Some People Are Crazy!!!

I saw this video a couple weeks ago and I still can't get over it.  I thought I would share it with you as it is not too long.  I am not afraid of heights, but this would paralyze me...

Providing for Children as God Provides for Us - 1/28/12

Last Sunday I shared a message at Rooftop that is the 3rd installment in our parenting series.  This week was seeing God as our Provider and how then should we provide for our children.  For those who may want to watch... (There is also an audio file on the Rooftop website www.rooftop.org.)

NFL Championship Sunday

My favorite spectator sport, and the only one I really watch anymore (apart from Detroit Red Wing playoff games I can find) is Football.  I will watch some college, but mostly I watch the NFL.  David and Jonathan have taken a HUGE liking to football as well.  They play a ton of it in our back yard and they love to watch it whenever they get a chance.

Well today two of our favorite teams, the Patriots and the 49ers played for the chance to go to the Super Bowl in two weeks.  The Patriots won, but the 49ers lost...to the NY football Giants.  Actually the Niners had the game won, but gave it away twice on mistakes returning punts.  It reminded of another game 21 years go when I was 16 and a HUGE Niners' fan and the Niners gave that game away on a costly fumble...to the Giants.

Coffee With A Friend

This morning as our family finished up breakfast (I made Papa's special Saturday Morning Hash) and we were beginning to clean up, I got a phone call from a friend of mine, an older gentleman named Bill.  Bill and I met when I first arrived in St. Louis and get together periodically to talk about God, life, and everything else.  Sometimes matching schedules is difficult, but this morning Bill had some time and we got together on short notice at Panera, or St. Louis Bread Company, "Bread Co" as the locals call it.  It is a gift to have a chance to sit down with an older and wiser man who loves the Lord and Bill is exactly that.  As a pastor who loves to listen, serve and minister to people, having somebody listen to and serve me, as happened today, is a real blessing.  Thank you Lord for our time today, and thank you for Bill.

Psalm 33

Tuesday morning as I began to journal and pray I felt like God wasn't all that big and I was much more important than I should be.  (My importance in this world always leaves me feeling uncertain and out of control.)  This is a good indicator in my life that things are upside down and I need a reorientation.  I opened up to Psalm 33 and here are some truths that the Holy Spirit impressed upon my heart and used to renew my mind for the day:

v.5 - He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord
v.6 - the word of the Lord made the heavens and all their host
v.8 - let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants stand in awe of Him
v.9 - He spoke and it came to be, He commanded and it stood firm
v.12 - Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord...
v.15 - He who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds
v.16 - the king is not saved by his great army...
v.17 - the war horse (or Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles - ICBMs) is a false hope for salvation
v.18 - the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His steadfast love
v.20 - our soul waits for the Lord, He is our help and our shield
v.21 - our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name
v.22 - let Your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in You.

It is always encouraging and liberating to be resized by the word of God His eternal truths.

Hello 2012

Normally I am not a resolutions guy, but I do like to set goals periodically, and specifically to help me accomplish various tasks and personal objectives that are laid on my heart.  I have resisted it for 37 years but this year I felt like I needed to take a more serious approach to my health.  Now I am not going vegan or anything, but I may need to cut out the 10:30 p.m. spoonfuls of  peanut butter that I have always enjoyed.  (Undigested peanut butter in your stomach while you sleep just doesn't settle as well as it used to.)

Also, thanks to Julie's accomplished goals from last year regarding her prayer, bible reading, and journaling time, I am inspired to set some goals and establish more accountability for myself in this area as well.  So far so good...17 days in. I am excited to see what God wants to do with this year.  I am asking Him regularly to open up "the gates" and do something new and significant both in my life and in the Zilkie family.

I think these two pieces are important: (1) to ask God for more of Himself and for greater Kingdom impact (2) to discipline ourselves for godliness. (1 Tim 4:8)  The first is a prayer that God wants to answer and the second involves surrendering ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit and hopefully allowing God to trust us with more of Himself and Kingdom responsibility.  As Jesus said in Luke 16, "Those who are faithful with little will be faithful with much."

I myself am not deserving or faithful, but by the grace of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit, may I be faithful with what God would want to give me.