pay it the respect it needs through a few comments. My comments are in red.

Faith must be tested(yup daily, hourly from birth to this minute wether it's a foul word, looking a women in lust/acquirement, judging someone because they are different, and just forgetting to pray to God until I need Him on on on all the time the test of my faith.) , because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? (being single minded with God developing that relationship with Jesus, hard when we are so used to loving a physical being that we can touch.) The test will either prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me." (as I find my relationship with God and Jesus growing closer I become that much more offensive.)The final thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death. (lately I really have no fear of dying, almost a can't wait for Heaven attitude probably cause its a painful life.) May God keep us in fighting trim!Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us. (a fighter I am a warrior in a different sense always have felt that way.)

Thank you Oswald for pushing me.

Working Out for God

In church this past Sunday I had revelation about my spiritual life and practice. As a competitive athlete I am very disciplined and committed to keeping myself physically fit by training at least 15 hours a week. I also do certain workouts to better and maintain my level of competitiveness.

Then it came to me that I should look at my spiritual life in the same manor. I must work my spiritual fitness in the same manor. Ah Ha. Here is my workout schedule.

Daily Devotional readings
Reading of the bible (i am in the middle of Matthew)
Listen to Pod casts of different Pastors around the country (bell, boyd, stanley)
Praying myself and with the kids
Sharing my path and experiences of my Christian life with my friends.
Volunteering and Mentoring with the High School Youth Group Rezlife
Spending Time with fellow Christians
Writing about my relation with my Lord
Sunday Service 5pm

Wow that felt good. I am pleased with work out and I feel closer and more fit in my spiritual then I have ever in my life. Its A Good Life.

Sunday, Aug 26, 2007

Volunteered in the am for the Jackson County Triathlon and it was a good to see friends and make a new one, connect with a team mate, see pettiness, see families being there to support one another.

Afternoon Ride with a friend to just hang out in the outside! Still cannot believe the beauty of every ride.

Church: What an unbelievable place, the energy, the God thing just fills the tank up. The before and after effect on my kids is way too cool. If I could prove to you the power of God in a real life example, I would show you the joy and energy that comes out of them after Sunday school.

Evening: I recently got my family photos back from a friend that stored them during the divorce. I pulled out some pictures of my ex wife Julie and I on our honeymoon to Hawaii. Memories flooded in, raw pain of the failure of my marriage, shed a few tears. Trust me divorce hurts like you have no idea, But like any heart break, loss or tragedy there are gifts in it. More later.

Margin

I have come to realize how important it has become in my life to have margin. No longer do I crowd my schedule with activities just too keep from being bored. Gone are days where I felt the need to be doing something at every waking moment of the day. I now leave time and big gaps of time to be with myself It maybe a Saturday night where I spend it alone with nothing to do. It is this time I call my margin. I fill it with reflection, reading, and exploring my thoughts, feelings, and events of the past week. To maintain this margin I keep my focus on what is important in my life right now. I call this my WIN test. WHAT IS IMPORTANT NOW. This simple phrase I learned from Steven Covey in his book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People." We all need more margin in our lives especially in business where margin means time to reflect on creative ways to solve problems.

Stop with the "I am so busy" crap. Everyone is busy thats just life of being addictive to over activity or better put people keep themselves too busy so they don't have time to feel how unconnected they are to whats important. Jesus was obviously in much more demand than you and he always found time/solitude to reflect and pray to his Father.

In closing on this thought I want you all to know I am never too busy for my friends. Oh I am not really that alone, God and Jesus are with me nudging me, inspiring me, giving me words and most importantly guiding me down an unbelievable path. Thank You Lord for Margin!

God has given you a Life Message to share.

Please Share!

Death

Physical Deaths around the world:
50 million human beings die per year
6,000 every hour, 100 every minute
1 out of 4 people in the USA die before the age 65
8% of us don't make it past our 44 birthday

There are approximately 6.7 Billion humans on earth.
This means .7% of the population loses their physical life every year.
Life Expectancy age in the world is today is 67.

I am 41, if I live to 67 years old it means I have 1355 Sundays left to worship!

God knows how many days you have left are you making the most of every day that you have left?

Smart People Before Us

Have we become so arrogant and prideful that we believe our thoughts of today are much smarter than those who have come before us? Last night I read Dwight Eisenhower's speech he gave at the end of his presidential term in 1963. Its a remarkeable read and it is so releveant today especially in light of the Iraq War and countless small wars we have been involved in over the last 20 years. Here is a little taste from the man.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defenses; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs, balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages, balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable, balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual, balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress. Lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration. The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of threat and stress. delivered 17 January 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower

Naked Stuff

If we come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing, why should we attempt to amass anything. Oh, I get it. It makes us feel good when we have stuff. Yeah for materialism I new this belief would make me feel better. I am a little depressed today so I am off to buy a porche. See ya, I will report latter how good it felt, ya for about 15 seconds until the absolute guilt sets in about how many starving children their are in this world.

Maybe we should all be more naked because all we wanted in the early days was love and affection didn't need clothes, money just the freedom to eliminate waste, eat, and be loved. Lets get naked. Because in the end we give it all back to GOD.

