StumbleUpon Just for a Day

This is not a paid add or otherwise reimbursed plug for any social network. I just wanted to share.

There are lots of reasons to take time during your week to blog.  Many bloggers are trying to make a go of it financially.  I'm not sure how that works.  Most visitors to my blog are other bloggers rather than people looking to buy something.  However, I guess if you get your Google rank high enough and get enough traffic, the numbers work in your favor and you get enough clicks to make some income.

Some bloggers write because they love writing.  Some write as a way of journaling their thoughts.  Some write as way to express their opinions to the world.  I'm sure there are many other reasons to blog. My reasons for blogging are probably most related to the latter two examples.  I blog to journal my thoughts as I seek a closer walk with Jesus.  However, I am also eager to share my views and receive feedback from others that may be now or have walked a  similar journey.

I've had various ads and Amazon links on my site before.  I don't believe anyone ever clicked on them or purchased anything through these ads.  I've since taken them off as I noticed all they seemed to do was slow down my page loads.

Anyway, the point of this long introduction is that I do want visitors to my blog.  I want to share what I'm thinking and hear from others that have an opinion or view, regardless how much it may differ from my own.  In the blogosphere with thousands of blogs, how do you find readers for your blog?

Before joining Entrecard, I probably had anywhere from 1 to 20 visitors in a given day.  With Entrecard, that number quickly increased to 50 to 200 visitors in a day.  Of course, we all know the Entrecard game and most of those visitors are just there to drop.  That's ok though.  From time to time a post may catch someone's eye and they'll stop and read and they may even leave a comment.  I do the same myself.

Suddenly, last Wednesday, I had a crazy day of activity on my blog.  The hits spiked to 1,300.  The craziness actually started on Tuesday with 700 hits and then faded on Thursday with only 400.  By Friday, life on Seeking Above was back to normal.

So what caused all this increase in traffic?  StumbleUpon.  For some reason, a post from July 1, Radical Christianity, had caught on in the StumbleUpon circuit and increased traffic to my site 10X.  I don't know if many folks were stopping to actually read the post, but Seeking Above gained quite a bit of exposure that day, at least compared to what I had seen in the past.

I used to Stumble all of my new posts myself, just to try and get my blog on the StumbleUpon circuit.  I guess StumbleUpon sees that as spam and they no longer accept a post from my own site.  I can understand this limit as a way to prevent spam.  However, now I'm dependent on other bloggers to Stumble my posts for me.

Traffic is back to normal now.  I have plenty of other posts that have been Stumbled, so I am not sure why one post really took off last week.  However, I still see a steady stream of StumbleUpon traffic, just nothing like a thousand in a day.

I don't know why others blog.  However, I am going to assume that most of my blogging friends out there do want other people to know about their site and enjoy new visitors, either just to share or maybe to make some income.  Whatever the case, I'm now a strong believer in StumbleUpon (in addition to Entrecard) as a great source to let others know about interesting blogs.  One of my routines now, as I visit other blogs, is to make sure I Stumble all the good posts and especially my Entrecard favorites.

If you come across a post here that you like, comment if you want to share and have the time. However, if you just want to show some blogging love, Stumble it with a Thumbs Up!

Grace and Peace.

Rescue Me

Psalms 6:1-10 (ESV)
¹ To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. ² Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. ³ My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long? ⁴ Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. ⁵ For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? ⁶ I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. ⁷ My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. ⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. ⁹ The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. ¹⁰ All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

It has been a while since my spirit has grieved like David talks about in this Psalm.  However, I have been there.  Maybe not with men wanting to kill me, but certainly with Satan wanting to destroy me and my family.

It's interesting to note that in many of David's psalms of distress, he starts with painful and fearful laments, but he ends with confidence and encouragement. He knows God is still listening and God will answer his prayers. I think that's how God wants us to come to him.

God wants us to lay it all out there, our pain, our sorrow, our fears, and our doubts.  As we pour out our hearts, if we also take the time to pause and just listen, God is faithful to respond.  Your worldly troubles will probably not vanish instantly, although they may, but God's Spirit will comfort  you, so you too can end your prayer with confidence, encouragement, and praise.

I do wonder, does God respond when we hold back?  If I talk to Him like an acquaintance, that I don't want to bother with how much I really hurt, will I be able to receive His comforting presence?  Or, will He hold back, until I bring Him everything?

Father, forgive me for my unfaithfulness, and sometimes my pride, that keeps me from pouring out my heart to you.  Thank you for always being faithful, for always hearing my plea, and for accepting my insufficient prayers.

Ignorance is No Excuse

Ignorance is not bliss. It can actually be quite dangerous. See if you can follow me as I point out two examples.

