To Own A Dragon

A couple from my congregation gave me a gift certificate for Christian Book Distributors for Christmas. Having too much to read at the time, I purchased two books which weren't going to be out for some time. The first one arrived this week. It's Donald Miller's new book, To Own a Dragon.

At his website, you can hear Miller read the first chapter of the book. It's great.

It's great. It's a hilarious! I laughed my way through the first chapter keeping my wife awake with my outburst. Though I plan that it will make me cry at some point soon. This book, though I haven't yet finished it, has pushed some other reading down the list.

Miller writes about his own lack of being fathered and the fathering crises in our country. There's a little something for everyone here. So, if you get a chance, pick it up and read. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll realize why fathers are so important.

More on fathering later...

Give Me Jesus

I have been captivated again this week by the simple, yet powerful, song and voice of Fernando Ortega. Every day this week I have listened to "Give Me Jesus". I was reminded how much I like Fernando and his music last week when I was in Abilene. Mike Cope used these words in his presentation there.

The words couldn't be more simple:

GIVE ME JESUS
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

Chorus:
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone
Give me Jesus

Chorus

And when I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die
Give me Jesus

Chorus...END

Don't you wish you could sing that song and mean it? Don't you wish that Jesus was all that you wanted and all that you thought you needed? I sure do. I wish that I weren't concerned with money or power or sex or any of a hundred other things that occupy my day. I have always been ambitious; wanting to do more and be more. How about you?

Don't we all crave to be respected, well-thought of, listened to, wealthy, important? But when you sit back and think about it, where has that gotten most of us? I know for me that when I am most pursuing those things that I think I can't live without is when I become the short-tempered husband, the distant father, the minister more concerned with the program or the event than the guy concerned about the people at the event. I know the reason why, too.

I don't really believe that Jesus is enough! Before you congratulate me on my bold confession, let me tell you something. The reason that I confess that I don't believe that Jesus is enough, is not only because I see it in my own life, but because I see it in the lives of people around me as well. Nearly everyone I know is chasing an extra dollar, another promotion, something that we think we finally make us whole, make us complete. You would think that human history and the story of scripture might give us a head's up that what we are chasing will never make us happy or whole.

Last month, I went to our churches men's retreat where we studied the book if Ecclesiastes. One refrain stood out to me throughout our time together. The author makes this profound statement early in the book, speaking of the meaninglessness of life, he writes, "All the streams flow to the ocean, but the ocean is never filled."

Apparently, that's a tough lesson for humans to learn, because centuries after those words were written we are still trying to fill our lives with things that we know won't fill us. There's no paycheck, no vacation, no sexual escapade, no woman or man, no position, no level of influence that can make us matter. In the end, there is nothing but Jesus. That's all there ever was, and all we ever needed.

I guess that's why Fernando can sing, "Give Me Jesus". Perhaps there are some angels walking our planet that know that asking for Jesus is the only true and real thing that we can ask for. They know that Jesus is the only thing. Boy, I sure hope to get there one day.

Mac's Are Best

Now I don't even have to log in to Blogger to blog. I can do it from my Dashboard Widgets. I'm curious as to why MAC doesn't rule the world.