White Witch

At the risk of being called a nerd, I will be taking a break from the modern dysfunctional family to bring something that has been on my heart these last couple of days. Several days ago, for the first time in my life I started reading the children's classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I know, I know, it took me long enough. Many, if not all of you, I'm sure are familiar with the story of four kids finding themselves in a completely different world after trying to hide in a wardrobe. There are obvious parallels between Aslan and Jesus, as well as The White Witch and evil in general. But more lately I began viewing the witch slightly different. Still evil? Yes. But rather than just looking at her as a human embodiment of evil I looked closer and found a very much more specific interpretation.

Now, I never read the book until now, but I remember being a little kid and watching the BBC miniseries as often as possible, and when Walden Media finnally gave the story a big screen shot, LOTR was all finished, and it was the next logical place to go for nerdy obssesivness. Anyway, ever since I can remember I have felt this deep deep connection with the charater named Edmund. Personality-wise we were pretty much the same. He is the third of four children, as I was for most of my life growing up before highschool. He teased his younger sister all the time, as I did mine. Anyway, as the story goes Edmund falls into Narnia while following after his younger sister. The White Witch then spots him, makes him warm up to her and then promises him things that she cannot and has no intention to deliver. As the story goes on the book describes that Edmund knew in his hear the witch was evil, and yet did everything in his power to defend her and do her will.

How often does that happen? How often are we seduced, and taken by some mighty unseen force that eventually has us under its power. Let me back track a moment. When Edmund first meets the witch, he's dealing with alot. He has left his parents. In the positional order which he was born, I can affirm the fact that it is not easy being the third of four. Two people are above you telling you what to do, The youngest is the one that gets the attention, and the best way to get noticed is to be a pain in everyone's butt. This of course always ends in getting in trouble, but in this endless vicious cycle the bottom line is, being in or around the middle is miserable. You feel underappreciated at the least, and unloved at most. When he meets the White Witch she promises him everything he could ever want in life. She promises him to first, be a prince that she can love and give everything too, and second, that one day he will become king and rule over Narnia. Bad Situation.

We see it all over, and it's usually the cause bad marriages, and stressed relationships. We don't get what we want, then something comes along and promises us something they can never give us. For many a man it usually has to do with porn. It could also be a drug addiction, alcohol addiction, anything that demands our lives. All these things though, porn, drugs, alcohol, etc. have two things in common: 1. They promise to fulfill our lives. That deep empty hole we keep trying to feel, they promise us they will fill it, and that they will give us everything we could every want, and 2. They consistently, without fail, destroy our lives. But they're no happy with a quick kill, they slowly work their way into our souls until we become bound to them and they slowly destroy our lives. They are our White Witch's. They come with promises of hope fulfilled, and desires meant. But the story doesn't end there..

Edmund promises the witch to return with his brother and sisters, when he returns without them though, things go horribly wrong. Edmund realises he is no longer in the witch's good graces, he was only a pawn, a horrible blow to an already troubled middle child. Not only was he only a pawn, but he is now a slave to her demands, he is forced on pain of being turned to stone to follow and serve, that which wants his family dead. Oh snap. Didn't see that one coming. One person under God is bad for satan, two is a major threat, but a family? To not only have two people under God, but to have those two raise up even more for the cause of Christ? Satan hates your family. Let me repeat that so you can get the gravity of my words, Satan HATES your family. Sin is from the bowels of hell, and encouraged by satan. Addiction to anything but Jesus, is sin. By being addicted to something, you are saying, "This is my saviour, this is what I love, and what loves me in return, I don't care if it is destroying my family, it loves me." By submitting yourself to something, anything other than God, you become a slave to that which wants your family dead.

I love heroic endings, and The Lion, the witch, and the Wardrobe has, by far one of my favorites. It doesn't come across quite as well in the movie as it does in the book, but here it is: Edmund destroys the source of the witch's power. While all these mighty and coragous warriors are facing the white witch head on, Edmund knows the source of her power, and knows her evil, and rather than facing her head on he destroys her wand, nearly losing his own life. If we could all be so brave, and Edmund was only a boy. What does it take for us to overcome? I am no better than anyone else who may or may not be reading this. I have my white witch to destroy and overcome, and it has taken me many many years now, and caused much heart break, but the bottom line is it comes down to one fact: God gave us a freedom of choice, and in Christ we are promised in His word to be MORE than conquerers. When we realize and acknowledge that promise in Christ, and we accept and recieve that promise, then we have the strength. So next time you sit down, and the computer is in front of you, or a bottle, or needle or whatever, ask yourself: "Do I really want this? Is this worth losing my family over? Is this worth a slow and painful self destruction? Is this more important to me than what God has for me?"

Like I said, I have my own white witch to overcome, not long ago I felt completely hopeless about it. I honeslty believed I couldn't win. But now that I've seen what I've seen in this story, now that I know Christ has made  me more than I conquerer I know I can overcome. It's important to note that the darkness wont survive in the light, I can't stress the importance of confessing your issues to others and having them hold you accountable, the darkness will hate it, because it will die. Recently I went to a group called Celebrate Recovery, and though they didn't address my particular problem I felt a strengthening in my spirit as I sat in a circle of believers, confessed my problems and had these men that knew very little about supporting me and giving me hope by something as small as someone rubbing my shoulder, and others saying "It'll be ok, we'll be keeping you in a prayers." Maybe I stuttered THE WHITE WITCH MUST BE DESTROYED, otherwise it will destroy you.

