A Slower Pace

Last night we had Family Movie Night. The movie on tap was Letters To God. It is a tear jerker movie with a very good message. I thought the story was kinda choppy but you cannot downplay the message of how any one of us can positively impact those of us around us — no matter what happens to us. Because in the end, it is not about us — it is about God’s plan and His glory.

So this morning, I went to my men’s Accountability meeting and came home to find this in an envelope from my 10 year old son.

Dear God,

Thank you for that movie we watched last night. I think that boy was a really cool boy. I pray that you can help the Doctors find a cure to heal all the sick people. Please make the Doctors heal my Opa, he is very sick. He does not deserve this and my mom does not deserve this either. My mom needs to at least have a parent with her. I want the best for her. Tell my Oma in heaven that mom misses her so much, she really really does. I want the best for my family, I really do. Thank you for Jesus who died such a painful death for me.

Amen

ps: I love you

ps: I also prayed this out loud

Love, Danny

Here is my son with his Opa before the Alzheimer’s really had a grip on him. My wife cherishes this picture for so many reasons.

I look forward to our time in heaven with Jesus where every moment will be like this picture — healthy, happy, joyous, with loved ones, and in God’s presence.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I love Christian radio! 88.5 FM WJIE is my first radio love. Recently, I have also been listening to K-LOVE at work. (Both radio stations can be streamed from their respective web pages.) Today while listening to K-LOVE I stumbled across one of their interesting news story links about “How to Spot a Healthy Church”. It was written by a pastor/cartoonist from Louisiana who also has a blog. And while perusing his blog I came across one of his postings that I thought summed up a true relationship with Jesus…..which is so crucial not only for salvation, but for true living the way He intended.

Here is his original post. However, I am quoting the end part which impacted me.

Two things need to be said about knowing the Lord.

1) It involves a dual relationship. The individual comes to a personal acquaintance with Jesus Christ and in the process the Lord Jesus comes to know that person and enters his/her life. From that moment on, the two are intertwined in a spiritual way that defies most attempts to categorize it.

2) It results in a different way of life characterized by fair-thinking and honest-dealing, by compassion toward others and a love for God.

Anything less may be religious, it may be impressive to the world, and it might even be said to be miracle-working. But it will not stand up at Judgment.

To sum it up, Jesus wants your heart, not your actions.

I think I am going to enjoy reading through some of Pastor Joe’s blog archive.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I am in a severe growth phase with my walk with Jesus my Savior. He has set me afire for Him and I #1 – want others to know of His love and #2 – want to serve Him by serving others.

Where I am struggling is my past life in growing up in the church. I have quite a church heritage. I was baptized by my Grandfather who was a pastor, my great-grandparents were missionaries to China, I attended parochial schools and universities, and am fairly well versed in doctrine. And I have had many moments in my journey where I felt God’s touch in my life. He has always been there for me, but I was not always on fire for Him. There were parts of my life that He was not a part of or parts of my life that I did not surrender to Him. I was a “Christian” and might have been saved but I was not the disciple He had called me to be.

So in an effort to dig into this and better understand it, I have drawn up some “visual aids”. I am very visual and also use analogies extensively. The series of white board drawings are a way for me to describe my journey. It is my hope to actually make this a little 30 second video mimicing the UPS white board guy.

As I stated before, I grew up in the church and God has always been a part of my life. This picture depicts that relationship and the slice God had.

Attending church, youth group, confirmation, summer camps and retreats, God grew in my life.

There were times were God was a huge part of my life. However, as you can see, there were still slices of my life pie that did not include Him in them. I had not completely surrendered.

Once I became set on fire for Christ, you can see my heart changed. Jesus became my core.

And I grew as a disciple.

And now, no matter how you slice my life, there is a piece of God in it — family, friends, work, service, church, neighbors, commuting, Lowes, airport, Wal-Mart.

While some might just say this is symantics, I believe this is a huge mind-shift…..even more so, heart-shift. I call it the difference between knowing ABOUT Jesus, and knowing Jesus and walking with Him every day. Don’t just give Him a slice…..give Him your core.

Now there is also a whole tangeant to this discussion about how I still fail and sin every day and am far from perfect. All the more reason to need a Savior I say. But we will save that discussion for another time.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

In my life, I have seen many times where God alone provides for his faithful. He has done so for me — sometimes miraculously, other times mundanely — and he has done so for many of those who touch my life.

I haven’t heard of HeartCry Missionary Society. However, take a look at the video. Their mission and story is an amazing one.

