5 minutes is too long

ugh
Lately five minutes is too long to take to write a blog. I think I may have to rename my blog the one minute blog.. but then I would be taking more than a minute to get to it....  We have cars in the shop.. plural. 3 people working only one working car.. that means a lot of taxi driving!

Anyhow, I discovered something, well I already knew it. I was just reminded of it the other day.
An instrument can be in complete tune with itself, and still be WAY off key!

Whats that mean? Well if I tune my guitar I get the E string to sound right fret the next string and tune to match the e etc etc etc  I can get the guitar in perfect tune with itself. But if I don't have a good point of reference for my e string.. then the whole guitar is off key.

Orchestras do the same thing, as individuals practice they tune their instruments to make certain they are in tune with themselves, but they have to tune up TOGETHER in order for the whole orchestra to be IN TUNE.

We, as Christians, as people in general need to remember this. It's easy to feel like we are perfectly in tune with God, and we may be, or we may be off a little here or there... Until we are in a place where we can tune off of our neighbors, we may never know.

So watch your tuning. Keep things in perspective and be ready to adjust your tune to match the greater tuning.

My time is up,
My peace I give to you.

Jonathan Wagner

Aggrivated

For some reason today I have been aggrivated ALL day.. ever since I woke up.. early. I have been irritated...
don't ask me why. I don't know.. it's best when I'm in this mood... to just stay out of my way. I try not to say too much else I wil bite someones head off.

Ugly, but true.

I'm not even going to blog for 5 minutes... in case I say something I shouldn't.


His peace I give to you,, cause mine is lacking at the moment...

Jonathan

Who I Am vs What I SAY I AM

When we are out in the world and someone says, "Who are you?" How do we answer?  Do we say, I am a child of God!  That's true, if we are a child of God. I could say I'm Jonathan Wagner.  That's true. I could say I am a father, pastor, programmer, teacher, student. Again, true.

Hmmmm, how do we answer?  When the temple guards came ot the garden to arrest Jesus and take him to trial before the Sanheedren they asked him who he was. His answer?  "I am, that I AM"  When he said it they all fell to the ground.  Lets look at that...

I am  simple introduction.. the same as any of my answers above  "THAT I am"  I think he emphasized the THAT. He was referring to the old testament where God said I AM.

See the word became flesh and dwelt among us.  But it was still the same word. He was and is THAT I AM.

We have to remember that if we have the Holy Ghost in our hearts, then we have THAT I AM inside of us. guiding us, directing us, helping us!

My time is up.
My peace I give to you
Jonathan

Wait... Wait... Hurry Up... Wait some more...

Have you ever noticed that sometimes it seems like all we do in life is wait? well remember the old quote, "good things come to those who wait."    It's true often, but I'll tell you what.. sometimes waiting on something is the worst. It's actually not the waiting it's the surge of expectation when you get almost to the end of the waiting. When someone says, it's almost ready, and whatever it is takes another hour, another day another month, another year, another lifetime.

If we aren't careful we will put our trust not in God but in how we understand things SHOULD be. How we thinks things OUGHT to be, the Way that someone told us things ARE. Instead of listening to that small voice and just resting.

How much better off would we be when waiting if we would simply lay down and sleep or better yet, look for opportunities to reach out to others?  How much better would the world be if people could learn to wait with grace, To wait with compassion, to wait with care... I think the world would be a far better place.

I saw an image the other day it said the world is full of kind people if you can't find one, then be one.

And that's true the world is full of people waiting for just the RIGHT moment become a person who lives in every moment.

We can live our lives moment to moment and really enjoy things or we can be so intensely focused on that one thing we are waiting for and miss all the little things.

My time is up,
My peace I give to you,
Jonathan

Disappointment ... whats the opposite?

Yesterday in church I shared about disappointment. The opposite of disappointment is appointment dis means not so disappointment means NOT an appointment, while appointment is when you are scheduled to meat or do something.

Crazily enough we often get so wrapped up in our own anticipation and expectations that we fail to see the appointment that God has for us. There is almost always an appointment when we are disappointed.

If we look for it there will be someone we can encourage, someone we can help someone we can lift up and pray for. So the next time you are disappointed, look for the appointment that God has for you.

As christians we often forget to do this we forget that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord. We forget that we can and should walk in his footsteps.  We need to remember that we live here and in the Kingdom of Heaven. We can and should follow after him with all our hearts mind and souls... He is worth it. and He will calm disappointment and show us the appointments that he has for us.

