In many ways I’m still all these forms of a Christian.  I sin regularly and repeatedly, with forethought and spontaneously, with malice and empathy, in the open and privately.  I am a man, therefore I am a sinner.  But today I work on it, today I’m conscience of it, today I pray about it, today I try.  And that’s probably why being on the battlefield of Christ is so much harder than sitting on the bench.  I’m trying to put God in the center of my life.  It’s hard.  It’s very hard.  But it is awesome!

Below is a link to a very interesting slide show.  Thank you, Mark.  I said a prayer for you.

CENTER_OF_THE_BIBLE

I’m not an expert, but rather someone who tries to observe and learn.  Did anyone in this gentleman’s family try to remind the grandmother that perhaps God’s answer rested in the skilled hands of her doctor?  Or that perhaps her prayer was being answered by the fact she was offered treatment?  What a travesty to see how this man reacts to “religion” because of his grandmothers illness and death.  All too often we pray for something we want… what a difference it makes when we pray for God to send us in the direction He wants us to take.

I’d like to think this gentleman would view religion or faith differently if his grandmother had prayed for God’s guidance, instead of praying for what she wanted.  Maybe it would not have made a difference in her life or death, but I’d like to think it would have made a big difference to the lives of her loved ones left behind.

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray and read your Bible daily.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10.Take a 10-30 minutes’ walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree…

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37.  The best is yet to come..
38.  When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39.  Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:
40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did.

Blogger’s Note:  When I started this it was tongue-in-cheek… when I finished it I discovered I really do need this prayer.  Feel free to print, modify, and use yourself.  Also, we pray in the name of Jesus to give authority to Him to ask the Father to act upon our prayer.  Remember if the prayer does not glorify God and is not His will, there really is no point to the prayer and certainly no point to asking it in Jesus’ name.  Say these words at the end of your prayer, but never say them lightly or without understanding the meaning.  Refer to John 14:13-14.

I’ve heard the term “fallen angel” to describe our shattered role models.  What a pathetic use of words – perhaps the underpinning of our problem.  We tend to elevate the greats in sports, Hollywood, music and politics to some godly height and then we’re slack-jawed when they fail.  This is what we get for forgetting they are human.

I write this with some naïveté.  I have rarely looked up to the typical greats as any form of role model.  Tiger is a great golfer and is well-spoken, that’s it.  Mel Gibson is a decent actor and an interesting director, that’s all.  Taylor Swift is a good songwriter and a good performer, no more.  Yes, many of these people do great things behind the scenes.  Gary Sinise is a huge supporter of our troops and has launched several charities to help the people of Iraq.  I hold Gary Sinise on a small pedestal, not because he is an accomplished actor, but because he uses his celebrity for positive actions in a dark world, and he does it nearly completely under the radar.

But I recognize that I’m lucky for role models – I’ve never needed to look any further than my own family.  My father and grandfathers would be honored, albeit embarrassed, to know they are role models.  And there lies our litmus test.  A narcissist may do good things, but only for his own glory.  A hero does good things and is humbled by any recognition.  But let us not forget any role model is still human and thereby doomed to failure, making it all the more important to keep things in perspective.  There was only one perfect human being to ever walk this earth and His story is written for all of us to read.  He is my role model.  Though I stumble and fall; am sometimes wicked and always with sin; am impatient and imperfect; am wasteful and often inconsiderate, am jealous and ever doubtful – Jesus has become the one I chose to follow and emulate.  I am not worthy, but he accepts me anyway with the spilling of His blood.  My hero fell once, too.  But He rose to become my King.

For me personally I was reminded of the importance of the father-daughter relationship.  If I’m not there to fully support her she might look for it elsewhere and elsewhere will never have her best interests in mind.  I did nothing to help her prepare for her audition.  Life is busy and filled with distractions, but I need to remember what is truly important in life… the growth of the ones I love.

The next time those words leave your mouth simply reach in your pocket and pull out your round Tuit.  No more excuses.  You’ve now got your round Tuit, so get busy and gitrdone.  Better yet, keep a few extra round Tuits in your pocket and hand them out when other people seem to have trouble motivating themselves.  It might only bring a smile, but more often than not that’s all it might take to change a person’s day.

Blogger Note:  This is blogger-heal-thy-self therapy.

Tommy attended every practice, ran every drill, sweated just as hard, and worked just as hard.  Perhaps he complained a little more, grunted a little louder with each sit up, push up, high knees or ropes run.  Everyone grunted during those drills and Tommy didn’t feel he was much different.  Tommy looked down the bench and saw his boyhood friend Jason, who had a little sweat dripping from his nose and a beautiful grass stain on his left shoulder.  They made eye contact and Jason gave his old friend a wink and a smile.  Jason wasn’t a starter either, but he did touch the ball five or six times each game.  Though perhaps a little stronger than Tommy, he was shorter by an inch and at least ten pounds lighter.  Tommy smiled back, masking the pity-party he was having in his head, complete with streamers, disco ball and neon lights.