Families are so 30 years ago

I haven't done an actual post on my thoughts or opinions or anything in a very long time. Why? Because I felt weird and repetitive. However I got arrested with an absolutely insane idea this morning. Absolutely ludicrous. A string of thoughts led me to one single thought, and at the risk of...well whatever it is I'm risking, I'm sharing about it. What was that thought? You ask yourself....wait for it....Family is dead. BOOM!!! Mind bomb. Marriage and family find their roots deep inside God. In early early days where evil abounded there was no talk of family. People were into human sacrifice and self indulgance. In the beginning GOD, not Allah, not Buddah, not Ba'al, but GOD created man. He then created woman so that these to people could have union together, and share in each others triumphs and failures. God then BLESSED, not cursed, them with a seed in order to populate and cover the earth.
Family is no longer really taken seriously anymore. The divorce rate is at over 50%, abortion is not only accepted in some circles, but actually fought for. How many of the marriages remaining in tact are actually worth their weight? The politicians we entrust to run our country can't keep their own families together. How many poloticians do we see every year getting caught in some kind of scandal with another woman. It's ridiculous. Why does disaster and destruction run so rampant in American homes? Because people just don't care anymore. Our culture thrives on looking out for number one. Men have an obssesion with being in control, thriving in their jobs, moving ahead, and doing whatever it takes to get a leg up ahead of the next guy, (I'm not speaking for woman, because I'm not one). Even men in the christian community are obssesed with thriving and getting ahead, they justify by saying it's Gods will for them to prosper above all other people, it's His will for their bank accounts to be  full, and make a bunch of money.
Does God want us to prosper? Yes, but if our marriage is dissolving, are kids are withdrawn, and the family is either standing on its last leg or no legs at all, WE ARE NOT PROSPERING!!! God chose us to further His kingdom, and be a ministry to those around us. Neglecting our kids, ignoring our wives, and putting work second to our family IS NOT being a ministry. Are we, as men, to provide for our families? Absolutly, but raising them in Gods word, praying with them, and nurturing their everlasting souls is FAR more important then green paper that, in the end, will amount to ABSOLUTLY NOTHING!!! We always have the temporary on the mind, what can we do to solve this problem and get it over? God however has our eternity in mind. God doesn't care about putting a band-aid on and forgetting something, he cares about what will happen in the rest of your eternal life. In the great movie Gladiator it was put like this, "What we do in life echoes in eternity."
Work is not the only factor in destroying families and marriages, but it is what I believe to one of two big components. I'm leaving it at this today, but number 2? I am coming after you!

Apologies

It came to my attention that recent installments of my current project were considered offensive, and vulgar. I am sincerely sorry for anything I have written and posted that was offensive to readers. I started writting a story I was doing well with, I became proud of myself and no longer cared what anyone else thought of it. I used excuses like "realisitic", I defended it in my mind telling myself it was to target a non-christian audience. The problem is, what good is my witness when my witness is no different from the world. As a result, I've deleted my last two installments, feeling as though they were the most offensive, and I will be re-writting them. Same basic story, only told for a much broader audience, and a lot less offensive. Again my deepest apologies to anyone who has read and was offended, as well as my church and family both of whom I very poorly represented. I am very sorry.

Saint-Prologue Pt. 3

He called himself Rampage. He went from a scrawny 12 year old kid with braces and glasses to a 28 year old mass of bulk and testosterone. He had an average height, only with the body of The Incredible Hulk. His high school football teammates used to call him “The Black Terror” for two reasons. The first was, of course, he was black. The second was his tendency to make other football teams urinate in their uniforms when they caught sight of him.
Those days were long gone though. He had such promise, such potential. And here he was waking up in the morning in a one room shack located in the south end of Purgatory. His home was a literal one room house. His bed and a night stand sat on one side of the room. On the other side was a couch facing a television on a makeshift stand. Sitting between the two was a washer/dryer set up, and across from that, a stove, a refrigerator, and the front door. An outhouse and shower stall were out back. Thankfully he was a few miles out of town, and no other houses were within any seeing distance.
He got up from his bed taking clean underwear and a clean towel and went out back to clean and relieve himself. When he got back a thin man with dark hair was waiting on the couch for him. He looked up at him and smiled.
“How are things Bear?” The man asked, calling him by his real name, which felt uncomfortable after so many nick names.
“Not so bad.” Bear replied, his voice deep and resonant. “How about you Jim?”
“Ok.” He replied dismissively. “We lost track of you last night. I wanted to make sure you were ok.”
“Yeah, fine.” Bear said, slightly irritated.
“Well?”
Bear looked at him knowing full well what he was going to ask.
“Where were you last night Bear?”
Bear, still in his boxers, walked to a nearby hamper and pulled out a pair of Dockers and a white T-shirt. As he pulled them on he answered thoughtfully.
“Let me think. I went to the bar…got hammered…took advantage of a couple good looking college girls, and….oh yeah I ripped off some guys arms.”
“C’mon Bear.”
“Look, I just went to the bar and watched the basketball game alright? I didn’t cause any trouble, I-”
“Your anklet is gone and you lost your escorts. Purposely I might add.”
Bear got a gallon of milk from the fridge and slammed it onto the stove.
“Give me break! Please! I’ve been living in this hole for over a year now. I got no table to eat on. You wont even let me get a decent butter knife. I ain’t caused any trouble. Is it to much to ask to get just a couple hours alone.”
“I don’t blame you, but I still have a job to do. You see the paper this morning?”
“No.” Bear said pouring himself a bowl of Golden Grahams.
Jim tossed a paper down on the stove. A large headline read “O’DELL HEIR MISSING!” It was associated with a photo of the 26 year old O’Dell with reddish-brown hair and freckles. Jim spoke up again.
“He was last seen two nights ago.”
“And.”
Jim just stared him down.
“Don’t look at me, I didn’t get off your record two nights ago, it was last night, remember?”
“I only said he was last seen two nights ago.”
Bear muttered something under his breath.
“What can you tell me?”
Bear glared at Jim. It wasn’t the first time he was asked for help, which made it all the more difficult.
“I can tell you at least one thing,” Bear said. “He wasn’t last seen two nights ago, that’s guaranteed.”
“How’s that?”
“It says right there in the article he was spotted at The Lake. Nobody just goes to The Lake and disappears. Especially at midnight when over half the city’s there.”
“There’s more not printed there. There was a major ruckus at The Hole. Nobody would confess whether or not they saw Johnny leave but…”
“So where are you standing?”
“The O’Dell fortune is a big one. Everything from advanced military weaponry to simple home security handguns. Not to mention the billions of dollars locked away in a vault somewhere.”
“Foul play?”
Jim shrugged “It’s a lot to gain for anyone who was close enough to Johnny to gain it. A pretty simple, lure Johnny here, try to cause confusion and nab him when nobody’s looking.”
Bear took a deep breath, folded his arms and leaned against the stove.
“You seem like you got it all figured out.” He said. “What do you need me for?”
“It’s just not sitting right with me. I was hoping for another perspective.”
Bear thought. “Best I got?”
Jim nodded.
Bear thought some more. “Go the opposite direction you’re in.”
“What do you mean?”
“You said the cause of the ruckus was somebody else. What if Johnny was the cause? That’s if he was even at The Hole that night.”
Jim gave a shocked look “What do you mean started it? Why would he start it?”
Bear shrugged “Just a theory. That’s all. I gotta get going. You mind?”
Jim shook his head. “Just do me a favor, and stay within our boundaries tonight.”
Bear took a baseball cap from his nightstand and grimaced. “Yeah. Right.”
“I mean it. New law and order around here. They’re giving me an awfully hard time about you.”
“Well we wouldn’t want you to lose everything you love now do we?”
Bear turned and went out the door. The old screen door slammed shut behind him. He had nothing more than a cheap Huffy for transportation. He looked at his rusty old bike, and back at Jim’s BMW and shook his head. Some things just weren’t right and that was one of them. Jim was good man and could almost be a friend if he wasn’t Bears acting “babysitter”. Bear got on his bike, which looked unnaturally small compared to his bulk, and rode off toward the city council building where he would fulfill his janitorial duties for the next twelve hours.
Jim looked around at Bears small house. He truly felt a pang of pity and sadness for the man. It should not have worked out like this for him. But as always people were looking for fame, and attention. It was just too bad a good man like Bear became a victim of it all. Jim looked around and thought about everything. About Bears former majesty as Rampage. About the missing O’Dell heir. And finally, about this ever increasing government power. Purgatory was unlike any other city in the world. They were their own people. Their own government. Their own universe. And this new governor was pushing a tight envelope. Many were angry, few would revolt. If things got pushed to far, which is where they were heading, maybe even Jim would not be able to stand with the council. Jim was devoted to his government, yes. But some things were worth fighting for, and if push came to shove, Jim would show the world everything they hoped was never real.

