Urban Re-Mark's

Be the Church...

2010-09-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a podcast I put together a few years ago. I was reminded of it today & thought I would share.

a matter of trust

2010-07-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the back of a quarter the other day. You know what it says...at least I think you do. "In God We Trust". It reminded me of all the other things I place my trust instead of my God. There are so many things we look to ....

our jobs.

our spouse.

our family.

our government.

our friends.

our money.

our dreams.

Every single one of the things that I just mentioned will at some point inevitably let us down. I read today in Psalm 118:8-9,

"⁸ It is better to take refuge in the LORD

than to trust in man.

⁹ It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes."

How often we find ourselves desiring to find shelter and peace in stuff that simply will not ever meet that need? How frequently we find ourselves let down by people, our jobs, even our own dreams and than we realize...man, I got this all turned around.

Perhaps tt is a Sunday School answer...but it's also the right one when it comes to trust. If we look to God on a daily basis, asking Him to provide us with all we need...wisdom, strength, insight, and vision...He promises to provide us with that much and even more.

I don't know about you, but I am tired of running to the wrong places and putting my trust in people & stuff that simply won't come through. It's time to look to the One who can do it all & desires that we find refuge & rest in Him.

Led by our youth...

2009-12-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

"Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace. If, however, they are left on society's margins, all of us will be impoverished. Let us ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies."

-- Kofi Annan

I saw it firsthand today. It actually happened inadvertently. We hosted a local community meeting at our New Hope Church & Community Center in Far East Dallas. The purpose of the meeting was to begin to perform a "Land Use Study" and to gather thoughts and ideas from neighborhood residents. This meeting would serve to identify ways in which we could make our community a better one in which to live.

I had invited Anthony (11 year old in our neighborhood) to help me do some cleanup work around our property this morning. As I saw folks file in for the community meeting, I saw Anthony getting involved. My first thought was, "Well, he is going to be bored by this....but I'll let him figure that out on his own". I walked in an hour later....and Anthony was leading the meeting. He was expressing some wonderful, new ideas that the rest of the group had never even thought about. He presented his proposals to the group in a clear, confident way. As Anthony spoke, I looked around saw hope fill the room.

It reminded me of how one of the greatest resources that exists in each community is our youth. The problems that plague our society serve as great opportunities to empower our youth to lead the charge in doing something about them. Their ingenuity, energy, attitude, and fresh faith are exactly what we need to see in order to bring about a positive change in our communities.

We have been preaching a message of prevention to our youth for far too long. We have hindered them by telling them what they cannot and will not do. In the process we have left them no alternative for what they should do because they are "not old enough to do that yet" or “they don’t know how”. Now is the time for us to empower our youth...and let them lead us out into the community, walking alongside them to encourage and coach them (which means that many times we get to be on the sidelines and they get to be in the middle of the action).

I once read in a book ...

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

I am glad that Anthony took the lead today in our community meeting. After all, it is Anthony who will be living in our community far beyond any of us adults. There could not be a better time for him and all youth to join and lead in the process of transforming our communities, one block at a time.

The only thing we have to fear....

2009-11-29T16:54:00.000-08:00

As a youngster, I loved playing little league baseball. I look forward to a new season rolling around and the opportunity to suit up in a new uniform, to play in front of a crowd, and to see how well our team would fair again this year.

There was the one thing that I struggled with early on in my career though - I was fearful of being hit by the ball. I remember our coach going over with us in practice time and time again, "Focus on the ball ....you'll be sure to get a hit". I seemed to have a focus problem...for as soon as I would step into the batter's box my first thought always seemed to be, "Can I make it through this at bat without getting hit by the ball". I eventually overcame this fear....my stats speak for themselves.

But isn't this our story time and time again. We can many times find ourselves distracted with a case of spiritual ADD. All it takes is one unexpected moment in our day....an irritating phone call....an absent-minded store clerk....and we have gotten our focus all thrown off.

