Anyway during the middle of the conversation another participant sent me an instant message which said “You sound angry”.

ARGH.

I hate that.  I didn’t want to be angry.  I had just read the first chapter of James, where he talks about being slow to anger.  I had no reason to be be angry.  For the most part is was just a conversation about ideas.  And I didn’t really feel that angry – but it was coming on out!

Later in the day I was reminded of this quote from C.S. Lewis

Provocation doesn’t make me ill-tempered: it only shows me how ill-tempered I am

Fitting.

and disappointing.

and well, provoking.

I spent the rest of the day with that heavy ache in the pit of your stomach when you know that you were not doing the right thing.  Luckily I get a new day today to have another go at it.  That’s why I love grace.

Maybe one day it will change my temperament!

³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you! Ephesians 4:31-32

Yeah, it is.  It’s a pretty fascinating day.  I have started it with so much energy that I am actually surprising myself.  So between wrestling Andrew all morning, and constantly singing ‘The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota”, I did some research on Groundhog’s Day.

Why?  Yeah I know!

But really what a fascinating day.  Besides being 2-2-2012, which I am sure has some mathematical significance, it is also the midway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.  So that means Winter is halfway over, or there’s still half of it left – depending how you look at it.   This day has been celebrated with small mammals like groundhogs and badgers for century’s.  In fact I found some interesting old poems over at EarthSky, like

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, winter will have another flight. But if it be dark with clouds and rain, winter is gone and will not come again.

or this one

Half your wood and half your hay, you should have on Candlemas Day.

What’s this Candlemas?  Well since Christmas is around 40 days ago ( can you believe it, and I still have some decorations up!!!), this would be right around the time the baby Jesus was brought to the temple for consecration. And there we see some two amazing people waiting for him, Simeon and Anna, and here is what Simeon said when he held that little boy

²⁸Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.” Luke 22:28-32

And here we sit, at Mid Winter, enjoying some great mild weather, but wondering if the light will reveal that little Groundhog’s shadow, and pondering will it be spring or more Winter. – do we need wood or hay?  I hope you also spend a moment or two today full of wonder at the light that revealed salvation and glory for all people!

<3 The month of Love <3!!

yeah, whatever, but I did see this great t-shirt design earlier this week, and I thought it was just groovy. It’s entitled Love Conquers All.

Which we know is absolutely correct.

As we kick off the month with the weird number of days, remember, that Love does conquer all. ( that’s not the man-made, Valentiney sort of love, that, the God is Love sort of dying of the cross for you sort of love!)

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 New International Version (NIV)

⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 New International Version (NIV)

I picked Stretch as my word for the year, and that has helped me focus on change. Personally, my muscle flexibility has increased tremendously, I’ve cleaned up the basement a little bit ( not as much as I had planned), I’ve lost a few pounds, ( not as much as I had planned), I’ve gone the whole month without a carbonated beverage and we’ve eaten at home most of the month according to the plan.  (Applause, Applause!)

It’s been a pretty good month for transformation in our home.  Now, there are several other transformations that are faltering – organizing the office, keeping focused on exercise, letting the spirit lead, and always being peace in the storm.  But they are moving along little by little.

How about you? If you change has been gentle or overwhelming, don’t quit.  The first month is over, and it’s done – take stock, and move on.  Keep changing a little bit each and everyday.

Oh and keep that one word that you picked for the year right out of you each day.

 ¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.2 Corinthians 4:16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Well, most of the 49er nation was as well, and many took to the old faithful death threat against the player who made the mistake.  So sad.

But Friday, I received an email about a 7 year old 49er fan, and his reaction to the fumble that effective cost the 49er’s a trip to the Super Bowl.  You can read more about it here ( and you should read it, as it has more background information that is, well pretty amazing. and a picture of the letter!). Essentially after some consultation with his father, he wrote this letter to Mr Williams.

Dear Mr. Williams:

We just watched the Playoff game. I feel really bad for you but I wanted to tell you that you had a great season. you sould be very proud, so I wanted to say thank you.

I am your #1 FAN!

Owen Shure
Los Angeles, CA

p.s. your awsome

I love it. I love seeing grace through the eyes of a 7 year old.

And then this was attached to the email I received  from a twenty-something friend of mine

Who am I? Who am I to cut someone off? Who am I to tell someone, ‘way to mess that one up…” Who am I to deny someone their redemption? Sometimes it takes the tiny tender heart of a child to make us see when we’re not being true to what we preach. Everybody messes up. Everybody makes mistakes. Those guys on that field are no different from you and me. I’ve seen the best of them make the dumbest mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance. Everyone deserves a redemption song. I hope he gets his.

Hm, the power of grace. It’s so fun to watch others receive it. But are you willing to give it out today?

31-32 Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 The Message (MSG)

Even listening to the bluegrass classic “Little White Church” didn’t seem to kick up any great metaphors or thoughts this morning. 

So here is one little thought for today, one that I have been pondering.  So many times we let the environment we are in shape our thinking.  I wonder what would happen to that environment if he shape it with our thinking.  So, I am trying to ignore the ugliness of the corporate culture, and am trying to apply the great learnings about life outside of this mess to it. Or put another way, I am trying to step above the junk and politics of the workplace and just relate to people as what they are – creations of our father in heaven.

Hm.. maybe that is an interesting thought for Friday.

⁸ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”^[a] you are doing right.  James 2:8

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹ Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹² My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  James 3:9-12

After the game last night, their coach Bob Huggins reportedly said that the effort the team displayed was very disrespectful to West Virginians.

“I’m sure there are a lot of days they don’t want to go down in that mine, but they do.”

Hmm. That’s pretty interesting.  He was essentially saying “They go work, they do incredible hard dirty work so that you can play basketball.  How are you going to respond to that?”

I guess we could even think about it that this way: Those miners are going to work today, to harvest coal, that will be turned in electricity, that you will consume – what are you going to do with that power?  Will it be worthy of their trip?

Even more so, we can think about some one else who did the work for us, so that we didn’t have to do a thing. The book of Romans address this in several verses spread over a few chapters.

^5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

^5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

^5:11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

^6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

^6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him

^6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

In light of that work, what effort are you giving today to  live?

So anyway, that got me thinking.  What if the Christ had an annual performance review with us.  I wonder what he would say?  For some reason I think it might go something like this:

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:11

What else do you think he might say?

What are you doing today that will outlive you?

That’s a pretty good motivator – assuming you are leaving a legacy that impacts others in a positive way!

Anyway, think about that today as you go.

JERICHO from Rob McLellan on Vimeo.

So on to Rahab, the main character of the story.  It’s pretty amazing to see how God uses a person of ill repute, and calls them out as a great person of faith.  We see this a lot with our Lord.  He calls out the people that we would consider trash, or sinful, and creates a wonderful story of redemption, forgiveness and triumph.  From the bible, in 5 seconds, I can think, of the women at the well, Zacchaeus, Moses, and Paul, to name just a few.

That’s pretty good for us to know, on two accounts.  First, there is always hope for us.  God loves to offer forgiveness!  And Second, we should let God do the judging of people, and we should look for ways to lift all people up – no matter what we think about them.

We love, love love the first!  We like the second… on paper. But not as much in practice.  Today, think about that a little.  Think about how you are treating those around you and put the second idea into practice.  You may be amazed to see what a little bit of faith and action can do.

²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. ²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:24-26 New International Version (NIV)