How is your cup?

As I look at my life and see what my wonderful Lord has blessed me with I am happy to say that "my cup runneth over".

Join me in celebrating the goodness of our God. For He is good and His mercy endures Forever.

Thanksgiving Proclamation

As we prepare the traditional turkey and thanksgiving pumpkin pie, I think it is only right to remember where this day comes from. In elementary we were taught that the first Thanksgiving Day started with the pilgrims when in reality they didn’t celebrate a Holiday named Thanksgiving Day. The other thought that is being promoted is that the thanksgiving that the pilgrims had was towards the Native Americas for their assistance. That too is wrong. They were thankful to their Lord God who had helped them in the new land.

On this very special day, let’s follow suit and remember the greatness of our God, His Majesty, and His powerful but merciful hand.

Thank you God.

May He bless and keep you.

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General Thanksgiving
By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houfes of Congress have, by their joint committee, requefted me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to eftablifh a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and affign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of thefe States to the fervice of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our fincere and humble thanksfor His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the fignal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpofitions of His providence in the courfe and conclufion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have fince enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to eftablish Conftitutions of government for our fafety and happinefs, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are bleffed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffufing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleafed to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in moft humbly offering our prayers and fupplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and befeech Him to pardon our national and other tranfgreffions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private ftations, to perform our feveral and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a bleffing to all the people by conftantly being a Government of wife, juft, and conftitutional laws, difcreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all fovereigns and nations (especially fuch as have shewn kindnefs unto us); and to blefs them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increafe of fcience among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind fuch a degree of temporal profperity as he alone knows to be beft.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand feven hundred and eighty-nine.


(signed) G. Washington

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel, Wednesday, October 14, 1789

I'm a Christian. Who are you?

I know that you will find this shocking but not everyone who calls them self "Christian" is an Actual Christian. According to the website dictionary.com the term Christian is defined as "of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ". This is not a shock nor does it cause us to shutter.

If we compare how we define other ways or walks of life we accept this definition as normal. Take a person who calls himself a Buddhist. This would be a person who follows the teachings of Gautama Buddha. Right? If you allow me to take it one step further, we can't call a person a Buddhist if they only follow some of his teachings. In other words holding the sole belief in reincarnation or Karma doesn't make you a Buddhist, nor does living at a Buddhist temple or in a Buddhist community make you a follower of Buddha.

Are you following? Am I beating a dead horse?

If we look at Luke 6:46 (in the Bible) we can see where Jesus points out the people who call him "Lord" but don't put his word or teachings in practice. In Matthew 7:21-22 Jesus is even more blatant and divides those who are followers from those who are not.

So if we take those verses we can see that a "Christian" is one who not only listens but puts into practice the Word and the Will of God. Simply going to church or living a "nice" life doesn't make you a Christian, right? Even holding the position of a pastor, priest, or minister doesn't make you a Christian. I like one person's analogy about race horses. He said that you can put a mule in a race horse stall but it doesn't make him a race horse, likewise you can sit in your garage but it doesn't make you a car. Once, I saw a VW bug with a Ferrari car shell. It looked great and I thought it was a fast, sleek, sophisticated car, until I was told that it was a VW bug under all that Cool Exterior. When the owner started the motor I could tell, and when it pulled out of the parking lot I could tell it was nothing like a Ferrari.

It's what is under the hood that confirms its' true identity. You could go to a junk yard somewhere and find a Ferrari bashed up, broken, and maybe with other car parts welded on to it's chassis, to such a degree that you may not even recognize it as a Ferrari. And even though that vehicle may not look like a Ferrari it hasn't changed into a VW, a Ford, Dodge, or whatever.

The same logic applies when being called a Christian. There are many who desire to live a "good", kind, and righteous life who have joined a good church and have called themselves "Christian". But these acts (albeit good acts) are not indicators of being a Christian. Jesus said that "if you love me you will obey what he commands" and in a later verse he says that the person who loves Him will do what He teaches (John 14). He didn't tell anyone to go to church. He didn't say live a "good" life. He said love your neighbor as yourself, he said forgive, he said seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.

One time when he was asked by his disciples to show them the Father He said that if we were to see Him (Jesus) then they had already seen the Father. He was teaching by example. In His (Jesus') love for the father He imitated everything God did to the point that He could say "if you've seen me you've seen the Father". It wasn´t the church he attended, or the good life he lived that qualified him. It was His Love and His imitation, or walk. Jesus said that the World will know who are His disciples by their fruit. It is what we do, from the inside out, that defines who we are.

