One Person at a Time...

Have You Ever "Googled" Your Own Name?

This morning I was corresponding with a pastor from Kenya.  I decided to "google" his name to see if I could find out more about him.  Unfortunately, the information that came up was all in languages I couldn't read!  While I was there I decided to google my name: Chris Marshall.  To my surprise, there were 857,000 hits.  I only scrolled through the first ten pages, and found that a lot of Chris Marshalls exist in this world.  They live in the U.S., Spain, Canada, and I'm sure other places as well.  They are writers, professors, wood workers, artists, photographers, computer consultants, and at least one is a pastor!  One was dead.  It was strange to read "my" name being and doing so many things, especially being dead.  The world in which we live gives us the opportunity to find out so much information about so many people and things--in an instant.  To what end?  The exercise in googling my own name motivated something in me this morning: to be and do as much as possible in serving Jesus.  After all, maybe another Chris Marshall out there will google his name, find me and be inspired by what he reads to google JESUS!  Now, that would be awesome, wouldn't it!

Back on Line.....

Hopefully, I AM back online again for good.  TypePad and I have been experiencing some technical difficulties with my account and it was suspended once again, while that was resolved.  One of the strangest things about TypePad is that I found no way to actually speak with a human being.  They have a help "ticket" approach to resolution, which is sort of "e-mail tag."  They send you a correspondence and you "respond."  Then you wait for them to "respond," which can take a day or two, and if the situation isn't resolved, the game starts again.  I've played more enjoyable games in my life, but now all is well once again, and starting today, I hope to be back to regular posts!

A Powerful Message from ER

Thanks to Lisa Johns for passing this on to me, and thanks to Ray Comfort and the Way of the Master for seeing the significance in this powerful segment from the television show ER.

Comfort notes that "fair use" allows us to pass this segment on, and he encourages all who see his message to pass it on throughout the internet. So here you are! The segment is a bit long, but it's well worth the 9:27

Back on the Road Again, Again, Again

It's not looking much like I'll be part of the 7,000+ runners in the Cleveland Marathon come May 18.  Yesterday and today were my first days of running in the past three weeks.  A funny thing has happened since God has been dealing with my life-long struggle with anger--I don't feel the "need" to go for a run.  Certainly, my body still has the need, from a physical fitness and health standpoint.  Certainly, my prayer life can use the extended times of prayer as I run.  Actually, though, my prayer life is so much more on-going since it isn't being interrupted with bouts of irritation and anger throughout the day.  I've noticed that now that I'm driving "normally" (read as: obeying most of the traffic laws, most of the time) that my prayer time in the car is fairly non-interrupted. (I've even noticed that at the speeds I drive these days, I could probably write or read a book, but so far I've resisted the temptation!) Anyway, I started this post to say that while I don't "need" to run as a way of letting off steam anymore, I realized that I still need the discipline of the run, and the focused start to each day in prayer.  This morning was a challenge to say the least.  Rails to trails was more like "slush to mush."  About 2-3 inches of snow/ice/slush made up the "base," which meant that footing was not fun.  Even so, the four mile run felt good, and as I was thinking about how "short" of a run it was, I realized that four years ago when I started running my first run was 1/8 of a mile!  That was a tough one to take for a guy who lettered in three varsity sports in high school, and always considered myself an athlete.  These days, I consider myself blessed to be able to go out and complete a "short" run, and to probably still have a few long ones in me.  More than that, I'm grateful to God that while I don't "need" to run anymore, I still can, and will, because it keeps me sharp spiritually, and gives me the opportunity to stay in good enough shape to play a little one-on-one with the girls, or go water skiing this summer (the Lord willing!) without too much danger of hurting myself. So, it's back on the road (or trail) again, again, again...

