My wife and I met a guy a few days ago.  We started talking about work and finally got onto talk about the Lord.  He said "he and his wife were fasting and praying for a break-through from the Lord."  He felt like the Lord was "birthing something in their lives" in regrards to God's will for them. 
    I thought long and hard about his thoughts and desire for God to use him to the point of earnestly fasting and praying.   From his experience, I thought about my own experiences in trying to find "God's will"!  The following is a few thoughts on the perceived mistakes made by the guy we met and my own mistakes in past seasons of life. 
     Seeking new orders from the Lord flaws:
1.  It presupposes God can only carry out His will in your life if you know what it is and are willing to accomplish it. 
2   It presupposes that it would help God accomplish more if we knew what His will was for our life.
3.  It presupposes God will let us know what His plans are for our life before He intended to reveal them to us in the first place.  No doubt, God may want to reveal something to you the very time you are wondering and are willing to fast and pray- such has not been my experience.
4.  It presupposes that we are better judges of our own character and our own abilities than God is.
            A. This impugns God's omniscience   B. This impugns God's soverignty
5.  Another great flaw in seeking new orders from the Lord is that such a focus minimizes what the Lord is doing through us now and wants to accomplish through us in the immediate. 

     Whereever you find the Lord has you (provided you are not in a lifestyle of sin) live each day knowing God has you where He wants you and is accomplishing His will through you. 
      If God has something new he is leading you to do, it will be clear and not murkey.  When clear orders come in start moving that direction by faith. 
      Above all, enjoy the significance of knowing God is using us to further the Kingdom in our everday interactions in our everyday lives.    Just like Christ walked the Earth as a man building a Kingdom, Christ wants to build the Kingdom through us as we walk the Earth. 

Things are so different now that she said yes to marriage.  These sights that were once for dating can now be used for what they are really good for- keeping up with those that should be kept up with.   So for starters, friends and family: I found my Mrs. Right.   We hope to be married early 07.  Stay tuned.

After being in a 3-week funk of depression, it appears, I am coming out. Funny how these things go. In despair one day and really encouraged the next. To give credit to where it is due, I have really been asking for the Lord to minister to me- He has.   

I thought I was out of it a while ago but was only in the midst- only God knows.  For now I will hang on.

It took me five tries to find the shirt I wanted to wear this morning.  When I finally did settle I wound up in a throwback to the 70's.  It is blue mostly with white, marron, light blue stripes and squares.  It is so retro but it pleased me when I saw it in the mirror.  That's the good thing about being my age, you can wear just about any decade and get away with it.  Crazy thing is, the shirt is a recent (last five years) acquisition. 

Heaven will sure be nice.  No clothing concerns.  No more hurting others.  No more sore necks.  No more lonliness.  No more wishing you were that man.   Yes, Heaven will sure be heaven. 

Sorry to have not blogged in a while.  Some things have come up and I have not felt like writing so much.   I am starting to come out of the funk and hope to be back to my new self soon. 

I can say as a result of my studying for Sunday and the lessons God is teaching me, I fall way short of living out the lifestyle of love.  The good part is that with the recognition of falling way short is also the revealing of some of the reasons why(God is thorough like that).  It is impossible to give out love unconditionally, when you won't also receive it for yourself.   

No happy ending... yet!

Mason

I have determined that online dating only works if she intiates.  The reason is because if a guy initiates then he is perceived as not worth having.  It is as if a girl must feel as though she is getting something that is way beyond her..  If a guy initates he is automacially, seen as not worth having.  

The ramifications of this realization is that a man must feather his bio to such a degree that he builds himself up to be something that he is not or wishes he was.  In this way a girl reads and thinks wow he is way beyond anything that I could hope to have- I will try and get him.  Then gotten, she realizes he is not what he said but that she can accept him after all- flaws and all.  Accept him that is, if the deception is not too grevious.    If the deception is too grevious all men are then branded as liars. 

The point being, he who is noble remains single, while he who masks gets the girl.  

In the end, or actually the beginning, I will remain honest about who I am and promise to be so much more. 

I have been studying for my lesson on Sunday.  Ephesians chap 4.28-end will be my text.  What has bowled me over is what this text requires as a prerequisite to fullfilling the face prescriptives.    To be more specific, we are not supposed to say anything that would cause the hearers to stumble or want to vomit the words back out.   Converesly, the text commands us to only speak words that edify/build-up.   To then speak words that build up we have to listen and study our audience to such a degree so as to know what the hearer needs to hear.   This requires us to actually listen to people.  This requires us to acutally study those around us to such a degree that we would be able to say that which builds up.   Inadvertantly, I have stumbled into a world that is foreign at least and impossible at most. 

Then it dawned on me.  All of this is, of course, is impossible without the Holy Spirit component.  As we listen and understand those we are around, it is the Holy Spirit that gives us the discernment and wisdom and the words to speak.  This is how we are able to speak words that minister grace to the hearer.

Who can imagine how much relationships could offer if such a command were taken seriously and implemented?  Who could imagine talking with someone that is really listening and understanding, rather than trying to think of what clever thing to say next?   

Oh, the depths of Christianity!