I have never been an avid fisherman, but one year my brother convinced me to try out fly fishing. The gear looked complicated and intriguing – it is all about the gear, isn’t it? The gauntlet of learning something new was thrown down. We went fly fishing.

Clueless about Fly Fishing

I thought the only required equipment included waders to keep your feet dry, a hat to keep the sun off your head, and a fishing pole. Casting the fly looks great, and I was wondering how difficult could it really be.

I was clueless, apparently, as I learned more and more about the different aspects of this specialized way of fishing. At times, I needed a translator to let me know what was being said.

Learn the Fundamentals

I was fascinated by all of the process steps of casting. While the beauty of the line curling through the air as the fly is presented to the fish can be breathtaking, casting is but one of many multi-step processes to learn and master.

The knowledge required to selecting the perfect set of flies for any particular outing is so immense, it takes a lifetime to truly learn – and you can never really know it all. It is a constant pursuit.

The parking lot training was somewhat successful, so we set off to the river. Waders are made for wading, not hiking… but after what seemed to be an extremely long ten minute walk, we were setting foot in the shallow river.

Presumed Success

Our guide knew just where to take us, pointing out the many rainbow trout beneath our feet. My mouth was immediately watering with anticipation of this succulent fish grilling over the fire.

Ha! That is about all I can say… I had the book knowledge. I had a bit of hands-on training (experiential learning, some may say). A whole bunch of fish beneath my feet; so many, they were bumping into my legs. How could I even think of going home without catching my limit?

On the Water

Casting while aiming at a particular area of the water is a lot different than a circle in the parking lot. Being sensitive to the ever-so-slight nibbles of the fish to know when to pull back the pole to set the hook in the mouth of soon-to-be-dinner requires intense concentration. And, if you think you want to move around in the water, the slow, careful steps over algae-covered rocks are important so you don’t become a big water bucket.

Our guide was good at pointing out all of the steps I was missing, so I could immediately adjust and incorporate those into my awkward motions of casting and reeling in the fly. I eventually caught a few fish as he helped me each step of the way.

Being Consumed

I gained a greater appreciation for fishing that day. I enjoyed having my only thoughts be about fishing and nothing else – work and any other worries of life were not on my mind for a couple of hours. My thoughts were completely consumed with catching a fish and trying to remember all of the steps I had been shown to accomplish such a task.

A common scripture passage referenced when considering our thought-life is found in Philippians.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9 ESV)

I usually remember the first part of this and think to myself that would be a good thing to do, but not sure how. Toward the end we read “practice these things.” My mind was consumed with fly fishing thoughts as I was practicing what I had learned, as I was doing what I had been taught.

Perhaps a way to have our thoughts consumed with God-honoring things is to do things that are commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise and honor toward God.

Questions

• What do you do that completely consumes your thoughts?
• What are some activities you do that keep your thoughts focused on God?

Zooming past me at 6:00 in the morning was a luxury car with a vanity license plate. The message I got was “here I am, this is who I am, I am important.”

We all want to have significance and meaning in our life. We want an identity, something for which we are known.

Filling A Void

Whether we recognize it or not, we all have a void in our heart that longs to be filled, to be completed. It is expressed in different ways, but it boils down to seeking love, acceptance, fitting in, approval, and relationship. Even in the case of the best marriage where a man and a woman are so completely in tune with each other – complementing each other in all aspects of their lives – there is still something missing.

A Greater Purpose

A contributing element to our significance is to have a purpose in our lives greater than ourselves. It is motivating to rally for a cause which can only be accomplished by a combined effort of many, drawing upon our need for relationship and significance. But when we place our identity and significance in a purpose or cause that eventually fades away, we are faced with the fact that we then fade away to insignificance.

Identity in Christ

As a follower of Jesus Christ, one who has received God’s grace through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have a purpose that does not fade away. We also have an identity that is based on an eternal situation, not a cause that will fade away.

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22 ESV)

Our identity in Christ is eternal when we place our faith in Him and not the things of this world.

Questions

• How do you deal with the daily call to rely on Jesus for your strength and identity, avoiding the challenge of the distractions of life going on around you?
• What are some things that can provide a grounding of the simplicity of life as being identified as a follower of Jesus?

When I was growing up, I loved hats. I thought cool people wore hats. They looked cool wearing hats. Hats were cool.

I didn’t wear hats. I wasn’t cool enough. Sure, I wore a baseball cap on the ball field, but not cool hats. I was told my grandfather liked to wear hats. Of course he did. He was cool.

I wear hats now. Hats are still worn by cool people. I don’t wear hats because I think I am cool enough to wear hats now. I wear hats because I have to. I get really cold when I don’t wear a hat when the temperature is in the fifties or lower. I lose too much heat from the top of my head. In fact, if the temperature is really cold in the house at night (low sixties with a draft), I wear a hat. Totally not cool to wear a knit ski hat to bed, but it keeps me from getting sick.

