So as I am physically(not wanting to put my eyes on any espn channel for the next week for this is all we will see), and emotionally(sad to see someone that was great, possibly not go out on top) annoyed by the appearance of this talk about Brett Favre making yet a possible 2nd comeback, I have thought of an intriguing twist to all of this!

First of all here is a quarterback who had retired once, drug himself out of retirement to try and place an impact on those that were close to him, fans of him and ultimately all of football, and that he did. Then he did it again, he retired a second time, and is now seeking another comeback…possibly…..I do not in any way shape or form think that this is going to end up the way that he hopes, but one thing is, he will go down swinging.  I personally think that he was a great quarterback, but is making a mistake by coming back out of retirement for the 2nd time.  

Then there is my savior, one who sort of like Brett, is a Hall of Famer, someone who walked this earth risking every bone in His body, literally, and no matter what anyone thought of Him, He was about His business, which was His Fathers!  Then it happen it came time for Him to retire, and some wanted to see Him go, and few were fighting to keep him here (the majority cheering when He retired).  His job was “done” so to say on this earth and frankly He did not need to accomplish anything else on this earth to remain the savior!  Then it happened, He busted out of retirement and people completely questioned His coming back, wondering if it was really Him, How it could happened and whatnot….but face the truth, in His eyes and for us it needed to be done.  Now this is completely where I believe this situation completely differs, When Christ comes back for the second time, it will be the most anticipated event of my lifetime, and I would never want to turn the channel away from it!!  So needless to say, Christ’s coming out of retirement, will leave everybody without questions, while this Brett Favre situation has everyone including many sportscasters saying….STAY RETIRED we do not need you!!!

If there is one thing that I love about the Brett Favre situation, it is the fact that in Brett’s eyes, he has to have football.  No matter what people are saying, no matter how many people who say stay retired (me included) or how much pain he is going through….he simply loves the game, and every aspect of it.  No matter what is going on around him, it is not keeping him from what he has to do!!  

So I pose the question, Do you have to have Christ, like I guess Brett Favre has to have football?  Do you really not care what people think of you and if you became a spectacle in the world’s eyes,you would still desire to be HIS CHILD!  Would you tuck your tail and go hide at a ranch in Mississippi, or would you explore every open door to make sure you are finishing the job that Christ has given you. Do you need Christ or is He just a commodity for you to have around.  

It leads me to a verse that I recently came across in Luke 9:50 where it states  Don’t stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you!  Which leads me to say there are people in this world even including satan that will rise against you, and there will be those who verbally poke at you about following Christ…..but those that are not against you are for you!!! You have more on your side than what you think!! Stop living in the world of retirement spiritually and come back for more, there is more to be done!!
But Brett…..stay retired, or at least pick a team that you have a chance at winning a super bowl with…but then again that is not you…you like to face every adversity in your life and slam it into the wall!! To that I say…win a championship for Uncle Gary, a long time Vikings fan!!

The question to ponder is, what do you have the ability to see? So many things are based on vision, actually pretty much our whole life is based off of what we can see, and I can honestly say that sometimes I wish I could not see the way that I do.  You see at the top of my blog-site you will see a quote that was taught and ingrained into my head by the great Dennis Moles.  A quote that if we actually grab it, can change the world.  ”Love people until they ask why, and then loving them some more!”  This is what life is about, but you truly cannot love people without seeing them.  The first thing that I learned growing up was something that I wish I could go back and reverse, because if I could, this whole seeing thing, and loving well thing would have happened sooner. I loved well, do not get me wrong…..seriously have been spit on, people picking fights, punched by an adult, and honestly not respected too much, but all of that did not change the way that I felt about the ones that did those things to me….for one it is nothing compared to what happened to my savior, but that in all honesty is not why I allowed those things to happen.  I did not say, hey punch me in the teeth, I want to be like my Lord.  No it was just a characteristic, and gift that God has given me, to let things roll of my back, like a duck with water so to say!  You harm me, I love you….but I really wish I could have loved in the way that Christ intended!  I know alot of you will say, you did Tug, you loved so well, but to that I would say…I could have loved people better, I could have seen them the way that God wanted me to!  What I am trying to relay cannot be said by any words that I can tell you and can be summed up in this verse!

