sixfootnineandcounting

  I've never been more convicted and had more hope at the same time! This happened when I read Proverbs 15:10, "he who hates correction will die." Uhhh, I hate correction. Hence, the conviction. I guess I really do need correction. I mean the bible says so, many times! Proverbs 15:12 says, "a mocker resents correction." I don't know what a mocker is, but it doesn't sound good and I guess it's me! Proverbs 15:31 says, "He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise." And Proverbs 15:32 says, "whoever heeds correction gains understanding." And that's just one chapter in the bible! Proverbs 12 even says, " Whoever hates correction is STUPID!" I hate correction, but what if I loved it instead? Could I possibly flip that around for the last 30 years or so of my life? My wife corrected me just yesterday and I got angry. It led to an argument because I got so defensive. But what if I rejoiced over t...

  You Have To Be Perfect The Old Testament Law is CRAZY isn't it? At first glance, it appears God is sanctioning the stoning of kids who talk back their parents or who carry sticks on the wrong day of the week among other things. This is barbaric, right?! It can't be true! But take a closer look. Did you know God gave us the Law to show you how to save yourself? The Law is the standard. If you want to be saved, you must meet the standard. Holiness is perfection. You must not miss one step. One sin and you can't possibly be holy. True justice requires that even the smallest sin requires death. Just one lie. Steal just once. I know I stole a bag of caramels from Kroger when I was nine years old. Guess what? I'm out. You are too. One bad thought. Well, you got me there too. God chose a small group of people to show us how impossible it is keep His Law. The OT Law is holiness training and the Israelites failed miserably. They couldn't do it. You can't either. Now lo...

Be yourself. Live your truth. Accept yourself exactly as you are. All these are some form of the 21st century religion of the self. Whether you are obese and practicing "body positivity", or you are a believer trying to justify what the bible calls sin, popular culture today is on your side. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find much push back even in the church. The truth is it might feel good for a while. You might feel more alive than you ever have. Unfortunately, it will not last. It is like a sugar high. Mow down a Slurpy and a King Size Snickers and your taste buds will thank you, but your stomach will probably complain shortly. You might ride high for an hour, but pretty soon you'll be asleep for 3 hours and feel off or tired for 3 days! Why is that? Because your body and mind wasn't made for a selfish diet. It was made to respond best to healthier choices. Your life itself was made the same way by God. The self-centered life that lusts after strictly pers...

  I have always been a tall pastor. I was 5'2" in the 3rd grade! Now I am a tall, divorced pastor after 32 years of marriage. Put that under the category Never Thought That Would Happen In a Million Years.  I know you have categories like that too like Wow I Wish I Didn't Do That or Man That Sucked.  Suffice it to say I didn't see it coming, but here we go! I have failure and shame that goes along with it, of course. Try not to assume what I mean by that! I have been convicted and even sick as a result. A few years ago I lost 100 pounds! You know it's bad when you end up in the fetal position around the toilet in a bathroom stall. My mental health was shot. I was confused. I couldn't be trusted to go the grocery store or manage the finances. I lost my job. That's my "dark night of the soul", but praise God, it wasn't the end of the story. Wherever you are, it's not the end of the story either. Now I'm on a quest to finish my life stro...

I love the story about W.C. Fields. He was on his deathbed reading a bible, which was highly out of character since Fields was an athiest, or at least an agnostic. A friend asked him what he was doing and he famously said, "I'm looking for loopholes" . The good news for W.C. Fields was there is a loophole in the bible. I sure hope he found it. Maybe you are looking for a loophole too. Life has a way of reminding us that we don't measure up. We spend too many days in the dumps because of a failure or guilt that has built up like sludge in an engine. In those rare moments of honesty in personal reflection, most of us realize we fall short on many levels. The news reminds us daily that we are not the only ones. Humanity is falling short. There's a big problem. Any sense of justice says the time will come to pay up for the moral and spiritual failures of life, and make no mistake, we all make regular contributions. The bible does concur with this. Those debts mus...

Greatness.  We all want to be great at something.  Heck, be honest, we want to be great at everything. You know it's true!  Get married and you determine to be the best spouse ever.  The first child comes along and you set out to be the best parent the world has ever seen.  Books will be written about how efficiently and mess free those diapers were changed!  We all set out to be great pet owners with greatly trained pets. The goal is always to have greatly organized closets, filing cabinets and tools. Just the other day, the teacher asked my son who his hero was.  Do you know what he said?  His Mom!  I am happy for her, but I want to be his hero!  I want to be the greatest Dad ever! Applause! Applause! This yearning for greatness is not a new thing for us humans.  It must be how we're wired.  How many self help books are designed for you to achieve greatness in fitness, finance, love and spirituality to name just a few? ...

