Thanksgiving Family Florida Trip (Part Two)

While most people in America were Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving, we decided to visit Universal Studios. Ben and Will have been to Disney, Universal and Sea World several times, but were so young they don't remember. We spent the morning at Universal, and then after lunch (at Hard Rock Cafe) we spent the rest of the day in Universal's sister park Islands of Adventure.

Below is the Hulk coaster at Islands of Adventure. It about gave Ben a concussion.

My mom lives in Genesis Pointe across the street from Warner Southern College where I earned my BA in Church Ministry. These cranes (below) live there, too. They're worse than roosters as they stroll around the development hunting up breakfast. Some people just can't keep quiet while they eat.

These last three pix are from another of our favorite places. Highlands Hammock State Park is about a half-hour drive from my mom's house. The boardwalk trail only takes about 20 minutes and takes visitors through cypress swamps and alligator ponds.

Thanksgiving Family Florida Trip (Part One)

Again, I took a forced vacation from blogging. We traveled to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my mom. Four days on the road didn't allow any time for blogging. Even though our hotels had Internet access, I was so tired from all the miles we logged, I didn't feel much like unpacking my computer. My mom actually does have Internet, but it's dial-up. My kids had never heard the tones made by a computer modem trying to find a phone hook-up. We had an enlightening discussion about the good old days when all Internet usage required a phone line.

Now that we're home I have some catching up to do, but I thought I'd share a few pix from our time away. For now I'll limit scenes to Savannah, Georgia and nearby Tybee Island. At the top left is the Tybee Island lighthouse. Below that are scenes from the Tybee Island Pier and finally a couple shots from one of our favorite restaurants, The Crab Shack. It was cold when we left Pennsylvania, so dining outdoors on the deck was a real treat. The bottom photo is the tree branch roof over our table.

The How-To's of Being Blessed (Part Two)

We're in Savannah, Georgia on our way to spend Thanksgiving with my mom in Florida. We drove 650 miles yesterday so we could spend part of this morning on the Tybee Island beach and eat lunch at The Crab Shack -- "Where the Elite Eat in Their Bare Feet." Hopefully it will be warm enough to eat out on the bayside deck.

Anyway, here's installment #2 on the Beatitudes. As with Part One, I offer a paraphrase and then a question or two on which each of us might need to percolate. But first, read Matthew 5:6-8 to get started. As Rob Singleton writes, Read it; then come back. Go ahead, I'll wait.

My paraphrase:

How fortunate are those unwilling to settle, not satisfied with where their relationship with God is at right now, those whose reach for righteousness exceeds their grasp, those unwilling to quit until they've got all of God, because that kind of hunger and thirst for God isn't for nothing -- it will result in being truly satisfied.

• What if I wasn't so easily satisfied? What if I didn't try to "squeak by" being just a little better than the next guy in line? What if I knew I could do better, live better and love better, and then went out and did it?

How fortunate are those who don't hold grudges, or look for payback from others for the wrongs inflicted on them, those who refuse to take vengeance, who do good to their enemies even when the court of public opinion would say they were justified to punish, for those who show mercy will receive mercy from God.

• What if I treated others the way I want others to treat me? ...if rather than living by the code an eye for an eye I paid back evil with kindness? What if, rather than looking for reasons I'm justified to exact my pound of flesh, I looked for excuses to show mercy?

How fortunate are those who want only one thing -- God; those who keep their eye on the prize and are not entangled with or distracted by anything else, for that kind of single-minded devotion to God will be rewarded -- their dream will come true and they will see God face-to-face.

• What if I got my eyes off everything else and focused 100% on God? ...if nothing else mattered and nothing else could trip me up? What if I really had no other gods?

What question is the Spirit asking you?

