The Dad of the Taggs: January 2010

Friday, January 29, 2010

"Fine"

My 8 year old son was given this question in a board game we were playing. "If you were standing in front of a person who had no brothers or sisters and is the father of none, but his fathers's fathers is your father's son, what would your relationship be to that person?"

8 year old answer - "Fine"...

:-)

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Legalism

I have a few friends that espouse that we are free from the law of the Bible. That any form of following it is legalism and should be avoided. Oh, the doctrine of man interpreted reckonings and the clammering of the naive...we must be a loud resounding "GONG" to our God in heaven. However, I am trying to follow some of Jesus' words and it seems that they lead me to considering the Law and it's many benefits. Not for salvation, but as our "duty" to God.

Follow this and help me understand where I am off track.

So, my feelings have always been that, having been saved, I have a desire for the things of God; to receive the benefits from God's wisdom; to uphold the law to the best of my ability. Not the man made laws, but the God ordained ones. As an example, I choose to steer clear of any pork product or scavenger like catfish. I have felt conviction to do this and have reaped the benefit from it. My once easily irritated stomach has become as peaceful as I have ever known... So, to that end, I feel like Gods laws have so many benefits that we mere humans may not see. So, that's what I have "felt"...

I read a passage at lunch today starting in Matthew 7:21. It's a very familiar passage...but I stopped at the end wondering what it meant exactly... Here's the ESV version of the passage I am referring:

²¹^(Z) "Not everyone who^(AA) says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will^(AB) enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who^(AC) does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²^(AD) On that day^(AE) many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not^(AF) prophesy in your name, and cast out demons^(AG) in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' ²³^(AH) And then will I declare to them, 'I^(AI) never knew you;^(AJ) depart from me,^(AK) you workers of lawlessness.'

So, there are a couple of parts in there that make me say, "Huh??" For starters, "but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven". Thoughts of Romans 12:2 - tells us how to know the will of God - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God... But, the part that really sticks out to me is "depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." Workers of what?

Matthew 13:41 was referenced by 7:23 as was Psalm 5:5 so here are both of those:

⁴¹^(A) The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all^(B) causes of sin and^(C) all law-breakers,

⁵The^(A) boastful shall not^(B) stand before your eyes;
you^(C) hate all evildoers.

So, if I understand the written word at all. The passage states that God's will = law. That not doing God's will is lawlessness. For it says, "the one who does the will of my Father", otherwise "depart from me, you workers of lawlessness".

It really reinforces, to me, that there are 2 distinct tasks in life. The first is to be saved from your sin, to trust in the Lord Jesus as your savior. That is the part that allows us to even say "Lord, Lord"...The second is to do that which God wills... What does He will anyway? "Love mercy, do justly, walk humbly with Your God." "Raise a godly seed." "Renew your mind" "1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ¹⁵See that^(X) no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always^(Y) seek to do good to one another and to everyone. ¹⁶^(Z) Rejoice always, ¹⁷^(AA) pray without ceasing, ¹⁸^(AB) give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Peter 2:15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. I am sure there are more...but it seems to revolve around those 10 things he made quite clear in Exodus.

It is interesting what Mark recorded as the last words of Jesus:

¹⁵And he said to them, ^(AC) "Go into all the world and^(AD) proclaim the gospel to^(AE) the whole creation. ¹⁶^(AF) Whoever believes and is^(AG) baptized^(AH) will be saved, but^(AI) whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷And^(AJ) these signs will accompany those who believe:^(AK) in my name they will cast out demons;^(AL) they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸^(AM) they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them;^(AN) they will lay their hands^(AO) on the sick, and they will recover."

Looks strangely familiar...Looks like simply believing is not enough...I mean, even the devil believes that Jesus is God. I need to research this even more I guess...

In the words of Paul - ³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

I can't wait for Les to comment! :-)

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The adventures of MommaTagg

Yesterday was a rather comical day for the missus.

1. #3 and #2 were arguing over #2's dog's eye boogers. Big argument, much pride...many tears.

2. Meanwhile, one of the younger of the boys comes in complaining about being sick..."Go to bed".

3. #4 is working on the breakfast at her own request....Burnt.

4. Another young male complains of being ill "Go to bed".

5. #4 is supposed to prep the DVD movie "The Gospel of John" to match where they are going to read today...so that they read it, then see it kind of thing. She has some difficulty with the DVD player (it's kinda busted). #3 "takes over" uninvited. #4 has flames shoot out her eyes and a disagreement ensues.

6. #1 is going to take the drivers test to get her permit. It's 11:30 and the very not friendly person that works there informs them repeatedly that it shuts down and 12:00...My sweet wife ensure the lady that #1 knows all the answers and it will only take a few minutes. She fails the test, blames mom for rushing her.

7. She is going to pick up the kids from a class they are taking. She takes the "new" old car. Gets pulled over because there are no license plates on it.

Needless to say, that was a grand adventure for my sweet wife!

Friday, January 22, 2010

What are dreams for?

One thing I absolutely don't understand is why we dream. It makes no sense. I realize that God spoke to many in dreams...I don't think He's using that form of communication with me.

I don't care for them...even if they are real good dreams, you wake up and are right back without the goodness you just had moments ago. Bad ones linger in my thoughts for days.

Bleh.

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

No war required

"Why go to war when in 2 generations it will all be ours anyway" - Muslim leader..