In John 3:3 it states “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God!” 

For the longest of time growing up I would hear this verse, and say that is great, I know that I am born again, and someday I will be able to see the Kingdom of God, in which I thought could only be summed up by streets of gold, the lion laying with the lamb, and even seeing David and other people that I cannot wait to talk to.  Instead it is summed up by not only those things, but Fourth Street, Main Street, my back yard, your back yard, and everyone that comes against your backyard.  The way that you see them now can be completely changed if you actually realize that you really do not see them until you SEE THEM.  How you see them is the next thing!  Do you see them as people, or your way to enhance the Kingdom of God.  For to say God’s kingdom is here on earth means one thing, there is someone that is trying to overthrow it as well. How are we gonna take it back, are we gonna continue living in the aspect of lazy love, or are we going to go out of our way to love each other.  Are we going to see the hurting and feel it is not our responsibility, or are we going to have to feel their responsibility because we can now see them.  Are we going to go around samaria, instead of “having” to walk through it as Christ did when it was frowned on!  Are we going to fight for our King, or bow down to the world’s king!  Satan right now is trying to gain a stronghold in what is meant to be the Kingdom of God! The question is, If you have the ability to see (have been born again and are walking with God) are you really seeing????  To see is to do something about it, to look is to leave it in question!

Hope this challenges you!!

I have always been someone to pose the question, where are we going….whether it be to my parents when I was younger…to my wife, when we discuss the option of restaurants when we go out to eat (always ending up in the words “La Charreada”) . I even pose this question to God very often, when I have no idea where my life is going to end up…or if I am indeed on the right track to get there??  This has not been a big issue, until recently…do I really need to know where I am going?

I have the ability with my iphone to make sure I know exactly where I am, and can even be followed by a little blue dot on my screen, depicting every turn I make, and telling me if I get off track!  I can zoom in as close as the street, or zoom out as far as the map will go…and it will still show me exactly where I am at, and where I need to be going.  I love this feature, and it has helped me get from point A to point B in the quickest fashion, but has it taken away some of the fun of trying to find your way to your final destination.

      from the book Still Waters and Skycrapers  

                Albert Einstein once boarded a train in Princeton, New Jersey, bound for Boston.  Upon finding a seat, he immediately started fumbling for his ticket, which he couldn’t find anywhere.  Noticing Einstein’s frantic search, the conductor reassured him: “Everyone on this train knows who you are Professor Einstein.  I don’t need to see your ticket.”  While looking relieved, Einstein carried on hunting for the missing ticket.  When the conductor came back along the train he saw the renowned scientist on his hands and knees looking under the seat.  He tapped Einstein on the shoulder and said, “Please. Professor, don’t worry about the ticket. I am quite sure you have one somewhere.”  To which Einstein replied, “No, no.  You don’t understand.  I need the ticket because I don’t know where I am going.”

               I am sure that Einstein was on a busy lecture tour covering many locations, but there is still something perversely comforting about the idea that one of the greatest minds n history could be so befuddled as to forget where he was going on a train journey.  There may be some hope for the rest of us, after all!

        We all have the stories of being lost!  We all have the regrets of making the wrong decisions, that have even possibly effected some portion of our lives, and we all have searched for the answers to actually try and figure out where exactly our life is heading, but isn’t the train ride enough!  Isn’t the fact that God is saying, Tug, I know you have your ticket, now stay in my seat, and let me take you to where you are supposed to be going!  I mean I can name the countless mistakes that I have made, for instance the time when we left Grace College in Indiana, to come back and do ministry full time, when we should have just stuck it out and finished my degree! I could either get hung up on the decisions of the past, or I could realize that these were part of the process of God shaping me in my journey with Him.  Although these are decisions that I really need to evaluate and possibly get going on reaching these lifelong goals, I would not trade in my ride for anything.  

