Christmas is Around the Corner

Wall Street and Washington need to get whatever ever economic fix done soon. It is the end of September, which means the Christmas season is right around the corner.

Which means if we are in a state of financial and economic turmoil, people might actually turn towards more spiritual matters, seeking answers in the divine that are beyond the grasp of mere humanity.

People might actually turn to the true meaning of the Christmas season and stop saying things like "Happy Holidays" and "Season's Greetings" and start saying "Merry Christmas" and actually know what it means and mean it.

Or the powers that be in the two "W's" might rise to the occasion and right the teetering ship of state and state of business. Get people back to a secure mode of living and investing and spending.

And return Christmas to the commercialized mess it has become. And all this in an election year.

True Definition of Bipartisanship

The bickering that is going on in DC now: blaming the other side. That seems to be the true bipartisan nature of our political system.

His Hand

I had lunch with a friend a few days ago and he made a very interesting observation. He felt that when things are going on around you, things are going on in your life that make no logical sense, you can pretty much chalk it up to the hand of God. Only He can make things work when all makes no sense.

I think there is a lot of truth to that. God is in control of everything, and when things make no sense to us, it is because we are not aligned with God's will, that we do not see clearly (or at all) what His will and purposes are accomplishing.

My reading in Chambers this morning brought that lunch conversation back to me. "We are inclined to forget the deeply spiritual and supernatural touch of God." God is working in our lives, we do not always acknowledge it, we do not often see it until after the fact.

I look at what is going on in the U.S. today, the polarization around the election, the talk of political choices having consequences for the future direction of our country that we have not faced in previous elections; the deep seated issues in the economy that have been building for years. I think God is moving in our lives. To what end I do not know.

The people of God have often felt the hand of God in their lives. They have often ignored it, even when Jesus, God incarnate walked the earth.

The people of God have often felt the hand of God in their lives. It has often been unpleasant, because of the correction He needed to give us. Just read about the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.

God is moving in our lives today, but I am afraid not too many are listening.

What Else Can I Miss

I missed the first presidential debate. No, not that Lincoln-Douglas thing (Well, yes I guess I did miss that one too, but that is not the one I am referring to), but the first one of this election cycle.

So I realized if I can miss that maybe I better make a list of other things I could miss that would get me in more trouble than missing an unpaid political advertisement:

A-Kiss my wife (Did it, doing it, wanting to do it again. Thanks Laurie!)

1-My anniversary (this month and I did not)
2-My wife's birthday (last month and I did not)
3-Church this morning ( in 2 hours and I will not)
4-Seminary classes (so far this semester I have not)
5-Feeding the dogs (no, they have a way of reminding us)
6-Walking the dogs (no, they really have a way of reminding us, especially if we remember #5)
7-Going to work (wait, I am retired, that is either a trick question or the onset of a senior moment)
8-Food shopping (I have a way of remembering that puts the dogs to shame)
9-Putting out the garbage (Do it twice a week. The last bastion of male dominated employment that women want no part of)
10-Putting on clean clothes every day (Did it. OK, there are two bastions of male dominated employment women want nothing to do with)
11-I will stop at #10

As I look back, I realize I remember to do the important stuff. Life is good when lived right.

Can anyone think of anything I forgot?

Am I Wrong?

I had no desire to watch the debate last night, I even put up a somewhat sarcastic Facebook status (something about barking seals and fish). But I have been thinking about it a bit since I realized that I had missed the debate. (You see, I even forgot there was a debate last night until it was underway).

I care about my country, I am thankful I live where I can have freedom to follow my religious beliefs, freedom to express my opinions, freedom to vote for who I want to.

Well, that last one is not entirely true. I am free to vote for who is running (although I guess there is always the write in ballot).

I am not much of a political animal, I do not particularly enjoy arguing politics, listening to politics being argued, or engaging in politics. The term politics has such negative connotations and pervades so many aspects of our lives. But only those aspects that involve more than one person, so it is limited to some extent.

I did not watch because by now I know whom I will vote for. I do not put politics into my posts, nor will I disclose my choices, except at the ballot box. (Ballot box - I have not seen one of those in quite some time, but ballot screen with flywheel selection does not have the same patriotic ring to it.

