Continuation of what I am for

1. I'm for the Bible as our standard
2. I'm for sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, soli Deo gloria
3. I'm for TULIP
4. I'm for Bible studies, alone, assembled, free, formed, explosive and extended
5. I'm for discipling and being discipled
6. I'm for Leaders
7. I'm for Mentors
8. I'm for Prayer
9. I'm for pouring out my soul to God
10. I'm for fasting
11. I'm for Home School, Home schoolers and pretty much anyone that teach their Kids life lessons and character instead of letting their peers or people they don't know do it
12. I'm for having my kids hang out with people that are much older than them
13. I'm for stretching my kids, spiritually, emotionally, physically and mentally
14. I'm for massage therapists like my cousin James
15. I'm for tools, usefull ones
16. I'm for small simple homes even if they are too small
17. I'm for wood, any kind of wood
18. I'm for minimalism
19. I'm for the Learning, history and discovery channel
20. I'm for the news
21. I'm for talk radio about the latest issues on peoples minds
22. I'm for downloading sermons onto my MP3
23. I'm for mortgages

What I am for!

It's so easy to say the things that we are often against. Over the next couple of blogs I'm going to tell some of the things that I am for;

1. I'm for Loving Jesus with my whole heart, mind and soul
2. I'm for showing that by loving my wife.
3. I'm for sending the kids to bed early
4. I'm for being a dad to a bunch of kids, bunches
5. I'm for systematic theology that actually makes sense
6. I'm for spreading the gospel to all men, rich, poor black white even when other people tell me I'm casting my pearls before swine.
7. I'm for eating my wife's awesome food
8. I'm for watching my boys wrestle
9. I'm for celebrating, and celebrating hard
10. I'm for talking politics
11. I'm for watching, hearing or reading about things that have already happened and learning from them
12. Oh yeah, I'm for LEARNING
13. I'm for reading books, lots of books, commentaries, encyclopedias, novels, biographies and non-fiction.
14. I'm for Microsoft Excel
15. I'm for Ford trucks, especially Rangers
16. I'm for Calvinists and Arminians
17. I'm for Mennonites, Baptists, Methodists, Fundementalists, Reformers and anything Orthodox.
18. I'm for John Piper, Mark Driscoll, George Krahn, Jake Klassen, Neil Siemens, John Klassen Sr and Albert N Martin.
19. I'm for beef....Steak, Hamburger and Ribs
20. I'm for Fish, Chicken, pork and Bacon
21. I'm for Jeans and being a hatless Cowboy
22. I'm for songs that don't make me think I'm being punished or lost in a forbidden jungle
23. I'm for communion...weekly, daily and even at every moment
24. I'm for real wine cause I don't think I'm holier than Jesus.
25. I'm for homemade buns, right out of the oven

That's my first list...I still think I missed some things.

Manure

It seems to me that alot of the things that we go through in our lives-you know the stuff we think is too difficult to handle, the things that make us cry, the things that make us look to heaven and say curse you God-can be traced back to the Gospel of Luke and be called "Manure"


Luk 13:6-9 (esv) And he (Jesus) told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. (7) And he said to the vinedresser, 'Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?' (8) And he answered him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. (9) Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

I look back now and I see all those circumstances that I shed so many tears for, those things that I hated with the intesity of white nuckles, Were manure. Those circumstances stunk so much it stung my eyes. They stunk so much I wanted to roll up the windows and hit the gas. Now I look back and I see that big pile of "Dung", and say "wow, what a beautiful, wonderful amazing thing". That gooey gold that I hated so much is now something that was the rich nutrients that I so desparately needed to make me who I am right now.

The servant dug out all of the soil and replaced it with twice as much manure. If it had not been for that manure the fruit that I am feeling right now would not be so tender, zesty, juicy and lusterous as it is to me right now.

I pray that the servant loads manure on you like he did to me. Maybe your trying to roll up the window, and hit the gas at this very moment. I am praying that you will come out of this circumstance and bear much fruit and are not cut down.

Amen