The other morning I was in my office and going through the monthly drudgery of paying bills. You know the routine, grab the stack sort it out and decide what to pay this week, what to pay next week and who needs a talking to for the credit card bills. After all these years of toiling through this dreaded exercise in dismal necessity, I came to a conclusion. It doesn't matter how much money I have made, or have, or am coming into the feeling is the same, aggravated reluctant submission. That's right sort of like the feeling when you're in the dentist's chair and Dr. Malevolence is standing over you with the Turbo Ten Thousand nuclear powered drill ready to abolish you entire gum line. You know that it's going to hurt but it will cure the pain that's in the tooth now. That is at least until the next cavity comes along! So I go along writing checks, stuffing envelopes, licking and stamping, yes us old timers still pay that way, until my task is finished. Then I sit back and look at the finished pile with utter contempt as if I just survived a big old spoon of cod liver oil. No satisfaction just survival. I beat the wolves back from the door for another month! I live to fight another day! Great, just great. Talk about hollow victories. So I rush off to the post office and discard this stack of temporary reprieve as if I were throwing out a dead mouse. Victory is mine until the 15th of next month. Then I went back home sat down in our prayer center to do my morning devotion and was nudged, no better yet pushed. Not physically but spiritually.
The Lord was reminding me of something so very necessary to my daily walk with Him, gratitude. Where was my gratitude for the grace He had shown me for the gift of seeing us taken care of for another month. I felt a sense of sheepishness and a bit of shame come over me. Here I am a card carrying Christian man who spends a good portion of his life reading the Word, praying and professing the glories of our Great King Jesus and I am acting as if I'm a child who didn't get my sugar free sucker when I left the dentist's office. I immediately asked forgiveness and prayed for a new sensitivity to my calling. You see, in this life we have so many duties and obligations and most of them revolve around money. Money or love of money dominates our world so pervasively that it is the number one story that dominates the national and global news each day. Let me give you a few hints; stimulus package, recession, bank bailouts, home foreclosures, job losses, tax revenue, budget cuts, salary demands, CEO bonuses, oil prices, cost of living, shall I go on? We have built a brand new altar in this world and it's called MONEY. Resplendent in it's ability to do such good and destroy with swift abandon mercilessly in the same breath. All we talk about it seems nowadays is money or money problems. All the while forgetting that it is He who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He who feeds the sparrows, clothes the lilies of the valley and provides for His children. He gives and takes away. And He is no respecter of persons but loves us all equally and with total compassion. In fact the bible has over five hundred verses each about prayer and faith but over two thousand verses about money. Hmmm, you think God is trying to emphasize something here? We can't solve the problems in our nation right now because our vision is blurred by our misguided love of self and money over Him and His provision. When we die someday and face Him we will be asked about our life, our accomplishments and opportunities to do good for Him and His kingdom. Not for the ability to create wealth, store wealth, hoard wealth or like the USA today squander our wealth. For money is just the vessel to use to get through this life to create the opportunities for doing good or harm. Ultimately, it's the heart of the giver that determines the nature and to a lesser degree the results of the gift. Money comes and goes but God's love and purpose for us stands, unbreakable, unwavering and ever loving. So if your altar is colored green, I suggest you tear it down and build one that's made of true gold, repentance, submission, dedication and gratitude. You will be amazed how much easier it gets facing the bill monster each month, however cod liver oil will still taste badly.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Growing Up Don Or Is It Donna?
This morning in the midst of my usual routine of quaffing piping hot java and perusing the world news for the day on my PC, I came across an article that made me wince with anger and shake my head in disappointment. It was about a couple in England who decided they were doing society and families in general a huge favor by conducting a wholly selfish and catastrophically damaging experiment by raising their child to be gender neutral. That's right neither boy nor girl just "it". The child's parents, both women, decided that raising a child with it's natural given sexuality and gender in a traditional manner would be stereotyping the child into accepting norms that would cause it's personality to be malformed. They didn't want to pigeon hole their child to accept gender as a definer of it's personality. That's right folks, I'm not kidding you and we wonder why the apocalypse is upon us! Ok, so back to the absurdity of this situation. They alternated dressing the child into both girls and boys clothes, had it play with gender neutral toys and refused to expose the child to the medium of TV, not necessarily a bad thing, to prevent exposure to male or female role models. One of the parents said that raising the child without stereotypes will allow the personality of the child to fully develop. Develop? Into what? They even said and I am quoting here, "Gender affects what children wear and what they can play with and that shapes the kind of person they become." Really, no kidding! Did it ever occur to these two completely lost and irresponsible individuals the damage they are potentially causing to this innocent child. Not only does the child grow up in a non traditional parental arrangement, but now they want to warp the natural sense of physical and mental as well as emotional growth of this innocent child too. So, if you haven't detected my disgust by now let me add this. By choosing to raise their child gender neutral, without any identity as to it's self worth or sexuality what do you think is going to happen when this child grows up?
