I never post because I can never get anything to the level of perfection that I think is worthy to be seen. Can anyone relate?
Wise Up!
Several months ago, I read James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”. I mentioned it later that day to my pastor while we were praying together at lunch. I told him I thought we should ask God for wisdom for conducting the affairs of our church. He agreed and preached a sermon on it just a couple of weeks ago. Oddly enough, my Sunday School teacher just started a series on Living Wisely based on the book of Proverbs. Furthermore, this past week, I downloaded Andy Stanley’s Podcast on iTunes entitled “The Best Question Ever”. Guess what the “The Best Question Ever” concerns – you guessed it, WISDOM.
Stanley references Ephesians 5:15-16: “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Too often as Christians we ask dumb questions concerning how close can I get to the “sin line” and still have a relationship with God. We ask questions like: is it okay for Christians to drink, where’s the verse that says I can’t partake of a certain activity, etc? These are dumb questions for a believer. The right question to be asking in light of Ephesians 5:15-16 is that “in light of my past experiences, my current situation and my future hopes and dreams” is it the WISE thing to do?” WOW! That question has the potential to revolutionize your relationship with Christ.
Don’t asked if your church says it’s okay, what your preacher thinks, what your denomination thinks or can I find a verse in the Bible against it, ask “in light of my past experiences, my current situation and my future hopes and dreams” is it the WISE thing to do?”. I believe this piece of wisdom can radically change future decisions and save me from my own demise.
I only wish I had discovered this nugget 20 years ago – I could have saved myself and the ones I love a world of hurt!
Live wisely!
The Incredibles!
I guess everyone has them – the quintessential overachievers that send out those Christmas letters each year to remind you of how lazy you have been and how little you accomplished since last year. I received several this year from various families reviewing their amazing accomplishments this year!
Some families built houses, enjoyed winter sledding, cross country skiing and snowboarding, traveled to exotic countries during the summer, and spent Thanksgiving in Europe. Somehow after working full time jobs, these incredible families found time to raise dozens of farm yard animals, knit sweaters from the hair of their lamas, build furniture for the family, go mountain biking, teach special needs children how to read, adopt children from third world countries, carve violins, camp for two weeks, attend children’s sporting events, go snowboarding, win college debates, join a men’s basketball team in the community, work out 5 times a week at the gym, volunteer for president elect Obama, take acting lessons, play in the local orchestra, hike the Rockies, camp in the Grand Canyon, run marathons, spend the weekend @ the Super Bowl, win soccer championships, take beautiful professional photographs of nature, support their children in the National Spelling Bee, spend several weeks as missionaries over summer break, find new jobs and move the family across the country. The letters from each family are peppered with exquisite photos of each accomplishing incredible feats!
Instead of the expected Christmas cheer, they sort of depress me. Let’s review my year. I worked a job, managed to do my laundry on Monday & Tuesday evenings and put it away most weeks. If the week went really well, I ironed my shirts before putting them in the closet!
What are these people made of and what is wrong with me? It just makes you wonder are these people real or superhumans from a galaxy far far away? But I’ve got plans for this New Year. I’ll show them! I’m going to add dryer sheets to the laundry this year just in case I decide to send out a list of my accomplishments for 2009 next Christmas!
Free @ Last
Earlier this week I was sitting on the sofa near the computer and heard my daughter listening to the famous “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Shamefully I must admit, it was the first time I had heard the speech in its entirety. I was moved to tears while standing behind my daughter watching from a distance. If this speech was that inspiring on my tiny YouTube screen, I can only imagine how inspiring it would have been to live that moment with Mr. King. What a delight for those standing around him that day!
The rest of the night I pondered the oppression that prompted such a speech just 18 months before I entered the world. Although we have accomplished much to eradicate racism, I can’t forget the oppression that is still so rampant in our world today.
Rampant greed, evidence by the scandals plaguing corporate America and Wall Street, suggest oppression of the poor and underprivileged is alive and well today. The greed of corporations to sell us things we don’t need, can’t afford, to impress people we don’t like is epidemic. Our lusts for more goods at cheaper prices have many impoverished nations working as “slaves” to produce these cheap products. One large corporation’s current slogan is “Save Money…Live Better”. We should be asking ourselves “Live better at whose expense?”
As a result of this continued demand for cheap goods — third world countries are manufacturing our goods for smaller and smaller wages. World hunger has become a global crisis, killing millions of people annually. An estimated 923 million people in the world go hungry every day. Hunger and malnutrition kill more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Did you get that — hunger and malnutrition kill more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Even in our own country, more than 11.7 million children live in households where people have to skip meals or eat less in order to make ends meet. Because of this, over 12.6 percent of the world’s estimated population of 6.6 billion people are undernourished or suffer from malnutrition.
The leading cause of this international crisis is poverty. More than 928 million people in developing countries are living on one dollar a day or less. As a result, malnutrition and starvation have become prevalent throughout the world. Nearly 16 million children die every year from preventable and treatable causes, and sixty percent of these deaths are from hunger. Again, please be sure you caught that – 43,835 children dying every day because of hunger. Yet we have the means to end world hunger. The financial costs are not that great, but only a change in priorities can put an end to hunger across the globe. I read this week that the USA has spent $250,000 per minute on this war for the last 7 years. Can you imagine if we would have spent that money to feed our enemies what a statement we could have made as “Christian” nation.
When I read such statistics I’m amazed at the percentage of time so called “Christian Television” devotes to encouraging greed and instructing it’s “partners” to claim the wealth that is their “right” in the name of Jesus! Jesus said if you follow him, it is likely some evenings you will not have a place to lay your head [Matthew 8:20].
Today, let us realize that oppression, abuse, poverty, hunger, human trafficking and other atrocities are thriving more than ever. By making relatively small changes as individuals, we can minimize the oppression across the globe. For over a decade, my family and I have sponsored three different children in impoverished countries with a small monthly payment. It is a delight to see what a huge difference our support makes in their lives.
Please join me: sponsor a hungry child through Compassion or World Vision; don’t buy $6.00 shirts from 3rd world countries. [If you are paying $6.00 at the mega center, how much do you think the person who sews that shirt made?] Take action to lighten the load of the oppressed, bring hope to the hopeless, and set those bound by poverty free. Let’s “speed up that day when all of God’s children…will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Reading the Ancient Text
The year is near completion and I’m nearing my goal of reading the Holy Bible through in a year for the first time in my life. Sad to say, but for many of these OT books — this is my first time reading them in 43 years of living. I’m finished with all of the “fun books”. All that remains are 3 Major Prophets and I’m drowning here. I’ve got to finish this — I’ve never been this close. God help me through Isaiah, Jeremiah & Ezekiel before the ball drops in timesquare!