      You see if God would give us a GPS of our life, and all we would have to do is really go from one thing to another, that would take the joy and pain of following Him out of the picture.  God gives us the opportunity to hear Him as clearly as we want to, and sometimes we hear ourselves over Him.  We jump at this and jump at that, and think that it is God!  We do not have the position that we think God wants us to have, and question the conductor of our life.  He is still in the driving seat, and He sees the road clearly ahead….so sit back put on your seatbelt, and enjoy the ride.  

       Now this is not a ride, that you have no part of, or that you just sit there comfortably….when He tells you to turn, turn.  When HE tells you to slam on the brakes, or push the pedal to the medal, do just that!!  But most importantly, keep your little BLUE DOT on his map, and watch where he takes you!!

IF you are curious to the complete information on the book that was stated above… here is the info

Still Waters and Skyscrapers : The 23rd Psalm for the 21st Generation, by Dave Tomlinson

Have you ever been to Disney World,Universal Studios, or have even taken part in a high school, church or other kind of musical that is required to build a set?  I have been thinking about this of recent and was reminded of this on my recent trip to Anderson University…which by the way is a great University!!

I watch movies all of the time, and in fact I have actually never thought of the time that goes into building the set, making it look so amazing that when we watch it at home it looks real…but in all honesty, most of them only look real from the front.  As I have taken some vacations to Disney, and other theme parks, they always want you to feel that you are somewhere that you are not….main street of New York, Paris, whatever city it is, they want you actually to be able to live there for the time that you visit.  Have you ever had the opportunity to be backstage and actually see what they look like….If I am a guessin man and I am going to be… it looks like plywood and 2×4′s…something that you may actually not build a dog house out of because it will rot in a strong storm…or will break in a high wind!!

So I began to think…wow… is that not how alot of people spend their lives…like a movie set, where countless hours are spent trying to make people feel that you are stronger than what you are!  While inside you know that if a certain temptation comes, you will break and if people would actually dig a little deeper into your life, it would actually look like crap, and would people really want to follow or watch your movie if they actually knew what the set truly looked like?

I know this was a complete revelation for me…to actually let people see the crap of my life, so that my set could be authentic…and that it looks the same on the back as it does on the front?  Now there are constant times where I spend time rebuilding, or maybe I should actually say letting God have the tools, but letting people see who I really am, the true me!

For some thoughts from scripture that sort of relate to living real….

Mark 4:1-20 (New International Version)

Mark 4
The Parable of the Sower
1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3″Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”

9Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that,
” they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”

13Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

Any thoughts???
For a fun exercise…if you were played in a movie who would be the actor or actress that portrays you, and what kind of movie would it be???
For me… I would want Kevin James to play me in a Comedy of course!!

So last night I went to an elder/staff meeting and we were discussing our vision statement for the church, which is the following:  A community of sojourners in Christ, committed to live by FAITH, to transmit HOPE, and to be known by LOVE! While we were discussing the vision, this question was brought up; “What about our vision excites you?”  I sat back for a minute, truly in thought and asking God…..tell me what really excites me!!  So we were in a point of a standstill, am I excited about the Faith part, definitely. Am I excited about transmitting Hope, for sure!  What about the love part…..and that is where it stayed…right then I began to think of I guess the way that God has wired me….I believe that without a shadow of a doubt that I can outlove anyone on this earth…no matter what you do to me, I love you….no matter how many times you crap on my parade…I love you… Now do not get me wrong….alot of people I do not truly get along with, but honestly would do anything for.  I guess I would say that I am excited about that part of the vision, because that is the easiest for me to do…it is the thing that I am wired for…but what about the weak link…what about the FAITH part?

