Category Archives: Friends

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For Keeps

If you are neurotic like me then you probably have had dreams in which your loved ones have died. I have dreamed about friends and family falling off of buildings, getting murdered, getting in accidents, getting sick, you name it. I had a few of those dreams this week. (This is a thing that happens to everyone, right? It’s not just me?)

As I was driving around last night, I was reminded of the truth that even if our loved ones leave us in this life, they’re going home to God. Nothing can separate us from God’s love and therefore from each other. We’ll see each other again.

Growing up in the Church of Christ gave me a chance to hear a lot of the church’s older hymns. One of my favorites has always been When We All Get to Heaven by Eliza Hewitt. Here’s an awesome bluegrass version of that song (try not to tap your foot):

I thought I loved playing bass more than anyone, but obviously my heavenly sister in that video does.

Here’s Brad Paisley, slowing things down and keeping things cool with his own version:

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. – I Corinthians 15:26

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Coming Out

If there’s one thing thing that the internet needs, it’s more people giving their personal opinion on this Chick Fil A story. So here we go. You’re welcome, Internet!

I’m not writing to explain in great detail why Chick Fil A is right, why Chick Fil A protestors are right, or which group is composed of narrow-minded bigots hell-bent on destroying the world.  It’s been my personal experience as a conciliator that calling people bigots doesn’t move the conversation forward.

I’m writing for two reasons: (1) To explain why supporting one thing doesn’t necessarily mean that you hate the other thing, and (2) to explain why, at the end of the day, I’ve made my peace with the fact that you might think I’m a backward-thinking idiot.  It’s worth it to me.

First, does supporting what we’re calling “traditional values” or “traditional marriage”  mean that you automatically hate homosexual people, America, etc?  My answer is no. Here’s my story explaining why.

I’m a Christian guy married to a girl.  My understanding of how marriage works is that marriage is an allegory of Jesus and the Church, meaning God’s people.  It’s a picture that Jesus loves us and will never forsake us.  Marriage is suppose to be the same way.  A husband should be fully devoted to serving his wife through thick and thin and vice versa. In the Bible, marriage is between a guy and a girl.  That’s my understanding of marriage.  I think that’s a beautiful picture and I like it very much.

As I said, I’m a Christian.  What does that even mean?  To me it means this – I believe in God, who is Love and who is good, I believe God made Creation, and that God made humanity “in his image”, which means we have lots of God-like traits.  These include creativity, the capacity to love, a certain amount of power, etc.  Somehow, through humanity’s decision to do bad rather than good, we separated ourselves from God.  God provided us a way back to him through Jesus.  Jesus somehow reconciled us back to God through dying. (I don’t understand how it works.  I’m not a master theologian.)  If we want to be reconciled then we can be.  I also think that’s beautiful and I like that.

A person who is a Christian is obligated to love Creation like God does.  You can basically sum up the Christian life as “Love God and love each other.”  That’s pretty much it.  Now here’s where Chick-Fil-A comes in.  One reason that a lot of people are upset at Christians is because by supporting “traditional marriage” they are therefore not supporting gay marriage and gay rights.  They are being backwards and bigots. Jesus loved people, He didn’t condemn people!

Ok. Let’s do this. Correct, Jesus did love people. God loves people, he loves everyone, he wants everyone to be reconciled to him!  Sometimes what we might be missing is that a lot of the way that Jesus loved people in the New Testament was by helping them learn about being reconciled to God.  He told them to repent from their old, sinful ways and instead obey God.  (This is the same God that created people and loves them.)  Jesus called out a lot of people.  Rich people, religious people, people being mean to others, people living “a life of sin”, etc. Since God made us, it seems like he knows what’s best.  And so when we live out what’s in the Bible, that’s our best life.  When we want to be redeemed, God will redeem us.  That’s as good as it gets.

If I believe that’s true, that God can offer redemption to us, people who do evil and bad things but want to be good, what kind of person would I be if I didn’t share that Good News that you can be redeemed?  If I think that the New Testament in the Bible is true and I don’t share it, wouldn’t that be the biggest pile of hate possible? That’s like having a life jacket and looking the other way when someone is drowning.

Let me pause here. I understand that you can have 1,000 objections to my trail of thought.  Here are some of them:

  • You believe in GOD?!?
  • Jesus didn’t explicitly say anything about homosexuality.
  • What does that have to do with FORCING your beliefs on others?
  • It’s none of your business.
  • Actually if you compare verse x with y….
  • In the Old Testament they were polygamists!

I’m happy to discuss those privately if you want.  I’m not addressing them here simply because that’s not the point of this particular essay.

In sum, I’m saying that I support “traditional” marriage and I don’t hate gay people.  In fact, the only reason I’d ever speak up about Jesus and God is because I believe that it’s all true and I REALLY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE IT AS WELL.  It’s the best thing I know and I want to share it.  The redemption of Creation isn’t the kind of thing I’d sit on and keep to myself, even though I’m shy and an introvert.  I disagree with you but I don’t hate you.  I’d love to spend all eternity with you.  The only thing I truly hate is traffic.  Not you.  Even if you are in traffic.  Even if you cause traffic.

That brings me to my second point – I’m ok if you think I’m a backwards thinking idiot. Ideally, I want you to know the truth that I’m awesome.  But I understand if my personal beliefs and values seem stupid to you.  I also want you to understand that the reason I support Biblical marriage is because I think it’s a beautiful picture of how God loves us.  I disagree with you but I’m not against you, I’m on your team!  Same side!  That’s why I’m willing to risk being labeled as a mindless, hate-filled bigot who doesn’t understand modern culture, the Bible, Jesus, name it.  Even if you think I’m weird, know that I’m a friend.  I believe in something very strongly and I want you to, too.