I once heard it said, "wherever you place your fear is where you also place your focus". How many times do we focus on the past or on the future instead of living in the present. Have you ever caught yourself making something out of nothing because you got stuck thinking about it rather than on what you really should have been focusing on.

God's book says that we should keep our eyes on Christ. It also says something quite odd ...."the fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins". If we have a healthy reverence for God (and place our attention upon Him and all that he is capable of) then that will make a huge difference on a day to day basis. It can be easy to blow up about something very small if we switch our focus from Christ to whatever lies in front of us.

What do you have your focus on today? What is your greatest fear? God is bigger than anything that lies in your path....the question - do we recognize how much power God has? If we did, wouldn't we focus our fear and energy upon Him?

to beer or not to beer....

2009-08-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am certain that most of us have been following the story of Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. & Sgt. James Crowley these last few weeks. The story was blasted all across the media & has been the source of many "elevator talks" and "water cooler chats" throughout our nation. President Obama was asked at the end of a press conference on health care what he thought about the incident and he was quoted as saying that, "the Cambridge police acted stupidly". He later apologized for making such an assumption.

Ok, enough of me spitting out sound bytes....

What I appreciate about this story is what occurred this past week on Thursday. All 3 gentlemen (along with VP Biden) sat down and got to know one another. The content of their conversation is irrelevant....they made a statement to the American public & to the world that we can listen to one another....and that in fact, we should.

The polarization that occurs when the issue of race comes up is something that disturbs me in our country. There is always the need for us to "choose sides" rather than listen to one another's stories. Whether we want to admit or not, our reality is shaped by our own experiences. The beauty of true freedom (not a patriotic sort, but rather spiritual) is that we can all sit together at one table and actually empathize with the one who sits across from us.

Let's be honest - our country has always struggled with perking up our ears....& listening to the harsh realities of injustice. In order for true peace and justice to be reached, we have to open up our ears (and perhaps, depending on who you are....our beers) and listen to the story of the person who sits across from us.

We each have our own stories and experiences that make us who we are. Could it be that someone else's story might actually intersect and add to our story, making it more fully complete. We will, of course, never know unless we shutup and listen.... putting our mouths on mute so that we can better understand all of those around us and how we, as humans, are actually more similar than we could have ever thought.

To beer or not to beer....that is the question. Who's story have you been interrupting or avoiding? Is it time to grab a cold one & get down to listening for a change...

LoVe defined....

2009-01-05T22:19:00.000-08:00

I was walking through Target today & was delighted to see the aisles of Valentine's Day cards all nicely placed in a row...just in time for January!

I know that the holiday itself represents alot of different things...but the theme of the holiday is love.

Isn't that something we all desire?

But do we believe it is possible. When you lie in bed at night, do you believe that you are really loved. It seems to me that when I was growing up, I had much more capacity to recieve love & to believe that I was loved because I had not hurt that many people, said that many dumb things, and I honestly was still oblivious to the fact that many people did not really care for me...heck, I was a kid & I saw the world with innocent eyes.

But for many of us, as we have grown older our hearts have slowly grown cold to the idea of actually being loved....and believing that we possess something that makes us valuable & worth being loved.

So what do we do? We got on a search for love. Perhaps we venture to find it in a girlfriend or boyfriend....from our peers...from our parents...from our boss....maybe even Fido? Problem is...none of those people (not even Fido) create or possess love solely. If we really want to find love, we've got to go to the source.

God is love.

This line in 1 John has always thrown me for a loop. I understand that God is good. But for God, in his very nature, to be love. That's...mind-blowing. The very One who knows everything about me....and yet He loves me....and He delights in me....and He desires me!

If we really want to know love at its core, we've got to come to know more of who God is.

