Doug Van Pelt

On the way to Cornerstone

"The angels of the Lord encamp around those who fear Him."

I am depending on that passage of Truth from Psalm 34 as we travel the 1,000 or so miles to Cornerstone from the Austin, TX area. If I can find a wireless connection while at the Festival, I will continue to blog. Otherwise, there probably won't be any entries for a week.

God bless you, keep you, and be near you!

P.S. If you feel the need, you can always call our office and rebuke the Interns!
(ext 102 and 104).
:?)

I Want To Love Like A Lover

Song of Songs is a beautiful book. The passionate love described is like the best Hollywood movie -- so full of life and bubbling with passion. "It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame." There is something about love that amazes everyone.

"Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away."

God gave us this wonderful gift. He gave man and woman sexual love, too. It is a beautiful thing. Beyond the passion and beyond the physical bonds is a staying power, a "stronger than feelings" (if you can imagine that) devotion that is commitment. The parallels to a fire are good. If you want to keep a flame going, you have to nurture it. Fire burns, but logs need to be turned, coals stoked, and whatnot. It reminds me that if I want to keep my marriage fire burning, that I need to tend to it. I want to be that kind of lover; who uses my creative mind to think of ways to serve her and bless her. People talk about "Love Languages" and the "types" or "actions" of love that most impact people. Some are more sensitive to words of encouragement, others to touch and affection, others to acts of service, some to gift giving, and others "quality time." Combinations of all of these will nurture and edify and love relationship. I pray that I can keep my focus and energy up to consider these things on a regular basis and actually apply them.

I saw the most amazing thing last night at Warped Tour. Yeah, the shows were cool. Yeah, Underoath made a cool statement from the stage. But we got to sit in on a Warped Tour Bible Study. Several young men gathered after the festival for a time of opening the Word (James chapter 2) and some prayer. It was awesome. Low-key, straight-forward, open, and respectful. It was a good thing.

We're leaving for Cornerstone tomorrow morning. Please keep us and anyone else you know who's travelling this week in your prayers.

In the days of my youth...

...I was told what it means to be a man...

"Remember your Creator in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say,
'I find no pleasure in them...'"

There is a time for our lives, and it is over before you know it.
The balance of life will give us opportunity to stop and look at where we're going, and judge ourselves and see if that's where we should be.

It's interesting to hear statistics of when people usually accept Christ and submit to God. By far, they say, the decisions are made before the age of 18. One reason for that, I presume, is that the heart gets harder, we get set in our ways, and it's just harder to repent the older you get. This is a really good reason to get right with God at an early age. There is something to be said for learning some hard knocks, but no one says we have to. We have written instruction all over the place that can warn us and help prevent making wrong choices. There is also something wonderful to be said of walking with God and staying pretty consistent with it for all the days of your life. No one says you have to "have a testimony," where you can talk about how bad you once were and then you were forgiven. Yes, we're all sinners, but there's something wonderful about growing up and receiving a heritage of faith. At some point you must come to grips with your sin and at some point you must "own" your own faith, but blessed are you if that is where you're at.

The point about youth is that the earlier we start along the path where we want to end up, the easier it can be for you later on. If you hold on to a habit that you know is wrong, it's not going to get easier to give up someday...it'll be harder. The flippant way we deal with things in our youth has its benefits (no one wants to be around someone who hates themself and who practically flogs themself over every mistake), but it's also not the behavior or way you want to pattern your life down the road. The quicker you deal with those attitudes, the better the future will be.

"I'm only immature once, I need to revel in it and experience it while I can!" Few would argue that out loud, but if we are holding on to something we know we will let go of one day, perhaps we can rethink that. Maybe it is no big deal for a time; but maybe it'd be a good area to show some growth and maturity in right now. That's not my call.

I've got to deal with the same thing, as well as a slightly different perspective. I want to make sure I'm heading down the right path for my future; but I also need to check my parenting methods. I want to look at how I want my children to grow up -- my vision or hope for their life. I can't dictate how they will actually end up, but I can nurture good attitudes and habits, and so forth. If I'm not doing that now, my hopes for a certain characteristic or virtue are simply wishes at that point. Along with prayer, I need to make sure I'm being consistent for them and their future.

We all got it going on.

PS Sunday the interns and I are going down to San Antonio to catch the Warped Tour. It'll be fun to see Underoath.

As dead flies give perfume a bad smell

...so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Don't I know that. One goofy mistake can take away a lot of good things.

Ecclesiastes 10 and 11 shed much common sense type stuff. 11:6 is good encouragement to work diligently and hard:

"Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well."

Hard work is necessary and vital to our success.

