A Man's Word...or On a Handshake

Last night my youngest son and I started to watch The Cowboys (1972), starring John Wayne. He plays the character Will Andersen, a 60 year old cattle man. The following is a transcript of the beginning of the movie. I found it really interesting.

Five cowhands on horseback ride up to the Andersen ranch, tie up their horses and walk over to a corral where Will Andersen is working on breaking a horse. After a few minutes of handling the horse, hurting his hands in the process, he ties off the horse and leaves the corral, talking to his hired hands.

Will: Well I want each of you fellas to buy yourself a $1 Ingersoll watch. You can't break them with a hammer, and won't lose more than a minute a month.

Hired Hand #1: I know we're late Mr. Andersen.

Will: You're two hours late. Work starts around here at 6:00 a.m. Goes for everybody.

H.H. #1: Yes, sir. We spent the night in Bozeman. Town's empty as a bone orchard. Everybody's lit out for the Ruby River.

Will: What for?

H.H.#1: Gold.

Will: At the Ruby? Played out years ago.

H.H.#2: No, sir. This is a new strike. About 20 miles above there. Almost to the Beaverhead. Tell him Smiley.

H.H.#1: Well, the fact is, Mr. Andersen, me and the boys kind of thought we'd like to take a ride up that way, and have ouselves a little look-see.

Will: Got 1,500 head of steer to get to Belle Fourche before it snows on me. You've hired on to move them.

H.H#1: We'd like to help you out, Mr. Andersen....

Will: Like to help me out?

H.H.#2: The others done pulled out. There's only 5 of us left.

Will: That busts it.

H.H.#3: What do you expect? You work us like dogs night and day, and Christmas too.

Will: I pay you every Saturday!

H.H.#3: There's easier money around.

H.H.#1: We'll do it this way, Mr. Andersen. We'll take a ride up there, and we'll have a look around. Two or three weeks. If it don't work out, we'll get them other fellas and we'll be right back here. You have my word on that. Don't he boys?

Will: Your word?

H.H.#1: Yes sir.

Will: Well, here's my word. Get the hell off of my spread...Now.

The hired hands kinda look around, kick at the dirt and walk off.

Will: Miserable.

Hired hands ride off, Will goes to the house where his wife is waiting. Leans down into a water trough and places his gloved hands into the water...

Will: Well, they ran clean out from under me, whole damn bunch of them.

Wife: I heard most of it. Let me see that. (removes his gloves and looks at his injured hands)

Will: A fool comes to town with a fistful of gold dust and every jackass in 50 miles around lights out after him. In my day, a man would stay with you on a handshake.

Wife: It's a different day, Will.

Will: Yeah. Well I guess I'll go over to the Bigelow place, see what I can turn up...maybe Henry...

Wife: Henry Bigelow's 60 years old Will.

Will: So am I. (He heads off to the stable to get his horse)

Ok so, this scene of the movie brought up a thought in my head. The movie itself is set in the late 1800's, and was released in 1972 in theatres. So I guess that people have been dealing with men not keeping their word for as long as time then.

I know that one of the most frustrating things that I've ever encountered was when a man didn't keep his word to me. I'm sure that like the men in this movie, those who have let me down before had legitimate reasons, just like I'm sure mine have been legitimate when I've let others down as well. The fact is, we as men, should just keep our words regardless of what the outcome.

The Bible tells us to swear to our own hurt. (Psalm 15:4) Well, that sounds an awful lot like keeping your word when you give it doesn't it? What is different about us as men today, from those here in earlier years? Do we struggle with the same issues that those men of old struggled with? Did a man like Will Andersen have to think whether or not he should keep his word above all else?

I guess this is what was stirred up in my heart the most, the thought that perhaps I just need to "Cowboy Up" and keep my word. This is something that I've been working at teaching my sons, (my daughter as well, because I think girls should keep their word too). I keep asking myself, have I kept my words to my kids? How else will they learn if they don't see me honoring and keeping my words, even when it causes me pain?

Honor my word, keep my word....do what I say, without exception. That's a tall order, but it is one that is able to be kept...Strength and Honor.......

What's that all about?

So I'm at work yesterday and today. I'm busily re-running the merchandise in my store so that I can make room for yet another shipment of new stuff that seems to come through my doors like a flood, when in comes a customer. Great, stop what I'm doing, greet them making all the usual small talk to try and engage them in a conversation, you know the basics of selling 101.

The reply is, "No thanks...I'm just looking." So I tell them to let me know if I can help them. Help them, that is what my sole desire in life is....to help others, but do I get to do that on a regular basis? No. And the reason you ask? Because I'm too busy trying to keep the store running.

