Resolution

I don't remember a single year of my life when somebody didn't bring up the subject of resolutions at or around New Years Eve or New Years Day. I guess it is so ingrained in our society that we just can't seem to get through the season without talking about it. Sort of like wishing people a happy holiday, or Merry Christmas. It just sort of flows out of us by habit.

But what I wonder is how many of us recognize the extreme difficulty of changing any part of our life? I am working on changing two minor parts of my life - losing weight and getting into better shape. I am proud to say that I didn't wait for some phony 'reason' like the changing of the year to resolve to change, but I am humbled to admit that I was WAY obese and out of shape. If ever it sounds like I am bragging about how many pounds I have lost or how many miles I have walked, please be aware that I am also admitting that I had packed on that many pounds in the first place. And, that just three months ago I would be breathing hard just climbing the single flight of stairs to my office. And my family and friends have come around me to help! Wow - I have teamed up with people who are also changing. Good stuff.

With God's help, I can change things, but wow - some of these habits are deeply embedded into me. I am using that to my advantage as best I can; I am starting new habits and working to see to it that they become deeply ingrained in me. I get up early every morning now to blog and have a quiet time reading the Bible and Praying. You would be surprised at how much that has helped me with the other two areas! What possible connection is there you may very well ask? Discipline.

I get up early, and I have time to luxuriate in my quiet time. I can make coffee, and enjoy a cup or two. I can blog, read, scan the headline news, follow my Ebay items (I'm selling stuff as the economy tightens)and all manner of little items like that, and then as the time for my morning walk comes around, I'm awake, and ready. It is not a real chore that way - it's just the next step in starting my day. Instead of rushing out the door with nothing really accomplished in the morning, I now have a few completed tasks to point to, and I have invested in my health and fitness.

There is a trade-off. Some of you already have made these kinds of changes to your lives, and you know that you can not pop out of bed at 4 or 5 in the darkness without doing a bit of sleeping the previous night. So I'm in bed early now. And what is it that I used to do with my evenings before I began going to bed before nine?

Nothing.

I just sat around wasting time and eating. I don't have TV, so I would pop in a DVD. But I have watched every DVD I own so many times I can quote the end credits. Yes, there are nights I have meetings and rehearsals and so forth at church, and those usually involve people, and people tend to charge me up. But most nights I would just kick back and relax. As if it was something the world owed to me after a hard day. It was a habit - and I got crabby if I didn't get my quiet evenings to waste.

Sort of poetic - I 'sacrifice' my leisurely evenings to have a better life. Sounds counter-intuitive, but so far it has been one of the most amazing transformations. Give it a shot! I will gladly refund your money if not completely satisfied.

Security

We have just had a news story hit the wires about a man who tried to bring down an airliner with an underwear bomb. This had been headline news on the news/talk radio station I listen to, and it has had the lead position on the news web site I visit, so I will assume that it was the lead story on the nightly TV news, for those of you who still watch that.

And our director of Homeland Security was in front of cameras saying that 'the system worked.' She seemed to want to claim victory over this near-tragedy somehow, even though several bomb experts have agreed that the only thing which kept the thing from exploding and blowing a hole in the airliner was dumb luck. The guy didn't do it just right, and it ignited instead of exploding. That is the only thing which 'worked,' not the security system.

There are no security measures currently in place to detect high explosives in people's undies. There are no undie bomb detectors even in the planning stages. And I certainly hope I don't have to stop wearing undies or have them searched when I travel in the future. And I am going to travel in the future. I am not going to let this frighten me off of travel. Because I believe that the 'system' we need in the US is cooperation.

Do you remember when people first climbed back on board airplanes after 9/11? Pilots and flight attendants all over the world were encouraging people to get to know the folks sitting around them. And we ALL began to keep an eye on each other. We did two very important things: we looked out for each other, and we looked at each other.

That's right: we kept an eye on each other as friends for the first time, with the thought that we were all in the same situation and we needed each other. We needed to work together on this one, as a country and as a team. And it worked. As people came together, it became increasingly harder for a terrorist to do the work of terror. People were just watching too closely. And we got to know each other for the first time in a long long time.

But we also kept an eye on each other as enemies. The countries who support terror became the focus of intense watching, both at the government level and on the streets. I will freely admit that there are plenty of folks who did not deserve the extra scrutiny, and some of them sang sad sad songs of discrimination and mistreatment. Poor them. I have no pity for somebody who looks like a terrorist, as I get ready four hours early to allow time to get through security, and as I stand in line with my laptop computer out of the case and my shoes in my hand. I understand fully that Jesus died for all people, and that if I get a chance I will tell a Muslim about this savior named Jesus who came to set them free from sin the same way He set me free. But I also understand that we need to be wise about who we keep an eye on.

So - what's the next "system" our government needs to install to safeguard our travel and keep our borders secure? Well, let's see. If they put one paid Air Marshall on each flight it will cost us millions of dollars. That cost will be added to our travel costs, as all government programs are paid out of your pocket and mine. OR - we could just encourage people to watch. Watch out for friends all around you - people who are in the exact same situation you are in and who need a little help along the way. And watch out for our enemies.

If we could put two or three hundred Air Marshals on each flight, at no additional cost, wouldn't we turn the tide on terror in the air? It could extend to trains and buses, and even large buildings and the very highways and byways of America.

Let's do it. Let's come back together as a country the way we did post 9/11. The Bible teaches us that we ARE our brothers' keepers. Let's keep each other alive out there. And by the way - did you notice how polite and giving we all were on the highways and in the mall parking lots - even in the stores and hallways of our schools during that post-9/11 love fest? Let's not wait for another bombing to experience that.

Wave at somebody today. One person. I dare you! Start small. Introduce yourself to that neighbor down the street. Swap names, get phone numbers. Let's connect this country the way God wants the church connected. And we may, just possibly, become a better example of Godliness than the church. And heaven knows the church could use the competition.

Photo shoot

Well, some time ago I wrote about a 'photo shoot' I was at. I tried to make it sound like a photo shoot with a photographer, but it actually was a veiled story about getting snapped by one of those traffic cameras. You should go read it - if you haven't already, and see if it is funny now, knowing what it is truly about.

The good news - I have not gotten the ticket. I asked a retired cop about it, and he said that I would have gotten the ticket in the mail within ten days, if it was coming at all. But, he said, they install more of the poles, traffic sensors and flash units than they have cameras for. Then they take the one or two cameras they own and move them around the city. But the flash parts still go off, and it has a wonderful effect of slowing people down.

So - read the story, and know the truth.

And have a nice Monday.

And drive safely.

Happy Easter!

