Well in case you missed it The Freedom from Religious Foundation has posted a sign just a few feet away from the Nativity scene at the state capital in Washington state.  It reads, "At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."  Now you would think that as a pastor I would read that and be ready to form a Jesus posse and head to Olympia.  Sure, maybe even call the main Jesus rebel rouser Mark Drischoll and see if he and some of his boyz from Mars Hill would like to join me in a protest.  We could sneak into the capital and put a match to the anti-god sign.  Better yet we could have a gang fight...the Religious Freedom Freaks against the Jesus Freaks.  All that sounds like something a pastor would do, but I had no such thoughts.  No it actually made me sad and then...then it brought a smile to my face.  Why...I hear you ask, because I realized that as a Christian there is no better place to be than Washington state.  Why you ask.?  Goodness you ask a lot of questions!  Because Christians have obviously done a heaven of a lot of damage over the last few hundred years that needs to be undone. 
 
For Christmas and Christians to be so despised that someone would go to the extreme of posting a sign like that near the nativity scene, then as my old school pastor use to say, "friennnnnnnnnd" we have done something terribly wrong.  If those of us that are Christians have presented ourselves as angry judgmental jerks or made other believe that God hates them...then we are the ones who need to ask for forgivenss. 

You know, the message of Jesus was practically wrapped up in one sentences.  He said love God and love others.  Now he did add a lot of other rules that fall under the love umbrella.  I should warn you, they are equally offensive.  He said don't lie, cheat, and don't steal your neighbors stuff...especially his WIFE.  He also told us to give to the poor, always forgive, always accept, honor our parents, and to tell the world all of the above. I'm not sure exactly wow we took that message and turned it into something highly offensive but many have done just that.  The truth of the matter is...people DO NOT FIND CHRISTMAS OR JESUS offensive.  They don't at all.  Those people who displayed that poorly designed and written sign don't hate Christmas or Jesus.  No, they just despise Christians or I should say what they think all Christians are like. 

So my greatest desire is to help athiest, agnostics, and everyone else who doesn't share my beliefs to realize that not all Christians are like the one's they see on TV.  Not all of us love to carry hateful signs and protest anyone and everyone who believes differently than we do.  Oh sure, I wish everyone did believe in the God I believe in.  I wish everyone would choose to follow the teachings of Jesus.  For that matter I wish I would do a better...a much better job of following them!  Honesty I suck but God loves me anyway.  My weak yet heart felt point is this...I don't believe in shoving my beliefs down people's throats.  I just want everyone to know that my faith is FOR everyone who chooses to follow it, but I will love and care for those who don't.  My only request is that I receive the same kind of respect in return.  I hope that you are all having a very happy holiday season.  I love you and look forward to talking to you in the morning!

Over the weekend I watched the movie Bagger Vance.  Bagger (Will Smith) was a caddy who helped a golfer named Junaeu (Matt Damon) find his swing.  Damon's character had the potential to be an amazing golfer, but he had lost his swing while having to fight in World War II.  Bagger eventually helps Junaue overcome his demons, push through his fears, and in the end he helps him find his swing.  He lets him know that everyone has a great swing deep down inside of them and they just have to find it.  In other words, we all have great desires and dreams in our heart and we ALSO HAVE the ability to live them out!  My dream and passion in life is to be able to help people find their swing in life.  So I thought I would share some thought with you today from one of my favorite books titled "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge.  I can honestly say Eldredge's writings have helped change my life. 

One point Eldredge makes is that all men want to live out a great adventure and to have a battle to fight.  Unfortunately many men replace that need for adventure with living a life that is practical or safe.  Their dreams and the need for adventure are replaced with organizing the garage or an obsession with sports.  They then find their self feeling unsatisfied. 

A point that he made about women I found very interesting.  He says that all women have one question that they want answered.  From birth women want to know if they are lovely.  They want to know that they are captivating.  If this question goes unanswered or if they feel that the answer is no, then they will go in search of acceptance from someone...anyone.  I don't have to explain how this can lead to major problems. 

Now, here is the scary part of all this...the confidence to pursue the adventure and the answer to the question all women have comes from our parents.  It is scary because many of us are parents and this is a heavy burden to bare.  It is a lot of responsibility and like 98% of our parents, we may not handle it very well. 