Whether it is stocking shelves, the sale racks or even trying to work on my store's website, there is always something to do and it's getting me to the place where I want to scream. Now, I'm wanting customers to figure out just what they want, let me sell it to them and get them out so that I can go back to working stock, or making ads or even just trying to clean my desk. (something that hasn't been done in almost 1 1/2 years).

I'm really at my wit's end and don't know what to do about it. Hire someone to help me, yeah sounds good, not in the budget right now. Take a day off, again sounds good, but that only happens on Sundays and about once a month on Saturdays. I just really don't know what I'm gonna do....and then it hits me....just like Jimmy Stewart's character as a young boy does in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" when he sees that sign that says, "Ask dad...he'll know what to do." I think, why don't I ask the Father?

Okay, so now for those of you who are more spiritual than me, a phone call with that information would have been nice....LOL...so I think I'll post this and go ask my Dad what He thinks....because after all He knows what to do.....strength and honor........

Youngest Son Learns Life Lesson the Hard Way

Today, my youngest son learned one of life's lessons the hard way. We have kittens at our house, and they have reached the stage where they like to climb up inside of our vehicles tires and hide. So we have to count the kittens before we can leave, so as to not accidently kill any of them.

Well today, they kept getting into my truck tires, and my youngest decided to put them in the garage so that when I left for work, they would be safe. While he was doing that, he was closing the garage door (manually, because it's broken). As the door was coming down, Ameile came running out of the garage and my son let go of the garage door and reached for the kitten. When he let go of the door, it began to fall rapidly. Before anyone could do a thing the heavy garage door landed on our little kitten, killing him instantly.

My children were devastated by this, and Noah especially as he was the cause of the little kitten's death. We assured him that it wasn't his fault, that it was just a horrible accident. I went on to tell my other kids to not give him a hard time about this, as he was already feeling awful. That is just what the enemy would like to do, beat him up through the words of his siblings and parents.

I'm saddened by the loss of the kitten, but more so at the innocency of my children. Deaths of pets is a hard thing to take, even if it is the way of life. I hate that a little bit more of my children's innocence has left their hearts. It was a tough lesson for him to learn, but now I hope that he understands just how precious life is and how quickly it can dissapear.

Strength and honor.......

Could this be the secret to life?

I sell shoes for a living. Not a glamours life, but a good, honest living where I get to help people on a daily basis. Today I had a comment from one of my older male customers, one that seems to mostly come from my older customers.
He turned the boot he was looking at over, and said, "You see these grooves? These are almost impossible to get dirt out of before going into the house. Then you've got dirt all over the floor."

Now I ask you, ever in your wildest dreams did you find yourself really giving much thought to dirt in the house? I know that I really didn't. Okay, so maybe if I've sunk up to my ankles in mud, I might leave the shoes in the garage, but on a daily basis do I really spend much time thinking about how much dirt I'm going to leave on the floor? Not really, and here in is where I may have accidently stumbled upon the secret to life.

Are you ready for this? It must be a clean house. I mean if these older customers of mine who are commenting about how much dirt they are tracking into the house and are so concerned with that, then shouldn't I be as well? I mean I am, (according to my mother) suppose to respect and learn from my elders. Maybe they know something that I don't. Maybe that is the secret to a happy and successful life.

I mean, my wife would like for the house to be clean, and stay clean. Does it? No. With three kids and two adults living in the same 1800 square feet, it's an impossiblity that it ever happens with any degree of consistiency. So are we destined to not have a happy life because of the dirt that is on the floor? Absolutely not!

I would take a messy house filled with a loving family over one of perfection and coldness. Life is messy, don't believe me? Try talking to your spouse about things that you want to see changed in your relationship and see if things doesn't get messy. If we are going to engage in other's lives, then there will be times where it will be messy.

Life being messy is not a bad thing. It is where the true life is....it's the journey, not the destination. So I think that a little dirt on the floor, increases the chances that you are having a great experience along the way. So let's don't worry so much with the dirt and just sweep it up when neccessary and have a great life living in a little bit of messiness....strength and honor........

Sleeping with the enemy...or at the very least shackin' up with him

Have you ever found yourself in that place of agreeing and taking sides with the devil? You know, if you have kids and they do something stupid, you're all over them about it. Or you don't like the way things are going at your work or church and you start griping and complaining about it? I mean who's side are we on? Are we fighting for those we love, or are we helping the enemy carry out his plans against them?

