Husbands who clean SMILE more.

American men still don't pull their weight when it comes to housework and child care, but collectively they're not the slackers they used to be. The average dad has gradually been getting better about picking himself up off the sofa and pitching in, according to a new report in which a psychologist suggests the payoff for doing more chores could be more sex.

"If a guy does housework, it looks to the woman like he really cares about her  he's not treating her like a servant," said Coleman, who is affiliated with the Council on Contemporary Families. "And if a woman feels stressed out because the house is a mess and the guy's sitting on the couch while she's vacuuming, that's not going to put her in the mood."

read full article

FIVE THINGS THE ISRAELITES WERE NOT TOLD TO DO!

1. They were not told to make a serum to cure them of the snake's poison.
Church membership, keeping the commandments, baptism, etc. are good but you cannot use methods and programs as a serum of good works to cure man.

2. They were not told to help others who were bitten in order to get relief for themselves. Flesh wants to engage in works with the hope that helping others will counteract the deadly venom of sin.

3. They were not told to fight the serpents. Many Christians try and exterminate the Serpents. This becomes human effort and many times provides the energy to the flesh.

4. They were not told to make an offering to the serpent on the pole. Grace ceases to be grace if any price is paid for what it brings.

5. They were not told to pray to the serpent. You cannot substitute prayer to Christ for faith in Christ.

Religion is man’s attempt to deal with self through his own ability and effort. This is why religion can never save. Only Jesus can save!

To look on the serpent on the pole is the same as trusting Christ's death on the cross.

7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
Numbers 21:7-9

Your faith in the workplace

A judge rejected a harrassment claim by an employee bothered by a recently converted co-worker who posted religious sayings in her cubicle and expounded at length on her new faith.

An employer "has no legal obligation to suppress any and all religious expression merely because it annoys a single employee," he ruled.

But more often, says Starr, employers have been able to shut down "people who are actively proselytizing or expressing their religious viewpoint in a way others find disturbing."

"The touchstone," he says, "is whether the behavior is disruptive."

Read the full article here

Texas prison reforms praised

Long known for its tough-on-crime image, Texas on Thursday was hailed nationally for a package of reforms designed to curb its wildly growing prison population. But even as lawmakers were lauded for innovative programs for drug and alcohol abusers, Texas pushed past California to become the nation's leader in putting people behind bars.

click here to read entire article
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

good stuff

Sunday Night Reflections- A Packed House

Every chair was taken during our second service. If anyone else would have showed up, they would have been standing. Preaching Jesus out of the Old Testament is a great joy of mine. Seeing Christ in the OT is an amazing display of the divine authorship of the Bible. Number 21 teaches, the dangers of looking away from the Cross. I used this analogy.

What do these things have in common: Crucifix, Backslide, Backward Victory, Eye Gouge, ½ Nelson , Airplane Spin, Boston Crab, Corkscrew and the Cross-Face Chicken Wing? These are all official WWE wrestling moves. There is another move that doesn’t have an official name but it should. If you have ever wasted an evening watching a wrestling match, have probably seen this move. It is the climatic momentum shifter; THE LOOK AWAY. A wrestler has just pulled off the perfect body slam. His opponent is squirming on the mat. Since it is impossible to resist the temptation for self-glory, the wrestler looks away, throwing his hands in the air while breathing in the intoxicating cheers of his adoring fans. The cheers of the fans have suddenly changed though. In a moment they become frantic calls of concern and attention. Unable to pull himself from the moment of glory the wrestler is unaware that his opponent has recovered and is fast approaching with an aluminum chair! WHACK! The look away gets them every time.

There is a similar sin that gets US every time, LOOKING AWAY FROM THE CROSS.

Looking away from the Cross is taking our eyes off of the saving and dilivering power of God. Instead we look to ourself, our jobs, our circumstances etc. When we look away from the truth, we get snake bitten. The remedy? Look at the serpent on the pole, (a picture of the finished work of Christ on the Cross) and live.

What a victory it was to see the alter filled with men and women who responded to the question, "Who needs to look back to the Cross, and Who needs to look to Cross for the first time?" It's times like that that I feel the grace of God abounding greatly as He allows me to participate in this great message called The Gospel.

At Calvary?

I started a group on Facebook called CROSS Converse. I hope to start meaningful dialog about the things that matter with some of my international (and local) Facebook friends. Here is the question that I pose:

Were you at Calvary with Christ? If so how, if not why? What's your take?

Sketch from last SNL- Obama Hilary Debate

Pretty funny, if you missed it here it is:

The 7,100 Starbucks shut down

Tomorrow, at 5:30 pm every Starbucks in America will close for three hours. CEO Howard Schultz has ordered this emergency intensive remedial training (a three hour rebuke for burning coffee, killing espresso and not being able to pour steamed milk without a spoon). Can America handle an evening without the cash cow of all coffee shops? I have an idea use this opportunity to kick the $4 latte and make the switch to pure layered thirty-second fresh espresso. Forget all the foam and milk and double pumps of fakeness. Drink coffee the way it should be experienced, 3 ounces of 75 ml of caffeine (a tall coffee has 150 ml of caffeine), at a time. Just don’t forget to rise out the shot glass before you pull another shot.

-PST

Life of a GANGSTA (part one)

This is the true story of a friend of mine, David Square founder of Saving Our Sons Ministries (Project Gang Peace)


"When I was nine years old I was drafted into what became Chicago’s bloodiest war. I am talking about young people killing each other for a piece of land not owned by them, killing each other because of a color, and/or a name. By the time I was fifteen (15) years old I had been shot nine times, stabbed several times and beaten with baseball bats. I spent 3 1⁄2 months in a coma due to a gun shot to the head, and when I came out of the coma I could not walk and could barely talk. I had to endure a year of rehabilitation and speech therapy. I prayed to my Father in Heaven for the gift of life, that I may live, but I did it for the wrong reason, I wanted to retaliate. And yes, I did retaliate against those who shot me. Afterward, I was arrested and tried as an adult and sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison. I was only 16 years old, faced with the worse time of my life – I was going to prison, what most people thought would be for life.

