Wading through life

What is it you feel God is leading you into? Does it make sense? If so, I wonder if it is in fact God leading you there…

Wondering what I’m talking about? Read the Old Testament…and the New Testament while you’re at it. Without statistical support, I’ll claim that the majority of the time, the Lord leads us toward land uncharted, logic unfamiliar.

I know the Lord has given us an intellect and wisdom and that we should seek peace in our leading. But let’s not start drawing connections between peace and understanding. I think the Lord longs to be our peace IN SPITE of understanding.

Just ask Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Jesus, Peter, Paul…and the rest of the characters of the Bible–you know, that book that talks about what life with God is like?

On a related topic… I’m not convinced this is a Biblical principle, but I’m starting to way decisions I’m making based on how much faith it would take to move a particular direction. The less gutsy it seems, the less I feel it’s a God-inspired step and less appealing it is.

Any thoughts?

Well, I wasn’t as strict this time…and I’ve indulged a couple times already since the 2-week sugar fast, but the South Beach Diet seems to like my body and sheds pounds when I abide by it’s ways.

I weighed myself for the first time in a couple weeks and found myself 10 pounds lighter. I was 206, which is only 3 pounds heavier than the weight I bottomed out at when on the diet last summer. I don’t feel nearly as lean this time, though, and I think that’s because I had a bit more weighty muscle mass than I do now. Scott and I haven’t been working out as much lately, so I could be down some lean pounds and up some body fat percents.

Either way, I’m pretty pleased and am inspired to continue eating better. And now that Fitrex.com is back up and running, and Scott and I are starting up our new program, I’ll just be compounding the effects exponentially and be back in summertime-shape in no time.

Come to think of it, the suit pants I wore today were a little loose around the waist…

It’s kind of an exciting day at Spring Arbor University. We’re launching a "hybrid" radio station that will broadcast on the frequency held by the contemporary Christian music station Power Praise FM for decades. When I say hybrid, I mean a station that plays both traditional Christian (Mercy Me, Switchfoot, Michael W. Smith, Zoegirl…) and mainstream (U2, Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkston, Sting…) music. It will actually be about 2/3 mainstream.

The concept of HOME.fm–as it’s being called–is to be a station that will play music familiar to almost all listeners while seasoning it will Christ-centered music some might not be exposed to on a regular basis. All music is screened to make sure the content is appropriate and family-friendly, which is another mission of the statement. Music and announcer commentary is going to be completely clean and fun, so parents won’t have to worry about crude jokes or loose language when listening to it with Johnny on the way to soccer practice.

It’s pretty cool to be a part of. I haven’t done a whole lot, but my boss oversees broadcast ministries at the Arbor and was the one to push for the new station format.

Loyal Power Praise listeners will surely have some issues with the decision. Some might think SAU is compromising. But, that’s just stupid. It’s not a compromise at all; it’s smart. And I pray for its success and influence. Besides, if they want to hear the same stuff, they can just change their dial and keep listening to the same thing on a different frequency.

Anyway, if you want to listen online, head to http://www.myhome.fm and then click on the Listen Live link. People around the Jackson area can tune to 106.9 FM; there are several other frequencies that will broadcast the station around southern Michigan, but I’m not sure what they are. Probably can find it on the Web site.

Real quick–lyrics from an awesome song:

You’re calling me to lay aside the worries of my day
To quiet down my busy mind and find a hiding place
Worthy, Worthy

I open up my heart and let my spirit worship Yours
I open up my mouth and let a song of praise come forth
Worthy, You are worthy

Of a child-like faith
And of my honest praise
And of my unashamed love
Of a holy life
And of my sacrifice
And of my unashamed love

Fret not about my recent silence. Things are WAY better than they may appear. I’m not depressed, or struggling, or down in the dumps. I just haven’t blogged. Sorry if you’ve been looking for some light reading the past while and continued to see that same May 3 entry over and over.

I have been a bit stressed and frustrated at work this past week. It’s the pre-graduation crunch. And next week is going to be the pre-board of trustees meeting crunch. But that’s ok; I’m getting through.

What’s been exciting about the past few weeks that I haven’t said anything about has been the insatiable appetite for the Word of God welling up within me. I’m continuing to be challenged by the notion Wilkinson presents toward the end of Secrets of the Vine that the only way to move from more fruit for God to much fruit for God is to spend more time with him. More work and a schedule filled with more stuff won’t accomplish anything if our intimacy with the Father is not increasing.

Out of this hunger has come a commitment to read through the whole Bible by the end of the year (check in with me on this now and then… ). I’ve never done the Bible in a year before–and this will actually be the Bible in less than eight months.

I’m going to go through it primarily in the Message. I recently bought a 4-version parallel Bible with the NKJV, English Standard Version, New Living Translation and The Message. It goes from most literal to most loose translation side by side by side by side; it’s really cool. So, when I run across something in The Message that I want a more direct translation of, I just jump over to the NKJV (which I’ve used for the past five or six years as my primary study Bible) or check it out in the ESV, which I’m not familiar with. The New Living is good for a different slant once in a while as well.

It’s been awesome to read through Genesis in the Message. I’m reading mostly for large-scope understanding and not so much meditating on a few verses. Studying the relationships God’s people develop with Him and how He proceeds to interact in these is truly amazing. The intimacy of their communion is awesome–yet a reverence and fear still exists that keeps them in proper perspective and order.

I’ll go into some specific examples that I’ve pulled from the first half of Genesis later on. But I just wanted to finally get back to blogging and give update.

Be blessed.