There is a little bit of sarcasm in 11:9:

"Be happy, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart give you j oy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart
and whatever your eyes see, (kind of sarcastic...but here comes the zinger)
but know that for all these things
God will bring you to judgment."

Then the chapter ends with:

"So then, banish anxiety from your heart
and cast off the troubles of your body,
for youth and vigor are meaningless."

This guy just explores every path, doesn't he? And every one comes up short, save for a life lived for God. Life with the King of Eternity can be lasting and meaningful. Sometimes it takes a person to go through something to really believe and really learn the lesson of its folly. Reading about it and hearing about it all day long can be so much ignored noise. There's not much you can do when someone has their heart set on a certain course of action. You hope that their bumps and bruises aren't many and that they learn their lesson fast.

God sure is a good Father.

Bon Jovi is a Christian band...

I mean, with song titles like "Keep the Faith," "Lay Your Hands on Me" and "Livin' On A Prayer," they've gotta be, right? So was the thinking of many a young music enthusiast (myself included, although not for this band). We thought in terms of, "I'll only listen to Christian music." It's like saying, "I'll only drink milk from a Christian cow." Now, the vast majority of the music I listen to is Christian (duh) and my music choices are still weighted by a desire to "eat good stuff" or "healthy themes/thoughts for my soul," as I don't really have an "appetite" for death/destruction/evil. I still have those concerns, but I don't hold a steel-trap door over my entertainment choices that filter out anything questionable. To me it's a matter of balance. If I over-indulge in junk food, I'll get unhealthy. The same with entertainment. Everything under the sun is available and a possibility to enjoy, but if no care whatsoever is taken, that would surely lead to illness.

I don't want to have a sick heart (a sick soul, a sick spirit), and thus ingesting God's Word is a wonderful and healthy habit. It would almost belittle the Word of God to allude to vitamins here, but permit me just this: it's good for you. A "secular" song by Merle Haggard, Sum 41, Muse, Coldplay, or (gasp) Marilyn Manson might be something you can enjoy very much. Like sweets and sugar, though, too much of something with no nutritional value can be detrimental to your mind and spirit. Moderation, I think, is the key. Caring about what we eat/watch/read is good. Being legalistic and "eating nothing that's not great for me," is fine if that's what you want to do. You might miss out on some fine desserts and some fun music, but that's okay, too. One mistake many make in this area, though, is imparting their personal convictions on others. It mostly works itself out like this: "You can't listen to that!!! It's secular. If you're a Christian, you can't." (Now twist that reverb knob to the right): "You can't! You can't! You can't! You can't! You can't!"

First of all, if we shut ourselves off from all non-Christian communication, we shut ourselves off from the world. What good are we then? Salt must mix with a prone-to-decaying matter like meat to be a preservative. Ya gotta hang out with sinners to save some. We also can miss out on some Truth God has for us in unexpected places. He didn't give us believers a monopoly on the truth. Some people out there that don't believe are smarter than us, more skilled than us, even wiser than us. If we don't give ourselves the benefit from listening to them, we're robbing ourselves of a good thing. What's the key to keep us from falling off the deep end into unbelief and wanton living? Besides keeping your love alive, it's thinking! Filter the things you read and hear through your brain. God gave us the ability to think -- if we just use our brains. Becoming a Christian leads to a new worldview. We begin to think of things in a different way. Our perspective on marriage, family, death, crime, justice, suffering, bounty, exercise, are all different than they were before Christ.

A Christian can read a book or watch a documentary on evolution and not bow down to Darwin and recant our faith. The Truth is a ferocious beast. It can defend itself. We don't need to fear lies, false thinking, deception, and even evil. The Truth is powerful enough to stand up to any test it's given.

Now, that was just my intro! Hehe. Ecclesiastes 5 talks about acting wisely (and keeping quiet) in the house of God. There is a stern warning, too:

"When you make a vow to God,
do not delay in fulfilling it."

There is some insightful words on materialism, too:

"I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:
wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when he has a son
there is nothing left for him."

And again we see the thought talked about yesterday:

"Naked a man comes from his mother's womb,
and as he comes, so he departs.
He takes nothing from his labor
that he can carry in his hand."

There is also a balance:

"Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him -- for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work -- this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

If I had to boil down some of this though into a few words (and I don't, but I will try), it'd be: live free from guilt but also free from sin.

In other words, don't let yourself be weighed down by traditions of men or misinterpretations of Scripture. Live fully before God. Your abandoned love for Him will make you abound in love for others and will give you a deep desire to honor God and live rightly before Him. This will probably take care of all the little gray areas or behavioral questions you or others may have. It's okay to be different. It's okay to have a freedom that others around you might not understand. Flaunting that freedom is immature (and leads to strife). Submitting yourself to someone else's slavery is probably not a good idea, either. Sticking close to God and surrounding ourself with at least one (preferably many more) person we can trust will help us stay on the right path.

