Amazing Boy

Every night I pray for my boys I end the prayer with "Thank you for making Michael/Daniel a Winner, a Leader, and a World Changer." One night Daniel asked me about this phrase, where it came from and what it means. I love that.

You are a winner, no matter whether you actually win at something or lose at something, you are a winner, in my eyes and in God's eyes, you are a winner.

You are a leader, you have an opportunity every day to lead people. God has given you this ability to influence people for good, lead them. You don't have to follow what others are doing, you can create a new way - lead.

You are a world changer, even at your young age there are things inside of you that this world needs and God has a Divine plan and purpose that He is working in you now. In the class room, on the ball field, or where ever you may be, that is your world and you make a difference.

I see these things working in my sons lives. I tell them all the time "I want to be like you when I grow up." I love to see what God is doing in their lives.

So yesterday, Daniel our 8 year old, had one of those days for sure. 

He has a classmate at school that challenges him and others. Daniel sits at their table now. He is being asked questions by them all the time he says, so I asked him how he handles it. He said he just helps them, doesn't give them the answers but helps them on how to do it. Loves them.

Later that day our whole family was at the grocery store, Lynn went inside and the boys and I stayed in the van. A girl came up to the van and asked for money, she was out of a job and needed some food. I of course said "sorry, I have no cash", she apologized and moved on. Daniel quickly said "but dad, we have all those granola bars we got for the homeless, you should give her those" (did I say I want to be like him when I grow up?). Well, it was too late she was gone. Then Lynn calls me because she can't find where I parked and I hear this same girl come up to Lynn and ask for money, Lynn says "hang on babe" while she gets some money out of her wallet to give to her. When Lynn gets back to the van Daniel says "mom, we've got those granola bars" so Lynn gets some granola bars and goes and finds her. Mean while I feel like a complete schmuck. I have some growing to do. Lord, forgive me for being such a cynic.

And still later that same day Lynn and Daniel deliver dinner to an elderly couple where the gentleman just had surgery. The plan was to just drop off the food and come back home but they stayed for a while. Daniel had the opportunity to entertain them, ask them questions and answer some questions too. I am sure there was much laughter as well. I wonder when the last time is they had a young boy like that communicate such value and love.

God, I thank you for making my sons winners, leaders and world changers. I really do want to be more like them when I grow up, help me to grow. Thank you for using my sons to teach me.

More Money!

Ugh! I seem to be frequently frustrated by money. Several years ago, my wife and I found ourselves in financial trouble. Well, we could have gone a couple of routes 1) file for bankruptcy and wipe the slate clean and start over or 2) dig in and do the hard work to get out of the debt load we were carrying. We chose door number 2.
It seems to me that filing for bankruptcy is an easy way out, humiliating I'm sure, but easy. What about all the money you spent but didn't have, who pays for that now? I am all for sticking it to credit card companies for the fees and all that they tack on, but legitimate purchases should absolutely be the purchasers responsibility.
Lynn and I cut expenses, we whittled down to the bare minimums. In four years time we were completely out of debt other than a mortgage. Now I drive a 17 year old car with 257,000 miles on and we don't have the latest and greatest of all the gadgets, housewares, furniture, clothes... Stuff.
What we do have is dignity, integrity and a really good credit score. So now how is it that companies that can't manage money get bailed out of their issues. But not only that, they get bailed out by an organization that can't even handle their own money, no check that, our money. I suppose that's how they feel the freedom to spend (read: waste) money, it's not theirs. It is very easy to spend money that is not your own.
Why can't someone be held accountable for what they spend. During this election season, think about how these candidates are spending, of course things seem to really change once they get into office.
Ugh, you see my frustration?

Shut the door

One of my favorite podcast to listen to is Liquid Church with Pastor Tim Lucas. This last message was titled "Don't Stop Believin'", you know, like Journey from the 80's. Pastor Tim spoke about entering into chapter two from chapter one. For so many of us I know we can relate to this. As I was thinking about this journey we are all on one side of a door.



A door is any gateway marking an entrance or exit from one place or state to another. Have you ever been in a place you just wanted to exit? Or another place you wanted to enter. How many times are we in a place we know we should leave but are afraid to? Perhaps it's because it is all we have ever known. It could be a dark place we fear to leave because of what we may encounter if we do. Or maybe it is a place that we are just too comfortable.



Interestingly enough, Jesus calls Himself the door.



I imagine many of us open the door and maybe even go through the door but we leave it open. Don't you just hate it when the door is left open? Sometimes maybe we position ourselves so that we can see through the doorway, remembering the past. Why? I believe too often we may be physically in the right place but our thoughts are in the past, perhaps in darkness. Close the door to the past and set you sights on things above. I love Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Learn from the past, live in the present, hope for the future.

What about Grace?

So news broke out recently about the author of one of the greatest worship songs today, Healer. It turns out this guy says he doesn't have cancer as he had claimed. However he did have another addiction, pornography. Perhaps he did have cancer.
So some of us on a church staff are talking about this ordeal. One says, "there is no way we can ever sing that song again", my question is why not? Has the song lost it's power because the guy that "wrote" it was a liar. A question came up about airing a message from another speaker that had been caught in deceit. I say sure, air it, sing it, if it is good and inspiring and touches the heart of God.
I am reminded of David from the Bible, we quote him, we sing his songs, we deliver message series based on him don't we? Here is a guy that premeditated sexual relations with that woman and then charted a course for murder. HELLO!
And what about Jesus, when a woman was caught in adultery she was tossed at his feet thinking she was about to be raked over the coals by Jesus Himself. But what did Jesus do? You without sin, you throw the first stone at her.
I am challenged by all of this. First of all, who among us is without sin? All of us have sinned and fall well short of God's standard. But isn't that why Jesus came into the world? He came to redeem a sinful man, you and me. I know we as humans really like to rate all of our sins on a scale, some are much worse than others, does God see it that way?
After all, God has a message to get out, I thank God that some folks are willing to be used. I am grieved by "Christians" beating their own when they are down. Can we at the very least pray for his healing, reformation and restoration? I say as Christ followers, we are to be carriers of His love and grace and it covers ALL sin. Thank God!

