My" Dream" Son in Law

My Dear Sweet Daughter asked me a question this week that has been on my mind for quite some time. I was driving at the time, and because it has been on my mind I put her off. I wanted to make sure I had time to devote to her answer. The question she asked me was what do I want for her in a husband?
For reasons to be explained at a later time, this is an issue I have felt the need to address soon, and had even thought about writing a blog post about it. I think her question was conformation for me that I was on the right track.
What do I want in a husband for my only daughter, my baby girl, my Sweetpea? Perfection of course!
OK, not possible, I know, so more realistically; he must be a Believer in redeeming grace bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. The man I want my daughter to marry would love Jesus first and foremost and care more about serving and obeying Him than anything, even her. That said he would treasure her above riches or fame and never cease to honor and cherish her. He would be motivated to provide an income as well as serving in church, which he would attend regularly. He would a hungry student of God's Word studying daily and would pray with her every morning before work and every evening before bed. The man I would hope to have marry my little girl, would understand her weaknesses, and work with her to improve on what she wants and needs to improve while maintaining her dignity. He would readily notice her strengths and help her find ways to utilize her gifts and talents for the Body Of Christ as well as her own edification. He would understand her genetic concerns and wholeheartedly embrace her desire to adopt children and work hard to make that happen at the right time. This man would love her and give his life for her, just as Christ loved him and gave Himself for him, and through this Danielle would know the love of God so clearly it would fill the hole she has had in her spirit ever since her father abandoned her.
Now, please understand, I don't expect all of these qualities right off the bat. I understand maturity needs to develop. But I do believe he should be close to the same level of spiritual maturity as she is. I say this because God's Word says we should not be unequally yoked; see 2 Corinthians . While this says unbelievers I think it also sound advice period. If you yoke two animals with a large difference in strength, over time the animal pulling harder ( the weaker one) will balk. The same is true of people of different maturity levels etc. This reference in Corinthians goes back to a prohibition of yoking animals of different species together, which is what we and unbelievers truly are, and I don't mean to take away from that basic meaning of this verse. I mean only to add an application to the one already obvious.
There it is dear child, I pray you will take this in the spirit offered. Not one of judgment, criticism, or cynicism, but one of caring, concern and hope for the the very best. The rest of you can just wonder about why I chose to write about this at this time. I can tell you, that if there is something to know, it will be revealed in due time.
That said I just want to add that I am very proud of my daughter. I have not always liked her choices, because I knew those choices would end up hurting her. I have not always, in fact more like seldom, done a good job of communicating my unconditional love to her, but it is there. There is absolutely nothing she could do that would make me stop loving her or love her less.
I thank God every day for my children, for they have been my hope, my reason for living, in the days before I knew Christ they were what kept me alive. I do not deserve the boundless blessings they have been to me, I cannot take credit for their kindness and generosity. They got the raw end of the deal in the parent department, yet in spite of that have learned love and taught; are teaching, me to love better. Thank You God, thank You!

Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe Blog Tour

Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe by Larry Osborne

Just Because “Everyone Believes It”

Doesn’t Make It True

People don’t set out to build their faith upon myths and spiritual urban legends. But somehow such falsehoods keep showing up in the way that many Christians think about life and God. These goofy ideas and beliefs are assumed by millions to be rock-solid truth . . . until life proves they’re not. The sad result is often a spiritual disaster—confusion, feelings of betrayal, a distrust of Scripture, loss of faith, anger toward both the church and God.



But it doesn’t have to be so. In this delightfully personal and practical book, respected Bible teacher Larry Osborne confronts ten widely held beliefs that are both dumb and dangerous. Beliefs like these:



• Faith can fix anything

• Christians shouldn’t judge

• Forgiving means forgetting

• Everything happens for a reason

• A godly home guarantees good kids
…and more.

Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of this book. I have two copies this time so get to commenting!

Of course if you don't win you can also purchase this book here and here or here .

Gardening Eden blog tour

Gardening Eden by Michael Abbaté

Before the snake, the apple, and the Ten Commandments, God created a garden, placed humans in it, and told them to take care of it.
“Spiritual environmentalism” did not start out as an oxymoron—it was an invitation. Yet today, many believe God’s original job description for humankind has been replaced by other worthier pursuits. So when did this simple instruction become so controversial? How does one sort through all the mixed messages? Is making the world a healthier place for the next generation really a responsibility—or even possible?
Gardening Eden is a new understanding of how the spiritual dimensions of life can find expression and renewal through caring for our incredible planet. Empowering, simple, and never polemical, Michael Abbaté outlines the Bible’s clear spiritual benefits of caring for creation, exploring new motivations and inspired ideas, and revealing the power of our basic connection to all people and living things through the growing interest in spiritual environmentalism.
Green living is no longer a fad—simple lifestyle solutions are now available to everyone. Gardening Eden shows readers how this shift transforms not only our world, but their very souls as they’re drawn into deeper harmony with the Creator. This book invites them to discover the powerful spiritual satisfaction of heeding the call to save our world.

Author Bio:
A nationally recognized expert in “green” development strategies, Mike Abbaté is a founder of GreenWorks, an award-winning landscape architecture design firm. He frequently speaks to students and leaders about practical ways to minimize the impact of building and landscape design on natural resources. Abbaté’s work has been featured in national magazines such as Metropolis and Landscape Architecture and in many local newspapers and trade publications. He and his wife, Vicki, have two adult daughters and live near Portland, Oregon.