Having someone to bounce ideas and our interpretations of Scripture off of is a good structure of balance that is helpful...

If this is how we live our lives, we're probably less likely to get tangled up in a mess of sin. It won't keep us from falling or committing a sin (it's kinda hard to avoid sin all of our days when we live in a fallen world with a fallen nature), but it's likely to keep us from being ensared, tangled, defeated, and consumed by sin. See the difference?

I better stop now.

Meaning Less

Ecclesiastes is one of the great poetry books of all time. The true sorrow and doubt expressed is a great lament -- a blues boxset waiting to happen.

Yet even though Solomon (who most agree is the book's author) despaired of life -- thinking that the person who has not yet been born is better than the dead, who is better than the living, since they are not alive, nor have they seen the evil in this life -- he did see the value of friendship.

"Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work;
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
BUt pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Yesterday I wrote about "what must be our purpose for (still) being here..."
When we receive forgiveness and are wiped clean before God, He doesn't yank us up into heaven with Him to dwell forever -- our life continues on this earth. Why is that? It must be to help others. There is great joy to be found in seeking to help others. And sharing the message and showing the message are paramount to a kingdom that God is establishing using His people. He actually uses us (silly, fallible, weak "us") to effect change in the world and bring His Son's kingdom to fruition. In addition to "adding to the kingdom," we have relationships and friendships that are very edifying. If you think about it, when you pass on you are not allowed to bring your iPod, your money, your gold records, your Super Bowl rings. You arrive naked and possession-less and you leave the same way. But, if you think about it, the one thing we can bring is our relationships. According to the Bible, there will be fellowship in Heaven. I imagine the relationships we cultivate on Earth will be remembered in Heaven. Therefore, the only thing we can "bring with us" is each other!

Proverbs 31 Lady

I think we often forget about the author of Proverbs 31 -- King Lemuel's mom. The Proverb starts out identifying the author as: "The sayings of King Lemuel -- an oracle his mother taught him..."

The first nine verses outline something very different than the characteristics of a godly woman. They basically give an outline about the responsibility of leadership. They are to pretty much forsake the pleasures of wine and beer. They should leave that to the perishing and those who are in anguish, that they may drink and forget their poverty. I can imagine the people who lived under a king who threw them parties would love their king. The working man and the majority would probably appreciate a leader who thought of them and rewarded them with parties instead of yelling at them all the time and treating them like trash.

Lemeul's mom also gave her son this wise advice:

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy."

This is one of the traits that this Proverbs 31 woman is known for -- "She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy."

Selfless love is a common thread woven through noble and upright characters throughout history. That emotional tug that we get in dramatic movies where we begin to root for the underdog... This is likely a God-given trait that His Spirit wants to nurture and see us use. One question that gets asked every now and then by believers is: "Why are we here?" If you think about it, our forgiveness means salvation and our citizenship is granted to Heaven. But God doesn't just take us up their immediately. Why? Well, He must have some purpose. This is likely where the Teachings of Christ come in. The Work He did (on the cross) is all important, and it accomplishes much. But why are we here? I believe that the Holy Spirit wants us to impact the world. Most of the time it's one person at a time. Loving others and looking after the needy.

Back in the Routine!

yeah...I got a good night's sleep last night!
Maybe it was the comfort of knowing that a music celebrity was staying at our house. Maybe it was the courageous thought that I was protecting a music star's life. Or maybe (more likely) it was that I went to bed at 11pm instead of midnight.
:?)

Kendall Payne crashed at our place last night after a show at the University of Texas in Austin.

We're almost "out" of Proverbs, but that doesn't mean we'll have to live by the streets' rules or the laws of the jungle. We can still hide His Word in our hearts.

The new issue of HM (20th Anniversary Special Edition) looks SO amazing. I'm very happy with it. Although there's one little spot at the bottom of each one-page ("featurette") story, where I put some sort of headline in that black box near the bottom. It's supposed to be trimmed halfway off, but most of the letters are showing up, which kind of ruins the effect. Maybe the majority of the copies don't have this much left after the trim.

I love the bluntness of verse 16:

"If you find honey, eat just enough --
too much of it, and you will vomit."

That's it!

A friend of mine's favorite is v.24:

"Better to live on a corner of the roof
than share a house with a quarrelsome wife."

In Proverbs 27 there are some more gems:

"Better is open rebuke
than hidden love."

I like the practicalness of v.14:

"If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse."