I'll never forget the day in July '05 when I was walking to my car in the 105 degree Texas sun...there was a lady who was sitting on the metal railing by our parking lot at the church. She had her head down, dejected. I struck up a conversation with her & she began to tell me about how messed up she was because of all the bad decisions she had made. In the midst of pouring out to me she said, "I want to be loved...but in order to be loved, I got to be forgiven. In order to be forgiven I got to forgive myself first." The woman could not have been farther from the truth....

Love is not dependent on us. God's love flows freely to all who will open themselves up to it. His love flows regardless of our love.....it has no limits & it does not play favorites. There is absolutely nothing we can ever do that would ban us from being loved by God. We know this because of Jesus & what He did on the cross. When Christ stretched himself out & died for all of humanities screw-ups....He was basically saying, "I love you this much and more...". You've got to know that God is love....and His love never fails.

So if we really want to experience & know love....we need only to get to know God through our relationship with Him. The more we know of God, the more we know of His love. It is in that relationship....which happens in a community of people who are committed to knowing & experiencing God and His love....that we then know real love & are then capable of loving not only ourselves, but others....the way that we love ourselves...the way that God forever loves us.

I want to be me...

2008-11-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love the children's message at church. Today was another reminder of that. The pastor was using a teddy bear as an object lesson. He shared with the kids how we find comfort in our teddy bear's and how it is the same with Jesus. Then he closed up his message with the children repeating a prayer. One of the lines in the prayer went something like this, "And Lord, we want to be a teddy bear to the world. Help us to love them and care for them just like you have loved us."

Almost immediately after the pastor finished praying, one of the youngsters blurted out, "I DON'T WANNA BE A TEDDY BEAR! I WANNA BE ME!".

Priceless....but yet so true. It's very easy for us to agree in one breathe that we want to share Jesus love, to be salt and light in a bland world. Yet, we still get tangled with that old flesh of ours that wars for our hearts and minds. We desire to walk in the Spirit, but that old guy comes along and gets us all messed up....we say, "I just wanna be me!".

Jesus said it plainly in the garden when tempted, "The Spirit is willing but the flesh is so weak".

We are so weak....but Christ is so crazy strong! He will not leave us hanging. All we need is to admit our disposition, of how we daily want to be who we want to be....and how we need a fresh, renewed breathing of His Spirit released into us.

To be quite honest, I don't wanna be a teddy bear either. My flesh has worse things that it desires to be.....but the Spirit keeps drawing me further into yearning to be like Christ. Oh Lord, I desire for your divine power to increase in me....let me fade away.

Like a child...

2008-11-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Her name is Mckayla (pictured on the left) and she reminded me of what faith is this week. As I was leading bible study at our Youth Night she shared her testimony how at the age of 7 she received Jesus into her heart and how she is now a different person. Mckayla knows Jesus and she is filled with joy in knowing that Jesus knows her even more....

"I used to not want to listen to my mama when she told me to do something. Jesus is in my heart now and he helps me to do the right thing."

She told another story about how her 2 year old cousin gets on her nerves sometimes, but how Jesus gives her the power to love her cousin even when its hard. Spoken like a child....

Mckayla was another reminder to me of the power of the Holy Spirit in planting faith in our hearts. She has that childlike faith that Jesus spoke of. She does not see a need to rationalize everything....she takes Jesus at face value. She inspired me today....to walk by faith and not by sight.

Beautiful Feet

2008-10-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a trip to the Twin Cities for a national missions conference for college students called Beautiful Feet. I was so inspired by these young people! It was amazing to rub shoulders with them the last couple days and hear about what God is up to in their life.

Many of the students came to this conference to receive more knowledge on the many global and urban mission opportunities that are available to them. I met people who had served Christ in Peru, Nigeria, the Philippines, Japan, inner-city St. Louis, Mexico, Guatemala, Ghana, and Botswana (I know there are others that I am missing). It's incredible to think that many of the students that I met at this conference are going to end up serving the Lord in many nations all across the globe.

