Sandy Toes from Peter Garaway on Vimeo.

I learn a lot from my boys… Sometimes the lessons are so blatant and simple that I’m amazed that I have not comprehended them before my 49 years on this planet. Or maybe I had understood them… at one time… before I got so sophisticated. It reminds me of a “Rose is Rose” cartoon I have never forgotten. In the cartoon Pasqual (the little boy) is jumping around happy as can be. His mother (Rose) walks by and says, “What are you so happy about?” Pasqual looks puzzled by the question and then a larger smile bursts across his face as he exclaims, “I’ll go find something!” Rose, of course, is left standing there in shock… and then states in embarrassed and new-found understanding, “All these years I’ve had that backwards.”

The boys and I were walking on the beach on our vacation… we were climbing on the rocks having a great time. Then I had an idea, “Let’s go hunt for treasure on the seashore!” With unequaled enthusiasm the boys rushed forth, plastic pail in hand gathering all sorts of stuff on the beach. Now you must understand, I am known in the family as the “Sand Dollar King!” So after about 10 minutes of furious searching… I had found nothing of value. It’s at this point that my boys came running over to show me their treasures and look at mine. As I inspected their loot I found broken sea shells, pieces of wood, a spent firework, various pieces of crab and a lot of funny-looking rocks. As I looked for something of significance in their buckets they had been inspecting my empty bucket. With a puzzled look my 8 year old said, “Gee Dad, what are you waiting for?” “What do you mean?” I said. “Well… there are treasures everywhere; you’re just walking over them!”
I do that in life. I miss things, people and more importantly messages from God as I judge one thing more important than the other. I probably miss much of life as well. At least this message came through loud and clear…

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

I wish you peace. And please remember those that serve (and have served) in our military during this holiday season…
Troy

Almost Falling...

Machines that Almost Fall Over from Michael Kontopoulos on Vimeo.

Have you ever felt like this... one more hit and your going over... just barely holding on? It is interesting how people describe their lives sometimes... "Just keeping it between the ditches," "I'm barely here, but I'm here," "I got one foot in the grave and the other foot on a banana peel!"

I felt that way recently on a golf course in the Bahamas when my wife and I attended her sister’s wedding. I was honored to be asked to play in my new brother-in-laws foursome…needless to say I was trying to make a good impression. And when the "guys" (most were from New York so they know how to verbally jack your jaw) found out I was providing the homily for the wedding they were certain I could do something about the torrential downpour that hit us at the 6th hole. They were pretty convinced I could mend their spiritual confusion and pray their putts in. Even though we were all having a good time and I was holding my own with witty responses to their good-natured jabbing… I wanted to be a good role model for the Lord and I wanted to play well too. The playing well was not necessarily happening for me. I was playing ok but I wanted more! So when I hit a nearly perfect little drive down the middle of the fairway that ended up with half of my ball sticking out of the water… I looked heaven-ward (and we all know that means, “Thanks a lot God!!!”) Now all I had to do, since the ball was still playable, was get it out of the water, carry the large pool and the large trees that guarded the green and land it on said green that was a bit small to say the least. Big sigh…

Life is kinda like that sometimes. I didn’t see the beauty around me, the fact that it had stopped raining, my trip (and golf) were paid for, my wife and I had this time alone without our two small boys in tow (because my fantastic, wonderful sister was keeping them… and yes, I’m sending her this blog), I had the health to actually hit the ball… on and on it goes… things I could have been thankful for. But I wanted more. Such is my life... always wanting more.

So, with all eyes on me, I swung my club back and did the only two things I know to do in golf… pray and close my eyes! The ball came out perfectly, cleared the body of water, ricocheted through the trees and landed two feet from the hole… just as I had planned.

Too often we forget that we have been given everything we need in Christ… “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Romans 8:10-12 How powerful we can be if we remember what we already have!

Peace, troy

P.S. I missed the #@$#% putt.

From a Distance...

The Universe from Johannes Torp on Vimeo.

Do you remember the song that Bette Midler sang, “From A Distance?”

From a distance the world looks blue and green,
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.

