Which Way Do I Go?

I have a great privilege this semester to have Dr. Lee Manzer as my marketing professor. I referred to him at the beginning of the semester as "Dr. Gpa" because he is the oldest tenured professor at Oklahoma State University. He is a unique professor. He isn't interested in monotone, dry lectures that put people to sleep. He doesn't use a PowerPoint slide show presentation with his notes. He doesn't sit in a chair to talk to us. Every day he tries his best to spice things up to make coming to class interesting. This is rare for an older professor at any university. Even with all these great attributes, he is most well known by his stories and quotes. Every class period he will tell interesting long stories that apply to what we cover in the book. He also takes any chance he can get to teach us "life lessons". Many of his stories include: "How easy it is to be great", "How to get people to commit to goals", So on and so on. It is interesting to me how many people I have spoken to, who have had Dr. Manzer as a professor in the past that remember the stories he tells. My older brother and sister-in-law also had him as a professor and they both remember stories that stuck with them through the entirety of their lives. Even the lady who interviewed me for a scholarship a couple of weeks ago told me a few stories she remembered. It's amazing how such a simple teaching philosophy has impacted the memory of so many college students. I was lucky enough to catch the last couple years of his teaching career. I would like to share one of his small "stories" with you: "The importance of goals".

If we don't have goals, than we can't expect to have any accomplishments in our lives. Aside from his story I found this fact very interesting, "The Yale graduating class of 1953 was surveyed to see how many had written goals. Only 3% had written goals. 30 years later, the same class was surveyed again. The same 3% had accumulated over 90% of the wealth of the entire graduating class". Dr. Manzer's story was based around Alice and Wonderland (yes this post is inspired by the premier of the movie tonight). I found a video clip that will save you plenty of reading time.





Do you notice that Alice gets to a fork in the road and does not know which way to turn? She does not know where she is going. She is lost in her circumstances and is just stumbling along mindlessly. She gets to the fork and asks the Cheshire cat a very important question, "Which way do I go?" The cat responds, "Which way do you want to go?"

"I do not know",

"Than it really does not matter which way you go".

If we have no aim in our lives, than it really does not matter which way we go... If we wonder around in our lives, simply clocking in and clocking out type of lifestyle, than we can't expect great accomplishments. "Shoot for the moon and you might end up in the stars". Even if I only hit the stars, that would be better than indecisively standing at the fork in my life on earth. I have taken the initiative to write out my long term and short term goals in my journal. Considering my task oriented lifestyle, this helps me see the current plan for my life. Another day and another story might be who your Cheshire cat might be. Who are you asking for direction or help?

Things to think about ladies and gentlemen. Don't be Alice and simply stumble around a hallucinogenic euphoria with no direction. Get a goal and start pursuing the finish line.

Passion

This is the reason I live. Listen to the message this man has to say. It ends about the 4:00 minute mark. Than listen to the song that preceeded the message in the second video. God is good.






With Everything

Open our eyes
To see the things that make Your heart cry
To be the church that You would desire
Your light to be seen

Break down our pride
And all the walls we've built up inside
Our earthly crowns and all our desires
We lay at Your feet

Let hope rise And darkness tremble
In Your holy light That every eye will see
Jesus our God Great and mighty to be praised

God of all days
Glorious in all of Your ways
Oh the majesty the wonder and grace
In the light of Your Name


With everything With everything
We will shout for Your glory
With everything With everything
We will shout forth Your praise

Our hearts they cry
Be glorified
Be lifted high above all names
For You our King
With everything


We will shout forth Your praise

Orange Power

With the exception of Yankee fans, UCONN fans, or UCLA fans, most true sports fanatics have learned to live in the moment of sports. Most of us don't have the opportunity to invest so much time and passion into a team to be rewarded with a championship at the end. I've lived for 20 years and besides the Dallas Cowboys championship run when I was much younger, I've never rooted for a national champion. Therefore, I must grasp and hold on to those 'special' moments in my fantasy sports universe. These 'special' memories, along with the emotional side stories that accompany sports are the reasons people like me watch sports. I mean seriously, how can you look at this photo and not appreciate what athletics bring to the table.

I have many of these special memories that I can reach back and remember: Seeing Emmitt Smith break the all time rushing record in person, going to my first OSU basketball game with my brother, seeing A-Rod hit a walk-off grand slam against the Red Sox in the bottom of the 12th inning, watching the Yankees play ball, watching Michael Jordan cross over and drain the game winning shot against the Jazz while running fever, seeing John Lucas hit the game winning shot over St Joe’s to send the Pokes to the Final Four, or my own personal experience of playing 10 minutes of a basketball game with a broken nose. Of course, I can't leave out seeing your dad get kicked out of a state tournament for yelling at the officials in defense of his son. Ask any human why he or she watches sports and I guarantee everyone will have their own set of 'special' stories to tell. These stories are the reason we faithfully keep watching our teams play even when they are losing.

