Real Fake

There was an isolated island in which an airbase was set up during World War II. The islanders were taken with the way that the airbase seemed to be able to summon up endless airplanes with food and other useful supplies. When the airport was dismantled after the war, the natives decided to try and summon up airplanes themselves by building runways, bamboo models of radio equipment and so on. Despite the fact that this "cargo cult" went to great lengths to recreate the exact look and feel of an airport, they were disappointed when it failed to deliver the benefits they were looking for.

I want something more than just the look-alike in my life. Part of it is because I want something more for my kids than a knock-off of what I may not even have. How many of us have looked at the generation before us and were convinced that what they had was not real? That we would have the real deal ... the real revival, the real activity of the Spirit, the real fruit and the real character of Christ.

It's easy to believe "they" missed it but we're young and spunky enough to get it right. And, oh, that we would! We must have God. Anything less is certain spiritual death. And certain depression. And certain disillusionment. We have to give our hearts and our energy to Him, to pursuing Him. To invest our heart into drawing Him close to us through wooing Him with our love.

I want to coax Him to come close with my love. I want to draw Him out into the open and drive Him crazy with the attention I give Him. But it takes energy and time. What would He do for my love? Would He draw close?

I've just been looking at the subject of 'The Arm of the Lord", which is Jesus, and at what things are manifested when Jesus is revealed. I don't have a good enough grasp of it yet, but it seems to boil down to a few things. One: salvation. Two: justice. And there are large lists of things underneath those headings ... but I don't really know what to say about it yet.

I just want something real. I want Him.

Drums on Sunday Morning

For all those not able to make it to your respective church this Sunday morning, get on the IHOP website at 10AM central time and you can hear our service for free. While you can do this every week (Friday and Saturday nights as well), I will be playing drums this Sunday morning.

While I'm on the subject, if you have subscribed to the IHOP webstream, you can tap in anytime (it's $10 a month ... and you'll obviously need an internet connection). The sets I play on are Monday at 10AM, Wednesday at 6 and 10AM, and Thursday at 4PM. I do others throughout the month when friends are out of town, but these are my regular slots.

Here's the address to get the free webstream:
http://www.ihop.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=16910
Scroll down to the Forerunner Christian Fellowship section and either click on "watch" for the video feed or "audio only".

Using that same link, you can tap into the free webstream of our weekend services, called "Encountering God Services" (EGS's). Friday night is used to focus on subjects of intimacy with God and Saturday nights are all about the End Times.

If you ever wanted to peek in on the House of Prayer but couldn't take a week out here, this is an easy way to do it.

Enjoy.

Petting Zoo

Tomorrow morning (or, for me, later this evening) we are going to take the girls to a free petting zoo. Before it gets to be 90*, that is. They love animals, they love being outside and they love feeling like "big girls". We're happy to oblige.

Last weekend we took them to Barnes and Noble to do some reading. After a few minutes of looking around, Maddie climbed up on one of the benches! It was awesome! She's really starting to take some risks. Today she stood on her own in the middle of the floor for about five seconds. Our little girl is growing up ... awww.

Summary of Parenthood

"How do you like being a parent?" We get asked that all the time ... usually by people who are either not married or couples who don't have kids. Because parents know better; they know it's both. "Is it just incredible, or is it terrible?"

D. All of the above.

5:30PM -- The girls greet me at the door with smiles, giggles and arms upraised, asking to be held.
6 -- Still playing with the girls ... lots of laughing, chasing, jumping, spinning...
6:30 -- Dinner for the girls. Spaghetti night.


7 -- Spaghetti will take five minutes to wash off. Then they'll need a bath.
7:30 -- Put them in bed, say our prayers, lots of hugs and kisses.
8, 8:30, 9 -- They're still not asleep. Kayla's in and out of bed, Maddie is upset at her; they both whine. Lots.
9:30 -- We haven't heard whining for about five minutes. Maybe they're asleep.
10 -- Time to do our own thing ... blog, dishes, clean, play catch-up on ten things, edit, relax, you name it.