Well, it's Christmas morning. All our gifts have been unwrapped, hugs exchanged, Christmas music is playing in the background, Kodak Moments have been digitized, the fire is burning, the AC is on because the fire is burning, and the turkey is stuffed and sitting in the roaster just beginning to cook. Cinnamon Rolls which were started last night have come out of the oven, adding the fragrance we connect with Christmas around here - but they were consumed a couple of hours ago, so most of us are over the sugar rush.

So, you might wonder, why am I wishing you a "Happy Easter?" Simple.

The day of Christ's birth is proof that we needed a savior. We needed a sacrifice, paid with the blood of an innocent being, but one which would cover us now and forever. But the big day on the Christian Calendar is Easter - because that is the day that Christ rose from the grave. That was God stamping our accounts with "Paid in Full."

Thank-you God for wanting so badly to reconnect with us, and loving us so much that you were willing to give us the gift of your son's very life. But most of all, thank-you that the price was paid, the payment was accepted, and we are now free to join you for all of eternity. Good deal.

Happy Easter!

Stupid dog.

It's amazing how fast I can change from "isn't that cute," to "stupid dog!" My birthday dog just ate my hat. Well, let me modify that a bit: She didn't consume the whole thing, I might not have noticed that for a few days. She chewed part of the brim off. It is a hat that I happen to like, and I do plan on wearing it in the future - once it dries off that is - but she gnawed off a nice piece of the front.

It was cute when she ate the Pastor's shoes. I laughed when she brought out my wife's slippers - especially since my wife was chasing her while wearing the matching slipper on one foot... but this! This is personal! She has crossed a line here. I may have to do some 'training.' Some sort of dog whispering is going to need to take place here. My DIL told me that letting the dog chew shoes (old ones) is not a good idea because the animal will not know which shoes are for her and which ones are not. Turns out to be good advice, and I am going to act on it. But as a result, I am also going to have to lower my vaunted opinion of how amazingly, blazingly, blindingly brilliant this brown doggy truly is. *Large, dramatic sigh*

OK. So I have made the needed adjustments - I have changed. Will she? We'll see. I have also gone on the web site to see about ordering some rawhide chews in bulk. I got some for her from the local pet store which said, "long lasting." I guess to some people, ten minutes is a long time. But as a side benefit, we did get the whole living room floor cleaned. If 'licked by a dog' qualifies as 'cleaned.'

OK - it is Christmas Eve. All day. And I am about to do my very best to stay as far away from any shopping-related place of business as I can possibly do. And you?

Remember the very best gift any of us ever received: Jesus. Given to us by a loving heavenly father to reunite man and God. Thanks God!

I want to be better

I have had problems over the years with people at church. I don't know of anyone - humans, that is - who have not. It goes with the territory: anytime a group of people come together to work on anything there will be opinions which come into the situation. And not all of those opinions are going to line up. Sometimes there are people who have the ability to release their opinions, and that can be good if by 'release' it means to 'let them go.' However it can be bad, if by 'release' it means that they give voice to their opinions and expect everyone else to bow to them and run with them, and generally agree with them. There are plenty of other problems which can come up in the course of people trying to work together. It seems to be just as hard if the people are Godly as not, perhaps because Godly people are often in the midst of doing things which they consider to be of utmost importance.

I am not perfect. I blow it. If that is news to any of you, then God bless you: you have a fine ability to overlook people's flaws, and I admire that. But I do mess up. And, if somebody has a problem with me, or with my way of trying to do something, or with an opinion I 'release,' it is generally most effective if they come and talk to me about it. I don't like to offend people, but I am human and it happens. I try so hard not too, just like you do, but it happens. As I get older, it seems to be happening less often, and I hope that is because I am maturing - finally - and perhaps because I am struggling to be more like Christ. Not having attained perfection, I still press on.

But I have a hot button. Yes, you are reading a confession of a known flaw in my character. I hope once I give vent to it here that I will be held accountable, and that I may even improve in this area. But the 'hot button' is this: if I blow it somehow, you need to tell me. Write me a note, call me, or even get in my face. I'm better with that than the option which seems to be the more common response: go tell somebody else.

Matthew 18:15 says this: If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

Good word. In case you are wondering, I have just sent off a couple of emails about the situation which caused me to sit down and right this blog. I am trying to take the exact same path that I would want taken with me - I pray that it works.

Coins

I have a bunch of coins that my father left me when he died. He was a coin collector, of sorts. He didn't really know what he had, he just bought from one of those places which tells you that what they have for sale is the best thing you could ever want to collect. As a result, I am pretty sure that there are thousands of retired people around the country with the exact same collections. The coin companies send them out 'on approval,' and you have a certain number of days to see if you want that set of coins, or you can send it back. They kept sending them after he passed away, and I finally had to get somebody on the phone and let them know he had passed. They told me they would close his account and that I could keep whatever coins they had sent out which he had not paid for. Didn't reassure me about the value of the coins they had sent, and it made me question whether or not I was ever going to be able to do anything with Dad's collection: were there any valuable coins hidden among the coins which only had face value?

The problem was that this was not a hobby I shared with Dad, so the only attachment to it was the fact that it had brought him some small joy. So I will keep a few of the nicer coins as a remembrance of Daddy, but little by little I will have to go through the thousands of coins and sell them on Ebay. The first one is up as I write this, and it has some people watching it but no bids. So it goes. A thing is just a thing, and it only has as much value as people attach to it.

People, on the other hand, have as much value as God attaches to them. And he sent his only Son to die for them. Now THAT is value.

Needs

I have studied the needs of mankind at different levels. Maslow, Skinner, Jung - I have read them all. And the most amazing thing about the various concepts regarding the needs of mankind, is that nobody really agrees. Well, they have much common ground, but some went out of their way to study the best people while others tried to get a cross-section of mankind. Sort of the 'average' or 'mean' slice of humanity. So for achievers, the need for Accomplishment or Self actualization is put above food - and I would love to attain that. Who knows, maybe with my recent desire not to die - eating less and moving around more - I may be expressing a need for something that has finally outstripped my need for food. I guess one can chose these things, after all. What would be your hierarchy of need? The best fun would be to map it yourself/myself and then have our spouse/kids map it as they see it in us...

Well, it's Monday and I am about to trudge off into the cold dawn. I weigh in on Mondays, and so I am usually motivated to be extra careful on Sundays about what I eat. I also tend to like to get up early and maybe even walk a little extra so I can have a good showing when I step on the scale later this morning. We'll see how well it went this week - We'll see.

My scale here at the house just told me I dropped a pound, and that's not good enough for me, but this scale doesn't match the one at the Weight Watchers office exactly, so - we'll see. But the most important thing I can say about this experience is that I have to get on that scale. Often. A few years ago I got into shape, lost a bunch of weight and then I started to gain it back. The downfall has been pinned on many factors, and depending upon what I am thinking about at the moment, I am likely to blame any number of things which have happened in my life over the past three years. But there is one undeniable fact: at some point I stopped getting on the scale, and the battle may very well have been lost at that exact moment.

