FSM Blogger

My friend Jason had such a great comment concerning my use of the term spiritual ADD that I had to share it:

As in real life ADD it doesn't help to just say "do it better", or "just work harder." As in the real world people who suffer from ADD need new skills that work with their personalities to help them overcome their hurdles.It's the same in our spiritual lives. We can't just take a pill and it will be ok all of a sudden. We have to look for things that work to bring us closer to God, and rely on those things.

Well said my friend!!! Sound off everyone!!

How do you talk about God in public? How do you bring up Jesus without someone immediately tuning you out? I work a lot with teens and families. I work in a great church. I have many great friends and a wonderful family. My life is blessed. I am responsible for many "God" type things at my job. I teach people about God, the Bible, Jesus, church, etc. I encourage people to find out what their gifts are and use them for God. I try and get people to give their entire selves to God's service and live their lives in the pattern of Christ. I even write blogs about how we should act and how we should reach out to others and how the church should focus on reaching the world around "IT". But I have become aware of a slight problem in my life. I don't know how to talk about God. I can talk around him. I pray, I read my Bible, I try and teach it's truths. But I have not brought anyone to Christ since High School. Now, I am part of a great Student Ministry and sure I have helped people make decisions to Follow God. However, I am not sure I even know how to talk about God. I believe that actions speak louder than words. But I am not sure I even act very Christ-like sometimes. Ok, ok, what is the point?

My life is so much about me that I have forgotten to make it about Him. My life has become so focused on the mudane that I have forgotten the Divine. I have filled my schedule and brain up with so much chaos that I have forgotten about the Simple Way. I am beginning to think that I may actually know how to talk about God, I just choose not to. I choose not to bring up how He has changed my life and how He is changing the lives of so many people I know. I am scared. I am nervous. I have spiritual ADD. I can't focus long enough on what matters. And the more I read His Word the more I realize what matters. God's Son, God's Mission, God's Purpose. Maybe it is time I am not silent about these things. Maybe its time I spend my talking time saying things that are significant. God has invaded our world, yet it sure is hard to see. At least, we don't talk about It very much.

If there is one thing that most of us have a problem dealing with, its conflict. I am not sure I know too many people that 1)like it at all and 2) are very good at dealing with it. Seems that most of us would rather run from conflict than face it head on. The ironic thing to me is that our lives are filled with some type of conflict or another. Yet we spend most of our time trying to act like it doesn't exist (or gloss over it). For example, when I was in High School we had arch rivals. The Gladewater High School Bears...we hated them. Our whole football, basketball, baseball, chess seasons were never a success unless we soundly defeated them. That's a conflict that we had that was very much in our face most of the year. However, the subliminal conflict that exists between teachers and parents is hardly ever acknowledged. And what about conflict that exists between certain family members. These situations can go years without acknowledgement. Why is that? What is so difficult about conflict? Well, I guess you could say that it is just too darn upsetting to deal with. You could say that its better to ignore it and hope it goes away. You could say that the only way to deal with it is to face it head on. No matter what you say, it is obvious that it is here and here to stay.

During this time of year, we as followers of the "Way" look toward one event in world history that stands out as a large part of our belief system--Easter. No not the hunt for eggs, eat marshmellow chicks and take pictures with a bunny holiday. I am speaking about the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yes I said RESURRECTION. For all those keeping score at home, that means that someone is dead then comes back to life. In this case, Jesus was tortured, beaten, killed and buried. He was placed in a tomb (a cave made of stone) with a large stone rolled in front of it. 3 days after he is placed there when some of his followers came to better prepare the body for burial, they open the tomb only to see that he is not there. But where is he? Where did he go? They find him later and he appears to his followers, hangs out for 40 days then departs to heaven in plain daylight. Now what in the world does this story have to do with conflict???

Well, instead of avoiding conflict, God chose to deal with it directly. He chose to send his son to earth, live here among us, teach us about Him, and (most importantly) teach us to deal with conflict. He is our example of the ultimate intervener. God could have snapped his fingers and had us all fall in line, but that isn't real love now is it. Christ interevened into this world, turned it upside down and offered each of us a chance to live a life beyond our wildest dreams. When Jesus was faced with conflict of any type, he 1)never avoided it and 2) showed both love and respect for those that had conflict with him (even when those that created the conflict were not so respectful to him). Wow, now I am rambling; let me sum up.