2AM -- Whining from a certain room. We don't have any pets. My money is on the chilluns.
2:05AM -- I check. "Are you feeling okay?"
2:06 -- Kayla pukes. It wreaks.
2:07 -- Bath time.
2:15 -- Back in bed. Start a load of laundry ... sheets, pillow, the whole bit.
3:30 -- More whining from a certain room.
3:31 -- "What's wrong?"
3:32 -- Puke. Question answered.
3:33 -- One more bath. More laundry started.
3:40 -- Back in bed.
4:45 -- More whining from a certain room.
4:46 -- "Are you still not feeling well?" This time it was Amy to ask the question.
4:47 -- The gurgling starts and Amy holds out her hand to catch the up-chuck. Why? Because we were out of clean sheets, I am told. Still, I know I am a "dad" and she is a "mom" because that never would have crossed my mind. Never.
4:48 -- Third bath of the night. Kayla is happy to splash and play at this point.
4:50 -- Back in bed. More laundry started.
5AM, yes, AM -- The birds are chirping. It's been a long night. And this was on Mother's Day.

Is parenthood glorious? Yes, just alike anything worthwhile. Is it hard? Yes, just like anything worthwhile. It's one of the few inherent epitomes of servanthood that exists. You don't have a choice but to serve, but you get the enjoyment of loving on them and feeling their love back.

The Irony of "Life"

There was a show on tonight that highlighted a magician, David Blaine, as he stayed in a large aquarium for a week ... topped off by attempting to hold his breath for at least nine minutes, which would have been a world record.

I say "would have" because he didn't do it. Granted, he lasted seven minutes, which is more than most anyone can do, but for all the hype, it didn't pan out. The advertisements said he was determined: he would either do nine minutes, or he would die. Die, dead; a soggy, wet, ridiculous death. Like Houdini, but of his own free will instead of by accident. Big talker. That's quite a promise to not come through on.

Immediately following this soggy let-down was a news report: "Australian miners freed after being trapped underground for two weeks."

One guy sits in a public tub for a week, makes a promise, and still doesn't pull through—thousands surround him and cheer him on.

Miners are trapped underground for two weeks due to a freak accident—a few cameras are present to welcome them out of their death trap.

Isn't it weird that we are more interested in the well-being of a pruny magician even though he really didn't do anything, than in the safe rescue of people in harm's way?

Mac Ads

If you haven't seen the new Mac ads, you're missing out. And if you don't have a Mac ... well, that should go without saying.

In the IT office I work at, we have some hard-core Mac people and some hard-core Windows people. Lots of sarcasms fly each hour, but while their computer crashes, I am still up for business. That alone should make you think about it. As Mac says, "Your toaster doesn't crash. Your kitchen sink doesn't crash. Why should your computer?"

The entire office got a good laugh out of the commercials ... mostly because they're true. Check out the "iLife" ad. It's pretty witty. Amen. Let's stand.

Be His

"You will never be happy until you learn to become more of yourself. All that 'God,' 'the creator of the universe,' or 'whatever' wants from you is for you to become more of yourself.” — Oprah Winfrey

Wrong again. Let me just say for the record that I am highly un-impressed with Oprah. She does some decent things, but so does most everyone else. The only difference is the amount of the charity check.

She really missed it on this one though. God never asks us to "become more of yourself." He says we'd be lucky if we could lose ourselves. We'd be lucky if we were more interested in our neighbors, in the names of the trees between our house and our church, and in affecting social justice in whatever ways we could instead of being stuck on ourselves.

God tells us we're eternally winners and we don't need to prove it. Jesus tells us to not worry about ourselves and about what we want to get, but to be more focused on others. Paul tells us to consider everyone else more than we consider our own comfort, to see them as better than we see ourselves, and to give from the perspective of having gained the world instead of "what we still want to buy."

All God, the creator of the universe, wants from us is to be His.

Today's Irony

What is wrong with humans? Doctors only tell us what’s wrong with us, but we continue to go back time and time again. On the other hand, God tells us how much we mean to Him … and we run away. Really now, what's that about?

Props to JTB

Here's a shout-out for the one and only Jackson Bohlender. When my wife picked me up from work this week, she had a special delivery for me—a Dove chocolate bar, dark to be precise—from Jackson.

