HALT.

This past week has been a bit sad for me. My buddy Ralf (my dog) has been on the decline. Several months ago the vet told us his kidneys were shutting down and he had less than a month to live. Obviously the vets timing was a bit off because that was back in February. Yet lately Ralf hasn't eaten much and has lost a ton of weight. Needless to say I've been bummed.

Concurently the old junk in my life has been calling me back. Escapism, isolation, sloth, even the old addiction to porn has been screaming to come back. It has been work to avoid any relapse. I've wondered, "what in the world is going on here?!" And then I remembered something I read a while ago. HALT.

HALT. When we are Hurt, Angry, Lonely, and/orTired we are most prone to stumble and fall. As I've been hurt at Ralf's health and angry at the breeder for breeding crappy kidneys I've been ripe for the pickin. It's at these times that it is most crucial to climb in the lap of the Father and let him minister. "Come to me all of you who are heavy burdened and I will give you rest." In my yucky moments the flesh screams to run to other things, but my soul longs for and needs the rest that only Christ can give.

Fortunately with the help of some good friends and some good time with God, I've avoided any of the old junk. And thanks to many prayers Ralf has bounced back and is doing better than he's done in a long time.

Peace adn Joy
Rob

Thinking of my last post and my struggle with old habbits returning - I was this close (picture my thumb and forefinger held up an inch apart) to keeping that hidden. The temptation to cover and hide is/was huge. We (I think we and hope it ain't just me) are just like Adam who hid his "stuff" behind a fig leaf hoping to present a picture that was better than reality.

Yet if you've ever spent an extended period of time naked (i.e. backpacking in Denali for a couple hours in the old birthday suit) you know that there is something very freeing when all cover is removed. It's true with our short comings too. Wouldn't it be nice to live a life with the closet fully open without fear of our skeletons "being found out." Better to throw open the closet doors and say, "there it all is!" (in approprate places of course) than to live in the shame and fear that someone will find out our secrets.

In fact this is the way of grace. Jesus' work on the cross covers all the things we wish we didn't do. And his grace, when embraced, gives us the freedom to loose the fig leave and walk without shame. This is why Jesus confronted Peter three times after the resurection. He took Peter directly to his three-fold denial and said my grace covers even that.

So what are you hidding?

Peace and Joy
Rob

Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog returns to it's vomit so a fool repeats his folly." Let me say, "woof, woof." Yet again I find myself eating puke - so to speak. In effort to walk into health and balance I knew that I needed to both get up earlier for some QT and be more balanced in my eating/drinking habbits. Yet this morning I found myself dead tired cause I stayed up too late and this afternoon I polished off my 3rd Dew of the day. What the heck. One of you (DVA) responded to one of the earlier blogs with some really great comments about forming good new habbits and making that the focus as opposed to focussing on getting rid of old bad habbits. After my vomit lunch I see that to walk down the path to freedom I need a new habit of going to bed much earlier so I can get up early and to replace the sweet nectar of heaven - I mean Mt. Dew - with something more healthy.

But my goodness, new habits are hard to come by. A large part of me would rather stay up to the wee hours and sleep right through my devo time. A large part of me would rather live on pizza and pop. A large part of me would rather be lazy and never move.

Yet there is a part of me that wants to steel myself against such things and walk into the freedom that comes from sacrifice. After all eating vomit sucks.

What about you? What does your vomit look like? What habbits do you need to put into place.

It is a good thing we don't have to have it all perfected by Thursday. And it's good to walk through life with you men.

Peace and Joy
Rob

After my last post yesterday a couple of you replied with some very helpful comments. Which made me think of this reality - we were not meant to do life alone. In addition to the support and companionship of our wives (for those of us who are married) we need men to walk with. I'm thinking of David and Jonathon. Paul and Barnabus. David's might men. The 12. And even Jesus and his 3 - Peter, James and John. There is something that only can come from the company of men. Men will sharpen men (see Prov. 27:17) in ways that a woman can not sharpen a man.

I am thankful that in one way shape or form I've been able to walk through life with each of you. Each of you in your own way has blessed my life.

My wondering for you is this: who are the men that you walk closely with day by day? Who are the ones who sharpen you, help you grow, and make you laugh? I know for me in order for Tommy to go (see first blog to understand Tommy) I need to walk with men. So do you. The stakes are high. Walk on. With a brother.

Peace and Joy
Rob

It's been about a month now since I've decided that Tommy must go. Those first few weeks the discipline was easy - the zeal was high. No problem to get in the word and prayer. Moving and eating right was a cinch.

That was then. This is now. How quickly the enthusiams waines. How short lived is the easy passion. Now comes the hard part. Now comes the work. Now the realization that this isn't about a few days. This is a new way of living. Yikes. It is easy to be disciplined for a season. It is much more difficult to walk in discipline for a life. So yesterday and today I've been fighting through the wall.

How about you? Let me know and let's plow through the wall together. There is to much at stake to quit after the first month. Lifestyle baby! It's not about a day, it's about a new way!

