brennan manning

Seize That Day

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I found out recently that a friend of the family passed away suddenly. Actually, I’d say he was my friend, even though he was closer to my parents’ age.

It’s been a long time since the last time I saw him, but I remember him as being one of the most positive and encouraging people I’ve ever met. In fact, I’d say that he qualified as jovial.

When I was working on getting my Eagle Scout award, he was one of my biggest encouragers. Every time he saw me, he always made me feel like I could do it. In fact, he helped me keep going in those times when I felt it was too hard and I felt like giving up.

I don’t know that I ever really said thank you. I know I can never adequately express how much his encouragement and enthusiasm meant to me.

Maybe the best way of saying my thanks is to pay it forward and to be as positive and encouraging to those in my life. Maybe it’s to live life the way he did, and do that ol’ Carpe Diem thing– seize every moment and live it to the fullest.

Thanks, Doyle, for being my friend and for believing in me. Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your reward.

 

All is Still Grace on a Monday in January

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I had the good fortune to run into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. We were greeters together at Kairos for a few years and then her life took a different path than mine and I hadn’t seen her in a long time.

I seriously doubt that she was as excited to see me as I was to see her, but it was a nice, brief reunion. It was another of those God-winks that I keep seeing when I look through the lens of gratitude instead of seeing through fear or despair.

I also got to see a homeless deaf man signing with a woman via Skype over his iPad. It was a beautiful moment that made my day.

I look at it this way– the worst day ever still only lasts 24 hours. No matter what happens, there will be a sunset and a sunrise, followed by a fresh morning with new mercies and grace. For that I will always be thankful.

I did have a caramel macchiato from Starbucks and sipped it while watching The Wonder Years on my antique iPad that I traded for at McKay’s a couple of years ago. I think that qualifies as a Monday win.

So there it is. A full work day, Starbucks, a good conversation with my friend that I see every Monday, serving at Room in the Inn, and good music in the Jeep to make the driving in Nashville traffic bearable.

I realize that there are a LOT of people out there around the world who would trade anything to have my problems (as well as my blessings). There are many much worse off than I am, many of those who are way more grateful for what little they do have.

It’s still a process. I have spells of envy and anxiety like anybody else. I have moments where I can’t see the good in the moment because I’m too wrapped up in reliving the past or worrying about the future.

But right now, by the grace of God, I am thankful for where I am right now, because that is exactly where God is and where God is working on me at this very moment.

The end.

 

 

 

Unquenchable Hope

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Maybe what you’re looking at a week into the new year are the ashes and crumbs of what’s left of your hopes and dreams.

Maybe you’ve 99% given up on anything ever changing in your life.

Maybe you need to hear this right about now: your God is the God of the never impossible and the never hopeless and the never finished. There is no such thing as too difficult for this God.

Look at Golgotha. If any dream seemed dead and done for, it was what laid inside of that tomb for three days.

If Jesus could overcome that grave and that death and that hell, there is absolutely nothing in your life that you are facing right at this moment that He can’t and won’t overcome. Nothing.

Maybe what you need is an unquenchable hope built on  an undefeatable God.

It’s never too late to start hoping and dreaming again.

 

 

 

My First Ever Mac Blog

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Well, the day has finally arrived. I am typing my 2,001st blog, the first I’ve written using my newly-acquired, refurbished Mac Book Pro. I feel so hipster right now.

It took a long time to save up enough money, but I kept at it. Actually, I almost had the money a couple of other times, but other expenses kept me from getting it. But I persevered. As I’m learning, a little bit of patience in all matters goes a long, long way.

I promise not to turn into an anti-PC snob. I still have to use one at work. I hope that my blogs will get better (or at least more artsier) with this new contraption.

In other news, I finally saw the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise in IMAX 3D. It was ridiculously overpriced, but I do recommend possibly going to see it on the big screen. The movie itself is better than the prequels, but not quite as good as the original three (maybe better than Return of the Jedi).

If any movie needs to be seen in grand 3D-style, it’s Star Wars. Maybe try to get in to a matinee showing or some other day other than Friday or Saturday.

I won’t be like so many who have been leaking spoilers from the movie all over the place. I’ll just say it was great seeing just about all the old faces from the first trilogy as well as some new faces that give me new hope for the Star Wars movies to follow.