When 70 Is Better than 280

When we lived on Keithwood Drive our driveway was 70 feet long.  It was also made of concrete.  Our new driveway is 280 feet long and is made of stone. Given all the snow we've been having recently, 70 is actually better than 280!  This morning I went out to shovel the driveway.  In that past the task was relatively simple, and made easier by the driveway having been poured in 10 foot sections.  Each joint I came to was 1/7 closer to the finish line, and gave me a more or less immediate feed back of my progress. Now, there're no dividing lines, and if I'm not careful, I end up shoveling limestone into the surrounding yard along with the snow.  For the most part, the plan has been to just drive up and down the driveway enough to keep it clear, and quite often the nasty winds we have blow the snow right off the driveway,  but this most recent snow drifted in parts of the driveway, so the drive over it technique didn't quite cut it.  Some would say, "Why not plow it?"  Good idea, except that plowing requires great precision or the stone goes with the snow.  So, today it was shoveling 280 feet of driveway.  It was good exercise.  It gave a sense of accomplishment at the completion, and it reminded me that sometimes 70 is better than 280! (or that sometimes "less is more"!)  Hope you're enjoying the snow, and the SUN that's melting it.

What Women Really Want....a Belated Valentine

Yesterday morning as I was driving, I tuned into KDKA to catch the weather forecast.  After the forecast an "expert" came on the air to tell us all what women really want for Valentine's Day.  Here it is:  1) flowers; 2) diamonds and; 3) spa treatments.  As I reflected on the list, it occurred to me that none of the items is what women REALLY want for Valentine's Day.  I know I'm a man, and I might be going out on a limb here, but what I think women really want for Valentine's Day--or ANY day for that matter--is meaningful relationships.  I'd go so far as to say that's what both women and men want deep down.  We may have buried those desires under mounds of "stuff," but our hearts' desire is to know and love God, and to know and love others.  Due to the way our schedule worked out yesterday, I had the opportunity to take all three of my girls--Nancy, Abby and Emmy to dinner after Abby's basketball game.  As I sat there with them, I thanked God for who each of them is in Him, and as part of my life.  We laughed together, and caught up with each other on what's happening in our lives.  As we drove home after the dinner, Emmy went on and on about her life in minute detail.  Again we laughed, and drew closer.  Nancy and I had our time at the end of the day to reflect on the day and we agreed that it had been a great Valentine's Day.  She didn't get what the "expert" said women really want yesterday, but she wouldn't trade what we experienced for a truck load of it.  During our ride home we took a moment to realize that the best "things" in life aren't things, and we wouldn't trade our love for God and each other for anyTHING.  I pray you enjoyed your Valentine's Day, and even more that you had the opportunity to share in at least some of the things that money can't buy!

Interesting Website: www.deathclock.com

Last night Nancy, Abby and I attended a worship service in Greensburg, PA, because Abby was going to miss worship today, because of a basketball commitment. The church was starting a 4-week series titled, "30 Days to Live."  The point of the message was -- If you only had 30 days to live, and you knew it, what would you do differently?  The pastor mentioned that he had come across an interesting website:  www.deathclock.com  If you go to the website and enter certain "personal information"--date of birth, gender, smoker/non-smoker status and BMI, the site will "calculate" your "deathdate."

The pastor mentioned that he tried it and came up with a specific date.  I came home last night and tried it out myself.  My "deathdate" came out to be April 14, 2053.  I'LL TAKE IT!  I'll be 96 years old, and April 14 happens to be my anniversay---plus, if I don't do my taxes, oh well!  Seriously, though, the pastor's point was no matter what some "death clock" may say, we don't know when our last day is coming.  Thus, EVERY day is vital.  The pastor's right! EVERY day IS vital.  the website is still fun, though.  The most interesting thing to me was the site gives you tips on how to "extend" your death date.  One of the ways is supposed to be by lowering your BMI if it's greater than 25. Mine's 28 right now, so I just arbitrarily put 25 into the death calculator again, and the year came out to be 2050!==3 years sooner!  So much, for all that running and praying I do!  If you're up for a laugh, and won't take it to seriously, try out the site--but remember:  we must learn to number our DAYS, and live each one for Jesus, if we have a heart of wisdom!

