A view about manhood

With this holiday season I am reminded of many things that I am thankful for. I am thankful for the relationship I have with my wife. Our relationship is different than any other I have. This doesn't mean it is always easy. Our marriage takes work- it takes work because we have a much different way of looking at things -which sometimes cause friction but in the long run makes life work. A majority of our society looks at our marriage relationship as no different than a couple living together or a relationship between two people of the same sex. The first couple is in no way a progression towards marriage. God made us each special and without a life long commitment, each of the partners will feel degraded or used. There is a great comfort in knowing my wife will be there for me through anything we go through. In the second case, the two will have a distorted view of the world. God made us male and female for a reason, we are different. God is all about relationships and growing in t...

I was struggling with the cost associated with taking my wife away on a weekend trip. From the perspective I had earlier today, I thought the financial cost would be too great. But in the youth group study this evening we looked at two words- treasure and things. It made me think back over my rationalization of the "worldly" cost of such a trip. The benefit I didn't think about was the benefit of getting away from the everyday schedule of our present lives. We get so caught up in running from this to this "thing", that I lose focus of what's truly important in life. My relationship with my wife should be more important than any other material thing in this world. The only thing above that relationship is my relationship with God. I need to put God first, my wife just under that. She needs to know that I treasure her more than a retirement account (or money in the bank).

How would you describe these two words to someone you had never met before. Would you start with phrases like " without end" or "no limits"? Even with words like these it's difficult to wrap or minds around this concept. When I look to the sky and imagine the universe- then try to relate that to infinite I'm speechless. If I'm asked "Who is God?", I can use words to describe an infinite, eternal God those words will fall short of describing God. We have a view of God based on something we can relate to- usually a dominate person from our lives. This usually distorts our view of God. The God who created this universe has the desire (unlimited) to be known by you just as He knows you. His love for you is without measure- He knows your faults, inadequacies, and failures. His love is...

It's been some time since I've posted anything, it seems life gets to busy and time gets away from us. Since June when I last posted something, We have sold our home, moved to a new home about 15 miles to the west and our two daughters have enrolled in a different school. In addition to that I've kept busy trying to get back into running, and also busy organizing the education programs at our church. Being overly busy can be a tool that the evil one uses against us. We may be involved in many "good" things, activities worthy of our time. But filling to many "good" things can distract us from the One true "good" thing. The Triune God who loves us in spite of ourselves will always be there to guide and direct us, if we look for His leading. We may not make proper time for Him, but He never fails us, knows what we need and supplies those needs.

What do you do for a living? How important is this question? The importance of this question is based on context. Context can greatly influence any question- let alone this question of occupation. So if I ask the question as this "How important is what you do for a living eternally?". Now "How important is what you do for a living today?". What I'm attemping to do is confuse the issue. The point is that the context of this question has no bearing on the answer. What you do for a living doesn't really matter, a better question would be why you do what you do. My perspective has drasticly changed in the past year. What matters is that I proclaim the Good News of Christ in all I do. In the past I've been caught up in what I do for a living and at some point, it will have no eternal bearing. If I look at the amount of money I make, if I look to how long I can look forward to retirement- I'm setting my sights way too low. I need to look toward eternity an...

My wife and I (with daughters) got away for the weekend and just returned. One reason to get away was to look beyond our current circumstances and look at the direction our lives are headed. She made a comment that she hoped our house would sell soon- which I'm in total agreement with her here. She was afraid that I was getting discouraged about working for the past 30 years and have nothing to show for it. We talked about the accounts we could use without getting into trouble financially. I made a comment that if we relied on those accounts instead of relying on God for strength and guidance, we would end up spending those accounts until we were forced to rely totally on God the Creator. Do we trust God or do we trust in something else? The Bible says to believe ON Jesus Christ. Not just to believe in Him, but to place all your burdens and worries directly on Him. He will sustain us, no matter what our past, present or future circumstances. He can be trusted completely.

In February of 1995 I made a decision to ask a woman to marry me. The perfect day to do this would be on February 14th. I went and got a ring and was prepared to do just that- so I thought. A few days before the planned moment, my Grandma Broadbent passed away. No big deal, I'll proceed with my plan. Then the funeral was to take place on Valentine's Day. I didn't know how the day would progress so I decided to wait until the following day- or at least after midnight. The decision to marry my wife is something I don't regret, and the decision to love my wife is a daily occurance. Love is not an emotion, it is an action word- something you decide to do. My love for my wife is greater today than it was the day we got married. Many men choose to not love their wifes because of some outside influence- or some weak reason. Men should stand up and be real men and have the courage to love their wives unconditionally. If more men would do this, unconditionally without excuses, o...