Funny thing about my daily devotional time in the morning. It tends to soothe rather quickly the uneasiness of the upcoming days worries and duties. There is always encouragement in the Word and through prayer time. It's almost as if the day's business is complete before it even begins. Why is this so? I believe it's because I've learned over the years that true peace comes from within first. It's not an external benefit. You can't purchase it through a great job, stellar financial planning, great health or material possessions. Those are just comfort food. You know feel good stuff for the moment. As the moment passes you end up yearning for more instead of being content with what you have. I see a lot of that uneasiness in the world today. Certainly on the physical stage of the planet today peace is not breaking out all over the place. There are numerous conflicts threatening the sovereignty of nations and even continents. At any given time there are well over one hundred regional conflicts going on around the world. Whether it be financial, territorial, religious or political, war and strife has become the norm and prosperity and peace has become the rarity. Why do we always seem to spinning out of control? Why can't we all just get along? Why are we often calloused to or apathetic to all the pain and misery? I believe it's because inside most of us whirls our own storms.
Over the centuries and throughout history wars have been fought and millions have died for the cause of peace. But whose peace? Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism? Mohammed, Confucius, Gandhi or Jesus? Blood has spilled and is still being spilled in the name of peace fronted by the banner of some of these great movements today. So which one has credibility? Which great prophet or savior is true and real? Certainly, all of these men have existed. All of them have been written about, researched, discussed and taught in universities, churches, synagogues and seat's of government. Millions of people and whole nations are hedging their collective futures and eternal destinies on the bold promises of such men. Ahh, but therein lies the difference. All but one of these great men are just that, men. They are separated by one unequivocal historical fact. The bones of Mohammed, Confucius, Gandhi and any other men of peace are entombed here on earth. Only one, Who spoke of true peace has not been located anywhere on earth. Many have tried and still do. Outlandish claims are made. Still no bones! Find the bones of Jesus Christ and you discredit the entire Holy Bible and all of Christianity in one big giant swipe! But there are none. Because Jesus is gone. He has gone to prepare His Kingdom for everlasting peace. He is and remains to this today the one true Son of the Most High God and his life and death and resurrection stand as the exception to and replacement of all man's turmoil, failings and sin. He and He alone reigns, gives life, and true peace to all of us. Jesus said " My peace I give to you, not as the world gives." Real peace, spiritual, soulful, inner peace. My human condition fallen and filthy, replaced by purity and forgiveness. Given to me and you by the Prince Of Peace. Only One came to live then die for you. No other has or will ever. He is coming soon to reclaim His Kingdom this time as judge and king not savior. Peace if we are to find it begins with us. It is a wholesale transformation spiritually by laying down our carnal thoughts and lives and accepting the transforming blood of Jesus Christ to reign in our hearts. I encourage you to be over comers of the condition you are struggling with. Calm the inner storms. Jesus also said, "I stand at the door and knock, if any man here my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me." Find your peace, accept this gift of salvation and life and watch the impact you will have. Peace is contagious and I don't know of anybody who doesn't welcome it's spread!
John 16:33
These things I have spoken to 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.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Who are you without your bank account?
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Out With the Old in With the New! Or is It?
I was having my coffee this morning and watching the news and on the TV was video of the massive fireworks display in Sydney Australia for their spectacular New Years celebration. And so it begins I thought, the annual global celebration to kick off the new year. Another year passes and time inevitably marches onward. With the turning of the pages of time comes new hope, new beginnings, new resolutions, new ideas and ambitions. Most of us eagerly set aside the past year as we rededicate ourselves to all sorts of ambitious pursuits and personal achievements. I always thought that I would like to be a Nutrisystem salesperson at the end of every year. This way I would rake in the cash promising to remake the physical landscape of people across America in the new year into the next Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie just by eating over priced, poorly made and packaged food. Or better yet to come up with the latest get rich quick scheme to add wealth and happiness to millions of struggling people. Or, invent the ultimate cheesy household doitall gadget and have an over the top infomercial that will give you not double but triple the order for the same price if you call in the next ten minutes! Why, I should just wait till the end of every year to unleash my grand schemes and ideas on the many unhappy and unsatisfied masses of the world so I can promise them stardust and moonbeams and deliver them real life and day to day struggles instead. Wow, what a bubble buster Rick! What's up with that you say? Where's the eternal optimism and eagerness to conquer the future? Relax folks, it's still there, I'm just making a point.
First of all, you all know that every new year we tend to set these lofty goals for ourselves promising to be different, or better or more beautiful or successful. Only to find that often times by spring or even earlier we are jolted back into our daily realities or are frustrated by the uneven success of our plans. We have too many demands or obligations to focus on the complete overhaul we had designed for our personal rejuvenation. In doing so we consider most of our resolutions an abject failure. I believe this creates an internal atmosphere of disappointment in us that then manifests itself in our outward disposition. Pretty Freudian you say? Let me get back to being me then. What I really mean is that if we want to be better, more happy, more successful and ebullient people we should try making resolutions that we can keep and succeed at. So I've got a sure fire way of doing this and I'm going to borrow it from a very dear friend of mine, Jesus. I will paraphrase this for you. Jesus was invited to dinner with a Pharisee who was a priest of the law and temple. When Jesus went in and sat down at the table right away without washing his hands the Pharisee was taken aback and asked the Lord a question. Jesus sensing displeasure in His host offered a perfect explanation and stinging rebuke in the same sentence. It goes like this in His exact words, Luke 11 vs. 39-41, Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. So there it is, simple in it's method, patently successful and utterly timeless. Not old, not new either just right. If you and I want to make a noticeable improvement in 2012 and actually have a resolution that we accomplish in all we do and say then all we need to do is a little interior housecleaning. What comes out will transform your lives for the better and those around you too. And so it is with you. God Bless You and Happy New Year!
