Sweet Mother of Troy...

You know, people have come to me before and said that I was a fairly intelligent guy. (HA! Funny). But no one has ever accused me of being smart, unless there's a three letter word attached to the end. :) 

Anyway, as I was looking through my blog, I found one that I had never published. It was much too good to pass up. 

As many of you know, I don't always do the smartest things. This is one such story of my sheer brilliance at work.  

As all of you know, I live in Texas. And the best way that I can describe it for those of you who have never had the misfortune of visiting Texas on a sweltering summer day, is to relate a conversation that I had with my mom to you.

It was about midway through the beginning of the summer, and she asked me, "Is it hot down there?" And as I thought about it, I said, "Mama, it's hot.... Well.... Mama, it's hot as hell down here." Immediately I caught what I had said and apologized, "Mama, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be vulgar, but that's the only thing that I can think of at the moment." (I literally could not think of a better example… there was none.)

Now, having this awareness of the atrocious Texas heat, you would think that I would stay away from it. That I would run away from it like a fat kid getting chased by a dietician (is that wrong?). However, like I said, I'm definitely not the smartest kid in class. (and definitely not the most PC)

So what did I decide to do? I've got an idea; let's go run. Now, I'm eating dinner with my next-door neighbors at 7pm later that night, so I should probably go ahead and ignore the fact that it's 1 in the afternoon and it just so happens to be the hottest part of the day as well. And you know, there's absolutely no cloud cover either. Things are looking on the up and up!

So I decide to go running. But that's not the end of it, oh no! I decide that running on flat ground or on a treadmill is boring (which it is). So I decide to go run 3 miles down by TCU. Now, for our purposes, let's just say that there's 4 sides to the campus (which there pretty much are). Now two of them are flat, one has a slight incline, and the other one has the only steep hill in all of Ft Worth. So which did I choose? Yep... the steep side. And on top of all this, I hadn't trained to run at all. I mean, nothing. There was no preparation whatsoever. My friends, I thought that I was going to die.

I was just about at the end of my rope, when I decided to push on just a tad bit farther. I knew that there was a small park about .2 mile further down the road, so instead of stopping and turning around, I decide that I'd make it to the park and to the shade of it's trees. And that's just what I did.

Much to my elation, what did I see but a grungy old water fountain. You know the one…. it had green corrosion all around the drinking spigot, and leaves from the trees had fallen in it and clogged the drain. And the only thing that I could think of was, “SWEET MOTHER OF TROY, THE LORD HAS LOOKED DOWN ON MY AFFLICTION AND HEARD MY CRY FOR HELP!!!” (ok, that may be a tad bit much, but you get what I’m saying) I had never, nor have I ever since, been so excited about drinking out of a nasty faucet.

I returned to my car after a long and tedious climb up what seemed like Everest herself with the Saharan sun beating me mercilessly as if I was tied to it’s whipping post. It was on that day that I vowed never to do such a stupid thing again.

But before I let you go, humor me this and allow me to probe the heart of my readers…

Is this just a funny story about an idiot running at the completely wrong time of day in Texas, and justly getting what he deserved, or does it reach further than that?

I paralleled this to my own spiritual life, and the results where somewhat disturbing. Often times, I decide to jump into things without consulting the Lord, and His guidance. I fail to take note of the “spiritual climate” all around me and find myself parched and strung out on my journey of sanctification.

However, looking back, I notice all those many times when the Lord provided the water that my spirit needed to continue on.

It is by the mercy of God that He grants us these oases when often times we are strung out due to our own brash choices.

Consider the times when He has provided an oasis that He didn’t have to, and take a minute to thank Him for it.

-Jeff

So you're single on V-day... consider this: Part 1

Valentines Day: 

For a couple, it is a great time to snuggle up on the couch, light some candles and enjoy your favorite movie together. Or maybe you've decided to go to your favorite fancy restaurant down town. Or perhaps you're the adventurous type and refuse to be tied down by the Valentine's Day box. But whatever it is you're doing, I'd be willing to bet that flowers and chocolate are involved somehow. 

For a single person, ugghhh. How much do we dread this blasted day? Why is it that all of our couple friends have to flaunt their coupleness in our face? All their chocolate and roses and kisses and lovey-dovey hand-holding PDA... It's enough to drive a person insane! 

It seems to me that what is supposedly one of the happiest times of the year for people who are madly in love with their significant other, is often times the most heart wrenching season for those who would count themselves accursed by the plague of singleness.