It is interesting to think about how God must view us sometimes… one could easily feel insignificant watching the above video. To think that a planet so small could garner the attention of One so amazingly beyond compare… One Who created planets so immense that earth is not even a speck in their shadow… and to think One so magnificent could really be interested in the every-day organization of our daily lives. Perhaps the Israelites felt the same. They had been led through the wilderness for nearly 40 years, were now asked to take another census, given specific instruction about how and where to camp and how to move as one unit. The first two chapters of the book of Numbers can be a seemingly weary (if not out-right boring) task for the reader. It gives very specific detail about how and where the tribes must camp around the tabernacle. One artist rendition looks like this…



However, it is another example of how we are sometimes “too close to the forest to see the trees” type of situation. The above artist only took into consideration where the camps would be in regards to the tabernacle which is placed in the center of camp. No thought was given to HOW MANY people lived in each particular camp. No thought was given to tribes being given only a CERTAIN WIDTH in which to camp. Tribes could only camp on the ordinal points of the compass (an example would be the tribes that made up Judah… they were to camp east of the Levites but only as wide as the Levite camp... and then they could take whatever length they needed for the population of the tribes that made up Judah.) Therefore, upon closer investigation, paying attention to the numbers of the tribes and the exact locations given by God in which they were to camp… one can see “from a distance” what God had planed for his people… not only in their time… but a for-shadowing of His salvation for our time as well. Below is an aerial view of what one would see if viewing the nation of Israel from a mountain with them camped in a valley below (perhaps this is the very picture that Balaam saw in Numbers 22-24).



Perhaps we are not so insignificant after all…

Peace, Troy

What's New with riverofthespirit.org

Upcoming Men's Retreat!

River has been asked to lead a Men's Retreat coming up in September 09' just outside of Houston. It is being hosted by Sugarland UMC in Houston and Andy & I (Andy is the other co-founder of River of the Spirit if I have not mentioned that yet) would appreciate your prayers as we prepare for the upcoming event. Please pray that God will not only prepare the hearts of the men that attend but Andy's & my heart as well!

www.riverofthespirit.org

River supports Mission India

Mission India's records show that 60% of those that attend the Children's Bible Club will accept Jesus christ and go on to grow in their faith in other programs that Mission India provides. In 2008, 3,878,243 children came through the Children's Bible Club program.

Mission India also provides Adult Literacy Classes which graduate adults at a 5th grade reading level and a basic mastery of math skills. Bible-based curriculum, produced in 21 languages, introduce students to Jesus Christ. In 2008, 66,160 students graduated.

Mission India Plants churches by training pastors to start and lead small congregations. These pastors (men & women), called Church Planters, complete 2 years of combined classroom training and supervised fieldwork. During their training, they plant at least two churches and share the Gospel with at least 1,200 families. In 2008, 380 Church Planters were trained and 2,293 worshipping groups were planted.

www.missionindia.org

Men's Life Sends 860 children to Bible School!
(every Tuesday, 6:45 - 8 a.m.)

Men's Life raised $430.00 for Mission India during the months of February and March. When I checked to see what Mission India could do with our funds... they told me to send the money by May 1 and an anonymous donor would double our money... now I'm no financial wizard but it did not take me long to put the money in the mail. Thank you so much Men's Life!

Fun Facts About India

* Did you know that the Hindu religion has over 300 million gods? (Yep, you read that right over 300 million!)
* Experts believe that 70% of adults in India are functionally illiterate.
* One of every 6 people on earth - live in India.

What I'm learning as a dad...

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that when my 8 year olds behavior is getting out of hand because he's tired, cranky or just having a bad day... that a hug is an alternative to me blowing up and sending him to his room. Thus far, I report to you that this tactic is working amazingly well!

Peace,

troy

What's New with River, 4/22/09

Welcome River Family!

For all you folks that are getting this for the first time... you are probably part of the River family and did not know it! If you have ever helped River out in any way... you're part of our family! However, I do understand getting too much web stuff and if you'd rather not get this blog... just shoot me an email... I will not be offended (well ok, maybe a little but hey, that's life... wink, wink) and you can always go to the River website http://www.riverofthespirit.com/. The River Family extends from right here in San Antonio, TX. all the way to Hawaii! At some point we will publish all you folks so you can see! Peace and grace from our Lord Jesus Christ!

