TODAY: NOT ONE OF MY FAVORITES, BUT ONE OF OUR MORE IMPORTANT

Today I didn't preach. No one did as far as delivering the official message. It stretches me to have a morning where there is no "message". However, the sermon came in a different form. It came as parents honored their graduating seniors.

The message? All too clear. Plain, common, wonderful, and very dear people struggled through their seven minutes each to say something special to one of the most important people in their midst; their child. The pressure was on. An auditorium full were measuring every word; sometimes we all held our breath as a mom would pause to swallow her tears before finishing a sentence.

People are valuable. Jesus died for them. The vision of watching grown people say faithful composites to newly grown people is an exercise important to the kingdom. While we have Senior Sunday once a year, we should have honor your brother and sister every day of the kingdom. There is so much good to point out. There is so much praise easily as our disposal for free dispensation.

It is easier for me to do a sermon. After all, that's part of who I am. Sitting while others do the talking is unnatural for me. However, God is always speaking through His people. Today He spoke volumes through the unprofessionals who were battling nerves to get something said of impact. I applaud Memorial Drive for taking the time to practice Ephesians 4:29...speaking good words that it might give grace to those who hear.

Good for you parents. Keep up the good talk.

I LIVE A SURREAL LIFE

Living in the literal kingdom God has been true to His word; beyond my imagination. What a weirdly wonderful life I've been dealt. The friend leaned over last week as he was to introduce me just before my class at Pepperdine; And, you got your undergraduate degree where? I feel sure I disappointed him when I told him I didn't have one. Preston Road School of Preaching was my best offer....and it is now defunct.

But the life---the abundant life---Jesus provides keeps my head swimming in both wonder and gratitude. This afternoon I watched the Preakness. There was Bob Costas doing an interview and it threw my mind back to the first game we played at Busch Stadium at the Cardinal Legends Camp. Costas was the shortstop on my team.

Remember the check I took to my donut shop last week to buy coffee and donuts for the newly established Pentecostal Spanish church up the street? This morning I was in visiting with them. This afternoon three of their men came by to evaluate some work I need done at the house.

Tonight an old Patsy Cline movie is running. References to her friend Loretta Lynn throws my mind back to times of working with Loretta; especially when she was down and wanted everyone to leave the bus so we could talk. Loretta talked to me about losing Patsy and how she still misses her. While Loretta remains a star, I feel sorry for her because her life has been one where she has often been the pawn of family and friends. I love her dearly.

God lets me live in a world which touches an incredibly wide range of personalities and there is no explanation or justification except to say He lets me.

But another factor must be noted. I wonder how many men and women have passed through life and had the imagination to try but those around them cooled those dreams with doubting and discouraging words.

So I thank my Memorial Drive family and my own family for possessing the goodness about them to let me try. I live a surreal life because few people tried to throw cold water on ridiculous ideas....which just might work.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE GONNA THINK?

Elders and preachers find ourselves in variational situations day in and day out regarding decisions and directions for the flock. One of the notable differences I have experienced over the my later years at Memorial compared to my earlier ones is the ability for leaders to weigh opportunities against God-possibilities rather than who would be upset within the flock.

We once experienced assembly after assembly when anything out of the decent and in order caused all of us to wince....wondering just who many and how many didn't like it. Walk in. Sit down. Opening prayer. Blah-blah-blah. Closing prayer. Relief! No hits. No runs. But certainly no errors.

The whole thing was often an error. We hadn't worshipped God. We had checked off all five items and returned to our abodes feeling quite self-assured. Ladies and gentlemen....we have once again pulled off church without a hitch. But God wasn't in the picture. Our keeping everything in line was.

It is most freeing to realize that when we don't get everything precisely accurate or when there might be a mis-statement or questionable moment....love overrides pestering panic. We are a blessed people and can take a shot at letting Him know of our gratitude. Some raise their hands in praise while others sit on theirs. No problem to either preferencer. We belong to God and to one another.

What are people going to think when we try a quirky sounding ministry or allow the abnormal situation during the assembly? People are going to think we must be crazy about the Living Lord for everyone fits....in every effort...in every setting...because we make continual concerted team effort to lavishly praise God. Expressiveness is encouraged; not repressed.

Church in all of its glorious facets isn't about what people are gonna think. It is about how much God hears of great love from His people.

DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME

The meaning of the Lord's Supper is always worthy of continued attention. Whether we question parts or celebrate its ritual, this kingdom facet is crucial to the Christian heart. Personally, I find this event to be a fascinating element where God may be hiding the big stuff in the understanding of babes.

For a while I have felt we have missed something in our present dispensation of communion. We are adamant about keeping baptism from being reduced to a symbolic moment as in pouring or sprinkling. Yet we may have turned the Lord's Supper into what some denominations have done with baptism; a representative meal.

What may have happened to us is that we went to church taking note of how communion was done and then placed our practice as the backdrop for studying the Bible account. We aren't illegal in our approach, but it does leave room (as in all things we learn toward God) for us to keep sifting through the Bible wonder seeking His paths of original intention.

William Barclay wrote, It remains a very definite possibility that Jesus did not intend to institute a symbolic meal, but that he meant that every time bread was broken and eaten, and every time wine was poured out and drunk---that is, at every meal in the house---he was to be remembered......but it remains a real possibility that in the upper room Jesus was not intending to institute a special meal but that he was hallowing and sanctifying every common meal so that every meal might become an experience of his presence.

For certain, the Lord's Supper is a time for mindful awareness of all he did and all he is....to the living body of Christ on earth.

CHURCH BENT: IT ISN'T A MATTER OF LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE ONLY

Whether middle of the road or extreme, the direction and dimension of a congregation isn't necessarily defined as liberal or conservative. Name calling can cause us to believe this is the case, but it isn't.

I've been in and lived through a biblical transition. For the first 20 years of my ministry I loaded up my sermons preaching the Church of Christ; what we believed, what we stood for, where we would and would not go. When I began to see I was preaching issues but not the Man, I could see an obvious need in shift. Negotiating such twists and curves were not addressed well by one as mediocre as myself. I wish I could have been wiser. I wasn't.

The move was right though. Immediately (and still) I was regarded as unfaithful to the rules of the church. And....I was. I wasn't unfaithful to the Word; but I was to the many hoops which had come to be assumed from the Word.

I want to be careful and seek some way to ease into this next section. We each know I am not much. Discussion concluded. However, what I experienced in the church is what Jesus experienced when walking among the Pharisees, Sadducees, and high priests.

There was an ugly clash between them and him. Jesus was viewed by the community vocals as an underminer, bad man, and blasphemer; all in one despicable package. The chasm wasn't liberal or conservative for Jesus was more conservative than they in many areas. The difference was between their law-abiding, rule-regulating versus his love of God and love of man. They hated sinners. He loved them. They loved the rules. He loved the people.

Churches may side with one dimension or the other; but the style of Jesus is the only way to let the church be the true church of Christ. For the remainder of my life I will make concerted effort to become more like him. In the conclusion of that effort I will have failed....for only his gift to me/us of his righteousness will I ever hope to be right with God. But together--some of you and me--maybe we can keep the transition going in the direction of loving God and people more day by day.

THIS AND THAT

• CHECK OUT Memorial's new website. A huge thank you to Melvin Fox and Shane Coffman for finally providing us something up-to-date. http://www.memorialdrive.org/

• AN ELDER FROM CALIFORNIA is working on converting our 100% Natural DVDs to Spanish.

• AS YOU READ "SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME", leave comments about it on the current blog I write (regardless of topic) so we can be reminded of the impact of that book.

• BE CONFIDENT that God knows how to turn every obstacle into a tool expanding His kingdom fields.

I never met a man that wasn't superior to me in something.

Vernon Law, former pitcher, Pittsburg Pirates

IF YOU THINK "THE SHACK" WAS GOOD....

I just finished reading the most incredible book ever! It is my new all-time favorite topping Nouwen's writings, Yancey's, Barclay's, and The Shack. Same Kind of Different As Me by Hall and Moore is riveting.

If you want to read a true story of God working in the lives of two extremes, run to get this book. If you want to be motivated that God is deeply involved in our work more than we can imagine.....run to the store. Hall was a rich man and Moore homeless. God spoke to both through both. I've never encountered anything so easy to read; yet maintain its rivetability.

Wow!

Things I gained from the book:

• Why homeless don't want to talk and don't trust the kind gestures of the homed.
• The vision of forgiveness.
• Prayer is a major player.
• The invisible world is actually active and God is in it.
• People--on both sides--can and need to change.
• God absolutely communicates with His people today.