Prologue pt. 2

Part 2 of my prologue for Saint. Someone asked me shortly after the first part if there would be a christian theme involved, so to answer, without giving to much away, yes, the entire story will be laced with christian themes. My three biggest influences being J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams, not to mention being a follower of Christ myself, I must create everything I do to glorify God, and further his Kingdom, including lacing Christian themes into a story accessible to all audiences. That being said, one of my favorite quotes is: "It is always the darkest before the dawn." As is the case here. Things are going to be pretty bleak here at the beginnings of the story, but please keep in mind that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and things will eventually start to look up.

Johnny was woken up by a smack to the face. He sat in a wooden chair that reclined back. His legs tied tightly to the legs of the chair. His wrists tied behind his back, his chest also tied down to the chair. He could barely move his neck without any pain. Blood mixed with the sweat soaking his face. How could I be so stupid. He thought. He wasn’t a superhero. He couldn’t catch a bullet, or swing from buildings. He had so many dreams of being that one man. That one individual who would stop at nothing to see that the wicked were punished and the good received justice. It was all moot now though. Just a dream. A fantasy. Hell, it didn’t even work in real books, only comics.
Johnny fell into a hard depressive state, not even bothering to view his surroundings. He knew what was coming. Death. The room was dark. An abandoned garage used for much less reputable reasons. Three men formed a semi-circle around the chair. Johnny just laid with his head back and his eyes closed. The man in the middle stepped forward. He was small and spoke in a high voice Johnny knew all to well.
“I’m supposed to be dead now, right?”
Johnny just laid. His eyes open now, staring at the ceiling.
“I don’t think I have to tell how disrespectful you’ve been. Did you really think I’d just let you walk in and threaten me?”
“Just kill me.” Johnny’s voice barely broke above a whisper.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t hear you?”
“Just kill me and get it over with.”
“You think you deserve to die? After all this you’re just ready to give up and go to Hell?”
“At least I‘ll know when you‘re gone.”
The small man walked over to the head of the chair bending his head closer to Johnny.
“I doubt that. You may be in deep, but I’m beyond killing you.”
The man walked back to where here came from. Johnny heard a click and a small hiss. He looked up and saw the man to his right held a propane torch, its hungry blue
tongue licking the air. The other man came forward with a leather strap between his hands. The little man turned to leave.

________________________________

Guttural screaming could be heard outside of the garage clearly as day. The garage was located in a rural area far outside of town. It was pitch black when Clarence walked outside. Waiting by the door was a large man over twice his size. Clarence turned and faced him. He looked up at him for a few seconds before throwing a hard punch straight into the mans left shoulder. The man grunted in pain. Clarence removed the heavy gold ring from his finger. The once white bandage on the bodyguards shoulder quickly turned to red as blood began to drip from beneath it.
“What I want to know,” said Clarence. “Is why he wasn’t dead before I was staring down two barrels!”
“I’m sorry Mr. Wetherby.”
“What are you sorry for. I’m the idiot that hired you.”
Without skipping a single beat Clarence removed a Colt Python from his inside jacket pocket raised his arm and shot the bodyguard. Twice in the chest, and a third smacked in his head spraying blood onto the wall behind him. One of the two from the garage stuck his head out from behind the door surveying the corpse on the ground by the door.
“What’s your name again?” Clarence asked
The other from the garage stepped out and spoke for him.
“He doesn’t speak much. We think he’s a mute. we just call him Demon cuz he’s so sick.”
Clarence surveyed him for a moment. Demon was large, no doubt of that. Nearly 7 feet in height. He was bald, his face completely scarred. Arms that looked like they could crush steel. Clarence noticed something off about him. It was set deep in the mans eyes. Something dark. Something evil. It was as if looking into his eyes was like staring into the soul of the depths of hell where murder and malice were games meant for recess.
“Congratulations Demon,” he said. “You’re my new head bodyguard. Now, is everything finished?”
Demon simply nodded with a glint of blood lust in his eyes. Clarence liked it.
“Good. Have some fun with him. Make sure he stays alive though, and dump him off somewhere. I don’t care where.”
Demon again nodded and went back into the garage with the other. The door shut and Clarence heard the screaming begin again.