God’s Extraordinary Provision for HeartCry – Paul Washer from HeartCry Missionary Society on Vimeo.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

A dear friend of mine shared this with me and I thought I would pass it on.

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (“who really ought to get a job”) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day That of all the gifts you give us Lord, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those that are close to us, but to all humanity.

Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Working for God on earth doesn’t pay much……but His retirement plan is out of this world.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I am way off on my blogging. Sorry. Stuff going on too but not enough hours in the day to get it written down.

Last night I attended the closing for Chrysalis Flight 45. One of the kids’ statements really hit me and I wanted to share it with you.

“YOU are God’s favorite!”

So simple, yet so powerful. And yes, I am God’s favorite too. Pretty cool if you ask me.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

NOTE: If you do not know what Chrysalis is, it is like an Emmaus walk on jet fuel for high schoolers. Both Emmaus walks and Chrysalis flights are designed to deepen and further your walk with Christ. More can be found here — http://www.upperroom.org/emmaus/whatis/about.asp. I would highly encourage you to explore attending a walk if you would like to develop your personal walk with your Savior Jesus, not just “check the box” by attending church and being a good person. It will change your life — here on earth and for eternity.

I woke up very early this morning so I could leave the house at 5:30am and serve breakfast down at Wayside Christian Mission as I have been doing every Friday lately (see this previous funny post on an earlier incident). My son put a small whiteboard outside of his door with the message for me on it.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverence.” — James 1:2-3

Bye Dad – have a good day at work – love you

I am touched and know this will be a great Friday. I wish the readers of this the same.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

In my previous post, I wrote about sitting down to watch the Rose Bowl game. However, I ended up recording the last 8 minutes (which can last 30 in football time) because I was having family movie night with the kids. The movie to be cued was “Facing The Giants”. The internet movie database sums it up like this — A losing coach with an underdog football team faces their giants of fear and failure on and off the field to surprising results.

So the kids and I head down to our almost finished basement (which only needs a ceiling) to watch “movie style”. For all you parents out there, this is a good movie for your kids and family. There is no language to worry about and no challenging or compromising scenes. Unfortunately the MPAA gave it a PG rating due to what they called football violence and “adult” situations of infertility. Ugh! Give me a break. Which means every Sunday the NFL would get a PG rating — maybe more due to the cheerleader close ups (which I am not opposed to, by the way). But I digress. It seems the MPAA might have been intimidated by the heavy spiritual overtones of the movie.

For believers, the movie is a great reminder of where we need to place our faith, what our role is, and what we are called to do. For those of you on the fence about Jesus or do not believe, you might think this is just a warm, fuzzy feel good story, but don’t dismiss it so quickly. You see, when I finished watching the movie I sat down to finish watching the TCU/Wisconsin Rose Bowl game and noticed a few parallels. I noticed a smaller, private, Christian school battling with a much larger, repeat Rose Bowl attendee. TCU has never been to the Rose Bowl; Wisconsin has been 6 times with 3 victories (not counting yesterday’s game). This truly was a David vs. Goliath match up.

And yet, TCU was able to compete, survive, and win! I watched the last half of the game and it was exciting and entertaining. And to hear TCU quarterback Andy Dalton quote a Bible verse in his after game victory interview on mainstream TV was awesome. The verse quoted by Andy Dalton was:

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” – 1 Peter 5:6

So if you missed yesterday’s Rose Bowl, you can get a similar story by watching the movie “Facing The Giants”. Even if you saw the Rose Bowl, I suggest putting the movie on your “to watch” list. And make sure to share it with your kids.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

My Dad sent me the link below about how the Swedish government, in its infinite wisdom, has taken a child from his parents for a year and a half because they are Christians homeschooling him. This issue completely blows my mind in today’s modern age because of the freedoms I enjoy here in the United States. However, any time you get people in control who want to control others, it can be dangerous.

—— TANGEANT ——
While working on the basement, I put in the Star Wars II (Attack of the Clones) DVD as periodic entertainment. I caught one part where Anakin and Padme are having a picnic conversation in a meadow. They are discussing politics and civilization and you can begin to see Anakin’s dictatorship philosophies. It is interesting how you see hints like that in politicians too — it is not just for movies.
—— TANGEANT OFF ——

So the Swedish government has proven to me that they are a nanny state incapable of values and providing freedoms to their citizens. I expect the downward spiral of that country within my lifetime. Until then, I will boycott ABBA and Volvos. (No need to boycott Saabs because, being the ugliest cars on the road, no one buys them anyway.)

Please keep this family in your prayers. They have been through so much and there isn’t much light in the tunnel for them right now.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him. – Luke 2:10-14 MSG

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net