I would laugh aloud as Hall and Moore surprised me with simplest reports of their encounters with one another and with God. And, I cried so hard for an hour this morning as I wrapped up the book.

When would I recommend you get this book? I would get it now. Run!

ENTHUSIASM: HOW TO GET IT AND HOW TO KEEP IT

Enthuse is truly by its definition God within. How do we hit the wonderful level of enthusiasm? And, how do we keep it once we get it?

Have you ever been at those mid-summer Sunday evening assemblies when the youth group gives their report just back from camp? What is their mood...every year? F-U-L-L of enthusiasm.

I propose we can be precisely, exactly that excited about our lives everyday. Not only on the great days....but even on the good and not so good days.

How? Be thankful. Thanksgiving is a mark of hope in the New Testament writers. Yes, who among us could grow weary from well-doing? Well, all could but we don't. We don't get tired of the hassle. We don't get tired of the disappointment. We don't become bummed by our own glaring lack. The reason? We are so amazingly, indebtably thankful to God for the brilliant life He gives us.

I talk to my office colleagues repeatedly about the negatives that strike at us. Who wouldn't love to sit in our office and have our jobs for just one week. We get to have them every day! I'm not going to wish one day of my life away ever again.

Not everything in the kingdom is fun. Everything is a blessing. So I say live like it....F-U-L-L of thanksgiving toward God who runs the show.

WHY ELDERS HURT SO MUCH

Because I'm getting a divorce, my dad thinks he now needs to resign as an elder, was the statement said to me over a recent Coke. I would really like to ask if you could write a blog article on how we can comfort our elders and other church leaders, writes a concerned minister from South Carolina. Elders deserve, need, and appreciate the deep love of the flock. And...we gladly give it.

Why do elders hurt so much? First, not all elders do. Some are in the control game and seem to stress only to acquire more power. I address these not. Let's look at the men who truly shepherd with diligence the flock assigned by our Lord. Why do they seem to suffer at so many turns? I give you one reason to be considered.

Elders hurt due to the natural processes of life to expand their capacity for compassion toward the lambs. Pain is an important factor in the kingdom scheme. The cross is not theory. We are to take it up every day. Elders must---and so must preachers---endure deep stress in order that their heartbeat for the flock be richly connected.

The flock needs shepherds who understand their pain. When an elder's child goes through a divorce, such does not scar his resume. It enhances it because he understands a pain the undivorced can't possibly fathom; hard as one may try. The elder struggling to keep his business going while trying to deal with aging parents and in-laws deteriorating health is not a candidate to resign. This one understands what, church? Pain. The shepherd who finds himself zapped with ill health (his and/or his wife's) is going to school by taking the class, Suffering 101. This is God's seminar on effective leadership.

We think a Steven Covey or a John Maxwell workshop on Leadership is what improves elders and other church leaders. Partly so. But the best school is the one our leaders face on Monday mornings and Thursday afternoons and Saturday nights----frustrating struggle within their own family circle.

God is always grooming his men. Let an elder find himself with a daughter as a missionary or a son as a church employee and suddenly that man has the richer understanding of the group. Why? Because, to the faithful man, when one hurts.....one learns the way of the world-impacting cross. Pain really is where the gain is.

The significance of pain is why elders and church leaders hurt. We learn not to run from ourselves or the flock. Our personal agony develops a personal relationship with God's precious lambs....with compassionate understanding.

THE BUILD-UP OF ACCEPTABLE BIAS AGAINST TRUTH

Is the soul of man cratering due to his stubborn bias? I'm grieved....really. There is such need for the love of the truth of God in this age....in every age. I fear He doesn't have half a chance in His own creation.

Bias and preference and opinion rule. Man seems to have less commitment to truth than to being sold by the better PR of any matter. I throw myself into this ring for how do I think I have escaped any more than another?

Whether conflict among gender, race, politics, or religion, truth suffers voice because man is wired in misguided self-preservation; including his right to buy into the best sales scheme of the pertinent topic. Who's saying it and how does he or she look while it is being said can determine the listener's stance over truth of the matter being presented.

So it is with God. How many have chosen to behave as if there is no God because they have developed the complete alibi; failed Christians. Consciences are salved by the ointment of finding a fault with any (the many any) believers and--wa la--such a conclusion must be legit. Except...it isn't.