Luke 11:37-44
[37] When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. [38] But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.
[39] Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. [40] You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? [41] But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
[42] "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
[43] "Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
[44] "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it."
First of all, you all know that every new year we tend to set these lofty goals for ourselves promising to be different, or better or more beautiful or successful. Only to find that often times by spring or even earlier we are jolted back into our daily realities or are frustrated by the uneven success of our plans. We have too many demands or obligations to focus on the complete overhaul we had designed for our personal rejuvenation. In doing so we consider most of our resolutions an abject failure. I believe this creates an internal atmosphere of disappointment in us that then manifests itself in our outward disposition. Pretty Freudian you say? Let me get back to being me then. What I really mean is that if we want to be better, more happy, more successful and ebullient people we should try making resolutions that we can keep and succeed at. So I've got a sure fire way of doing this and I'm going to borrow it from a very dear friend of mine, Jesus. I will paraphrase this for you. Jesus was invited to dinner with a Pharisee who was a priest of the law and temple. When Jesus went in and sat down at the table right away without washing his hands the Pharisee was taken aback and asked the Lord a question. Jesus sensing displeasure in His host offered a perfect explanation and stinging rebuke in the same sentence. It goes like this in His exact words, Luke 11 vs. 39-41, Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. So there it is, simple in it's method, patently successful and utterly timeless. Not old, not new either just right. If you and I want to make a noticeable improvement in 2012 and actually have a resolution that we accomplish in all we do and say then all we need to do is a little interior housecleaning. What comes out will transform your lives for the better and those around you too. And so it is with you. God Bless You and Happy New Year!
Luke 11:37-44
[37] When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. [38] But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised.
[39] Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. [40] You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? [41] But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
[42] "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
[43] "Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
[44] "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it."
Thursday, December 22, 2011
A Star Shines Brightly!
As I told you last week I am up to my eyeballs in flour, sugar, butter and creeping fingers. Yep, creeping fingers. The kind that always makes their way across the kitchen to the cooling racks of cookies and shamelessly runs off with the fruits of my labor like a hungry dog stealing a warm pot roast off the dining room table. Not that it bothers me that much. I guess the alternative is for your family and friends to avoid your plates of treats as if it was Aunt Susie's five hundred year old fruitcake that gets passed around every year. As I take a quick break from this annual labor of love, I want to encourage you to also slow down enough to absorb the true Gift of the season. In our modern often insane and demanding world, it's hard enough to hear ourselves think let alone take some time for reflection. Especially at Christmas time with all the parties, school events, shopping and shipping, endless running around and cooking. It's no wonder that many people can't wait for the holiday season to be over with. That in itself is a sad statement. It shouldn't be that way. We have transitioned over the generations to a physical serving instead of a spiritual nurturing lifestyle. Most of our collective efforts too often seem to go towards the agendas, desires and temporal whims of either ourselves, bosses, children or other obligations. I am not condemning the effort or even the passion behind it as we all have daily tasks and service we must complete. Rather, I am talking about the need to slow down, sit down, pause and reflect.
It's been over two thousand years since that bright star shone in the sky over a small child born in a lowly manger to humble parents in the small town of Bethlehem. The King of Kings was born to us! The one true and everlasting Gift! Given to us by a loving Father who loved us so much He gave up his only begotten Son for us. We didn't qualify for this precious gift nor did we rightly deserve it either. God gave His Son for us simply because He loves us. How often have any of us just gone out and gave of ourselves to someone so completely without being asked or coerced to do so? Now I am not talking about placing ourselves into the same implicate circumstance as our Heavenly Father. But rather I'm talking about a mindset. No check that, a spirit set. We live in a crumbling world often full of sad and trying circumstances. But people we do have joy! Joy that is rich and true and unending no matter what can assail us! We celebrate Christmas for only one reason each year. We celebrate the divine intervention into our hopeless circumstances in this fallen world of the one true King of Hope. At least that's what my family and I celebrate. I can't speak for you. But I can tell you this. If you spend some time seeking Him you will find Him. When you do He will transform your life forever, I promise you. He fixed a broken man like me as I had no ability to do that myself. I don't look for gifts under the tree so much anymore. I just keep opening the one God gave me and it's still new every day. So may God bless you and your family this sacred season of joy! That star still shines brightly today!