Can you say that you are doing what Jesus would do? Can you say that you are speaking what Jesus would say?

I realize that we all screw up every now and again but we are defined by how we stand firm or fall from the pressures that surround us. Do the circumstances in the World dictate how you will turn and what you will do? How does the economy influence you? What about the office pressures? And what about the pressure from our friends. How you stand up in the face of pressure that would have you choose another path, dictates who you are.

Who are you?

Have you noticed how Hollywood makes fun of Christians? In the movie "Fun with Dick and Jane" (2005) there is a scene where Dick played by Jim Carry is trying to pee in a cup for a subsequent drug test. One of the store clerks working as a Human Resources personnel offers her pee for 100 dollars 'cause she had been of the "pipe" for 6 months. She punctuates her offer with "Praise you Jesus". Her hypocrisy is what the Worlds sees and defines as Christian. It's the hypocrisy that causes us to slap our knees and laugh. Why? Because we all know of people in church and may have participated in something similar.

They see the "Christians" that want to live a "good" life, and not the Christians that Walk like Jesus. It is the influence of those type of people that cause many youth to turn away from Christ, and embrace Atheism or Agnosticism. And it causes many others not to embrace Christianity since they too can live a "good" life without Christ.

So who are you? What does your fruit look like?

Halloween

Alright, it's that time again and the stores are doing a fabulous job at selling us on the "Coolness" of Halloween. The kids are getting ready to dress up in different costumes from Superman to the Doctor Seuss' Cat-in-the-Hat. The spooky movies are out on TV and Hollywood turns out the most horrific tales of the undead, Psycho killers, and basically our worse nightmares. Our churches are putting on alternatives to the traditional Trick-or-treat custom and some of our spiritual leaders are denouncing the day as demonic and a celebration of evil. While on the other hand the "enlightened population is promoting this "holiday" and a celebration.

So where is the truth in all this? Is it demonic? Or just a simple celebration? Should I participate or allow my kids to do so? What?

Well, I've included a few links at the bottom of this blog that details the origin of Halloween. The History channel has an interesting article, free of Halloween promotion while the neopagan has a more positive Halloween spin on things. The Wikipedia site is no doubt interesting but it is in a constant state of flux. I've added the links so you don't have to read me drone on about the history and the specific meanings behind the day.

I would rather settle down on the practical nuts and bolts of this celebration (which is not a holiday) and what it means to me.

Halloween has traditionally been synonymous with death, darkness, fear, pain, and destruction. If you read the history of the celebration, you'll find that it is was developed around the day in which the druidic practitioners’ believed the veil between this world and the spiritual realm was the thinnest. During this time they believed that the dead and other spirits could cross over to our world.

When I was a kid the kids in the neighborhood dressed up as demons, Dracula, zombies, mummies, witches, and ferries. Today we have added princes, princesses, super heroes, Joe the plumber, etc. But the underlying celebration still remains. It is still done in ways to represent groups of spirits knocking on doors as our innocence dresses up and visits house after house after dark.

Halloween, glorifies death, the undead, fear, and those who conjure up and speak to them. Just watch the television, look at the movies coming out, check out the decorations in the schools, stores, and malls.

My house doesn't celebrate death. If we want to dress up in customs then we dress up. We don't need to wait for the 31st of October. If my kids want candy they can ask me for some and I will be more than happy to give it to them without the need to coerce me with "Trick or Treat."

Wikipedia - Halloween

Neo Pagan - Halloween

History Channel - Halloween

Who will Christians Vote for?

People from the pulpit and others who hold a position of leadership within the Christian world, have been very vocal about whom the public should vote for. So what do you think? For whom should the Christian vote for?

I have an opinion that I think is quite logical and well thought out. Of course if you think differently I am interested in hearing your opinion and opposing argument.

My opinion is based on looking at the human core. The questions that must be asked is “Who are we?”, and how should we act based on that answer? Without getting to DEEP allow me to explain myself.

We are all motivated on some level to do participate in certain activities that support our basic desires and believes. Some basic examples are that we sleep to function. We eat to live, but we choose one restaurant over the other because it has an item that we desire more than another item in the 2nd restaurant. Both restaurants offer food but there is a distinction that we make based on our palette. We may like meat over vegetables, Mexican food over Italian, etc.