It's this observation that would bring me out of what has seemed like blogging retirement. 

I've never really understood the anti-Valentine's day sentiment that's held by a lot single people. "Well Jeff, apparently, you just don't understand what it's like to be single on Valentine's Day." Oh, I'd beg to differ. 

I've been single almost all of my life. In fact, when it comes to Valentine's Day, 23 of my 24 have been spent as a single guy.  So I can empathize with all of those out there who feel like the whole world is crashing in on them b/c they're single. I just don't get why some people get so worked up about being single. 

God has put inside of us all a desire to be with someone. If you're feeling that pull, and find yourself longing to be held in the arms of the one who fills in the gaps of your heart, you are perfectly ok. Take a listen to this song. It may help. Please understand that singleness is not a plague or a sickness. In fact, most of the time, it can easily be viewed as a gift.

If you're not single, do all of us single folks a favor. Love the person you're with, with all of the passion and creativity that you can muster. Consider that you have what so many people long for, and make the most of it. Love that person with Christ's love. Any other love will be lacking and incomplete. 

Stayed tune for my blog tomorrow. I'll tell you about two particular Valentine's Days that went horribly wrong. 

-Jeff

Favorite Quotes...

These are some of my favorite quotes. This one's gonna be pretty long cuz I'll continue to put new quotes as I find them, but here's the first batch:

"We need to stop trying to figure out God, and instead just draw close to him."
-Ken Martin (my dad)

"More today, Lord, than yesterday. More tomorrow than today."
-Voddie Baucham

"What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough objective, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; what higher, more exalting and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?"
-J.I. Packer

"For defending the truth in our day, we are called proud and obstinate hypocrites. We are not ashamed of these titles. The cause we are called to defend, is not Peter's cause, or the cause of our parents, or that of the government, or that of the world, but the cause of God. In defense of that cause we must be firm and unyielding."
-Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians 2:11

"Perhaps one reason our preaching about the love of God has such little resonance in the world today is that there is such meager evidence of the holiness of God in our walk and ways."
-Timothy George: "A Theology for the Church" p. 225

"The cross is the place where God's righteousness and mercy embrace, where the holy one of Israel was made to become sin on behalf of and instead of lost sinners. This is the basis of our reconciliation with God and also of our concern to maintain standards of justice and equity in society. We affirm the goodness of creation, the sanctity of human life, and the integrity of marriage not out of humanistic concerns but because we are accountable to a holy God who calls us to seek justice, love mercy, and work for peace in the world that this great God has made and will one day judge.
-Timothy George: "A Theology for the Church" p. 225

"Jesus gives the world the right to decide whether those who bear his name truly belong to him based upon their observable love for one another (John 13:35)... such observable love as the "untried apologetic" the world is waiting to see demonstrated with in the church. Such love is the mark of genuine Christianity."
-Timothy George: "A Theology for the Church" p. 228

"The incarnation and passion of Christ therefore are set forth for our contemplation, in order above all that we may behold and know the love of God toward us. So John 3 says: "God so loved the world," etc. Here God pours our not sun and moon, nor heaven and earth, but his own heart and his dearest Son, and even suffers him to shed his blood and die the most shameful of all deaths for us. Shameful, wicked, ungrateful people. How can we here say anything else but that God is nothing but an abyss of eternal love. We have received from God naught but love and favor, for Christ has pledged and given us his righteousness and everything that he has, has poured out upon us all his treasures, which no man can measure and no angel can understand or fathom, for God is a glowing furnace of love, reaching even from the earth to the heavens."
-Martin Luther as quoted in Philip S. Watson's "Let God Be God"

If our lives and ministries are expressions of what we actually believe, and if what we believe is off center and yet so pervasive that it is seldom even brought to conscious discussion, much less debated, then this explains why our impact on the world is so paltry compared to our numbers.
-J. P. Moreland
Love Your God With All Your Mind: Ch1

It may, perhaps, be pleasant to be able to impose on the public in such a case; but it is sometimes a disadvantage to be so very guarded. If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark. There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all begin freely - a slight preference is natural enough; but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement. In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show more affection than she feels. Bingley likes your sister undoubtedly; but he may never do more than like her, if she does not help him on.
- Jane Austen
Pride & Prejudice: Ch. 6

Be careful what you shoot at Ryan. Things in here don't react well to bullets.
-Sean Connery
The Hunt For Red October

For now,
Jeff (12/27/08)

NEW QUOTE (3/23/09)

(Biblical preachers are) "in a line of great succession. The reformers, the Puritans, the pastors of the Pilgrim fathers were essentially expositors. They did not announce their own particular opinions, which might be a matter of private interpretation or doubtful disposition, but taking their stand on Scripture, drove home their message with irresistible effect with 'Thus saith the Lord.' "

-F. B. Meyer

"Thinking is difficult, but it stands as our essential work. Make no mistake about the difficulty of the task. It is often slow, discouraging, overwhelming. But when God calls us to preach, He calls us to love Him with our minds. God deserves that kind of love and so do the people whom we minister."