God is God because He is; not because a person or a group of people succeed or fail. Millions are going to be forever lost in hell because they compared the Living God to an ailing and injured believer. Will the lost ever realize the reason Christians fail is because they are complete failures? Will these objectionists ever understand we are a group whose only hope of being saved is by Jesus dying on the cross because all of our combined efforts of righteousness fell in utter collapse? I know one here and ten there are drawn to him....but what about the masses marching the wrong way?

It is so one thing to reject Jesus because one researched and concluded he just can't buy into his concept. Yet, for the masses to march over the edge of cliff eternal because of ignorant bias makes me ill. I'm praying for God to help me reach these gifted and amazing people. They are being duped and betrayed by their own egos.

God possesses the truth. We must think of ways to alert them to the impending stampede presently gathering momentum....in the wrong direction.

PEPPERDINE....ITS MAIN ENCOURAGEMENT

One commenter asked that I share more about last week's trip to Malibu. I want to share something very key about this trip and then we'll move on to other topics the rest of the week.

Here's the best part of Pepperdine's Lectures....as I see it. While I love the speakers, the scenery, and meeting up with friends or making new ones, my favorite part is to sit in the dining hall for breakfast and note the hundreds in full roar gabbing at the tables. The whir-r-r of chatter isn't it. Trying to imagine what all God has done through all of those people is.

I believe God has done amazing things through all of those gathered. You would want to understand the same is true for a crowd gathered at ACU or David Lipscomb or the Tulsa Workshop, etc. When I sit in that dining hall I am wowed by the truth that major things have been accomplished by these Christians; so many wonderful things that I doubt they can remember or realize all God has done with, in, and through them.

How could President Andy Benton grasp the churches and the nations that have been impacted by his wearied hours of devotion to students under his care? How could Jerry Rushford calculate the unchristian masses who have been blessed by his promotion of the Christ of God? These guys can't possibly fathom the minutest details of God's rich glory in their work.

So it is with all who sit in the dining halls....the common place for common people enjoying a common meal. God is brilliant. We are hooked to His star!

I say this to awaken you to your own impactive wonder. I received the sweetest note from a lady I hardly know named Shirley Woods. What an inspiration. Two readers, Linda and Nicole (mother/daughter), email me privately and their words lift my spirit to soar-level. The notes and calls I receive in the thread of appreciative communication simply lifts my spirits to a higher plane than the senders could imagine. They are "that" powerful.

We are of such dual existence; inspiring and able to be inspired. Don't underestimate the power of your most casual experience. When God is at our helm wonder galore is spewing by the power of the tender and amazing Holy Spirit. Good for you....for us. Because of God, we enhance life to a better level for thousands and nations.

That's what Pepperdine makes me think about.

WORD OF GOD: SEED NOT SLEDGE HAMMER

The tender Word of God is a seed to be planted; not a sledge hammer to be swung.

Tenderness, to the Bible-jock, seems wimpy, shy, and weak. Bravery and muscle appeals more to the religious enthusiast. Thus the weighted hammer able to make an immediate big dent seems more logical.

However, the Word of God is referenced by Him as seed. It works without limelight in quiet manner. Seed is so unobtrusive one hardly realizes it's presence. Yet the beauty of the seed is it grows at a pace healthy for the surroundings in which it is planted.

Sowing kingdom seed is rarely a blockbuster deal. It takes such patience one will necessarily want to move on with other pertinent elements in life while God shines warmth and light on it even to sprout. Kingdom seed waits and waits out of sight and then, one day, ah-ha; we begin to note a crack in the earth!

I reached to Sherri nine long years before she ever came back to church. I've reached to some now for about 25 years with no sign of interest. However, I trust the seed. It has been planted. My job is to water and till.

Watering and tilling indicates you believe God is working when there is no sign to support such awareness. What we do is move about on God's green earth sowing seed (and not throwing hammers) that shy and unsure people may one day conclude they would also like to be adopted by God Himself. It takes no great skill to sow seed. Just toss it out there in kindness.

Seed sprouts. Hammers rust.

THERE WAS A MAN

There was a man....a religious man....who had an eye for God. This man knew commitment. While he loved people, his greater mission was God. He proverbally ate, slept, and drank God day in...day out. When this man entered a room all heads turned. He wasn't average; everyone knew that for certain. This was a man who, indeed, had presence.

The man could put both the fear or the warmth in you depending on just exactly where you stood toward God's style. When encountered on the street there was something about his personality that seemed lifted. It seemed he could see through you. Some revered him. Others shyed away.

