Digital Cowboy

Serena and her lovely daughter, Arielle have challenged me… in a good way.

I hate religion and I hate religious traditions. They’re almost universally designed to deceive and distract. I want to challenge them every chance I get especially if they’re mine. I asked why Serena and Arielle refer to my Savior as Yehoshua. They answered and made me think.

I’m not giving up the name of Jesus until you pry it from my cold dead fingers. But I really like the discussion going on over at Arielle’s blog.

This is not a trivial issue because names matter, particularly His.

I’ve done a little study on His name in the past and found He has many that are scripturally valid. I’m also learning from the discussion at Arielle’s blog and I suggest you check it out, too, if you care what His name is.

Elena dear, I love you, but “how it sounds” is not a consideration for me. I gave up on pleasant a long time ago. Now I’m seeking Truth.

OK. One more. I promise I’ll stop after this. Bitterness, country music and booze are not a good combination. (They’re all dangerous but I’ll bet you focused on the two least dangerous of the three.)

“Well I used to think that you were beautiful and I used to love bein’ in love. Yeah and that one time I even wanted to marry you. I don’t know what the hell I was thinkin’ of.

But that was back…. back before you sucked. Back before you got a big ol’ butt. Back before you cheated and the devil stole your heart. Back before you sucked.”

I don’t know what Nashville is churning out this month, but I’ll lay ya 3 to 2 that it ain’t country and if it were, radio wouldn’t play it. The only real country music being produced today is coming out of Austin or somewhere else in Texas.

One of the many things I love about Texas is the music. For those of you that come here for scriptural insight, you’re not likely to find any today. But don’t run away. Texas is also home to a lot of great ministry and I’ll get back to that soon.

If you country music lovers only knew… I feel blessed to live in North Texas, in part, because of 95.3, The Range. Outside of praise and worship music (which plays in 3 rooms of my house, 24/7), it’s about all I listen to.

“If you think Britney Spears is more woman than Loretta Lynn, move on down the dial. You’re on The Range.”

The Range is radio the way it was meant to be. I can listen off and on for two or three days and not hear the same song twice. There’s almost no such thing as “heavy rotation” there. Most of what they play is old country and local Texas artists. But keep in mind that “local Texas artists” include Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, George Strait, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jason Boland and many other greats. If you’re like most Americans, you only recognize a couple of those names. That’s just sad. Blame Nashville.

That’s OK. You’re still welcome in Texas. When you come to North Texas, introduce yourself and we’ll take ya down to Deep Ellum to the “new” Gilly’s or one of the many other “country clubs” there, or to the Fort Worth Stockyards to see the circus that is Billy Bob’s – the world’s largest honky tonk – complete with bull riding inside the club.

In the meantime I’m listening to Cooder Graw:

“My give-a-damn is broken and my care-about-it’s gone. My wanna-do-right left last night and left me all alone. With nothin’ but my don’t-know-why, my where-did-I-go-wrong. I’ve got a spare I-don’t-care to use when this one’s gone.”

Now that’s country.

We were just driving back from going out to pick up dinner (AGAIN! because daddy’s a slouch.)

Out of the blue my 4 year old, Emily, says, “Daddy?”

“Yes, dear?”

“When am I gonna get married?”

“When are you gonna get MARRIED?!?!” (I’ve already had a challenging day. I don’t need that right now!)

“Yeah. ‘Cause when I’m married, I’ll be able to drive like you do. I already know how ’cause I’ve watched you do it like a million times and besides I’ve already done it a lot with the Barbie Jeep.”

As I’ve said many times before, there is nothing more difficult than parenting and nothing more rewarding. God has taught me so much through these beautiful little ladies that He’s entrusted to me.

Serena and I agree and are trying to understand each other: I guess I’m not getting how you can believe that YHWH is not all powerful(omnipotent)? We aren’t and for certain the liar of liars isn’t. YHWH has the power to raise from the dead and He is the only One that does. That power is at work in us, if I remeber right from Ephesians 1…

First let me say, I’ve already confessed my ignorance about Judaism’s history and details. But, I don’t fully understand why you refer to my Daddy as YHWH and my Savior as “Yehoshua.” I’m not criticizing. I’m curious. While those are rightful names, I’m not getting the formality. I’m part of the family and I don’t call my mother and father by their given names. Again, this is not criticism. I could be wrong.

I’m not getting what you’re not getting on the omnipotence thing. Let me try it another way:

Jesus Christ is omnipotent because he is fully God and fully man. It’s because of him that we have regained all power in earth. God the father is not a man and, since He gave the earth to man, He has no legal right to operate here on His own. The only way God could do anything in the earth without a willing man would be criminal, make him a liar and cause the collapse of all that is. Check mate for satan because God just broke His Word.

However, Jesus is not physically here on earth right now. Authority in the earth can only be exercised by mankind. Jesus is a man, but he’s not physically here at the moment. Before he left, he instructed us to take the power we had just regained through him and exercise it. He retrieved man’s rightful place of dominion in the earth, as a man. Then he had to leave so he instructed us (as God did Adam) to use that power to subdue the earth. (And sent a “Comforter” to help, but that’s another post.)

When he comes back, he will “take charge” because he has all power in heaven and earth. In the meantime, he has left us here as his delegates to exercise that power in his name. It’s “power of attorney.”

All of this is just a bunch of legal technicalities. God’s not hung up on them, but His enemy is. If he could ever trip Him up on a legal technicality, he would. The prosecutor is a lying thief and the defense attorney is invincible.

Minor update: (Doh! To Martha and Darcy: I’m not talking about you. You’re the exceptions that prove the rule. You’ve both been angels to me.)