Saint-Prologue pt.1

Been working on this story for a while. There's alot more to it than the one I began sharing. Don't know if anyone will enjoy it, but here it is:

This is Hell. A city run by crooks and killers. A world all on its own. It was enough to make the most jaded man sick. The Lake, as most people called it, was the stain of it all. The city itself, Purgatory, was bad enough. The Lake was worse. It was positioned in the direct center of the city. The drug deals, clubs, and crooked business men kept it busy. Johnny O’Dell sat himself on the roadside, on top of his old Harley, surveying the scene before him. One prostitute from a group of many talked to someone in a car from the sidewalk. A young man, no older than 20, came stumbling out of a bar, vomiting on the side of the road. The bar sat on the corner of two streets. Down the road that ran perpendicular, Johnny spotted a couple in a dark corner making out and feeling each other up. There was no shame in these people. Across the street from the bar was a club, simply called The Hole. A nest for junkies and drunks to get there jollies with experimental drugs and drinks that were harder than a kick in the head. Tonight, this was Johnny’s target.
He got up from his bike. He was young, but still domineering. His brownish-red hair and freckles around his nose gave him a somewhat boyish look, but years of weight lifting and physical combat training turned his body into an absolute machine. He wasn’t bulked out by any means, but he had cut to him. His hair was slicked back, and he wore designers clothing. a leather biker jacket, T-shirt, jeans, and leather shoes. Just another rich kid going into The Hole to get some kicks. He walked across the street and when he reached the sidewalk was hailed by one of the prostitutes nearby.
“You lookin’ for a good time big guy?”
Johnny just smiled as if he would take her up on her offer once he was finished. He opened the door to the club and found nothing less than what he expected. An overly loud rock band preformed on stage, ironically called Overkill. To his right was a long bar where women sat with short skirts and low cut blouses while lusting dumbstruck guys bought them drinks and said everything they could to get them home. To his left, roped off from the rest of room, was a table and chair area. From where Johnny was by the door he could see friends sitting at tables together sniffing coke and taking acid. Between him and the stage was a mass of sweaty bodies pressing in to each other in a mosh pit. Johnny looked up, a balcony section surrounded the entire perimeter. This is where the big boys would be. The Lake may have been for low lives, but that didn’t stop any of Purgatory’s elite to join the evening festivities.
Johnny spotted a hidden set of steps directly to his left, tucked behind the tables and chairs set up. He walked over, no one gave him a second glance. At the bottom of the stairs stood a hulking figure. Typical security type. Bald, hawk like nose, biceps the size of tree trunks.
“Can I help you?” He asked in an unnaturally low voice.
“I’m just going up to see a friend.” Johnny tried to walk his way past, but the guard put a large hand on his chest and pushed him back.
“Sorry.” He said with a sadistic smile.
“Sorry what?”
“Invitation only.”
“I’m just going up to hang with a friend of mine, is that an issue?”
“No. No issue. That’s just the rule. Sorry chump.” The guard gave Johnny a hard tap on his cheek.
Now there’s an unspoken rule between guys, one push is excusable, two pushes you get a warning, three…You get what you ask for.
“You better keep an eye on what you’re doing with that hand.” Johnny said.
“Or what?” He tapped his cheek again and said in a baby voice “You gonna go to work on me witto man?”
Johnny clenched a fist and let it fly straight into the man’s temple knocking him out cold.
“I warned you not to touch me again.” Johnny added as he walked up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs a bar ran along the wall. Directly ahead were several round tables with leather seats. A short distance away sat a small man in a three piece suit surrounded by two women and nearly a half dozen bodyguards, not counting any that may be sitting at nearby tables. Johnny strode over stopping directly behind a laughing body guard with a huge cigar. The small man looked up from his drink and glared. Johnny tapped the bodyguard on his shoulder. The body guard turned and was slammed in the side of his head with a fist. The rest of the bodyguards on the balcony flew up from their seats pulling guns out from inside jacket pockets. Before they could make a move Johnny had two guns pulled out and aimed directly at the small man.
“I just want to talk.” He said.
The small man just stared as if he had nothing to fear.
“Tell them to put their guns down and sit or I blow your head off.”
He made a small motion with his hand and all the bodyguards slowly put away their guns and sat, their eyes still trained on Johnny. Johnny brought his guns down, kicked the unconscious bodyguard to the floor and sat down.
“I hope you have a plan out of here.” The man said with a high voice.
“I didn’t come to kill you.”
“Really? You just came to take people out and point a gun at my head so….What? You can talk?”
“I came to show you people aren’t scared anymore. You’re days are numbered. One day you’re going to die.”
“So…You came here to warn me, or threaten me?” The man said with a smirk.
Johnny saw a slight movement to his right and got up from his seat.
“Go ahead, leave. I’ll give you, I don’t know, five seconds before my guys fire at you. Go.”
Johnny’s eyes shifted around remembering where he had seen all the other bodyguards. The music thundered. The bass thumping through the room threatening to impede his senses. They were making their move. quick as lightening Johnny whipped his gun up shooting six successive shots in a row to the bodyguards immediately nearby. The two girls began screaming uncontrollably over the sound of the music. But Johnny couldn’t hear them. The music had become the flow and adrenaline in his veins, giving him rhythm, and reason. He flung his arms to opposite sides of the room firing at body guards spread out across the balcony. The small man was gone before anyone could find him. Once Johnny had ran out his magazines he made a mad dash for the balcony rail and threw himself over the side. The music had stopped but it was still buzzing through him like Nos being pushed in a gas line. Johnny landed on a table breaking off its legs and fell hard to the floor, but he didn’t even think. Before he had time to register any kind of pain he rolled to his feet and ran to the door. People everywhere were screaming. A man ran in front of him winding up a punch, Johnny curled his fingers and thumb into a C and jab him in the throat before he could swing, crushing his trachea. Another one came and Johnny delivered a hard left hook to his jaw, and a kick in his gut hard enough to make him vomit. Johnny punched the door open and ran as fast as he could across the street to his bike.
With the music still surging in his veins and the air burning his lungs he threw one leg over the bike, kick started, popped the clutch and flew down the road. There was muscle behind him, that he knew, though he didn’t know how. He took a sudden left down an open alley. He caught another opening to the right and took it, maneuvering the bike in a way he never thought he could. The music still surged. He couldn’t shake it. He could only keep one thought in his head, get out, get out, get out! The alley let out to a four lane highway that separated the lake and the rest of the city. Johnny swerved his bike around, hard to left, his tires screeching in protest. Several cars came to a screeching halt, horns piercing the night air. Shouts of profanity and middle fingers shot out from open windows. The adrenaline, the music, and the intensity were too much. Johnny was beginning to panic. He took a quick breath and quickly closed his eyes in an effort to relax. In the second he closed his eyes everything suddenly became clear. A complete calm returned. Every street of the impossibly large city forced themselves into his mind, and he saw an upcoming exit. When his eyes opened he could not see the exit, but he knew it was there. He made a right and took it. The exit let out on a back road that led back into the city.
Johnny spent some time driving. The music was fading, nearly gone. He had calmed down some now. The darkness closed in, enveloping him with peace and quiet. He felt the cool air breezing in through his hair, rushing past ears. He closed his eyes letting the air take him. It happened again. All the streets mapped themselves out appearing as sonar in his minds eye. He could see a car coming in from a side road roughly half a mile ahead. He shot his eyes back open in shock. There was no adrenaline. No drive. He felt unnaturally calm. He slowed his bike down briefly, just enough to let the car ahead get a head start. As he came closer to the side road he could see the car coming up to the intersection. Before either himself or the driver could register what was happening he smashed his bike into the side of the car. There was a loud crunch of twisting steel and breaking glass as Johnny was thrown from the bike over the top of the car. He landed on his shoulder on the opposite side and rolled several yards before coming to a stop. His entire body burned, the side of his head throbbed and felt numb. He rolled onto his back panting in exhaustion, feeling left for dead.
A hard jolt hit his inner thigh. It burned and started feeling wet. He craned his neck up from the pavement. There was a large bald man stumbling toward him. Gun extended. Johnny thought it was the bodyguard he had knocked out at the club but he couldn’t be sure. There was a large burn on the side of his face from an airbag deployment. On the other side of his face were several short, but deep cuts from glass shards. He fired the gun again, and Johnny felt another shot of pain right underneath the kneecap of his other leg. He yelled in pain. The bald man stood over him, staring down at him.
“You think you can insult me? Hmm?” He slammed the but of the gun into the side of Johnny’s jaw. Johnny spit up a little blood onto the road. The man slammed the gun into the numb side of his head. A screaming pain shot through the left side of his head down his neck. He made a short scream, and before he knew it he had passed out from the pain.