I Wish I'd Said That

Some of my favorite reading quotes from the last six months:

• What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail? -- Perry Noble
• ...there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not inflict injury upon the whole fellowship. -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Life Together, 89)
• Foolish is the person [who] takes offense when none was intended. More foolish is the person [who] takes offense when it was intended. -- Dave Marcum and Steven Smith (egonomics)
• You are the God who loves me, and loves all the people I pretend to love. -- Michael Spencer
• We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. -- Plato
• Faith can move mountains, but don't be surprised if God hands you a shovel. -- Unknown
• If we die to ourselves, in the end we come to live in God. But it is a long, slow dying. -- Morris West (The Shoes of the Fisherman)
• When we are tempted to sin, Satan's primary strategy is to convince us that it's not a big deal, and that God won't really care if we do it. After we've given in to temptation and committed the sin, Satan flips the script. Now his chief aim is to make us believe that what we've done is so bad, God no longer wants anything to do with us. This is why your first inclination after a spiritual failure is to run and hide from God. -- Steven Furtick

Have you heard any good quotes lately?

The How-To's of Being Blessed (Part One)

Sunday we started a three-part series on the Beatitudes called The How-To's of Being Blessed. Rather than re-cap these teachings, I have distilled my reflections on these passages into a paraphrase. This week was based on Matthew 5:3-5, and here's the paraphrase, each verse followed by one What if...? question for us to answer in the privacy of our own thoughts:

How fortunate are those who have realized their own emptiness, their own helplessness, those who claim no entitlements, those with no bargaining chips, those who throw themselves on the mercy of Jesus, for they have truly submitted themselves to the rule and reign of God.

• What if, rather than thinking, "How lucky God is to have me," I had the attitude, "How unbelievably blessed I am that God offers me all of himself, when I have nothing to give him in return"?

How fortunate are those who are racked by such deep sorrow that they have no pride left, no concern about what others might think, hearts broken over their own sinfulness and what that does to the heart of God - because people with that kind of unrestrained mourning will find themselves accepted and comforted in the arms of their loving heavenly Father.

• What if I had the same attitude toward sin in my life that God has toward that same sin?

How fortunate are those who are content with who they are, with nothing to prove, those in whom what you see is what you get, those who let God be God and who are willing to admit they don't know it all, for those who are willing to receive will be gifted with what's really important - right relationship with God.

• What if I quit wearing masks to cover my insecurities and self-esteem problems and just admitted I need help? ...if I quit pretending to be someone I'm not, and if I could put away my pride long enough to let God teach me a thing or two?

What's God speaking to your heart through these three verses?

Good Week!

The above picture is the view of the mountain this morning when I was walking the dogs. The picture really doesn't do God's creation justice--it was absolutely beautiful.

I shared several days ago about how swamped I was this week, but I was swamped doing things that I love. I had some visits to make, taught What Makes the Church of God the Church of God? on Wednesday night (only two more sessions left), prepared my teaching for this morning, attended Janelle's Sweet Adelines concert with The Sounds of Pittsburgh, and taught about the Holy Spirit in our Institute for Servant Leadership Doctrinal Track.

Below is Janelle's chorus mid-concert. In this picture Janelle is on the back row, second from the right. My new camera phone is much better than my old one, but it still doesn't do well from a distance in low light.

This morning I taught from Matthew 5:3-5 in the first of a 3-part series on the Beatitudes, called The How-to's of Being Blessed. I really enjoyed putting together that teaching, and I think it was received well.

How could I? I almost forgot to mention another one of my favorite things. I got to watch the Steelers beat the Browns. It was a close game with the Steelers coming back from a 15-point deficit. Life is good.

Swamped

I've been working on a teaching about the Holy Spirit that I will be presenting at the ISL (Institute for Servant Leadership) doctrinal track this Friday and Saturday at Whitehall, the Church of God's state campgrounds for Western Pennsylvania.

Because of that, I have not blogged for a week. I wanted to, at the very least, make contact today, so I thought I'd share a couple pictures I've snapped in the last two or three weeks. The top one was a cold, cold morning scene I shot from my backyard.

The next is of some of the Normalville windmills from a leafing expedition a couple weeks back.

And finally we have a morning shot of Connellsville from the summit on Route 201 coming into town from the West (I think--after 2 years here my internal compass is still malfunctioning).

Have a great week!