That makes me think about the enthusiasm that sometimes accompanies new converts. But it's not often new converts ("babes" in Christ), but "adolescents" or "teenagers" in Christ who haven't balanced social graces with their call to be salt and light in the earth. Saying, "Praise the Lord, brother!" or "God bless you this morning, Steve!" can actually be an improper (did someone say "sin" ??) thing to do. If we apply the Wisdom from this verse, we see that sometimes tact goes a long way, but even well intentioned "tactless-ness" can backfire and turn into a "bad witness."

V.17 is great:

"As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another."

It's a good call to discipleship and mentoring. Those are big and religious sounding words, but they can flesh out as simply as meeting someone for coffee once a day or once a week or once a month, and just reading a little bit of the Word together, talking, and praying for one another. There's not much intimidation there. "They" say that every believer needs a Paul, Timothy, and Barnabas in their lives.

"Paul" would be someone you know and interact with on a regular basis that mentors you, that shares from his or her wisdom and experience the things and lessons of the Lord. You benefit from their character.

"Timothy" would be someone that you or I mentor or disciple. We share our experience and any wisdom that we have with them (when invited to, of course... it's a mutually submissive relationship, not a dictatorship). They benefit from any character that the Lord has graciously molded in our lives.

"Barnabas" would be a peer that is like a good friend. You bless him/her and he/she blesses you. It's a give and take kinda thing, where you are walking through similar paths in life and encourage each other. All three types of relationship bless and edify both parties involved, but this one especially is a mutually-beneficial relationship.

And the thing about iron sharpening iron is:
It happens when you bash them together!
It's conflict or opposition that creates the physical properties of iron sharpening another piece of iron. It's not laying next to each other, it's striking each other. That can be uncomfortable, but it's how we can grow.

I Feel Like I'm In Debt To Time...

I dunno. I'be veen working real hard lately -- maybe too hard. Lots of multi-tasking and whatnot. And I've been stuck in a non-sleep cycle that's not working too well. I've got all this busy work stacked up on my desk. I wish I just had another 12 hours to work late and take care of it. My days just seem to fly by. Complain, complain...

We have both of our Summer interns here now. You can read their intern diaries to keep up with them. They're great folks. We went out to Rudy's BBQ to celebrate Frances' arrival today. And we picked up the newest copy of Heaven's Metal Fanzine on the way back to the office. Oh, and earlier in the morning an unmarked white van came by and dropped off a package ... of 15 copies of the latest issue of HM!!! Wow! What a day! The new (20th Anniversary) issue looks outstanding! I'm so happy with it. We dropped off the 600 copies of Heaven's Metal at our house, where my wife and daughters are madly stuffing the addressed and stamped envelopes to mail out that new issue from Hutto's post office.

Okay, I've been miserably behind with posting blogs and devotions here. I've been foolishly letting the day "get away from me." I hate that. But oh well.

Anyway, Proverbs 22 addresses getting into debt (and warns against it). Verse 7 equates being in debt to being enslaved:

"The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender."

Debt can be a crippling and joy-stealing thing. One thing that my parents modeled for me that I'm incredibly thankful for is using credit cards prudently. When I balanced my checkbook, I would list (and subtract) each credit card purchase just as if it were a check. Then, when it's time to pay the credit card bill at the end of its monthly cycle, I've already subtracted the amount from my balance, avoid the surprise of "What!? The total is that much!?!?!" And the credit card balance is paid in full each month. I am using their money (for free) for 30 days and not paying any interest this way. It provides a convenience for me, and keeps me from buying things that I can't afford. It's a cool method that really works for me.

Another verse that jumps out today is 13:

"The sluggard says, 'There is a lion outside!'
or, 'I will be murdered in the streets!'"

This seems to speak of the paralyzing fear that worry brings. It is foolish to let worry consume us or be fearful of things that aren't even real.

A King's Wrath...

"...is like the roar of a lion;
he who angers him forfeits his life."

Proverbs 20 poses a good question:

Can a man be righteous and yet still have sin?

I believe the answer to be "Yes."
Verse 7 (among hundreds of others in Scripture) talks about the "righteous man." It says he "leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him."
Verse 9 poses the question: "Who can say, 'I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin?' The unspoken answer is surely "no one." But the righteous man described by Scripture follows the Lord's ways. He spends time in His Word, he contemplates the things of God. He loves others. He acts justly. When he falls or falters (not if), he quickly repents and receives the Lord's forgiveness and is "cleansed." The Bible clearly speaks of times of cleansing. There must be times when it is possible for God to say of us, "he or she is pure and clean." No one is perfect, we all sin, but we are free will moral agents, too. We can choose to do the right thing. We can walk in "righteousness." This way is the blessed way. There is joy in it. It is not always easy. Sometimes it means confronting others; sometimes it means giving something up; sometimes it means harder work rather than easy; and sometimes it means we admit we were wrong to the ones we have offended. Those things aren't necessarily comfortable, but doing them in obedience can bring great comfort to the soul.