I thought for the rest of the night, that wow, my Faith is not the faith of those in Africa, not the faith of my Grandma, that when she was dying of Cancer she was still praising God…heck when I am sick for a day…you can find me shriveled up on the couch…not doing a thing! I began to think, it is my Faith that will make me love better! It is my Faith that will make me transmit hope in a better way. It is my faith  that will help me to be involved with the community of which I live in!  But without it, am I truly doing any of it???  So now I get it….I have Faith, but why do I have it….I need Faith, but why do I need it…I preach Faith, but do I truly exemplify it… and now I blog about Faith, but is it truly written in my heart.  Now do not get me wrong, I believe that everyday I am putting an effort into becoming closer with Christ, but am I truly living by the Faith of which I believe.  The faith that God may be requiring me to think outside the box, and really dream….the Faith that this year God is definitely going to move, and I am going to be right their with Him….whatever that may be!!  The faith that no matter how bad this economy gets, God is still enough!!  I ask you what is your Faith, not just that you believe that Christ died for you…but how do you practice what you preach…or do you.   For example there is a buddy of mine, named Charles Hill….a leader in ministry that frankly is that of someone I have never seen!  Someone who gets it, and goes after it!! I am asking you to pray for his next step. He has just announced something huge in his life…he never wanted to plant a church again, thinking that he would stay at New Hope Community in Loudonville, Ohio forever….but now is following the call to plant a church in Salt Lake City, Utah….which is possibly one of the hardest places to plant a church, but is also one of the fastest growing places in our country.  I ask you to jump over to his blog, you will find it on my blog roll, and begin to pray for this man of God and his family…..that God will continue what He has started, and that no man will be able to bring it down…. Charles…keep bringing it bro!!!

Until tomorrow,

Tug

P.S.  Mall Cop is hilarious, but I am still a bigger fan of Slumdog Millionaire!!!

Excerpt from Mark Yaconelli’s book entitled “Growing Souls: Experiments in Contemplative Youth Ministry”

A friend of mine attended a Christian pastor’s conference in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The participants included one Native American pastor who was on his first trip to a major metropolitan city. During a lunch break the Native American pastor took a walk outside with one of his colleagues. As they stretched their legs along the busy sidewalk, the pastor suddenly stopped, turned to his companion and said, “Do you hear that?” The friend paused and considered the bustling noise of the city. “Hear what?” he replied.

Planted along the downtown sidewalk was a small row of trees. At the base of each tree was a circle of flowers. The pastor walked over to one of the trees, knelt down, reached beneath one of the floral clusters, then stood and opened his hand, revealing a small black bug. “It’s a cricket.” Dumbfounded his friend replied, “How can you possibly hear that?” The Native American pastor reached into his pants pocket, took out a handful of coins, and threw them into the air. As the coins hit the cement, people from all directions stopped and looked down. The pastor turned to his companion and said, “It depends on what you’re listening for.”

I must say when I read this portion of the book it set me back for a minute and was honestly, I guess what you would call speechless! I think that there are so many times in my personal life where I do not or would not have heard that cricket, or would have possibly heard it but due to my busyness of life, would have never stopped to take time to see what it was worth, or to examine if I am just supposed to sit back and listen to it for a while.

Why isn’t it enough to listen? Why is it that we have got to feel like we need to be moving for God to be? Now that pastor moved alright…he moved right over to the sound…moved the flower clusters and held the cricket! That pastor did what many of us would not, when he heard the noise ….he moved closer…He grabbed the flowers and moved them so he could hear it more clearly!!! Why do we sometimes hear a noise (from God) and continue walking, when what He is wanting us to do is move closer, shuffle a few things around, and boom there He is waiting to hold us, show us what it is that He wants us to do…but truthfully what He wants is for us to come to Him when He speaks, and not avoid what He is trying to say….but come closer and really focus and spend the time with Him….So what are the flowers that you need to shuffle to hear Him more clearly, what are the sounds that you are so focused on that you do not hear what God is trying to say…I challenge you to truly listen for the crickets and when you hear them….RUN…right to the flowers, move them, and grab on to whatever it is God is trying to tell you!!!!

Mark 4:9 Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

John 8:47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jeremiah 7:23-24 But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

John 6:44-45 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.