From one chocolate lover to another, dude, you ROCK! Thanks a lot, you made my week!

Incense ... Coming to a Town Near You

On Mondays our team goes through a few verses of Isaiah 53 ... one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. This morning was no exception. I gotta tell you, the team was incredible. We sing and play around the themes introduced in the passage, expounding on them by drawing in all kinds of correlating verses. It quickly turns into a musical Bible study, which is actually the point. Feeling the freedom to be creative musically and really explore Scripture at the same time is an unbeatable feeling.

Meanwhile, we are exalting God 24/7 within a city--the ramifications of that are astounding. How many cities in the Earth can say that this is their portion, their lot in life? At the moment only a handful can, but sit tight because it's coming to your city as well. And God is the one bringing it.

Malachi 1:11 says, "'My name will be great among the [Gentiles, meaning non-Jews], from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,' says the LORD Almighty." (NIV)

God, in His sovereignty and full of unbridled zeal, is intent on making His name great among the nations. He will do it to such an extent that intercession (incense) and worship (pure offerings) will rise to Him from every place. I love being amongst a group of people who are making that a reality right now. God will be exalted. Our city will be changed. "Because His name will be great among the nations."

Marathon Drumming

I have the distinct privilege of playing drums at the International House of Prayer, a ministry of "worship with intercession" that goes non-stop 24/7.

This week a friend (and incredible drummer), Shawn Blanc, is spending some extra time Cali ... -fornia, not Colombia. So, I am filling in for him. Over a three day period I am playing five worship sets at two hours each. That's a lot of chances to get blisters, let me tell ya. But I love playing, so I'll make it work somehow. Feet, don't fail me now.

Treat Yourself

Dove chocolates are really good. If you haven't tried them, you might want to put them on your pre-rapture list of things to do. It's one of the few things you can do without spending what's left of your savings (after forking out for gas, that is), and it still feels like you are treating yourself. Kinda like a good coffee or a slurpee on a hot day ... but please understand that coffee and partially frozen, colored sugar crystals are in different categories.

Hear His Voice

Do you ever have those moments where two pieces of information make that clicking sound in your head and, suddenly, life makes more sense because of it? I had one of those.

Amy and I take the girls to the park on a weekly basis. They love it and we love getting out of the house for a little while. Amy and I take turns while we're there: she'll run around with Kayla for a bit while I am with Maddie, then we'll switch.

This past week when I was watching Kayla, I noticed that I would let her choose where to go, but I would always be right behind her in case she needed any help or was headed toward danger (like rabid squirrels smoking grass on the monkey bars and taunting the younglings with their "if you dare" look ... you'd be suprised how often that happens in our neighborhood). Amy, on the other hand, would stay on the ground as Kayla explored the jungle gym. She would meet her at the bottom of the slides, hold her hand as she walked across the bridges, and block her from careening through a wide opening.

Click

I was acting as "the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard ... and you will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it..."

Amy showed another side of God's personality: "...You will not stray to the right or to the left ... and your foot will not strike a stone ... I will never leave you or forsake you..."

It was just interseting to me how God made us differently to reflect a different part of His character to our kids, and even to reveal it to our own hearts.

God is a good Father. I want Him to father me, Amy, and our girls. And I hope we hear His voice saying, "This is the way; if you walk in it, your foot will never strike a stone."

I know He speaks to us daily, I just really hope we hear what He is saying.

(Lame) Mowing Poem

I cut and I cut ... and I cut grass some more,
But the dandy-weeds laugh at my body -- so sore.
Why won't the dandy-weeds get chopped and die?
'Cuz my lawnmower blade's as soft as a fresh Wendy's fry.

Could it be true? Must I mow again?
Or does "controlled burn" mean anything but jail time with "Ken"?
This isn't so great, as most great things go;
It's about as lame as 16 candles atop old escargot.

Woe is me, woe to the tenth power, woe my aching back.
This 2.3 horsepower ain't worth a horse's "intestinal contribution".
But with music so old, cassette tapes so -- [stop wrinkling on me, you ancient machine!] -- divine,
My cassette player and I warble to the beat of 1999.