I heard numerous students over the weekend comment on the mission that God has them on right now. This really hit home for me. Many times I find myself looking for that big open door to speak to someone about Christ or for a trip where I can set aside "me time" for serving others with the love of Jesus. What these young leaders taught me this week was that the mission field is right in front of us! People are dying for a friend. They are wondering if anyone has the time to just sit and listen to them.

Someone you know right now is just looking for that person to chill with them and just be real. Another guy is feeling crappy cause his job is not cutting it. He wants more out of life. There is a woman that is not going to let anybody in to her life unless she knows and believes that they're not going to stab her in the back again like so many others before. Open your eyes...you don't have to look far.

What is up?

2008-10-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

So, I have been absent on this blog for what has been now 43 days. I wish I could say that there is some biblical significance to the number 43 that would explain my silence....but that would be giving myself too much credit.

The real deal is that I am in seminary now and am getting readjusted to the world of academia (rather, I believe it is readjusting me). It has been good to get back to the books and I am in amazing program through Concordia Seminary that allows me the freedom to continue work full-time with LINC North Texas and also receive the necessary training to become a pastor.

Anyways....that is not why I write today.

What is up?

I ask this question of the many circumstances I find myself in the midst of from time to time. Why is this happening? What does this mean? How come things are not working out the way that I told God I wanted them to go? What is up, God?

Plain and simple....God is what's up. That is not to say that God is behind everything that happens, for we know that we live in a messed up world. Many times the crap hits the fan...and when it does, it doesn't distribute evenly.

But God is always up to something. He is up to things around you and is always wanting you to join Him in what he is up to. Here are the issues, though....

Issue # 1 - Are we looking to see what God is up to?
Issue #2 - Are we willing to join Him in what He desires for us to be a part of?
Issue #3 - Are we so consumed with throwing our plans at God that we can't even see the better thing that He is already doing around us?

I don't know about you, but I got an awful lot of plans that I have been throwing God's way and I find that a lot of them aren't getting his stamp of approval. Why?

Because...believe it or not...I am not all knowing....I don't create things...I am not God.

We do have a God that sits by and listens to our plans for our lives and they register with him. He doesn't quit on us when we come back with some ideas that our less than what is really best for us. He resonates with our broken condition and sent His son Jesus to free us from our tangled idea's of what our lives should look like.

The challenge today - We gotta stop it with throwing our grandiose plans at God and slow down enough to see what God is up to already. Many times we dismiss situations that God brings us into as mere coincidences. Perhaps we should embrace these circumstances as opportunities to bring glory to God and to actually do the very thing that will make us fly....the thing he created for us to do!

That's what is up....

Antioch revisited

2008-09-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

We launched our LINC Mission Training Center this evening in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. As I looked around the room, I was amazed at how God continues to bring His people together for His divine purposes.

We had the nations of Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, and a Polynesian all represented around the room. This is what it must have felt like in Antioch. Many nations coming together for one purpose....to spread the love of Jesus Christ and to let everyone know that we all have life in His name.

The most amazing part of the night was seeing the passion that each of these individuals have for learning more and more of how to be like Jesus. Each of us is broken...and we are absolutely nothing without Christ. God is being faithful in teaching us who we are to be and transforming us from the inside out. God is a missionary God! He has a heart for all of the nations of the world!

We want to see this movement of the Holy Spirit sweep our whole city and our nation. We believe that God is raising up laborers of His choosing to grow His kingdom and to bring glory to His name. We want to see new faith communities start up all across the neighborhoods of our metroplex.

Do you want to be a part of what God is doing here?

Check us out at http://www.lincnt.org/MTC.html

Love is love

2008-08-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

I saw this on a t-shirt recently and it captured me for a minute.

Love is love.....

True love cannot be manufactured....merchandised....microwaved....manipulated.

True love was murdered....and yet proved to be undying and therefore still lives today.

