The Way It Is Supposed To Be...

Listen well, for I shall tell you of wonderful news...It was a high-scoring game...exciting...filled with all the twists...and I was there. But the end speaks well for the future of Colorado football: 65 - 51, with the mighty Buffaloes standing victoriously upon the vanquished necks of the Boys of Corn. We're going bowling, baby, while the Corneaters stay home for the holidays. Man, I hate Nebraska! Ralphie rules. This is the way it is supposed to be...

Ginormous Inflatable Scooby-doo

As I sit here watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, I can't believe how lame we are sometimes. Is it really all about a giant inflatable Scooby-doo and every marketer in the book trying to get us to spend our money on their products? In a throwback to traditional stuff, they even had some "pilgrims" dressed up in the garb we think they looked like. Then, we've been assailed with Dolly Parton and some tights-wearing, roller-skate moving people acting out the "Xanadu" show. Weird. What's up with all this? Where has the original reflection gone, the thankfulness presented by people to God for his goodness in their lives? What a shame to lose this:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

His love endures forever...

"What can I offer the Lord for all he has done for me?"

Psalm 116:12

May God continue to bless you and sustain you through this coming year. Give thanks where it is due...

Lookin' Up,

Pastarod

On Burritos...

I think one of the best lunches around Spokane is the Tecate Grill's Colorado Steak Burrito. For $6.99 one can sit down to all-you-can-eat chips and dip, followed by a caliente plate carrying a rockin' good delight of Mexican carne goodness. Couple it with a Coke or Pepsi with lots of fresh lime and I'm fairly convinced you will experience a truly surreal culinary experience. Try it. Better yet, call me to join you, and we'll try it together. Especially if you pay. Could there actually be a better way to spend your lunch?

Life Can Be Difficult...

It's common to think that it's very difficult to be a real Christian...one who sincerely and humbly follows after Christ, seeking to know him and make him known to others. And for sure, if one is genuine about following the Way of Christ, it is indeed a real challenge.

But it also seems to me that this isn't the whole truth, for there is a true cost to not being a real Christian, too. You see, many misguidedly think it's easy to live one's life for themselves but difficult to live for Christ. But as Soren Kierkegaard challenged:

"It costs a man just as much or even more to go to hell than to come to heaven. Narrow, exceedingly narrow is the way to perdition."

I think Kierkegaard's got a good point - the cost is real either way. To depart from the Christ-life is to choose a life of crushing burdens, failures and disappointments, a life caught in the pain of endless problems without depth of meaning or resolution. On the other hand, the cost of following Christ will take all that we have, but it's actually a small price to pay compared to those who don't accept Christ's invitation to real life.

In the end, life can be difficult either way...so why not choose Christ and find real life? What do YOU think?

Lookin' Up,
Pastarod

I think I'm growing up...

What's it like to grow up, to realize one is becoming something? I look around at the way my life is going and I am astounded...

• I am forty now. Where is life going? I'm not old (though my kids seem to think so!), but I'm no longer young. My knees ache already - I thought that was for people much older than me. It feels like halftime of a big game...much has been accomplished, but there's only so much time to push toward the end.
• My oldest daughter is now in high school. I drop her off at school and I feel both excited for her as she's experiencing so much, and I feel tentative at the wounds she may experience. My youngest daughter is in first grade. There's such a span there...it won't be long before I start marrying them off.
• God is more real to me now than ever before, but there's so much growing with Him yet to do. I feel like Philip, one of Jesus' followers, who asked Jesus to "show them the Father." Jesus' response: "Philip, don't you even know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you?"

Maybe you feel the same? I don't know. But the more I think about it, the more I hope I'm growing up...

Lookin' Up, Pastarod

In the beginning...

Hello Friends,
Welcome to my new blog! I've been wanting to get this thing going for over a year now, but it's seemed there has always been something more important. Well, now here we are...thanks for visiting. I hope, over time, to share with you a journey of sorts...thoughts about the "why's" of life, reflections on a walk with God, bits and pieces on the wonder and agony of the journey. Keep checking in...
Lookin' Up,
Pastarod