Narnia people of the bloodred cross lyrics

Here is a song I'd like to share with everyone before getting to far. I glimpse into the music I love, but far beyond that, the lyrics are a powerful message and declaration of faith through all things in life. Please check it out, read the lyrics and declare them for yourself.




One week ago last Friday night I took my beautiful, pregnant wife into the hospital because she was having contractions, and at three minutes to midnight the doctor delivered our third child, our second son, Jackson Henry Matthew. As most babies do when they first meet the world, his first duty was testing his lungs and vocals, screaming loud and proud like a true angry baby needing food. As Saturday progressed, so did issues. They had put Jackson in the Neonatal ICU due to fluid still hanging around in his lungs, which was common in babies that were earlier than 38 weeks (Jackson was 37 weeks and two days). It just seemed that since Jacksons birth he under went some massive moments of discomfort, and the deeper I looked, the more God painted me a picture of growing and developing faith.

Before a baby is born, the baby has it made. He is in a nice warm sack that keeps him toasty, a tube is connected directly to his stomach, so eating is a breaze, and breathing? I'm still not sure how that one works. And darkness is just a given. Then, all of a sudden, they're ripped out of their comfort zone. Darkness is replaced with bright florecent lights, the feeding tube is maliciously cut away from their tummies, and now they have to keep their own temprature, AND breathe on their own. Life sucks sometimes.

The point is here: In order for a baby to progress from inception to birth, there must be discomfort. And if there is no discomfort, families are faced with the horror and pain of a family death. Is our progression in faith painless? Do we experience absolutely no discomfort? If we don't we're not experiencing progression, we're experiencing regression. James 1:2,3-"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

James' first message to the twelve tribes immediately following his greeting is ultimately, don't avoid discomfort and trial, but accept them, and (taking it one step further) turn your pain into joy. When we put our all into God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), He puts His all into us. He desires us to cultivate, and grow into something so much more than what we are. When we face any discomfort, it is always used for our growth as a strengthening of faith, even if it be discomfort caused by some evil means, it is still a tool used by God for our good. Even those who don't believe in God are faced with discomfort for the purpose of seeds to be planted

I am convinced that this acceptance and embracment of discomfort is vital to our walk with the Lord, without out it, there is no way we can progress. It is a heartbreaking situation to lose an unborn child, just as much, it is a heart breaking thing for God to lose his children that have not been born again, and have not accepted that discomfort, but instead that discomfort into pain, and turned their anger on a God of love.

my wife-my best friend.

First thing's first. I want to make something explicitly clear, and I don't mean to sound rude. I love all the positive reinforcement I've been getting from family and friends on my blog, and by no means do I want to discourage anyone from it, but here is my issue: I have only two guys I know of reading this blog, again girls love your reinforcement. Guys if you could get other gentlemen reading this, that would be spectacular. I'm doing this for guys to read and hopefully gain some understanding and wisdom in their married lives, and some Jesus at the same time. It is not for girls to read and nod their heads and agree. If you agree OK, if you learn and gain, so much better, that being said, let's start seeing some testosterone. Now I need some brawny music to get started.

  

 

My wife tends to display to me some quite profound wisdom in the form of simple and direct questions. And it is from one of these moments that I really gained a greater understanding of marriage, and a marital relationship. The idea of having a good marital relationship is that you know your partner better than anyone else in the world. As Pastor Jerry Solis of Riverside Church put it: Where secrets live intimacy dies, and where intimacy lives secrets die. A complete nakedness and vulnerability is vital to a good marriage. This is what my wife had got me thinking about: Am I treating my wife like my best friend?

 

Do you treat your wife like your best friend? I turned this question over and over in my head. I thought of my answer first, no I wasn't it. Was this biblically accurate? How could it not be, God made us into one flesh, and even though wedding vows are taken with mostly cavalier attitudes, God takes them seriously. Now in my life what would a relationship with my best friend be like? Thanks to my church, and answered prayers I've got some wonderful friends. Many of whom I feel I can speak openly with about anything, and I know they'll be there to celebrate with me when I'm happy, and support me when I'm down. Can I do that with my wife? Do I feel I can speak openly with her? What makes things worse, how does she feel? She chose to take a part in my life with me, to share in an adventure with me. How insulted does she feel? If I didn't treat her like my best friend, let alone call her my best friend, and yet she followed me out of love, how does that feel?

 

So I made it a point from now on, that I will treat her like my best friend in the world. Why? Because she  is. When I asked her to marry me, she would have followed me to the ends of the earth and back again. I made a lot of really stupid mistakes early on in our marriage, and still do, and yet every single morning I woke up, there she was. Every time I lost my temper, she never left. Our first year together got bad, and of all the times I turned my back and walked away just hoping and praying the arguing would just disappear, she never ever left. Not only did she never leave, but she'd come looking for me to make sure I was safe.

