tracekuhn.comRandom thoughts of a Christ follower

I can’t believe it has been 12 days since my last post. Where does the time go?

The honest answer is weak, but true. I’ve been working too much and haven’t had time to write anything. Although the economy is a horrible mess, the mortgage refinance market is smoking hot. Mortgage rates are extremely low and lots of people want to refinance their home. So I’ve been busy helping those people and too busy to blog.

But I need to blog. It has become part of who I am. It is part of my story. I need the release, I need the interaction. Most of all, this is part of the mission God has called me to. I’m not a natural writer, so I do this because of God’s prompting. This is truly not about me…but about Him!

So once again, like the kid who walks forward once a month to “rededicate himself to the Lord,” I am refocusing and rededicating myself to writing and blogging. But I can’t think that my rededication alone will allow me to write five posts or seven posts per week.

Setting unrealistic goals is part of my story. I tend to set the bar high and when I realize my goal is impossible, I give up and quit. So I’d like to make my goal attainable. I plan to post 3 times a week. That gives me some outs and some free passes, but still gives me something to focus on. Look at my history over the last 12 days and you’ll see this isn’t a slam dunk! Lord, help me!

See, that wasn’t so hard. One down and two more to do this week. May God receive the glory!

When was the last time your spouse gave you a compliment in front of other people?

How did it make you feel?

I know for me it is awesome. I’m on cloud nine for the rest of the day. My chest bows up a little bit and I walk in confidence knowing my wife loves me enough to express it verbally in public. Oh, yea!

How about you? When was the last time you praised your spouse in public? Been that long, eh?

Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying: “Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.” Proverbs 31:28-29

My wife is a gift from God. She was made to compliment and complete me, as I am to her. She’s to be treasured and cherished. She should be praised in public and private.

I’ve been so encouraged by following Michael Hyatt on twitter. I don’t know him or his wife Gail personally, but I know he loves her very much. His love is expressed in words and deeds seen through 140 characters on twitter. He praises her publically as often as possible. My favorite tweet from him was something like, “I’m out with my girlfriend, shopping for my wife. Fortunately, they are one and the same!” Very cool.

So what stops us from expressing our appreciation to our spouse more? Is it pride? Selfishness? Whatever it is, you need to pray and ask God for the right time and the right place to share your appreciation. Then just do it. Make it a habit. If you do, I promise your marriage will be better.

As I stumbled out of bed this morning, I didn’t want to get up. Oh it would have been easy to tuck the pillow against my face to keep the light out and roll over. Boy that would have been nice! But I didn’t. My New Years Resolution still fully in tact, I got up and prepared for my morning run.

My attire was laid out the night before so I could fumble, struggle and cry, but still manage to get dressed. There they were… Nike shorts, Nike shirt, Nike socks and of course… Nike shoes. Everything was ready to go. So I got dressed and headed for the door.

After normal stretching, walking & warming up I was off. Running like the wind! Or more like slowly trotting like an injured donkey! After a short distance I was tired, my legs ached and I wanted to stop. It was at this moment that I had a revelation…

Running is the ultimate NO POSERS sport!

You can’t fake it running. There is no hiding your lack of endurance or lack of muscle, lack of oxygen, lack of stamina. It is all out there and it can’t be kept in. In your exhaustion, in your wheezing, in your puking, the truth will be found out!

Running isn’t like other sports. Golf comes to mind. To me, golf was made for posers! I’m one of them. I always LOOK good with my perfectly coordinating hat/shirt/shorts/socks/shoes. (Fashion Tip: Coordinating includes the brand. You can’t wear a Nike shirt with Adidas shorts). As I stroll through the clubhouse or walk on the putting green I FEEL like a golfer. That’s where the majority of people see you so they THINK you are a golfer too. Most of those people will never actually see me hit a club, so I can keep the poser game up for a long time. And the ones that actually see the truth, there are plenty of stall tactics for them; the clubs, the weather, my wrist, my back, and the course itself (ah, this place is a goat track!).

How about other places in our lives? Are you a poser? When? Where?

Sure, everything looks great on the outside, but what is REALLY going on under the surface? In Matthew 10:26, it says, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.”

My lack of golf skills, by the way, is widely known among my friends. Posers only last so long, even in golf.

Father, remove the false fronts in my life caused by my pride and selfishness. Strip away everything that does not reflect Your true character. May You become so much more in my life today. Amen.

In my teaching time this week we looked at a few passages in Genesis. As we went through the scripture and discussed it, one of the verses and one of the questions jumped out at me and seem to cut right through to my heart.

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27

God created us in His own image. He formed us in the likeness of Him. We are His creation. He could have created us from dust. But He chose to make us in His image and likeness. Powerful!

Thinking along those lines, God created my wife in His image. She is His creation. He could have formed her out of dust, but He chose to make her in His likeness. Wow!

So If your spouse was created in God’s image, how should that effect the way you treat her/him?

As I stood there teaching, I started mentally recounting past conversations, past judgements, past hurts that I have caused…

Knowing she was made in God’s image, I should treat her with the highest respect. With honor. With dignity. There are so many things that I would never do or say TO God, but casually do or say to my wife (who was made in His image).

Father, forgive me for going astray and taking my wife and marriage for granted. Help me to see her in Your image. Lord please give me eyes to see her the way You do. Amen.

Christmas is bigger than trees, wrapped presents and LED lights. It is bigger than even Santa Claus…yes, you heard it here first. Christmas is bigger than Santa Claus!

Or at least is should be… but somehow every year Christmas ends up being about the gifts and the consumerism. We buy, we give, we receive.

If you have any doubt whether Jesus is bigger than Santa, let’s compare:

• Santa lives at the North Pole… JESUS is everywhere.
• Santa rides in a sleigh… JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.
• Santa comes but once a year… JESUS is an ever present help.
• Santa fills your stockings with goodies… JESUS supplies all your needs.
• You have to wait in line to see Santa… JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.
• Santa lets you sit on his lap… JESUS lets you rest in His arms.
• Santa doesn’t know your name, all he can say is “Hi little boy or girl, what’s your name?”… JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our head.
• Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly… JESUS has a heart full of love.
• All Santa can offer is HO HO HO… JESUS offers health, help and hope.
• Santa says “You better not cry”… JESUS says “Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.”
• Santa’s little helpers make toys… JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
• Santa may make you chuckle but…JESUS gives you a joy that is your strength.
• While Santa puts gifts under your tree… JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

Merry Christmas!

The comparison is not unique to me. I'm giving credit to an anonymous author since I couldn't locate the actual source.

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

My daughter asked me for something the other night. It wasn’t a big thing, but I told her no. She persisted and asked again. Um, no again. She asked again a little later in a not-so-nice kind of way. The third time I was less than pleasant and told her to stop asking. She also received a punishment for her attitude and disobedience.

What she didn’t know was that in two days I would give her what she wanted three-fold. It had been planned for a while and was a surprise. I could have come clean, but it would have ruined the surprise and that wouldn’t have made anyone happy. I withheld from her request because I knew that something much bigger was in store for her in the future.

I wonder how often we do this to God?

We ask for something and don’t receive it right away. So we ask again. But when we don’t receive it immediately, we demand it or try to do it on our own. We turn our back on the loving God who will provide everything in His perfect timing.

All along God had something for us. His perfect plan. Its much more than we wanted or could conceive on our own.

But we never see all that He had for us because of our attitude and disobedience. Caught in our own selfishness, we lose fellowship with the Father and also lose the blessing.

I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future. Jeremiah 29:11

Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

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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!