This weekend a verse came to my mind. It was not one of the very few that I have memorized (I am convicted to do much better at this). It was one that I probably heard quoted in a sermon sometime but I don't know when. The gist of what I remembered was, "to whom little is given, little is expected and to whom much is given, much is expected."

As I thought about this passage I thought about how much Christians in other countries have little but have to suffer much and how Christians in this country, that have much, suffer little. I started to find myself on my soapbox again about how God has given Christians much in this country and expects much, yet we give little compared to our persecuted brother and sisters around the world.

I went to look up this passage that I roughly remembered so I could write a blog post on this conviction I was feeling. I found the verses in Luke 12:42-48.

Luke 12:42-48 (ESV)
⁴² And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸ But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Imagine my surprise. What I thought I was remembering as scripture is not really there. Now I'm not saying that American Christians should not be convicted to do more to support their persecuted brothers and sisters. Actually, more than likely, our own time will come. My point is, I was making up scripture in my head based on some input I had received somewhere. That's dangerous.

The second example of ignorance being dangerous comes right from this scripture that I mis-remembered (Roger Clemens taught me that word).

This passage talks about rewarding the faithful steward (v 43) and punishing the one that actively abuses others (v 46) and the one that knows God's will for their life but does not act on it (v 47). However, the one that is ignorant of God's will for their life is punished as well (v 48).

I'm going to assume that most of you are not purposely abusing and hurting others. However, how many of us ignore God's calling for our lives because we prefer our own course? How many of us don't know God's calling for our lives?

I heard a sermon from John Piper the other day titled Holy Ambition. Do you know yours? Ignorance is no excuse.

Prayer for Moses

Those of you that are new to Seeking Above may not be familiar with Moses.  You can read more about him on these two posts:

• Meet Moses


• Update on Moses

God has answered our first prayer, as Moses' surgery was successful.  The doctors cut a tendon from one part of his wrist and wrapped it around to the back of his wrist with the hope that he'll have some use of his hand.  Moses was a real warrior, not taking much pain medicine and now is working hard on rehab.  The rehab is probably the most important part of the whole procedure.

We went through quite a few ups and downs with Moses living with us.  He's a very proud 12-year old and we had some confrontations with boundaries.  At one point he told us he did not want to live with us anymore.  However, he eventually settled in, and I think like most young boys, he actually appreciates the boundaries (although he'll never admit it).

About a month after the surgery he was ready to start physical therapy.  This includes three trips to the physical therapist each week and home exercises each night.  The trips to the therapist have proven to be a challenge, as we live out in the country and the clinic is in town.  While we have volunteers from the church to help take him on these therapy sessions, there is not an easy way for someone to pick him up or for us to get him to them.

To help with the therapy sessions we have asked if anyone else at the church wants to sponsor Moses for the rest of his stay here in the U.S.  We've had a few takers so he'll be staying with other people here and there for the next six weeks.

For the last two weeks Moses has been staying with another family that lives in town.  However, he's coming back to our place tomorrow.  Our family and he are anxious to get back together again.  He'll be here a week and then spend a week with another family and then we'll see what happens from there.

Moving around to different families may be the best thing for him for these last few weeks for more than just therapy reasons.  As expected, our family and Moses have developed some strong bonds and it's going to be difficult on everyone when he has to go back to Liberia.  He calls me Dad and my wife Mom.

Obviously, the question is, why don't we adopt Moses into our family.  Especially since we've already committed ourselves to international adoption.  There are two main reasons at this point.  One, we really do not want to alter the birth order of our children when we adopt.  Moses is older than all of our other kids.  I am especially concerned with displacing our oldest son as the oldest child.  This is an issue we keep in prayer.  The second issue is that Liberia is currently not processing new adoptions. This is a fickle issue with international adoptions so this could change anytime.

We're tentatively scheduled to take Moses back to Liberia at the end of September.  I'll be going with our head pastor and another brother from our church.  Moses is not excited at all about going back in September.  The original plans were to go back in October and he wants all the time here he can get.  He is very excited that I'll be making the trip with him.

We have a few goals on this trip.  One of the guys going is an engineer.  He's going to review a bid to build a government required fence (current bid is $15,000).  If we can't get this fence built, the government will shut down the orphanage.  He will also be looking at their well and buildings to see what else can be done to improve things for the orphanage, school, and church.

I'm going because I have to go see, touch, and love on the kids in the orphanage.  God's talking to my heart about the global poor.  I don't know all that he wants me to do.  However, I do know that he wants me to go and see it in person.  In my own mind, what  I want to do is come back and fire up our church and anyone else that will listen to get out of their pews and into the real world.  I anxiously wait to see God's plans.

