Mulligan

For those who do not golf a "mulligan" is the term used for a retake shot, usually after your first one has gone errant. It's like hitting the reset button. It's a do-over.

Okay. So I got up this morning not feeling very well. Sinus stuff starting and the cough is settling in for a drawn-out visit. The first thing on my mind was how tired I felt. Run-down. Shower - shave - dress - the entire time my mind was off thinking about

• All of the tasks I need to complete over the next few days.
• The commitments I have made that I am pressed to fulfill.
• The people I need to contact.
• The repairs that need to be made.
• The yard that needs to be mowed.
• The studying I need to do
• The...

Then my mind is defibrillated from its frantic and erratic path of non-productivity by the faint, yet familiar, sounds coming from the bedroom...

"I got 'da joey, joey, joey, joey, dow in 'na hart - where?..."

I'll take a mulligan on this hole please. Quite the contrast between how I started my day and how the kids started theirs. No wonder Jesus said

"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

Thank you Lord for the blessing of this day.

Do you need a mulligan?

Free Blog Seminar

Here is a worthwhile seminar I want to pass on. If you cannot make the seminar use the link at the bottom of the post for more information or click on the Church Blog Theory logo in the right margin of my blog...Sean


Church Blog Theory –
Engaging the Internet for the Glory of God

• How do we share the message of Christ in the 21st century?

• Can we use digital technology to reach millions? Could social media develop relationships that result in sharing our faith with our community?

• Why aren’t we as the church doing more to engage the world via the internet? Have we hidden our light under a basket? (Ref. Matt. 5:15 NASB) It is time for the church to be the “city on the hill.” Inaction is not an option.

• How do we easily, quickly and effectively have a positive influence on the internet and our community for the glory of God?

Faith Based Blogging
- It is the place where millions of seekers “walk” each day.
- It builds relationships and opens doors for personal evangelism.
- It covers the globe in seconds.
- It is free and easy
- It integrates easily with other mediums of communication.

Church Blog Theory Seminar
Please join us for a free seminar discussing how to use faith based blogging, integrated with other social media, as a strategy to deploy the truth online and develop relationships aimed at sharing Jesus with our community.

Date: Saturday, April 25th, 2009
Location: Harding University, McInteer Room 349
Time: 9am-12noon
Speaker: Ryan Parsons

Program:
- 9-9:50 “A Case for Blogging”
- 10-10:50 “Blogging and Evangelism”
- 11-12 “Getting Started” Optional (bring your laptop)

http://churchblogtheory.wordpress.com

Moments

One of my favorite songs is called "Moments" by the band Emerson Drive. The first verse and chorus read:

"I was coming to the end of a long, long walk
When a man crawled out of a cardboard box
Under the E. Street Bridge,
Followed me onto it.
I went out halfway across
With that homeless shadow tagging along
So I dug for some change.
Wouldn't need it anyway.
He took it lookin' just a bit ashamed.
He said, 'You know I haven't always been this way.

I've had my moments, days in the sun.
Moments I was second to none.
Moments when I knew I did what I thought I couldn't do.
Like that plane ride coming home from the war
That summer my son was born.
And memories like a coat so warm
A cold wind can't get through.
Lookin' at me now you might not know it
But I've had my moments.'

'In every person's life, there have been moments, both positive and negative, that have defined and redefined who they are. Those events entered your consciousness with such power that they changed the very core of who and what you thought you were. You were not the same person after that one moment. Although your defining moments may seem trivial to others - you have to remember, if it's shaped you in any way, it's a defining moment.' (Unknown)

Your defining moments are the outlines of your life. Too often we allow sin to be THE defining moment in our life (and the lives of others).

Did God allow sin to be THE defining moment in the history of His creation? No! He put into action a plan to make sure that sin would not have to be THE defining moment in our lives, but rather A defining moment that would reshape us and direct us back toward Him.

Remember, if it has reshaped you in any way it is a defining moment.

Romans 8:1-11

$27.75

That's what it is going to cost me to renew my vehicle registration this year. I don't mind paying the money but this year I got a kicker. (In the South a "kicker" is some information or a situation that you were not expecting, usually catches you off guard, and can sometimes be painful). So anyway, my registration renewal arrives. But this year I saw four words printed on the notice that were a "kicker."

MANDATORY LICENSE PLATE REPLACEMENT

It seems that my plate has been "in service" for eight years or more and that warrants the replacement. I don't want to give up my plate. It has significance to me. I have it memorized. It has been on three different vehicles all of which represent an important stage in my life. AND, I can easily recognize it in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

What in your life needs to be replaced? What has been hanging around for too long? Bad attitude? Resentment? Fear? Pornography? Violence? Apathy? Greed? Self-doubt? Self-Pity? (insert yours here)?

If you are ready for a voluntary replacement I would like to offer some suggestions:

...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. Philippians 4:8

And that's no kicker.