Every now and then you have to take a break from stuff. Well, I’m taking a break from blogging. I’ll be back soon. Take care. Trace

What did you think? Comments are welcome…

I started blogging on my personal life in 2006 at tracekuhn.com. I was using a simple blog platform and hosting it on my personal server (an old laptop set up in a spare bedroom). My adventure didn’t last long and I eventually lost all of my posts when the old laptop finally quit working.

So in early 2008 I purchased mark135.com and started over. But my plan was different. I was hoping to get a group of guys to read a chapter of the Bible and then all post their thoughts. My idea was that through comments and feedback, we would keep each other accountable and it would be a great learning tool/accountability group.

As it turned out, God had a different plan and I ended up as the sole blogger. Several guys were interested, but not one actually posted anything. (BTW, I haven’t given up on that idea as I felt like God was calling me to mark135.com. So I will just let is sit for now and then see what happens).

So today is moving day. Since I ended up posting personal stuff at mark135.com, I thought I should shut that down and bring the personal blog back home.

So from this day forward, you can read my random thoughts as I pursue Christ and live on the fine line.

P.S. Don’t forget to click on the RSS feed button & update your blog reader. Thanks!

Here’s an incredibly cool story of how social networking can be used for good. It is also a story about passion and determination…qualities the Body needs to embrace.

Shaun King is a “friend” of mine on twitter. We joke and follow along with our daily lives. I know more about his wife’s pregnancy and eating habits than I do about members of my family!

The Lord laid on Shaun’s heart the desire to help kids at a school with uniforms and toys for Christmas. It was a lofty goal for a “yet to be launched” church to raise $20K+ for the items. So to help reach his goal of buying uniforms and toys for 500 needy children this holiday season, he took his crusade to cyberspace.

Shaun used twitter, facebook, myspace and a couple of websites to “share his story.” He didn’t pester, he didn’t beg (well, maybe a little towards the end), but he used the tools to allow everyone to follow the progress. Someone volunteered to create the websites and he used paypal to collect the funds.
ing his start-up church this month and I’m excited that I’ll be able to follow along with twitter. If you want to follow along too, click here.

Front Page of the Atlanta Journal Constitution

Shaun’s Blog

Courageous Church’s Website

I’ve been asked this several times by friends and family.

Here’s the typical response when I explain Twitter.

1. Blank Stare
2. Scrunched up face and a question, “huh?” or “why?”
3. Muttering of something along the lines of “your stupid.”
4. End of conversation.

Actually, those that have the most trouble understanding the purpose of Twitter are non-twittering, non-facebooking, non-online types of people.

• They think it is an invasion of privacy.
• They think it is a waste of time.
• They don’t understand what ‘follow’ means. “Are they physically following you?”

The funny thing about this is that THOSE people will never read this blog. They won’t ever see my explanation because they’re not blog readers or aware of social networking.

So what is Twitter?

Microblogging is a form of blogging that allows users to write short (140 characters) updates and publish them to be viewed by anyone or by members of a niche social group.

Twitter is a neat microblogging application that helps define your niche social group by allowing your friends, fans or interested parties to “follow” you, meaning your updates are shown on their twitter page.

Likewise, you can “follow” your friends, or people you are fans of, or people you are interested in.

Through Twitter, you can send text updates, as well as links to video, pictures, whatever. Think of it as “what are you doing now?”

Okay, I get the what…but why?

For me, Twitter gives me insight into people’s lives. We all see people from a distance, but only a few get to see people close up. Twitter bridges that gap in 140 characters, pictures and video.

Through these microblogging friendships, I can

• Ask advice or get directions from peers.
• Offer information or resources.
• Learn the “next new thing” from my peers.
• Promote my interests or projects easily.

It is a channel of discovery, sites, breaking news, trends, etc. I love being close to the action and twitter takes me to the heart of it.

Okay. Now I have the what and the why…but who are you following?

Mostly, I follow pastors and people associated with churches from around the US. These people are on the cutting edge of ministry. They are reaching people for Jesus and I want to know how they are doing it. Twitter makes it possible.