So - let a man examine himself. Judge me, Lord, lest I be judged. I have mirrored doors on my closet, and it is impossible to be in my room without seeing myself from head to toe. I wonder - at what point did I actually stop looking at myself? Well, I'm looking now. And it has had a profound effect.

The unfriendly skies

Wow! I overslept this morning. I haven't done that in a long time - I think the last time I did it was after a long night at some meeting or other, at which we decided to do something real important, I'm sure. So I do apologize if any of you noticed that there was no blog this morning. Here you go - a 'late edition.'

I had to get up and go deliver a spa today. That's a real plus! We have had this one in our warehouse for over a week. We set it up for delivery last Friday, but they wanted to get the electrical all wrapped up so we could hook it up, fill it up and heat it up. They did, and we did. They are in Hot Water now!! Or will be in a few hours... And the check is on it's way to the bank right about now.

In local news:

My daughter is coming home from University!! Yay! I can't wait to see her. I may borrow a mini van so I can take the dog with us to the airport - is that bad? I mean, Kristen has never met Sienna, so let's get the two of them together sooner? Right? OK - maybe the dog will just have to wait. We'll see. If Hope doesn't go with me, then KJ can ride up front and the dog will go with us. If Hope ends up going with me, the dog will stay at home. Done. Settled, Phew!

Speaking of bad airline customer service: Hope got an email today announcing that United Airlines had changed our travel plans for Kristen. We are broke - duh - so we have been using our air miles to get KJ around the country. We used to have money, and we used to spend it like crazy, so we have hundreds of thousands of miles. But we are very tired of United, and if we were able to spend any money at all, we would start immediately building up miles with some other airline - ANY other airline. Here's what the newest fun is about:

Hope booked Kristen's return flight from Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida back in August. We got confirmation right away, of course. Then they sent us a note saying the plans had changed. New flight, new time, new stops, new everything. We were fine with that. Then after some time went by, they sent another note saying it was all changed again. And then they did it once again - and then one more time just for fits and giggles. Oh, and this fourth time was just yesterday, AKA the day before the travel was to take place.

KJ has arranged a ride to the airport so we don't have to leave one of her cars in the parking garage for $150, nor do we want to pay the same amount for a one-way ride on a van or limo. But United wanted to move her departure up so that her friend would have to pick her up at her dorm at 3 in the morning - AND she would still arrive in LAX late in the evening. She would have had some huge layover in Maine, or Muskeegan, or Latvia and another stop in Denver, or Dallas, or Des Moines or Duluth or some such place.

But no! Hope went to bat for her beloved offspring - consumer of our retirement money. After four changes, and now this!? Not a chance, not on HER watch, baby. She spent over an hour on the phone to do it, but she got them to book us on a flight on another airline, at a better time, with only one stop - arriving at LAX at a reasonable time instead of the middle of the night! Right on, wife!! Don't ever get this lady mad at you - I have, and it isn't pretty! SHE is pretty, but - forget it.

Oh, and not only will this not cost us any extra money or air miles, but as a way to show they are sorry for trying to mess with her, they are including a $100 bonus certificate for me to spend on a new Blue Ray player! OK - the certificate is for future travel, but it is still $100 we won't have to take out of pocket, so I'm going to rush right out and, uh, never mind.

Wow and anon!

So excited to see my offspring together in one place again - soon - I will certainly keep you posted.

Only slightly more to say today...

Well - I was the target of a joke made at my expense. My wife, God bless her little toes, reminded me that one quote which I spout quite often is, "I love attention, ANY kind of attention."

So I had no choice. I smacked her. No, not really. I love my wife, and I always enjoy the harsh, demanding, self-examining things she says. Just not right away - sometimes it can take years to get to that point, but I always do. She was right - I did enjoy the attention.

So - thanks to all of you who have stuck with this blog. Both of you. And let's continue to grow in God as we do the work of the kingdom. And as Christmas rolls around, be aware that there are many people who find more pain than joy at the holiday season. So be ready to be a friend, a comfort, even a listening ear. Harder for guys than the women folk, but needed just as much.

OK - my walking partner is off on a job for a few days, so I am about to embark on a walk with my amazing wife. Honk and wave if you see us out and about - and remember the reason for the season.

Wordless Message

I have nothing to say today...

Available from:

Despair Inc.

Is it on You Tube?

I have an amazing Christmas Light Show in my front yard. Dozens of cars have stopped by to see it - and I hope there are more than one person per car - so I'm going to estimate that hundreds of people have seen the show so far. But if you are not comfortable with that estimate, at least give credit for dozens, and let it go.

OK - so I am excited about the show. My son, daughter-in-law, niece, and a few friends have all pitched in to make it happen, and it's got to be as good or better than anything you have seen on youtube. But when I invite people to drive by and see it, the most common answer I get is a question, "Is it on YouTube?"

In other words, "I'll have my people call your people."

"I'll glance at it someday if I'm bored out of my mind..."

OK - it's quite common for us - humans that is - to get excited about something we have put a lot of work into, and yet we can have trouble getting others around us excited about it. We are all designed to be good at certain things, and sometimes those abilities give us a bent toward finding enjoyment in strange places or in strange ways. And you know what? Sometimes it is our own loss when we don't share the excitement of the people around us.

So - I'm sure you can find our show on line. I don't think it is on YouTube just yet - my son or DIL can help me with an update here - but I know it is on some other video servers. But I'm not going to post those links just yet - because it is really so much better if you drive by, sit in your car and see it first hand. You can tune your stereo to the numbers on the sign out front of the house and then you get the music right in your car. The show has grown to about twenty minutes in length, but even if you sit there for five or ten minutes, you will be glad you did.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll be aiming the video camera out the window at you, and THAT will end up on YouTube....

Have fun!

Talent

We had a "Christmas Variety and Dessert Theater" last night at our church. It was great fun. I was thinking, as I sat enjoying the acts after my fine comedy routine, that some of these folks really don't have as much talent as they think they do. But I was immediately struck with two thoughts: 1. I may also not be as funny as I think I am, and 2. what better place for people to love and accept each other regardless of the level of talent or ability? Along with that second one was the thought of what better place to BE loved and accepted for just what I am, and what talent I may or may not have?

Once those thoughts made it through my Chas brain, I was free to enjoy the evening much more, and just generally love on the people all around me. I also noticed that it was a kind crowd! They cheered and applauded for every 'act' as if they were all the best thing they had seen or heard. And that warmed my heart. Let's be encouragers - every one of us needs encouragement in our daily existence, and heaven knows the world will do what it can to beat us down. So why not buck that trend? Why not offer a word of encouragement now and then?