I had my first MOB (Men of the Bible) class last Wednesday. We met in the “man-cave” (formerly known as room E).  I used an old pizza box as the sign over the door. We are doing a series of lessons on discipleship by Erwin McManus. The first one was called “Advance: Go Unless You Get a No”. This is a great idea! It's biblical too. Jesus makes it pretty clear in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) where He says, “Go and make disciples of all nations” . There is a lot of “go” in Acts 1:8 too. “You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth” . Despite all the “go” in the Bible, we sure do a lot of waiting around don't we? Instead of “go unless you get a no”, we usually live more like “wait until you really know”! But besides waiting for Jesus to return, there is not much waiting written into our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ. Should you talk to your neighbor? Go! Should you go on that mission trip? ...

I have recently joked, “I just thought I had to preach the sermons. I didn't know I had to apply them!” The joke came about after having to put the scriptures I preached on, and the applications I made, to the test. For example, recently, I preached two sermons on Psalm 23. The first one was “The Rest of the Story”. It was an application to Psalm 23:1-2, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” The bottom line in the sermon was that we were made for Sabbath rest. After all, it is in the ten commandments! If we are not resting, we are sinning. If we are resting in the Lord, we are being restored. Ahhh, that sounds good, doesn't it? I got a chance to put this to the test on my recent getaway with my son, Jackson. Just the two of us took a week to go hiking and camping along the Appalachian Trail. We hiked 20 rugged miles. We didn't shower. We got bug bi...

A number of people of asked me about how to listen to my sermons online. Just click on the title of this post, or on the link below, to check them out. Feel free to tell me what you think! Preaching Podcasts in iTunes

My mother died at age 62 from advanced colon cancer. I'm 42. It's hard to believe that when my mom was 42, she was down to her last 20. That got me thinking. What about me? When is my time? I sure hope I'm not down to my last 20, but maybe I am! I can't be sure. I don't even know if I have one day left, let alone 20, 30, or 40+ years. God knows, but I don't. The other day, these thoughts led to an epiphany for me. I don't have much time left! Whether it is one day, or 20 years or more, the clock is ticking. I've got my dad's side of the family. They all live long, long lives. My grandmother just died at the ripe old age of 95! My grandpa is still living at age 94! If that's me, I've got another half century, at least! But on my mom's side, they all die young. Mom died at age 62. Her sister died a few years later at age 66. Their dad, my Grandpa George, died at age 66 too. Their mom, my grandmother, died around age 70. Three of them died ...

One thing we Americans are good at is fixing things. It doesn't seem to matter what the problem is, we've got the solution, or we'll find one. For example, I have heard that one woman fixed the problem of her free flying birds pooping on the carpet, the counters, the children's toys and bedspreads at home. She invented "Flight Suits", as they are known, little birdy diapers that fit snugly onto most household birds. Someone else invented hands free binoculars so you can drink your beer and eat your peanuts at the ballgame, but still see the game from the nosebleed section. That's where I usually am. There's the alarm clock that rolls off your bedside table, on to the floor and across the room. You have to get up to turn it off and before you can hit it with a hammer! I even heard there is a motorized ice cream cone so you don't have to turn the cone yourself. Only in America! In America, we can fix just about anything. One thing we can't fix th...

You might not think much about going to the local biker bar for Jesus. If Jesus came back today, you probably would not go looking in a biker bar for him either. But He might be there. He just might be. What about you? In John 4, Jesus does not go to a biker bar, but where He did go was at least as controversial. The passage is literally a laundry list of “don'ts” for anyone, let alone the Messiah. The gospel points out that Jesus went through Samaria, talked to a Samaritan, talked to a woman, talked to divorced woman, asked to be served by such a woman, offered to serve such a woman, and offered the gospel to such a woman all in one fell swoop. Imagine your pastor serving in the local x-rated movie theater. That's the equivalent of what's going on here. This example that Jesus demonstrates for us kind of shatters the common understanding of ministry today, doesn't it? Okay, so maybe you don't start out at the local biker bar or x-rated movie theater, but if we real...

I was visited by Jesus today. His name was Bill. He looked a little different though; no robe, beard or long hair. He was unkempt with dirty hands. He smelled. He had a tattoo and his teeth were rotting. He just showed up without an appointment! Ugh! I am extra busy now that it's Christmas. I am busy doing the real ministry of answering phone calls, writing letters and emails. Oh, and blogging too! Now that's some real ministry! Actually, I was heading into the sanctuary to pray when He arrived. Really, I mean it. I am not making this up for dramatic effect. It was really inconvenient for Jesus to show up when I was about to pray. What was He thinking? The more I think about it, the more upset I get that Jesus would interrupt my ministry like that. Damn it! It wasn't on my google calendar for today to waste an hour and half helping Jesus with gas and food. I kept looking at my watch. After that, I only had six hours to get 8 hours of real ministry done. I mean I had some fi...

