For the last few weeks so many things have occupied my mind and distracted me from writing a blog. The changes of everyday life, family, the struggles of friends and associates, health challenges, and current events that shape and ultimately determine our future are claiming much space in my mind. 

When it becomes cluttered I have to pour it out into the hands of God or it paralyzes my ability to think and react clearly. I have learned that in His infinite design of a human this was his plan, echoed by the numerous Psalm's of David who faced this challenge continuously. When he needed answers he went to the one with solutions:

Answer me, O Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly for I am in trouble. Psalm 69:16 & 17

Then I remember Jesus words: In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world. Better than a Valium, much less confusing than smoking a joint or drinking excessively, when I finally came to the realization that any confusion, trouble, or stress that builds up within me can be filtered through the lens of God and returned with the calm of knowing he is right there with me to provide answers, I got it.

But part of getting it is allowing time to understand it. This is so simple, God has a plan for us, and no obstacles can change it except the ones we let our minds dwell on. We think we may be in trouble, we may be overwhelmed but we are in fact just stepping through the minefield of life with the one who knows where all the mines are.

So glad he loves us enough to know we can be human with him, and still think we don't have all the answers until we realize he has already answered them without our advice.

What a mighty God we serve! 


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In the rhythm of every day life we truly dance with someone or something. Could be money, fame, success, those small gods of addiction and misconduct we follow or even mother nature. If we break it down to the simplicity of good and evil we are either dancing with the devil or God himself.

In Steps 6 & 7 of the Twelve Steps it speaks about the defects we have been dancing with and how we can get rid of them. First, we become ready to have them removed (the pause before surgery), then ask God to remove them since we have repeatedly tried ourselves unsuccessfully. Oh how I wish when I said I could quit anytime I wanted to would that have been true!

In the wording of Step Seven it says "humbly asked him". Without acknowledgement of our defective behavior and the humility it takes to ask for His help our pride will stop us from ever changing.  You see when we do ask, and we do dance with him, it will be like we have two left feet at first stepping on his toes as we learn the process of real transformative change. It takes time to heal and to learn a new dance move.

Isaiah 57:15: For this is what the high and lofty one says - he who lives forever, whose name is holy. I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

With Him, it's a revival dance and a promise he continues in verse 18: I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide and restore comfort to him. God knows how out of step we were and loves us anyway, he loves people like us, and he is 100% always ready to teach us how he moves.

He moves with comfort, he moves with peace, with grace and compassion healing our lives as we follow his lead. He is inviting us to dinner and dancing, do you want to join him? Here's the invitation:

Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in , and we will  share a meal together as friends. Rev 3:20

As we dine with him and dance life away, the defects begin to fall off one by one until we are moving in rhythm as if we are one. We will never want a new dance partner again! And the food, man it fills us up and satisfies that appetite we always had for more.

Are you ready? One two cha cha cha.....

I remember as a kid always wanting to look for some hidden treasure. There was a place I used to go to play near us called Fort Totten which was originally used as a fort to protect Washington DC. My mom used to tell me there may be things buried there that had value so I was always searching.

Then there are the real life treasure hunters who risk their lives to find long lost artifacts of value that may provide enough to live out their wildest dreams. Along with that are the rest of us who seek in every day life to find whatever treasure we search after like money, fame or some form of pleasure to sustain us. It also reminds me of that old TV series Fantasy Island where treasure awaited - or did it?

Like all forms of treasure seekers we rarely find it, unless we come to understand it may already be inside of us. To understand the scripture that follows we must look back a few thousand years ago and see that clay jars of ordinary looks were used to conceal great treasures. Here goes (2 Corinthians 4:7):

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

The jars of clay represent the ordinary human frailty (of Paul at that time) and unworthiness of all of us that when filled up with God's Holy Spirit (the ultimate treasure) demonstrate the power of wholeness, completion and a change in our outlook of what we seek for. Think of it, that treasure you have been looking for is inside of you!

It's you when the you has been equipped to glorify Him, not you.  It's you when you put away the maps, and understand that you become His GPS. That would be God's Perfect Selection. 

​X marks the spot where he is within your heart - treasure found!

Have a poster of the Beatles on my office wall at ATB, and when looking at it I am reminded how Paul McCartney stole my girlfriend away from me at 16. Not literally obviously, but he stole her heart as that group literally took over the hearts of many young American girls. 

That was of course Yesterday,  so I found myself singing that song and in fact am going to sing it in a group this week talking about this same subject (always looking to expand my comfort zone). However, there is another song titled Yesterday's Gone by Chad & Jeremy reminding us of a simple fact, we can't face today if we are living in yesterday.

Ask Lot, he lost his wife who lost her life by looking back when she was told to look forward. How many of us have lost friends or family members who could not let go of the past and fell because of it? Jesus gave us a preview of what harm it could be to us: No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. Luke 9:62

Paraphrasing in todays jargon, when you look back all the time, you can't see what is in front of you. You can never realistically face today's challenges fighting yesterday's battles. And, you can't focus on recovery if you are always thinking about what used to be.

The used to be's prevent us from becoming what we can be. Memories of good things are to be cherished, lessons from mistakes are to be taken, but longing for getting yesterday back and not living and loving the presence of today prevents real growth and satisfaction. I wish I had my deceased son back but it can't happen in this world, so I press on hoping I will see him one day in heaven.

In the meanwhile, I will live every day looking forward, not regretting the past, but looking to live every day in front of me to make the absolute most of it, following the God who healed my past mistakes. Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they are here to stay. Beatles

They were, but God changed all that, now Yesterday's Gone!

As we approach another historic political election, this word is being used in many speeches. It is a compelling word that if put into action would certainly make this world a better place to live. The Apostle Paul spoke about it in 1 Corinthians 1:

I appeal to you brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Paul, of course was speaking about their faith beliefs so that there would be no division in the church. This included accepting that others may have different opinions but uniting on the basic message of the cross, redemption and salvation. The commentary in the Life Recovery Bible I use had a great take on this: 

To "agree with one another" does not mean that we should all have the same opinions and views on everything. Rather it means that we should be unified in our basic beliefs and tolerant of our differences when it comes to peripheral issues. In other words "don't sweat the small stuff".

Realizing that to some, the small stuff may be quite larger issues, we still need to remember that we are all Americans in a country that fought literally for its freedom and independence, that was divided once in a costly Civil War, but has survived to be the envy of most every nation for its ability to come together when it is all on the line.

All God asks us to do is love each other, respect each other and serve each other when it sometimes is the farthest thing from our mind. But unity, it not only can be traced back to the Bible, but it can be seen prevalent in the title of our nation.

The United States of America. Try loving your neighbor a little more today despite your differences, that might help!