Marathon Update

I have unofficially decided to run my second marathon on Sunday, May 18, 2008 (if the Lord wills! [See James 4:13-17 or last Sunday's message!]) I've also decided to do my training with my long runs on Sundays, as the training schedule I'm using suggests.  Since the race is on a Sunday, it is better to train for a long run on Sunday.  Given that my "day job" requires Sunday work, that's going to be a challenge, but the longer runs don't really start until the days get longer, so it ought to work out.  Today was a 7 mile run, which as long runs go is quite short.  It happened that due to the basketball game being at 2:30, I wasn't able to get out to run until 4:00.  The timing couldn't have been better.  After the challenging task of reflecting Jesus as a basketball coach from 2:30-3:30, I needed to focus on the Lord, and release a little energy.  Both took place during the run.  Since I was running about a 9 minute pace today, that means I had a little more than an hour with the Lord as I ran.  I needed that block of time.  While ALL prayer times are important, today's was vital for me.  It helped me get focused on Jesus, and to establish His control for the week.  It allowed me to call on the Holy Spirit to fill and empower me that I may live out the fruit of the Spirit.  When I came home I was tired in a good way, and my spirit was right.  What does it take for you to get your spirit ready and ready for the week?  I pray you'll take the time to do it each day!

I Want THEIR Job!

Listened to the news and weather this morning, and decided once again that the best job in the world has got to be WEATHER FORECASTER!  The forecast for Saturday stated, "... and Saturday evening the snow will start to accumulate.  Depending on how it develops we'll see about one to three inches, although it could be a lot more than that, or a lot less."  REALLY?  What is a "lot less" than one to three inches?  After all, one inch of snow really isn't a lot of snow in western Pennsylvania in December.

The next thing we'll hear is "If you don't have to go out on Sunday morning -- DON'T.  Did you ever notice that the weather forecasters NEVER say that on Tuesday evening about Wednesday morning?   This is a tangent from the topic, but how is it that it's VITAL that we go out to work on a weekday, but NOT that we go out to worship on a Sunday?  Is worship less important than work?

Back to the point--How many jobs are there that permit such vague generalizations about the area of expertise.  What does it take to be considered an "effective" weather forecaster?  It is NOT an ability to forecast the weather!  While my tongue IS somewhat in my cheek right now, wouldn't you love to get paid whether you are right or wrong EVERY working day of your life?

Basketball, Basketball and MORE Basketball

One of the greatest joys of my life has been being part of Abby and Emmy's involvement in basketball over the past eleven or so years.  These days our involvement in Abby's basketball world is WATCHING.  As a first year college student, and "true freshman," on the women's team, she's learning that it's not high school anymore!  While she's seen limited action in the team's scrimmages, she's had the opportunity to hit a few threes, a couple foul shots, make a number of assists, and block a few shots.  Everyone is bigger and faster than in high school, and it's actually fun to watch warm ups as the vast majority of the shots go in the hoop!  Abby's learning to manage her time effectively, and there's no danger of her gaining the "freshman fifteen." The intensity of the workouts has her in the best physical condition of her life, and as in the past her academic performance is always excellent "in season," which at the college level seems to be about 11 months out of the year!

Emmy's "travel team" has their first practice tonight and for Emmy it'll be the 7th year of having dad as coach.  Most of the time that's worked out well, and over the past few years, I've "mellowed" in my approach.  It's a great deal of fun -- along with the momentary frustrations -- when teaching 13 young women about the game of life and the game of basketball.  I guess I'm basically a coach at heart.  As a pastor my role is coaching folks to become followers of Jesus and then coaching them to learn the skills/disciplines necessary to grow more like Jesus and to help others do the same!  In coaching basketball my goals are basically the same, except that the skills being taught are dribbling, shooting, passing, rebounding, etc...  Overall, when the season is over, the most important "victory" will be if each player has a little clearer understanding of how important Jesus is to life, and how important each of them is to Him!