I may catch part of the future debates, may a video clip here or there. But I will probably not watch any live. I just do not have it in me. I have read enough and listened enough to form what I believe to be an informed position on the candidates without watching partisan Family Feud.

Am I wrong?

Enthusiasm Is Never Enough?

Something stuck with me from my reading of Chambers yesterday. "No amount of enthusiasm will ever stand up to the strain that Jesus Christ will put upon His servant."

It picked at me all day. At first it annoyed me. Then it made me think a bit. I probably should have done that before my knee jerk reaction.

Enthusiasm without true faith really is shallow and will not last. Just think of some of the more emotional moments you have had in your walk. If it was not truly grounded in faith, did it last? Think of the emotional displays of others. Were they sincere? Did they last? If the answer to the first question is no, the answer to the second is going to be no as well.

I am convicted of two things:

1- Try to make sure any measure of enthusiasm for the Lord is always grounded in an even greater measure of faith to provide sustainability, viability and credibility.

2-Never be annoyed at Mr. Chambers without serious reflection, a deep breath and a count to at least ten.

I Am A Social Mediot

I like dabbling in Social Media.

I am just not good at it. That makes me a social mediot. If I didn't try to utlilize Social media, I would just be oblivious.

I have this blog, but I am really not doing much with it; at least not for the Kingdom. I have a Feedburner (but couldn't really explain it to you).I am linked into My Zimbio, Sitemeter, Feedjit, BlogCatalog, and Technorati. I even have Technorati tags, but couldn't tell you you how to use them. I have a vimeo account, but have never used it, and probably never will.

I am on Twitter, I have it linked to Gospelr and to Facebook; but I really don't quite get it. I am even on TweetDeck. It seems I need applications to manage my applications. I thought that what all the linking was about, a common misconception of the social mediot.

I am on LinkedIn and Plaxo Pulse, adding connections, but not using it meaningfully yet.

And I realize there are dozens of other sites that I have no idea even exist, let alone how to integrate them into my life.

I am a social mediot. Someone needs to come up with an intelligence quotient for measuring how good one is with using the ever burgeoning world of social media, how fast one adapts to and masters the latest and coolest new twist. Whatever the scoring scale, I would come out as a social mediot.

Not very flattering, maybe it is the curse of most baby boomers. (I said most, not all, so I do not want to hear complaining from my boomer friends who actually know how to do this stuff well. Both of you.)

I'll get help some day and clean up my act a bit. Or someone will come alongside me and help me out.

I am a social mediot, but I am determined not to be a corpse.

How Dry I Am.

Maybe it is the head cold I have been fighting the past few days.

Maybe it is that I really have nothing to say right now.

Maybe the Lord has declared a dry season in my thinking and pondering. Getting me ready for a new direction of thought and reflection.

But I really am not coming up with anything to post right now.

Two months ago I would have been very concerned about the content I needed to put on my blog. But I am content that when I have something that needs to go here, it will come to me and then to you.

I have decided to take this as a sign of maturity in my blogging experience; that I may face a brief dry spell, confident in the belief that a season of rain, mixed with sunshine will lead to more growth.

So, I will await it. I will prepare my field for rain. And I will be ready when they come.

Wisdom or Eloquence

Having both is worth striving for.

To quote Cicero in De Inventione Rhetorica (On Rhetoric)

"wisdom without eloquence is of little use to society, while eloquence without wisdom is frequently extremely prejudicial to it, never of any use."

I am not reading Cicero, I am reading Augustine (De Doctrina Christiana - Teaching Christianity). It appears he is reading Cicero. Probably in the original language.

While you want both wisdom and eloquence, you have to opt for wisdom first. Eloquence sans wisdom at best is useless, but can be very detrimental. History bears testament to that fact. Wisdom sans eloquence can at least can have some marginal benefit.

As this post so aptly attests to.

Today's Definition

I thought this appropriate for the Lord's day.




Life without Jesus just doesn't make sense.