Let me enlighten you a bit. And this is not from a PhD in psychology here but an intelligent person, a loving, God fearing and dedicated parent. Confusion, anxiety, lack of self confidence, relationship dysfunction, moody, withdrawn and isolated. Not to mention the dangerous warping of the role that God had intended for them to live by in their life to it's fullest. Why? Why it's all in the name of tolerance and love. Let's raise a generation of ambiguous children and set them upon the world with out any boundaries and role defining values and watch the mayhem begin. It's no wonder that we are in such a downward spiral. We are tearing at the fabric of the one institution under God that set's the standard for all societies lawful and moral restraint and that is the family. Without natural male and female roles to live by, we blur the divine intent of our Heavenly Father and have undermined the foundation of our world. Many sociologists agree that the breakdown of the traditional family is the single greatest cause for the decay in modern Western society today. What these two women are embarking on is nothing short of criminal almost in the sense of child neglect in my view. Some will say my views are narrow minded and obsolete in our modern utopian society called Toleranceville, but the practice of such behavior is wreaking havoc all around us. We serve a God that will not be mocked and set up the Ten Commandments and later on sent His only begotten Son to die for us and pay for our sins. Jesus said in Matthew 18:6, "But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." I for one will pray for this child and his parents. That's right , it is a he. They had to reveal his gender to the school when their child became to old for them to conceal the sex anymore. Oh, and go figure his name is Sasha. Tick, tock, tick, tock and the clock approaches midnight!
Proverbs 6:20-23
Let me enlighten you a bit. And this is not from a PhD in psychology here but an intelligent person, a loving, God fearing and dedicated parent. Confusion, anxiety, lack of self confidence, relationship dysfunction, moody, withdrawn and isolated. Not to mention the dangerous warping of the role that God had intended for them to live by in their life to it's fullest. Why? Why it's all in the name of tolerance and love. Let's raise a generation of ambiguous children and set them upon the world with out any boundaries and role defining values and watch the mayhem begin. It's no wonder that we are in such a downward spiral. We are tearing at the fabric of the one institution under God that set's the standard for all societies lawful and moral restraint and that is the family. Without natural male and female roles to live by, we blur the divine intent of our Heavenly Father and have undermined the foundation of our world. Many sociologists agree that the breakdown of the traditional family is the single greatest cause for the decay in modern Western society today. What these two women are embarking on is nothing short of criminal almost in the sense of child neglect in my view. Some will say my views are narrow minded and obsolete in our modern utopian society called Toleranceville, but the practice of such behavior is wreaking havoc all around us. We serve a God that will not be mocked and set up the Ten Commandments and later on sent His only begotten Son to die for us and pay for our sins. Jesus said in Matthew 18:6, "But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." I for one will pray for this child and his parents. That's right , it is a he. They had to reveal his gender to the school when their child became to old for them to conceal the sex anymore. Oh, and go figure his name is Sasha. Tick, tock, tick, tock and the clock approaches midnight!
Proverbs 6:20-23
My son, obey your father's commands, and don't neglect your mother's teaching.
Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. Wherever you walk, their counsel can lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up in the morning, they will advise you.For these commands and this teaching are a lamp to light the way ahead of you. The correction of discipline is the way of life.
Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. Wherever you walk, their counsel can lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up in the morning, they will advise you.For these commands and this teaching are a lamp to light the way ahead of you. The correction of discipline is the way of life.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
When Life Gives You Lemons, Ask God For More!
