Wednesday, October 6, 2010

My Walk


Scratch it out with pad and pen -
Miserable, shaken, all trust amiss -
My heart on paper - I must begin -
As low feeling as betrayal's kiss -

I see the path, but still I stray -
My weakness Lord, You know so well -
Your Light of Truth burns everyday -
Forfeiting glory for this human shell -

Reaching for Your hand, dear Jesus -
I need Your touch of grace -
To have Your gentle leading -
Warmth and peace in Your embrace -

Every day there's more to do -
Your gifts are for the taking -
People clamour for a tangible You -
That is me, no longer faking -

Reaching for Your hand, dear Jesus -
I need Your touch of grace -
To have Your gentle leading -
Warmth and peace in Your embrace -

When I'm weak, You are the strongest -
I come up short, You hold the longest -
Your still small voice is my solitary guide -

Reaching for Your hand, dear Jesus -
I need Your touch of grace -
To have Your gentle leading -
The warmth and peace of Your embrace -

Monday, September 13, 2010

How Would Mark Twain Have Handled This?

We despise all reverences and all the objects of reverence which are outside the pale of our own list of sacred things. And yet, with strange inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the things which are holy to us.
- Mark Twain from Following the Equator

This whole nonsense with burning the Quran (Koran) - the holy Muslim scriptures - and all the political hoohah and international fervor has made me think, "If Mark Twain was still alive, what new a pithy quote would he have?" Many have commented in chat rooms, tweets, and online boards about the gentleman pastor from Gainesville, FL who is so diligently attempting to grab notoriety and fame for an act so unlike Jesus, in my opinion. Terms like idiot, knuckle head, seeker of his own 15 minutes of fame have all been used outside the media. The press has actually wasted time talking to him.

For one, he purports to be anti-Islam. His church he shepherds has heard him call Islam the devil's religion. I scratch my head in amazement that he really believes that. If Jesus had felt that way, we never would have His words in John 4, when he talks to the woman at Jacob's well. Peter had that same attitude about Gentiles until God put the vision in his head - the story from Acts 10. Is the answer truly to exterminate a religion because it's basic tenants are diametrically opposed to his own? Has the 28th chapter of the gospel of Matthew been omitted from his Bible? I am not attempting to be Rodney King here, because I know we all can't get along. My problem is why wear a Christian name tag and act about as UN-Christ-like as possible. That is why I miss Twain and how he would revile this pastor.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Personal, Inner Conflict

The Apostle Paul captured my dilemma in the seventh chapter of the letter to the Romans. While I have such grandiose plans and dreams for my life, ministries I want to be in, even just my daily life - the way I honor and cherish my wife, the time I spend on my children and the manner I communicate with them, and the rest of my family and friends I want to be with and care about - these are the things in my life that are the hardest to accomplish. I feel like this diatribe could easily swing into a pity party, but that is not my focus. As Paul finishes his thought on sin in Romans 7, he says (vs 24, 25) "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord."
I am almost fifty years old and I am still learning how far I have to grow, how much I do not know, and just what a creep I am. After all, I can look back and see the goober from high school, or the moron that went from college to college and never accomplished anything. One failed marriage, children and step children that neither listen to or respect any adult, save me personally. I have been attempting to receive a Bachelor's Degree for almost 5 years, and California Baptist University started me off with a two-year Associates Degree I received 15 years ago. Jobless, and still playing games with my school for my degree, I struggle to stay UN-depressed.
I truly believe that there is a plan for me. Like Paul, I thank God for the gift of his son, Jesus Christ. I need to walk in that light. I need to seek His face and do what pleases Him, and then my concerns about my life will not be as ominous or depressing.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Teachers Who Screw It Up For The Rest

The story about the teacher who called his sixth grade student a "loser".
The story about the three teachers who screwed up black history month lessons.

