God-fearing…
Pastor.
Father.
Grandfather.
Great-grandfather.
Brother.
Uncle.

He leaves an amazing legacy; one that I hope to pass on.
To read more about him, click here.

I will miss you, Papa.

Stephen

Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended.
A.W. Tozer

How many times have I justified a purchase because it was “necessary?” Answer: Too many. God has given us gifts, but they were always meant to be external, never to slip inside the heart and take the place of Him.

God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by this monstrous substitution.
A.W. Tozer

I must admit, that I have found the words, “my” and “mine,” coming from my mouth one too many times. I cling to my toys. Why? Do I fear for their safety?

Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.
A.W. Tozer

I want my pursuit of God to do something about this matter. I have no excuse; I have no defense. I’m in need of a Savior who can dethrone my selfish desires.

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3

Being poor in spirit does not mean you have nothing. You can have everything, but possess nothing by no longer being a slave to the tyranny of things. This is the secret.

I want my heart to have room for one and only one.

What are you holding onto?

Stephen

I live next to train tracks.
The conductors get bored and like to blare their horns as they ride by your house at 2 a.m.
The windows shake.
I shake.

And then I realize…

Stupid trains.

Stephen

For those of you who don’t live in Augusta, this is the week of the Master’s golf tournament. Basically, everyone in Augusta leaves while the rest of the world comes in to worship the sport of golf. Heavy traffic, rich people, stretch limos and ESPN come strolling into town every first full week in April.

Most of our staff are such people that leave Augusta this week. It has been pretty darn quiet the past couple of days since it’s only me and two of our secretaries. Today, we left a little early and so I’ve been enjoying the afternoon off. It’s been pretty nice and so I’ve decided to come to Starbucks and drink a little of their new blend, Pike Place. Starbucks has made some changes this week including free brewed coffee refills when you purchase it with a Starbucks card. It’s a pretty sweet deal and I’m going to take advantage of it. One cool thing about Starbucks is that if you have to wait for your coffee to brew, it’s usually free. So I got a free cup of coffee along with two cards for more free coffee. Geez this rocks! Makes me feel kind of bad for using Panera’s free internet next door…but not bad enough.

So here I am, coffee in hand, reading a book and listening to the new Delirious album on my iPhone. Life is sweet.

How do you relax?

peace,
stephen