Get out of your own head...

Time to check in again and post a random thought. When you make the (correct) decision to follow Jesus and make Him the focal point, there are without a doubt things in this world (and in the spiritual world) that will try to break you away from that decision. An area that I seem to get "attacked"a lot is in my dreams. An example of this happened last night. I've been married for over 35 years to the most amazing girl. I actually dreamed we were married before I officially started to pursue her. We were married a little over 6 months after meeting and have been on this incredible journey ever since. She is still beautiful inside and out. She's clearly not going anywhere else and neither am I and yet I will have dreams from time to time where she appears to have left our marriage or says/doesn something that hurts me to the core. I awake frustrated and quickly need to refocus my heart and thoughts to the One who put us together in the first place. I use this example to reinforce that the enemy will use every tool at hand to discourage us and challenge our commitment to God by getting our eyes on the present world and not on my future, which is in heaven. It's time in the Word and talking to God that always seems to help clear my head and heart. When I see Jesus face to face, none of this stuff will matter and I need to remember that. God is good all the time. MLT

Funny how time flies...

Good gosh, it's been like 9 years since the last post. People enter our lives and then move on. We're in the middle of our second move since the last post. I'd strongly advise doing all of your moving when you are young, as it gets more complicated, exhausting and expensive on the back half of life. The same things remain important 9 years later... your faith in God, your marriage and family. All those things became very real to me in the 1980's (just like Songs From The Big Chair, which is one of my favorite albums of all time) and by the grace of God, I've not let go of any of those. Like the old hymn says, it comes down to "trust and obey" which means trusting God, being in the Word and trying to be a faithful witness in this life all the way to the last breath. As I said, lots of things change/come and go but if you can hang on to your faith in the process the path will be gracious at the least and exciting at its best.  MLT

Valentines Day...

I listened to the radio this morning and there was a poll going on about the relevance of Valentines Day and the price gouging of flowers, chocolate and cards that goes with it. The commentator was surprised to see the amount of women that thought it was an unfair holiday for guys. I don't really think much about it as long as I remember to buy something for my lovely wife and try to get her a decent meal. I doubt if she'd get too upset if we just stayed at home and did nothing (or something). That's another thing I love about about my wife. We are comfortable in our own skin and can hang together or separately. I not only love her, but I'm in love with her after being married 24 something years. She's still smokin' hot, and that's not a bad thing either... Happy Valentines Day, Suzanne Townsend...

PS. If you want your marriage to last, start by not being a self serving, narcissistic bastard and work at keeping her amused as much as you work at keeping yourself amused.

UGLY...

Time marches on. Hearts are broken and hearts mend. One door closes and another opens up. Seasons change. In it all, you try to do your best to keep on "the up" and trust in what (and Who) you believe. I think in many ways that it's harder to see those around you suffer than to go thru it yourself. At least in your own mind and heart you can look for the higher ground or the positive in it all. In others, it just drags you down and you want to help, but you can't (aside from praying for them). Funny how things change in a year or so. I guess that's the beauty/ugliness of the human condition. Maybe the only real beauty is the work of God's hands and if we look to see and live in that, the ugly will seem less gross. Here's to hoping... MLT

From back then to here and now...