One spoiler alert: at the end, the screen goes black and the credits roll. FYI.

That wraps up my Saturday. I slept late and took a nap, so life is good. Hopefully, Sunday will be just as varied and entertaining.

The end.

 

 

2,000 Posts Later

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“Though my plans disintegrate and my aspirations die, though my dreams shatter and my goals are thwarted, even if no woman is ever romantically interested in me and all my friends leave me, though I never have another visible reminder of God’s presence of of spiritual comfort, if all I have in life is God and only God, I will lift up my hands up to Heaven and proclaim that my Yahweh is good to me. My Yahweh is AWESOME!!!”

I posted this a few years back. Actually, this pre-dates my WordPress blogs and probably goes back to at least 2010.

The point is not that I wish any of these things I mentioned would happen or that I fear they will happen.

The point of what I wrote is that even in the very worst case scenarios, God will still be good and I will still be blessed and I will still lack for nothing.

God is enough.

That is the cliffs notes version.

If you only get one thing from tonight’s post, let it be that God is enough.

Make that your mantra.

If you pin your hopes and dreams on anything else, ultimately whatever it is won’t satisfy you. Nothing else has the capacity to do so. Not your marriage, not your kids, not your career, not money, not anything. Only God can truly be enough.

If you have everything you ever dreamed of and don’t have God, you really don’t have anything. If you end up with absolutely nothing but God, you still have everything you need.

So, here’s hoping for at least 2,000 more blogs and enough creativity to fill those posts so that they will continue to be both fun to write and fun to read.

Maybe I can get Lucy the Wonder Cat to be a guest blogger one of these days. You never know, right?

Tonight We’re Gonna Blog Like it’s 1,999

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I had a random memory today. And I mean random in the sense that it wasn’t connected to anything current.

I was thinking back on a sermon by my pastor, Aaron Bryant, where he mentioned listening to The Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill back in the day.

That got me thinking about a particular youth group trip way back in ’86 or ’87 in the Ridgeway Baptist Church bus with Jason Payne sitting in the very back of the bus with his ghetto blaster playing that same Beastie Boys album at full volume. I think we were on our way to that year’s Youth Evangelism Conference in Nashville (of all places).

I remember very little else about that trip. But I remember the Beastie Boys.

I bet I must have heard that CD all the way through at least two or three times.

You’re probably wondering where the oh-so-spiritual tie-in is. There’s really not one.

I just know that certain songs can trigger memories hidden deep in the recesses of my mind and can bring back faces and places from long since past.

2016 just so happens to mark the 30th anniversary of that Licensed to Ill album that ruled the Billboard charts way back in 1986. This way way before Eminem or even Vanilla Ice. For those who grew up solely on CCM fare, this was even before DC Talk.

I suppose you don’t really appreciate the significance of a moment when you’re in it. It’s only after time and distance has given you some perspective that you really do come to see those memories in a new light.

Who knows what we’ll remember about 2016? Hopefully, there will be some moments worth cherishing and remembering, some very happy moments. That’s my prayer for all of you (and for me, too).

Let’s make 2016 a year to remember.

 

Contentment

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“I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she’ll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. He whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one’s life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can” (C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle).

That refers to Susan, the second oldest of the Pevensie children and the only one not to end up in Narnia. There’s a lot of truth there.

The current culture values youth. Sometimes too much, I think. It seems like people are trying to live like they’re still in their 20’s when they’re well past that decade.

There’s nothing wrong with thinking and acting younger than you are, but there’s also great peace in being comfortable with who you are and where you are in life.

I for one would not want to go back to my 20’s. It was a great time, but I also happen to like who I am now way more than who I was then. I’m a lot more comfortable in my own skin and a lot more content.

The best place to be is fully content with who God made you to be, not trying to hold on to what’s past or longing for what yet may be, but fully present in the present and thankful for the gift of being alive.

I’m not 20-something. I’m not even 30-something. I’m 43 and I like it. I’m blessed to have made it this far and I’m realizing now just how much grace and mercy have carried me along. I’m seeing more and more how much there is to be thankful for in this life and how gratitude really does open your eyes to see more of God at work in you and around you.

I’m also not quite the night owl I used to be, so this will be my abrupt exit. Good night, sweet dreams, and God bless.

 

Getting Out of Yourself

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I overheard someone say that this time of year can be the most difficult and depressing time for a lot of people.