I like the verse:

"Many a man claims to have unfailing love,
but a faithful man who can find?"

It's easy to talk the talk; but who will walk the walk?

The crucible for silver...

...and the furnace for gold,
but the Lord tests the heart."

This reminds me of another Proverb -- 27:21, which states:

"The crucible for silver,
and the furnace for gold,
but a man is tested by the praise accorded him."

To me this means that the examining lights of heaven go on when someone pays us a compliment. Do we "fail" the test and say, "Yeah, you're right. I'm cool." Or do we "pass" the test and respond in humility? One of the things I've trained myself to do is always let someone pay a compliment. Whether you're on stage or publishing a magazine or cooking some killer BBQ for your friends, when someone pays you a compliment, they usually do it from a sincere heart. It's their way of encouraging you or saying "thanks" for something they've received or seen. Being gracious in the context of praise is important. I usually thank people for the "encouragement," because that's probably the purest form of what it is. "Flattery" is a good label for the wrong direction, as in being prideful and puffed up. Encouragement has just a slightly different "flavor" than "flattery," because it reminds us of "building up," where as flattery seems closer to "puffing up." Sometimes Christian rock musicians want to be obedient to the Word and not be prideful, so they cut off an adoring fan's praise by giving the flat answer, "Praise the Lord. He gave me the talent," etc. This is fine on the surface, but by stating it and even sometimes cutting off the compliment, they are not allowing someone to simply offer encouragement. Performers need to take a bow and accept praise from the stage. It's a tactful and graceful way of responding to an audience (by letting the audience respond to their performance), and a graceful performer knows the fleeting nature of an audience's praise, and they will take the praise and the criticism with a grain of salt. Some say being humble is being "no more, nor no less than what God created." That is a good definition, because it guards against false humility or debasement (which may have good intentions, but is not necessary or God's will).

But, alas, Proverbs 17 doesn't address all this. It just reminded me of Proverbs 27:21 with its phrasing. This chapter addresses many different things, including "good bribery" and "bad bribery." I would venture a guess that "good bribery" would be an extravagant giver, who shares with his friends and employees or associates. They will often return such actions with similar, positive reaction. "Bad bribery" would be the most common definition of bribery (which we think of whenever we hear the word); and that is when someone tries to bribe an official of authority so as to thwart justice. Like giving a cop a hundred dollar bill to get out of a traffic stop; or to give a judge a lot of money in order to get a ruling that allows this person to take advantage of the poor. I'm curious if the Hebrew words for bribery in verse 8 is the same as the one used in verse 23.

8:
"A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it;
wherever he turns, he succeeds."

23:
"A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret
to pervert the course of justice."

Interesting, huh?
What do ya'll think?

God Sees All...and must laugh a lot.

Proverbs 15 says that:

"The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good."

I remember some trouble I got in as a young man. I was living in Alabama for the last three months of my senior year in high school (transplanted against my feeble will from California). I had borrowed my parents' car and was parked with three friends from California who all shared my prodigal appetite for weed and metal. We were parked on a long (probably one mile) narrow gravel driveway with tall trees on either side. It was a "safe" place to park and get stoned ... or so we thought. At one point in the night, after rocking through AC/DC's Back In Black album and partway through Judas Priest's Unleashed In The East, we saw a pair of headlights coming from the big house at the end of the driveway.

"I'll back out," I said, as we slowly tried to navigate in our altered state backwards in a very straight line. As I sped up to avoid the approaching car, I went into the ditch on the driver's side. It was about 18 inches deep, and we got out and tried to push the rear wheel out. I only spun rocks and hit one of my friends (Chris) in the head. Once we knew it was hopeless to rock or push it out, we flagged down the pickup truck that was heading out. Seems they weren't as concerned with us being there as we thought (but in an age of cell phones, we would've been busted for sure). I took out a sturdy rope/nylon band that was in the trunk and tied it around our two bumpers. Then we gave the thumbs up signal to the driver. Yep, he pulled the car alright, spitting rocks at high speed, nailing Chris in the head again, as well as putting out one of the tail lights. "Maybe I should've stayed in the car to steer it," I said. (There's a reason why they call it "dope," you know) The car was pulled, but just ricocheted back and forth between the ditch rim and the trees, tearing off the rear view mirror and scratching the '71 Pontiac Tempest all up. I got in the car and helped steer it out on the second attempt, we untied the band from the impatient driver, and we started concocting what I was going to say to my parents.