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Truth from an Old Fashioned

We’re playing with house money, and it’s all a game, and we’re all ok.  If you love someone, if you really love them, then of course of you tell them, because that’s what we’re here for.  Singing should be done at a high volume and with low self-regard.  Dancing is the same.  Even if it’s never in front of anyone but you and your dog.  If your heart and your soul are telling you something, then you better damn well listen, because that’s why God made you.  Love your God and love the people around you, and do it with your whole heart. Don’t sell yourself short.  This is a beautiful, heartbreaking place, and you owe it to everyone around you to man up and really be there.  Enjoy your work, your play, and most of all, the ones that you love.  That’s your blessing from God.

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Round Rock, Texas

We live in Round Rock, Texas.  It’s located right outside of Austin, but I don’t think it’s fair to call Round Rock a suburb, since it’s been around since the 1850s.  We love it here.  The people are friendly and diverse, the food is good, and there’s fireworks every Friday.  If you ever come and visit, I’ll probably drag you to a few of my favorite places:

The Blue Oak Grill: This is a local, family-owned restaurant.  It’s very Southern.  Chicken fried steaks, table-sized nacho plates, etc.  Blue Oak is probably most famous for their cornbread made with Round Rock honey.  Our sphere of friends frequent it, so we’re here at least a couple of times a month.  Some of our friends are here a few times a week, and one of our friends lives here.  Not really, but kind of.  Another nice thing about Blue Oak is that they stock Texas beers.

Star Co. Coffee: I’m not usually a big coffee drinker, but I love this place.  Star Co. is located on Main Street in historic downtown Round Rock, which automatically makes it fantastic.  Plus, they only have fair trade coffees, they have live music twice a week, and they don’t mind hosting our bi-weekly men’s Bible study.

Junior’s: Junior’s is a bar and grill also on Main Street.  They’ve got live music every night of the week and plenty of beer.  The back patio/biergarten area is a great evening hangout.

Round Rock Public Library: I spend pretty much every Saturday morning here.  Guess where it is?  Main Street!  It’s a basic library, but the location is great and I love being a part of the local bookworm scene.  (Yes, there’s a scene.)

Dell Diamond: Home of the Friday night fireworks, and the Round Rock Express, the Texas Rangers’ minor league team.  It’s a gorgeous ballpark, and even if you don’t like baseball, you’ll have a good time people watching and enjoying the Texas sunset.  Caveat – it’s miserable if you’re sitting by first base and it’s 109 degrees.

Basically, Round Rock is awesome, and I’m happy to show you around.  So come visit.

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Once in a while

I saw you in a river, I saw you as a rock. You faced everything that came against you, you protected everything that nestled behind you. The water was strong, but the water moved for you. What else could it have done? What else could you do?

I saw you as a rock.

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The Four-Hour Work Week For the City by John Grisham

I’ve just finished reading For the City, a book co-authored by one of my church’s pastors, Matt Carter.  In it, Carter mentions that he wants to live in such a way that that at the end of his life, he has no doubt that what he accomplished could only be done through God’s power.

“Are you living in a way that requires God’s supernatural power for your calling to be lived out?” he asks.

My answer is a simple, “No.”  How sad is that?  I’m just kind of hanging out.  Coasting.

I’m also reading Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Workweek.  In it, he starts with what seems like another pretty easy question:  “What excites you?”

I had to sit and think for a long time (I’ve been coasting), and I realized that my answers don’t have much to do with working or life goals or self-actualization or anything like that.  I’m excited about friends, creativity, and God saving his Creation.  And, of course, alcohol.

What do those have to do with each other?  I think everything.

Because in the end, this will be the reality of all space and time:

“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”

I’m excited about the right things, but my actions don’t necessarily reflect that.  But I want them to.   I want to be living in a way that acknowledges that God is for us.  I want to be for my neighbors and co-workers and the Creation all around me.

So, after thinking about current station in life, I set the following goals for myself:

  • Be a great husband.
  • Be a great steward with the “talents” (finances and skills) God has given me.
  • Be creative.
  • Be involved in my town.
  • Be a badass street lawyer.

That sounds like a life worth living.

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Texas

I was standing in front of my desk at work last week and the strangest thing happened – I started smiling.  I started smiling, I could not stop, and I did not know why.

The reason why slowly came over me like the warmth of whiskey – I was happy.

I sat on my desk and counted my blessings.  My beautiful wife, my goofy dog, my collection of beer bottles commemorating treasured nights with friends, my family that loves me in spite of myself, a God who loves me more than I will ever understand.

A few days later, I sat on the porch of a farmhouse in West Texas and I saw God.  In the rustling leaves, in the wag of a dog’s tail, in the quiet love between a father and a daughter.  In the west Texas sky.  I saw God everywhere.

I’m learning that even though moments like those are fleeting, they are glimpses of a saved Creation.  I know that God will save us.  I know that everything God does will endure forever.  I know that nothing can separate us from Him.

Times like these break my heart, but I treasure them.  I treasure these glimpses.  I am thankful that God is leading us all home, and that one day we’ll all be together.

Hallelujah, and amen.

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I’m too old for this

Last night I had Four Loko for the first time.  If you don’t what Four Loko is, let me explain.  It’s a malt-liquor based caffeinated beverage.  Sadly, the product is no longer on the market because mixing alcohol and caffeine is bad for you.  Whatever.  So is mixing white people and dancing, but that’s still legal.

What are the other two ingredient that add up to Four Loko?  I don’t know, but the kind I had looked a lot like whatever it is that made the Ninja Turtles:

Don, Leo and the Gang Investigate Four Loko

It was bright green, it tasted like a melted Jolly Rancher, and it glowed in the dark.  Like cat pee.

My final review of Four Loko: Cowabunga!