This past weekend I have another story to add to my collection. My OSU Cowboys basketball team upsetting the number one ranked team in the country! I have to admit that over the years I've learned, when it comes to sports, to expect the worse, therefore I'm never disappointed. My mindset walking into the game was that I was blessed to get to see at least five future NBA players play a game on the same court. I never would have expected we would do the impossible: win. Immediately, this memory has become branded as an all time favorite. The popular Al Michael's quote, "Do you believe in miracles?" kept pounding in the back of my mind as the seconds wound down to one of the largest victories in our school's history. I will never forget how loud the stadium rocked in the final minutes of the game when James Anderson threw down the game clinching break away dunk. The surreal converged with reality when I peaked over my shoulder to see the thousands of students inching closer and closer to the front row in anticipation of rushing the floor. The skinny police officers were not going to keep the deeply torchered Cowboy fans from ravishing our once in a lifetime victory celebration on Eddie Sutton court. Travis Ford's ear to ear grin said it all as he invited the students to rush the floor with 5 seconds remaining.





I'll never forget the rush, but I'll also never forget our tradition of holding the fan next to you and singing the Alma Mater after our victory. But this time is was done at mid court and under the arms of our fellow students, friends, and basketball team. I will simply never forget.




We're going dancing! Go Pokes!

Come and Listen

This post is inspired by what the Lord has really been pressing in my Spirit lately as I've been seeking Him. As you recently read, I sought out God in my mental battle and he revealed himself in a Love I've never felt before. Therefore, it became my goal to obtain a better understanding of this love and what do I get? A lesson in humbleness. I've never been happier to not be in control. Just like before, now I see a significant correlation between these two subjects than I originally assumed.

Many people have a desire to love God, but are not sure how to express it. It is a dumbfounding thought: how do we, a sinful natured humanity, show love for the perfect creator of the entire universe? Let the Holy Spirit tell you very simply. Straight from the Word.

Matthew 25:31-33; 41- 43

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. . . 41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

Imagine the Lord saying this right in front of you... I'm sure you're thinking the exact same thing as I am, "Whoa, whoa, whoa God. First off, I never saw you hurt, thirsty, or naked. So this must not apply to me." Wrong. Read on.

Matthew 25:44-45

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

Clear as mud, right? It couldn't be more obvious. If you want to express your love for God, express it through loving his image bearing children. Yes, even the ones who aren't defined as 'cool' in our twisted modern culture. When I get to heaven, I plan to throw myself down at Jesus' feet. Right in front of the gates and every heavenly host there is. Before I go talk to the one who had a 'heart after God's own', King David, I will just lay down in front of Jesus and worship. If the power of his love can be so overpowering here on earth, can you imagine the feeling of standing eye to eye to the one who gave his entire life just to have this single moment with you? I think we all agree. I can't imagine Jesus bending down to touch my shoulder to tell me to move to the 'left' after reciting verse 45 to me. It's easy to picture us bowing down before Jesus in Heaven, but we have to realize we are commanded to bow down every day on earth. To do so, it requires a humble loving of all creation, especially when we don't necessarily want to.

Picture it this way. We are first commanded to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds. Our second commandment is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. If God's image is in every single one of us, are we not fundamentally accomplishing both of these commandments at once by humbly loving others? You are expressing God's love into another's life, while at the same time expressing to God your desire for Him. It fits together perfectly.

Our lives are too short to live for ourselves. We often think that life is about "me, me, me". What car do I want to drive? What beautiful girl do I want to marry? What house do I want to live in? It goes on and on. Please see that our life here on earth is just a quick breath in God's eyes. In the broad scope of things, essentially all we are is that "one guy" who is an extra, walking in the back ground of the newest movie you went to see last weekend (Crazy Love). That's all. Our life is simply too short to NOT point the glory back to the main character of this "film". My dad taught me that life seems to go by more quickly as we age because the past 12 months we just lived makes up a smaller percentage of our lives. When you're 4 years old turning 5, your past year seemed to last forever because it was 20% of your entire life. When you're 49 years old turning 50, the past year went by so quickly because those 12 months were only 2% of your life. Now picture this movie in God's eyes. My friends, we are only 0.0000000000001% of this movie. There is not enough time to live for yourself. We're called to live in sacrifice and love.