After I dropped Brian and Jim off, I noticed some tall bamboo reeds by Chris' house. I broke off several and placed them in my back seat. 'I'll make it look like random vandalism on my street,' I mused. So, when I arrived home, I parked the car in the street and scattered the bamboo in the street around the car. I went to bed knowing my planted evidence would incriminate some anonymous vandals.

My effort to sleep in late was interrupted by my parents. "We need to talk to you about Tammy," they said. ("Tammy" was what we named our Tempest). "What happened?" They asked. I told them my story, but it didn't fly because I had left some of the bamboo reeds in the back seat. And I also left a plastic 7-11 Slurpee cup full of seeds in the front. So much for my bold scheme.

I can laugh at those shenanigans now, and I imagine my Father in heaven both shaking His head and laughing at my foolishness. My parents must've had the same reaction as well, (in addition to the worry over my reckless and lawless behavior).

We all think we can get away with the "perfect crime," but God sees everything we do. While we may fear discipline and "getting caught," it is a wise man to accept discipline and correction.

"He who listens to a life-giving rebuke
will be at home among the wise.
He who ignores discipline despises himself,
but whoever heeds correction gains understanding..."

"Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord..."

And speaking of wisdom...that's Yoda up there.

Autographs for the sick

Proverbs 13 talks about the wise and the foolish (what's new?).
It gets into advice takers.

I'm always interested when someone comes to me for advice. When I come to others for advice, I am very conscious of the fact that I may ignore their advice, but hearing another perspective helps. Sometimes I forget this a little when someone comes to me, and I have this feeling of, 'Man! This person is really humbling themselves and putting me in a super responsible position of speaking into their life.' But when I have that thought I'm just forgetting that they may ignore any advice I give. I have one friend in particular that, when he asks for advice, he will often say, "What should I do?" That is a scary question to answer, so I usually answer it with a question, "What do YOU think you should do?" And often, when they respond to that thoughtfully, they figure out what they're going to do and I just act as a friendly sounding board to "bounce their ideas off of."

It is true, though, that someone coming to another for advice humbles themself to some degree. It's a cool thing. I think it does bestow a level of honor to the person that we come to for advice. This underscores the ongoing need and benefit of mentoring others and being mentored in your life. It doesn't have to be some "ooooh, they're better than me" or "they are so many rungs above me in the ladder of life." Mentoring is often just a friendship where each party is honest with the other and they help each other grow. It's a mutually beneficial thing. Sure, sometimes if one person has a great skill at something, like playing soccer or building computers; then the relationship is teacher and student, but most people like to share knowledge and build others up.

"...a mocker does not listen to rebuke."

By the time we need a rebuke, it is usually in the midst of or after folly. If we are in that position, often we don't want to be corrected. But the thing is: we're going to be corrected sooner or later. I think "sooner" is the better option.

And speaking of teachers and students...
It is so cool. Last night, on the way home from the cool Terminal, Code Seven, Acceptance, Saosin, and Anberlin show, I got a phone call from my wife (who accompanied me the night before to the Denison Witmer and Copeland show). "You won a Pepsi Yoda at Wag-A-Bag. You might want to pick it up on the way home." It's a talking Yoda action figure. Squeezing his hands toggles between 500 different responses, and his eyes open, his ears wiggle, and his hands go up and down. This is rad!

The Lips of the Righteous

Proverbs 10 brings it straight. Slander, being lazy, and taking pleasure in evil conduct are all big wastes of time that bring bad results.

"As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
so is a sluggard to those who send him."

It would be great to learn these kind of life lessons from a book; but experience sometimes drives home points we would not otherwise get. And if we get complacent or take our blessings for granted, sometimes having to put up with disappointment makes us stronger and more diligent to pursue the things that are right. It's not a perfect world, nor are we who live in it perfect -- not a one.

"He who gathers crops in Summer is a wise son,
but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son."

There are times (like deadline, for instance) where chipping in and working hard for extended time periods is a necessary and important thing. There are other times where recreation is important and even necessary. There is balance, I believe, in being content with whatever time we're in.

Hey, I got a new car! It was so cool to find one (I thank my wife for that...again!) that was in such good shape for such a low price. It's unbelievable, in fact. I never would have dreamed that hail damage to a car could bring a new car (less than 50 miles on it) down to a used car price. And to top that off, Volkswagon has a $500 discount to people who own other VWs (kind of a loyalty discount). So even in a situation where it was easy to be disappointed or depressed, good things happened. I'm so thankful. I went to see Denison Witmer and Copeland last night. Very cool show.