My time is up
My peace I give to you
Jonathan

Computer Problems

I wasn't able to do my 5 minute blogger post for the weekend because I had some computer issues. Nothing major, but my power supply died so I had to conserve energy.
That was ok, it just made it difficult to do anything on the internet. Including my five minute blogger post.

Today I was thinking about the lack of power when my power supply died.  My computer, a laptop, kept working. It didn't beep and tell me there was a problem it didn't falter .. till the battery was almost dead. The juice just stopped flowing.
Does this happen to us as people? do we sometimes lose the power in our lives? Does it just sort of disappear when we aren't looking and we dot' notice till all of a sudden our batteries are drained?

We can make sure that we are plugged in every day. Take five minutes each morning and make sure you are plugged in. pray, meditate, look at the birds in the sky and the grass on the ground, remember all the things you have to be thankful for. Do your best to forgive people who have done or said things to or about you. Just plug in. Make sure your power supply doesn't run dry.

We have access to te ultimate power in the universe, God the father, so take time to plug in. say Hi to God each day, listen to what he has to say. Do your best to look for the seeds and plants and guides that God has put out for us to see. We are down sometimes and don't always notice.

If your power is drained then charge up, take a rest and then remember to Praise and Enjoy.

My time is up,
My peace I give to you

Jonathan

A Trip to the Airport

I'm taking my mother to the airport this morning. The airline says to be there by no later than 6:30 for a 7:30 departure. I'm just not sure why.  I mean the airport here in Greenville is tiny..no let me correct that it's TINY I could walk the entire length of the building in about 2 minutes... if that.. and I would be going slowly. So even if the checkin took a long time say 15 minutes and security took 15 minutes the plane would still be 30 minutes from departure...
So WHY is it so crucial to get to the airport an hour early or in some places two or three hours early? I wish I knew. I really makes little sense to me!

That said, I'm happy to give my mom a ride and we will even go in and see her off. I refuse to just drop her at the door... it just doesn't seem right! So we will go in and walk with her up to the security checkin, where we can't go further. I doubt we will sit in the lounge and wait an hour or so to watch her plane take off so we will kiss her goodbye at the security gate, and wish her a pleasant journey.

I think she will have good weather for flying and hopefully will have someone engaging to talk with.

Well my time is up.

My peace I give to you

Jonathan

Take Disappointment with a Spoon Full of Sugar, or Not!

In the old Mary Poppins movies by Disney there is a song entitled, "A spoon full of sugar"  basically saying that a spoon full of sugar makes it easier to take medicine. at that day and age the "medicine" ws usually castor oil (YUCK) or some tonic usually made with Quinine (BITTER) or possibly even Laudanum (which is just watered down poppy seed juice i.e. (opium)) Again YUCK!  So a spoon full of sugar made those medicines (which were of questionable value to the body) easier to swallow.

Did you ever wonder if maybe those things SHOULD taste bad so you DON'T ingest them?

In life we get disappointed... often. We often feel like we are losing out on something that should be ours. We feel like we are being cheated. When this happens consider the medicine... maybe it's better not to have the spoonful of sugar and the medicine all together... Just recover from whatever the problem is.

Real fast, an even worse thing is to be disappointed for someone else!  To be offended on their behalf.. because you really don't know what is happening in their mind... so don't take medicine for someone else either.

My time is up,
My peace I give to you

Jonathan

Stolen from Facebook

I wrote this this morning on Facebook and decided to post it as my five minute blog today:

I do not have a problem with examining the actions of Israel, Gaza, Iran, Syria, Russia, Ukraine, even the USA. I have a problem with making judgements based on partial knowledge, gleaned from people with partial knowledge with no personal experience. I do not have full knowledge of Israel's motifs,(other than those stated) very few do, I do not have full knowledge of Hamas's motifs, (again other than those stated) I can look at the stated motifs and decide which I am more comfortable with.

Is the I.D.F. perfect? Ha! far from it there are bullies and blood thirsty soldiers in every army in the world. However, do they have a right to defend their nation from attack? yes. Is it ok to bomb schools and mosques? no... is it ok to launch hundreds of missiles into civilian populations? No. Before you make statements, consider the people.. the individuals the ones you know. yes, I know Israelis and I know palestinians, Christian and Muslim, and I know Jewish and christian Israelis... consider THOSE people what do you think they are thinking during this time of strife? Where do you think they sleep at night? what do you think they are going through? Do not argue with me about politics. Do not fuss about morals. Do not get on a high horse because of this or that. Consider the children. all of the children. And in considering them pray. pray that peace that passes understanding will flow out to all involved. Pray that the God of heaven will look down and protect the children. God siad he knitted them together in their mothers womb. Pray for their protection. Pray for miracles of peace. Pray that the fruits of the Spirit will be poured out, Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Self Control against such there is NOT law. These fruits can and will stop all conflict. These fruits will solve the problems. These fruits will reach across boundaries and take care of issues that politics will not, that violence can not.