Summer Vacation 2008

Wow, three weeks away from home. With great anticipation the Cherry family took off on our annual summer vacation. This year we are going North.

Day 1: Left Austin around 9AM and arrived in Wichita, KS around 4:30PM at the Homewood Suites. (We like to stay here because they always seem to be fairly nice places, are suites and have free breakfast and evening reception.) We were upgraded to the family suite, two bedrooms, two baths. The boys each had their own bunk bed and they each slept on the top bed.

Day 2: Left Wichita around 8AM and arrived at Sioux Falls, SD sound 4PM.

Day 3: Left Sioux Falls around 8AM and stopped in Fargo to visit Lynn's Aunt and Uncle. These guys are involved in an amazing church in Fargo. I so loved listening to them and the great things they are doing. It sound like the church is really loving Fargo well and Lynn's Aunt and Uncle have found what they can do to extend that love. Beautiful.

We arrive in Bismarck around 6PM just in time for dinner. Lynn's whole family was already there (brother, sister and their families).

Day 4-10: We attended Lynn's school reunion, Shiloh Christian School, and met some great friends. I know it was great for Lynn to visit and see how far the school has come along since her graduation in 1987.

We had family pictures taken with the whole clan, had birthday parties, went to the local water park and the zoo. We had a great time while in Bismarck.

Day 11: Went to Medora, ND. Stopped in Dickinson to visit Lynn's grandmother and enjoyed lunch together. Lynn's folks came and joined us in Medora. Neat town. We went to the Medora musical located within a canyon there in the Badlands of North Dakota, really cool.

Day 12-15: Big Sky, Montana. Stayed in a cabin at 8000 ft. Amazing. Here we saw in such beauty God's majesty on display. Check out the photo from our cabin. We had a wonderful time in Montana, we went horseback riding in the mountains (something Lynn had always wanted to do), white water rafting, visited Yellowstone National Park, saw some wildlife and relaxed.

Day 16: On to Fort Collins, CO for the night.

Day 17-18: Amarillo, TX. Funny thing about Amarillo, it smells like a giant cow patty. If there was one place I wish had an indoor pool it was Amarillo. We decided to stay an additional day in Amarillo, not because of the smell, for Daniel's birthday. We went to a movie, Chuck E. Cheese's and birthday gift shopping for both Michael and Daniel. They had a great time.

Day 19: Arrive back in Austin (Round Rock). Very glad to be home.

As we reflect back on our journey, we had an incredible time. God was so good to us. We found favor and I trust we were able to share the love of Christ. Our boys were amazing, for driving nearly 4000 miles they were very patient, certainly a DVD player and Game Cube helps.

I look forward to next years road trip, I think it will be more tropical...

Narnia

As a production staff at our church we went to see the new Narnia film (in DLP too!) at our local cinema. First off, it was great to be with folks I love doing life with outside our normal work environment.



I never saw the first Narnia film, my family owns it and my boys have watched it a number of times so I have seen little bits as I walk through the room. This film was great. How amazing that Disney and Walden media put something together that C.S.Lewis had written.

It just never ceases to amaze me how God can get his message of love communicated in fresh ways. This past week we had the privilege at Shoreline to host Pflugerville ISD's teacher rally. The featured speaker for this event was Dr. Daggett. He of course was speaking of education but the reality is that what he spoke about can certainly apply anywhere teaching is involved, which I guess is the definition of education. He said that we are teaching kids the same way today as we did 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Clearly we are in a different world today.

In the church today, are we still communicating the message of Christ the same way we did 20, 30 or 40 years ago? We are indeed living in a sight and sound generation but also what about involving the other senses as well. Is it possible to create an immersive environment, where when you step into the room, or even drive into the parking lot, you enter an environment that has been intentionally created for the message that is to be communicated.

How can we do this? Do you think we should?

Go Speed Racer

Having a moment with my two sons, we went to see the movie Speed Racer, I had heard it was a good movie to go see. I found myself in the middle of it with a lump in my throat. I thought "what is this?", why is it that I am moved by this over the top color saturated, CG intensive movie.

I am thinking is it the father-son relationships? Is it the race car diving (I love racing)? Is it the creativity with the computer graphics? Is it in the pursuing of a dream? I don't know but I think it is a combination of all of it.

I remember in Bible School one of my instructors said "I am convinced that most people never even enter into the first phase of ministry that God has for them". That statement has stuck with me. I have wondered if the other disciples in the boat with Peter ever said, "Dang, that could have been me walking n the water if I was just willing to take that step". I think we just might pass up opportunities more often than we care to think about but are not willing to take the risk. Perhaps we think about what we could lose, and that is what keeps us in the rut of life.

I know there are times when we have thought that we have heard from God and took a step but things didn't turn out the way we thought they should. Maybe this is what keeps us in the rut. Perhaps we fear missing God so we just avoid listening or obeying Him.

For me, it is my desire to take the risk in obeying my Father. Sometimes it might not make a lot of sense to me but I choose to go anyhow. Just like Speed Racer pursuing what is in him, Let's choose to go with what God has placed within our hearts.

This is my rambling site...

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! Here we will chat about spiritual things, tech stuff, family life, and just plain life. Feel free to chip in.

So my wife has decided to get into blogging as a spiritual discipline. I have never been good at writing but thought that sounded like a really cool thing to do. So. from time to time I plan to make some postings.