India

Did you know...
* Chess was invented in India
* India has the most post offices in the world !
* The US is 3 times larger in land mass than India
* India is over 3 times larger than the US in population

Men's Life

Our "pocket change" for India now totals $430.00!! Way to go Men's Life! Check back for more details about what happens with these funds!

What we learned from Ephesians 6 this week?

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

Could it be that Paul is talking in our time about the Employer/Employee relationship? It's an interesting thought and whether one believes it or not... it does beg to argue would employees fair better if they served their employers like they served Christ? (8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.) Or, maybe that's the problem... we do serve our employers the way we serve Christ... ouch!

What's New with River?

In River News

Jimmie Joffe just joined the River Family (whenever anyone makes a donation to River... they join the family... sounds kinda mafia-ish... ). Welcome Jimmie! The main website, http://www.riverofthespirit.com/ has some updates on the Training page with the last sermon i preached on Baptism.

Men's Life

The Men's Life group (3 groups of men that meet every Tuesday morning, 6:45 - 7:55 a.m. at Alamo Heights UMC, any man is welcome) raised $330.00 bucks for Mission India mostly by putting their pocket change aside for 2 months! They have decided to send children to bible school in India and people to literacy classes. In both of these programs (run by Mission India) kids and adults get a healthy measure of Christ Jesus! A big Thank You to Men's Life!

What did we learn in Ephesians this week?

We learned that more is required of men than we had originally thought! We were good with the part of chapter 5 verse 22 where is says "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord" ... but then it got into the parts that talked about husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church. That's when i occurred to us... "No wife would mind being subject to a husband who loves her as Christ loves the church" so what's the problem... it might be us guys! Do we really cherish out wives as we should? Here's another thought... in 1Timothy 2:14 it states that Adam was not deceived by what Eve did in the garden when she took the forbidden fruit. Could it be that Adam loved Eve so much... that he knowingly choose to share in the destiny that she had chosen? I'm not saying that what he did was right... but could it be that he was becoming sin for her (2 Cor. 5:21). The first Adam is pointed to as "a pattern of the one to come" in Romans 5:14 and even more about the first Adam in 1 Cor. 15. My point is... Adam must have really, really loved Eve! Am I that devoted to my wife? Good question... at this point I would rather think about it... than to ask her. And of course, one might argue, that unless Adam and Eve had stuck together -there would have been no redeemer, the "Seed of the Woman."

What Am I learning as a Dad...?

Well, when my oldest boy (8) comes home after a long day at school (in which he has been an angel, the teachers confirm this) he is ready to blow, let off steam, pop the cork, sometimes in an unacceptable way... I have found a few things that work.
1/ he needs some alone time... if I give it to him and keep his 4 year old brother away for a bit... he can decompress.
2/ he wants some of my time... normally to wrestle! This is always good since he joins forces with the younger one to gang up on dad. Then we all get to play... (stops for a second while writing this blog to but Advil on the grocery list).
3/ when none of these work and he's just looking for a fight (and I am a proponent that if they are looking for a fight and for some boundaries to go along with it... we should not disappoint them) I try one more trick instead of sending him to his room... no matter how hard it is... I give him a big hug! It is amazing what that does for him sometimes... Proverbs 15:1-3 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Grace and peace...
troy

Who Wants to Read it Anyway?!

I have no idea... My first impression is that blogs aren't for reading as much as for the author to get things off his/her chest. I'm not real sure what path this blog will take as this point but heres some things you might expect...

* Information about Riverofthespirit.org website. Why not just put this on the River of the Spirit website... I don't know how (stop laughing).

* Information about India... I have a passion for India and its people. So I'll keep it short and intresting with stuff most people don't know.

* Whatever the Bible study is for this week (I lead a men's breakfast/Bible Study, 3 small groups of men) I'll give you my "in-a-nutshell" thought. By the way, the Bible study is open to all men without regard to race, age or religion.

* Whatever I'm learning as a husband or a father (I'm married with two boys, 8 and 4) might slip in.

Wow! My own blog! I'm feeling better already... how bout you? (Dosen't really matter... rememeber - I think blogs are for the author not the reader... wink wink)

Peace, troy