My thought here today is to help us see who's side we are on. For instance, we see something that we don't like in our church, so we start to complain to a friend or two, then they tell a friend or two and so on and so on, and before long the enemy really gets a foothold and things aren't as good as they should be.

We are created in the image of God. And one thing that the Bible stresses so very much is the power of our words. We have to pay close attention to what we say, and how we say it. The enemy knows this, and truthfully has no power over us that we don't give him. So what he tries very hard to do is to get us to make agreements with him, saying things that are contradictory to what God's Word says. He learned this lesson at the hands of Jesus in the wilderness only too well. So we have to put a guard on our lips and watch with an intense awareness of what we say.

During World War II, there was a p.r. campaign going on that said, "Loose lips sink ships!" The meaning behind that was to keep people from talking about things that could help the enemy to get a foothold and destroy our men in battle. Well, in case you didn't get the memo, we're in a battle. It's a battle with satan and his cronies. The war has been won, and yes Jesus purchased for us the victory, yet the devil obviously doesn't remember that because he continues to fight against us.

The bible calls him a "roaring lion" seeking whom he may devour. When we agree with his thoughts and words, then he can devour us. But we don't have to be devoured, we can stand against him, because of what Jesus has purchased for us through His death, burial and ressurection. We have but to stand up and face down the enemy. The bible says to submit ourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee. I like that word flee...it means to run in terror. I like that, me submitted to God, resisting the devil's attacks and his words and watching him run in terror from me.

So I'm keeping a much closer eye on what I'm saying, and how I'm responding to things in my life. After all, wouldn't it be horrible to find out after this was all said and done that we had in fact been aiding the enemy in the battle instead of standing against him and opposing him at every turn? Strength and honor........and keep your sword tip up.....

Where did that come from?

You know for several years now, I've been on a search to recover my heart. I'm 44 years old, and I've been born again for over 20 years, but it's just been in the last probably 4 years that I've really been able to access the various compartments of my heart and make sense (sometimes) of them.

To seek and save that which was lost, was the mission that Jesus undertook when He came to Earth. And what was lost was man's heart and the ability to have a deep and intimate relationship with the Father God. So even though I've been saved for all these years, my heart has been pretty beat up and I'm still uncovering areas that haven't been looked into in the deep recesses that only God and I know. And as John Eldredge said in his latest book Walking with God, sometimes God has to sneak up on us and bring us to those places in our heart.

One of those places showed up this morning. My first customer of the day was a refund. A shoe that was purchased 3 months ago, brought back for a refund. Now, my first inclination was to dismiss this customer entirely because he was bringing back the merchandise. I concluded the transaction, with my best "thank you" face, then went to put the shoes back in stock. It was at this point that I really got the most upset.

I found myself muttering and complaining about this guy. Talking to myself, and griping. About 10 steps towards the rack, I stopped and asked myself, "Whoa, where's this coming from?" I also asked the Lord where that was coming from. I mean why can I be super nice when someone is buying something, then not very nice if they bring it back? What's going on in my heart here Father?

This has been an area that I've struggled with for a long many years, probably as long as I've been selling shoes. Now that I think about it, I have been getting torqued about this since I can remember. What is going on here Lord? I heard Him say in my heart that this upsets me because I really don't trust Him like I should. I don't know maybe I feel as if someone returning merchandise for whatever reason is like a report card on how I'm doing. Okay, so where did that come from Father?

So as you can see, there is a lot of unpacking to do here and I'm sure that I'll not figure it all out in a day. It may take a week, month heck even a year or so, who knows? I just know that it is an area that needs attention, and with the Father at my side I will make it.

So I guess my prayer now is; "Thanks Lord for sneaking up on me, and exposing this part of my heart that is not fully holy like You would like it to be. Father me through this time, and help me to see any agreements that I've made that have hindered me in having a fully restored heart in this place. Make me holy, like You are holy in Jesus Name. Amen."

Hang with me folks, the ride is about to get bumpy....strength and honor.....

Children...or Learning Patience God's Way

Patience...it's a word that I'm becoming very familiar with lately. And it's not as if I woke one morning very spiritual and decided that I should start my journey with the Father about learing it either. No more realistically, it was that I have been thrust into this just by being alive and having three children living under my roof, all of whom have entered into that season of life known as the teenage years. (truth be told, my youngest is not quite 12, but is a teenager in every aspect except the actual number of years)

Now don't get me wrong, I love my children and would gladly give my life for each and every one of them. (please don't tell them that, they may take me up on it) It just seems that the more I try to teach them, the more that I realize where the poser is in me. You know the poser, that part of each of us that acts like we have it all together, when in actuality we are just hoping that no one finds out we don't, and exposes us. We all have one, and that is the part of us that we are told to die to daily.

