Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Korah

The original game of Pac-Man occurred, not in the early 80’s, but several thousand years earlier.

Found in one of the most bizarre stories in the entire Bible, God’s wrath is displayed at the expense of Korah and the boys.

Korah, Dathan and Abiram engineered their first and only coup attempt against Moses in the desert. They, along with 250 others rose up against Moses and most importantly, God. As you read their statements, remember these were the same people who stood outside with their mouths open wide, eating bread raining from Heaven. These were the same people who got tired of bread and demanded meat. The Lord heard their cries and sent quail hovering three feet above the ground for their harvest. In spite of all of the miracles they experienced thus far in the desert, their lack of faith resulted in impatience before the Lord.

They cursed Moses saying, “Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.” Can you say, “Attitude problem?”

At this point, Moses had heard enough. It is as if he inserts his quarter into the arcade game and orders up their fate. He explains to them right to their face just so there wouldn’t be any surprises. “Fellas, I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news. In a matter of moments the Earth will open up and swallow you whole. Not just you, but your families will be eaten as well.” And just like that, the Earth opened up and “Wacca, Wacca, Wacca, Wacca…gulp” Korah, Dathan, Abiram and each of their families were swallowed whole by God’s Pac-Man. Can you say, “Our God gets angry?”

A note to men: Do we fully embrace the responsibility that we have been given by our Lord? We hold the destinies of our families in the palms of our hands. Our lack of faithfulness directly impacts our spouse and our children. Our poor choices and our lack of passion have the power to change the eternity of those we love the most. Take seriously the role of spiritual leader in your family. I know the wives and children of the “three non-wise men” wish they would have.

I pray that as you face your desert today, you will be blessed with a recollection of God’s faithfulness. Your questions will be met with answers. Your dry and thirsty soul will be quenched with a never-ending supply of God’s daily manna.

Lord, Thanks For The Snow!

I'm SO Proud Of My Boys!

I Am A Christian

I am a Christian.

Last night I was watching Tom Brokaw’s special on New Life Church…the church my family attends here in Colorado Springs. It was an amazing special on the influence that evangelical Christians are having on the political process in America.

During the course of the special, Tom interviewed a family from New Life. Leon Loman just happens to work at Focus on the Family and is a friend. They chronicled their life, including their struggling start up Spa business that Venetia Loman launched. Tom posed a question to the Lomans. “When life gets hard and stressful, and you find yourself at the crossroads, which direction do you go?” In other words, are you willing to renounce your Christendom for the shedding of the stress…as if this is a logical solution.

I thought they did a good job of answering the question. They said, “We are Christians.” They basically said that there is no choice. They continue to believe that God is in control of their circumstances. The spa may or may not make it, but the issue is a reliance on the Master.

I’ve been thinking about that answer all day. Being a follower of Christ impregnates your very being. It’s not a title, but rather a calling. It is your DNA.

During the day you are a nurse, sales representative, loan officer, manager or fill in the blank. Your occupation defines what you do, not who you are. You are a Christian. This alone defines who you are and to Whom you belong. It’s the very fiber of your being. There is no on/off switch.

Being a God-chaser is not a part-time job, and in fact being a God-chaser doesn’t feel like work at all. For those who chase God, it is who you are.

If you have made the choice to follow Christ, yet your heart cannot resonate with this thought, consider this verse.

Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith. Colossians 2:7

Answer God’s classified ad. Accept the job to serve Him without ceasing. You’ll absolutely love the benefits…especially the retirement plan.

Painted Hands

Lord, I Want To Be Just Like You

“Lord, I wanna be just like You, ‘cause he wants to be just like me. I want to be a holy example, for his innocent eyes to see. I want to be a living Bible, Lord, so my little boy can see. I want to be just like you, ‘cause he wants to be like me.”