“Tommy!”  Tommy heard his name but it didn’t register just yet.  He was staring at the score board and noted his team was up by three touchdowns.  In the midst of his internal temper tantrum he hadn’t noticed his team crossed the goal line twice unanswered.

“Tommy, next time you better come runnin’ the first time I call your name!” the coach yelled.  Tommy could see that little vein on the side of his head that bulged out seemingly all the time.  But when he was mad the vein bulged and pumped.  “Next play, you’re in. Tell Jimmy to run red hawk, jackrabbit split two on one.  This is your chance, son, give ‘em everything you’ve got.”

Tommy couldn’t breathe.  He ran onto the field for the first time in his high school career.  Of all the sensory cues to take in, he only noticed Jimmy waiving him into the huddle.  Jimmy was the star quarterback and this was his senior year.  He was tall, strong and fast, and being chased by three universities and one college.  Tonight Jimmy was on fire.  He was reading defenses, making occasional audibles at the line, finding his man and laser-beaming the ball on the numbers nearly every pass.  He seemed unstoppable.

“What you got, Tommy?” Jimmy asked as Tommy pulled up to the ranks of the huddle.  Tommy barely heard the question – he was still soaking it all in.

“Red hawk, jackrabbit split two on one.”  Tommy was certain he got that right.  He knew what to do, where to position himself, and he knew he’d go on one.  This was a simple draw play – he’d hesitate, take the ball and hit hole number two.  He heard Jimmy give the play to everyone in the huddle and slapped his hands in unison with his teammates as they broke.  This was it!  This was his chance.  Everything was slowly getting more real to him.  He noticed the smell first.  While it was very familiar there was something altogether different about it.  He quickly decided that he loved that smell and didn’t care to figure out why it was somehow different.  He thought about looking to the stands to make sure his dad was watching.  He started to turn his head but it was too late.  Everyone in front of him was in motion.  He stood for two counts then extended his arms.  He cradled the ball and began leaning left… then he saw the wall of jerseys.  He expected this, but he didn’t expect the first wall to be the opponent’s jerseys.  The hit came hard and fast.  Tommy remembered the whistle but not much else.  When the dog-pile finally lifted and he was pulled up by Jimmy he noted they had lost at least six yards on the play.

“You didn’t hear my audible, did you?”  Jimmy was doing all the talking. “I saw the blitz coming on the left, so I sent you right.”

As Tommy jogged off the field Jimmy’s words were still ringing in his ears.  He looked toward the coach fully expecting a big frown of disappointment and a bulging, pumping vein.  But what he saw instead was a look of satisfaction and an inviting, two fingered hook telling him to come here.  Tommy headed for his coach.

“Son, look at me.  Study the playbook extra hard when you get home.  Listen to your quarterback next time and we’ll try this again.”  Tommy was on a permanent high despite his run having been the only negative yardage recorded for his team that night.  His team had won and he was a part of it.  It’s what he’d longed for but feared.  No longer.  He was a part of this team now.  He had stepped across that sideline and gotten dirty and bruised, and he had smelled that smell.  He was in the game.

As a Christian I’ve sat the sidelines for a long time.  I’d attend most Sundays with my family and read the bulletin, where I’d see different announcements of upcoming events geared toward men.  Like Tommy I felt I was doing my part as a Christian, and I didn’t understand why God hadn’t called me into the game.  I had the Bible open during church and I read along with the pastor.  I knew this stuff and I was ready.  One night I was called into the game.  I pulled a one-eighty on my plans and registered for a men’s retreat.  During that weekend I heard testament from other men of the strength of the Devil and his demons.  I saw what the Devil was capable of and I met men who were strong enough to admit they needed Jesus Christ in their life to help hold the gate closed against the demons.  It was very powerful and, sufficed to say, a life-changing event for me.  But I drove home that Sunday wondering what was wrong with the sidelines.  On the sidelines I wasn’t noticed by the opponent, so they left me alone.  Now I’m in the game and the opponent is starting to take notice, sending their wall against me to knock me down.  But just like Tommy, I love it.  I was finally in the game and it felt good.  My coach is God, my quarterback is Jesus, the huddle is my fellowship with other men in the game with me, and the playbook – the Bible is my playbook.  I’ve begun to study it, not just read it.  I’m starting fellowships with other men, discussing our walk with Jesus.  I can feel the opponent staring me down, but I’ve got my team – and what a powerful team it is.

There was a catalysts about 8 weeks ago in my life that has begun to expand my Comfort Box, and its done so very acutely and with amazing speed.  I may expound on this in a later post, but not now.  I’ve met people in the last 8 weeks that I know I would not have otherwise… since the “epiphany” I like to call it.  It turns out those people know other people, whom I’ve met and have been able to spend time with.  I’ve expanded my horizons in thought, forgiveness, servitude, business and awareness.  And so therefore my Comfort Box has grown… and I haven’t found a negative aspect of it yet.