Uncertain

Thought for the day:

Everything uncertain is certainly a possibility.

Crib Snacks

Madeline is one year and a few months old. She likes to stand inside her crib. She apparently has a fancy for wood as well, as evidenced by the missing chunks from her crib. Anyone know how to remove an intestine splinter? I don't have plastic gloves.

Egg On Face

For the record, I just want to say that I think kids should learn how to eat first.

Then you can give them eggs. Otherwise, it takes so long to clean up. And get it out of their nose (which is quite small at their young age). Whilst they cry and squirm. It is so not delightful.

However, for those who want to allow the munchkins to donate their eggs to the floor, my tip of the week is: let it dry for a few hours before you try to clean it up. Otherwise it just spreads like a bad rash ... from a chicken ... yeah, like bird flu.

Can You Use That in a Sentence Please?

Just so you know, Kayla is speaking in full sentences now. Exactly when that change took place, I don't know. One or two words out of the entire sentence maybe a little mumbled, but it's pretty much full sentences.

She's even singing in the car with the music (CD of choice is Misty Edwards' Always On His Mind). She even throws out a fifty-cent word ... "abandoned," as in, "How far will You let me go, how abandoned will You let me be?"

Yeah, she's pretty much a star.

Accessible and Profound

This promises to be long.

Lately I've been looking at the theology of the Arm of the Lord, also known as Jesus. It's a fascinating study. When you switch out the phrase "arm of the Lord" with "Jesus" you begin to see some cool specifics on what God was thinking and feeling as He put His plans in motion. It's also cool to see the combining of a paradox: judgment and mercy are both given specifically by the Arm of the Lord, Jesus.

Isaiah 53:1, 2 -- "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up like a tender shoot ... He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him ..."

Isaiah 52:10 -- "The Lord will lay bare His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God."

God laid bare His Son for the nations to mock and scorn, and the salvation of the world is only offered through Jesus Christ. But so many have not believed what has been revealed. Sure, it's hard to believe something that seems so ... normal, so small and boring, like a baby in a cow trough. No fireworks, no trumpets and no national parades ... not the majesty we assumed would accompany the King of the universe, so we weren't attracted to Him. He came as a person, He was so much like us that we weren't drawn to Him. We didn't see His true beauty.

What actually happened was that God reached within the infiniteness of His own being and gave to us the most profound and accessible thing in existence--Jesus Christ. It's one thing to be accessible; most of us are ... through cell phones, email, and other various mediums. And it's one thing to be profound; we are drawn to people and things which have inherent depth and a weight that is otherworldly. Lots of us even try to wax eloquent. Few succeed.

But it is an altogether distinct thing to be both eternally profound and eternally accessible. Jesus is the core of the Godhead. Colossians 2:9-10 tells us that the fullness of Deity lives in Jesus in bodily form. God became Man. This is part of the beauty of being in the human race. In Jesus, God now calls us fellow brothers and sisters. He's completely accessible to us forever. He is ours and we are His.

God has bared His holy Arm in the sight of all the nations. We have been given access to God. It's amazing to me the difference between various religions. Jesus came near to us while all the others crossed the road and passed us by, looking the other way or busying themselves with "more important" things. Jesus is different--He decided you were His "important thing".

And He doesn't ask you to take over nations, cleanse your aura or be nice to creepy-crawlies. He simply asks you to believe His message of accessiblilty, see His beauty, and worship His majesty as your eyes become opened to His salvation.

Free Bird

We put Kayla in a toddler bed last night. We also bought a "princess potty" that looks like a throne and plays magical music every time she makes a royal contribution.

She's not sure about either one yet.

This morning we found that she had given her sister a few books for morning reading ... only, Maddie is more interested in eating the books than reading them. She may be part gerbil.

Kayla can crawl in and out of her bed at will, but this morning she kept the habit of saying, "Out ... please," which we really appreciate. I wonder how long it will take her to figure that she has graduated from cooped-chicken boot camp to the free-bird sorority.

Oh, what joy (and discipline) awaits. With great freedom comes great responsibility: when you get out of bed in the mornings, please don't feed books to the gerb... um, sister.