How much faith do I have? Do I have enough faith to stop trying to work FOR God and start working WITH Him? "It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we mistake panic for inspiration." (Oswald Chambers) I think he's right...we would rather work for God than believe in Him. "Am I quite sure that God will do what I cannot do?" And here is the kicker..."If the Spirit of God has given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He only does it when His Spirit is at work), you know there is no criminal who is half so bad in actuality as you know yourself to be in possibility." In other words, if it were not for the grace of God in my life, I could very easily be a thief, a rapist, a child molester, or murderer. Yes, I possess within my dark, sinful nature, all of these possibilities. Therefore, I must realize that those who have not availed themselves of God's grace are no worse than me. And they are no farther from the healing power of God than I am. God can do what I cannot.

I have discovered what some other journalists have found, and that is this list of questions called the Friday Five. It seems that they post a list of five questions for reflection each Friday. I will give them a shot. I know it's not Friday...I'm starting out behind.

1. What do you most want to be remembered for?

Egad! Next question...no, just kidding. I want to be remembered for being, like King David, a "man after God's own heart." I want to be remembered for leading people to worship Almighty God.

2. What quotation best fits your outlook on life?

"We are far too easily pleased." John Piper quoting C.S. Lewis This just simply states that we too often settle for what is not the best in our lives.

3. What single achievement are you most proud of in the past year?

That's hard...I'm not sure I've achieved anything in the past year. I think it may be something as mundane as providing an opportunity for my teenage daughter to meet her heart-throb celebrity, James Marsters. Yes, that was quite an achievement.

4. What about the past ten years?

Even harder...That's a long time. Probably managing to stay married. My beautiful wife and I will be celebrating 18 years of marriage in four months. I think anyone who stays married that long deserves much commendation. I'm not saying that marriage is hard (it is, though, often), but that it is just so common for people to get "un-married" at the drop of a hat. We have weathered the "hats." By the grace of God, and He gets the credit for it, too!

5. If you were asked to give a child a single piece of advice to guide them through life, what would you say?

Another hard one...(are these ever easy??) I think I would tell them to seek the face of God. Find forgiveness in Jesus Christ and let Him guide you through life. This would require accepting responsibility for your actions all through your life and trying to be honest all the time. (Did I cheat, is that more than one piece?)

There. My five answers for this week. BTW, I found the link for this site at bookgirl's site.

Grace to all.

Missed anything?
The Beatles--Abbey Road/Alice Cooper--Killer - July 04, 2012
The Beatles Eponymous Album - June 26, 2012
Autism's False Prophets - February 12, 2011
Santana--Guitar God? - November 11, 2010
Tribute To the Red Sox - September 29, 2010