I hope you'll grasp what God has been running through my simple mind over the last week. I've really made great strides in understanding this, but I got hit hard by God last Tuesday night during worship at Overflow. Sometimes God can be similar to how our school system works. He'll teach us things and show us things, but he'll also test us to see where we stand. He wants to know if we're "good" soil or "bad" soil. While the band played the song in the video above, I contemplated all these gut wrenching commands. The Lord nailed me with a single question that took my breath away. He said, "Son, if you truly love me in complete humbleness, are you willing to give up your entire life for a single soul, who you might not even know, to be saved"? Wow. For one person. But Lord, I've invested so much into my school work to just give it all up. I've worked so many hours to save up money. I've spent countless hours in the gym to succeed in my sport. Listen, this is the ultimatum. This movie is not about us. When people look at me, I desire to reflect back to the One who gives us meaning. That is my dream. And if this means to give up all my investments on earth for one soul to be eternally saved then, "Yes Father". This is my humble, honest answer. What will it be for you? Life about you or life about Him? You decide.

Dear Future Wife

Dear Future Wife,

It’s me, your husband. I’m in my second year at Oklahoma State; boy, it’s getting rough. Sometimes I don’t have as much time as I would prefer. My professor for Chemistry is Dr. Raft. He is a vicious, sadistic madman. Can you believe that I scored a 60% on my last exam but still doubled the class average? I’m taking 17 hours of credits this semester, but probably spend 80% of my time on this one class. I complain about its difficulty but it has forced me to draw closer to God and put my trust in Him. It is simply amazing how little effort God requires of us to draw closer to Him. I really cannot get enough of Him.

I want you to know that I pray for you every day. I can’t wait to see how beautiful you are, inside and out. If you are actually reading this, then I’m so thankful you saw through my shy personality. I promise that I’m a nice guy once you get me to open up! I’m sure that you’ve already learned of my obsession of sports. I must apologize now for the pain and agony that I will bring into future generations of our family. Regretfully, I root for all losers. You shouldn’t blame me though, blame your father-in-law. It’s his fault. But as every sports fan knows, my passion for sports isn’t just based in the win and loss column. Everyone knows the stories that come attached to the sports are the real reason people watch. I’m sorry now that every Sunday after church will be dedicated to Cowboy football. It sincerely won’t hurt my feelings if you want to spend time with your girl friends during the game. Go get coffee or go shopping. Just please leave the 50” HD TV to me and my boys for the game. If you would prefer to watch the game with us, than I will let you wear my Emmitt Smith jersey that I bought at the game when he broke the all time rushing record. Yes, I love you this much.

I really hope you like to clean dishes. I despise cleaning dishes. I’ll gladly do all the laundry. My mom taught me how at a very young age. I’ll even separate the colors and whites like a good husband. I actually like making cool designs in the carpet with the vacuum too! There’s a deal: I’ll vacuum and do the laundry if you change all the diapers and clean the dishes. That’s fair, right? Wonderful. I promise to always do my share of house work. You deserve the help. You’re much too beautiful to always be cleaning a toilet. File and paint your nails on the couch, I’ll help take care of it.

I’m so glad I have the privilege to marry someone who is a giver. I hope the amount of money budgeted into our “giving” category is enough. Considering the nature of your heart, I’m sure there will never be enough to give away. I’m so happy that you’re interested in missions. I can’t wait to take my first mission trip with you. I know God is capable of using my help to change the world, but can you slightly imagine how much of an impact on the world God can make with us working together? You’re so amazing. If you don’t desire to work full time, then I’ll make enough to support our family. I’ll stand behind your decision if you would like to stay home and take care of our children. The more time you spend with them, the more you can pour into their lives. And I want our children to grow up to be just like you. I also pray they resemble the physical beauty of you as well. Especially my daughters. I would also be willing to adopt children if the timing was right. The more children we can have in our home, the more of an impact our family can have for the kingdom of God. Don’t you agree?

I promise to always be the spiritual leader of our amazing family. I understand that I can’t control every situation and solve everything on my own. That isn’t how I want to do it anyways. Decisions in our marriage will always be based in our responsiveness to the Lord’s will. You can also trust me to be the financial leader of our house. I would never exclude your help though. I don’t want to control all the money. Oh wonderful wife, I’m such a lucky man. I’m so glad that I found a girl who believes in me. I’m elated to have a woman who makes an average man great. It is a guarantee that I will never stop talking about you. People will be so tired of hearing about how lucky I am. You are in the most important spot in my life that you could possibly be , my number 2. Right behind God. I waited so long for you and I couldn’t have been blessed more. I’ve conquered many battles so that I could become the man I am today. God picked me up when I was hurting and molded me into the man I am now. So I can’t say I regret my past, it taught me many things. Just always remember that the past is the past; I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us in the future. Baby, we’re going to rock this world together. I can’t wait to read this to you. You are best ever. I mean it.

I love you,

Stephen

P.S. I will never forget to leave the toliet seat up. I promise.