Chances are, if you're like me, you sell yourself short. The truth is, though, we all have a great purpose because we have a great God. How great? Well, our God made Canis Majoris. This is the largest star ever discovered. Apparently, I've never measured, but you could fit 7 quadrillion earths inside this star. To give you an idea of how big that is you could only fit 1 million earths inside our sun. I haven't tried this, but I heard you could do it from a good source. It's kind of a science and math thing. Anyway, the same God who made Canis Majoris, the sun, Mt. Everest and a beautiful lily flower also made you and me. I am pretty sure He did it all for a reason. As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ showed us and told us that reason. The reason is to move mountains. It's to love God and neighbor. Like Abraham, it is to be a blessing. According to Jesus Himself, the reason is to do even greater things than He did. Don't believe me? He said, "I tell...

Jesus did say, "go", didn't He? If I remember correctly, that was the word. He didn't say "Wait for them to come!" I'm pretty sure about that. He didn't say, "Do the best you can, wait, and then complain about the empty seats!" I know he didn't say that. Ahhhh! Yes! I have it right here in front of me. It is all coming back to me now. Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations..." Yep, that's what Jesus said. He simply said, "go". The word "go" here really does mean "go". The Holy Spirit chose this word with the traveler in mind. It is a word with intent behind it and also a destination. There is not one shred of "the wait and see" approach woven into this word. You can dig, but you'll never find wait in this word for "go". The kind of action in mind is urgent action. The word is used ...

I'm reading a book by Reggie McNeal right now and I love it! It is a scathing indictment of how we "do church" today. I don't love that we are indicted, but I do love that someone is pointing out that "doing" church and "being" the church have become two very different things. For example, in his book "The Present Future ", McNeal writes, "The death of the church culture will not be the death of the church. The church Jesus founded is good; it is right. The church established by Jesus will survive until he returns. The imminent demise under discussion is the collapse of the unique culture in North America that has come to be called "church." This church culture has become confused with biblical Christianity, both inside the church and out. In reality, the church culture in North America is a vestige of the original movement, an institutional expression of religion that is in part a civil religion and in part a club where r...

How many times do we tell our kids to say, “thank you”. The number is infinite. We beat that drum equally as hard as our parents did to us. “Did you send those thank you notes yet?” I cannot remember how many times my Mom asked me that. It was usually because it was January or February. My birthday is in November. I did not always like writing thank you notes. I tried that trick where you write the same thing over and over again. Just insert a new name each time, but don’t forget to get the gifts right! Regardless of how I managed to get it done, and no matter how long I put it off, I always felt so much better thanking the gift giver. It works the other way too. I try not to expect thanks for gifts I give, but when I get thanks, it feels really good. There is something that is just right about saying, “thank you”. When was the last time you said, “thank you” to God? Have you tried that lately? Saying “thank you” to God is a form of praise. Did you know we were made to say “thank ...

It was a profound experience. Really, it was like no other I have ever had. It was our first U2 concert! Jennifer and I took our " bigs ", Emily and Jackson, to the outdoor concert in Raleigh, N.C. on October 3rd. We have pretty much raised all our kids on U2 and their lyrics all along. I will never forget Jackson in his car seat, as a little guy, raising his finger to the song, "Elevation". We have been raising our fingers to that song ever since. Of course, leading up to the concert, we played all the music over and over. It all reached a fevered-pitch when I managed to snag a perfect, front-row, field-level spot for us to soak it in. Listening to all the music in that setting was pretty close to a "religious" experience. My low-key, laid back son, Jackson, was jumping up and down, hands raised, to the music. I was amazed and somehow filled with the powerful presence of Christ in a new and unique way, at least it was for me. I think it is because I simpl...

I remember sitting in a rocking chair in Haiti about a year ago. I was there to attempt bringing home Eden Kristy. It was hot, as usual. I was on my third week of being there. I don't know how many useless trips to the embassy I had endured, flights through cypberspace or near desperate calls to government offices back home. Countless is probably a good number. All this after already trudging through 3 1/2 years worth of red tape, endless waiting and general misery. As I sat in that chair the helplessness of it all sunk deep down inside me like never before. I was truly mystified, befuddled, angry, and once again, pretty self-centered. I did have my coffee though! Coffee equaled comfort at that time. I didn't have much comfort, but coffee did the trick every time. As I sat there, sure enough, another little orphan boy sprang for my attention. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, but I was there on a mission. I so wanted to swoop in, grab my kid, and swoop on home again as fast ...

I love the story about the enthusiastic young plumber who took one look at Niagara Falls and said, "hmmm, I think I can fix this" . Lately, I am pretty sure that is what I have been trying to do. I have been looking at the broken areas of my life, my family, my calling and saying, "I think I can fix this." The problem is, whatever fixing I have been up to on my own has been merely a quick fix. It's like fixing an airplane with duct tape. As great as duct tape is, if you try to fix an airplane with it, eventually that plane is gonna come down with a great crash. Maybe you can relate? There's another story told by Brennan Manning in his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel , which I highly recommend. Manning credits the story to Morton Kelsey. In the story, a man on a journey comes to the edge of an abyss. As he wrestles with what to do next, he is amazed to notice a tightrope stretched across the abyss. Slowly but surely, he sees an acrobat creeping along on the tig...