Tag: Colossians

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Flat Water Ahead?

Well, I broke down and did it on Saturday night.  I bought a boat!  Well, a canoe.  A nice inexpensive 14′.  I did it for Alex.  He has been asking for a canoe or kayak for a few years. And some recent thoughts and events encouraged me to move forward.

Remember that one of my goals for 2010 was to become obsessed – obsessed with God and to let him impact my life.  So with that in mind, I was recently reminded about the shortness of life and the short amount of time our children are in our homes.  That reminded me of this picture.

Those 4 men are my fathers.  Well, the baby is my actual father, but the other 3 are his father and his father and his father.  So that’s 4 generations back in the history of my family.  I would be the fifth and my sons the sixth standing on the right.  I starting thinking how little I really know about the two men on the left.  I know their names, their wife’s and their children’s names, and even their birth and death dates.  I have even stood at the foot of their graves.  But the only thing I really know about them exists through what I know about my grandfather and my father.  I don’t know how they lived each day, but the overall impact of their choices and decisions for sure have had impact on me.  So then I look forward and I think about 4 generations ahead and what they will write on their iMinds ( that’s an futuristic Apple product that just connects directly to your brain!) about their grandparents?

Deep stuff, so what does that have to do with a boat? Everything!

I figure that my legacy for those potential future generation is set in the way I approach every single day.  I don’t have huge plans of grandeur.  But I think that each day, I can live in a way that when the “complete body of work” is examined, it will be something that points one direction – Heaven.

I hope this boat can me an instrument to help.  For you it may be golf clubs, the kitchen, or long drives.  But I am sure there are things in your life that you can use as opportunities to share the gifts we have been given.  Of course that’s on top of living each and every day in a way that brings glory to our Lord and Savior.

16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:16-17 (New International Version)

18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, Deuteronomy 11:18-20 (New International Version)

So here’s to flat water, good paddling, great conversations and trips that bring us all closer to our God.

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Immutable

As you know I work in the world of geekdom.  This week I was on a call where the attendees keep using the word “immutable” over and over again.. Its almost as fun as idempotent.  So I decided to instant message my neighbor and said:

Butcher, Jason T [11:46 AM]:I’m Immutable

But then, I started thinking about that word and what it means.

not subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or nature

For lots of things in life immutability is a great thing, but for a follower of Christ this good be a bad thing. Do I really want to be immutable?  Do I want to not be subject to change in nature?  Do I want to be unalterable?  This is an interesting thought, because for many things in life, yes you do want to be constant, fixed and enduring.  Like this:

24See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. (1 John 2:24-25)

But in other situations being immovable, unalterable, unchangeable and changeless is a terrible place to be.   I think as followers of the Christ, we also need to be looking for places that we are not immutable, because God’s promise is immutable.  I want to be able to say I “used to walk in these ways, in the life I once lived”, but I have changed because of the unchanging, unwavering, immutable love of God!

3-4Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

5-8And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

9-11Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Colossians 3:3-10 (The Message)

I think today I will tell him

Butcher, Jason T [11:46 AM]:I’m Immutable because I have changed

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Snowboarding for Jesus

Yesterday while I was trapped in the imaginary world of all day conference calls, I found a little relief from the drumming sound in my ear to surf the web and check out a few searches.  While doing that I stumbled upon a story about a Kelly Clark, an Olympic snowboarder, and how she stumbled into God one day on the half pipe, and how that has completely changed her life.

(watch the video here.)

In this story she tells of how finding out about the Christ has changed her perspective on life and she says this:

But I’ll tell you, I’ve never had more fun snowboarding, and I’ve never been more free.

What a incredible story of a changed life – changed by the power of Christ to free us up and provide us with forgiveness and purpose.  And check out her snowboard:

Nice!

So, I checked out this entire site called Beyond the Ultimate.  Today or this weekend, take a little time and check it out.  It has  great stories about the lives  -the changed lives -of many Olympic Athletes.  Seeing these high performance athletes confirming where their strength comes from is really amazing.

So, take some motivation not only from their exceptional athletic abilities, but also from their personal stories. And be free – even in the imaginary land of conference calls.

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. –Colossians 3:15-17 (New International Version)

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One Word – “Intense”

“Intense”.

Several years ago that was the word that a co worker of mine used when asked to describe me in one word.

“Intense”.

At the time I thought that was cool.  I thought it was great – even awesome. And that’s how I was – “intense” – focused on the goal. Come hell or high water, I was getting the job done, not paying attention to the human carnage I left along the way.  The crying in the office – weak.  Calling people on the weekend and demanding they fix the problem – of course, they should be in here working as well.  Get it Done!  Deliver. Destroy.  That’s good.  Right!

Over the past week I watched my son’s basketball team beat two opponents by the combined score of 106 – 6.  Yes, that’s correct.  49-3 in the first game and 57-3 in the second.  The boys kept the half court man to man press going the entire game – pressuring the opponents into mistakes.  Some of the starters were always on the floor. They pushed the ball, fast break after fast break, up and down the court.  They destroyed the other teams.  Destroyed!  That’s good! Right??

No, its not.

I have learned that relationships are more important than the work, and the way you win is just as important as the win.  I have lived and played with intensity and I have seen the pain and carnage it brings.  I have worked with such intensity and disregard for others, that my job has hung by a thread, only saved by the good will of others.  Sometime,  in some way, that intensity must give way to mercy.  It must give way to grace.  We are called to give our very best to God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (New International Version)

31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Colossians 3:23 (New International Version)

23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,

We are called to play as hard as we can.  Give 100 percent – always.  But sometimes 100 percent means playing with control.  Whether on the court, in school, or at work we must know that doling out mercy and compassion and grace are equally as important as pushing and driving and forcing.

And that’s why my heart is heavy.  I sat at the scorers table for both games.  I saw the angst and brokenness of the players.  I saw the overwhelming helplessness and frustration of the coach, and the exasperation of the parents.   Did we have to run a half court man to man press when we were winning by 25, and it was obvious this team was not coming back even if we played with 3 players?  One of the teams only had 5 players.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (New American Standard Bible)

24Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

25Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

There is a time to push it and to go right to the edge, and even more. But there is to be something different about those followers of the Christ.  There is also a time to be in control and to pull back, and to show restraint.  Both of these games demonstrated one of those great teaching opportunities, where we could taught our children the importance of  displaying control and restraint and modeling Christ is all that we do.

I still am a very intense person, a driven person, but I hope that if my current coworkers where asked to describe me in one word that they would pick something other than “intense”.  Maybe something closer to  “servant”, or “merciful”. (Most would probably just say “Jerk!”)

It maybe that I am so sensitive to this because I am in such need of mercy and grace myself.  Well, who isn’t?  And that is why I want to teach our children that control, and extending grace, and extending mercy, are a very important part of giving 100 percent to God.

So, I write about this to use the opportunity to teach, I hope that as you read on, you consider your life.  Is there a place where you still are running the full court press, where maybe you should drop back into a 2-3 soft zone and reach out to that person and provide the mercy that you have been all so freely given.

36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:36 (New International Version)

Also, what word would people us to describe you?