I find that the more I correct my children in the every day aspects of life, the more correction that I need in myself. Maybe when discipling takes place, this is what parents mean when they tell their children, "This is going to hurt me a whole lot more than it will you." I know that as I'm instrucing my children in the ways that they should go, it seems that my Heavenly Father is instructing me as well.

This has brought one area of patience to my life...and that is to be more patient with my children. I have been thinking alot about how the Father corrects me, and how that makes me feel. You see when God corrects us, what He has in mind is our best interests. He wants the best for us, so when we are in an area that is in need of correction, whatever He does He is doing for our benefit.

What that has taught me, is to ask myself, "What is this going to do to my sons or daughter when I correct them?" Will the correction bring, understanding and peace, or will it bring judgement and division? God has never once corrected me and I felt like I was ever being judged for my actions. On the contrary, what I have always felt was that I was loved after it was over. Now, in all honesty I can't always say that my children would answer that way concerning me when I correct them.

I know that on more than one occasion I've been the judgemental jerk who used his tongue to lash them till they were beaten down. (something I'm not proud of, and have made ammends to each of my children for as well) What I have learned is that whenever I verbally attack my kids like that, it is almost as if I'm agreeing with the enemy about what he is telling them already. Now how is that for a Christian father? Aligning myself with the enemy of my children, all in the name of bringing them up into a better walk with Christ.

The enemy would like nothing better than for us to help him with his game. I have had to see that for what it's worth, repent of ever doing that to my children and break the agreements that I've made with the enemy over my children and then make new agreements with the Father about them. You make agreements with the Father by saying what His Word says about your kids. And we need to do that, where they can actually hear it....include them in our time of prayer as often as possible, and with teenagers it can get tough to find the time.

The one thing that I will say about having 3 teenagers in the house, is that I never lack for the opportunity to learn about patience. No matter what is going on, I always make time for my kids to tell me about their day and then speak positive things into their hearts. They have after all been entrusted to me by the Father, and that is a huge responsibility that I don't take lightly. Dads, love your kids and show them often....before you know it they will be leaving the house and you'll be wishing you had the opportunity to tell them more....strength and honor.....

Heaven Bound?

You know one day I was talking with some friends, and one of them said something along the lines of, "Won't it be great when we get to Heaven?" Then we all began to talk about what we knew of Heaven, and how it will definitely be a great place to hang out.

As I pondered the conversation later that week, I began to think about how over the years that whenever I would tell people about Jesus, and talk to them of the salvation that He offers, I would always relay the information about Heaven and Hell. It would usually go something like this, "Don't you want to go to Heaven instead of Hell? If you do, then all you have to do is pray this prayer and accept Jesus, then you will be Heaven bound." Then I would lead them in the sinner's prayer, and begin to rejoice that another lost soul was bound for Heaven.

I want to say right here and now, "I'm sorry that I've ever done that." I can almost hear you shouting, "What?!?" Let me explain what I mean...I'm sorry that I've ever cheapened the Gospel by leading people to believe that getting saved was for the sole benefit of going to Heaven...only.

You see, in Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus is saying that His purpose for coming to the Earth is to seek and save "that" which was lost. Well, we have to ask ourselves here, what was lost? Man's heart, and ability to have a relationship with the Father God. So then, the whole purpose for Jesus coming to Earth, was to bring us back into relationship with the Father.

When I think about how God, the maker of Heaven and Earth, wants to have a personal relationship with me, well I've got to tell you that that just about blows my mind. I could maybe understand that He knows who I am, and maybe has even kind of spent a few hours mapping out my life’s course, but that He wants to spend time with me every day? That takes some time to wrap your brain around.

I guess that in all reality, we really are Heaven bound if we've accepted Jesus offer (found in Romans 10:9-10), but what are we waiting for? I mean God the Father of all creation wants to have a relationship with us right now. I don’t know about you, but for me…I’m gonna get busy building my relationship with Him now, instead of waiting till I get to Heaven…..strength and honor……….

What's in my heart?

The sun is shining outside, but what is in my heart? Is it the sunshine, or clouds? Do I choose to be positive or negative today? After all, that is the one thing that God has given each of us isn't it, the power of choice?

As I open my shoe store today, what will my first customer be like? Will I be helpful to them, or will I choose to be self-absorbed to the point where I'm no help at all? The choice is mine. (It is actually 3 hours after I opened my store, and I chose to help my customers)

So while I could do like that Carrie Underwood song "Jesus Take the Wheel" says, "Jesus take the wheel..." and leave it all up to Him, that is not what I see written in the Bible. It says that I have the power of life and death in my tongue. I have the power of life and death, not Jesus has the power of life and death. So that tells me that I have a part to play in this day to day story that is my life.