Maybe We Could Use A Little More Poetry

This passage describing the Trinity in Book I of De Doctrina Christiana (Teaching Christianity) by Saint Augustine is described in the footnotes by the translator as being poetically pleasing but lacking theological rigor:

"The Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit; the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son; but the Father is only the Father, the Son is only the Son, the Holy Spirit is only the Holy Spirit. The three possess the same eternity, the same unchangeableness, the same greatness, the same power. In the Father unity, in the son equality, in the Holy Spirit the harmony of unity and equality; and these three are all one because of the Father. are all equal because of the Son, are all linked togehter because of the Holy Spirit."

Theology is necessary, but I think we could all use a little more poetry in our lives.

The Tower and The Trench

One thing is becoming very apparent to me as I move through seminary this semester and I seek out what ministry opportunities God is putting in my path. I am looking to live the next few years in two worlds: the ivory tower of academe; and the trenches of the world seeking out the lost (or possibly misguided).

I do no think I want one of those worlds without the other, but I know I will not stay in both for all that long a season of life. Although from the study end, it sure seems long enough as you are going through it. There are opportunities to serve that God is already putting in front of me and I can see that being a full time student does not make sense in the context of what else I will be doing in the present or near future.

But I see now that I need time in both worlds to be effective in either. My study without real world service becomes an academic exercise (no pun intended) and service without study will not be as deeply engrossed nor boldly approached. The tower and the trench need each other; I need both of them.

Compared to how I used to live life, this seems so much richer, so much more multi-dimensional. So much more worthwhile. And there are clearly nuggets of gold to be mined out in each world to the glory of my Lord's name. So dig in both I must and I will.

The knowledge of God in a biblical perspective knows no limits; therefore learning can be as unending as it can be enriching. While I pray one day to get out of seminary, I pray never to get out of God's school.While I may end classroom learning, I want to remain in teachable moments before His throne.

I pray to scale the tower and span the trench, drawing strength from one to deal with my weakness in the other. What a journey this narrow road has me one. I would have no other in my life.

Things Aren't Always What They Appear To Be

I really have nothing to say about this...I just like the pictures.

The Just Rewards of Missing the Boat

I found this a very sobering reminder:

Your motivation should not be a desire to be known as a praying person...Have no motivation other than to know your Father in heaven...God is never impressed by our earnestness...Asking means that our will must be involved...But remember that we have to ask things of God that are in keeping with the God whom Jesus Christ revealed.

Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest

If the basis of true prayer is aligning my will to God's, if the basis is to talk only to Him and not be concerned with how others perceive it; I have missed the boat more times than I care to remember. And I have gotten what I deserved, which is no answer in response.

Thoughts like this always remind me of the following verse:

"Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do,for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full."

Matthew 6:16


If I am shallow and self serving in prayer, I am getting my just reward: I am standing in the water up to my neck because I have missed the boat and I have fallen off the dock.

Work In Progress

"Many people have turned back because they are afraid to look at things from God's perspective. The greatest spiritual crisis comes when a person has to move a little farther on in his faith than the beliefs he has already accepted.

Oswald Chambers - My Utmost For His Highest

"For I am confident of this very thing,that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Philippians 1:6

We are a work in progress, of that I am sure. Growth in Christ is not always going to feel comfortable; we are faced with a world with enmity towards our Savior. In our growth we are stepping out a little farther from the world, but we are also stepping out of our own personal comfort zone. It is not always going to feel good, at first. Nor are others always going to gladly embrace the new situation; they may not see it as growth, but just as change. People generally do not like change.

Oswald Chambers is telling us it is a journey; Paul is telling us it will continue until we meet Jesus.

I am telling myself that it needs to happen. What are you saying to yourself?

We Love Living in Texas, But...

Yesterday evening my wife and I went our church for a meeting and then to dinner with a couple of friends. We wound up being the last table at the restaurant and finally took their hints that they were trying to close. So we left.

We went to a local Starbucks for a coffee. After a while, one of the people who worked there came by and politely told us they would be locking the door in 9 minutes. So we left. Then we talked in the parking lot for a bit.

We love living in Texas, but this would never had happened in NYC.

We closed a restaurant and a coffee house.

We were home, letting the dogs out for the last time that night.

And it was 10:30pm.