I received a text the other day with a couple of photos from the pastor of the church I grew up in. Apparently, one of the seasoned saints in the flock had found a couple of pics of me and some friends playing music in a "band" for some church event outside in the parking lot. This was 1973 and I was 10 years old... that's right, playing in a band in 4th grade (I think we called ourselves The Halos). There were 6 of us all together and 3 of us played acoustic guitar and all of us sang . We did some songs of the day ( I think some Larry Norman and stuff like that) including "Band On The Run" and "Pieces Of April". That's right, doing secular hits of the day in the church parking lot. That probably explains why we were in the parking lot to begin with. That was a pretty radical concept for the times. Anyway, I was the youngest of the bunch and when I saw these pictures, aside from picking up what was left of my jaw hitting the floor, it struck me that this experience from years ago has been part of this long path that has me where I am now, almost 40 years later. This whole thing started with me picking up a guitar at age 7 after watching my brother in law, Bob, playing and singing with my sister. I would just watch his hands and what he was doing and after he left, I would pick up the old beater guitar my Dad had and never played, and simply imitate what he was doing. The funny thing was that it came so easy for me and within a year or so, I was astounding my family by being able to play the chords and sing to almost any record my sisters had or what was on the radio at the time. This is at 8 years old. When I was 9, my folks stepped up and bought me a "new" acoustic guitar. This one played way better and sounded way better and I thought I was ready for the big time. This is the guitar in the pictures below. This same guitar I still have and I actually use it from time to time for a "lo fi" sounding acoustic on the records I produce. I never would have imagined it when I was standing there in that parking lot when someone snapped these photos. When I started playing at the age of 7, I have often wondered what the motivation was. It certainly wasn't picking up girls or being a rock star at that point (although it certainly became that in later years, but God was gracious). When I look at this, I pretty much think it came down to the providence of God and part of His plan for my life, seeing as He knows from end to end. When I look at this guitar and this young boy in the pic, I think of where He has led me. I ended up with nice guitars and big loud amps, perfect for any rock star experience. I have played in front of thousands of folks, everything from stadiums to cruise ships, from clubs to MTV, from county to country, and outdoors in parking lots... He brought me the most beautiful wife I could ever want, who in spite of settling for me as a poor mans substitute for Peter Frampton, has loved and stood with me and my guitar. God gave me 3 beautiful daughters, all who love music and Him. He gave me 2 amazing guitar playing son-in-laws, who care for my daughters and my children's children. I never would have dreamed it on this sunny day in the parking lot, but then again, the lesson for me in all of this is I can't underestimate what God has in store next. Maybe we'll all get together as a family and do a parking lot show...

the goal is to never stop...

In the past few weeks, life has been in one of those seasons of trial by fire. I won't bore you with the details but it always surprises me that as I get older things don't get easier in life... it's pretty much the opposite. I am one of those people that like to try to fix things for everybody else and leave the broken stuff for me to deal with. What makes it more frustrating is when I can't fix things in life for others and I internalize the supposed "grief" of others when they are left to their own devices. It has repercussions in many ways for me...

Since I know this is a ridiculous way to think in life, I am trying to "let go and let God" for lack of a better statement. Even as crazy as life gets for myself or those I love, I believe that I will see things "fixed" if I can keep my resolve to:

1) never stop being in God's Word. I am always amazed at how life changes when I flood my thoughts and spirit with the Bible...

2) never stop praying for things to be "fixed", including myself. It's so easy for me to get impatient or think God has more important things to deal with, so I try to deal with it myself. It never works and I find I just get bogged down in life when I don't let Him take care of things.

3) never stop looking for His return. Look at the world and you have to know that it's (God's rapture of His children) much sooner than we think.

4) never stop trying to pursue holiness. I'm doing a study of the epistles of John and it is so powerful and true. As much as the modern church preaches grace, we still have to try to live life by the example of Jesus. Very hard to do, but the trying is what it is all about.

What does all this mean? I'm not sure even I know as I write this, but as Job spoke " I know who my Redeemer is and I will stand with Him on that day". Lord, let that day be sooner than later...

Trying to remember the way things were...

It's so near to Christmas and I was talking to Suzanne (my lovely wife of so many years) pointing out the fact that it really doesn't feel like the Christmas I know and love this year. Life has it's peaks and valleys and we all do our best to stay afloat, but I feel like I need to stop and take time each day to remember what this is all about and to clear my head. We all know the story but do we know the Saviour of the story? Do we know that we need this Saviour for more than "fire insurance"? I have come to understand this more each year and as I watch the world around me lose it's collective mind, it makes more and more sense to me. At the literal end of each day, I hope that God will help me to rely on Him more and to have a passion to pray for others I know need His comfort and guidance... the kind that only He can bring. MLT