Jesus Christ, by intervening in our world, brought with Him love, compassion and a chance at a rare life. A life that enters into conflict and comes out the other side stronger and more faithful. For sure conflict will forever be part of our life here, but you can be sure that a life of following our great Intervener will offer us a way to deal with conflict more positively and effectively than with out him. Oh, but you have to give him all of your life. Oh, and you have to admit that you are not perfect and you can not live your life with out him. And you have to ask him to forgive you and then make him the Leader of your life...i guess that may cause a little conflict for some.

Well, I turned 33 yesterday. To some that is very old to others it is not. To me its exciting. I really dreaded my 30th birthday for some reason. But as the early thirties are slowly become the mid-30's, I am feeling pretty good about my age. Now I don't quite bounce back from atheletic events like I once did; but then again I am not the most talented ball in the bag either. I am a little more forgetful. Yet, I am very glad to have lived the life I have lived and to know the people I know. I have a great, wonderful, unbelievably patient, beautiful wife. I have an amazing job. I have awesome friends (both old and new). I generally want for nothing. But there is something more that is stirring around in my heart and sould these days. I want desperately to be significant. This used to be a very seflish feeling. I wanted the attention to be set on me (even though I would never have admitted this). But now I am finding more and more that I really want another type of significance. The significance that comes from a relationship that is built and lived solely on faith and trust in the unknown. My God is inside me and trying desperately to live. The breath that fills me is not mine but His. I guess you could say that my significance comes from Him.

All in all, I feel very blessed in my life. Another year down, more life to live. I can't wait to see what my Leader has in store for me!!!

Mindy and I would like to give you our Top 5 moving tips. These can be applied to moving from old house to new or state to state, whatever. View at your own risk.
5. Unclear expectations of who does what, when can cause minor to major friction between you and your spouse. In other words, its good to be on the same page with who does what as far as packing and such.
4. Sleep is only optional. While packing and preparing for the move, you may find that what you thought would be finished by, oh say, 11 pm actually is completed by 3 or 4 IN THE MORNING!!
3. If you use a storage facility, you experience all the joy of moving 2 times!!!
2. It always helps to have your mail forwarded and your utilities turned off at the old place and on at the new place!!
1. WHEN PLANNING A MOVE, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS SERIOUSLY CONSIDER HIRING MOVERS!!!! YOUR MARRIAGE MAY DEPEND ON IT!!!!
....the Bedard's new address coming soon....and later today, a poem by Chris on turning 1 year older....

Ok, I just read a Washington Post article by Josh Barr High Schoolers' Supplement Use Is A Growing Concern Athletes' Quest for Extra Edge Leads to Wide Use of Products about enhancement drugs used by High School atheletes. Check this stat out[quoted from the article]

"A 2003 study released by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association found that as many as 1.1 million youths ages 12 to 17 have taken sports supplements, a 10 percent increase from a similar study performed two years earlier."

That is a bit distrubing don't you think. It seems that the pressure to perform has taken on a new face. Does this bother anyone else or is it just me. Why do there have to be performance enhancing drugs? Why do we need to market them so heavily to teens? Why do people just take them at will without knowing what the future repercussions are going to be? If there have been links established between steroid use and suicide...what is going on? Someone explain it to me.

I'm about to blow up old school!!! I am talking Atari, the original Atari that is. I will never forget getting it when I was like young. It was unbelievalbly cool and an instant hit to my brother and I. We played pong like a mug!! Then eventually there were other games added: dig dug, river raid, pac man, pit fall, etc. Now there was this game that I played with some of my friends like everyday when it came out. It was a great game because we could get into teams of two and compete against us. I thought it was the greatest game of all time (at least up until the greatest game was released). The game....Space Invaders.

We would play and play and play until we couldn't see straight (or the game box got too hot and quit working properly). Anyway, we loved to play it. My friend Paul and I were a great team. We were killing space invaders right and left. You see we had a system. At the start of the game we would immediately kill the first 3 rows across. That way we would have more room to move around and more open shots as the invaders came closer and closer. This system worked really well for us. We were awesome at it if I do say so myself.