I think it's very interesting...and true. There are many in our midst who believe the falsities that state the world is getting overpopulated, that animals are more important than people, that trees have feelings. I hope they like allah, they will soon be forced to bow before the muslim god.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A well oiled machine

Today I was feeling a little under the weather...I called in late. I got up, got cleaned up...ate some breakfast and jumped on the computer for a minute to take care of some business. It was then I noticed it. I was sitting there typing something in and everyone was scurrying about quietly. Everyone was focused and heading in a specific general direction. They were all headed to the dining room table to begin the day. My wife was quietly speaking and asking questions...there were eager responses, some corrections...but, it was moving. It was flowing in a forward direction. A direction of progress...what a satisfying feeling to see all of that in action. Well done wife.

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Monday, January 11, 2010

Concentration

Have you ever tried just being still and listening...Not to a person, not to a song or anything but quieting your mind. It's got to be an amazing discipline to be able to do that. I am wondering if that's what one of my pastors called "the noise" of Satan's scheme and one way he would distract us from God.

As I think about the busyness of life I could see how "busyness" could be an idol. I think sometimes we all do it. I have seen it so many places. Tell someone how hectic and busy your life is...there's a good chance that they are gonna compare their day or time...you know what I mean. It's almost like we're proud of it.

I think it's even embedded into that workforce. I was talking with a new acquaintance last night one of his observations was that the company he worked for wanted to make sure they were getting their money's worth. Employees are driven harder so that companies can be profitable. I am not saying that's a bad thing, I think we should work hard at work. But, we have been conditioned to multitask and allow ourselves to be constantly interrupted. No longer can we contemplate the best solution, we have to just get it done right then. It's now so ingrained that when I only work on 1 thing I can't think. I check my phone for messages, hit the internet for something that popped into my head, etc. etc.

I don't know, maybe I am the only one that suffers from the inability to concentrate. It's probably a symptom of a weak mind. But, I am ready to quit that life. I want to be able to focus... I want to be able to think things through. But, mostly I want to be able to hear from God.

All this came about as one of my friends gave me some good advice...he said, "You should pray about this ministry for 15 minutes a day...mostly listening". I tried, and currently, I can't do it. I figure it's just gonna take time and perseverance. The scripture comes to mind, "Could you not tarry with me for 1 hour?" I'd would have fallen asleep too...

Anyone have any 12 step programs to better concentration?

Friday, January 8, 2010

Great question to ask your wife!

I was at the men's lunch at first Baptist Church...Pastor Dale was talking about the book "Don't Waste Your Life"...I have listened to that book and was excited to hear what he had to say about it. I knew that he'd have a completely different viewpoint than my own. While there were several things he mentioned that fell into that category, none struck me more than when he spoke matter of fact-ly with us at the end.

It was right at the end of his session, he looked at the 100 or so guys there, put his hand on his chin and tried to make eye contact with as many of us as he could. He mentioned how he had been preaching for 35 years. That in those 35 years he had buried a lot of people. He stated there was a small population of women that were happy widows. Not exuberant, not obvious, but you could tell they were relieved. A huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders. The widows were probably not beaten or anything, but, perhaps their now dead husbands were (my words) buttheads. Then he proceeded to tell us how he wanted his wife to be sad when he was dead...(that was pretty funny, we all had a good laugh at the wording of it)...

The point was that we all will leave some sort of legacy, what legacy will you leave?

So, the question I asked my wife this morning, "Honey, when I die are you going to be happy?"

Her face was sort of shocked..."No!". Then she asked what I was talking about....after I told her the stuff I mentioned here, she almost came to tears telling something that had been bugging her that she just kind of set aside... I am glad we got to talk about that. I still don't know if that's resolved..but, at least it's something that I am aware of now that I can really try to correct.

The book is really good and I highly recommend it..but, the practical aspect Dale added, that's the real stuff that helps put into action all the theory and words that I heard. The things that help be the man I was created to be...I am so far off course but glad there is a ministry that reaches out to guys like me that want make the changes but don't even know we need to make them. It's kind of hard to explain...Simply, thank you Lord for Dale and his heart for godly men wannabes.

Oh yeah, you need to talk to your wife.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Besides my #1s birthday

Another thought has been plaguing my thoughts lately. It's that I feel like I should be doing something and I don't know what it is. When I am at work I catch myself thinking of what I want to be when I grow up...when I am home, wondering what I should do around the house....never do I feel content. That seems like something I need to figure out or dismiss.
I have been drawing an illustration for my friends lately. It's a timeline with a point on both ends. The farthest left point is labelled birth...the farthest right is labelled death...then, I put a Rocket on it heading from the left to the right....and label that states, "where are you?"

It's the same chart for every single person. The only variance and unknown is "where you are"... Sort of a solve for "x" type problem.

My oldest daughter turns 18 today...I remember how collicky she was and having to hold her as she feel asleep...rocking back and forth...singing a Boyz to men song, "it's so hard to say goodbye"...well the song and the times were before my Christian walk began...but, that is a sweet memory I have of her...oh yeah, the whole time she was crying so hard she sounded like a sheep..but, it was sweet nonetheless.

Do something.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy

To my eldest!!! 18 today. WOW!

I love you sugar bear!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Pictures my sister wanted

Ok, here they are...please excuse the mess...

http://thetaggs.smugmug.com/Family/TheTagg-Family/2010-House-Pictures/10861010_3oGvA#757746312_rydcN

it's only been 4 months since you asked...