While in prison I have had to do things that to this day that I am ashamed of; I have had to use violence as a means to survive, in that I was not going to be someone’s punk. Because of my choices other people died, were maimed, and some couldn’t withstand the pressure and committed suicide.

At the age of 21, I decided that I wanted to be my own “Chief’, and so I secretly began to built my Nation (set), one member at a time. And that came with a price. I had become so powerful in the joint that I was considered untouchable. But my family was not untouchable. Because of my choices, two of my biological brothers were gunned down and I had to put my mother in hiding for two years in order to keep her alive. My daughter had been raped three times, and now to this day she blames me for her drug addiction and prostitution. Now mind you, the guys that I was once loyal to were now trying to eliminate my family and had done horrific things to my baby girl (my only daughter). Think about that for a minute! That’s the life of a gangster……." (to be continued)

When Christians do the right things, the wrong way.

I opened up my Thursday Night teaching with the following quote. What do you think about what this position?


"Many people come to me for counsel wanting to train their flesh, trying to break various habits. They want to train their bodies not to overeat. They want to train their minds to think the right thoughts, their wills to make strong positive decisions, and their emotions to feel good at the right time. Almost everywhere we go, those in authority teach us some method of training the flesh. We are taught to train the flesh at home, school, work, and sometimes even at church. Some years ago when I surrendered to pastoral ministry, various ministers instructed me to build up my body and train my soul that I might become the minister that God wanted me to be. I tried it, but it did not work. The problem is that we can not train the flesh to live the Christian life. Why? The Flesh can not please God. God did not create us to live the spiritual life with physical strength or soul power. When we try to do so, the result is death, opposed to life and peace. The carnal mind stands against God. It is not under the authority of the law of God. It can never be trained to perform."

-Basil Frasure, Ph.D

Romans 8:5-8

Sunday Night Reflections (on Monday)

Mondays are a little different for me. Instead of dreading another long workweek filled with mundane tasks and menial to-dos, I feel like my workweek has just finished. I read once that to speak for 45 minutes publicly it produces the emotional stress of an eight-hour workday. It’s no wonder I am so drained after speaking at both services. I can’t imagine pastors who preach five services over the weekend. Last week I meet Zhenya Kasevich from Hillsongs Church in Russia. He has four services in Kiev, Ukraine and flies to Moscow for one more! That’s crazy. It just goes to show that when God calls you to a specific task He will produce the grace needed to perform that task.

Mondays are my Saturdays. Except the kids have school, my inbox gets filled, my phone still rings and everyone else knows it’s Monday. When Monday comes around I usually breath a sigh of relief, as another long weekend comes to a close. I can reflect on the people I’ve met, counseled or prayed for. I can critique my delivery and my sermons, (usually harshly). I can remember how blessed I am to be pastor and carrier of a sacred calling. Ok, I threw that last one in there to sound more Zen but you get the idea. The truth is, I can’t wait until the day I have five services to speak at. I can imagine how those Sunday night reflections will be.

BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING

I heard a great phrase the other day, ‘Blessed to be a blessing’. I think that is a great way to look at our life and resources. It makes me think of my friend Cyrus who pastors in Kampala, Uganda who doesn’t even have plumbing in his church, Dominion Temple. Yet, he organizes conferences where hundreds of village pastors come and receive rare, valuable Biblical teachings, which equip them for their pastorate. He gives away his personal suits and brings bicycles to be used as “ministry vehicles” for visitations and meetings. He does all of this at his own expense because in his words, “They are not as blessed and we are”. In the Untied States we hear a prosperity gospel taught as if we are not already prosperous. As if God has not already given us more than enough and more than we need. I believe when we see ourselves as blessed; it inspires us to be a blessing to others. A lifestyle of generosity is developed from a mentality of abundance. You cannot give what you go not have. So a position of giving is far better than a position of receiving. There is a local cafe in Africa that produces it’s own coffee. It is their attempt to boost the economy and become self-sufficient. On the back of their coffee can it reads, ‘Africa needs trade not aid to fight poverty’. Someone understood that a shift in mentality would produce a shift in position. It was Jesus who taught this principle.

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35

Robbed the Cradle?

I got to meet Marcos Witt yesterday for a lunch meeting with some other pastors. When I introduced him to Julie he said, "You robbed the cradle, man." I quickly responded that we were the same age. I told Pastor Marcos that it was great having him in our city of Houston. The standard for Latino ministries has truly been lifted by him. It's funny, I had to travel 3000 miles from Houston to meet a pastor of my own city. Nonetheless it's great to know him.

I know Julie looks younger than 30 and I look older than 30 but come on Marcos. Maybe I should die my hair. I wonder what color?

Live Blogging- Corazon 08'

Six Questions to Ask Yourself for Creative Focus
Dale O'Sheilds
pastor Church of the Redeemer


1. What things are not in your life right now that God wants to bring into existence?

What things do not exist that should?

2. What exist now but needs to be better than it is?

What can I improve or take to the next level?

3. What opportunities are seated within the problem?

Creative people don’t just see problems they see Opportunities.

4. What can I do to create something more meaningful in the world?

How can God use me to add more grace to the world where I live?

5. What can I do to stretch my heart and mind in new ways?

6. What can I do or change in my life that will help me better communicate the Gospel?

Never change the message only the method.