Luke 2:11
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
It's been over two thousand years since that bright star shone in the sky over a small child born in a lowly manger to humble parents in the small town of Bethlehem. The King of Kings was born to us! The one true and everlasting Gift! Given to us by a loving Father who loved us so much He gave up his only begotten Son for us. We didn't qualify for this precious gift nor did we rightly deserve it either. God gave His Son for us simply because He loves us. How often have any of us just gone out and gave of ourselves to someone so completely without being asked or coerced to do so? Now I am not talking about placing ourselves into the same implicate circumstance as our Heavenly Father. But rather I'm talking about a mindset. No check that, a spirit set. We live in a crumbling world often full of sad and trying circumstances. But people we do have joy! Joy that is rich and true and unending no matter what can assail us! We celebrate Christmas for only one reason each year. We celebrate the divine intervention into our hopeless circumstances in this fallen world of the one true King of Hope. At least that's what my family and I celebrate. I can't speak for you. But I can tell you this. If you spend some time seeking Him you will find Him. When you do He will transform your life forever, I promise you. He fixed a broken man like me as I had no ability to do that myself. I don't look for gifts under the tree so much anymore. I just keep opening the one God gave me and it's still new every day. So may God bless you and your family this sacred season of joy! That star still shines brightly today!
Luke 2:11
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
The Making and Baking of Smiles!
Merry Christmas everybody! Sorry I was gone so long but I had to finish up some online schooling in my ongoing metamorphosis to reinvent myself in middle age, but I muddled through. Anyways, in doing so I have gotten behind in my annual Christmas culinary mad professor hijinks. But I have already retreated into the lab to pour over my recipes and come up with this years list of the six cookies to satisfy the sweet tooth, warm the soul and put everybody into a winter long sugar coma! When I finish writing this it's off to prepare, tweak, modify, bake, observe, smell and of course taste in my opinion the essence of Christmas, the love of homemade food, treats and family fellowship in this season of the Greatest Gift ever given. I don't know, maybe it's me but getting older seems to make me more sentimental and old fashioned. Give me a warm kitchen, a Frank Sinatra Christmas album, family and friends to visit with and I am overflowing in my happiness quota. I don't long to see mother's brawling in the aisles at the local Walmart fighting over the newest gothic Barbie Doll or igadget as I am convinced that venturing into department stores at this time of year is a sure fire way to suck the joy out of Christmas.
But back to the important stuff. I will spend the better part of next few days feverishly baking and packing up plates of cookies, helping my wife assemble baskets of jams, breads and ornaments and enjoying every minute of it. Because this is why, giving. That's right giving. There is no greater motivating factor for Melissa and I then to see the joy of family, friends and even stranger's faces light up when you bring them a gift. But not just any gift. You can buy a watch or clothes or give a gift card and that's all good. But nothing conveys love and care as much as homemade goods. Whether it be my late grandmother's crocheted winter hats, a good friends cheesecake or cookie platter, or my son in laws venison sausage it's the fact that they spent so much of their time putting effort into this true gift of the heart that elevates the value past anything with a label or tag on it. Yes, it's usually gone quickly or we tend to hide and hoard these valuable treasures for ourselves so we can bask in the lingering effects of their goodness as long as possible. Either way, I find myself asking my wife if we will be getting any of these each year as if to ensure myself of my happiness fix. Shallow really, but I am all about the treats at this point! I guess they tie me to the simple basic emotions that make this time of year so special. Love, joy, fellowship and the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Possessions, money and and gadgets come and go but happiness and joy truly touch the soul. As for the list of the six cookie recipes I am preparing this year, I guess you'll have to stop by to find out! So pull up a chair, grab some hot chocolate and stay awhile. Oh, but be sure to have a physician on standby when the levels of sugar and bliss get dangerously high!
2 Corinthians 9:6-7
6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
But back to the important stuff. I will spend the better part of next few days feverishly baking and packing up plates of cookies, helping my wife assemble baskets of jams, breads and ornaments and enjoying every minute of it. Because this is why, giving. That's right giving. There is no greater motivating factor for Melissa and I then to see the joy of family, friends and even stranger's faces light up when you bring them a gift. But not just any gift. You can buy a watch or clothes or give a gift card and that's all good. But nothing conveys love and care as much as homemade goods. Whether it be my late grandmother's crocheted winter hats, a good friends cheesecake or cookie platter, or my son in laws venison sausage it's the fact that they spent so much of their time putting effort into this true gift of the heart that elevates the value past anything with a label or tag on it. Yes, it's usually gone quickly or we tend to hide and hoard these valuable treasures for ourselves so we can bask in the lingering effects of their goodness as long as possible. Either way, I find myself asking my wife if we will be getting any of these each year as if to ensure myself of my happiness fix. Shallow really, but I am all about the treats at this point! I guess they tie me to the simple basic emotions that make this time of year so special. Love, joy, fellowship and the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Possessions, money and and gadgets come and go but happiness and joy truly touch the soul. As for the list of the six cookie recipes I am preparing this year, I guess you'll have to stop by to find out! So pull up a chair, grab some hot chocolate and stay awhile. Oh, but be sure to have a physician on standby when the levels of sugar and bliss get dangerously high!
2 Corinthians 9:6-7
6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
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