Optimism is defined in Merriam-Webster's dictionary as an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome. Wow, why even the definition sounds so upbeat and positive! I just love it. But I love the challenge of the application of optimism more. You see it's precisely the remedy for the various maladies of life. It's copious use can greatly alter the situations we are already in or getting into or coming out of and it will greatly determine the path we will travel from that point on. Great you say, sounds good to me! I'll have a double scoop of that. Alrighty then step right up and get your helping. But use caution, as too much optimism may cause excessive jealousy, suspicion, envy and criticism from friends, coworkers and even family. Why would you or I want to bear the scorn of people thinking we are nuts or on drugs because we are so happy and upbeat and positive. Wouldn't it better or easier to blend in with all the other misery loves company crowd? It's like the lone fish that swims upstream against the tide. Just go with flow man, right down the proverbial sewer. Be a lemming! Ok, enough of my parabolic extended prose here let me explain.
These last three years or so my family and I have had a lot of personal testing. From the collapse of my real estate business, to the loss of our home, many possessions and money, the untimely death of my loving dad and just recently the loss of our faithful lab Gideon. We been pushed, pulled, humbled and at times knocked down but never defeated. In the midst of our sorrow we chose to make a whole bunch of lemonade and we've learned to enjoy and share it abundantly. God's recipe for perfect lemonade is just three ingredients. Lemons for the sour or bitter things that life affords sometimes, sugar for sweetness of God's promises to carry us through, and water to flow into us and then through us to share the wonder and power of the overcoming glory that is Jesus Christ For out of every single tear and seemingly inconsolable disappointment came the wonderful grace of God's lemonade, blessing. Blessing because my family and I have chosen to hold on to the hope of the promises of the optimist Himself, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! There are no man made doctrines or laws or governing documents that have ever been produced that give so graciously to the joyful healing of broken people as the testimony, life and ministry of Jesus. Christianity is the only belief system that gives so abundantly with out asking anything to qualify for it in return. Salvation was costly to God but is free to us. It's the greatest gift ever given. The ministry of Jesus established the path for all of us to walk on, His death accomplished the forgiveness and payment of our sins, and His resurrection establishes the hope, glory and everlasting kingdom of joy, peace and happiness that is to come. Or as my Uncle Joe used to say, "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" Our world today is in dire shape and needs good news, The Good News. So here's my suggestion to you. Get to know Him who knows you. Read His Word, lean on His promises and accept His gift of salvation. You will find yourself smiling more, loving more and caring more for those around you and you'll be surprised how often you have a pitcher of lemonade in the frig when those that thirst stop by.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
These last three years or so my family and I have had a lot of personal testing. From the collapse of my real estate business, to the loss of our home, many possessions and money, the untimely death of my loving dad and just recently the loss of our faithful lab Gideon. We been pushed, pulled, humbled and at times knocked down but never defeated. In the midst of our sorrow we chose to make a whole bunch of lemonade and we've learned to enjoy and share it abundantly. God's recipe for perfect lemonade is just three ingredients. Lemons for the sour or bitter things that life affords sometimes, sugar for sweetness of God's promises to carry us through, and water to flow into us and then through us to share the wonder and power of the overcoming glory that is Jesus Christ For out of every single tear and seemingly inconsolable disappointment came the wonderful grace of God's lemonade, blessing. Blessing because my family and I have chosen to hold on to the hope of the promises of the optimist Himself, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! There are no man made doctrines or laws or governing documents that have ever been produced that give so graciously to the joyful healing of broken people as the testimony, life and ministry of Jesus. Christianity is the only belief system that gives so abundantly with out asking anything to qualify for it in return. Salvation was costly to God but is free to us. It's the greatest gift ever given. The ministry of Jesus established the path for all of us to walk on, His death accomplished the forgiveness and payment of our sins, and His resurrection establishes the hope, glory and everlasting kingdom of joy, peace and happiness that is to come. Or as my Uncle Joe used to say, "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!" Our world today is in dire shape and needs good news, The Good News. So here's my suggestion to you. Get to know Him who knows you. Read His Word, lean on His promises and accept His gift of salvation. You will find yourself smiling more, loving more and caring more for those around you and you'll be surprised how often you have a pitcher of lemonade in the frig when those that thirst stop by.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
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