-Haddon W. Robinson

"Biblical Preaching" Ch. 2 p. 46

New Quote (9/16/09)

"A woman has a close male friend. This means that he is probably interested in her, which is why he hangs around her so much. But she sees him strictly as a friend. This always starts out with, 'You're a great guy, but I don't like you in that way.' This is roughly the equivalent for the guy of going to a job interview and the company saying, 'You have a great resume, you have all the qualifications we are looking for, but we're not going to hire you. We will, however, use your resume as the basis for comparison for all other applicants. But, we're going to hire somebody who is far less qualified and is probably an alcoholic. And if he doesn't work out, we'll hire somebody else, but still not you. In fact, we will never hire you. But we will call you from time to time to complain about the person that we hired."

-Unknown

New Quote (12/11/09)

"There are two different senses in which a number of people can have a good in common. In the weak sense, the common good is whatever is good for each other irrespective of whether there is any bond between them. You do not have to know that Tom is married to Rosemary to know that having shoes that fit is good for both. But in the strong sense, the common good is what pertains to there partnership in a good life. Marital love is a good for Tom and Rosemary in a wholly different way than having shoes that fit; apart from their bond it cannot be understood."

J. Budziszewski on Aristotle's view of the common good

Hang in there....

Just wanted to throw out a blanket statement..... somebody who is reading this is going through something that they don't feel that they're going to be able to make it through. It's inevitable. Someone at sometime is going to read this blog and feel like the whole world is crashing around them.

So to that I say, take heart. I don't know what you're going through, or what your struggle is. I don't know the situations that you're facing in your life, but there is one thing that I do know. There is a Savior who says to come to Him, and to give Him your burden and exchange it for His. Your burden is cumbersome and heavy, His burden is light. Come to the cross, lay down your anxiety and fears, and take up the comfort that comes from losing your life ambitions, goals, and aspirations in the peace and rest that He gives.

Go, and preach saying, "The kingdom of God is near",
-Jeff

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Wanted: The single most amazing woman to have ever walked the face of the earth. All others need not apply.

-Jeff

The New Name...

So, after a few months, I've finally realized that "the musings of urban squirrels" was much too long of a name... I mean, who would've thought that having a title that's 26 letters long was too long for people to remember.

Anywho..... I've decided to change the name to Red's Reflections. I figure that this name should be much much easier to remember. So from now on... if you'd like to catch all of the madness that's running through my head, you can catch me at http://redsreflections.blogspot.com

-Jeff

Another oldie...."At the cross where I first saw the light"

Would it be so fragrant of an offering if I were as holy as your son?
My sacrifice could n'er attain the righteousness due to your name.

If my rags were robes, would they be acceptable as the curtains in your throne room?
Surely my riches are expended at the very thought of you.

If my possessions were that of a king, could they buy me but a moment with you?
Indeed, that minute were all too much for my kingly treasure.

No, in all of it, O God, I am depraved. A sinner's sinner is my decree. My name is marred with that of transgressions and iniquity. My righteousness is as filthy rags in the light of your glory.

But oh that I might bask in that glory! For it is here that my sin is laid barren. It is desolate before the mercy found in the cross. In that pain and anguish that should have been mine, I find the only propitiation for my wounded and hurting soul. It is here that mine eye has seen the glory of the Lord, who was before time and never ceasing. My every need is fulfilled with the last breath of my savior. Yes, it is in this, the greatest act of love, that I find my rest.

To you, O Lord, is my praise. For there is no one else worthy of exaltation. In your name will strength and power be found for the weak and downtrodden. Be glorified in all that you do my divine King. Let all the people of the earth praise the name of the Lord forever. May he make a footstool of the wicked, and lift up the humble with His mighty right hand. Be honored my God by the turning of the pagan to the salvation of his soul. It is here that I find my praise and adoration. In my depravation you have lifted my heart and spirit. Praise be to the Lord of Hosts for He is good to all the nations.