OK - I will. Thanks for reading!

Line in the sand

I have two 'kids.' Neither of them are actually kids anymore, one is at University in Florida, the other is married, working a good job and going back to school for continuing education which is the life of anyone in computers and IT. Very proud of both, and my daughter-in-law as well, so let me up the number to 'three.'

One of those fine people is having trouble with a friend or two. They are young people, the friend, and they are engaging in self-destructive behavior. Not unusual for young people, but these are people my kid cares about, and my kid is suffering pain over the whole situation. Yes, I am more vague than usual this morning - but the fact of the matter is that all three of my kids have people like this in their lives right now, and the pastor of our church has a bunch, I have more than one, and my wife has more than one.

Let me start all over again - we all have people who we care about who are engaging in self-destructive behavior. Drinking, drugs, overeating, not exercising, not using their brains, not pursuing a better life or education, hanging out with the wrong people who may be doing all of the above.

One friend literally announced that they were going to go out and get drunk the other day - another has abandoned not only his faith, but the ministry and has entered a life of amazing self absorption. Walked away from family and friends too.

So what do we do when this strikes us? I told one of my kids that we can't really care more about these people than they care about themselves. If we do, we are in danger of losing it when they do. We can end up self-destructing as we tear ourselves apart watching them do the same thing.

We may not go do drugs or get bombed, but we give the drugs or the alcohol the power to destroy one more life: ours.

Jesus said that he came to give us life, and life more abundantly. I want to be more of an influence on the lives around me than they are on me. I am drawing a line in the sand of my life - I will not allow other people's choices to come in and ruin mine. I will still care about them, still pray for them (a lot) but I no longer want to make an opening into my life through which death can come in.

In Jesus' name.

"Whaaaat......"

What.

This response has never really worked for me. My wife was trying to tell me that my dog was doing some minor thing wrong. I think the critter was doing some adorable thing such as laying in the middle of the kitchen floor, or knocking over the Christmas tree, or licking inappropriate areas - some tiny thing like that...

My loving and gracious gift-from-God wife came in, hands on hips and announced, "He is chewing my slippers!"
I quietly and lovingly said, "She."
"What?" she asked, with a slight snap.
"She is chewing your slippers - it's a she."
"You know what she is, you who I'm talking about - don't correct me!"

And then I tried it - the one-size-fits-all answer: "What" You know, with the innocent upward look and the slightly shrugged shoulders. It's not really a question. The way teenagers do it when you have caught them doing something which they think is ok but which is illegal in several eastern states.

That sort of "what..." which really does NOT translate well in print. You know? THAT "what."

I may give up on this - I don't know if this is working without hearing it. Maybe you should just call me. Or come to the Variety show at our church this Sunday evening. Free dessert, lots of fun. And I'll be doing stand-up.

Come and do what you have wanted to do for years (if you know me at all) and laugh right in my face! You can even point and shout if you wish.

<sup>I don't have a clue what to blog about today. I'm tired of cold weather, sore backs and bouncing trucks. Even dogs carrying shoes around the house just doesn't seem to hold my interest today. Excuse me, I have to go retrieve my shoe from the living room floor -

I'm back.

OK - so I decided to just jot down a note or two about the passage I read in my quiet time this morning. It comes from Revelation, the third chapter, and it was part of a study the men of our church did about a month ago. I am one of those people who takes home the notes from a preacher, teacher or speaker and reads them over, even going so far as to read the passage of the Bible which may have been used - but I like to read the surrounding verses to see if they were taking out of context. I know, I'm a nut you say. Thanks a lot! But true.

So the passage I was looking at started with verse 17: You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

If you go look at the whole chapter, you will see that this is a bunch of notes written to various churches. The passage that I was studying was written to the church at Laodicea. The church, people. Us - believers. Yes, we are being challenged.

Want some true fun? Ask God which of the churches in this part of the Bible YOU are in. And, as the passage above challenges us, ask God to open blinded eyes. The problem I have is not wanting to fix my own problems, I do want that. The problem I have is not knowing that I have them. Show me, Lord.</sup>

Brother

Cold. Cold. Cold. It is cold today. Yesterday was a rain storm, and I was mocked by a friend for saying that I had expected it to be warmer. But here in SoCal it generally IS warmer when it rains. Comes from the warm moist air that carries in the storms, not from politicians' hot air. Or maybe it's a combination of both.

But yesterday was an interesting day. It was rainy, oh that part is sure. But it was also COLD! Very unusual. And I had dressed expecting rain but not cold. Great! Hence the mocking. OK - perhaps I deserved it, but I was having a hard time laughing at myself this time.

My back was in spasms, and I had to drive to Vista, CA - over 300 miles round trip. I had some minor trouble with the truck I usually use on that run, so I had to take my larger truck. The big truck is more than up to the task, but it has the unfortunate ability to shake and shock. That is, the "suspension" transfers the road bumps and bounces directly to the spine of any hapless humans who are lucky enough to be aboard. I have had full 32-ounce drinks jump out of the cup-holder and deposit themselves on the floor more than once, and that was from driving over a sheet of paper in the roadway. You should see what it does with a string of expansion joints on the freeway. Truly, you could film special effects in this thing.

But I had a friend along to help. No, not my dog. An actual human being who took time out of his life to sit and listen to a one-sided conversation which started at 3:30 am and never let up until early in the afternoon. Ah caffeine, wonder drug - and thou art legal. The diatribe was punctuated with "ah, ooh!" and "ow!" with some other expletives of like nature as we jounced over every lump and bump. It had to be fun. Great gobs of fun. It is always amazing to any normal person to ride in this truck and feel just how rough our roadways can be, but to have each bump expressed out loud by me as my back pointed out the fine differences between a minor and a major jolt, well, it just had to be special. And the way it reset my thinking - directing me to completely change subjects and not even know it... well it just had to be amazing.

And it was raining, so we both got pretty wet as we loaded up and secured the truck and trailer. However, God had a sense of humor: it rained the hardest as we were exposed the most, and let up a little now and then as we would climb back into the truck or walk into the shipping office.

So why am I writing this? Simply to say "thank-you" to the friend who gave up so freely of his time, comfort and effort. I need more people around me like this - OK - I bet that is what you expected me to say. But what I really want to say is this:

I need to be more like this person, to those around me.

Lessons from the beast

My dog. What a gift! What an amazing animal. What intellect, sensitivity. What a cold nose!! She likes to carry my shoes off and lay on them. She hasn't chewed one to bits, yet, but I suppose that's because she usually tries to carry them off while I am right next to them - more than once she has carried off the right shoe as I was in the act of putting on the left shoe. Fun times.