All of the Rigor; With None of the Mortis

I am heavily into the fall semester at seminary. I am trying to develop good reading habits. (Going to take a rapid reading course) I am trying to develop good study habits. I am trying to lay out a plan for working on the papers that will be due, concentrating on the start date as much as the due date. I am staying up on the reading. I am learning Turabian. (If you do not know what that is, consider yourself fortunate)

I survived syllabus shock. (Although, having on line availability of the syllabus prior to classes starting has to alleviate the shock. I mean, what are you doing? Haven't you checked out the syllabus already by the time you walk through the classroom door? You want a shock? Try prepping for a colonoscopy. You will be begging for syllabus shock to take your mind off the task at hand as it were. But, I digress) I am getting used to reading on a schedule instead of what I want when I want to read it. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I view a blog like Seminary Survival Guide which is chock full of helpful suggestions for a budding seminarian.

In short, I am applying as much discipline and rigor as I can to my studies without killing myself or the other parts of my life. It seems to be working. My wife and my pastor are still talking to me. I am happy with the approach so far. What I need to keep in mind that seminary is a marathon, not a sprint. I need to pace myself; a steady productive pace. Absorb the knowledge, steep in the Word. Chisel away the rough edges and preconceptions that a lifetime has built up.

What I am not seeing is any of the manic worry that always seemed to accompany my business career. It is busy, are there stresses? Yes, indeed. But there is a peace of mind overlaying it all that tells me I am in the right place, doing the right thing. The difference to me is I feel I am working towards something of true significance. That makes me more patient, more willing to run the race.

Most of all, I need to remember I am not doing this alone. I am being led by the Spirit, to the glory of God, to seek this knowledge out, to apply myself in deep learning of biblical truth. The road is going far ahead, but I am following it as best I can right now. It is narrow, but straight and true.

It is a shame I could not have had this attitude years and years ago. But I would not be the person I am today without going on the journey I have been through.

Swept Along in My River

I loved the warning I picked out of Chambers in Utmost today:

"Beware of some surrender that you make to God in an ecstatic moment in your life, because you are apt to take it back again."

Commitment to our Lord should be heartfelt, but reasoned out. No rash vows, no bursts of pep rally mania. You can never be a solid as Jesus, but your commitment should be as solid as you can make it. It should be for eternity. You need to think of it as such.

The only river I want to be pulled along in the current of is Jesus Christ.

Being Ready

My reading of Chambers is out of phase today due to my looking at the wrong page the other day. As that turned out, a necessary mistake.

Today I read the missed page. The essence of it to me was that if you are not walking with God in your everyday occurrences, worshiping Him for what He is doing in your life; you will not turn to Him when a crisis comes, when it is time for the work of God to be manifest in your life.

Walking with God needs to be an ingrained habit, a second nature, something you do without thinking about it. Turning to Christ should be something you do without realizing it. He is there with us at all times; we should act like He is. Christ's character is true; He is constant. If we are true to Him, in times of crisis He will come to the forefront of our hearts and minds; and He will guide us.

We will show our true character. Be ready at all times to receive Him into the moments of your life; because He was already there waiting for you.

The Company You Are

"Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him."

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Are you comforted or convicted by the company you keep? It is interesting to think in terms of what people are in your life, what you are doing in life that brings these people into it, how it is honoring or dishonoring God.

But while this is an interesting reflection, I went in a slightly different way with it this morning. What am I, as a person, saying by my presence in the lives of others? Am I comforting or convicting to them? What type of messenger have I become for God? It is not about me alone, but what type of mirror I am for others to see themselves in.

Think not only of the company you keep, but the company you are.

The Finger of God

I am doing some research for a paper for seminary today. I am doing some reading as well. I am also starting a homework assignment. Some interrelated multi-tasking.

I am also struggling a bit, it almost feels like quicksand. Don't know why, but the work has been a struggle the past few days. But I am keeping at it. And in my work some imagery has come to mind. The finger of God.

The finger of God. It is imagery from Exodus 31:18; Moses coming down Mount Sinai, carrying two tablets of testimony, written by the finger of God. It is imagery from Proverbs 3:3 and 7:3; writing kindness and truth and wisdom on the tablet of your heart.