 

My wife never got on the pedestal she deserved. And when I told her "I do" I promised her I'd be her best friend for life, and I never was. Guys these days have lost so much so hard thanks to all the medias prone attention to all the negativity of masculinity. It has become OK to forget our wedding vows and leave our wives behind. Kids? Kids are just a bi factor, if they get caught in the cross hairs, that's too bad, but whats a guy going to do? He's got a new woman, and a job, he has got to do what is best for himself.

 

"Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church, giving himself up for her..." We are not our own gentleman. We are first God's, we were bought with the price of Jesus Christ. In the same way we are to lay our lives down for our wives. If you're whining and complaining about how your case is different because your wife is never happy with you, boo hoo hoo. How many times do you fight God? How many times do you want to give up with God? Even if you deny God, His gift and promise are still there for the taking, period. Start treating your wife like your best friend, and your only beloved, because she is.

valentines day

Valentines 2011-
I’m not a romantic by any means whatsoever. I hear about all these inventive things men do for their wives such as leaving “I love you” post-its all over, or planning secret weekend getaways with their wives. The most romantic thing I can ever think of doing is dinner and a movie. I know I’m not the greatest father alive, but I am a good father. I know I’m not the strongest Christian, but I try to keep my faith strong. I am beginning to see though, I am far from being the husband I should be.

I spend so much time focusing on how to be a better man of God, and how to be a better father that I completely forget that there is a starving and deprived woman in my life. I am at a point where I don’t know what the best thing I can do for her is. I have a difficult enough time thinking outside the box as it is, let alone trying to figure out something loving I can do for my wife.
If you were to ask me, when I was a dating my wife, for a list of 100 things I loved about her, I would have it signed, sealed, and delivered in no more than an hour. I have tried working a list like this recently, and can’t seem to get beyond ten or twenty. I have completely broken her heart and made her feel completely unappreciated and undesired.
I know if my daughter were to marry someone who eventually tossed her aside like an old glove, I would probably be out for blood. Here was my wife, depending on me to meet her desire for love, happiness, and spontaneity, and I just don’t care. I’d prefer to wait till she got upset about never being without kids before planning a date. I’d prefer to wait until she’s so worn out and distraught before making any attempt to be a better man.
So to my wife, if and when you read this. I am sorry I have taken you for granted over the past couple years. I will remember from now on to spend equal time working on our marriage and relationship together as I spend working on being a father. I promise to love you without lacking, and meet your desires to the best of my abilities.

the mystery is gone...or is it?

Well, all the difficulty we've had inn figuring out what our new baby is has come to an end. You can read all about it on my wife's blog here.

So, the mystery has been revealed as a little girl, and will be the final addition to this landmark Matthew family. Yes, I say the mystery is revealed, but that could not be farther from the truth. It's said in the Bible over and over again that the only thing in life that is constant is Jesus. This opens up an entire world of mystery and intrigue in our every day lives. I heard in a radio broadcast that so many people feel so empty and disappointed with their lives because of the romanticism and fantasy of books and movies. What people fail to notice is the romanticism and fantasy run free in our lives every single day. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, and our entire future is one big question mark.

I guess what I'm getting at here is that, our "mystery" baby (now known as  Talia Jewel Matthew) will be just as mysterious tomorrow as today. Who is to say who she will become? Or what she will be?

For my son, while my wife was still pregnant with him, I sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Every word I sang for him I meant. I want him to twinkle and spark in this life, and I do wonder what he will become. Those words ring true every single time I look at my son and daughter, and think about my daughter on the way. I'm excited to see their lives unfold, and watch them grow up to become who they were meant to be.

Talia Jewel Matthew-I love you from the bottom of my heart, little star!

Three Duties of Man

If your a guy there are most likely three rites of passage you will face.
1.) Manhood
2.) Marriage
3.) Fatherhood
Each of these carries an awesome blessing and a heavy responsibility. As I have found in my walk with Christ, everything is a balance. There is no single solution for everything, but multiple solutions and purposes that need to be handled with care and wisdom. These three passages lead us men into three incredibly important and difficult jobs, that also fill our lives with joy, and excitement. In order of importance:
1.) Christian
2.) Husband
3.) Father
In the future I plan to explore these duties in greater depth, with more study, for now we'll just get an overview of them.

I think we can all agree there is nothing more important in this life than our faith and belief in Jesus Christ, in His resurrection, and forgivness. These should be the core of every piece of our life. Beginning in my late teen years and up until almost a year ago I always questioned the validity of the Bible. Yes, there were more manuscripts of the Bible find than The Art of War, or the Qur' an, or Homers epic poems, but it never changed my idea that these books were written thousands of years ago with no printing press and retold by word of mouth. Even if the dead sea scrolls were proven to be written in the days of the early church, I still questioned how trustworthy they really were, and then a single verse put everything in perspective for me:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,"
2 Timothy 3:16
As I meditated on this verse it became explicitly clear to me, If I believed that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Then I had no choice but to believe EVERY scripture in the Bible was not only the truth, but it was the breath of God in written word. To deny any one single would be to deny the entire Bible including the resurrection, the birth of Jesus, even the deity and existance of God. It was then I realized I have no hope of knowing God, much less loving God if I wasn't getting inside of His breath and His word every day. As christians it should be our desire and our purpose to immerse and drown ourselves in the words of Christ and draw ourselves closer to Him and gain a deeper understanding of who He is.

Our next duty of husband paints our relationship with Christ as a more tangible picture, being commanded to love our wives as Christ loved the church. This verse goes on to say, and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. So not only is it our duty serve and scrifice ourselves to our wives, her spirituality is dependant on us as well, "washing with water through the word." I heard someone on the radio once say that regardless of whether or not the head of the household is the one who sinned, he is still held responsible for the faults of his family. Adam was not the first to sin, but he stood by and did nothing while his wife was tempted, and not only did he in turn fall because she did, he was also held responsible for her actions. In Genesis 3:9 it says specifically that God called for Adam, there was no mention of Eve. Because Adam failed to step and defend his wife from evil, not only did she fall, but he fell with her, and both were punished. Because of one mans failures sin prevailed. Given the choice, would you allow sin to enter and  prevail within your family? Would you desire your wife and children to fall away?