The same thing happens with the way we choose friends, churches, organizations, work, etc. These choices define us and to an extent provide a convenient way for others to file us into neat predetermined cubby holes. Our activities and choices are the fruit of what is inside our heart. In popular speak one could say, “We do what we like. We say what’s inside us.” This never changes. We may be offered a reward or a punishment to complete a given option but all that does is change whether or not the reward or the punishment is great enough to become the NEW desire.

Are you with me so far?

So the question and the answer to the title of this article is, "what is your desire?" If you are fundamentally based on money then your focus will be the financial aspects of the candidates. If you are fundamentally a protectionist then you will be more concerned with views they share with you concerning the homeland and our military. And if your life is based on Christ then your focus will be the moral issues the candidates stand on.

There will be many people who call themselves Christians who will vote based on the economy, the foreign policy, the truth, or the lie, the experience, the age, the sex, and race. All the above are valid reasons, and thank God we live in a country that allows us to vote for whomever we choose and for whatever reason. But the person that is based in Christ will vote based on the moral issues.

It sounds too simple doesn’t it? And there will be people who will debate this all the way to the voting booths but the reality is that Jesus said, “Seek First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.” It wasn't more experience, it wasn't money, it wasn't anything else except that which follows the Kingdom of God.

This blog wasn’t written to influence the vote but to point out that WE will vote based on who WE ARE.

Who are you?

The Golden Rule

“What you sow is what you reap” was what I heard from my parents as I grew up. That quote was normally followed with “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” (Matthew 7:12) And for many years I thought it was a threat or at the very least a warning to always be on my best behavior. But lately I have understood a deeper meaning in what many call the “Golden Rule”.

I suppose that the reason I thought the Golden Rule was a warning or a threat was because I saw myself as a result of what everyone else did around me. I hadn’t taken ownership of my decisions, much less my life. For instance, I was “good” because that was what the rules said. When I wasn’t recognized it was because someone else was better than me. When I wasn’t accepted or something didn’t go my way it was because “they didn’t like me”, “They didn’t notice”. Everything happened to me because of others' positions, thoughts, actions…I didn’t see myself as a victim but as a puppet or the product of some strange equation.

But then, while meditating on Matthew 7:12, I saw something that has changed my life. Jesus is giving us the key to what we want to receive. He isn’t saying “Be careful of what you do, ‘cause somehow it will be done back to you.” NO! He is saying that “if there is something that you would like others to do to you, that is what you must do first.”

It’s the same concept in sowing and reaping. For the longest time, when I would see something happen (usually a bad thing) to another person, I would say under my breath “Sow and Reap”. But I realized that God is telling us that we don’t have to be carried by the tide or the waves of society. We can envision what we want to reap, and sow for that harvest.

WOW! We have our future in our hands. What a great responsibility, and an awesome truth.

Here are some verses to read over. Proverbs 11:18, Job 4:8, Matthew 7:12, and Luke 6:31

Take the time to think about what these verses say and take them to heart. Remember, you aren’t a victim of circumstance, nor are you any one’s puppet. You are in charge, so like the Templar Knight said to Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade “Choose wisely!”

God has a special plan for us

Have you ever found yourself wondering what God thinks about you, or even if he thinks about you at all? It can seem daunting that in a world of over 6 billion people God can single us out and think about us. And it may seem ludicrous in the light of all the chaos, War, hate, and our own disobedience that He has any good thoughts toward us even if He does think about us.

Sadly, that is our human concept of God. You see, it is difficult to see things outside out own experience. We all have jobs, chores, and tasks all over the place. We deal with traffic, the outrageous gas prices, the annoying neighbor or fellow car pooler. We speak to our boss and those we work with, and then there are the customers. We deal with home issues, late night television, report cards, and the new hole in the roof. After a hard day at work or at school we carry our feelings on our sleeve, and on the edge of our tongue. So when we think about God we understand how impossible it would be for the Creator to think about us.

But that is not the case. God is so much greater than any experience could ever enlighten us. He is so much bigger than our problems and even bigger than the world's problems. He doesn't have his hands full. On the contrary, He can do all things and He is poised to bless us and help us grow up in Him. It was so important for Him that we should know this, that He wrote it down in Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

The devil will attempt to keep us from calling on our heavenly Father in our time of need, but that would be the worst thing to do. We have a heavenly father that loves us and has done the greatest thing He could ever do in order to save us, His children.

So, as you sit there in front of your computer screen, take a moment and talk to Him. Talk to your heavenly Dad, and draw near to Him.