Good stuff being written in stone; being written on your heart. But there is also imagery in Jeremiah 17:1 of the sins of Judah being engraved on the tablet of their heart. And doesn't the process of engraving in the case of this sin just sound more painful than the writing of Proverbs? So sometimes His finger is something you really do not want to deal with.

So I am now looking for His finger to write on my heart; wisdom, truth, kindness, courage and some perseverance. I am looking for the good stuff, not the bad.

I am looking for Him to write on my heart, because I think I have been poking myself in the eye lately.

Thanks, I Needed That

This comes at a good time for me from Utmost by Chambers. The funny thing is, I jumped ahead a couple of days by accident in the devotional, but I needed this one today:

"If all you see is a shadow on the face of the Father right now, hang on to the fact that He will ultimately give you clear understanding and will fully justify Himself in everything that He allowed into your life."

"Stand firm in faith, believing that what Jesus said is true, although in the meantime you do not understand what God is doing. He has bigger issues at stake than the particular things you are asking of Him right now."

I have His promise, I am His. If I am having a tough day, I need remember that at all times. He will give me understanding, I will enter into His rest. I am His.

I am not understand all His purposes nor His timing; but I have known, now know and will always know His love.

Thank you Lord, for putting in front of me what I needed to see today, even if I was on the wrong page in the book, I was on the right one in my heart.

Semi Annual Pant Sale

Just the other day I saw a sign in a store in my town square that said "Semi Annual Pant Sale". Upon questioning, my wife informed me that no, they weren't selling one leg at a time, but pant was the proper usage. OK. I always thought it was pants. You learn something every day.

I looked it up today for some reason, in my Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (a little out of date I admit. It doesn't have words like ginormous, but it gets the job done). Sure enough, it is pant. It is a noun, an outer garment covering each leg separately and usually extending from the waist to the ankle (Hey, I said it was a bit outdated; we all know pants hardly reach the waist anymore). Pant is usually used in plural form (Hence my confusion). And it is short for pantaloons. (Glad we dropped that. Sounds like I am wearing something out of Pirates of Penzance). It is also an adjective, of or relating to pants, as in a pant leg.

So why do we call it a pair of pants? Wouldn't that mean two of those pant garments? By definition, they seem complete in the pant version and do not need to be pants, which seem to be a plural referring to a single garment. I mean two pairs of pants should be four pant or four outer garments covering each leg separately. Two pairs of pants, four pant, eight legs. Do the math yourself.

Further observation yielded the fact that there is even a word, pantisocracy, which sadly has nothing to do with pant, pants or pantaloons. (Government of the people, for the people, by the seat of their pants?)

If we have added ginormous to the dictionary (At least in the Webster new Millennium Dictionary of English), couldn't we have cleaned up this pant/pants confusion by now?

This is what happens when my Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics professor tells us to be more observant. Although this kind of observation and analysis was probably not what he had in mind?

The Discipline of True Obedience

We do have a tendency to jump into things without thinking does what I am planning to do really serve the Lord, I know I do that just about all the time. We lack a true discipline to obedience away from impulse to a reasoned approach to service to God and others.

Chambers reminds us in Utmost today that it is not Christ as Savior; but Christ as worldview, Christ as accountability standard, that we should be looking to. How many times do I think of Christ as my Savior and the Lord of my life, but then not follow through to be Christ-like in my intentionality, in my activity? Too many to bear counting.

I fall short at that level each and every day. I will continue to look for the transformation I spoke of earlier. And I will continue to try to get a little closer to His standard each and every day as I do.

The Real Culprit

I like the point Chambers makes today in Utmost: our battle is to move from a natural life to a spiritual one. The battle isn't against sin; Jesus Christ has conquered sin for us.

We often talk about the battle against sin; making it sound like there is this external foe to be beaten off with a large stick. But guess what? Jesus vanquished that enemy a long time ago.

The battle is against self: dealing with our own nature and our desire to continue sinning. It is an internal battle. And let's face it: we would rather have someone other than ourselves to blame for our failings.

So we keep blaming sin when it is self that is the real culprit.

