Song of Solomon Facilitator Training

A couple of weekends ago I dropped into Dallas for a Song of Solomon Facilitator's Training. I got to catch up with some dear folks and wanted to share some photos.

DFW friends, I hope to catch up with y'all when I'm actually in town for a longer period of time (maybe after Christmas this year)

Pastor (Denton Bible Church), author and speaker emeritus of Song of Solomon Conferences - Tom Nelson

Head Dawg of Hudson Productions and Song of Solomon Conferences - Doug Hudson

Facilitator trainers Roger and Denise Friesen of Nebraska. I attended a dinner party at their home once. They have taken ~ 500+ through the materials

Friend and former Hudson Productions staff Ashley Jones - whoput up with Michael Armstrong and me making fun of her for many years

Employed across the highway from the host church - I popped in for a quick visit to see my sister, LaToya Lowery

Gitcho YUM on!

(As promised, a more light-hearted blog)

It's been 9 months and I'm re-assimilating well into Texan culture.
I don't think it's allowable to be a Texan male and not know how to cook some good beef.
The good Lord blessed me with a smoker shortly after moving here, and I have been practicing my craft.

Eric Hoehn, one of HCBC's small groups pastors and the guy unfortunate enough to have to answer most of my questions at work, gave me a GREAT recipe for brisket that tastes just like...Rudy's! I kid you not. (If you don't know what Rudy's is, there's just another reason for you to visit!)

This is what the process looked like. It was yummier than the photographs suggest.
I'm willing to make it again for out-of-town guests (hint, hint):

Just Wonderin'

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6

"We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts"

John Dewey

My blog has, in the past, been critiqued as sometimes being too "heady," too serious, and oftentimes not fun or funny enough, especially considering my goofball sense of humor.

I'm willing to accept the criticism and my response has been that my sense of humor is most often a response to the goings on in the world.

What's going on in my world today?

In a lot of ways I'm seeing no "let down" of the political harshness towards "the other side(s)" even after this political election, and that includes hundreds of people I call my friends.

I find this fact to be both interesting and sad.

So, here's my question, and I welcome your sincere response - though neither my question nor your response may be considered fun or funny:

If I were to say to you (and I am) that Keith Olbermann is not fully correct and Bill O'Reilly is not fully correct - but that the God who created you is, would that statement make any difference in your life today?

Simple question, but I sincerely and humbly ask it and hope for your response.

My promise to you is that the next blog will be more fun!

Thanks for being my friend.

What's Up, Doc?!

Yesterday afternoon I made my first trip with my son to his doctor. My wife asked, "You've never been here before, huh?" I had not.

What a place! My son's exam room was everything one might stereotypically expect from Austin. You see, I try to explain to my out-of-state friends that - to put it nicely - Austin is a little eclectic.

My son's room was a lime green, funk-tified lighted, lava lamps all over, beads hanging from the ceiling themed room.

Whatever it takes to keep an Austin kid chilled out about a visit to the doctor...I guess!

Here's a photo:

Oct. 29, 1994

I remember so many details of that day as if it were yesterday.

Texas Tech whipped the University of Texas in football, (easy to remember since we've only won fourteen out of fifty six games), the Goin' Band had performed magnificently (that was a common occurrence), and I was off to Barn Dance.

When I arrived, I saw several sad faces. My first thought was, "That must be our friends from the U.T. band we invited." After a while, however, I began to see sad faces that I recognized. Upon parking the car I was told, "Heath has been in an accident...he died."

Numb. Numb from sadness, numb from anger, numb from dread. If you were a friend of my fraternity brother, Heath Denton, I suppose you remember where you were and what you felt when you heard about Heath's death as well. I encourage you to share your story in the comments section of this blog.

Yesterday a few brothers from the Alpha Omicron chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi gathered together to visit the place where Heath was buried. The cemetery is in Burnet, TX, about an hour's drive from where Ryan Butler and I live. Joining Ryan and I were Heath's big brother, Tim Stewart - currently of the San Antonio Area; Steve Makelki - currently living in the Houston Area; and Jon Caspell who flew out from Lubbock to attend.

There are many powerful take-aways for me from yesterday's gathering. I will share the one I think is most important:

Jesus Christ, the only Son of the living God, gave His life so that we may live eternally in Him. God knew Heath while Heath was in his mother's womb (see Psalms 139). God had a specific purpose for Heath's being here on earth. 20 years later, we recognized that Heath's death in a strangely similar way led us to life as well. Yesterday we gave testimony to the fact that Heath's life, death, funeral, and legacy created in us a desire to live for Christ.

Heath's headstone reads, "...God's Friend." That is exactly what he was here on earth and what he is today in heaven.

Here are some photographs from our visit. Again, I encourage you to share your comments to others who read this blog by linking to the comments section.

Thanks for being my friend!

Voter Guide

No remarks from the peanut gallery on how long it's taken me to blog, or that I owe you a "Friends, Pt. 2."

I just read a great story that almost completely captures my thoughts and ideas about voting in this year's U.S. presidential election.

The fact is, I really like both guys running. You know me - I've got friends who are liberal and conservative, Christian and agnostic, straight and homosexual, every race color and creed in existence. I beleve that every one I know is an immortal soul whom God has placed in my life for a specific purpose.
I like both guys running for president and, regardless of who wins, I will pray for him every day at noon like I always do.