True love flows straight from the heart of the one who pursues each of us with a mad love that has already been put to the test (as if it had to be) by showing the sheer extent of His love by dying. This was all for the sake of love....

Yes, this was a necessary act for God to put on skin and walk the earth through Christ and to die to bridge the insurmountable gap that our sin had caused. But ultimately it was this intimate love relationship that God has for us that drove Him to do what he did. And this is the same love that drives Him to do what He is still doing in and around us today and each day.

But we have grown calloused to His love because we have sought affection from the world rather than in His true love. We've settled and sold ourselves to the idea that if we just had just enough intimacy, just enough attention, just enough eyes looking our way, just the right person to say just the right thing.....well then we would have just enough love.

Truth is....there is nothing that can ever satisfy us except the extravagant love of Jesus Christ.

Sure, we would probably agree that God knows best. You know, God is love.....yada, yada, yada.

But are we willing to lay ourselves before Jesus today and ask Him to love on us the way He knows how to. We are talking about the one who was willing to die for us...If we really knew how much He loved us, we'd be satisfied. Until then....let us press our minds and hearts against His promise that He is love and that He is all that we need.

Love is love....God's love....for God is love.

Rock Bottom

2008-06-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation from the last post entitled "New Beginnings".

Over the next couple weeks we got to know the kids. We began to see God's hand at work. They were tired. It was more than not having any food, they had been raising themselves for quite some time.

Rigo stopped by every so often. He would need a favor. "Hey, this guy says he is going to give me a job. Can you take me down the street to go see him?". I obliged.

There were other favors to be asked. I honestly cannot remember them all in detail, but I remember the confusion that followed them. Was this what Rigo really needed to be doing? Was I really helping him or only helping him dig a deeper hole for him and his family?

Then came the day - it was the last week of our camp. 8am.....I walk outside of the church to go pick up some kids from their apartment.

"Hey, Mark...I really need your help this time, man!"

Rigo had tears in his eyes, but even worse than the first time we had met face to face through the church glass doors.

"They are kicking us out. They are throwing all of our stuff out on the curb. The constable says we got to get on out."

It seemed surreal to me, but I later realized that it is a reality for many of the families in our hood. You fall behind on rent....see ya later! Its only fair, right...

So I told Rigo to hop in the car with me and he did. We drove up to his apartment and as we turned the corner, I could see the kids laying on the hot Texas pavement.

His daughter with her baby doll.

His son with his awards and basketball trophy.

His wife sitting there with her night gowns and Sunday best wardrobe....

All strung out in the parking lot for all to see. This was home now.

That was a heartbreaking day for me. I later found out what my naivety had hidden from me. Rigo had a drug problem and every once of money he had was going to support his deadly habit.

This was rock bottom. He split ways with his wife and kids going one way and he another.

As I drove him downtown to be picked up by the folks from a local homeless shelter....he confessed to me that he had never been this broken before. I don't remember saying much.

When he stepped out onto the street and said his goodbye....a familiar face walked up to him. A friend from his past "just happened" to be there to walk with him on his new journey. Rigo cried tears of joy for the first time in months. He did not walk alone on his new journey.

I went and saw Rigo twice at the recovery home that he stayed at. He said he felt like he was in prison....

It was 2 years later, on a Sunday afternoon, that I received a call from my dear friend Rigo. He was back in his hometown....living in a house and his kids were doing well.

Miracles do happen.....but only by God's grace.

New Beginnings

2008-06-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Last week was the start of a new beginning for me in ministry with LINC-NT. I wrapped up 5 years of ministry at New Hope in East Dallas. I have been so transformed by the hundreds of people I have had the opportunity to get to know through my time in ministry at Peavy and Buckner.

I thought over the next couple weeks I would share just a few of the stories from my transformational time at New Hope.

It was my first summer at New Hope back in 2003. We had our first week of summer camp with just 8 kids attending. We really had no idea what we were doing besides offering a safe, free Christ-filled environment for kids to grow in their faith in him.