But the thing she likes to do above all, is to be with me. I take her to work, I take her on deliveries, I take her on trips to San Diego, I take her to the park. And she will sit and adore me, and heave large contented sighs of amazement. I like dogs in general, but I really like this one in particular.

Just yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in my recliner, fighting with a sore back. I have a good strong back which no longer gives me the trouble it once did, but just like anyone else I can overdo things. I did. So I came home early from church and was trying to find a comfortable position. Not able to do so, I just turned on some mindless drivel and tried to get my mind off of getting old. The dog, sensing my discomfort (I'm sure) came over and nuzzled at my arm and hand. It was a wonderful gesture of love for a master, but I didn't want any of it at that moment. I turned to her and said, "get a life!"

My niece - another brilliant being in my life - overheard my comment, and opined that, "you are her life." Wow - truer words were never spoken! This dumb beast would have only my wife to depend upon if not for me, and I'm sure you would see my wife walking around in a soft brown dog-skin jacket within a week. I feed her, brush her, bathe her, buy her things. And, I clean up after her, speaking again of the dog, not my wife. I chase her to get my shoes back and I really chase her quickly to get my wife's shoes/slippers/clothing items back ... life-saving, that last one. I am her life.

OK - put it together yourself this time: God... is... our ... life.

There you go. Happy Monday!

Opiate of the apathetic

Religion. What a dangerous thing. We can so often build our lives around a group of man-made beliefs, habits and codes, only to overlook the most important part: God. Passion. Movement. Growth. Pick one, any one.

I have just finished a 12 week study aimed at igniting the hearts of believers. I did it with a group of men, and I got the feeling that most of them were not going to burst into flame anytime soon. Sort of wet kindling, if you know what I mean. I think that the best reason that most of them could give for showing up week after week is that we met on Wednesday night, and they have always gone to church on Wednesday night. Fine - if one or two of us catch a spark, so be it. The amazing part is that we watched a video which had some exciting ideas in it, was full of scriptural teaching, and contained challenge after challenge. Exactly like our Pastor has done for the past 16 years...

OH! I forgot to put up the RANT ALARM: the following is a test of the "Chas Rant" system. If this had been an actual blog, I would have been sneaking in some scripture or a hidden truth by now. I just had to vent. Phew! Thanks, I feel better now. Really.

Book of James - first chapter: ²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

So - we need to speak carefully, help the helpless, and pursue purity. Works for me. I'll let you know if I achieve perfection, but in the meantime, I'll be working on the pursuit. Join me?

Pain

Pain can cause people to do amazing things. I have been in several castles in England and other parts of Europe, and one of the things they always seemed to have on the tour was a dungeon, equipped with a torture chamber. The various land lords or other folk had to keep the people in line, either to be sure they kept serving them, or just keeping the general peace. And the fear of time in the torture chamber seemed to be sort of a universal way of getting that accomplished.

Physical pain from our own physical ailments can have amazing impact on our personalities. I have had some sharp back pain over the past few days, and I have had to battle fiercely two things: I have had to not allow discouragement to enter, thinking that this may be something serious as it was before - and I also have to keep a close reign on my tongue. As my Pastor says, "Hurting people hurt people."

Wow is it true! I am human, and I tend to let that pain out just a little bit: why keep it all to myself? I get snappish when I hurt, and I think that God loves me enough to let me pull a muscle or raise a bump now and then just to hone my skills at keeping it to myself. I was flat on my back in sharp pain with my back for close to six months a couple of years ago - surgery finally set things right - but looking back at that time I am so amazed that my family didn't just shoot me! I was spreading the pain around - very tough time for all of us. It would have been a mercy killing - for them!

I was somewhat surprised and even a little relieved to read that I am not alone in this. How many times do heroes of the Bible, great men who spoke for God, rattle off amazing truth which has the power to change lives, only to follow it up with a rant about some pain or affliction? Quite often. David was even good at complaining about the simple fact that the ungodly men around him prospered, or that there were people who seemed to take delight in speaking ill of him personally.

Jeremiah 15:16 is an oft-quoted passage, but if you read on a bit, it contains a little twang which does NOT get mentioned in most of the teaching I have heard. Here it is - watch how it moves from amazing truth which can challenge our very lives, to a very human-sounding rant:

Jeremiah 15:16-18 (New International Version)

¹⁶ When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart's delight,
for I bear your name,
O LORD God Almighty.

¹⁷ I never sat in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.

¹⁸ Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?
Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails?

So - I want to hunger after God's word as Jeremiah did. God was able to speak to the world at the time, and even to this present day through this prophet. But it seems that pain was able to make him begin to wonder if God was just a mirage. Wow - Lord, I know I will have pain, both physical and emotional in my life. Please help me see to it that it only drives me closer to you.

"You can't go wrong with land, they're just not making any more of it." That statement has been attributed to Will Rogers, Mark Twain, and just about every other source you can imagine. It was used in advertising by people trying to push the western expansion, and it still pops up now and then as sage investment advice. But I just don't see it.

I own several chunks of land, and every one of them has dropped in value over the past three years. So where's the big demand? Well, so much for sage advice - in fact, one of the pieces of land I own is in Arizona, and sage may very well be the only thing on it of any value. I have looked at it via Google Earth, Google Maps, and a few other computer imaging sites, and there truly is nothing for miles. No roads, no power poles, no water, it's a good five miles off the highway, and nobody seems to be developing anything anywhere nearby.

I inherited that one from my late father, and he owned it since as long as I can remember. He kept saying that the city would expand and people would want to live in the suburbs... but the city is Bullhead City, and people don't seem to want to live in town, much less the non-existent suburbs.

So I pay my property taxes of $84 per year, and hope that by the time I find a buyer, I will have not spent more than I get. And as I said, I got it for free.

So where's the true good value these days? What can we invest in which will never drop in value? I sure don't see anything, other than each other. We can invest in friends, relatives, each other - people. Yes, they will let you down now and then. And no, I don't know of anything on the planet capable of inflicting more pain on humans than other humans. But I'm not looking to make a 'profit' off of this one, I'm just trying to spend my time wisely. So I am investing in people - I have for most of my life, and I will continue to.

And there you have it.

Our closest planet: Earth

I just saw the Earth, from space. No, I wasn't really there, and I had hoped that by this point in my life I might, but no. So, I put one of those IMAX DVD on my 'new' bigscreen and there is was. It was amazing - and I don't even have all the latest and greatest technology as far as the DVD player yet. But if you have ever gazed at the stars and wondered if there could be any way that we evolved from slime, let me tell you this: yesterday in the space of a few hours I watched some of the best video and film footage of our planet from space, and then I went outside and gazed at a star-filled sky. At that moment I remembered why I love God, why I believe that an intelligent being created us, and why I want to thank Him for doing so.