Besides, if I let Jesus take the wheel so to speak, and things don't work out so well in my day, it sets me up to believe that God's heart towards me is possibly not good. But if I take ownership of how my day is going to be, then my walk with the Father God is good no matter what kind of day I have.

Just some thoughts....so strength and honor....

Grey Days in the Kingdom

As followers of Christ, we have an incredible Father who loves us very much. We have access to Him anytime that we need Him, and He has provided for everything we may ever have need of. He knows our beginning from our end, and only has good for us.

Okay, so if that's the case why is it that some times I feel that I'm living in grey days in His Kingdom? I pray, but the words seem to just fall back to earth. I read God's Word but it seems to leave as quickly as it enters into my thoughts. I speak words of love and affection to my Father, yet He seems elusive. What's that all about?

I think I found the answer, and in the most unlikely of places, The Lord of the Rings. In the great battle that took place on the Pelanor fields, before Sauron's troops could lay seige to the capitol city of Minas Tirith he had to take Osgiliath. And before that could be achieved, he had to cover the land with a haze to blot out the sun. After all, most of his evil minions couldn't move in the daylight. It was here that I found the truth of this greyness.

The enemy that we face, the devil, you remember that guy that goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Well his works are dark, and it seems to me that these grey days of the Kingdom might just be him at work trying to block out the "Son" Jesus. If he can keep the light of the glorious Gospel from shining, then his demons have room to manuever.

So then, we see the enemy at work, what are we to do? It is at this point we must make our stand. We have to cover ourselves in the blood of Jesus, dress ourselves in the armour of God and draw our sword and charge the fields like the Rohirram charged Pelanor fields. Don't wait for the enemy to come you, charge the fields take the battle to him and you will see the grey days of the Kingdom fade into the glorious light of our Lord and Saviour.

Strength and honor.....

Is it strange that I enjoy being alone?

It is now just about time for me to go home, pick up my oldest son and race off to Sand Springs to take him to Praise & Worship practice. It will be a couple of hours of waiting and reading a book. Truth be told, it is something that I actually look forward to, because it gives me an hour or so to just be by myself, something that happens less and less now that my three children are growing up. Don't get me wrong, having a family is an awesome thing, and something that I would never change, but I really do enjoy my time alone with my thoughts.

I just got the latest book by John Eldredge, "Walking with God" www.walkingwithgod.net and it is phenominal. It is really an awesome read, and I have decided after finishing it yesterday morning that I would start reading it again and working in the study guide. So tonight will find me with my book, study guide and journal and a cup of coffee....and we'll see where that takes me. I'm really enjoying my conversations with God, so tonight's alone time probably won't really be alone.

Movie Soundtracks....The Motion Of My Life

What music inspires you? For me, it's always been movie soundtracks. Not the kind of soundtracks that use contemporary music, but the actual movie scores. There is something about all those instruments blending together that just sets my creative juices flowing.

For the last few weeks, I've been praying a prayer that I got on CD from the Ransomed Heart Ministries. www.ransomedheart.com It's called the "Morning Prayer", and it really helps to center me in the knowledge of who I am in Christ, and what I can do in Christ for the day. I usually listen to it on my Oakley "Thumps" http://oakley.com/pd/4685/15319 while I'm on my way to work . Right after the Morning Prayer finishes playing on my Thumps there is a song from Pirates of the Caribbean ~ At World's End soundtrack called "Up is Down".

There is something about this song that makes me want to rise up and face the day with a renewed sense of vigor. The music playing makes me want to draw my sword and face down the enemies that would assail my heart. Those foul spirits that want to steal my joy and cause my potential in Christ to not be at it's fullest.

You know those spirits, those little foxes that do nothing but try and spoil the vine so to speak. The thoughts that come throughout the day saying, "What you're doing doesn't matter." "You'll never be able to accomplish what Jesus wants you to." "Why would anyone want to be your friend?" Those lies, that while they may seem true at the moment, in the Light of the Gospel we know are really just that....lies.

While there is probably nothing super spiritual in listening to soundtracks, they do tend to motivate me to a better place in Christ, and that I guess is not all that bad....so, if you don't own any soundtracks, may I suggest you go out and buy some and see what they stir up in you.

Remember, fight against the darkness, it's our destiny to work with Jesus to destroy the works of the enemy, and bring deliverance to the captive hearts....and in the words of a great leader Leonidas, "Strength and Honor"!