This past Thursday was my 36th birthday. I celebrated with so much gratitude. In one year we have sold our house, packed up a moving van and moved to Colorado, started an amazing career with Focus on the Family, been diagnosed with a life-threatening brain aneurysm, undergone major brain surgery and recovery, lived for 5 months with an eye patch over my useless left eye, bought a new house and as of a week ago, seen the Lord heal my eye. Other than that, it’s been a pretty dull year.

For my birthday, my three boys gave me a CD by Phillips, Craig and Dean. They had so much excitement built up inside of them, I thought they were going to explode. They watched intently as I opened the much anticipated present. We placed it into the CD player in the car. I stayed parked as I wanted to relish this moment with my boys. I would have done anything to capture their smiles of excitement as the words began to unfold before us. My oldest son, Gabe, had tears in his eyes as we listened.

What a precious gift! Do we fully realize the responsibility of raising our children to chase after our Maker? Modeling Christ for our children may well be the third most important task we will do on this tiny blue planet. The first is to fulfill our commitment to our Lord, and the second is to fulfill our commitment to our spouse. It’s funny that when we accomplish the first two, the third takes care of itself. It’s no coincidence that God had this already figured out.

When we love our God, and honor our spouse, our children will have before them the blueprint they need in order to grow up loving and honoring their God.

Evaluate where you are with your commitment to your God and to your spouse. If you took an honest look at where you are in these areas, how would you rate yourself? If you are failing the test, the best news is that there is a huge truckload of God’s grace just waiting for a heart that acknowledges its need. It is never too late to begin modeling Christ to your child. Imagine the legacy you will leave for your child. Not only can you model Christ, but you can teach them firsthand God’s amazing grace.

The gift of legacy lies within you. I pray your child unwraps it to find Christ inside.

Luke's 5 Year Old Birthday Party

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Do you remember the phrase that made Rodney King famous? According to police reports the night before the famous quote was uttered, Rodney was thinking a little differently.

Police reports states the following: King's girlfriend, JoAnne Naser, 22, of Rialto telephoned police Saturday and said King punched her in the stomach during an argument that began the previous night, police Sgt. Shawn O'Connell said.

In the last couple of days, I feel like unity in the church has taken a punch to stomach…a good old-fashioned kick to the groin.

Are we still at the point in our world where we believe that we are the only ones going to Heaven? Are we arrogant enough to think that we’ve got the market cornered on eternity? Do we accomplish anything for the kingdom by fighting with our own army?

Forget the Nazi’s, let’s fight our own men. Iraqi’s…why? We can kill our own troops right here…after all they’re so close to us. It takes less work, and they’re easy targets. I’m so ready to share the grace and love that God has shown me, I can’t fathom taking up arms against other followers of Christ.

I suppose “followers of Christ” is a relative term…at least to some. Who are we as fellow followers to determine salvation and authenticity of another? As far as I can tell, Christ himself didn’t walk the streets of Jerusalem looking for covenant members of Jerusalem Baptist. Instead, the One who sat at the right hand of His Father delighting in watching His dad hang the stars in the sky, searched out those desperate for a Savior.

As I search scripture, the only “church folks” that Christ took offense to were those who “knew” all of the law. It’s funny how those who knew the law best were the very ones that Christ called hypocrites. He uttered the phrase that they would never step foot in Heaven (see Matthew 23:13). Jesus says, “You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”

Go Jesus, with your bad self! He didn’t mince words.

For every person you touch with the grace and forgiveness of Christ, there is a modern-day Pharisee around the corner sabotaging the effort.

Perhaps I reveal a bit of my heart here. Perhaps my disdain for the modern-day Pharisee exposes a heart that is no different than theirs. I’ll pray that I’m convicted by the Spirit for a heart change, if indeed one is needed. But today, I pray that those who follow Christ search out those who so desperately need Him instead of taking pop shots at those who fight in the same army.

God, please confirm in my heart that your grace is big…bigger than that required by the Pharisees of today. I’m simply not good enough, if you require what they do.

Friendly fire kills.

Patchless

The great Billy Graham said, “It takes an average of 40 people working with God to bring someone to Christ. The first one thinks he did nothing and the last one thinks he did everything.”

