Shaving

I took this rough photo today just being crazy. I tried to fluff my hair up and have not shaved in a couple of days. Actually, I have become quit lazy when it comes to shaving. Sunday morning and Wednesday are about the only days I shave. My lack of interest in shaving began when my wife informed me she like me with a goatee. At first I was not crazy about it, but it has grown on me. What made me really like the goatee was no more slicing and dicing of my chin. Something about the contour of that part of my face attracts the razor blade to cut extra deep. I rarely cut myself shaving now.

Since I started working from home in 2007, daily shaving has become a thing of the past. The home office has it's benefits. Showering without shaving is much more gratifying. Some say they can not stand a few days growth because of itching, but I don't really seem to be bothered with that. My neighbor mentioned that I should just let it all grow out, but I'm not sold on that idea yet.

Well, I just wanted to post this picture so that those of you who would like to see me on a wanted poster can have a preview of what my mug shot would look like! Enjoy.
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Mariano is very excited about seeing his Wendy and Aydan again (and they look forward to seeing Mariano also). He seems to be encouraged and stays somewhat busy working for his brother-in-law (I think). I've talked with him from time to time and just received an email from him too. I am looking forward to visiting Guatemala in the near future. Not sure I'll ever be able to call him Juan. He has always been a hard worker, and volunteers his time to help others. On top of that, he puts up with Wendy! We have been praying for them daily and trusting that the Lord will reunited them permanently as soon as possible.

I Will Do My Part

What am I doing up at this hour (3:30 on a Sunday morning)? Well, I took a 45 minute nap with the boys yesterday and for some reason, naps throw me off. I had trouble going to bed in the first place. Then, for the first time since I installed the wood stove, I actually got up in the middle of the night (had to set an alarm) to add wood to the fire. There are three reason why I did this: #1, it has been very cold, #2 I do not want the oil furnace running any more than it has to, and #3 the wood I have right now is very dry and burns a little faster. So after laying back down for 1/2 hour, I got up and here I am. Keep this in mind if you find any typos here.

Thinking back over my recent posts, I wanted to explain I am not trying to be negative towards any one person or any group of people. Just putting out the thoughts that I've had in general over the circumstances I face in life. To point some of this in a more positive direction ...

I sometimes find myself looking at others and questioning "what are they doing"? If your in the work place and someone isn't doing their part, it really is frustrating. It can also be experienced in our homes, places of worship, and just about anywhere that two or more people get together.

Didn't one of the disciples of Jesus ask about what one of the other disciples was going to be doing? I need to find that scripture.

Anyhow, going back to the thoughts from Heb 12:2, "looking unto Jesus", instead of looking around at others. If I am doing my part, then that is all God asks of me. He may ask me to help bear someones burden, but I need to be careful not to forget I am doing it for God, and not let my thoughts get caught up in "I have to pick up the slack" mentality.

An old hymn came to my mind. Have not heard it in years, ,but for some reason it has been playing in my mind with the repeat setting on.

I Will Do My Part

1. It may be little that I can do,
   Nor may I have much to say,
   But in that little I mean to be true,
   And do what I can today.
   • Refrain:
     From the depths of my heart I will do my part
     With a ready and willing hand;
     And I will not shirk, I will faithfully work
     In the place that my Lord hath planned.
2. The work He giveth may lowly be,
   It may not win man’s applause,
   But if I do what He chooses for me,
   I know it will help His cause.
3. In vain no service that love may give,
   No matter how small it be;
   In God’s remembrance it ever shall live
   To shine in eternity.
4. In that fair day, when the crowns are brought
   For those who have faithful proved,
   There will be one for each soul that has wrought—
   For all that have worked and loved.

Click here to listen to the tune (same with title above).

Luke 17:32 and Heb 12:2

Luke 17:32 - Remember Lot's wife.

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

These two scriptures came to my mind at the same time today. I did not study out what Luke was trying to say - just had these two scriptures come to my mind.

Often times we become careless and have our focus on the things behind us. We take our eyes off of the prize and like Peter we begin to sink into the sea of despair.

Or like Lot's wife, we turn into a pillar of salt. Nothing wrong with salt in the correct amount. A little bit adds flavor, too much makes you want to spit it out. A little salt can help heal/clean a cut but I won't pour a whole jar in an open wound.

Looking unto Jesus ... if we are looking in the right direction, our words and our actions will most likely reflect what we are seeing. If we are looking backwards, well, our words and our actions will most likely reflect what we are seeing.

There is a time for reflection, but you better keep your eyes on the road you plan to travel.