Everyone wanted to be comfortable around this man. Many were, but some felt an edge about him. The word was that when this man spoke you better listen. He had something to say.

They say this man was flawless. He was clearly and immaculately groomed in his connection to the Father. Mothers pointed their children to this man saying, when you grow up I want you to try to be like him. I guess one could say this man was the apple of the community's eye.

The man's name? Jesus, you assume? No, it was Saul of Tarsus. A man who esteemed himself, just as others were doing, to be a level above the norm in religious devotion. Yet, the man didn't know Jesus. If if knew everything in the world, yet didn't know the Love of God, he was a big, famous zero.....the same man later wrote to the church in Corinth.

There was a man.....who was not complete....until on the road to Damascus he met...The Ultimate Man.

PEPPERDINE: WHY IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST EVER

I just returned from the best lectureship ever!

I loved it. No, I missed out on my honorary doctorate....but I do think such is in the distant winds. And....I must say that pie and coffee did not stop Lindhurst Theater from being packed both nights when I got to speak! I had a great time meeting so many new people and getting to see old friends.

What made this event so great this year was every speaker was talking about Jesus and his magnetic nature.

When I'm near Ken Young and Hallal or Brandon Scott Thomas and Zoe I am so happy I get to be me! Monte Cox was the perfect opening keynoter. Liz Pence has to be one of the deepest; yet practical, teachers I've ever encountered. Rick Atchley portrayed the need to be preaching/following Christ only to the point if I wouldn't have embarrassed him, I would have leaped to my feet mid-sermon with applause.

What I deeply appreciated about his message is that Jerry Rushford allowed it and supported it. It takes courage to put on meaningful lectureships/workshops. These guys take huge hits for having various speakers on the program. While Rick was courageous, I was stricken by how much I love Jerry in his stance on moving us closer to Christ and the cross through such a speaker.

Finally, what made the messages and event so impactive to me was the spirit in which the messages were delivered. No venom. No egotistical threats. No rolling of the eyes toward disappointing moments of our past. We are growing out of childish barking at one another. All of Pepperdine's keynoters had a message: a simple call---kindly, clearly, bravely--- to become increasingly serious about the one named Jesus was the hallmark of every message.

I loved it. I learned from it. I needed the strong reminder. Thank you Jerry Rushford, Andy Benton, David Baird, and others from Pepperdine. We were built up once again by a faith that really lives.

IN MEMORY OF MY GRANDDAUGHTER

Four years ago today Ana Rush Chapel slipped away. I never got to meet her. Oh how she battled to hang on. She was doing her best to breathe big so I could show her funny tricks like making my arm lengthen four inches due to elastic surgery. Her twin, Campbell, is a beautiful reflection of Ana we feel certain.

Chris and Wendy traditionally take Hayden (5) and Campbell (4) to visit their sister's grave at anniversary time. As they parked the car in order to walk over beneath the shade tree Hayden announced he should probably lead all of them in prayer. So the family sat in the car while Hayden talked to God about his sister.

To lose a little one in the manner we did (after pulling for her for several weeks) was a pretty big hit. It was bigger being the grandpa and watching my daughter/son-in-law do their best to handle the matter faithfully. Tears of agony struck often during some of those days.

But I must say that God knows exactly what He is doing. We never have to wonder....nor doubt. God blesses everyone at every turn. I believe he spared Ana of deep frustration over something He could see would not develop properly. I think He was every bit as concerned over Ana as He was over Campbell and saw to it that both were tremendously blessed.

For today.....I simply say I have my imagination running freely to ponder the "Ana possibilities". I feel sure she would think me to be a really fun Crappaw! I'm fairly sure I could have made her giggle.

I'M BACK

I've been out of town attending the Pepperdine Lectures in California. I'll be writing more about the trip in a few days...maybe Saturday. For now I want all readers to know why I haven't changed my page in the last few days.

It was a great trip. So encouraging.

More later.

THE BROKENNESS OF MAN

Man is broken badly. We tend to not think so of all; just of some, maybe of only a few. The bad news is all. The good news is Jesus.

Man took a terrible hit in the Garden. It's ugly scene bears indelible and incredible fruit. As a result, men and women act weirdly and do stupid sinful stuff. The plague isn't a recent phenomena nor is it about to fade out. The consequences are serious, sobering, and scandalous in scope. Probably the greater portion of scandal is the nerve any would have to believe he or she is immune to the Fall and has borne the world of humanity rather respectably.