Look around you today - there are people hurting. It's harder around the holidays for some people. Be aware of that. And be aware that an intelligent being created not only the world we live in, and the space that world is hung in, but the plan laid out for each life around us. And if He didn't scrimp on the details of creation, He won't scrimp on the details of our lives.

Cool, isn't it?

Silliness at the most High Defintion level

We are in the middle of financial problems, so I don't really get to go buy new things unless they prove to be absolute necessities. But I have had a few people over to watch movies on DVD recently, and I got several comments about the size of our Monitor. I think the final moment came when one person asked if I had a set of binoculars. We don't have TV in our house - haven't for over 25 years - but we do have a large collection of movies, nice surround sound gear, and a small monitor. It was a gift, and it was sharp and clear about five years ago...

I have seen the new HD stuff in the stores - you really can't miss it! They are big, bright, and with the new Blu-Ray discs and players, they are really in-your-face. I started shopping in the usual place: Craigslist. I know - I have gotten a few good deals this way, but I have also gotten stung. But I simply didn't have the cash for a new item this time, I saw a real low price on a 40" Samsung and I got excited. Too excited. I didn't listen to the little voice in my head which is usually very good at telling me when people are not telling the truth.

Oh, the story is long and sad. Suffice to say that once I parted with my cash I was the proud owner of a big-screen which did everything but turn on. That's right - sometimes it would come on and be awesome, but some times, it just sat there making clicking sound for hours. Not quite as entertaining. Yesterday I turned it on at 5am and it was still not running by 1 in the afternoon. I was not happy. My wife was not happy. Friends and relatives made jokes, roommates offered no hope, and I was beginning to wonder about the way the dog was looking at me.

I was about to take it back and throw it gently through the seller's window, but he lives with four other buff-looking guys so I didn't want to die over a simple thing like being robbed, cheated and lied to. So I did the next best thing: I went back to the source. I had found this "Deal" on the Internet, so I figured the Internet owed me a favor. I typed the model number into a Google search, and it came back with several discussion boards upon which people were discussing the very same problem! They had pictures, and part numbers and everything. So I dismantled the set, found the bad parts, went to Fry's Electronics on the busiest shopping day of my life (a blog for another day, I assure you) and purchased the parts. The only ones in stock at Fry's were larger physically, so I had to use a few former-electronics-teacher tricks to get them in, but by gosh and by golly I got them in, and it works.

Now - I just need to scratch together a couple hundred more dollars to get a High-Def DVD/Blu-Ray player. Oh what an amazing thing consumerism is... just like any other appetite, you can't satisfy it by feeding it. You only increase it's ability to grow...

From Bloomberg

Commentary by Caroline Baum

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- It is the tradition of this column every year at this time to recount the story of Thanksgiving. This year, with capitalism under attack from all quarters, it’s more important than ever to revisit the history of the Pilgrims’ early years in America and appreciate the message.

Whether you think the government’s response to the financial crisis was necessary or unwarranted, too-little-too- late or a case of overreach, there is no disagreement that the free-market system has gone on the defensive.

What the fall of the Berlin Wall did for communism, the financial crisis did for the free-enterprise system. It lifted the curtain and exposed the rot underneath, especially foreclosed houses, a product of the Federal Reserve’s artificially low interest rates and government policies designed to promote homeownership.

That’s where the analogy ends. Central planning was always ill-equipped to provide the goods and services consumers wanted at the prices they were willing to pay. Capitalism can do that well. The question is, will it be allowed to in an environment where capitalists are held in such low esteem.

For source material, I rely on the accounts of William Bradford, governor of the Plymouth Bay Colony for 30 years between 1621 and 1656. Bradford’s history “Of Plimoth Plantation” was first published in 1856.

First Famine

Most Americans think of Thanksgiving as a day off from school or work, a time to gather with friends and family and celebrate with a huge feast. If children know anything about the origins of this national holiday, declared each year by presidential proclamation, it’s that the Pilgrims, grateful for a good harvest in their new land, set aside this day to give thanks.

Adults aren’t any better informed. They may know something of the hardships encountered by the Pilgrims, a group of English separatists who came to the New World to escape religious persecution. What they probably don’t know, since it’s not part of the politically correct high school curriculum, is how these immigrants overcame obstacles and prospered in the New World.

The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620 and established the Plymouth Bay Colony. The first winters were harsh, and crop yields were poor. Even so they celebrated the autumn harvest of 1621.

Half the Pilgrims died or returned to England in the first year. Those who remained went hungry. In spite of their deep religious convictions, the Pilgrims took to stealing from one another.

Then Incentives

Finally, in the spring of 1623, Governor Bradford and the others “begane to thinke how they might raise as much corne as they could, and obtaine a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in misery,” according to Bradford’s history.

One of the traditions the Pilgrims had brought with them from England was a practice known as “farming in common.” Everything they produced was put into a common pool; the harvest was rationed according to need.

They had thought “that the taking away of property, and bringing in community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing,” Bradford recounts.

They were wrong. “For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much imployment that would have been to their benefite and comforte,” Bradford writes.

Young, able-bodied men resented working for others without compensation. They thought it an “injuestice” to receive the same allotment of food and clothing as those who didn’t pull their weight. What they lacked were appropriate incentives.

Finally Feast

After the Pilgrims had endured near-starvation for three winters, Bradford decided to experiment when it came time for spring planting in 1623. He allocated a plot of land to each family, that “they should set corne every man for his owne perticuler, and in that regard trust to themselves.”

The results were nothing short of miraculous.

Bradford writes: “This had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corne was planted than other waise would have bene by any means the Govr or any other could use, and saved him a great deall of trouble, and gave far better content.”

The women now went willingly into the field, carrying their young children on their backs. Those who previously claimed they were too old or ill to work embraced the idea of private property once they could enjoy the fruits of their own labor. Eventually they produced enough corn to trade the excess for furs and other desired commodities.

Happy Ending?

Given the proper incentives, the Pilgrims enjoyed a bountiful harvest in the fall of 1623, and set aside “a day of thanksgiving” to thank God for their good fortune.

“Any generall wante or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day,” Bradford writes in an entry from 1647, the last year covered by his history.

Their good fortune had little to do with God. In 1623, they were responding to the same incentives that, almost four centuries later, are accepted as necessary to the functioning of a free and prosperous society.

Skewed incentives were a major driver of the global financial crisis. Realigning those incentives, without discouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, is the task going forward.