Now a days there are all kinds of games out there. They are little too much for me. I am much more a Space Invaders kind of guy. You see I can't seem to figure out a good system or way to play the newer games. They are too complicated and involve more hand-eye coordination than I am willing to apply. Its all about the system. The way you do it. The focus of the game for me is key. The focus of Space Invaders was kill the invaders systematically. The focus of the new games, for me, is trying to figure out how in the world the controller works...which button does what...how do I jump, run, hop, reload...too much of a distraction.

Its funny, something seemingly so hard and complex to me is so simple to others. I have friends and work with teens that play these new games with ease. They make it look so easy. Its like second nature to them...like Space Invaders was to me.
Of course if you play something long enough and figure out the pattern to you can totally ace the game. You start to remember everything about every level you play. Each time you die or lose, you learn something new. Before long you find yourself conquering level after level. You are the video game god!!

What in the world am I rambling about. I wonder if we do the same in our regular life. You know, do something over and over and over until it becomes so much of a habit that we don't even realize we do it. There is a saying I read the other day, "I don't know who discovered water, but I am sur eit wasn't a fish." Meaning: We take for granted that which we are surrounded by everyday. Makes me concerned about all the stuff I surround myself with. Am I getting 'desensitized' to my surroundings. So much so, have I forgotten what is real and what is not? Have I forgotten what is important and what is not? Do I make living with the current cultural status quo look as easy as Carl does playing Halo 2? Maybe I am an Atari guy stuck in a Halo world. Its possible I have become the fish, but its definite that I shouldn't be loosing my breath. I am filled with Breath. I am filled with Life. I think it is time to stick out a little more. Its time to BE the Atari guy in the Halo world. That's old school.

You don't know me. You don't even have a clue who I am. Why do you judge me? Why do you act like you can tell me what to do or how to act? You don't even have a clue what kind of day I have had or am having. Yet you are relentless in your comments about me. Hey, here is an idea. Try looking in the mirror with those judging eyes and sarcastic tongue. Maybe even try thininking before you speak....there is a concept. It is possible that I have been having a hard day and your words are just what I need to make it better, but you choose to be funny and 'witty' in front of other people and put me down.

You don't know me. You don't even have a clue who I am. But I know you. I know who you are. Because I am you.

What the heck? I know that is what you are asking. Yes, I am sitting here writing a blog for Mark Herring to satisfy his need to only read blogs that are 5 lines long. So what do all these subjects have in common. Apples, my favorite fruit. TiVO my new favorite toy. Bethany, a cool girl in my youth group. Beautiful Women, hold no flame to my Gorgeous wife Mindy. Belly Button Lint, the stuff I clean out every day. There Mark, there...

If there is one thing that gets to me it's traffic. I am a pretty patient person, but when it comes to traffic forget about it. I have this personal grudge against anyone else on the road. If I get behind someone going slow I can't wait to get around them. Somone passes me, I'm like, "Why are you in such a hurry?". I can't be satisfied. Everyone on the road is an enemy and I am the good guy. It's me against them. My car versus theirs. My driving skill against theirs. I see a hole in the traffic, I take it. If there is a yellow light, I do my best to get past it. If someone doesn't go immediately at a light just turned green, my hand is on the horn ready to let 'em know I'm behind them. Oh, and talking to everyone on the road is like a hobby to me. I am the expert as far as how someone else should drive. I'm constantly talking to everyone on the road (even though they can't hear me...duh). Yep, everyone on the road is my enemy.

I'm sure I'm not alone. There are probably others out there that have the same feelings for their fellow road-mates. Go ahead, admit it. You get impatient on the road. No, you say. What about other parts of your life? You got any enemies? Anyone that you think has it in for you? Anyone you run over to get what you want? Anyone that you just know you are smarter than, better than, prettier than, wiser than, better at grammer than.... I am not talking about someone you are friends with that you get mad at from time to time. I am talking about the people you make fun of. I am talking about the people you don't even know but feel like you are better than. People that you feel like treat you injustly. People that you feel play favorites (and you ain't on their list). You get the drift??