Pink slips. As an aspiring educator in the public school system, I have made many friends "in the biz". I have had 4 children go K through 12th grade in the Savannah School District system in Anaheim, and two in Middle School presently in Riverside, CA in the Alvord School District. My sister has taught Kindergarten for more than 20 years in Temecula, CA, and I am 3 credit hours short of a B.A. in English where I have observed over 100 hours of elementary, Middle School, and High School classroom sessions. This is all so I can then go to graduate school to receive my teaching credential for teaching in California. Even with the thirty plus teacher friends I have and all that I have seen personally in my observations for school I readily admit I don't know everything about education. I hear and read about our terrible budget crisis, I watch as the Governator of California cuts millions of dollars for education in this state even after his election platform said he would bolster, not cut the school budget. All of this preamble is to say I get so sick and tired of very competent, very skilled and successful teachers being given pink slips telling them they will not have the same job come fall 2010.

All the while these teachers are getting the short straws, teachers are hitting the headlines for utter stupidity. Last week three teachers - male, European American teachers at Wadsworth Elementary School in south Los Angeles - a 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade teacher suggested their students study and celebrate three prominent African Americans and then have a parade to display what they learned. The three celebrities chosen were Ru Paul, O.J. Simpson, and Dennis Rodman. Of course, all this is in the alleged stage because these three racist schmucks are suspended until all the facts are investigated. Also, the three men are not named and have been unavailable for comments.

Choosing a cross-dresser, a moral degenerate, and a murderer as examples of the African American culture is deplorable. That is an incident of stupidity, bordering on evil, as these men who are employed to teach children in my opinion stand attempting to mock an entire race, and then a teacher in North Carolina piles on to the bad judgement bus.

A sixth grade teacher at a Middle School in North Carolina has what is described as an odd teaching style. In the article about this story, a video shows at least three separate and distinct times the teacher wrote "loser" on one young lady's paper. One time was for a grade "-20% for being a loser". The mother said these comments have been ongoing and when she went to com-plain to the school they stopped for a while until this week when the above statement was written atop her daughter's paper. The local news found three families to defend this adult bully's style of teaching. I asked myself, "Self, why didn't the principal take care of this situation immediately?" The video said this teacher had been in the school for 12 years. This has now grabbed national attention, so we'll see where it goes from here.

Almost daily there are stories of Counties, School Districts, and Schools making very hard decisions about letting great teachers go due to financial constraints. Unions have muddied the waters here in California, where Union leaders are going toe-to-toe with the beloved Governator for power and control. I don't have many solutions, but I am barely smart enough to see the problem. In our zest, or haste, or egocentric fervor to be the smartest, richest, and most powerful country we've taken so many short cuts, or simply ignored the hard work credo of generations past we are no longer in that place. How sad.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

I Am Second

This 'new' movement among the Christian Community, is this month's cause for our local Christian radio station. www.iamsecond.com gives people practical stuff to put into a lifestyle what we as Christians preach about. When asked what was the greatest commandment in Luke 10, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy to put God first and others next "as yourself". I heard Tony Dungy's story, Joe Gibbs, Josh Hamilton - and many other famous and fringe celebrity folk who have dedicated themselves to practical application and not just a principle or philosophy.

I am intrigued by this cause because, for one, my blog is named 'God, Others, and me' based on this same teaching. Secondly, No one church or pastor or celebrity is at the forefront. This is truly a non-profit movement to create revival in the people, another evangelism tool. This planet could do with less hate, less greed, less crud, and more Jesus in every life.

While most will acknowledge Jesus as teacher, philosopher, and all-around-good egg, as they do Confucius, Buddha, Mohammad, and Gandhi, Jesus claimed HE WAS GOD. Jesus taught, lived, and died, and then three days later rose from the dead to be seen by hundreds of people - something the aforementioned group did not do - and this is an attempt to bring more people closer and into a deeper relationship with Lord of all, Jesus Christ.

I am Second even has a support system where you can talk to counselors or even a small group to continue to grow in the Lord.

I believe in this program, even without the celebrity endorsement, because of my faith. I need to grow and learn more just like everyone else. The beauty is that Jesus accepts me the way I am, and gives me room to grow, not expecting me to grow in order to attain Him.