Run Forrest Run...

Yesterday was such a pretty day. We sat outside with the entire family and I watched them run and play. Did you notice the key word, "watched". It felt more like spring than fall. They were playing their own version of "hide-n-seek" which required alot more running than I remember ever doing. As I watched them run from one spot to another it was really pretty cool because I knew where everyone was hiding. It reminded me of how we try to hide from God to do things that maybe aren't so pleasing to Him, but in the end He knows what we were doing anyway and we end up having to confess to Him what we did while He wasn't "looking". There's a story in the Bible about a man named Jonah. Jonah was a prophet and in fact he has a book all to himself in the Old Testament. Really Jonah is in your Bible; don't tell anybody but I had to use my table of contents to find it! Jonah was told by God to go to a place called Nineneveh. This town was really corrupt and the people were really bad. It would be like God telling me to go to AUSTIN! Just kidding! Jonah thought there was no way he was going to Nineveh so he thought he could outrun God and hide from him. He hopped on a ship going in the opposite direction, but guess what...God knew exactly where he was. God wreaked havoc on that ship until Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a big fish. Many think it was a whale, but I think it was a big ole bass...(this is my version). The fish puked him up on shore and Jonah did as he was told.
How often do we play hide-n-seek with God? Do we really think we outsmart God? Then why do we do it? I know there are many decisions that you are struggling with just as I am. I hope that you have a real talk with God before you make up your mind. Let's make Him real in our life this week! Let's not have a "Jonah" kind of week...God Bless your socks off...
Tony

Useless?

As I was getting ready Sunday morning, I opened a drawer in our bathroom and came across the most useless object in our home. It was way back in one of our drawers. I reached in there and pulled out this odd looking object that has no purpose in my life at this moment. What is this useless object? My hairbrush! I have no hair therefore my hairbrush has been rendered "useless". I had forgotten I even owned a hairbrush. I forgot what color it was, what brand it was, how soft it was, I had lost all memory of even owning a hairbrush. I wonder if this is what we do to God sometimes? The less relevant that brush became in my life, the farther back it went in that drawer. It was sheer coincidence that I found it while on the hunt for something else. So it is with God, if we don't talk to Him daily, if we don't seek Him daily, if we don't spend time with Him on a daily basis, we tend to stick God in a drawer somewhere and kind of forget about Him until we need something again. Have you ever noticed that when things are going good for us God becomes irrelevant in our lives. As soon as we need something, then we go to that God drawer where we left Him and start to frantically search Him out! God is too good to be put in a drawer. He longs to be a part of our daily lives. Where is God in your life at this moment...Let's let Him be relevant in our lives again...Have a blessed week!

Tony

Grow Up...

Have you ever been frustrated, but you find yourself repeating the same mistake over and over again. You know better, but somehow before you realize it you've made the same mistake again. I find myself in this predicament quite often. There's a verse in Romans 7:15 that basically shows us that Paul experienced the same problem. In this verse he is asking, "why do I do the things I don't want to do, and don't do the things I want to do." It is refreshing to know the man responsible for more than half of the New Testament, the "ultimate" Jew, the apostle struggled with sin just like we all do. Our youngest daughter turned two last week and we tell her over and over not to do something, but as soon as we turn our heads she does exactly what we told her not to do. We are very much like my daughter. God tells us not to do something because he knows better, but as soon as we think God's not looking, we do what we were told not to do. I want to challenge you all this week to quit repeating the same sin over and over again. Something I do to help me out is to read my Bible daily and I try to pray through situations instead of praying about situations. Have a great week and God Bless you this week...

Tony

Go Already!

I have been feeling really good this week! In fact I have been feeling so good that I spent a few hours every day working on my boat. It's not new, fancy or real pretty, or coveted by anyone, but it's mine and it's paid for. It's an older boat and requires some TLC and lots of attention. My wife made a comment in talking to one of my cousins that got me to thinking. She said, "he does this everytime he's gonna go fishing. He spends all his time getting ready and then he's too tired to go..." After she said this I thought about it and how true that statement is about the church today and Christians in general. We spend all our time preparing for what we want to accomplish and when it comes time to produce we don't have the energy. I worked on the wiring, the fuel line, cleaned it, and hopefully this week will power wash it. Am I doing this because it needs it, or am I doing it because I need it? So many of us go to church looking to fill a void in our lives. We try to fill it with programs or studies, but what we really need is to get real with God. It's good to do all the things I did to my boat, just like it's good for us to be at church. However, I didn't catch any fish because I never got on the water. Most Christians do all the Christian things, but only at church. We're too scared to go against the flow in public or at work. When was the last time you prayed before a meal at a restraunt? When was the last time you TOOK someone to church that has never been? When was the last time you did something that made you uncomfortable? You're ready! Matthew 28:19, tells to go into all the world! Please notice that one little word, "Go"! Let's quit stalling and do what we're supposed to this week. Oh yeah, pray for me that I get to take my boat out and bring home dinner! God Bless...

Tony

How good are you?

This photo was taken in Abilene in 2005. I got 1st place at that tournament. That was the first tourney I had played in years and was kind of a joke. I felt pretty special carrying home that trophy. All eyes were one me! After being praised by many for about 30 minutes and taking pictures with my trophy, isn't amazing how your parents always know what to say. My mom walks up to me and the first thing she says to me is, "golly mijo! You looked really overweight out there!"
Have you ever heard the term, "the older I get, the better I was..." That's what I've been dealing with these last few days. Round 4 of chemo is over! Thank God, but this round was really tough. I went in on Thursday and they were ready for me, but I only thought I was ready for them. If you talk to my wife, she will tell you that the days before chemo around our home it feels like we're going into battle. Because we are. We read scriptures together, we pray together, and we all work as one finely tuned platoon ready for battle. I may do the physical part of chemo, but it affects my entire family. My wife is like a 5 star general commanding the troops and preparing the logistics. Finally, the day has come and I walk out the door I know I am covered in prayer and my weapon is ready, my Bible.
On Friday night, I knew I wasn't feeling very well. I was starting to feel really bad. As I laid in my bed I began to feel sorry for myself. Oh boohoo poor me. I had told myself I was gonna pray, but instead I began to spout off to God in my head how bad I was feeling. I reminded God how I had served Him, how I always tried to keep my cool on the tennis courts. I also reminded God what a great speaker I once was...during one of those pauses as I laid there and tried to remind God about something else that made me so good, a nurse walked in and began to apologize because she hadn't been in my room in over an hour, (I'm pretty low maintenence). I was about to really tear into her when she said, "we have a man on this floor that is really sick and he may not make it through the night..." These nurses know that I'm always asking them what I can pray about for them. Just like my mom, she really knew what to say to boost my confidence. She reminded me where I needed to be and what I needed to be doing. Praying...
As I reflected on the weekend this verse came to me, 2 Corinthians 7:10, That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
God bless you this week and let us be strongest when we're on our knees...
Tony