So how are God-followers suppose to react to them? Yeah, yeah we know we are suppose to be nice, smile and then talk about them behind their back right? Oh, no...how bout...we are suppose to ignore them and hope they go away. Maybe we just try to join them and win them over by treating people like they do, especially when they are looking. I have another suggestion...let's act like fools.

I read this great verse the other day in Corinithians (yeah that's in the Bible). Its from the 4th chapter and 10th verse. Paul says this crazy statement, "We are fools for Christ...". Fools he says. We act a way that seems so weird and foolish to everyone when it comes to our belief about God and our belief about how we should treat people, he says. Next he (Paul) says that he and his friends (also fools for Christ) are not only fools but weak, poor, starved, thirsty, mistreated (actually they were physically beat up), and even homeless. How do they respond to their enemies you ask? They bless them, forgive them, openly love them....what? Now that is foolish. What is more foolish? Well how about being SCUM. Yes, they actaully call themselves scum (refuse, potato peelings, garbage). So let's get this straight. They are FOOLS and SCUM for Christ's sake. They are so totally sold out to Him that they will do anything to follow in HIS steps. But what are HIS steps.

Here it is. The teaching that pushes all the buttons and makes someone more than just a wanna be. It calls someone to be more than just a pew warmer. It calls someone to be SCUM and FOOLS at the same time. Even when it comes to the treatment of those that are our ENEMIES!! Jesus says this, "Pray for your enemies and Bless those that persecute you." WHAT??? What happened to get even? Eye for an Eye? Getting your just desserts? Get mad and get even? What's all this pray and bless stuff? How does that get me ahead in this world? How can I possibly save face in front of my friends by PRAYING or BLESSING someone that has treated me injustly or cut me off on the road? This calls for more than just average patience or will power or strength or faith. This kind of attitude and outlook on life is more than ordinary, its EXTRAORDINARY!! Jesus says its not enough to treat our friends well, we must also pray for and bless those that we call our enemies. In fact the word he uses is the equivalent to our word for EXTRAORDINARY. We are to do more when it comes to enemies. We are to be SCUM, FOOLS, EXTRAORDINARY. Now that is an out-of-the-Box idea. It should be...especially if you claim to follow an out-of-the-box Savior.

Mindy and I are in the process of moving. The next couple of weeks will find us packing, taping, trashing and moving all we own into a storage unit just 2 miles from where we live. It is weird to think that all we own will fit into a 10x15 foot 'box'. I mean everything. Our bed, our furniture, clothes, TV, lamps, lamp stands, books, dishes, tables, and chairs. Everything we own, all our possesions in a 10x15 foot box. Now, our stuff will only be there for a couple of weeks. That will be just enough time for us to close on our new home. Then all we own will come out of the 10x15 foot box and into a box of a different kind.

Boxes are great resources when you need them. They help create space and also allow you to condense things down if you don't have enough space (how else would our whole house fit into a 10x15 ft. box). Most of our boxes will be packed with books. Some will have dishes while others will be filled with various other necessities. Basically some of the most precious things we own will go into a box. And those boxes will go into a bigger box.

It makes me think about my life. It makes me think about how I compartmentalize my life. I have a box for work. I have a box for my marriage. I have a box for my friendships. I have a box for belongings. I have a box for ideas. I have a box for family members. I have a box for God. I guess it makes me feel more in control of my life to have everything compartmentalized. Maybe it is smart ot have some things boxed away or organized. But why would I treat God like He is just another possession? I think that I get scared sometimes that He may actually not want to be in the box I have created for Him. Of course we have all heard the phrase, "Don't put God in a box". But I am sure the person that first uttered those words had a nice box for God themselves.

Putting God there makes US feel safe. It also keeps Him safe and in our control. That sounds so weird to even say. How can we control the creator of safety? How can we control the author of control? How can we box up the maker of all boxes? The answer is simple. We all know we can't keep God boxed up, but we continue to try. Why is that? What would it take to let him out? Do we even want to let Him out? Is he really inside the box to begin with?

Maybe if we tried to get a bigger box we would have more success keeping Him in there...say a 10x15 ft. box?