Pray.

My piece I give to you.

Jonathan

Peace is not equal to happiness

Is peace the same thing as happiness?  I know that you can only be happy if you are at peace, however, you can't always be be happy, when you are at peace.

Peace and happiness are not the same thing.

Being at peace with a decision or a choice doesn't always mean you will be happy. I can have peace with a given decision or choice, but I don't necessarily have to be happy.

Happiness and peacefulness are not the same. Nothing has to be equal nothing has to be the same. peace does not always bring happiness.  It's hard for us to get this point. When you are young you think that peace and happiness are the same. Once you have gone through a little bit of life, you learn that they aren't the same.  You can't be convinced otherwise, you can only learn through living.

Find peace The peace that passes understanding, it is the peace of God. it's not always the peace of happiness, and happiness doesn't always bring peace.

Remember that. Peace is one of the attributes of God. Happiness is not.
Just remember you can have Peace and not be happy, but you can not, truely be happy, without peace.

My time is up.
My peace I give to you

Jonathan

Sometes you gotta do what you gotta do

Post I said to try to do this post by voice, So I'm using Google and talking to my phone and it's typing!

Sometimes you have to do what you gotta do even if you don't want to. We have to do that in  work we have to do things in life we have to do things with people. Sometimes for friends we have to do things. Sometimes for bosses sometimes ourselves. Sometimes you have to go to the doctor. Sometimes you have to eat healthy when you don't want to.

 Sometimes you  would just like to eat a box of cupcakes or box of donuts but in reality you have to do what you have to do. 

Don't complain about it when people complain about stuff they don't have any choice over. They complain about things that have to be done regardless. Yet we still complain about it. 

We think that if we complain and gripe it will make us feel better, somehow. In reality, it just makes everything else feel worse. There's no real good way to complain about something. Complaining doesn't help anything! Just do what you gotta do. 

I'm going to have to do it, and do it again. I'm talking to myself  here too because I know I complain. But the thing is I forget sometimes that we have to do stuff, we just gotta do what we gotta do!

That's what I'm working towards. I don't want to complain. I want to be that guy that people look at it say, "He never complains about anything! What's the deal?"

Just do what you got to do!.

By the way, I'm not doing the voice thing anymore it took me 20 minutes to untangle the 5 minutes of talking that I had...

My time is gone,

My peace I give to you

Jonathan

Moving even when we are sitting still

I did a bit of research:
The earth rotates about 1,000 mph
The earth orbits the sun at 67,000 mph
The solar system moves 515,000 miles per hour through / around the galaxy
The milkyway galaxy moves roughly 671,000 mph through the universe

So, when we are sitting still we are still moving roughtly 1,254,000 mph

So the next time you see me sitting at my computer and want to tell me I need more exercise.. remember that we are all moving pretty quickly. I don't want to risk flying away.  Imagine if you could jump and the planet would move beneath your feet?  It's hard to believe that our fragile planet is moving so fast. it's amazing really.

Well with the research my time is up.
My peace I give to you

Jonathan

why argue and fight over Israel and Hamas's arguing and fighting?

I was considering all the things that people are saying about this situation. How they badmouth, Israel, how they somehow fail to blame Hamas for anything. And other people who say that Israel can do no wrong and Hamas is nothing but terrorists trying to pretend to be legit.

To a degree both views are correct. I mean, if Israel said we will not fight another fight. we won't shoot another bullet or rocket we wont drive another tank.. In a matter of days, the entire population of Israel, Jew, Christian and Muslim (if they were Israeli citizens would be dead or in prison. While if the Arabs would say the same thing, There would be dancing in the streets of Israel.

But I say why argue? why fuss? We have the most effective tool and can have more impact on the conflict in Israel than the UN or the diplomatic corp. We have prayer. We can pray that the situation will resolve. that God will have His way that Israel will will find peace as a nation that the Palestinians will find peace. We can pray that The holy sites in Israel will be more than simple political points marked on maps instead of scoreboards. That the people who are fighting about the existence of Israel would discover a desire to lift each other up. That they would turn their spears into plowshares that they would turn to peace instead of war, that great things would come from tiny places.
This is what we can do.

I am out of time.
My peace I give to you,

Jonathan

What do you hold on to?

