REALfitness by Scott

I believe God created the heavens and the earth. I don’t believe the Darwinian Hypothesis of evolution.

I believe God designed marriage to be a man and a woman who could procreate.

I believe life begins at conception and when you take a baby from the womb at any age it is no different from taking its life a day after it is born.

I believe the Bible is God’s Word.

I believe faith in the Gospel, the death of Jesus for my sin, his burial and resurrection is the ONLY way anyone will get to heaven.

I believe in the Constitution of the USA and the Declaration of Independence, Which means I believe in the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I have the right to free speech and to protect my family with a firearm.

I believe the clear intent of the founding fathers who came from a country with a state-run church, was to keep the government out of the church’s business. The separation of church and state was to keep the state from meddling with the church, they all wanted the church to influence the state, have you ever read the monuments in Washington D.C. If they didn’t want their faith to influence why all the Scripture quotes everywhere?

I believe you have the right to totally disagree with me on everything I believe and I have the right to disagree with you on everything you believe BUT we both still have the right to believe what we believe without being called names when I disagree with you.

I’m not a bigot or a homophobe or trying to hold women down because of my beliefs. The biggest intolerance in America today is by those who do not believe what I wrote here towards those who do. It is funny that virtually everyone who lived in America the first 150-200 years would look at what I wrote and never blink. Today let anyone whisper they would still believe these things and we are mocked, called names, abused all because they say we are intolerant! I have felt more hatred, anger and intolerance by people who disagree with what I wrote today than I have ever seen by Christians or even the vilified Tea Party.

If those holding views opposite of mine had their way, we would not be allowed to live in the USA, the land of the FREE. It is pretty sad. I’m tired of it and will no longer stand quietly by and watch our God-given rights slowly be eroded. Let’s have a free exchange of ideas without all the hate and name calling.

Blessings

Scott

Independence Day, a special day for Americans probably not well understood by much of the rest of the world. This day represents for our country the day we declared our independence which gave us the freedom to chart our own course. It gave our leaders the ability to pray, discuss and experiment in this new land of opportunities. The battle comes first then the freedom.

I’ve been thinking about the same concept in my personal life this week. As a person who believes in and is attempting to be a follower of Jesus Christ, I’ve seen battle comes first, then freedom follows. My belief is, when a person sees the great need for forgiveness, and sees life is not all it could be without a connection to God and they open their minds and hearts to embrace Jesus as the only one who can forgive all their stuff and reconnect them to the Father, it happens. We surrender; God accepts us just as we are and starts us on a journey of growth. Every growth point usually will have a battle. The battle is will I surrender this thing, or this way of life to God who knows better than I do which way is best. Will my will or His will be done?

What I’ve discovered about you and me is, we don’t mind bragging about areas we have conquered and experience freedom. We don’t mind being condescending when we don’t struggle with a certain point of battle others do, “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t date girls who do!”  We don’t mind talking about some of the battle stories as long as some time has passed, “I used to struggle with but now. . .” What we seldom hear is where the tip of the spear is right now! What is the battle I am facing right now? What is God trying to show me? What am I doing that is hurtful, harmful or has the ability to ruin my life? What area have I said, “I really don’t care right now what is right because I want to do this?” All the other battles won are not nearly as significant as the battle I am in at the present! The biblical Christian life is a paradox! On one hand I am declared totally righteous on the merits of what Jesus did for me and on the other hand I battle to grow into what God already declares that I am. These growing pains will go with us to the finish line when finally “we see Him, we will be like Him.”

So, as I look in the mirror this Independence Day, I’m asking, what is my NUMBER 1 battle. Where is the tip of the sword today. What would God love to claim victory over in my life today. What battle could be won in my heart today that would launch me into a new area of freedom? When the Lord sets you and me free, we will be free indeed. But there will always be another battle as we grow toward being more like Jesus.

blessings today,

Scott

I read an article by John Ortberg where he commented, “Those of us in church leadership read or hear with sad frequency of one of our sisters or brothers ending up in a moral ditch. A mentor of mine (John’s) noted once that when that happens as a general rule, the person has been living without a deep sense of soul satisfaction for a long time, which is what made them vulnerable.” That makes sense. Discontentment can lead us to seek things to fill our empty places with things that aren’t too good. I can relate to the lack of deep soul satisfaction. I have times when I am content with my life but other times I find myself chaffing. I bore easily, like things challenging and stimulating. I like to feel like I’m an important part of whatever I am involved with; I don’t like feeling like I’m just keeping busy.

Paul said he learned to be content in whatever condition he was in whether he was doing well or not so well. I can’t say that truthfully at this point of my life. I’ve been thinking about this for some time and know what the answer is, my problem is consistently practicing what I know. I know the answer is finding my joy in the Lord. Knowing He has everything I need and He is enough. Knowing that where ever I find myself currently, He is there with me, working for His glory and my good. Surrendering fully to Him, all my ambition, desires and needs and knowing He has a plan for me.

I need Divine favor on my life to be able to see His blessing in all the little and big ways He has graced me. I need to stay focused on the eternal. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Lord help me, help us!

