Author: Jason

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Thank You Veterans Day

I started this post with ‘Happy Veterans Day’, but that just didn’t seem like the appropriate words, so I changed it to Thank You Veterans Day.  And with that a big huge shout out to all the veterans out there.  Thank you for your service and for you participation in helping to keep us free.

Make sure you take a moment today to consider whatever you are doing, whether it be work, or watching a game, or surfing the internet, or shopping or eating what ever you want for lunch and think about how great that freedom is.  Then remember to thank the veterans who have fought against forces that would want to take those freedoms away.  And then remember to use those freedoms for good!

And the same with your spiritual life.

Thanks veterans!

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13 (New International Version)

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Some Trust in Chariots

Last night I had probably the most unsettling trip to the airport I have ever had. After dinner, my coworker and I heading back to the hotel to get our bags and then we were off to a hotel closer to the airport to prepare for this morning’s early flight. The hotel staff retrieved our bags and hailed us a limo instead of a taxi. However, this was not your typical black town car; this was a brown suburban that appeared to have a few too many miles on it. My friend even asked” Is it legal?” – as in is it a legal taxi? The front license plate was a Livery plate so we climbed in. Now I must saw that this guy really just looked like a buddy of the two door man, but who could tell and the price was right.
So we buckled in and off we went. Since the driver was African – like Somalian or something like that, and since I read too make spy novels and watch too many shows like that, I was feeling like maybe my destination was not the airport. It appears we were taking a circuitous route to the airport; however, it is Boston – the city where you never go the same way twice.
Then as we sat at a traffic light, the driver turned on the engine and leaned over the steering wheel. Immediately my co worker and I sort of drew up a little – “what in the world?”. We waiting until the light turned and he started the car back up and then did a strange uturn. Now it was getting even odder, but I noticed he was heading through one of Boston’s tunnels out to the airport. As we approached the end of the tunnel, the car started slowing down and lurching. At first I thought maybe we was trying to change lanes and had slowed down to allow the other cars past, but then we both realized, the car was not in ‘good health’! My co worker asked if everything was ok, and the reply from the driver was that he had gotten bad gas, when in fact he had no gas.
For the next few miles we sputtered and spitted and nervously looked for a spot to exit the vehicle and walk to the hotel, but  we finally cruised into the lane in the front of the hotel – safe and sound.  (And I was glad I was really not in one of those TV shows or books I read! – although even when I got out, I was still looking for the man who would put the black hood over my head!)
So with that little story, I am reminded of an old Acappella song. So here is a little Psalm to encourage you. Keep your trust in Him.

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7 (New International Version)

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Boston in the Fall

Despite what the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything say, I have made it to Boston in the fall.  I made it even though my travel agent evidently decided that I didn’t in fact need to have hotel reservations. :).  Oh the joys of business travel!

On the bumpy plane ride up here I was finally making progress in the book I have been trying to read for the last few months – The Kite Runner.  It is acutally a very intriguing and interesting story about growing up in Afghanistan and the changes to the country by the 30 plus years of war that it is had.  But interestingly enough the section that I was reading yesterday describe the main characters reentry from America to Afghanistan, a Taliban controlled Afghanistan.  The descriptions of the poverty and descruction were heart wrenching.

It was this on my mind, that I arrived in Boston and finally checked into a very nice “luxury” hotel, and proceeded to eat a very overpriced meal, although the company was great.   It was just one of those odd juxtapositions that has my mind racing today.  The thoughts in my mind are probably too premature to share, but I did stumble upon a few verses this morning that I think help bring some sort of order to my wavering mind.

11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13

8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God. Proverbs 30:8-9

Let us always remember to be content and to realize that the stuff around us does not make us who we are.  Enjoy the physical blessings you have been given today, but remember to share them as it is appropriate and remember who gave them to you!

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Just for Funsies

Many of you know that over the weekend, I teamed up with 11 other guys and ran a 195.5 mile relay race from Chattanooga to Nashville. Each of us had 3 legs ranging between 3.8 and 8.9 miles, with out total mileage between 12 and 22 each. The relay started Friday morning , went all night, through the dark and cold, and we continued until we reached the finish line in downtown Nashville late Saturday afternoon. It was a crazy night, our team with 160 other teams running through no where Tennessee with head lamps and reflective jackets. However, through all the decorated vans, sore hamstrings, bottles of Gatorade and packets of Goo, the one thing that continues to surprise me was one question. There was one question I was asked repetitively in the weeks leading up to the race, during the race and even after the race. “What do you do this for? What Charity?”
Every time I was asked I paused and then with regret said “None, it’s just for funsies.” I felt bad that I wasn’t raising money or raising awareness of some cause. But really it wasn’t just for funsies, although I did find it to be a great time. It was more about challenging myself, using the gifts that God has blessed me with and “buffeting my body” each and every day. I think it’s good for us to continue to find things that help strengthen our bodies for service to Him. For me, being able to push my body physically and keep it fit, helps me realize the spiritual strength that is also available to me, although it’s manifested in another way. For you, it may be something different, but all us need to remember that this physical body is a gift from God and something that we need to use for his Glory

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, New International Version

So why did I do this, I did it to in some sort of weird way to bring honor God by keeping my body fit and ready for service. Today, keep finding ways to buffet your body, and bring it under subjection both spiritually and physically, and bring glory to your creator.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 ESV

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Another Reason I Love My Truck

I love my truck for lots of reasons, but mostly because when we bought it Amy told the sales guy before we test drove it that we would be buying this when we returned. So, usually when I spy it across the parking lot and walk towards it I always think about her.
But, I yesterday I discovered another reason to add to the list of reasons that I just love my truck.

So yesterday, I am rushing to pick up the forgotten uniform and get it back over to my eldest before his game when in front of me is stop and go traffic. So much for rushing – all I can do is just roll along at a slow rate of speed and stop every so often. Then it happened. I rolled to a stop and Boom. Yep, the car behind decided my bumper was a better way of stopping then the breaks. No way! As the traffic pulled off in front of me, I pulled to the side and looked in the rear view mirror to see an upset young female driver. No way! Not only am have I been rear ended, but now I am on the side of the interstate with a crying teenage girl! As Filch from Harry Potter would say in his snarly voice, “ohhhh, we are in trouble”.

I jumped out, made sure she had her car off the road completely and tried to assure her that it was ok. What had happened happened. There was nothing to be done about it now. She decided to call her dad. The damage was surveyed, the TDOT assistance vehicle stopped by, the CPD eventually came.

While we were waiting for the PD to come, one of this young ladies high school coaches who was following close behind her had stopped off to help her – which was a blessing from above!
This lady noticed the Boyd-Buchanan sticker on my vehicle and started talking about some mutual people we knew that she went to church with, included my wife’s old principal. This got me thinking. What if I had come out of the truck angry as a hornet? What if this was the time I decided to leave Christ in the passenger seat? How would that have completed destroyed any ability to show Christ. It’s in these moments when we are able to let our lights shine. I hope that I was able to be kind and gentle in that stressful moment for that young lady, and I hope that when she think back on his first collision that that part stands out, and that in some sort of way I was able to point her towards my leader.

As you go about today, remember you never know who is watching and who you are influencing.

15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:15-17 (New International Version)

Oh why is this another reason that I love my truck – no damage. 🙂