Mat 5:44

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Sometimes we forget to live by this scripture. We find out someone is talking about us or something seems chaotic because others are not doing their job and we immediately become angry and sometimes we respond in anger. God help me to pray for those who are so miserable and looking for company to share their bad news with. Help me to say nothing when I have nothing nice to say. (especially when I may not know what I'm talking about)

Truth vs. Tradition continued ...

OK - back to some thoughts with substance to reflect on ... I've been collecting these thoughts over a period of several months I guess.


We sometimes find ourselves going down life's road and realize we are little off course. So we try to get back to what we should be doing. The danger is that we over-compensate and get ourselves in a worse situation than the one we were originally in. Have you ever seen/experienced this literally in a car? I was driving someone to the airport early one Sunday morning, and as I went down the highway I noticed a car come across the median and over into my lane. What happened exactly I do not know. But the driver of that car probably veered off the right side of the road then swerved too far to the left into oncoming traffic. Certainly he/she was in a bad situation traveling with traffic but not on the road, but he/she ended up in a much worse situation once they crossed over into oncoming traffic. Fortunately traffic was pretty light and no one else was affected in this case.

Spiritually, we can do the same thing. I've seen people say - well the church was wrong on this so I am changing this ... and this and this ... where does it end? I believe it is OK to change when you find something is not what it should be, but we have to be careful that we keep our foundation solid and our testimony in tact. It's sad when you talk to someone and they say "I'm changing here but I'll never do this other thing" but sometime later you see them doing exactly what they claimed they would never do. But when hypocrisy and compromise set it you can not stop the erosion of your foundation until you go back and correct the errors. Sadly, many go right on professing salvation and are blinded to their condition.

Separating truth from tradition helps us to keep our foundation in order. When a building is being built, the law requires an inspection for each step of the process. A trained inspector stops by to verify everything is built to code. Spiritually, the Holy Spirit is our inspector who is with us night and day, and as long as we have life we are under construction and must be willing to accept the recommendations of the Holy Spirit. If we ignore the inspector - we will be shut down - from having a personal walk with God. So we know who helps us understand the code. We also have the written code to read - the Bible. Now we have to have an understanding - and be respectful of the fact that the person who sits on the pew in front of you may have a slightly different understanding but still loves the Lord. The inspector will not shut you down for the color of your building, but he can if your foundation and structure are built with the wrong materials or in a hazardous way. The Bible gives us truth - some truth's seem more straight forward than others. Like the ten commandments are more obvious - "Thou shalt not ..." tells us exactly what not to do. Others take a little more understanding and leadership from the Holy Spirit - like should I drink/smoke/go here or there? The Bible was written to endure the ages of time, meaning that it is not going to name out modern inventions and use the same terms as our society uses. And then there are principles in the Bible that guide us each as individuals to keep ourselves from becoming entangled in the snares of the world. These principles protect us from inevitable erosion of our morals based on our own human reasoning. For some, sports might be a stumbling block and more caution needs to be exercised for that individual. Others might be able to become more involved and never stumble at all. Maybe this is what is meant by "Work out your own salvation". There is a point where we must leave people with God - and that is an issue on it's own.

When tradition is taught/preached as though it were truth, there inevitably will come a time when someone will question the teaching and want to make corrections. If they have a honest heart and a solid foundation of truth, then by following Christ they can make the right correction. If they are in the flesh, then they will over-compensate and start to create their own religion/creed. The over-compensating epidemic the Church of God has faced over the years of time has left much heart-ache to the newer generations who are still looking for answers as to why we do the things we do. We also struggle with whose right and whose wrong, or can both be right and share different opinions although separation has occurred.

How many religions are there? No one could say for sure - those documented are and overwhelming amount. I do not accept that anyone person or body has all the answers. I do accept that the teachings I have been around are more central to the truth than any others I have come across. Others may do some things better - like have better unity or be better stewards. However, I tend to live by the 80/20 rule. That rule says that you don't throw something away if it is 80% useful. You work on the 20% even though that 20% seems like the overwhelming majority at times. You resolve your differences and/or find room to disagree as a first priority. There are Biblical principles for working out your problems. If you do not follow them -then you will split regardless if the matter is on truth or tradition. I consider these principle to be classified as ones that are easy to understand - they do not require a lot of smarts and digging before you say "Oh, now I understand it ... a little". But they have not been followed and so we see the messes in different fellowships today. Consider Mattew 18 & Joshua 22 for a starting point of these principles. Matthew lists a three step process and you have to follow all three steps in that order. Joshua deals with a specific example of how our human tendencies automatically demand justice when we don't have all the facts. If we would be patient and collect all the information, we would not be so quick to want to kill our brothers and sisters. Today, it is not so much a killing of the flesh, but a killing of fellowship.

