AKA: the Jesus fish

I got this blog from http://www.floatingaxhead.com/ and I thought it was really good so I wanted to post it.

You see them everywhere you go. Ichthys or Ichthus - aka the Jesus fish.
It has become an icon of modern Christianity. It can be seen as a decal or emblem on the rear of automobiles as a sign to the world that the owner is a Christian.
It is incorporated into business logos or in business advertisements and listings in telephone books. It is also seen on clothing.
Ever see two Harley Davidson’s owners pass each other and wave or give a head nod? It’s a brotherhood, a closed/elite society whose members stand apart from the rest of the population.
Sadly, the Jesus fish has become a similar symbol for Christians. We can identify each other on the way to work - maybe give a head nod to each other as we drive down the highway listening to “positive and encouraging” K-Love. Unbelievers view the fish as anything but positive.
While the origin of the Jesus fish is reported to have given Christians a simple means by which to identify themselves as believers in a time of persecution, what if it meant something different in today’s culture?
What if our Jesus fish was a beacon, a symbol to those who needed something - anything - were drawn to? You know…like Jesus.
Need food? Find a Jesus fish. Need a job? Find a Jesus fish? Need a place to stay? Find a Jesus fish. Need someone to talk to? Find a Jesus fish. Need comfort? Find a Jesus fish.
That would be a symbol worth displaying.

Why?

Why is the City Council having ANOTHER meeting this Monday night to "reconsider" their "no" vote on the rezoning of a west side residential area to build a jail?

Why was land purchased before knowing if the land would be approved for rezoning?

Why was the land purchased for WELL above the market value and above the appraisor's recomendations?

Why did they choose THIS location and not a location away from residents?

Why did they allow the jail situation to get in such BAD shape with overcrowding and fines before doing something about it?

Did I mention they are having ANOTHER meeting this Monday night at 7 pm to "reconsider" their "no" vote?

Why, why, why does this have to be so difficult??

Why does the county want to sue the city, drag this through court and cost the citizens even more tax dollars?

Why can't they just find some land outside of town and build there- - away from all residential areas?

Why can't they use this land that they have ALREADY purchased to actually put something GOOD on the west side of town?

Why do those with no political voices get taken advantage of by those in power?


The citizens of Bartlesville should be outraged by the fiasco that is occurring between the county and city officials and I hope that many will show up this Monday night at 7 pm to watch the council members try to "take back" their NO vote. It should prove to be quite interesting!!

Time away....Powerful

Well, I must say that it took Marci having to encourage me, with me blowing off the notion of “needing” anything, before I realized how meaningful some alone time is to our soul. As I have sat here for the past 2 days pondering some really tough questions (which I will share at the end) I can’t help but realize how easy it is to play “Christian”. Most of us can answer the questions with our head knowledge but where is our heart? I started really trying to analyze my heart in answering these questions. I noticed that on some of them I was operating off of knowledge and not on heartful obedience to God.

In reading a book, I ran across this quote, “ Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” This quote stuck with me because we need to look at ourselves at the heart because that is what the kids see when they are watching us. They don’t see your knowledge or what your thinking, they only see your actions and whether it is done with a heartful obedience. All of this brings me to what I think we all need to work on, which is casting a VISION for our families: “Here is where we are; there is where we ought to be.” The men have to keep the family from running in circles. It is not just a one time thing we talk about or put in place. It is walking beside, showing, encouraging, pleading, blessing, coaxing, reminding, encouraging again, correcting, backslapping, scolding, hugging and encouraging again. I look through that list and I know that I have failed at each one of them numerous times and I have failed sometimes by not doing it, but most of the failure has been my HEART not being in it when I did it.

An old Chinese proverb comes to mind when talking about vision: “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand”. Some of you may have a vision for your family, but does your family know about it? Have we just taken the backseat in our family and hit cruise control? Have we just been spiritually numb and have not responded too much? Are we mad at our spouses and we are paying them back by not taking leadership? I can tell you that I have fit into each one of those catorgies at some point. I can tell you this time away has allowed me to see quite a few things to work on within my family and myself.

I want to encourage you whether you are a man or woman to get away every now and then and ask yourself some tough questions, read your Bible, pray, pray again, read your bible, pray and read your Bible.

One last story from a book I read this weekend. This guy named Jeff went dog sledding and he was amazed at how well the dogs listen to their master. He said all it took was a whisper and they did what he asks them to do. After he returned to the base, he said, “William, we have a dog that lives at our house, and he only obeys when we yell at him. Yet you get obedience through a whisper. What’s up?” William said, “Those dogs were made for this. They live for this. And when you’re doing what God designed you to do, your master can guide you with a whisper.” Can we be guided with a whisper?