Free iPod AND free Harley

Now THAT would get our attention, wouldn't it? If I set my heart right, however, I will be consistently seeking that which is free -- God's wisdom, His presence, time with family, and friends. Granted, even though my instincts tell me 'there is no free lunch' and 'free offers of stuff are usually too good to be true and involve a catch,' I'll still check out those things. Who doesn't want a free goodie?

Proverbs 8 talks about wisdom calling out and making herself available.

"Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is more precioius than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her."

Wisdom is good and always helpful.

"Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.
For whoever finds me finds life
and receives favor from the Lord.
But whoever fails to find me harms himself;
all who hate me love death."

Wow. Wisdom is a good friend to find, have, and keep!

Be Smart!

The Proverbs are really good wisdom writings. I remember as a young college student taking home one of those pocket-sized New Testaments that the Gideons would pass out on campus. I'd flip to the Proverbs and read some and be impressed with how relevant they were to daily living. As funny as it sounds, I was amazed that it was as smart as (and smarter) than the pop philosophy that I was listening to (Jim Morrison of The Doors and Kerry Livgren of Kansas). It's good stuff.

Proverbs 3 covers a lot of ground, including just seeking the Lord's wisdom and not leaning on your own understanding. It also touches on giving. Sometimes it's easy to blow off giving, thinking, 'Well, when I'm 'grown up' and have a salary, then I'll give.' Or, 'When I make more money,' or 'When I get out of school...' But it's way easier to start a habit of giving now than it is tomorrow. It's just like any good habit -- the quicker you start, the quicker you have started.
:?)

Proverbs 7 gets into sex. The adulterous woman is described. Before it gets into that, though, it talks about "storing up" the commands and "binding them" on your fingers, and "writing them on the tablet of your heart." Having the Word as ammunition before you "go into battle" or face temptation is the way to win. Actually taking action to avoid sin is smart. Unless you willfully want to dive into sin, planning against it is a smart thing. Avoiding temptation is sometimes impossible, but other times it can be avoided.

I purchased a new version of Microsoft Outlook, which has privacy and security measures that do not allow or show images from html emails. Unless I add it to my list of known people in my address book, it gets x'd out by Outlook. I have to click on a link to see the images. This is a wonderful tool for me, because I used to get a dozen or so (even one was sickening) of those stupid porno site emails. Even now I still see stupid and crass words, but having the images x'd out and invisible helps me maintain a much cleaner attitude. This little change in my daily routine has brought me much peace and "freed up" energy I was focusing on fighting those trash images to devote to something healthier.

The fool in Proverbs 7, who was seduced by the temptress/adultress was walking along "in the direction of her house." He could have possibly avoided his destiny with death (he was killed with an arrow to the liver) by simply not going down her street.

Why does God care about sex?
Here's my take on this issue:

Sex is part of our identity. We are not given our names until our parents know what sex we are. Our sexuality is part of our very makeup. The bonds that are shared between a man and a woman during sex are more than physical -- emotional and somehow spiritual. If this relationship is broken up or ended, then those bonds are suddenly ripped out of place, leaving us with emotional and probable spiritual damage. This "tearing away" inside is painful. Counselors and pastors probably don't spend a lot of their time counseling people about their past sinful habits of shoplifting or lying or arrogance and pride. But you better believe these counselors do spend a lot of time trying to bring healing from the damage of sexual sin. Putting up "rules" about sex and giving it a context is really like having guardrails on the sides of a road as it goes over a ditch or a river. Those sturdy metal rails aren't there to "spoil your good time." They're there to save your self from pain and injury. The context of marriage should be the safest place for this sexual bonding to take place. Unfortunately, with divorce and the sin of adultery it's not always safe; but the odds are a lot better for safety in this area in marriage. So that is why saving sex until marriage is a good idea. That is why there are "rules" set up regarding sex.

That was the overall message I used to convey at almost every single Lust Control show my old punk band used to play. I'd also make it a point to mention that healing starts today and anyone who's failed in this area can truly "claim" the promise of 2 Corinthians 5:17 (that we are a "new creation" in Christ) and can start over today. There is healing and power in the blood of Jesus.

I wish we could all visit Haiti or India or some inner city place where demonic possession is a very real and visible reality and also see how the power of the very Name of Jesus and the blood He shed on the cross brings to this situation. Demons shudder and fear this Man Who created heaven and earth. If there is dramatic power and authority in that Name, then surely there is also healing.

Don't Trust Prince

We might have found a good deal on a new car. There was a big hail storm in Austin back in February or March, which caused tons of hail damage on cars all over the city. This Volkswagon place has a 2005 model with only 43 miles on it for $4,000 less than its sticker price, which makes it in league with used cars price-wise. Right now we're in a waiting game to see if the person at the office will give us the price they quoted (which sounds funny). When they showed us the final offer, however, with all the tax, title and license, there was still an invisible $1,500 they were trying to slip in there. We counter-offered via email; or actually we questioned their math. If they come back with some straight-up math, we may have found my replacement vehicle. I've never owned a "new" car, so that would be a plus. We'll see. It looks good, but nothing is for sure until the bottom line gets signed.