Well, the second week of the camp we had a youth group from Plano, TX (a suburb with one of the highest median incomes in the U.S.) come and stay with me at the church. I will never forget our first night sitting in the fellowship hall, talking about the week and how we were going to be stretched. I am just about to lead this "scared" group of teenage girls, with their male adult youth leader in a prayer for peace.

As we bow our heads, someone bangs on the front door of the church. I had grown accustomed to coming across experiences that I had never had the opportunity to engage in before. This was another one of those awesome, "trust in God" moments. I walked over to the door to find a 35 year old African American man named Rigo. He was in tears because his kids had eaten in a couple days. Mind you, its 10pm on a Sunday night. I eventually allowed Rigo to come in and take our leftover pizza from Cici's Pizza that evening. We gave him some bags of chips and a 2 litter of coke. Before we knew it, he was on his way with a promise. "My kids will be here for your summer camp tomorrow." Yeah, right.....

Well, it was the next day at about 11am (2 1/2 hours into our daily activities at camp) that Rigo's 3 kids rolled in looking tired, lost, and hungry. Thus a relationship had begun not only with a 35 year old man....but with a father, a mother, and their 3 children.

"Y'all got any chips", they all seemed to say at once.

(Tune in tomorrow for the second part of the story)

Family Matters

2008-03-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

I am in Valparaiso, Indiana this evening with family. A few weeks back I shared that my 94 year old Grandmother was in her last days with us on this side of eternity. She actually went to be with Jesus on Friday, March 7th.

We had a beautiful funeral in St. Louis the following week and I got to rub shoulders with people that knew both of my Grandparents....a good number of these people I had never met before. It was amazing to hear the stories of how my Grandparents had impacted so many people's lives in ways that were still entrenched in their minds to this day.

This weekend we had planned to celebrate my Grandma's 95th b-day. Little did we know that she was going to be spending it with a new body, chilling with Jesus and having a much better party than we could have thrown for her.

I am reminded of the importance of family today. It is good for me to be here. Its amazing to see my cousins and how we are all growing up. Its awesome to think that each of us, in ways that we may not even truly understand, are connected. There is no doubt that even though miles seperate us, there is a common spirit that has been passed down to us by those that have preceded us. When I hear stories about how my Grandfather wanted to be a pastor, but couldn't because he had to provide for his family after serving at war....I am hit with the reality that I am no longer, Mark Couser....living in 2008. I am the grandson of Gilbert & Dorothy Brown....and I am called to carry on their legacy until I join their party with Jesus as well someday.

What does this mean for you? You may be thinking, "Mark, thats not my family....thats you". The amazing reality is that we are all a part of God's family tree. We are all a part of the fabric that he has been weaving throughout time....your life is not meaningless, it has eternal purpose. Its not by accident that you find yourself where you are today. What you do today will echo in eternity. The same goes for tommorow and every day....our lives have a ripple effect throughout the future generations of our families and every person we set eyes on each day.

Thank God that He has not disowned us, for He has called us his children. He is calling us to live out our lives for Him so that future people would also know that they are His kids.

Today has new meaning.....

Repairs...

2008-03-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

I got an early start on my day today. One of those "warning lights" lit up on my dashboard a few days ago and it was time for my beloved Corolla to go in for a checkup.

I fended my way through the mighty fog that covered the DFW area and even arrived ahead of schedule at my mechanic of choice. I spoke with the secretary yesterday and she said, "If you bring in your car at 7:30, we will need it for 3 or 4 hours. Just make sure to have it to us right away."

I walked in and had some casual, down-to-earth conversation with the friendly owner. I filled out my paperwork, and left the keys with my trustworthy car repair man.

I had this all planned out....no meetings this morning. I will walk a block down the street to my parent's house....drink some coffee with them and then do some work on the computer.

I repeat, "I had this all planned out."

Ha.