To me personally there is not a more daunting responsibilty than the care, and well being of a brand new child that is absolutly dependant upon you for everything, and I do mean everything. These lives that have not yet had a chance to live will inevitably be created, shaped, molded and determined by how we raise, teach and discipline. They have no concept or thought of God unless we make Him a part of our families. From the day they are born as far as they know, the world revolves around them. They are born, they need to be fed, they need to be clothed. We do everything for them when they are first born, and unless careful discipline is administered they will always believe that life will serve them everything they need on a silver plater. It's the delicate balance I was talking about, we need serve them, but teach them to do it themselves at the same time. We need to be tough, but loving. It's a very difficult and fine balance that I truly believe has never yet been perfected, but if we Commit to the LORD whatever we do, and he will establish our plans.

I believe the three studies on all these jobs are going to be great, and I hope and pray they's be a blessing to all. Looking forward to the journey.

Ok, this is some crazy idea I got the other day and I just jumped on it. It is the beginning of a story, don't know how long it will be. Not sure how often I'll work on it. Hopefully this portion I am sharing will leave you in mystery. Hopefully you will thoroughly enjoy it. Hopefully you will want to hear more, if not just say so and I'll forget it. Here it is:

Desolate. Destroyed. The words pounded through my head. My eyes closed, and head heavy. I start shaking my head and rub my eyes to take out the sleep. I’m not on a bed. This is hard. Uncomfortable. I sit up and realize it’s a wooden bench. I look ahead and see a sea of blank stares and hollow bodies. To my right and left are endless rows of more benches, more people waking up from sleep. I look at my hands, feel my face, touch my legs. Everything is surreal. I am wearing a grey, three-button suit, a white shirt, and red necktie. My memory is gone. I remember nothing of yesterday, nothing of how I got here, nothing of where I am. Empty faces stare ahead. Expectant, and yet drained. I stand up and automatically understand their perceptions and feelings. As I stood my heart and chest remained. I feel them leaving my body and staying behind. My emotions are torn from my body, and there is no reason to stay behind. I walk forward creating another head in the mass, waiting for my journey to continue. Behind me I can hear yet another person awake and pull himself from the bench. Him, like me, will just become another blank stare.
I don’t know if hours passed, or days, or weeks. A flash of silver roared and howled in front of us and came to a grinding halt. We all march on board the train silently, in a neat single file. There is no rush, but there is no reason to delay. Inside the corridor is a rich golden light. A man in a black suit, shirt, and tie awaits me.
“May I show you to your compartment sir?”
I cannot speak, but nod my head for there is no reason to do otherwise. The man in the black uniform leads me down the golden corridor. All the people that have entered the train before have seemed to disappear. There is no other person in sight. He leads me into a compartment. It is extremely large. The size of a house itself, but I take no wonder that there is no possibility this could actually fit inside the train. The room is filled with the same golden light that filled the corridor, only much more brilliant and shining. The roof extends nearly 40 feet above my head. A long winding staircase led up to a balcony that surrounded the compartment, and led to other rooms. The man in black turned to look at me.
“You will be residing here until you reach an understanding. A restaurant and lounge can be found in the next car. You will find the food satisfactory. When I leave you shall be able to speak yet again and you can feel free to speak with anyone wish.”
He turns to leave and exits out the door. As he does I feel my mouth and my tongue loosen as though suddenly becoming unknotted, though I was unaware I was incapable of speech. My mind immediately draws me to the lounge and restaurant. I feel empty and in need of another human being. I walk towards the next car.

Men and Marriage

Today's is pretty simple guys. I listened to a message today revolving on this theme of men and their families.

There is nothing that can be added to what is said in the following link, neither can it be summerized in a few paragraphs. please take an hour and listen to this message.

ME ME ME!!!

Ok, so I just cannot take it anymore. The world boils down to two types of people, those who live selfishly and those who try to live selflessly. Notice I say TRY to live selflessly, because thanks to a little serpent with a huge ego we are now all inherently slaves to sin, unrighteous, ungrateful, unworthy, selfish pigs. It is by God, and through Jesus that we as christians do our best to live selflessly, or should do our best. As my pastor mentioned this evening some form of the word "give" is used 2162 times in the bible. If we are constantly feeding ourselves and holding ourselves inside and not out pouring, what good is that?

This was brought on a few moments ago while reading reviews for a book by C.S. Lewis. I noticed there were a few 1 star reviews of a particular book. Thinking "Who would possibly give C.S. Lewis a one star review?" I had to read. A particular reviewer put that he was leaning towards atheism because there is no hard proof for an afterlife, and stated that christians believe heaven is a place of infinate time and no pain, and no sorrow. This was correct, but he went on to decide that this couldn't be true because in a nutshell he couldn't fathom it.

There is a particular TV show that I like to watch, but it unfortunately spreads a message of selfishiness. Characters are constantly talking about how they have been wronged by others, and our being taught that the only thing they need to be happy is to live for themselves and not care about anyone else. THIS IS TERRIBLE!

Please don't think I see myself as a perfect selfless human being. That couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm incredibly selfminded. Just ask my wife how many times I lose track of my family because I'm thinking of myself. But, I do try to make it a point to cut my own wants and desires down to meet the needs of others.

I have this perfect picture in my head of what selfishness and selflessness do to people that I wish I could draw, but alas, my sisters got the drawing gift, not me, so I'll try to explain it. Picture, if you will, two people talking to eachother. They begin talking relationally on a personal level. Now if either one of these people start to just say "me, me, me, me, I, I, I..." Everything being said goes directly back to them. If both people talk this way there is absolutly no connection. On the other hand if the talking changed from "what I want" to "what do you want" that goes forward to the other person, and if both people talked that way, a bond can form because it's no longer inward, it is outward. I hope that makes sense.

Bottom line, God created us for unity, not division, and by being selfish, and inward all the time, nothing can flow out of you to bless or minister to others. Selfishness is a disease, let's find a cure.

driven

First thing is first. God created you. Jesus died for you. God requires no less than absolute praise and devotion. So yet again, another song. This is an absolutely fantastic song by a brilliant worship leader, Jared Anderson. Again, just get quiet focus on the lyrics and make them personal for you. The song is prime example of devotion and worship. Use it that way.

I listened to a message the other day by a terrific speaker, Pastor Mark Driscoll. He was doing a sermon on masculinity and men. He brought up one particular trait that all men have in common, no matter what. Men love to build and to cultivate. There is nothing more satisfying for a guy to get something together and then continuously work on it and tweak it so that it just gets better and better. For a lot of guys, it's cars. Faster is never fast enough, not to mention all the care given to make sure it runs as perfectly as it can. For some of my friends I had in high school it was all about computers. They needed more memory, more power, faster modems. For me personally, I play bass, and I am not content with where I am. I want to drive myself to play better, faster, more precise. It's just who we are. But are we leaving anyone in the dust?