(Caroline Baum, author of “Just What I Said,” is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

Peanuts characters are © Charles M. Schulz

Thanksgiving handout

Our church gave away over 350 Thanksgiving dinners last night. Each of these dinners was a big box filled with supplies and foodstuffs to prepare a family feast for four, at least. As people signed up in advance they would tell us how many are in their family, and we would adjust the amount of food accordingly. They got a Turkey of course, but then they got an amazing array of goodies to add to the feast - I was working elsewhere so I don't have an exact list, but it was something like this:

• Stuffing seasoning
• Bread
• Turkey Gravy (couple of cans)
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Potatoes
• Sweet Potatoes
• Can of anti-stick ("Pam") spray
• Dinner Rolls
• Cans of soup - to make casseroles and to make extra meals
• Jello mix
• Pudding mix
• There were more items - some random gifts from local businesses, and other items I simply can't recall.

Again, I was not in the room as the items were being prepared, and I didn't go pick things up as I have in years past, so the list above may be off here or there - if you know better, please let me know and I will fine tune it gladly!

We had a new feature in our hand-out this year: we ran a quick service as people were waiting. We had a line out into the parking lot, and as fast as we could sign people in (we asked for a call to the office to reserve a box in advance so we could plan better) we escorted the people in groups into the church were the band played up-tempo tunes and the Pastor gave a brief message of hope and encouragement. He ended by offering to pray over the people, and we had counselors standing by in a side room if anyone wanted to reaffirm their faith in Jesus or if anyone needed special prayer for healing. It became a blur as we played non-stop from just after four till just after eight, so I don't know how many groups we had through the place, but in each and every group there were people who said, "yes, I want Jesus in my life," or perhaps, "Yes, I want Jesus back in my life again."

It was so amazing! And there were smiles everywhere! I was so proud of the people of our church for making our neighbors into new friends. We strove to not make them feel like this was a burden, to be helping them this way, and we also wanted them to know that they were very welcome here. We were glad they came, and we were glad to be able to help them in these ways.

OK - I may have spent too much time on the details. I wanted to share a paraphrase of Pastor Tony Cervero's message last night. He changed it up, and didn't use the same one with each group, and I have heard them all before (He has been my pastor for the past 16 years) but it was so powerful, that I wanted to share it here:

Pastor Tony said, "What's this?" (Holding up a twenty-dollar bill)
People - "money, twenty bucks, cash, etc."
Pastor - "What's it worth?"
People - murmuring..
Pastor - "No, this is not a trick question, I simply mean, what is this bill worth?"
People - "twenty dollars."
Pastor - "Yes - twenty dollars. Now - what if I wad it up?"
He wadded the bill up into a tiny little ball. He really worked at it. He got it into a little bitty thing. Then he asked, "OK, NOW how much is it worth?"
Poeple - "twenty bucks?"
Pastor - "yeah - you're right: it's still worth twenty bucks. Now how about if I toss it on the floor, and stomp it as flat as I can?"
He then proceeded to do exactly that - and the thing got smaller and even more crumpled up. It didn't even look like a piece of paper anymore. "Now how much is it worth?" He asked.
People, quietly - "twenty bucks."
Pastor - "God values you above all of creation. He sent His son to die for you. He loves you. And even if your life has gotten crumpled up, messed up or whatever, you are still worth everything to God. You have not lost any of your value, in the eyes of your loving heavenly Father."

I can remember the first time I heard I heard this simple illustration - I wept. Thank you God for giving me something new to thank you for this Thanksgiving week.

And if you want to get right with God, readdress your relationship with Jesus, or if you want prayer for anything - contact me.

Chas@VenturaFirst.com

Christmas Show

My kids are creating a Christmas light wonderland in my front yard. I have seen many of these amazing shows on YouTube, as I'm sure you have as well. The kids worked together with several other people last year to create an amazing show at their house last year, but they have moved into a townhouse now and really can't do so much. So my lawn is covered with fifteen Christmas trees, four large arches, and many thousands of feet of cables.

It doesn't look bad during the day, but it is designed to really be spectacular at night. The "Mega Tree" is made of cables and a pole with a hundred or so light strands strung from the ground to the top. It is made of green light strands, and it has a white star on top, but any other resemblance to a real Christmas tree fades in the light of day. I may go see about placing some ornaments on it- but they would have to be carefully chosen not to detract from the show. Not knocking it -it still looks very festive in daylight, it just doesn't look like a Noble Fir or somesuch.

If you don't know about these shows, or have never seen one, go to this site and see the shows 'we' put together last year. One show just like this was featured in a famous commercial and I think most TV watching people on the planet have seen at least that one.

Vimeo/Stephen Wolf

But - if you want to see the Christmas show at our house, be sure to come at night. They are knocking themselves out on it - lights up on the ridge of the roof, four colors on the eaves, downlights under the eaves, wreaths, arches, mega tree, mini trees, all set to motion, computer controlled and set to music. My niece is even doing some of the programming for her Senior Project.

I could make a statement here - something about how our lives can look real good under the right circumstances, but not look so good under the close scrutiny, or under the bright light of day.

But I won't.

I like Jargon. I think it can be hilarious. I try so very hard not to use it daily, because it is a great way to make people feel excluded, but I love to laugh about it in my little Chas-brain.

I got this gem from a web discussion board about computer-controlled Christmas lights, "The unfiltered/unregulated voltage is not to power the board, it is for the ZC generation. The Ren-C gets its power (5VDC) from the Olsen/Grinch via the interconnect cables when J1 (on the Olsen/Grinch) is jumpered."

The "Olsen/Grinch" is a control unit designed by a geek named Olsen which is called the "Grinch." I own one, which my son added on to his order and has assembled and used in his huge Christmas light show, soon coming to a lawn very near where I am sitting at this moment.

But any Christmas light show fan who is worth their "Vixon driven, all dimming SSR controlled 640 channel" light show would know that in an instant. Normal people, not so much. I have read about these things for years and I still go looking for a definition now and then.

I enjoy the hobby of Geocaching. Nobody even knows what that is, let alone what it means unless they have done it a bit. But it has it's own Jargon, just like any hobby. When you find a hidden 'Cache' using your GPS, there will be a log inside of it. You sign the log - most people just sign the log and don't take any of the 'Swag,' so they simply write: "TNLNSL."

I am a licensed Jet mechanic, and a pilot, and I worked at NASA for one year on an internship as part of my schooling. I have never recovered from "Acronym Overload." Airplane guys don't call anything by it's name! I have never met so much Jargon, covered over in a layer of acronyms in my life! But you know that if you have ever watched any of the Apollo space shots on TV years ago. Your teenager might think they are on to something new with all the little short cuts they use in text messaging, but it has been around for a generation or two. GOI (get over it).

There is a remote-controlled aircraft flying right now which is called the "Ikhana." It is from a Choctaw word meaning, "Aware." But the NASA people have been steeped in acronyms so long that they just had to come up with some other use for the letters, so they came up with -
"I Kan't Handle Another NASA Acronym."