I’m also a following fan. Mark Lee from Third Day, Max Lucado, Mark Hall from Casting Crowns, Natalie Grant, etc. It is entertaining to see their tweets, look at their pictures, videos, etc.

Just a few weeks ago I learned through Twitter that Mercy Me is showing their concert series online. My invitation came through Twitter and I was able to watch a live concert from my living room. How cool is that!?!

Lastly, I follow people in my line of work. Realtors, bankers, and people of interest in the financial world. I learn tons from these folks…all in 140 characters or less.

But that is just me. You can follow anyone with similar interests of your own and I promise you they are on there. Homeschoolers, stay at home moms, working moms, small business, big business, CEO’s, you name it and they are there.

So have fun with it…and Twitter.

P.S. Don’t forget to follow me at twitter.com/tracek .

Okay, so this is my first holiday season as a twitterer… And I’m curious. Is is acceptable to use xmas in text and twitter when you refer to Christmas?

Does the “Keep Christ in Christmas” bumper sticker apply to twitter and text messaging?

Send this link to everyone one you know. Let’s get some feedback and figure it out.

Thanks!

This short psalm gives us David’s principles for living a life that glorifies God and allows us to accomplish God’s work while we are on earth.

Honesty

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. Ps 131:1

We have to accept ourselves and who we are in Christ. Once we can do this, then the way others view us becomes less important. It is how Jesus sees you that makes a difference. We spend SO much time trying to impress others. This gets in the way of the impression we should be making for Christ. Forget about all that other stuff. Keep the main thing, the main thing.

Let go of the dishonest views of yourself and grab hold of the way Jesus sees you. He loves you the way you are right now. He will love you no more or no less if you wear the right clothes, or say the right things or drive the right car. He Loves you!

Humility

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. Ps 131:2

It is time to humble ourselves and yield to God’s plan for our life. What is it that God is calling you to do? It is time to get after it. How long can you sit comfortably resisting His calling in your life? Listen, pray and then put it into action.

God is calling us to be spiritually and emotionally mature. It is about time we step up and humbly accept His will for our lives.

Hope

O Israel, hope in the Lord From this time forth and forever. Ps 131:3

The child wants things to remain as they are. safe. secure. They have a routine and everything is known to them. But the mother has other plans. She knows that for the child’s next phase of life, they need to be weaned. The child resists, but mom knows best!

We are the same way. When everything is comfortable, then there is no reason to do anything different. But God in His wisdom, has a way of shaking us loose and allowing us to move forward.

When we move forward, this verse reminds us to have hope. We have hope from this day forward. Sure, it will be challenging and we’ll look back. Sometimes wishing we could go back to that comfort. But it isn’t available anymore. Now there is only the future and we must hope in that day.

Martin Luther said in life there is only “this day and that day.”

“this day” refers to today.
“that day” refers to the day we’ll see Christ face to face.

So let’s live “this day” with all of the honesty, humility and hope we can muster. God will provide the rest and will do so until “that day” comes.

Jesus makes an incredible promise here. He says (paraphrasing) that if you believe in Him, you will be able to do even greater things than He, because He is going to the Father. Wow.

We have the potential, according to this promise, to do the things that Jesus did and even greater things are possible.

It all begins with prayer. In v. 13 Jesus says, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.”

The prayer is a partnership or collaboration between You, Jesus and the Father.

Imagine the power of prayer when you are collaborating with God the Father.

Credit to Rick Richardson in Reimagining Evangelism.

This election season which has dominated the cultural conversation for many months has been particularly insightful regarding the incessant gospel thirst that abides deep in the heart of the men and women who bear God’s image. Without endorsing or maligning either political party or their respective presidential candidates, I am hopeful that a few insights from the recent election season are of help, particularly to younger evangelicals.

First, people are longing for a savior who will atone for their sins. In this election, people thirst for a savior who will atone for their economic sins of buying things they did not need with money they did not have. The result is a mountain of credit debt they cannot pay and a desperate yearning that somehow a new president will save them from economic hell.

Second, people are longing for a king who will keep them safe from terror in his kingdom. In the Old Testament the concept of a peaceable kingdom is marked by the word shalom. In shalom there is not only the absence of sin, war, strife, and suffering but also the presence of love, peace, harmony, and health. And, this thirst for shalom is so parched that every election people cannot help but naively believe that if their candidate simply wins shalom is sure to come despite sin and the curse.