Peace and joy
Rob

I know where Tommy comes from. He comes from the land of rocky soil and has spent time in the land of thorny ground. He hates good soil. As Jesus was explaining the parable he said this about the rocky and thorny soils (Mark 4). The seed falling on rocky soil is like the one who, "receive it (the gospel) with joy. But since they have no root they last only a short time." in regard to the thorny soil he said this, the seed falling on thorny soil is like the one who, "hears the word but the worrries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word making it unfruitful."

If you recall a few blogs ago (the first Links Man blog) I shared that Tommy was a result of indulgent living. Indulgent, self serving living leads to a life not rooted in Christ. My lack of rootedness in Christ - that is getting with him daily - led me to be joyful in my service to the lord - as long as everything was going well. But when the trials of life came I was quick to rely on the flesh. Happy when life was good, but instantly grumpy when the rains came. No roots. I also shared that I got lazy in all kinds of areas in my life. Over sleeping, over eating, slothful at work... That was Tommy asserting his origins coming from the land of thorny ground. Money, worry, other things chocking out my ability to be fruitful.

Tommy must go. The only way he goes is if we work our tails off at becoming the good soil. And you know that good soil is dirty, smelly, has some fertilizer (read dookie). It takes time to cultivate it. Thorny and rocky ground are easy and even a bit less messy. Yet for the fruit to come we gotta be good soil. Work and effort are required. The apostle Paul would say in Phillippians 2, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Notice he doesn't say work for your salvation. He says work it out. Here's how I am working it out these days (wondering if you might be led to join me in my efforts).
1. With Jesus daily
2. Move Daily (some form of excercise)
3. Eat in a God honoring way each day (balanced healthy eating, avoiding extremes

Tommy must go and he only goes if we smoother him wiht good soil.

Peace and Joy
Rob

So I'm sitting in a room of hundreds of Reformed Church people at our annual gathering in Iowa. (Remember I flew out last week by mistake:)). Everything in me wants to check out until my little part comes into play. My goodness, one can only stand Roberts Rules of Order for a little time let alone hours a day. I honestly think I would rather head to the dentist then the proctologist before having to sit for hours a day for 5 days in these marathon sessions. We just spent a half hour celebratign the adoption of the Belhar Confession as one of our standards. I could think of a million other things I'd like to celebrate.

Yet the still small voice within - the one that has been speaking since I redecided to slow down and listen - is whispering "it isn't about you. It's about others. Use your time to be a blessing to others." The apostle Paul would say "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice." It isn't about me. It is about the mission of the King of Kings to bring his peace, joy and abundance whereever it is absent. Hmm... There are hurting, lonely people who need a touch of the Kingdom of God right here at this gathering of church people. Instead of checking out I'm going to check in and bless others that God might be glorified.

What about you? Where are you tempted to check out, but God would rather you check in?

I better go - there is a meeting going on.

Peace and Joy
Link

Hey Men,
So a little discipline can go a long way. I decided to buckle down in my times with the Lord (yet again) back on May 19th. Since then I've been sure to spend some time in the word, in prayer, and listening each day. In the short time since then I can say I actually feel different. Go figure. Less prone to anger, lust, grumpiness, etc..

Last week I flew out to Iowa for a meeting. When I called my boss to ask where we were going to meet, he told me our meeting was next week. Yikes! I had flown to Iowa a week early. Crap. The old Link - pre May 19 would have been livid. Mad at myself for being so stupid Mad at others for throwing out the wrong dates. Mad at the travel agent for not magically discerning what dates I really needed to be there. Just plain old mad.

Yet like I said - a little discipline goes a long way. Instead of anger I simply felt chagrined and soon saw the humor in the whole situation. Really no big deal. It was nice to not be bond by anger. Meeting with Jesus makes me a freer man. Ditto for you too.

So let's do this thing together. First things first. First let us make time with Jesus a daily priority and watch the change come.

Peace and Joy
Link

Tommy Must Go!

Hey Men,
A couple weeks ago I had a Dr.'s Appt. As they usually do, they asked me to jump on the scale. Holy Crap! I weighed 244 lbs. It's a good thing I didn't literally "jump on the scale." I would have broken the darn thing. For you to appreciate my shock you need to know that a year ago I weighed 190 pounds. Yikes. That's 55 pounds. My goodness, I have 3 kids who weigh less that that.

So I decided to name him (that is my extra baggage) Tommy. In short: Tommy Must Go!

The day after my Dr. visit I took the day at a monastery for some prayer and refelction. While there I wondered how this happened. The answer: sloth, business, lack of discipline, indulgence, self centered living. As I pondered the reality of Tommy I realized that these things (sloth, etc.) were apparent in other places in my life. I could see them in my vocation, my marriage, my parenting, my spending. Tommy's chubby little hand had a grip on many areas in my life.

I also had the thought, "I'm probably not alone." I imagine that many men, many of you, struggle with discipline in one form or another. The truth is that God came that we might have an abundant life. We will never reach that abundant life in full living a no or low discipline life. The stakes are to high for me, for men, for you, to live the Tommy life style. Tommy must go.

So consider yourselves invited to join me in the pursuit of discipline and thus freedom that we might bear more fruit in our jobs, homes and everywhere we go.

In the days to come I will throw down a thought or two along the lines of losing my Tommy. I invite you to read, join the discussion, share with other men, and walk with me and other men along the path called life.

Peace and Joy
Link