Psalm 146 talks about not trusting princes...

"...in mortal men, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs,
they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing."

I imagine that the psalmist may actually be refering to an experience he had; but it could just be a moral lesson (I doubt it; I bet there's a "prince ripped someone off" story behind the scenes there somewhere...).

"Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them --
the Lord, Who remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord wataches over the alien
and sustains the fatherless and the widow..."

God is in control.
That propensity to root for the underdog
and lift up the downtrodden...?
That is surely given to us by our Creator.
Look at His quickness to lend help to those that need it.
It is surely true that -- the more we treat those less fortunate than us with care,
the more we are being like Him.

Tomorrow is only a day away

Sometimes when you're a dad you listen to music that's truly "for the kids," and thus I heard a few songs from the Annie Soundtrack on the way to work this morning.

"They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom
and speak of Your might,
so that all men may know of Your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and Your dominion endures through all generations..."

Even prior to the messianic fulfillment work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit was inspiring the Bible authors (King David is credited with writing Psalm 145) to spread the Word that God was great. It only seems obvious that anyone who has a true encounter with the Living God will come away impressed and wanting to share. His is great and mighty.

"The Lord is good to all;
He has compassion on all He has made."

This is good news in and of itself (even apart from salvation through Christ, but ever more so now).

"The Lord is faithful to all His promises
and loving toward all He has made.
The Lord upholds all those who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down."

This is really good news to all of us (cuz we all fall), and even more special for a people that endured the slavery in Egypt. Anyone who is depressed, dejected, and beaten down is a prime candidate for His lifting up mercy and attention.

Yesterday all the proofs for the magazine were online at our printer's server, which allowed us to "soft proof" each page. This was about the fastest I'd seen our printer's staff work on pre-production/pre-press. The things I look for at tis stage are glaring typo's in headlines, making sure backgrounds "bleed" off the page properly (.125" or more, to be exact), looking for proper "text flow" (like making sure the last word on one page flows into a complete sentence on the next, with no text "lost"), and making sure there is no color on black and white pages (I had to make some corrections on two ad pages for this, as the ad file was an "RGB" PDF file that should have been "grayscale"). This is the first issue I've designed that is "Perfect Bound," which means it has a spine on it, with printing on the spine, etc. That was fun. I'm also pretty blown away by the kindness showed HM by P.O.D. for the special photo shoot and kind words said in the story, and the columnists and many of the advertisements have a shout-out to HM. That is so cool. I can't wait to see this next issue.

Beach baby, beach baby...

I don't know why a Beach Boys song would pop into my head just now, but hey. It works as a title. I'm not getting caught back up with work, although my desk looks a mess. We've got a cool new intern named Tim (his Intern Diary is here), and we're madly picking content for the next issue. It's a real tough choice. We've got a lot of bands to choose (and which one deserves the cover the most?), like:
Stretch Arm Strong
Falling Up
Blindside
Mortal Treason
Project 86
Discover America (did you know that this is Chris Staples (238) new band?)
Stryper
John Davis
Waking Ashland
Every New Day
Inked In Blood
The Terminal
Emery
As Cities Burn
Nodes of Ranvier
Switchfoot
Sam Ashworth
Amber Pacific
Billy Corgan
and even more...

Whew! Tough choices. I just got an email this morning from our printer. Our pages are up on a server for proofing. That was quick of our printer. That means the mag should get printed and mailed out soon.

(I just stood up and flipped my calendar over from May to June to see w hen the mag would probably ship. Retired Safety Darren Woodson is on this page. Have I ever mentioned how much of a stud football player that guy is? Man, he could hit. I'm sorry to see him go. Jimmy Johnson sure had an eye for talent when he coached in Dallas. I wonder if he had stayed on if Dallas would've won 4 in a row...or maybe more.)

Okay, spiritual talk... Spiritual talk!
Psalm 145 again is very descriptive of God, which is a perfect praise song. Praising is just complimenting; and if you're going to compliment someone, you should have reasons. We have plenty of reasons to praise God.

"The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all;
He has compassion on all He has made..."

Thanks for the shower of comments since the car accident. I am a blessed man. If it was all a stunt to get attention, I was successful. But (sigh), it wasn't a stunt. It was real. I'm doing fine. My left shoulder is sore and tight. I am going to splurge and visit a massage therapist for a half hour and see if he/she can rub, pound, and stretch these muscles into a relaxing state of submission.