Blessings,

Scott

Yesterday morning, I was out for a run. I had an insight come to me that seemed to hit a nerve at the men’s group last night. We were discussing the epic battle between the sinful nature and the Spirit as recorded in Galatians 5:11 and following. I had three “R’s” of our starting disposition. Two of which can set us up for consistent failure instead of consistent victory. The first one is rebellion. Often this comes from feeling like your life has not been fair. Maybe something happened to you or maybe the deck seems stacked against you. There is an underneath boiling waiting to blow. That demeanor is going to sabotage you. The second is resignation. This is a slight improvement over rebellion but is still destructive. Resignation is when you are not boiling with anger anymore but there is still a low-grade simmer underneath. Your attitude may be, “It is what it is.” This could be your job, marriage, kids or anything else didn’t turn out the way you expected. At the same time, you see no way out of your current situation; you feel stuck. You have no hope your circumstance will change in the forseeable future. This demeanor may fuel a desire to escape to numb the pain of where you find yourself. Without realizing it the escapist behaviors sabotage you as well and pretty much guarantee your situation isn’t going to improve. The third outlook is the resolution. I resolve that no matter what has brought me to this place in life, God is on the throne and promises to use everything to help me be more like Him. So, I surrender. I come to a place of acceptance. I stop feeling entitled to more.

The solution is simple but difficult. “Abide in Me,” Jesus said. Come to me all who are weary, I will give you rest. It is all about daily surrender and staying in close communication with the Lord.

Lord help us!

blessings,

Scott

Psalm 90, attributed to Moses, has been one of my favorite Psalms. From everlasting to everlasting You are God. How long is that? Our family just came through a wonderful vacation. Ten days together, our house and then the beach house bustling with the activities of eight people. Meals were events! Loading up to go anywhere all together was an event. But it was all so enjoyable. But we blinked and ten days flew by and now we have already had a week of normal life under our belts. The ten-day vacation isn’t any different from the rest of my life. I often still feel like a 25-year-old inside but how did I get to be 58 already? How is it possible our “kids” are 38-35 and 29? A thousand years in your sight is like a day that has just gone by. Our lives are like grass, spring up in the morning and wither by evening. What does the rapidity of life passing call from us? For me it calls for thoughtful pondering of what can I do to use this brief time wisely. Teach us to number our days aright, so we may gain a heart of wisdom. Those brief 70 years and maybe 80 if we have strength will be gone as quickly as a week’s vacation. I want to connect to the One who is from everlasting to everlasting.

Blessings,

Scott

Not long ago we did the DISC Personality Profile at work. My profile is called “Inspirational,” that is a high I, high D right behind it and then the S and C dip way low. I ask the teacher what exactly that means. She said, “When you walk into a room of people by the time you leave not only will they know you were there, many will know your name. I tell you that to let you know God has wired me to love life, to be impetuous, inquisitive, mischievous and sometimes impulsive. My hard wiring allows me to act first and think later sometimes. I was wired to love and generate excitement and adventure!

So, I am out on  my run this morning pondering life and realizing to this day the very best times of my life, the most fun and excitement, the things I look to as the most memorable were our backyard family picnics as a kid. Our holiday bashes where all the aunts and uncles and cousins came for the day and ate, played and the alcohol flowed like water!

Fast forward to 21 years of age, I’m married, we become Christians and start attending a very strict Baptist Church. For the next two and a half decades nary a drop of alcohol touched my lips! Church socials paled in comparison to my boyhood memories. Everyone seemed so guarded, it was like everyone had several protective layers and we all just bumped layers. It was stiff, very few unguarded moments. I think almost everyone feared what others would think. To this day, just coming back from a men’s retreat, you get a bunch of guys together in the wild and it is still the same as going to a Baptist Ice Cream Social. We are guarded, not sure it is safe to talk about life and our struggles.

What is the missing ingredient? Why are church people so emotionally constipated? My first inclination is we need Jesus to come and turn some water into wine and loosen this crowd up! That’s it, alcohol is the missing ingredient! Just kidding, don’t get your religious panties in a bunch!

The missing ingredient is this. As soon as people start going to church we get a little bite of the apple. We have our eyes opened to begin to see right and wrong. At that moment we begin to start measuring. I hear all the time, “I thought Joe was a Christian, did you hear what he did?” We start judging others behavior, we start laying down moral imperatives. The missing ingredient(s) are these:

1. Love without reservation.

2. Full acceptance, not act like I accept you but inside I’m thinking you need to straiten up. (That is emotionally picked up without a word being said and the guard goes up around you)

3. I must believe God is big enough to do all the shaping in your life and mine.

When those three are deeply ingrained in me I can Live, Laugh and Love and you will feel safe to do the same when you are with me!

Blessings,

Scott

I found myself standing in two very different lines over the past week. Sunday, at the Norfolk Airport waiting to go through the security check. Each time I stand in those lines, which is quite frequently lately, my blood begins to boil. I feel enraged inside. I think about my dad’s POW stint in WWII and think these great soldiers didn’t fight for our freedom so those freedoms could incrementally be taken away as we move toward becoming a police state. I would be embarrassed as an American to take a paycheck from the TSA! Those pat downs have no evidence of doing anything to improve security because they are patting down the wrong people! So, from that line that makes me more angry just writing about it to the next line.

Thursday Evening we stood in line  at Bay Life Church to work our way through 9 stations that reminded of the last few days of Jesus earthly life. The last supper and having my feet washed for the first time ever and then getting to wash Gayle’s feet. Spending time in the garden, thinking about what the first garden must have been like. Moving to a place of awareness of how little it has taken for me to betray Him. Then standing by the fire with Peter warming my hands but not my heart. Putting my hand in red paint and putting my hand print on the paper with many others, having my hand in His death. Placing a rock on the cross representing the weight of my sin on His shoulders.  Then sitting in the tomb, with a body wrapped in grave-clothes was sobering. Finally, taking communion in remembrance of the great gift that was given to purchase my freedom. Freedom that will never be taken away. Freedom that will last forever! He is risen!

Two lines! One taking freedom promising false security; one giving freedom offering real security!

blessings,

Scott