I have a different perspective now. It is out of necessity I wear hats. I still do not think I am good enough or cool enough for hats. My thing with hats is all in my head (well, on my head, now).

You may be thinking the same thing about yourself. Not about hats, but about God. We often think we have to be good enough before God will love us, or before we can talk to Him and He actually listens to us – before we can have a relationship with Him. It is because of who God is and what He has done that we can have a relationship with Him.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)

Questions

• How often do you think about God or think that you are not worthy of His love?
• How would you describe a time when you realized God’s love for you even when you didn’t think you were good enough?

Can you really be burned out with the Bible? Does this mean you are burned out with God? I was talking with a co-worker when he shared with me how he had grown up reading the bible and how he enjoys studying the political environment surrounding the events in the New Testament. He understands a lot of what is written in the Bible. But now he says he doesn’t have time to read the Bible because he is “burned out” with it.

Does this really make sense? “Burned out” may be another way of saying that “I am tired, I am taking a break from God, and it is okay because I deserve it; I already know this stuff.”
Continue Reading…

Buy-in refers to someone accepting and believing in a certain project, plan, or activity. Increasing buy-in is accomplished through getting people involved in the process, requiring plans to be made and decisions to be executed, and holding them accountable for the results of these decisions.

I have observed an interesting phenomenon when group plans are being made. Usually all options and supporting detail are gathered before commitments are made. Sometimes only a half-hearted commitment is made to a certain plan, holding out for late-breaking news – wouldn’t want to miss out on something. However, when someone starts inviting people to a restaurant, movie, etc, something happens. The commitment to the selected activity deepens. Sometimes, in fact, this “seals the deal” and locks in the commitment to a certain outing. Granted, these observations are based on purely empirical studies and are very subjective, but it has prompted some thoughts on how we interact with other people.
Continue Reading…

Growing up in Northern Alabama, I remember a tornado tearing through the city when i was around eight. As of five years ago, this particular tornado was one of the top five most devastating tornadoes in the country. The precautionary steps we took were to clear the most centrally located closet in the house just in case we needed to jump in quickly, and for all of us to sleep on the sleeper sofa with the television on all night. I have two younger brothers, so you can imagine the five of us on this fold out bed. Between the barometer (and doppler), warning signs of danger were witnessed, a tornado watch was issued, and action was taken – my parents woke us up and took us all downstairs to safety.

I am reminded of this childhood storm by all of the weather-related destruction we have experienced in this country and around the world over the past five years. During times of threatening weather, we are educated (or should i say, re-educated) on the meaning and measure of barometric pressure, as it relates to tornados and hurricanes. As the barometric pressure increases, we know that improved weather is to follow. In like manner, when the pressure falls, we can read this as a warning sign of impending foul weather.
Continue Reading…

Clothes, hairstyle, mind, sheets, direction, job, bandages, major, roommate, channels, favorite [restaurant, band, color, etc], name

Growing up means change. We experience a lot of changes early in life. Even though time seems to be slipping by quicker as I grow older, I believe the rate of changes in my life was greater thirty years ago. For instance, I remember when i had to start shaving. I was in an informal contest with another guy to see who could go the longest before shaving, even though we both needed to long before [days were like weeks]. I couldn’t stand it, so I lost the contest and shaved first.
Continue Reading…

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – Blast off!!! Mission control, we have lift off! It is now 9:37pm, and we have just breached the outer atmosphere. All systems are a-okay. Three more minutes, and we will be on our path heading toward our lunar orbit to then be catapulted into outer space.”

This was almost a nightly adventure when I was about seven. I have never wanted to go to bed very early, and this helped extend the day. I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, home of the Redstone Arsenal and the Space and Rocket Center. It is a sister city of Houston connected by the space program. I remember watching the first lunar landing. If my memory serves me correctly, we got a new television that year. The television had tubes that burned out as it got older, and I remember going to the store to get replacements. Dad would stand there at this very large display, try to match the tube size and pin pattern after looking up the model number, only to learn that we needed to go to another store because they didn’t carry the one we needed.
Continue Reading…

Life beyond our physical time on earth can take one of two paths – forever in the presence of God, or not. In order to choose to be forever in God’s presence, He has asked us to do one thing… receive His free gift of life through Jesus Christ. “What does this mean?” is the question so often asked.

Choices

We have a choice to receive gifts offered to us. People reject gifts for a variety of reasons. However, no other gift that is offered to us has such far-reaching implications. By receiving this gift in Jesus Christ, our whole perspective on life changes. Continue Reading…