Sometimes we hold on to things so tightly, that we damage them. There is an old meme (from before that word existed) that showed a picture of a bird being released form a cage and the words said something like, "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it truly belongs to you, if not then it was never meant to be."

I don't know that I completely agree with the details, but the sentiment is true. Sometimes in order to show some one or something how much we love it, we have to be willing to let it go.

Parents have to do this all the time, release their kids to grow up. Teach them to do the right thing, then trust them to do it.  It's hard, sometimes all we can do is open our hand and shut our eyes, hoping they will come back to us, and fearing they will simply disappear into the blue yonder.

I think God does that for use too. I think God lets us free so we can choose to be with Him. He never forces us to do anything.

Just have to remember that.

my time is up...

My peace I give to you,
Jonathan

Nothing

This is not a blog about nothing... well, maybe it is.
When I was growing up a minister who had a lot of input in my life, Rev. Loran W. Helm would share about nothing. about becoming nothing. He was speaking from a Christian perspective, however, I think that anyone can get some help from this.

When asked what we have in common with most of the world a lot of us, or maybe most of us would say "nothing"  meaning that there is no commonality... however... we are correct.. except in our meaning.
Nothing, if you go small enough what is between quarks and gluons, what surrounds the "God Particle"?  Nothing. Nothing suspends the planets in orbit, Nothing holds the tides in check. Yes there are forces and things and rules and laws.. but if you go small enough what holds it all together? Nothing. If we were able to compress matter so that there was no empty space between atoms and protons and neutrons... other than a big bang... we would be able to fit most of the world in a bathtub (that's a guess I haven't done any scientific measurements) but comparatively it would be.

So what do we have in common with the rest of humanity, the world at large, the galaxy, the Universe, and the multi-verse?  Nothing!

My time is up
My peace I give to you

Jonathan

Sleep Is For The Tired

When I came home this morning, from working my third shift job, my two youngest children (ages 19 and 14 so not so young) were sitting exactly where they had been when I left for work some twelve hours before. They had the same clothes on and when I asked if they had stayed up all night playing, they had the same sheepish grin.

I know that I have done this, so I can't say a whole lot, except I can say this. Sleep is a rare commodity. When you are a teen you think that you can have as much of it as you want. Go to bed at 5:00am and sleep till 2:00pm!  no problem! the problem is, when you get into your thirties you start to wish you had slept more regularly. in your forties you wish you could sleep regularly in your mid forties you wish that you could get a consistent amount of sleep.

Sometimes I sleep where ever I am. sitting in the car, in an office wherever. The other day I hadn't gone to bed yet and took my wife and mother to the chiropractor. I sat in the waiting area and put my head back and slept... I woke to that unmistakable feeling of someone staring at me.. this kid, maybe 12 or so was about 3 feet away staring at me. I asked if I snored and he just shook his head. I have no clue what he was looking it.
My point, I guess, is that sleep is a wonderful thing that shouldn't be taken advantage of nor should it be squandered. You CAN'T always sleep!

I'm out of time,
My peace I give to you,

Jonathan

Be willing to look foolish

In a book I just started reading, "The Circle Maker" by Mark Batterson and in it there is a quote, well there are LOTS of quotes, but this one stands out at the moment. "Faith is the willingness to look foolish."

Do we have that kind of faith? Are we willing to look foolish because we have faith in God? Are we willing to pray and then praise as if the answer is right before us? Are we willing to go out of our way to make a stand that appears to the world to be fool-hardy and even stupid?

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. That means when we pray in faith we are praying for things that are hoped for and thanking God for things that we can't see but that He has already accomplished in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Be willing to look foolish. Be willing to stretch in prayer and reach out to the hope that is the fruit of the Spirit. Faith is the substance of that Hope. I would rather be a fool with faith than a wise man with only facts. Facts are depressing, and facts can change depending on who is using them. Hope, on the other hand is always above and beyond Hope takes imagination, Hope takes Faith.

My time is up,
My peace I give to you,

Jonathan

Choices, so many choices

Did you ever notice that today we have so many choices. It seems like as time has gone on, we, as human beings, have gotten more and more choices. From big things like where to live to little things like what sort of gum to buy.

There are so many choices, and yet we don't seem happy. Have you noticed that the more choices we have, the more stressed out we seem to be. Kids get stressed trying to decide what toys to play with. If you only have one toy, then there is no stress in choosing. You either play with the toy, or not.

As a developer there are dozens of ways to accomplish the same thing, do I use the "right" method, the trendy method, the fast method, or the best method?  And, not to mention, who chooses what is "best"?

