Thanks for the giving

My wife and I went to California for Thanksgiving. My bro-in-law just got short notice orders to Afghanistan, so we wanted to love on him before he leaves.

California is an interesting place. Like Texas, it takes forever to drive from one end to the other, and there is every kind of climate you can think of going on all year round in one place or another.

We went on a hike through some mountain range, I can’t remember the name, but it was beautiful. My sister took this picture, and I’m impressed with the colors of the landscape.

Anyway, say a prayer for my brother Dave as he prepares to enter the war zone. He’s a strong Christian man, so I don’t worry about him. Well, I worry about him, but I know God has a plan for him, so it’s all good.

Thanks Dave, for giving. For giving yourself to stand in harm’s way to protect the freedoms the rest of us enjoy back here in the states.

We love you.

“God, take care of my brother while he’s overseas. Keep him safe, and help him as I know he will continue to spread the redeeming word of Jesus no matter where he is, or who he’s staring down. Amen.”

The Final Frontier

I watched a documentary the other night on UFOs. It showed a lot of homemade video clips of strange lights zipping around in the sky. One clip showed a group of eight lights that made an outline of what looked to be a very large space craft slowly flying over a town. Of course you can’t see the ship itself because it’s dark outside. All you can see are the lights.

I sat there watching the videos and thought “how smart can these aliens be if they forgot to turn off their headlights?” Seriously, they’re able to hide all day long and then come out at night so no one will see them, but left their parking lights on?!

I can’t say for sure that there are no aliens, because I honestly don’t know. I think the chances of us being the only “intelligent” beings in this vast universe are pretty slim though.

I’m sure we’ll have the answer some day. Hopefully it won’t be when we’re looking down the business end of an Illudiom Pew36 Explosive Space Modulator.

Get out of God’s way

Christians are a very helpful lot. We go out of our way to help those who need it, in ways that a lot of times include money, a place to live, a car, counseling, etc.

I recently saw a friend in need, and witnessed others try to help him through his troubles, and it occurred to me that perhaps without knowing it we were letting our Christian helpfulness get in the way of what God was trying to do in that persons life.

What if God needed for that person to be in the situation they were in? What if He was working on that person to break them, or show them a path he needed them to travel? And by intervening we were actually giving that person an easy way out, when all along God didn’t want them to have an easy way out.

Tough question, isn’t it?

I guess my only answer is that God puts people in our lives for a reason, and if I have the ability to help that person I can only hope that it’s because God wanted me to do so.

All we can do is pray for guidance. In the end, God’s plan will happen whether we get in the way or not.

Just my random thoughts. What are yours?

Keep the Change

Our new President will be in office in a couple of months. He’s touted himself as a President of “Change.” So I’m anxious to see what happens, as well as a little scared.

I came from poverty. Really. We’re talking walking around in ditches picking up cans to cash in for food, kind of poverty. But I worked hard and dug my way out of that life. But now Obama is saying that other people shouldn’t have to do the same thing. That he’s just going to take it from me instead, and “spread the wealth.”

My biggest concern in all this is that I won’t be able to give to the charities of my choice. I won’t be able to afford it anymore.

What will happen when Obama taxes the rich into middle class?

People’s ability to give to charities will go way down, and perhaps the poor will see a few dollars of these new taxes, but I don’t have much faith in the government’s ability to manage the process. I’d rather manage the process myself and give directly to the faith-based charities that I know are helping people.

So I disagree with this concept of spreading the wealth. I’m already doing that.

Sorry Mr. Obama. Keep the Change.

"God, thank you for blessing my life and giving me the ability to help so many others. All I have is yours, no matter how much, or how little. Amen."

Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid

I watched a documentary about the Jonestown massacre last night. I’m old enough to remember when it happened. It’s a tragedy that still doesn’t make sense to this day. 909 people dead, plus several news reporters and a congressman.

It’s a testament to what can happen when people stop believing in God and start believing in the person leading them down their version of a godly path.

The lesson of Jonestown is being grounded in the Bible, and knowing that there is only one person “higher” than you, and that’s God.

We must always keep our guard up against putting a religious figure on a pedestal. I’ve seen pastors of mega-churches become rock stars, and soon they lose their focus on God, and start believing they’re above everyone else.

Pastors are people. They’re just like the rest of us. They have faults, and they sin. They struggle with life’s daily problems from family issues to how to budget their money.

Good pastors are grounded in the Word, and have a personal relationship with Christ. They are humble, because they know their job is important, and if they do it wrong then people are led astray.

The only difference between you and your pastor is that he’s able to immerse himself in a life of following Christ. Where as the rest of us have to work a full time job while we follow Christ. It doesn’t make us any less valuable to God; we just don’t have people coming to us every day for spiritual guidance.

Don’t ever think your pastor is above anyone else. Gauge what they say based on how it lines up with the Bible, and the teachings of Jesus.

As long as you have a personal relationship with Christ and take time each day to be in the Word, and follow the teachings of Jesus, you’re a pastor too, because the people around you will see Christ living through you. And that’s your daily sermon.

“God, I pray for the families of those still here dealing with the tragic loss of their loved ones 30 years ago in Jonestown. Give us the wisdom to know that it is only You who is worth following, and no mortal. Amen.”