The bottom line is obvious to those with gospel eyes. People are longing for Jesus, and tragically left voting for mere presidential candidates. For those whose candidate wins today there will be some months of groundless euphoric faith in that candidate and the atoning salvation that their kingdom will bring. But, in time, their supporters will see that no matter who wins the presidency, they are mere mortals prone to sin, folly, and self-interest just like all the other sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. To help extend naïve false hope as long as possible, a great enemy will be named and demonized as the one who is hindering all of the progress to atone for our sins and usher in our kingdom. If the Democrats win it will be the rich, and if the Republicans win it will be the terrorists. This diversionary trick is as old as Eve who blamed her sin on Satan rather than repenting. The lie is that it’s always someone else’s fault and we’re always the victim of sinners and never the sinner.

Speaking of repentance, sadly, no matter who wins there will be no call to personal repentance of our own personal sins which contributes to cultural suffering and decline such as our pride, gluttony, covetousness, greed, indebtedness, self-righteousness, perversion, and laziness. And, in four years we’ll do it all again and pretend that this time things will be different. Four years after that, we’ll do it yet again. And, we’ll continue driving around this cul de sac until Jesus returns, sets up his throne, and puts an end to folly once and for all.

In the meantime, I would encourage all preachers to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and repentance of personal sin. He alone can truly atone for our sins. He alone can deliver us from a real hell. He alone is our sinless and great King. And, he alone has a Shalom kingdom to offer.

Lastly, for those preachers who have gotten sidetracked for the cause of a false king and a false kingdom by making too much of the election and too little of Jesus, today is a good day to practice repentance in preparation to preach it on Sunday. Just give it some time. The thirst will remain that only Jesus can quench. So, we’ve still got work to do….until we see King Jesus and voting is done once and for all.

Thank you Mark Driscoll for your words today.

After the feast of the Jews, Jesus goes to Jerusalem. While there he comes to a pool. This apparently was not a regular pool, but a special pool where people could get healed. In v.4 it says that an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons and “stirred” the water. So after the water is stirred, there is apparently a race to the water. First one in gets healed.

Stop and think about this scene. The magnitude of the moment and the incredible drama taking place. There are hundreds (a multitude) of people gathered around the body of water watching and waiting. The waters are stirred and there’s a crazy rush towards the pool. In and you win. Too slow and you lose. Wow.

So along comes Jesus. He walks up to this scene and is heading towards the edge of the pool. But with a multitude of the lame and sick, Jesus likely had to make an awkward step by step path to get there.

This is the part that I’ve missed every other time I’ve read these verses. Jesus walked past lots of people. Lots that deserved to be healed. People that needed to be healed. People who were sick, blind, lame and withered. But there is no record of Jesus healing those people.

Jesus, in v.5-9, identifies a single man who had been by the pool for 38 years, heals him and sets him free. In v.8 Jesus says, “Arise, take up your pallet, and walk.”

Why did Jesus choose that one man and not the others?

What was the selection criteria Jesus used for healing?

Think about this in terms of today.

Sometimes you hear about someone with cancer or some challenging circumstance. They are about to have major surgery. But right before the operation they take one more x-ray or whatever and all of the sudden the person is cancer free or disease free. The family is praising God for a miracle.

That miracle is the guy that has been sitting there for 38 years. That’s the guy that Jesus sets free. But that is not the norm.

On the other hand, most of the time the people we know are the multitudes of the sick, blind, lame and withered that do not get healed. They are the ones who do not realize the miracle of instant healing. I’m not saying that God is not involved. He is sovereign and in control. For unexplainable reasons, the miracle of instant healing does not take place.

This is an incredible story about the randomness to life. We can’t explain everything that happens around us. We can’t fill in the blanks and know how God works. It would be a scary world if we could, because in essence it would make us God, right?

I’m thankful today that I do not need to fully understand God’s love to trust it. I’m thankful that God is sovereign and His love never fails.

What do you think about God’s “random” acts of kindness in the book of John?