Well my time is up.

My peace I give to you,
Jonathan

Not always what we think

Sometimes we get so convinced that what we are feeling is all about X  when it's really about Z.Case in point, last night at work I was anxious and stressed and I knew it was from a situation at home. I just knew it had to do with situation X and I as concerned and worried and prayerful about it. (that situation does need prayer and God's help, so the prayer didn't hurt!) I was so anxious I finally left work early (I made up the time this afternoon) and when I got home, my wife was sick! She was having all the symptoms of low iron... I wasn't sure if I was going to have to take her to the hospital, it was that bad.

I ended up going to the store and buying a bunch of IRON rich food and drinks, Steak is high in iron, dark green leafy greens are high in iron. Dark Stone fruits have some iron. Bolt house Daily Greens has 50% of the needed iron per serving (2 servings per bottle)  oh and pumpkin seeds! a quarter cup of pumpkin seeds has 25% of the RDA of iron!!

Anyhow my point is that we don't always know what we think we know. We don't always understand the whole picture, until after the fact. If you think that you are upset or worried about a given situation, then by all means pray, lift that situation to God, but be aware that you may be more closely tied to the problem than you realize, and God may be trying to get your attention on Him.


Time is up
My peace I give to you.

Jonathan

Be careful little mind what you choose

Choices, wow they can have such long lasting effects on our lives. Often the choices that we make which have the most impact, seem the least significant at the time.

Choosing to room with someone may seem like a minor thing, but it has the potential to totally destroy your entire life.  Choosing to drive one road instead of another may be minor, but might be the choice that saves you from a terrible accident. Choosing to do that one last thing, might just make you late enough to miss one of life's key moments.

My point is that the Holy Spirit will guide us, if we listen. If we listen to that small still voice, sometimes we have to really struggle to be quite enough to hear. The Holy Spirit will help us hear what He wants us do to.  God never forces us, but He will show us. We don't have to blindly stumble through life, use a guide that won't ever leave you stranded with no coverage. The Holy Spirit will never leave us, If we remain true and faithful, then we can hear what the holy Spirit is whispering to us. We can feel the impressions of Gods fingers on our heart and make the right choices.

My time is up,
My peace I give to you

Things I Want... or Think I Want

When I woke up this afternoon ( I work third shift remember), I had been dreaming / thinking about some things that I want.

When I want something I know I have to wait for it. I can save money to purchase something that I want, though I would rather not, I figure the waiting is good. Then I have the money, and go to spend it and I hesitate. What if there is something that I want more and just don't know it? What if something I think I want today is really not what I think it is? What if I get bored with it?  Hmm bored is another topic for another day, but that can read what if I become unthankful for it?

These are all questions that go through my head. I have to wonder if I'm doing the right thing.  So, is this because I am indecisive? Have low self esteem? Or is it because I am frugal and don't want to waste money?

There are some things I want that I know I want, I have been waiting years for, when those things start working out it's incredible and I just wish that I could get everyone else to be as excited as me.  There is a dog, and Akita dog, I have wanted another Akita for almost 9 years, since Xena, my first akita, had to be put to sleep. (That almost killed me.)  Now I have someone who wants to almost give me Godrich, He is a beautiful 18 month old male. Great conformation and bloodlines, temperament that is absolutely wonderful, and I even got half the money that I need simply by doing some simple insurance stuff at work! God has worked it all out.... ooops my five minutes are up, I'll fill you in on Godrich next time,, maybe.

Until then,
My peace I give to you.

Greetings from The Five Minute Blogger

Why the Five Minute Blogger?

I spend anywhere from five minutes to five hours a day on Facebook, sometimes responding to posts with LOTS of writing, sometimes sharing things that really move me. I got to thinking about it. and thought, you know what? I should be able to do a blog in five minutes. Just to write things for five minutes.
Five minutes can be a very long time when you start trying to write, or do anything, for that duration.

You get distracted, other thoughts pop up, things catch your attention, all sorts of distractions try to cut in on the five minutes of writing.  I am going to go back later and correct my typos. and believe me there are many. I have dyslexic fingers. I really believe I have a mild case of dyslexia, that normally only comes out when I am typing. Once I wrote a whole page of notes backwards.

But I digress. I decided to start this Blog as much as a test as anything. I want to see how possible it is to write a five minute blog each day, except the weekends.  I also want to see if it's possible for me to discipline myself to do so.

I probably could have written more, except I got distracted by someone asking me a question... So until next time my peace I give to you.

Jonathan