loving God...

My friend John said to me today, "People really struggle with a loving God." WOW. Profound. I never really thought about it that way. People actually struggling with the thought that our God loves everyone. I guess I have always taken that for granted. I have always believed that God loved me. It is what I was taught growing up. Jesus loves me this I know.... Why do we struggle with accepting the fact that He loves EVERYONE! EVERYONE? Yes, everyone!

We say that God is love, but struggle to believe it.  How can God love a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Nazi, a homosexual, an adulterer, a sinner, or me? It is easier for us to look past our own sin and point at others and say they are unworthy of love. I see that as hate. I will admit that my opinion on this matter 10 years ago would have been drastically different. If I even had an opinion about the subject back in those days.

We are talking about God's love here, not about eternity or heaven. Two entirely different discussion points.  We want so much for God to love who we want Him to love and condemn those who practice things we do not understand, disagree with, or outright disgust us. It is easier that way. I think people struggle with God loving everyone, because we, honestly, are a competitive world. We compete for friends, jobs, sport, material things, and even God's love. We have all done it... attempted to elevate ourselves over others to make us look more important, increase our social status, appear smarter to co-workers and even more loved by friends, family and God. A life of competition like this puts us in a life pattern of some form of hatred. Call it extreme if you will, but I think the root problem is hate.

I do believe this form of hate is not blatant, but exists in the sub-conscience. Years of programming has forced society to this place. I am watching a generation that is over coming this in powerful ways and that excites me. I know that I have grown a tremendous amount since my collision with Jesus. My thoughts and ideas of how our God loves is still being molded by books, friends, teachers, pastors, youth and adults alike. But no witness is more shaping than how God loves a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Nazi, a homosexual, an adulterer or a sinner through ME. We are all the same, loved by God...only the decision is the differentiator.

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I forgot to post this....

Some might say the next Billy Graham... or at least it is Mr. Graham's pulpit. Happy belated Birthday Mr. Graham.

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this hit me pretty hard....

I am following a worship leader from ATL via LA named Carlos. I really dig this guy. I have been thinking that he and I are similar guys, would probably be good friends if we worked together or went to the same church. He went and posted this on his blog. This hit me pretty hard. He was describing me. I am embarrassed to admit it. I know most of us can look at that list and say...yeah that is me, but man.. Los hit the nail on the head. It messed me up to the point that i struggled to sleep last night.

You are not alone my friend. Similar to the core, to the point that i think way to much about my appearance, hiding my visual flaws and my style as a worship leader. Just saying that turned my stomach. Just know you are not alone in this trap and you don't know me, but I am praying for you Los. Even though we have faults and failures, God still uses those of us who are obedient to His call.

Transparent.

David Crowder Band responds....

Luke and I talked about doing this for the 5th QTR on Friday night.... but looks like Crowder Band beat us to the punch... thanks YS_Scoop.

again with the name thing....

Thank you to YSMarko yet again with the name thing...

My pirate name is:

Captain Harry Cash

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

just call me Stick...

Thanks to YSMarko for pointing this out.  The Sarah Palin Baby name generator

So if Sarah Palin was my mom...

Martin Lewis, if you were born to Sarah Palin, your name would be:

Stick Freedom Palin

My friend Eli is related to me... his name is Plank Castle Palin...

Good to know she uses Long John Silvers names for Chicken Dinners...Chicken Planks and Chicken Sticks...

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a field trip....

On Friday, we embarked on a little field trip.  Our goal was to drive to Chicago, visit our friends Mason and Valerie at Wheaton College. Steve Good, Val Francis, Eli Ruggles, Carter Good and myself climbed into the Good mobile and set off for our destination. We enjoyed great conversation along the way.  We had to stop for lunch at Panera Bread in Dayton.  We stopped to replace the windshield wiper blade that was subsequently ripped off of the van just north of Indianapolis (thank you NAPA). We stopped 10 miles later for Starbucks coffee. We missed a toll booth (we all smiled at the camera, the bill soon to be mailed to the home of Steven M. Good). We finally arrived at Wheaton.  We toured the dorm and met Andrew, Mason's roommate and few other guys from Fischer 5 West. We grabbed dinner with Mason and Valerie.  It was great to catch up and here how excited they both were about life at Wheaton. Mason continued to explain all of the history of Wheaton and special events like the Kingdom Run. Sounds like they are having a great time.

After dinner we went back to the Chapel where we took in a Phil Keaggy Concert.  This guy is unbelievable. I have seen Phil a few times and he continues to amaze me with his creativity and humbleness. He played 15 minutes shy of 3 hours.  I don't think this is typical.  It is obvious that he LOVES playing the guitar, but more important, he took a moment to share the gospel.  That was very cool. After the show, we went back to the Stoop for some ice cream and more touring. We finally crashed about 1:30AM.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel where we ran into Larry Thomas. He played the Soup Nazi in a Sienfeld episode. He was wearing a t-shirt that said, "Master of my domain". Steve and I recognized him and a quick trip to the W confirmed our suspicions. 

We met up with Mason and Valerie for a tour of the Billy Graham Museum.  It was a cool exhibit until I violated copyright laws by taking a picture of some cool art on display (my apologies to the artist, I have no plans to sell them). It rained the entire time we were there. We decided to not take the train downtown, but to take the kids to Target to stock up on supplies. We grabbed lunch at Giordonos, a famous chain of Chicago style pizzerias and then back to the dorm to say our goodbyes.

We started back to Ohio and it was pretty quiet in the van. I think everyone was tired.  After a while, Eli propped his laptop up on the dash of the car and we watched half the 4th season of the Office. Even though Steve assured us he was not watching, I believe the propping up of the laptop on the front dash is illegal in all 50 states including Puerto Rico, but that doesn't keep the Office from being hysterically funny.

We arrived at my house at midnight on the nose and I crashed. All of this is worth visiting kids from our youth group. It is great to see them enjoying life, and hoping that maybe your experiences that you shared over the last 3 years may help them make great choices. I love these guys like they were my own kids, and honestly...i sort of felt like they were the last few years. I have so many more to go visit in due time. I love them. I hope they feel it.

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