We haven't.

People. Ah, if it weren't for people society would be bearable; perhaps even fun. But everywhere we turn we are there. We place age old habits into our modern-day wineskins still splitting relationships right down the proverbial middle.

One of the cures for mankind's ailment would be to realize, admit, and confess that we are all alike. When we adhere to the fact that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" is not a momentary stumble; but rather a huge separation from godly ideology, maybe we would be more inclined to join in the congregational grasp for the hope in the name of Jesus.

We aren't comprised of the haves and the havenots. All are the havenots. Jesus is the Have. The unraveling of men's hearts has been passed along for so many generations, who can sort through the massive maze of complete injury and ruin? Only One knows how to put back together such a ruined Humpty Dumpty. It would be the one who has. That would be Jesus.

Jesus can put us back together again. And....we will work hard to let him.....John 6:29.

OUTREACH.....EVERYWHERE WE TURN

Today is "Missions May Day" at Memorial Drive. We will raise $120,000 for mission support. I am quite excited that most of the funds go to our own mission-aries. Two of our men--Shawn Gary and Tim Rush--are now in Mexico when as boys they roamed the halls and teen rooms at Memorial. Seven of our teens are in the A.I.M. program. Two groups from here are venturing back to Honduras; one for medical and another for building houses. I love it.

Today has another special element since I am connected to the St. Louis Cardinals. One of our members, Don Walton, came across a local website for a Wishes Foundation. He noticed a fifteen year old boy wishing he could have an autographed baseball from center fielder Rick Ankiel. Of all the current Cardinal players, I know only one.....Rick Ankiel.

I forwarded the request over to Rick and this week he sent the signed ball. The young man and his mother will be at church today to receive the gift from his Cardinal hero. How fun. I love it.

There is opportunity to encourage and build up....everywhere we turn....so let's do it!

TILLING, SOWING, AND WATERING

My local donut shop has been a favorite early morning hang-out for years. I even have my own private erase board hanging near my table to keep track of my spit-wad score for the month. I get four shots from various places around the shop; two points if making a basket from my chair and four points if making the shot from one of three further distances. Once I sink a shot, that's it for the day. If I miss after four tries? No points.

I'm developing a slight relationship with a new little Spanish church which shows up on Saturday mornings. My shot-making has ignited the imaginations of children and a few of the men as they now roll up the napkins and give them a toss. Now when I walk in on Saturday mornings, the kids know what is coming!

This morning the group has really grown. The age is basically young marrieds and children. The owner of the store told me this group meets at 5:00 a.m. on Saturdays for prayer and worship and then comes to the shop afterwards. I love this group.

Next week I have a surprise for this sweet church. When they visit the donut shop next Saturday the Memorial Drive Church of Christ will have paid the $125 coffee/juice/donut bill with the exhortation from the owner that we are proud of them.

I have a son, daughter-in-law, and three grandkids who are missionaries in Guadalajara. They will be going with me one Saturday morning in the Fall to meet these people. I imagine God will be working very well.

How fun to be free to till, sow, and water knowing God works.

HOW TO STAY UP WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

Have you listened to the news lately? I don't think it good for us to take in so much negativity into our systems. We aren't just bombarded with facts; but also extreme bias from both sides. And the facts have a way of being warped to fit the agenda of the media market. After all the media is selling under-arm gel and nasal mists.

Distanced from these concerns are the elements we deal with in our reduced circle of society and individually. Worries flourish if not pruned. Burdens gain weight if transport partners aren't found. Life is tough on several fronts.

So how does one stay up? I know how. I used to live in the pits...as a minister. I was "pit"iful. But God awakened me to His brand of thinking. Philippians 4:4-9 can be the motto for those of you as I was.

Paul urges us to think on the right things; things that are going right....and many things are, you know. We can take responsibility for things we get wrong and survive by contemplating those areas we see His success. Too think about God and His ability is as positive as it gets.

But the really good thing about Paul's admonition is his emphasis on practicing these things. None of us are pros at being "up". Each has to practice realigning our thinking. I enjoy it. I don't enjoy failing; but I do relish the freedom I now possess to reassess what God might interject into the center of my worry field.

The way to stay up when things go wrong is to intentionally inventory every wonder and marvel in our midst. Such is abundant. God is abundant.