Managing Me and You

I had coffee with a friend tonight. It was a very pleasant evening. A lot of reminiscing. A lot of catching up. And a lot of just being relaxed and being me. I am finding that people are a big part of my life and managing the friendships and relationships becomes a little hard to bear sometimes. While sitting across the table with someone looking them in the eye remains the preferred method that I would like to meet with people. It is not always that feasible. With that I realize has come the need to manage our relationships in alternate means. Hence the arrival and need for networking sites like My Space and Face Book. I have joined Face Book (at last), I had resisted up to this point fearing that I would seem the creepy old guy lurking on line. But once I realized my 40 yr old sister had a Face Book page I didn't quite feel that way anymore. One thing I will commit to is remaining true to the people on my page ( making sure that I do indeed know them and not be a "friends" whore just trying to increase the number of friends on page). I know I am going to love this Face Book thing, I have already ran into ans chatted with some people I have not talked to in 14 years. That is absolutely amazing to me.

Steve Harvey In A New Light...

I used to listen to Steve Harvey when he had his morning show on the Beat in LA on the way to work. I was always impressed when he started his show with praise to God for the day and an encouraging word to those who were locked up. I found this video of him and it just brought back those memories. How amazing would it be if Jesus got this kind of ovation everywhere He was talked about?




Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Chameleon Christianity?

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul describes how he became "all things to all men." This has become a passage that has stirred up some controversy in the church. Controversy because some use it as a right to make the church look more like the world in an attempt to "by all means save some." I have no doubt that the Paul was trying to make a point about ministry in these verses. I have not cleared up my own personal theology as to what that point is however. I can understand that it might mean that he adapted to the culture of the people he was ministering to. Maybe taking up their habits of dress, study, speech. But if we are to reach the current culture does that mean taking things like rap music and putting words like Jesus and God in it and calling it christian? Is there a line that should not be crossed when "becoming all things to all men?" This is just something that is going through my head right now. I found this video last night; it is pretty straight forward and it is most likely what started my thought process along these lines this morning. Enjoy.





Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Proud Moment

I am not all that close to my extended family. I am now just getting reacquainted with some of them. It is a shame on what I have missed growing up and into my adult life in terms of my paternal side of the family--there are some real great people there. One of the people I am extremely privileged to know is my cousin Dana. I am not the kind of person that lavishes compliments on a person or extends my trust to a person just for the sake of doing so. I do these things after I get to see a person and their life. My cousin has gone through some tough times in life, like most of us she has made some bad decisions along the way. Where some people might forever see those mistakes or the consequences she paid for them as the definition of her life she chose to re-define herself. This past Tuesday, my cousin Dana walked across the stage in a high school gymnasium and received her high school diploma. She went to a school and earned it and just didn't to take the test for a GED. Some might be quick to write that off as no big deal but to me it is. That takes determination and dedication at her age to accomplish that. Some people look at others lives as a measure of their mistakes. I don't anymore. I see that one of the measures of a person's life is the determination to never stop growing and to never stop changing. My cousin proved that when she walked across the stage last Tuesday. I have nothing but respect and admiration for her. It was truly a night I was proud to be associated with that side of my family.



Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike

Crazy Kind Of Love

I had the distinct privilege of going out with my best friend and some of her friends this past Saturday night. It was a real cool Hollywood VIP themed part with limo, red carpet, paparazzi and all. I decided these folks are cool as we had attended a wedding with them the previous week. I have known one of here friends for a while and I just met her boyfriend at the wedding. Watching them this past weekend makes me believe in the old saying that "true love is blind." There is a lot that I can say about this and I am already on my way to saying but I don't think I should. All I have to say is that if I ever trip up and find myself in love I want that person to love me the way these folks love each other. No matter what they look like they are the most wanted person in the room. It was a memorable and learning filled experience. That's all I am gonna say. Peace.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike

Word Marinating

I came across this scripture last night as I was cleaning out some of my saved links. Right now it is speaking volumes to my heart. I will just let it marinate until it is done.

1 Samuel 14:7.

NIV "Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

MSG His armor bearer said, "Go ahead. Do what you think best. I'm with you all the way."