Am I closer to my spouse today than I was a year ago?
Have I read God’s word with my family this week?
Have I prayed with each member of my family this week?
Do my children know they come before the people in the church?
Are my children joyfully experiencing Christ at church or do they resent the church?
Does my spouse feel close to me spiritually?
If my spouse could have me change one thing about me, what would it be? (Why haven’t I changed in this way? What am I going to do about it?)
Are we honoring the Sabbath as a family?
Do my wife and kids enjoy being around me?
Can my family clearly articulate our family values and vision?
In what area of life have I lost my passion? (What can I do to get it back?)
If the enemy were going to “take me out,” what are my three most vulnerable points?
What new burden has God given me in the last year?
What have I unlearned that has made me closer to God?
What new discipline is God calling me to do?
What has God asked me to do that I haven’t yet done?
Is there something that I think about more than I think about pleasing God? (Money, possessions, ministry, family, recreation, something else.)
Do I have an increasing joy in serving Christ?
Am I handling the pain of ministry with integrity?
Am I still being persecuted for my faith in Christ?

Boys, There’s Work to Be Done

I got this email from a guy that we listened to by the name of Todd Wilson at the Home School Conference. They have 8 kids and spend half the year traveling in an RV to speak at conferences. I like him because he is real and passionate about his family and their direction. Enjoy.


We’re home---not for a stop-off, but for good. I’m telling you, there’s nothing like the pure ecstasy of going into a regular bathroom, taking as much time as you want, using as much toilet paper as you want, and then---never having to see it again.

The only drawback of getting home is the mountain of stuff that needs attention. There are cars to fix (how do they get broken when no one has driven them), landscapes to tame, and a big RV that needs to be emptied (3 ½ months worth of junk, souvenirs, and supplies).

My kids would like to take it easy and kick back (which we’ve allowed), but I’m often calling up to their rooms and saying, “Boys, there’s work to be done.”

But that’s not the real work. The real work isn’t something that can be checked off a list that easily. The REAL work has to do with my family. You see the last couple of months in the crucible have brought some ugly stuff to the surface---not only in my children but also in me.

Along with some pretty spectacular sights, we have also seen some bad attitudes, crummy responses, lack of obedience, and over all yuckiness that needs to be dealt with. That’s the great thing about living in a crucible; it reveals what was already there to begin with but needed a little coaxing to see. Life on the road does just that.

The really awful thing about the whole deal is that so much of the ‘dross’ I saw in them is the same ‘dross’ that I see in me. I heard stuff coming out of their mouths and said, “Don’t talk like that!” only to hear the same things come out of my mouth 15 minutes later.

So after using this week to rest and relax (yeah, right) we start on all the HARD work. We’ll meet on the screened-in porch and talk about what we all need to work on, how we plan to do that, and what will be expected of them---and me.

I wish I had some kind of magic formula, special pill, or some incredible method to share with you so you can work on the ‘dross’ in your family too---but there is no more of a magical potion for cleaning up the crud in your life than there is for cleaning up the crud in your YARD.
It’s just hard work---lead by a dad.

And guess what?
You ‘da dad.

Boys, there’s work to be done,
Todd

Time? Money? Emotions?

I had a good talk with a friend and I wanted to share the jist of our conversation.

We do such a great job of marginalizing our lives to the very edge of our time and money and emotions that we don’t leave any room to act when the Holy Spirit wants us to. If we left some time and money and emotional awareness in our system, we would be free to act when the Holy Spirit calls for it. Not many people leave an ounce of those 3 items.

We went on to discuss the principle in the Old Testament called “gleaning”, where the farmers would only harvest the inside and leave the outside of their crops for those that couldn’t afford it. This is a challenge for me that I work on everyday. I see others struggle with this concept as well. How can we be better at “Gleaning” our time, money and emotions? We are listening but are we hearing?

Marci forwarded something to me that I thought went right along with the same thought pattern. Check it out http://floatingaxhead.com/2008/06/27/white-men-cant-listen/.

My hope in blogging is to be able to share some thought provoking scenarios that we all can grow from or just to share how things are going in the life of ministry work.

What am I doing?

Well, I have fallen to the constant pressure for me to start blogging. I will be talking to someone and they will say, "You need to blog about that topic", or I would share a Vision Onward (http://www.visiononward.org/) story and they would say I need to be sharing those or writing them down.

My blog address fits with where we are trying to go as a family in regards to what most of Amercia views as important. I have gone through some serious changes in my life over the last year and half and over time I hope to share those with you and share random thoughts, ideas and questions. As I'm typing this, I'm looking over at my wife and said, "I really hate blogging so this will be interesting for me." I'm the type of person that would rather just talk than to sit down and type. Anyways I hope you enjoy!