So, I get on the phone at noon to call on the progress of my car's repair. Surely its just a CO2 sensor or something minor. The secretary answers and she puts me on hold as she checks on the status of my Corolla (not to be confused with my Sharona). She comes back on the phone and shares with me that they have not gotten to my car yet.....

I am not a patient person, especially when it comes to my car and my time.

I am reminded of some repairs that God has been doing in my life recently. He has been so ever patient with me as I fumble around to allow him to change some things that need some changing in me. He is so patient....and yet, I get angry and impatient when a 3 hour car repair might end up taking 2 extra hours.

God's repairs do take time....but He is so ever patient with us as His process of inward transformation takes place (an event over time) within you and me.

I need to be more patient with others. I need to be more patient with God. I need to be more patient as God works to change things in me.

What warning lights have popped up on your dashboard recently? Are you getting it checked out? Our issues do not go away unless dealt with my our trusty repair man who always comes through on his promises to make repairs that are necessary....repairs that will have us running like we're brand new.

Lord, break me and repair me with your dirty, repair stained hands. Make me new so that when people look at me, all they see is you.

Sleep on it...

2008-02-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

My 94 year old Grandmother is in her last days on this earth. She has been severly ill for the last 2 weeks and was recently placed in hospice care. She has struggled with memory loss, the loss of a husband (of 50 years plus), and moving to a completely new place where she knew no one but her family. With all of those variables, my Grandmother has lived a great life....

My uncle shared a story with me the other night over the phone. He has been the caretaker of my Grandmother over the last 9 years....he said,

"Mark, you know the thing that Grandma taught me throughout life was that when she was worried or concerned or things didn't seem like they were going well....she would always say, "I am going to pray to God and then I will sleep. God will take care of it in the morning."

I can only hope that I can have the childlike faith that my Grandma Brown has. She is an inspiration to me.....let us rest in God, he will take care of it in the morning.

Confessions

2008-02-27T15:43:00.001-08:00

Its been all over the news the last couple of weeks. Another sports icon has been charged with using performance enhancing drugs. I honestly don't know what to think about Roger Clemens and am glad its not my call...I do have to ponder, though...when was the last time you got to confess to a person (or people) that you had screwed up?

Confession should be a part of our daily routine. If we all dedicated ourselves to eating less McSandwiches, going a little easier on the Frappulattes, and truly became confessional people....man, we'd be alot healthier.

And our health is really just the tip of the iceberg. If we really lived our lives as confessional people, we could drop the ball and chain and experience true freedom in our relationships, our families, and even in our alone time.

I for one always dread a true confession at first, because it means that I am admitting I was wrong. This, of course, opens up a whole realm of vulnerability that I do not want to submit myself to. Here is the thing, though - I always feel so released and guilt-free after confession to a trusted brother or sister.

A serious reality remains....our ugly, unconfessed mistakes and wrongdoings...when bottled up...will only fester and toxify our hearts.

"Make this your common practice. Confess your mess-ups to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed." James 5:16

True healing is found in genuine confession.

So, think about it. Is it worth holding on to the guilt and carrying that crap around with you everywhere you go? You know our unconfessed stuff leaks out onto other people.

Healing is possible. By His wounds....

For the kids...

2008-02-24T19:55:00.000-08:00

Talk to a kid. No seriously, start up a conversation with a child the next chance you get. I was reflecting on this earlier and have realized that there our few greater joys in life than talking with a child.

Let me explain where I am coming from with this. I am becoming more and more aware that in our quest for success and attaining whatever goals we as adults have set for ourselves....somewhere we left the kids behind. You walk in to any social situation where you mix kids and adults and you will see very little positive interaction between child and adult. This bothers me because it sets kids up to be lacking in social skills, in guidance, and in affirmation as they mature into young men and women.