You see guys, your question that needed to be answer by mom and dad (especially dad) was, "do I have what it takes"?  Your confidence to rage into the battles of life that leads to your dreams is fueled by how you think that question was answered.  Ladies, you wanted to know, "Am I lovely...am I captivating"?  So if dad was neglectful or abusive, then you can understand how that could destroy your self-esteem. 

My point is this, PLEASE understand that your parents may not have answered the question correctly (most don't).  You do have what it takes to fight the battle.  You can achieve the greatest desires of your heart.  You can become all that God designed you to be, which is nothing short of greatness.  Don't settle for a life of mediocrity when the battle awaits YOU.  Ladies, you are incredibly captivating.  Anyone, I said ANYONE, who makes you feel anything less is obviously not someone that is supposed to be in your life.  They need to find a therapist to work through THEIR issues and leave you alone. 


I love you and look forward to talking to you in the morning...SWING AWAY!

Tony


p.s.

I didn't have time to proof read so please excuse all the mistakes!

Download | Duration: 00:30:58

A good friend asked if he could hear one of my sermons and this was the only way I knew to get it online!  This was a pre-Christmas sermon I did last year. 

First of all don't worry about me.  I promise that I am not having some type of crisis.  Life is great despite the fact that my contract with the radio station expires in a couple months, I'm going in debt faster than our government, my wife has some strange illness, my hemorrhoids have flared up, and my daughter now has her first official boyfriend...I'm good.  So don't worry about me at all! 

I do have something sort of depressing on my mind.  Sure, it is somewhat of a sad topic...death.  By the way, have you noticed I use a lot of dot dot dots when I write.  I do that because I can never decide when to stop and start a new sentence or to just put a comma, colon, or semicolon.  Back to the wonderful subject of death.  Yesterday I was at a pastor friends church shortly after a funeral had been held.  I looked down on one of the seats and there was the bulletin for the funeral.  It was actually a piece of paper folded in half with a picture of the deceased on the front.  When I unfolded the paper there was a short paragraph written about this wonderful man.  You could tell he must have been a wonderful father, grandfather, and friend.  I placed the paper back on the seat and began to walk away and then I stopped; I turned back around and picked up the bulletin to check something.  There it was...his age.  He had almost reached 70 years of age.

Now lets stop for a moment and think about what I have written up until this point.  Does anything disturb you?  I mean besides the fact that my hemorrhoids are flaring up?  Does it not make you sad to think that you could live for almost 70 years and your entire life be summed up in a paragraph? 

I placed the bulletin back down and just said this very short prayer, "God, please don't let all that I do on this earth be able to be summed up in one paragraph.  Please let me have such an amazing and positive impact on those around me that there is no way it could be summed up in a few words."  Oh sure, they will have to come up with a good one liner for my tombstone like, "His butt finally quit itching and burning", but I'm talking about all that goes on at the funeral. 

My concern is that I'm now just a step past the age of 40, and if I want to have the impact that I am praying to have...I have to quit praying about it and get started doing something.  For a long time I wasn't sure what that something was that I wanted to do, but in my heart of hearts I am fairly sure that I now know.  The dream is deep inside of my heart, but for some reason I am afraid to say it out loud.  A wise man once said, "the heart is the wellspring of life".  So if we don't live out the dreams of our heart what will happen?  Well, we won't have truly lived at all.  

What is deep down inside of your heart?  What dream have you had, but you are too scared to go after it...so scared that you will not say it out loud?  I can guarantee you one thing, no one will ever be able to sum up our life in only one paragraph if we have the courage to pursue those dreams. 

I know, I didn't tell you what my dream is did I?  Well, I hope to let you in on that in the near future.  Until then, I love ya and look forward to talking to you in the morning.

