Mike & Maria's wedding

It was a very special day for me. It was the first time one of my kids got married, so that in it self is special. But to sit there so close watching two people committing themselves to each other for life, is very special. Remembering that day some 29 years ago - I was only 20 years old. It rained that day too, but we were inside ;-) There are many things I would do different over the many years of marriage. The biggest difference would be how I used my time. Much too much time was at work while my kids were small. Why do so many men do that?

So Mike my advise to you: Put first your wife and to come your children before your work. Then in 29 years you will not regret you did not use more time with them!

Mike thank you for letting me be next to you as you made one of your biggest commitment in your life.

March 22, 2008 my Father die.

My dad was a quite man, so when he said something we always listened. He had a great sense of humor, always ready with a good clean joke. And he loved his family.

I am number 8 of 9 kids even know with all these kids he took time to go to our football games or what ever we did and with 7 boys there was a lot of games to go to.

If I really think about it there were times that I was mad at him, but luckily I best remember the good times with him. He was a great father and I will miss him greatly.

Jerome Thomas Stewart, my Dad. 

I'm trying out podcasting. So to the upper right of this blog I have a podcast. This one "Thinking out loud" I made very quick more out of not really knowing what to say and on the other hand having so much to say, but not knowing where and how to start. I hope I get better.

I heard Dean Sherman say this in his teaching on "Love, Sex and Relationships" there is a book too - a must read if you ask me.
Like he said, every problem relates to something wrong in a relationship somewhere. That I think too much of myself first or too highly about myself, I deserve this or that. Not loving my neighbour as I love myself, but putting myself first!
So,
Problems in my marriage, then someone(s) is thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to.
Problems with my kids, then someone(s) is thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to.
Problems at my work, then someone(s) is thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to.
Problems in my church, then someone(s) is thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to.
Problems in my city, then someone(s) is thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to.
Problems in my country, then someone(s) is thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to.
Problems in my world, then someone(s) is thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to.

Is this too easy? well yes! That's what's so frustrating about it. If I just start loving others as myself. treating people the way I would like them to treat me - what a difference. Think if everyone did that - wow!
But that is not the way life is - why not?

How important are relationships with other people? I was reading in the Bible Mat. 5:23-25. Something I have read many times before, but this time something new!
It says that if you come with a gift to God and you know there is someone that is mad at you, then you should leave your gift and go to that person and make it right. So for God your relationships with others is more important than any gift you might have for Him. That includes being a pastor or missionary. If my relationship with my wife is bad, then God does not care about all the "great" things I think I am doing for Him.

Isaiah talks about what true fasting is in Gods eyes. It's "loose the chains of injustice...set the oppressed free....share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter... clothe the naked".
It's all about me helping others not doing some religious thing that "looks good" like fasting.

I was just reading about how in Australia young people used sms's to rally people together against Muslims. It seems that SMS's are used in a lot of different ways to gather people together to protest or fight against something. What about gathering people together to do something good. In bigger cities have a SMS happening by taking food out to the homeless or cleaning up some part of a city that need a good cleaning!

There must be someway to use SMS to do something good instead of beating up Muslims!

It's a terrible thing that happen in London this week.
I keep asking myself, why do they do it. Why innocent people? Why not the military or government. Why normal people?
Then I think, do we really understand what the problem is? I know I don't, but I want to. I want to walk in their shoes, know what it is they feel. They must have family, friends, loved ones like I do. There must be more to the story.

Reading Matt 23 where Jesus is really after the Pharisees. I thought those Pharisees must really be a bad bunch of people, hypocrites all of them. But when I really look at what Jesus was saying about them, I could see myself and the church. What was it that those Pharisees were doing that was so bad!?!
looking holy - say long prayers - going to "church" - zealous - doing all the right things - read, know & love the Bible - witnessing.
Dosn't that sound like a good local church and what you want to be like? Well it does to me. Then why were they so bad? They did not love. 1 Cor.13. all over again. Why don't we get it? Why don't I get it??

The more I think about it the more I see how fundamental it is. If our relationships are not right almost everything else will fall apart.

I've been listening to Levitical. A lot of rules of different kinds, then in chapter 19 some very practical stuff.

"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident; I am the Lord your God." verses 9 & 10
We talk about how to help the poor, here God give an example.

"You must not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind; I am the Lord." verse 14
What about the handicap people, God thinks of them too.

"love your neighbor as yourself" last part of verse 18.
Here the verse we thought was only in the New Testament. Our focus to love others! We get this one right we get them all right.

Another thing is, almost after every command in this chapter it ends with "I am the Lord" It's like God is saying "do this, I am the Lord, it's what I would do"
It is not hard, not a big pressure, just love people, help them out, that's all.

There is a deep truth in U2's "how to dismantle an atomic bomb".
When I hear and think about the words from the CD. What they seem to be saying is, if we have love to others, then the atomic bomb WILL be dismantled!
Again it's all about relationships!!
So, what is war?
It's bad relationships