I was having lunch with a family in Tyler last week. We finished our lunch at the “not to be missed” New York Deli. I got back in the rent car to race off to my next appointment, when the wife knocked on my window. “I can’t let you leave without praying for your eye.” She placed her hand over my patch and prayed. I was thankful that she prayed, but quite honestly, it was just a prayer in a long, long line of apparent unanswered prayers. I have not lost faith that God could heal, but after 4 months, I was getting weary.

At the end of the day, I began to unwind at my hotel. Per usual, at the end of the evening, I remove my patch to get ready to go to bed. I was in the bathroom in front of the big mirror and removed my patch. I thought something was wrong. As I removed this “thorn,” I was able to stare at myself without the world spinning around me. I was actually able to focus. This was the first time in 4 months that I could look at the world around me, and not get sick. My eye is still not normal, but what an incredible blessing to see with both eyes.

I believe prayer is much like bringing someone into relationship with Christ. Those who have been praying for me for months might have given up hope for an answer. This begins to describe me…praying for my own healing. The woman who prayed the final prayer before my eye was healed is no more important in the Lord’s eyes that those who have been praying for months.

I would encourage you to keep praying…no matter how dark and unanswerable your request may seem. We serve an amazing God…a Father who cares for us deeply.

To God be the glory as He continues to heal my eye, and as He continues to heal your circumstance.

Meet Samson

As many of you may remember, our beloved boxer "Tyson" died a couple of months ago. We struggled with whether or not to get another dog right away. After a lot of discussion around the dinner table, we decided it was time. Meet Samson. He is a Goldendoodle...a cross between a standard poodle and a golden retriever. They don't shed and they are hypoallergenic. He is absolutely adorable! When he is full grown, he will appear to be a golden with a perm...almost resembling a sheepdog. The boys LOVE him...and he loves them.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Our First Bronco Game

What a great time! Gabe and I went to see the Bronco's/ Redskins game today at Mile High Stadium. We're expecting 6-12 inches of snow today, so you can imagine the environment at the game. It was fantastic. Not quite a Bronco fan yet, but this experience made me think twice.

Meet Face the Tree

Patch

The girl behind the counter would not stop staring at me. This was not the usual “you look like a pirate stare.” I’m very acquainted with that. This look was different.

She worked at the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Houston. I had gone there for a visit on behalf of Dr. Dobson. Soon her stare produced tears. About the time I saw them welling up in her eyes, I felt moved to inquire about them.

She proceeded to tell me about her father. “My father died a couple of years ago. He wore a patch over his eye…just like you.” Her pain became obvious…she missed her father. She continued, “You don’t see many people wearing patches anymore. When my two sisters and I remember dad, we first remember his patch.” And then came the bombshell. “I want to tell you something. Whether or not God chooses to heal your eye, you need to know the impact that your eye patch will have on your boys. They will forever remember the courage and strength that you faced…your patch will always be a physical reminder.”

The reality of that comment took about an hour to sink in, but when it did, I was very emotional.

Her statement became reality a couple of days later as we walked down the streets of Breckenridge, Colorado. Two boys, about 6 years old approached me. They both pointed and yelled loudly, “Look, a pirate!” Real original, kid. Without missing a beat, my oldest son, Gabe grabbed my hand, squeezed it tightly, looked up into my eyes and smiled. His smile was worth a thousand words. Nothing needed to be said. He was proud of his daddy…patch and all.

The lady from the CPC changed the way that I view this “thorn.” I thank God for the truth that she spoke into my life that day.

As followers of Christ, we face days where those around us ridicule our Dad…our Heavenly Father. I love being able to walk so close to Him that His hand is right there for me to hold. His face is close enough to mine for me to look into His eyes, and simply smile. Our smile tells Him that we believe in Him and His promises…despite what those around us think.

Fall In Colorado

Gabe in Breckenridge

The Boys in Paradise