Time Marches On

My baby turns 24 today! I can't believe it! Where has the time gone? Wasn't it just a only 5 or 6 years ago that I held her in my arms in the hospital and gazed into her bright blue eyes filled with knowing? Just a few years ago that she was getting into the pantry and taking cocoa mix and cereal and dumping them in her brother's closet? Surely it has not been over 20 years since I was thinking one of us would not survive another year of this!
Had I known this day would come this fast, would I have treasured those days of testing her limits and pushing the line? How many times would I have said I love you instead of NO or DON'T? How many times would I have just let the housework go and instead sit and hold her in my arms, smelling the sweetness of her baby skin and feeling her heart beat next to mine?
Those of you who have small children, I implore you, treasure each moment, let them make messes, snuggle all you can, because you will turn around one day and see them graduating high school, blink and they have graduated college or moved across the country for a great career opportunity. Close your eyes and the phone will wake you to hear I'm getting married. Hold on to them, for tomorrow, they will insist you let them go.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETPEA;
I am so very humbled to have been given the privilege of being your mother and proud to call you my roommate and friend. I pray you will be as blessed as you have blessed me; for I could not wish you anything greater than this. I love you.

Praying For One Another

This story put me in mind of a Scripture passage that has been convicting me over the past few months. It was sent via email forward; I cut out all the yakked yak and copied it here. Enjoy.

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day.
As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank..
I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.
We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.
Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.'
Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town.. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.
I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.
'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.
'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.' 'Have you eaten today?' 'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'
'Would you like to have lunch with me?' 'Do you have some work I could do for you?'
'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.'
'Sure,' he replied with a smile. As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. 'Where you headed?' ' St. Louis '
'Where you from?'
'Oh, all over; mostly Florida .'
'How long you been walking?' 'Fourteen years,' came the reply.
I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.'
Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God
'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'

'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.
'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.'
I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?'
'What? 'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?'
'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me.'
My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.'
I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite. 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.
'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see' I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.
'Where are you headed from here?' I asked.
'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.'
'Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?'
'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'
He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.
'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked. 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.'
I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'
'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.'

'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good! 'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked. A long time,' he replied And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.'
'I'll be there!' was my reply.
He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'
'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'
'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him..
Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.
Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'
Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry... 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...

What's Good About A Tortuous Death?

It is Good Friday. When I was not a Believer, I thought people were crazy for calling this day Good Friday. "How could they call a day marking the murder of an innocent man good?" What I did not understand, because my eyes were closed to the things of the Spirit, was that is was not only good, but necessary. Only in God's economy could such a horrible day, become celebrated as good. This is the hallmark of a God's character; He is paradoxical. Do you want to be rich? Give all you have away, do you want to to strong? Then you must become weak. Do you want to be ruler of kingdoms, bow down and serve others. Do you want to live forever? Then you must die; to your sin, your selfishness. Do you want the world to have hope? Then You must die for them.
Thank You God, for not making sense.

Enjoy this Good Friday folks, and rejoice that it didn't end on that cross!

Clutter- Free Christianity Blog Tour

Clutter-Free Christianity
by Dr. Robert Jeffress

This book was different than I was expecting it to be; which turns out to be good. I was expecting a book that talked about the busyness of today's average Christian. What I got was just what I needed at this time in my life.
This book is a call to get back to the basic tenants of Christianity. It is a call to stop theorizing, speculating, and ministering for sake of ministry, and get ask ourselves if we are prepared for eternity.
Mr Jeffress opens up with the analagy of preparing for international travel and reckons that if we take such extreme care to prepare for a trip such as thisl how much more so should we take care to prepare for the most important destination of all. While a trip overseas may be subject to rescheduling or cancellation, the time we will leave for eternity is fixed in God's calendar and if we don't prepare now, we won't get another chance when it is time to go.
Realizing his own mortality was slipping by quickly, Mr Jeffress asked himself

What must I do to please God?

While understanding we are saved by grace and grace alone, we must also realize, says Jeffress, that the Bible is clear that God is interested in more just our justification,,we must also have a changed heart as suggested in Luke 10 . Our hearts must be transformed, and this is what the book goes on to address; broken down into 10 chapters that cover Connecting your heart to God's power on through to Prayer, communicating with God and ending with Creating a plan to change your life.
I have found Mr. Jeffress book refreshing, timely, and challenging. It is one of the few books of it's kind I have seen that delivers what it implies to promise, which is spiritual and personal growth.
If you think there is nothing you can do or must do to please God beyond accepting His gift of Salvation, I challenge you to read this book and find renewed focus and purpose for your life. Even knowing that I must do more, this book helped me, is helping me, to sort through the clutter of day to day struggles and frustrations and failures, and get to heart of what pleasing God really means. If you lead a small group, I would encourage you to consider this book for discussion, it has a study guide included.

Author Bio:
Dr. Robert Jeffress is the senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, one of the most historic churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. The author of sixteen books, he is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition, live broadcasts of Dr. Jeffress’ weekly messages reach millions of listeners and viewers each week, while his daily sermon series airs on 1,100 television stations and cable systems nationwide. Dr. Jeffress and his wife, Amy, are the parents of two adult daughters.
I am grateful to God for leading me to this book, for Mr Jeffress for writing it and to the publisher for making it available to all of us.
I hope you will check here to get a copy of your own and make your Christianity Clutter Free