     

Out of the three of us on the morning show, I have likely gotten the fewest amount of emails UNTIL recently.  Recently I made the mistake of voicing my political views.  Well, I don't know if it was a mistake as far as ratings and the show goes but for a guy who is a "people pleaser" it was a mistake.  Why, because apparently I don't have the right to express my political view.  I was called a Bible thumper, an a-hole, a pro-life whack job, and etc.  Funny thing is I didn't make one religious comment or express my views on abortion.  I simply said I was voting for John McCain.  I didn't say why and I didn't make any outright slams on Senator Obama.  Okay, well I did say that I didn't understand why McCain wasn't going after him for some of his questionable affiliations, but is that so bad?  The personal attacks were definitely not worth getting up set about, but again...I am a people pleaser.  So anytime someone gets angry with me, even when I know they shouldn't be, I take it to heart.  I even got a little angry and would usually get ready to fire back a nasty yet amazingly creative rebuttal in the form of an email bomb.  Then before I would hit launch...I would hear a little voice say, "don't send it". 

In my Christian world view there is a name for that little voice, but since my religious views can upset some and offend others, I will refrain from explaining it.  Anyway, I would then erase all my great points.  Did I mention they were amazingly creative?  I would erase them and send an email that told them I loved them and that I was sorry for the confusion and that my comments upset them. 

I do love people.  Honestly I love everyone, even those who don't agree with me.  Maybe that is why it is hard for me to understand how people can get so nasty just because my world view is different than theirs.  Well actually I should say that I didn't understand it until this afternoon.  It hit me today at about mile 3 of my run through the park.  I  believe that I do understand why people get upset when any radio or TV personality expresses a view different from theirs.  It is because they think it isn't fair.  They think it isn't fair that I get to tell thousands of people what I think, but they don't have the same opportunity.  As I thought about that...it all made sense.  It would be very frustrating to hear some guy who probably can't grab his butt with both hands or even spell politiks talk about how much he likes a candidate that they despise.  I guess I need to be totally honest and say it upsets me to hear people slam my guy or Christianity.   

I'm not going to lie or hide it...I really love John McCain and my Jesus (not in that order).  I don't know why that pisses people off, but it does.  So, what I thought I would do is give YOU a chance to express YOUR views right here on my blog.  I will let people in the Emerald City know they can come here to read YOUR WORLD VIEWS.  I won't interject, edit, or make any comments so have at it!  You can comment on politics, religion, or whatever your little heart feels like writing.  In the future just know I love you and appreciate every listener.  If you ever disagree with me about anything...feel free to let me know.  All I ask is that you just don't call me names or send death threats.  Send those to Fitz at fitzinthemorning@yahoo.com!

I found myself worried about the economy today.  I was really upset that The Dow closed down over 400 points at closing.  Then it hit me...despite the fact that I worked at Fidelity Investments for about 3 months 2 days and 6 very long hours, I don't have a clue what closing 400 points down even means!  On top of that, what do I have to worry about?  Seeing as though my only real asset is a 2000 Jeep Wrangler with a bad radio, I don't think my portfolio is going to suffer much.    Between you, me and the other few hundred people that will read these rambling financial thoughts...I don't have a 401K.  Heck, I don't even have a K!  I don't even have enough money left over at the end of the month to buy a vowel.   

So if you think about it...I'm no worse off than before.  That is freaking awesome news in my opinion.  I was screwed before and I'm screwed now.  Nothing has changed in my life at all.  I don't have to wake up in the morning and buy a Wall Street Journal with panic in my heart. 

I do have to admit that I have been feeling a little guilty over not being more financially responsible.  So I bought the book Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey.  I also tuned into the Suze Orman show for advice.  They both recommended that I sale my cars, stop going out to eat, save enough money for a rainy day, and rip up my credit cards.  They also said something about a...what was that again, it began with a b?  Oh yeah, a budget is what they recommended.  I know, I thought that was funny too. 

I have a budget.  I pay all my bills and then I try not to spend all that is left before my next paycheck.  If I run out of money before my next paycheck then I make myself a loan from one of my credit cards and swear that I will pay myself back when I get paid.  Problem is I usually forget to pay myself back.  So I have now hired a collection agency to collect the debt that I owe myself.  They are very rude and call me everyday around dinner time.  They usually talk me into making a payment using one of my credit cards!  

I love y'all and look forward to talking to you in the morning.  If you need any financial advice may I seriously recommend Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey.  It is a great book and one day I plan on actually listening to his advice.  In reality, times are very tough and I hope to one day become a responsible adult.

I just got back from an amazing night with all of the Wolf listeners!  I just want to thank you for coming to the Dog House and making us feel very special.  We really appreciate you listening to the show and want you to know that we appreciate you very much.  You are the greatest listeners in the world! 