You will find me on the conservative side of most traditional issues. I beleive that you should provide your self a buffer that keeps you away from the cliff. If you veer out of your lane a little, then you have not fallen over the cliff. And be sure the Holy Spirit is leading you when you make adjustments. I do not have any Bible for this (not to say it isn't there) but I can't believe that God shows one person or family something and leaves everyone else in the dark. God will send His Holy Spirit to the spritiual body and begin to deal with a group of individuals. This helps us know that we are not relying on our own understanding.

Main points - keep your foundation built on truth, be respectful of people whose views vary from your own (even if you beleive it is sin), and do not over-compensate.

Next, I am thinking about how to accept with change without compromising. This will take some time ...

Nov 2008 update

This is what I figured would happen - forget about your blog then decide to write one cause I'm feeling a little guilty. But who reads this anyway? Maybe there are some people who want to know what's going on in my life but do not come around ...

I'd like to continue a series like I mentioned before. It just seems like time for typing is limited.

My traveling has slowed down a bit. No plans to travel in the near future. Work is ... right now a little frustrating. Family is all doing well.

I have built a chimney onto the house and added a wood stove in the basement to heat my office space. Need to find some wood today as the stash that came with the house when I bought it (fireplace upstairs not really a good source of heat) is running low. Also need to clean up the trim work around the chimney and am looking at rocking the outside. They no longer make the same brick that the house was built with in the early 70's.

Thanksgiving was a holiday ... took vacation day on Friday but ended up working ... should be working now as well ...

Started laying laminate floor in the hallway upstairs. I really messed up - should have run the planks the other way. Then I kept cutting pieces wrong. One thing after another. Kelly went to get more planks yesterday so I told her I would try to lay them today.

Going on the annual three amigos shopping trip today. Three guys going shopping ... this ought to bring some laughs.

Truth vs. Tradition

There has been a big debate going on for some time now. From my stand point, I have not been debating anyone, but the lingering questions I have tell me that I may have to in the future. Maybe debate is the wrong word, but it'll do for now. What I am referring to is Truth vs Tradition, and is what I have been taught truth that I must follow, or tradition. If it is tradition, is the tradition set in place as a safe guard, is it man rule, or was it based on circumstances that are no longer present?

For at least a year now, I thought about studying a group of topics and compiling it into a larger topic called "Church of God Myth Busters" - primarily for my own use. Then Casey pops up his blog with the first of ten myths he has been thinking about (still waiting for the second episode to come out!). How cool - I do not remember discussing it in depth all though I am sure we hit on a few of them in our discussions.

My reasons for this thought are many. Here are a couple. #1) I need to know for myself so I can train my children correctly, #2) I need to be able to communicate with others - not just my thoughts and reasoning but God's.

Now any time you start questioning, people will get nervous - maybe even judge you. That is part of the problem in my opinion. We tend to believe a set of rules, then we judge everybody else by our rules and condemn them when they won't follow them. This has split fellowships, churches, friends, and sadly enough - families. People who once worshiped together and were the best of friends no long want to even run into one another in public because they can't shake hands or say hello. Then they both hammer a third party and draw a line - "stand with me or against me but this is how you should believe (just like me of course)". How very disturbing. For some intriguing thoughts along the lines of judging, see Casey's blog (in the time that I have been working on this one, Casey has posted two more Myths!)

One of the biggest topics is what is modesty? I do not plan to dive into this too far right now, but my original thoughts took me to Genesis the third chapter. God comes calling for Adam and Eve but they are hiding. They have already sewn fig leaves into an apron (in the Hebrew this is like a belt, or from the waist). God had not told them they were naked but their sin troubled them to the point where they knew right from wrong - they just didn't know how to correct the new problem that they faced. So God made them coats (in the Hebrew this means to cover and it can also be interpreted as being hung from the shoulders). Without dealing with God's standard for modesty, we can see here the God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways higher than our ways (see Isa 55:9). Our human ideas and reasoning will only get us into trouble. Adam and Eve tried to fix sin #1 but were still naked in the eyes of God. We must seek the mind of God for our lives, but keep in mind we can't put it on everyone around us. God has a personal plan for each of us and it does not involve putting our plan on another person.

While I am not opening the door for sin or compromise, I think there needs to be a separation of truth and tradition. If I decide God does not want me to wear the color blue, then I need be aware that others will be wearing blue and that does not affect their spirituality. It is a tradition that God has given me for a reason - or it is something I totally came up with for some strange reason. Often times tradition begins to be presented as a truth and a holier-than-thou attitude pops up. Truth will have obvious (at least to an honest heart) Biblical principle that will apply to Christians worldwide. Traditions must only act as a safeguard to an individual or group based on circumstances they face and should be taught within the context to which they apply.