NLT “Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”

NKJV So his armorbearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.”

A Rare Breed...

I take my mom to dialysis at 4:45 three times a week. I drop her off then I head to the Starbucks that is in the same shopping center. I was noticing today (maybe because I actually slept last night and am more lucid than normal) that the barristas are a rare breed. Not all of them but just the ones that open the store in the morning. They are definite morning people. They have energy, they have senses of humor and they have personality. I was shocked this morning, because a couple of them actually made me smile before 9am--a feat almost unheard of. I walked in to the store this morning hearing one of them say he grew up a "poor black child." Of course it was funny because he is a white guy. When I was a manager for the largest retailer in the world my associates knew not to talk to me about anything that was not a pressing matter until at least 9am or 2 cups of coffee whatever came first. I take my hat off to the people that decide to make people their morning coffee and try to make them smile first thing in the morning. I take my hat off to my Starbucks barristas in Fullerton that make me smile 3 times a week.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Reflections on a Blog Blessing

When I started this blog, I wanted to use it as a tool to journal my thoughts and feelings about what I was experiencing in life so I could go back to it with the hopes of measuring some sort of growth. It was never my intention to write for a specific audience or to become a faithful reader of others blogs; there have been some blogs however that have truly touched my life. These are the blogs that write like I hoped and still hope to write--with raw feeling, uncaring of the words used or the emotions felt behind the words because the words are truly just the expressions of those real emotions and thoughts. There is one blog (RAW CHRISTIANITY by Gunner Gundersen) that has not only interested me in from a human interest appeal but also because of the writers true love for Christ in every situation. It is easy to see through the words he writes that his love for Christ and his desire to be discipled by the principles the bible teaches is at the very core of his existence. If you want to see what he and his wife have been going through with an international adoption check out his blog for the details of their faith and acceptance of God's will and purpose in each of the steps they have undertaken so far. They are an amazing testament to faith in God and his Goodness. Where many seek the hand of God before they seek His face, they have sought His face first and trusted His hand to move in the way that is best for their lives and all the lives involved in the process.

Here is just some of the words that have ministered to me this week from this blog:

"Oftentimes maturity is not found in learning new things but learning old things in new and deeper ways. We know that God is sovereign, but we are learning that God is sovereign. We know that providence is astounding, but we are astounded by providence. We have submitted our lives to the will of God, but God is bringing us to a deeper submission. We have learned a certain level of contentment, but God is pushing us for more. I am getting less and less embarrassed about having to learn simple things. I am also less and less prone to think that I have learned something as deeply as I can learn it. The Lord always pushes deeper, because He is molding us into the image of His Son whose character is like a bottomless, full, refreshing well. So I do not care if I learn something simply, as long as I learn it deeply."

"We praise Him not just because those things are good but because He is good, and because He would’ve been good even if those things had been bad. This is not theological lingo or a cheap ideal embraced by cold, unfeeling believers who have unbreakable hearts. It is at the very core of God’s character, and we count ourselves privileged to know it, to believe it, to enjoy it, and to cling to it. We are not unfeeling. We simply believe in someone greater than our feelings."

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

I Exist...

About a week or so ago I wrote a post about needing sometimes to know that I exist. We are surrounding by all kinds of things in our world that can make us seem insignificant. I just needed to know that I was was leaving my impression on this world. How amazing is it that yesterday in the mail I received this:

All I can say is wow and thank you. I know I exist.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike

President's Prayer

Today in history was the landing on the beaches of Normandie, June 6, 1944. This was FDR's address to the people of the United States. He led the nation in a prayer for the troops. Here is a video with the prayer as a soundtrack.



This is a president that had the heart of the nation and focused his heart on speaking to God. From what it appears he doesn't use his religion as a publicity or approval ratings attracter. He is not also afraid of his religion and not afraid to practice it in front of the country. There is so much that the president now could learn from this man. I don't want to be political at all, but I could not help but draw the comparison between the two and the tempestuous times they both served in.

Be a Blessed and Be a Blessing.
Mike