That being said, I'm not enthused or excited about the idea of either candidate actually being president. However I do believe this, I trust the Holy God of the universe to be acting out His will for the election. This is especially easier to accept considering - once again - I'm not "waving my pom-poms" for either.

How then did I arrive at a conclusion for my vote?

When I was in college I had a candidate that I liked best in an election year (no comments on how many election years passed throughout my undergraduate years). A week or so before the election I stopped and actually prayed to God about who to vote for. As I walked to the voter booth a strange thing happened. I could not, in good conscience, vote for the guy I liked! It was the oddest thing for someone who had not experienced a feeling like that before and, if you've never felt that - that is, a guidance from the Holy Spirit of God in your actual day-to-day activities - you probably think I'm crazy (yeah, I know, some of you think I'm crazy regardless of what I say).

So, I went to the voter booth wanting to go one direction and I truly feel God didn't allow me to. Well, the guy I liked the best still won but I am very glad to this day that my consience did not allow me to vote for him. (I voted 3rd party that year. My conscience was clear. That guy didn't have a chance!) I would be embarrassed on this day in my life had I voted my way, for I feel 'my guy' really made a mockery out of the presidency during that particular term of his service.

My friend, I believe the Bible teaches we are responsible for our actions here on earth. One of the biggest actions we can make on earth as an American is voting. We will be held, by God, to accountability for our voting! That means - 1. We should actually be registered, be informed and vote; 2. We should vote in a way that pleases Him.

Regardless of your presidential choice and/or your feelings about God, my challenge to you is that you will pray this or something very similar every day until you vote:

"God (add 'If you're there' if you're one of my agnostic friends - by the way, He is!) would You please, by the power of Your Spirit guide me to vote in a way that pleases you?"

His answer may surprise you and, if You follow Him in your voting, you are in the clear for eternity!

God is not a Democrat or a Republican. He is in it for His own glory and His is the only party with which I am truly concerned.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for being my friend.
I appreciate you!

Friends! Part 1

Proverbs 18:24 - A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

I've had an interesting past two weeks.
There have been extreme highs and lows in both my and my friends' lives. I don't wanna talk about any of it right now. Still processing...God is faithful, I know that much.

I thought I'd take a moment to blog about friends (boy are they gonna be surprised!)
I should probably do this one at a time:

1st up - Matt Cothern. Matt is a dear friend from Kappa Kappa Psi and jazz band. We were pretty darn close in college and, don't get him started, 'cause he could tell you a gazillion stories about me - and many of them during my "who cares about honoring God" days. [For example, I believe there is one story in there about me and some of the brothers kidnapping him from his dorm at ~ 5 a.m., taking him to a restuarant I believe in his jammies and my standing up on a table loudly singing Happy Birthday to him in a Marilyn Monroe style...frat days!].

Through all the craziness, there are 3 moments I will always treasure in my mind about ole Matt:
1. When his softball team, "Fresh Meat" (or Fresh Meat II, again, frat days) were getting their habitual hiney kickin' in their killer softball division and Matt thought it was a good idea as a catcher to stop a runaway train of a man with his hand. Moments I treasure - those hours in the hospital Matt and I spent together! I realize now in my life that I did all I could during those college days to build walls in my life to keep people at a distance. I even made more "friends" so that I wouldn't have to go "deep" with anyone. Matt was one of the few people at that time I truly let into my life. He helped me learn the value of true friendships.

2. The Bet. For the life of me, I cannot remember what the bet was, but the wager of the bet I do remember. I was a hard-core liberal at the time and Matt was the polar opposite. We spent much of our greeting time daily attacking one another's political stances. Well, the wager was, loser had to vote in the the winner's political party primary and, essentially, join that political party. I became a Republican (I consider myself a conservative independent today) because I lost a bet to Matt.
I decided to look at what some of the candidate's in the Republican party were all about and, to my surprise, many of them said they operated their life and work out of their faith in Jesus Christ. Kinda made me say, "What guides me in my day-to-day?" Somehow, through that wager and several other Spirit-led people and events in my life, I ended up re-dedicating my life to Jesus Christ sometime soon after I "became a Republican." [I put that in quotes because I honestly believe no political party has a lock on God...the story is just a piece of the puzzle God used to change my life].

3. The Church. So, I ended up being hired on at Hill Country Bible Church - Northwest and the pastor and my supervisor say, "There's a guy here who knows you...Matt Cothern!" "Really?!" I had been looking for Matt on the internet for years and had completely lost touch. We ended up meeting at the place that is common ground for both of us. Oh how God has brought both of us through crazy times! (I'm sparing Matt's crazy stories to protect the...guilty!)
Well, one of the "extreme highs" of the last two weeks was HCBC's Concert of Praise. My wife posted a video of me playing sax at a rehearsal - I could blog about that...I thought I was the one who was going to get to post music...my wife is a "Blog Hog" - on her site (myjordanfamily.blogspot.com) Standing next to me, my dear friend, on trumpet, Matt Cothern.

I am thankful to God for the friends He has placed in my life.
Next blog, "Steve."