The holidays, Christmas and New Year’s, are over and the real world has started back up in earnest.

Maybe you’re one of those feeling blue. Maybe you feel like everyone else has gone back to their lives and forgotten about you. Or maybe you feel like no one has ever noticed you.

Maybe you’re fretting about where you are in life and wondering if you’ll always be stuck there.

You spend a lot of time, maybe too much time, thinking about yourself and your problems.

The solution? Is it to get over yourself?

I think not.

I think the solution is to get out of yourself. Go and serve others who are in a worse position than you.

I volunteer at Room in the Inn, a ministry that gives homeless men a place to sleep and a warm meal on bitterly cold nights.

I don’t say that because I’m so sanctimonious and holy. I say it because I’ve often been the one who needed an adjustment in my perspective.

Here are men who have way less than me, who are dealing with struggles and issues that I’ve never even dreamed of, yet many of whom have a way better outlook on life than I do (most of the time).

Often in serving, you seek to bless only to find yourself the one being blessed. You seek to minister and find that you are the one being ministered to instead.

Those who complain and who are bitter are usually the ones who aren’t serving. The ones who are serving find they have little time to spare for griping and cynicism. They also find that you can never outgive God or bless more than you are blessed, and that has a way of changing your outlook.

Also, sometimes depression can be more than just being discouraged. Sometimes, it’s a chemical imbalance issue. Never be ashamed to get help. Never be ashamed to confess what you’re going through to trusted friends.

Remember that God is with you in this to the very end. And beyond.

 

What Matters Most?

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“Jesus: I am here speaking with all the authority of God, who has commanded Me to give you this commission: Go out and make disciples in all the nations. Ceremonially wash them through baptism in the name of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Then disciple them. Form them in the practices and postures that I have taught you, and show them how to follow the commands I have laid down for you. And I will be with you, day after day, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:18-20).

I confess. Aaron Bryant’s sermon at The Church at Avenue South convicted me.

More specifically, it was one point he made that challenged me.

As great as our goals and passions are, none of them can ever eclipse the calling of Jesus’ Great Commission laid on each one of us as believers.

That has to be the #1 priority. Above health and fitness. Above all the leadership and success programs. Above even facial hair.

Nothing else matters as much as making disciples. Nothing.

So why do we let ourselves get so distracted by anything and everything else? Why do we let so many other things– even good things– take priority over this business of helping people along the road from lost to followers of Jesus? Why do I let just about anything and everything take priority over this utmost commission?

I really don’t have a good answer for that. I don’t even have a good solution. I just know it’s something I’ve been wrestling with all afternoon.

Jesus doesn’t want fans. He wants followers. Above all, He wants those of us who call ourselves followers to bring other people to the point where they’re not just pew-warmers and Bible-quoters, but genuine and authentic Jesus-followers.

He wants that from you. He wants that from me.

Maybe 2016 is as good a time to start as any.

 

 

Day Two of 2016

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“Teach us to number our days so that we may truly live and achieve wisdom” (Psalm 90:12, VOICE).

There are probably some of you out there smarting over the fact that you didn’t get invited to any New Year’s Eve parties and you sat at home alone with your pet looking at all the pictures your friends posted on social media of the fabulous times they were having.

You are not alone. You may feel alone, but you’re not. God still sees and knows you. He knows you by name and knows you better than even you know yourself.

Some of you made resolutions for 2016 and have already fallen off the proverbial wagon. Those wonderful lists of things to improve in 2016 are now lining your bird cages or resting in peace at the bottom of your trash cans.

Something I’ve learned is that what counts and matters most isn’t your resolve to be and do better in 2016 but Jesus’ resolve to complete the salvation process He started in you way before 2016 (thanks to Ann Voskamp for that one).

The beautiful part is that you don’t have to wait until January 1, 2017 to start over. Every day you wake up is a chance for a do-over. In fact, every breath is a second chance to do right what you messed up and failed to do right the first time. Every second is a chance for surrender to stop trying so hard and let God do what only God can do in and through you.

FYI. You still have time to make those resolutions and set those goals if you haven’t already done so. I think it was C. S. Lewis who said something like this: It’s never too late to become who you always could have been and who you were meant to be all along. You’re never too old or too far gone to start over and choose wisely.

I think that about covers it for January 2, 2016.