Where is the Lord (in that)

God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah in the first part of Jeremiah and asks the Israelites why they did not ask this question:

"Where is the Lord?"

Profound little group of words. It's a short statement I haven't been asking too much lately to be frank - "Where is the Lord?"

Just how many demands or requests do I get daily?
How many "opportunities of a lifetime" do I see weekly?
How many non-Lordly things do I see, do or speak hourly?
How many fires to put out come up regularly?

I need to ask that question much more frequently

"Where is the Lord?"...... in any of that?

Israel Forsakes God
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:"
'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,'
"declares the LORD.
4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, all you clans of the house
of Israel.
5 This is what the LORD says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that
they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became
worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who brought us up out of Egypt and
led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and rifts, a
land of drought and darkness, [a] a land where no one travels and no one lives?'
7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you
came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD ? 'Those who deal with the law
did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied
by Baal, following worthless idols.
9 "Therefore I bring charges against you again,"declares the LORD.
"And I will bring charges against your children's children.

RIP - Terrence Kiel

Terrence Kiel passed away last Friday in San Diego. A former starter for the Chargers, TK had run into legal and drug problems, and was released.

A sad day for Lufkin and the Kiel family. His funeral is Saturday in Lufkin and I'm sure will be attended by many NFL stars and lots of friends and family.

This has really bummed me this week. So many work so hard here to keep folks on the straight and narrow.

My favorite City

In the words of Willie Nelson - Hello walls.... as my blogging friends are long dispersed.

It was so wonderfuly to see my college daughter, Megan, at ACU this past weekend. As happy as I was there - it saddens me I don't get to Abilene, my hometown, more often. I realize the six hours between Lufkin and Abilene - coupled with my heavy workload - means we won't witness much of her college life. And, it means I just won't see my parents or my hometown friends much.

I miss Abilene. I miss big church with big Accapella singing. I miss young Christians on fire for change and for Christ. I miss the people and church of Abilene.

And, I guess I even miss alot of the city of Abilene. What would my favorite city look like? It would look a lot like Abilene. But, it would be further east in the Winter, and further north in the Summer. And, the water would be so much softer, and tastier. In the end, I don't know if perfect weather, or traffic, or work, or water matters. Maybe it does - I've never lived in a perfect city. Maybe I tend to miss those things that I can't change.

But, I do miss home.

Lowdown on "The Secret"

The NY Times bestseller list would seem to clearly suggest there are lots of folks interested in the mega-best-selling book The Secret. For those interested, I just read the most reasonable review of the Secret I can recall - and pretty funny stuff too.

Here's the link:

http://lifestyle.msn.com/mindbodyandsoul/personalgrowth/articlegh.aspx?cp-documentid=5569524&page=1

I can think many can relate to this review. We probably believe most of what's in the book, but we are prone to raise an eyebrow at many of the "testimonials". Not to give the article away, but the writer does a wonderful job of telling how she implemented everything from the book - but she still did not get her No. 1 wish. However, at the end of her month-long journey - she realized her life was much improved.

I said "bingo" as I read her article, and I think it relates back to life, business and the reality or lack thereof of the Secret for most folks. I'm thinking of the scene from the movie version of the Secret where a guy was really mad because his bike was ripped off even though he chained it up. Hogwash if you think his bike was stolen because he was sending out negative vibes to the world as evidenced by taking the precaution of locking up his bike. His bike was stolen because we live in a fallen world with some really scummy people that go around stealing things.

If we would simply implement even half of the suggestions in most any "how-to" books out there on business, finances, health, relationships, etc., we would most assuredly be well along, or at least somewhere on the bumpy road to success. But, we all raise an eyebrow at the guy that says "I Made $8,000 in my sleep" or "this is so easy, an un trained monkey could do it", or "I always get the best parking spot".

I found the article refreshing. If implemented - with conviction and real energy - the things in the Secret are helpful, and worthy of implementing. But...keep your BS meter firmly on full alert when sifting through "Testimonials". And, don't let yourself get off-track because someone chooses to exaggerate, and certainly don't give up because you do hit the big or small bumps in the road on the way to success.

Obeying the Bible

A blogger friend posted this recent article from Newsweek in which an agnostic attempted to keep every law in the Bible for a year. Here's the article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20910659/site/newsweek/page/0/

And, it got me thinking....

What if we Christians really tried to keep all of Jesus' commandments for a year? Forget everything else - just try to act and live exactly as Jesus did for a year. I think it would be profound and I think we'd see miraculous things.

Think about it...How many people try to act as Paul acted, or Peter? Or worse, how many Christians pick and choose those New Testament "commandments" they feel are most important, yet forget others. Or, how many churches spend countless hours debating how they are more exact replicas of the first century Church than the next church which is "too denominational"?

The writer of the article said his life was changed in important, measurable ways simply by attempting to obey these laws. What if we tried to emulate Jesus, the perfector of faith, for a year?

Deceit

For whatever reason, God has placed strongly on my heart the desire to be honest and not be deceitful. My business dealings run head-on into this issue daily, if not hourly. In my profession of real estate appraisal I find myself struggling to maintain a successful business and do what I feel God has called me to do in this field - keep good folks from being deceived and be honest each and every day.

Just yesterday I was literally being asked by a loan officer to be marginally deceitful as I was watching a Senate sub-committee hearing on-line about Predatory Lending Practices which are robbing people of their hard-earned home equity and threatening our entire economy. As I was watching an appraiser describe how he's pressured daily to be deceitful, I had someone asking me on the phone to be deceitful - an almost an out-of-body experience as those two events went on simultaneously.

As is so often the case, my daily Bible reading presented two scriptures right before my nose yesterday and today. I've long since given up the notion this was just some odd coincidence.

Psalm 32:2
Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Leviticus 19:13
13 Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him.

God has made it clear to me in Scripture and in His Spirit's prompting of my heart - He hates deceit.

Posting about Not Posting

Well, maybe a post about not posting will re-start the creative juices. Is it just me, or has blogging lost its edge? My dull edge is non-existent right now - just too busy. God bless.