One other thing that I see as so vital to the development of our children is to talk to them on their level. I get so frustrated when I see people addressing kids like they are dumb or like they don't have anything to add. I have fond memories of adults that addressed me as if was mature before I was well into my teenage years. It is something that affirmed me as a person and made me grow out of my shell and come into my own as a young man.

Talk to a child. Listen to them and hear their creativity. Laugh a little with them and see the benefits of investing in them. Yes, they are our future....but they are also our now.

Honestly

2008-02-20T20:58:00.000-08:00

Honesty is hard to come by. There are many social settings that I find myself in where I know that people are "beating around the bush" and would much rather live in the world of ambiguity than just tell it to me like it is. Secondhand criticism is horribly detrimental to any friendship, team, or organization. No one wants to hear the truth from another source. Nobody wants to listen to criticism, especially when it is coming via someone else.

I suppose honesty is fleeting because we struggle to really entrust ourselves to each other. Our pride won't let others in. Perhaps our persona of "too soft" or "too hard" discourage people from approaching us with their honest thoughts, observations, and beefs.

I would hate to look back on my life and say, "I didn't need anybodys honesty. I am my own man!". I feel like thats how I walk around somedays, though. I had a dear friend share with me some real valuable (and honest) info on a fashion faux pas that I had recently committed. I knew it was true before they even finished the third word of their sentence....but I did not want to hear it. The truth hurts....but more importantly, it causes us to change. (By the way, I did recieve a ticket from the fashion police as well...a double whammy....not cool!)

Change is a word being thrown alot these days....but will talk about change for a change tommorow.

But honestly, the hard thing is knowing which comments are to be discarded and which one's should be digested and taken to heart. A good test goes as follows..."is this person looking out for my best interest, or are they just saying it to make themselves look better".

I am trying to be more honest with people for their benefit and not just for myself. Its hard when you know that not everyone is honest....but the only way you can break through that is by showing yourself to be honest and trustworthy. I have believed for quite some time that our character is best modeled in the everyday, mundane....when no one else is watching kind of stuff.

My question to you today though, is.....what is it that keeps you from being honest with people? What causes you to speak less of the truth and more of what you think others want to hear? The worst thing you can do for someone is enable them, or worse yet allow them to continue to go in a certain direction and not do anything about it. Isn't honesty what we all really want anyways?

Editors Note : This is what happens when Mark drinks 3 cups of coffee late on a Wednesday night. Tune in tommorow night when Mark is more linear in his thoughts.

Peace,
MC

Living for the city...

2008-02-18T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'll say it first to clear the air...I feel as though I am giving in. For me to write a blog is kind of like Oprah taking a big bite out of a bacon cheeseburger. Blogs were kind of like the "in-thing" and I have always been a person that did all I could to not even have to look at the bandwagon, let alone jump on it. I did not start watching American Idol until last year. I still do not possess an I-pod, a bluetooth, or even a Hollister piece of clothing. I did not drink Starbucks until I got out of college. As far as blogs are concerned, up to this point, I had resisted the urge to "make my voice heard" as many bloggers before me have done for whatever reasons they deemed neccesary. I believe it was not related at all to the "true spirit of the blog" as much as it was a social epidemic that I did not want to fall prone to. So, what in the world am I doing here now?

Well, I will tell you very plain and simple that I miss writing. I also miss experiencing the opportunity to process life and to do it a context where others can also do the same. Open dialogue (not debating) is one of the finest methods of learning known to humankind. It is unfortunate that we as a society are progressively losing the ability to seek the truth and would much rather have people tell us what to think or how to act or even what to believe.

That being said, I know that you will not find all of the answers to life, love, and the pursuit of happiness here in this blog. My prayer, however, is that you will find and seek the right questions that we must be asking ourselves today. It would be great if your participation in this open dialogue would lead you to better understand your life, your relationships, your neighborhood, God, and everything else under the sun.

So now I ask you our first probing question : Which president did you celebrate today?

Peace on yo' head,
MC