Where are our families? God called us to be the leaders of our family. This title as I've mentioned before has been majorly abused. This does not involve emotional, physical, or psychological abuse. Any man who hits, mocks, or disrespects a woman or child is no man at all! Being the leader does not involve forcing your power and authority on your wife and/or kids. When Jesus came to earth as a man He did not force His presence in the court of Ceaser Augustas and demand his loyalty and respect. That probably would have gotten Him a spear or two. No, Jesus came as a servant. To make His point, Jesus bent at the feet of his disciples and washed their feet. This was a point God showed to me a couple years ago. The greatest way to teach, and to lead is by example, moreover by Jesus' example. If we can cut our pride down, and serve our wives, will we in turn gain their respect? If we make it a point to display love for our wives, will they not be so moved in their hearts, they will love us as well?

Back to building and cultivating. Men love their hobbies, that is a universal truth. I love playing bass, others love cars, computers, in the case of my brother in law, comedy. I asked a little bit ago, who gets left in the dust? Hopefully no one. If you are married and/or have kids it is your God-given blessing and duty to build up, and cultivate your family. Fathers, your kids desperately need love and support, as much as they can get. Husbands, your wives desperately need to be loved and cared for. In the movie Fireproof one of the firemen put it this way, "A woman is like a rose, if you care for her she'll, if not she'll wilt." Truer words were never spoken. You cannot expect to be respected without respecting others, and you cannot expect to be loved without loving others. If you care for your family, you will give them what they need, love, encouragment, (in the case of chrildren) discipline. Your family will never love you, or respect you, if you ignore them and play with your toys all day. And you can't expect them to love you or respect you, if you do not show them the same tokens.

If you have trouble or think you have trouble with wisdom and discernment in the boundries of discpline, I strongly encourage you to read from the book of Proverbs every single day. The easiest way to do this read the chapter corresponding with the date. For example, today is the 23rd, so read Proverbs chapter 23. They are all fairly short and simple to read, and you will be blessed by them.

Before you read anymore I'd like you to take just five minutes with a worship song in reverance and prayer to God so you can become better focused on Him today. I have a paticular song I'd like to share with you for this purpose right here. This song is pretty much the conerstone of christian faith pressed into five minutes. The belief in, not just Jesus Christ, but the belief and truth that He did overcome the grave. To me this song presents so much more than a simple "Jesus died to save our sins" MO. It presents Jesus as a conquerer and destroyer of death, so much more appealing to men, in my opinion. So just take 5 minutes, listen to the song and spend some time loving on Jesus.

I'd like to expand a little more this time, on what I had said last time. My last post talked about, basically, viewing God relationally. Looking at our everyday lives and trying to find God in them. I asked the reader to view God as their father, and friend, and themselves as His children. This time I'm taking the otherside of the coin (as my good friend John would put it). I am not taking God out of this by any means, but I am going to focus more on our personal relationships with our children, and wives.

Men in our age, christian or not, love and abuse the bible verse that tell wives to submit to their husbands. Unfortunately, They are all to happy to completely miss the verse that follows directly underneath it. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her," Ephesians 5:25. Last I checked that was a huge responsibilty. If this was being practiced daily, even just by christians, I truly, in my heart believe that divorce rates would drop drastically. How much did Christ love us? Besides dying on the cross? Besides forgivness? He created us. He crafted us to be exactly the way we are. He knows our strengths, and our weaknesses. And, as the Word says, while we were still sinners (techincally cheating on God, our lover, with satan a sadist) Christ came and died for us. Despite the fact that we were cheating on God, He still loved us enough to be beaten, broken, stabbed, and suffocated just so we wouldn't have to endure Hell. Can we do that for our wives? If your wife cheats on you, can you not only offer a hand of forgivness, but pursue and capture her heart as if you were the one who was unfaithful?

Ok fathers, or soon to be fathers. The closest parallel in life you will find to God comes no closer than the relationship you have or will have with your children. Unfortunatly at this day and age, fathers could careless. there are plenty of boys with a ridiculous amount toys, and rather than discplining and loving their kids as they should, they are far to busy playing the next medal of honor, or halo. I've known a few people who were hestitant to get divorces, because of the blow it would make to their toy fund, but all to happy to be rid of their children. In every case a son is involved. This is downright damaging for a young boy. I don't care where you stand on men and women. Men don't know what it means to be a woman, and women don't know what it takes to be a man. A boy needs a man there to show him what it means to be a man. Now these fathers that I know, their sons are better off without them. I'm sorry but it's true. A man is not called to play video games and snort drugs for the rest of his life. First off, christian fathers, it is your duty to discipline your sons in a Godly way. That doesn't include emotional and physical abuse. If your prone to that, better to let your wife discipline. Christian men in general, step it up! There are fatherless sons EVERWHERE. Whether they don't have one, or their father is just absent. We need to hunt these boys down and display a God fearing, female respecting example for them.

Genesis!

My wife has her cooking/parenting/awesome blog. Now it is my turn. Who knows what may turn up on this page? I enjoy writing, maybe a story or two will show up. I love God and think men in this generation are on a fast decline, maybe there will be encouragment for men to step up and be good fathers, husbands, or boyfriends. I love my wife, rest assured she will pop up on here more than once. Point being, I don't know what this will turn in to, but I do know this is only the begining.

You learn something knew every single day. What have I learned today? God shows us lessons on where we are and where we should be in our walk everyday. Just look at the relationships in your life. Friendships, parents, wives, children, every relationship in your life is lesson in your walk with God. As we are fathers to our children, so are we Gods children. As we are in a relationship of love with our wives, so we should be with God. And as our parents do their best to discipline and provide for us, so does God.

It's incedible. Do you moan and complain about spending time with your wife? Do you loath and disdain your children? Hopefully the answer is no. If not, that is a whole other post that haven't done yet (beware, your time is coming!) As you raise your kids and spend one on one time with your wife try to think and wonder, what it must be like to God when He views us in the same way, as His children, and  as His beloved. Do you neglect God? Do you make Him proud? Wake up and tell your Dad you love Him. View Him as your father and greatest friend.