Satan's Where

Satan's work and workers have always worked in "The Long Tail". Read the book by Chris Anderson called "The Long Tail" an absolute must read if we are to understand life and economics. How to apply it to the work of satan and sin. If one looks at sin and evil on a graph where the most damage is done is in the tail of evil not in the big sins/evil. Example would be dropping of the bomb on Japan. Yes a single event with many murders but every year criminal acts and war by 1,000's of acts add up to more murders then one bomb. So look at the graph below and realize Satan plan is worked in the long tail. It's the little type of sins that equates to the larger volume of evil in the world.

The Media has Sexually Harassed Us

I have decided to come forward to report a crime which has prevailed too long in our culture. I along with every man and women have been sexually abused, harassed, and molested by the media since we were old enough to watch tv, open a magazine, and look at a billboard. The criminals are the media companies and corporations who pay them to come up with and distribute these criminal acts. If any of these acts took place in the work place the company would most likely be sued for sexual harassment. We have been bombarded by sexual innuendos, nudity and flagrant attempts to get us to enter into inappropriate sexual relationships. If I just drink that beer or buy that car or put on that perfume I will look sexier and satisfy that drummed up innate urge to mate all in the name of buying some company's product or service.

We ourselves have perpetuated these criminal acts by falling victim to purchasing the products or services, by giggling at them, by just turning the other shoulder, and by absolutely not standing up for what we know are morally wrong and illegal acts. The toll on us individually and on our families is devastating at the very least. As a man we now are so programmed to look at women sexually and apart from most obvious men, most women don't even notice our inspection. Hold on women you're not off the hook here. You barely wear any cloths; put inflatable bags filled with salt water in your chest so you can show them to everyone. Please admit you do this to attract attention just like the media does. We are all damaged by these crimes. You laugh at this and chalk it up sex is fun and everyone does, so let's figure out what the results these crimes have done to our culture.

• Between 40-60% of high school girls diet (so they can be thin and sexy)
  
• In 1960 there were 9.6 rapes per 100,000 people compared to 31.7 in 2005 a 330% increase
  
• Approximately 95% of teenage prostitutes have been sexually abused
  
• 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 4 girls will be sexually abused by time their 18
  
• About 44% of rape victims are under age 18, and 80% are under age 30
  

I'll venture a guess that this increase in sex related crimes are due to the fact that the media uses sex to sell almost everything. It gets at and feeds our innate instinct to reproduce. However, it's not about reproducing it's about seeking gratification of our sexual urges. The problem is that it's everywhere by the time a female is 12 she's realized her worth to society is about the way she looks compared to these perfectly proportion sexy models/actresses/performers in the media. No wonder rape and sexual abuse is growing. How about going to the zoo and jump in the lions cage when they have not been feed to two weeks with blood smeared all over you. Why has the media committed these crimes? Like most business related crimes it's all backed by greed. So what do we do? So where do I report this crime? How do I live with these crimes all around me? Leave your thoughts; I will continue this in few weeks after I see what everyone thinks.

Nooma - RICH

In all honesty we are so rich and yet so poor. Jesus was not about us rich folks, he was about showing us how to take our gifts, our abundance and share with those less fortunate. Give your life for something other than seeing what you can amass.

NOOMA® 004 | Sunday | Preview

My relationship with God is not like a friend I see once a week. Its much more He is my Father who guides me with His will. God guide me in this life so I may do YOUR will. Rob's video is so relevant for all those who profess that going to church some how punches a time card that can be used to get into heaven.

NOOMA® 005 | Noise | Preview

Absolutely my favorite video from Rob Bell's Nooma series.

Are you listening?

Sometimes it’s hard to listen with all the noise to what God is telling us. God doesn't speak to us like a friend on a phone call. Maybe he is always communicating with us in every moment. Maybe we just are not listening in way where we get the message. He is in the Way Of Our Experiences. Take notice of the little things, rejoice in nuisances of the way He is speaking to us. It’s in the laughter of my child, physical pain of the body, the morning sun, the wind in the trees, the intense feel of abandonment, the beauty of the painted sky at sunset, the tears of loss, and in the act of kindness we show others. If we are quiet and tuned in it's an amazing conversation.

 

Social Networks Update July 2007

I thought I would keep a historial retoric here on my blog about my use of the social networks. As of this entry I currently use FaceBook, MySpace, and Linkedin. Here is how I got to use each;

FaceBook - My youth group students at church camp this year told me to get an account so we could all communicate outside the church functions.
Overall I Facebook a 8 for simplicity, clean not nonsence approach, no ads screaming at me like Myspace. The kids love this thing.

MySpace- This was my first social network thing I did upon getting my divorce finalized last year. Thought I could find single women on it but its not very good at that. I find it some what hard to use compared to facebook and the ads everywhere is annoying and stupid. I will never click an ad on one of these sites.

LinkedIn- My business partners got me on to this to keep track of my network of business contacts. Overall its average but I seldom use it unless I am in recruiting mode then I think it can be a great tool. Its rates a 6 of 10.

I will try to keep my blog up to date as to the usefulness and successes I find using these sites.