Please pray:

• For Moses' therapy to continue to strengthen his hand so that he can have a functioning left hand for the first time in his life


• For God to provide Moses a family - this is Moses' deepest prayer


• For a new fence for the orphanage so that it does not lose its government license


• For our church as we seek to figure out a long-term strategy for supporting the orphanage, school and church in Liberia (we are looking into a sponsorship program so that church members can sponsor a child through a organization like Bright Point)


• For my family as we look at international adoptions and also that we hear God clearly if Moses does happen to be the child he has for us, regardless of birth order and Liberia adoption difficulties


• For the global poor and the global orphans, yes, those in our own country as well

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Deuteronomy 26:13 (ESV)
¹³ then you shall say before the Lord your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.

Prayer for the Church

John 17:20-21 (ESV)
20 "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Are you ever awestruck that the Son of God, who holds the entire universe together, prayed for you and me before we ever existed.  Jesus prayed for those of us who would believe in Him through the words of the apostles.  Amazing.  Of course not long after this prayer He did an even more amazing thing for you and me.  He allowed Himself to be crucified for our sins.

I am frustrated sometimes because of the lack of unity in the Church.  I guess it should not be too surprising. While we are forgiven sinners, we are still sinners.  However, we do have the Spirit within us, so we have a great hope.

I read an encouraging post on Sheepleblog where the author, Derek, shares the struggles he faced as a pastor.  He makes a statement in his post that I want to share here:

“I am anticipating the days ahead because I know that Jesus is still the head of His church; He is actively building His church; and it is He who is the author of that desire within each true believer to connect with His people in order to become that “house of living stones”.

This is my hope and my dream.  I am confident in this hope because it is my own Lord's prayer.

The Days of Our Lives

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 (ESV)
¹ For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ² a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

Our days are slipping by like sand through an hourglass.  There's nothing we can do about it.  Each day may be our last.  Each day is for sure, one day closer to our last.

How do you think about death or do you not think about it at all?  It's probably not healthy to dwell on it.  After all, we still have our life to live with each day that God gives us.  However, I'm not so sure it is wise to ignore it until you come face to face with it - either for yourself or a loved one.

My dad worked as a hospice chaplain after he retired from the Army.  He spent many years ministering to people and their families as they faced death.  Shortly before he died, he wrote a book, Lessons from the Shadows of Death. This book describes the lessons he learned from the patients and the families he served.  As he was finishing his book, he was diagnosed with leukemia.  Within two years, he passed away under hospice care himself.

My parents tried to market and sell the book before my dad died.  I'm not sure if they ever sold any copies.  They never had any intentions of making much money on the proceeds.  My dad's real desire was to share the lessons he learned with the rest of us, as we will all walk through the shadow of death at some point.

So, as with his other book, Blind Faith, I am posting Lessons from the Shadows of Death, online.  I hope to be posting one or two stories a week.  Please stop by and take a look.  I hope these stories touch your heart as you read how people, just like you and me, walk through the shadows of death.

Carrying Your Own Cross

First, I want to say that I truly appreciate all of the encouraging comments I've received on my recent posts as I wrestle with God over what He wants me to do about the plight of the poor. However, this is not just about me. This is much bigger than a question about how much of my disposable income should be given to charity. This is about all of us, Christ's body, seeing the problem with Jesus' eyes, not just when we read about it, but it should be part of our every thought and every dream.

Warning - I am going to attempt to put a visual in your mind that will never leave. Stop reading now if you'd rather not think about it.

The stadium in the picture above is Kyle Field. The seating capacity is 82,600. Every week, during football season, this stadium is packed with Aggie football fans. That is a lot of people. That is more people than the entire population in most small towns in America.

Every week, all year long, 98,000 children quietly die directly from starvation or indirectly from their inability to resist common diseases. That number is small compared to the number that are suffering, hurting, and crying but just not dead yet.

This football season, when you see a packed stadium, remember that a stadium full of children died because of starvation this week and thousands more are just waiting their turn.

Each of us has a different calling from God on what to do about this issue. I am also well aware that this is just one of many problems in our world. As Christ's body we are full of different parts and different roles. However, we each do have a part and a role.

Luke 14:27
27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Carrying our own cross does not mean carrying our own problems and burdens. Our own problems and burdens are to be handed over to Jesus. Our cross is the spiritual and physical problems and burdens of others.

It is obvious that God is telling me that my cross includes the starving children around the world. It's not so obvious yet, all that He wants me to do about it, but I'm seeking. I encourage you to know your cross, but more importantly, to actually pick it up and carry it.

If you're living a comfortable life most days, chances are there may not be a cross on your shoulder. If you're living under your own stress most days, chances are there may not be a cross on your shoulder because your shoulders are already weighed down with your own burdens.

This is not just about me. It's much bigger than that.