Quick Word Study

Dog:Dogmatic:
Dogmatism:

When My River Does Not Flow

Continuing my reading of My Utmost For His Highest by Chambers today:

If you find that His life is not springing up as it should, you are to blame - something is obstructing the flow...Yet some are like the dead Sea, always receiving but never giving, because our relationship is not right with the Lord Jesus...But whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him...Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever.

It is all about me; but only at those times I have become clogged and the love of Jesus is not flowing through me to others. When I stop up the Source of my river, the water quiickly becomes stagnant and undrinkable. I cannot save up His water, but live only by letting it flow.

The Source Of My River

I underlined a few passages in my reading from Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest today. I underlined them as I read, then I went back and read just those lines.

"A river reaches places which its source never sees...God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others...A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers...The river of God overcomes all obstacles...Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ...nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source...God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river He will flow through us..."

If I am faithful to Jesus, He will be faithful to me as He will. I may never know how He will use me, but I must remain faithful nevertheless, because He will use me.

And that is enough for me. Jesus is the source of my river.

What is Truth?

As we move full speed, full time into the election cycle, I want to avoid political posts. But I am already tired of all the hoopla that is going on. I do not want to see 17 year olds dragged through the national media because of a mistake they made in life. From what I remember being 17 was tough enough without being chased like that. I do not want this election to devolve into issues of race or gender. I want it to be about positions and beliefs.

Voters should want the truth, not just their truth. I offer up some thoughts on this from a very familiar place.

"Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?""

John 18:38 (NASB)

(Hey, buddy! You are staring the Truth in the face!)

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me."

John 14:6 (NASB)

(Too bad Jesus wasn't talking to Pilate here. But it answers the question)

And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

John 8:32 (NASB)

(Seems simple enough)

I pray for everyone to seek out the truth. Do not be someone who has the truth staring you in the face but you continue to refuse accepting it.

Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief".

Mark 9:24 (NASB)

(I guess He really does help those who ask)

Turn to the Lord, ask Him for help and sort out where we need to be as a nation; what you need to be as an individual; what the church needs to be as the body of Christ. If we do not seek out the truth, we will get what we deserve. Not much of a political post, but that's all I got for now.

Transformation

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Romans 12:2 (NASB)

If you are reading the word of God, is it transforming your life? The Bible isn't a book to read for head knowledge only; it should be read for heart knowledge as well. It should make you think differently, see things differently, see others differently. If it is only an academic exercise, you have entered into a sad, sad state of affairs in your life. Because you are so close to the truth, but you are not letting it set you free.

Oswald Chambers speaks in today's devotional in My Utmost for His Highest about becoming bitter and sour as a result of hoarding God's blessings. I think the same can happen if you do not treat God's word as transformational. Bitter and sour, blimp-like. The Bible is inerrant; it is true in what it says, in the claims it makes. It is authoritative, it is the last word on any topic on which it speaks. It is inerrant in that it cannot fail to be transforming, in what it does, in the effect it has on God's people.

Be a child of God and let it transform you. As Chambers said, be the sweetest person on earth. Be salt and light.

I think of the movie, Transformers and how cool it was to see the sudden changes that would come over those robots. Don't be a robot, but be transformed. Be a transformer of others. Make sure you are a different person coming out of the Bible than you were going in.

The Return of the Dawn Cracker

When I was working, in the bad old days of pre-2008 I got up early, real early. I live in the Central Time zone and I was up before people on the East Coast. I was up before people on the West Coast dropped into REM sleep. The crew that opened my local Starbucks stopped by my house for their morning cup of coffee. I got up that early. Then I retired and I stopped early rising, tracking time and the like. I think I mentioned earlier that I no longer wear a watch.

I just started my new term at seminary, and guess what? I am a dawn cracker again. I get up early, yes as early as I used to, and do reading, spend time alone with God, go to my Friday morning men's group or just get ready to go to classes. I do it 5 days a week, just like I used to do. I fell into too easily for my comfort.

I am praying I pick up none of the other habits I had, pre-retirement. I have to be confident that God is using me differently this time around, and He will not allow any other Type A, CFO personality traits to creep in. I know He can handle the Dawn Cracker. I pray that He does.

Because the Dawn Cracker rides again.