Love Ya,

Tony

It has been a great summer with lots of travels and fun, but things are just about ready to calm down.  Amy and I will be sending our youngest son David off to kindergarten soon.  We are both more than a little bummed about that.  It will make it official...we will no longer have a baby in the house.  All the chicks will be out of the nest.  To make it worse, he began tugging on her pants leg when she took him to enroll.  He tugged and looked up at her with the big brown eyes and quietly said, "Mommy I don't want to go, I want to stay home with you." 

Poor Amy starts crying every time she tells the story.  I only cried the first 6 times that I told it.  It is tough to see them grow up, but we also realize this can be the best times of our lives as husband/wife and parents.  So we try to focus on not pushing them to grow up too fast and we have sworn off ever, ever saying I can't wait until they _____________.  We just try to enjoy the moments.  Like the moments of almost being able to get the entire family in one tube while going around the lazy river in San Antonio.  Moments where they laugh uncontrollably as we tickle them or wrestle with them in the floor.  It's all that we can do when they are children...try to enjoy every moment and collect as many memories as we can.    >>

I was speaking with an elderly father not long ago and he was telling me about all the trips he was taking with his son who was about 40 years-old.  From the time his son was a young man they would take a trip once or twice a year together.  The proud father also added that his family would take vacations together as well.  As he was lying there in his hospital bed he said to me, "we were just busy making memories."  Well, that gentleman past away last month, but he left behind some amazing memories for his family to hold on too.  There is nothing we can do to slow down time, but we can make the most of what we have been given with those we love.  So today, lets all get busy making some memories...great memories.  I love ya and look forward to talking to you in the morning. 

I have been in Denver for the last few days and I have had a very good time.  I have been attending what is called Morning Show Boot camp.  It is where hundreds of morning shows from around the country come together and share ideas.  It is always interesting to me to get to spend time around famous people.  Many of the people there were very famous.  I don't consider myself famous even though I am on the radio.  I'm talking about men and women who are makings lotso money and at the top of the game! 

It is amazing how insecure some of these people really are when you get to know them.  Many will begin telling you something they hope will impress you within a very short period of time of meeting you.  I use to think it was because they wanted to put their self above me, but I realized that wasn't it at all (for most of them).  They simply want everyone they meet to like them, think they are cool, and to be impressed with them. 

So here is how I made friends really really really quick.  I'm telling you this one little thing made some of these people love the ToneMan (thats going to be my new radio name ha).  I would ask them questions about who else...them, and while doing so I would throw in a compliment or two.  For example, "wow you have really done well in this business...what do you contribute to your great success?"  All I had to do to hang out and talk with the big dogs was to ask them about them.  The moment, I'm telling you the moment I started talking about me, they would check out.  You could see this glaze come over their eyes and they were ready to move on.  Now part of this too is because I am not one of the big dogs that people want to hang out with at those things. 

In fact I am politely known, if known at all, as "that guy who works with The ersonName>FitzersonName>".  In other words, no one can impress others just by hanging out with the ToneMan.  I am the guy at the conference that has to have on his name tag so people will know who I am and will let me in to the free buffets.  ersonName>FitzersonName> on the other hand is like a freaking rock star.  People love to hang out with him and drop his name.  And since I am associate with him I get some perks along the way.  One guy literally walked up and said, "Oh I didn't know you worked with ersonName>FitzersonName>" and then shook my hand gave me the big cheese of a smile.  Unfortunately he walked off before I could ask him a question about HIM.  In other words, he barely spoke to me before, but had he known that I was ersonName>FitzersonName>'s boy then he would have given me a little more respect. 

So to sum this up and go to sleep without proof reading for mistakes, it was a very interesting trip and I really did meet some very talented and awesome people.  Seriously, I met some incredibly gifted and talented people, but what is very sad to me is they question that...despite their success they question their gifts and talent.  Oh they act like they think they are the coolest, but that is simply a mask.  Some of them mask their insecurities behind cool shades, a little swagger in their step, and/or expensive clothes, but deep within I could see some of the most insecure people on earth.  They don't realize that they don't need to convince people or tell people how good they are...they first need to convince their self.