When I was preaching to youth, I had to watch it. We are guilty of creating our own shorthand, our own Jargon as Christians. Sometimes it has hilarious results. A young person asked prayer for their broken-down old car to get them to work one more week, till payday. I said, "let's lift up Chad's car in prayer."

A teen who was new to the whole church scene came up later and wanted to know how we were going to lift up the car - all together, or on some sort of a jack. His dad had a car lift and he was willing to loan it to us, if it would help. I realized I may want to keep an eye out for "Christianese" from that point on.

And if I hear the word "Propitiation" used in a sermon one more time I may throw a communion matzah. OK Chas, let it go- let it go.

I have worked so hard at cutting it from my daily use that I am having trouble thinking of examples right now. Figures. I can think of only a few - but keep an eye out for them. It may come spewing out of a mouth near you at any time. I think our job is to make the Christian life look inviting, not exclusive. I'm not advocating painting it as a dream-come-true, all-expense-paid vacation in eternity starting right now with everything you ever wanted, but I think we owe it to the people around us to at least keep the language clear.

TTFN

Job

I just read an update on Facebook by a pastor who I knew long ago, far away. In just a few words he mentioned Job, and he stated a great truth. He said that for about 38 chapters Job was asking WHY. But finally Job begins to see WHO. Who God is. And it changes him.

I'm sure I had read this truth, and I may have even preached or taught about it But it struck me like new as I scanned the update. So I went to the Bible and read. If the name is not familiar to you, Job was a man who is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. I say this because it dawns on me that not everyone knows the truth of the story of Job. He had some troubles. To say the least. Family wiped out, lands taken, houses lost, herds and flocks wiped out. Sounds like Nic Cage. But it went farther - Job lost his health. God allowed him to be struck with boils, and he ended up sitting on a pile of ashes scratching at himself with shards of pottery. I happen to think the ash pile was the remains of his family home - which would double the pain in my mind - but we don't know for sure. And it is made very clear in the narrative that God had a direct hand in taking all of this from Job to test him.

Job has some friends who come to 'comfort' him, but they only end up making Job question God. And finally, in about the 39th chapter of this rather long story God speaks to Job. It takes two chapters before God is finished asking Job what could be boiled down to this question: "Which of us is God?"

And Job, perhaps for the first time in his life, understands - and realizes who God really is. He uses the words "see you with my own eyes," and I don't know if that is flowery wording to convey that Job finally grasps the reality of God or if Job really did see God. The point is that Job knew all about God before, but at this point he gets to know God. Firsthand. Personally. In the fullness of reality.

And only then does Job realize - it is not about Job, his family, his possessions, or even his health. It is, and always was, about God. Do you know God? No, not just know about Him, but know Him? He sent his Son Jesus to allow for us to know Him personally. And if you are in the midst of a tough time - and so many of us are - I guess the story would be an example to us: God knows, and He wants us to know Him.

The question of "why" should fade into the darkness when the bright light of who God is begins to shine in our life.

Firstfruits - giving my very best

I just spent a frustrating half hour trying to log into my Blog. Most of the time I get logged in automatically and don't have to enter any info at all. This morning it wanted my info. I don't deal with change well...

I entered the wrong email account, so I could not get in. It was perfectly normal to expect that result, but since I didn't know that I had entered the wrong account info, I didn't expect the result I was getting. I finally asked to retrieve the password, and the system sent it to my email. Of course, it didn't show up at the first email account I opened - nor the second - but when I finally found it in my account from our church, only then did I realize that it was I with the problem, not the computer, nor the BlogSpot web site.

Don't you love it when you finally clear things up like that? And prove that you are to blame, not somebody else, not the computer, you? Yeah, it's pretty common with me. Let it go Chas, let it go...

So what I was thinking about as a topic today was not in anyway related to this - so I don't know if I am being redirected here or if I just haven't woken up enough yet. I did stay up late last night, and that has a way of making the morning come pretty quickly - as some of you know. But what I was going to write about was the way in which we tend to give God our leftovers. No, not everyone, every time, but often.

Perhaps if I get logged in correctly tomorrow, I can expand on this thought. But in the meantime - examine yourself. Are we giving God the best we have, or just the last, leftover, lost or the lame?

Cold. Bone-chilling, ear-freezing cold. The icicles, hanging from the eves of the houses and making a frozen fringe around the bottoms of the cars, even the power lines look like some sort of early Christmas decorations. And the frost on the lawns, ice on the windows, and the wonderful, smokey smell of fires in the neighbor's fireplaces - all lets me know that I'm dreaming and it's time to get up and go for a walk.

I get up, put on my shorts and T shirt, and go out to water the lawn and feed the dog before my walking partner - always just on time - rolls up. But it IS really cold - I add a sweatshirt, and a cap. But I must say, the cold got through. My ears were very cold by time we hit the first half-mile, and I was thinking about going in early. I had set out some gloves, but decided not to bring them. Bad choice. But I pressed on. Up the hill, heart pounding. By the time we reached the fourth mile, we started to jog just to get the blood flowing. And by the fifth mile we flat-out ran. Not working. We were still too cold. So, we pressed on even harder. There is a second hill nearby, which we refer to as "Widowmaker." We have never done Widowmaker, because you have to have completed about six miles of hard walking/jogging before you even get to the bottom of it. And it is so steep that you need four-wheel drive vehicles to drive up. You had better not be anemic if you plan to run up Widowmaker: the altitude will get to you - the air is so thin.

Eagles like to nest at the top. Clouds roll by and sometimes you lose sight of the coastline below. There is a red, blinking light to warn off commercial aircraft, but you can't generally see that from the foothills below. It is on all the charts - and we turned and began the ascent. I called work to let them know I would be late, knowing also that there is no cell service at the top. My walking partner called 911 to have them on standby...

And on we ran. Muscles pumped. Hearts almost bursting from our chests. Lungs on fire, feet pounding a steady rhythm. This is what it's like to be in shape. This is what I have been working so hard to achieve. This is my moment - I am all man, all muscle, a tool of power and speed, a finely-tuned machine about to bring this mountain into submission. About the twelfth mile I looked down. The thin air, was it playing with my mind? Was I about to hit the runner's 'wall?' No... The comforter was falling off my bed. I was slowly waking up - what an amazing dream: a dream within a dream.

I better get up and go for my walk.

But someday...

Naked

Ever leave home without some important part of your life? I'm talking about a credit card, a wallet, perhaps your cell phone or blue-tooth earpiece, or even your keys? I have just read a status update on Facebook of a friend who said she left town without her cell phone, and she said she feels 'naked.'

I have gone on trips and left things behind on purpose, but even though that was a choice I still felt like something was missing the whole time. We get so used to having our things with us that we do really feel lost without them sometimes. As I sit here typing, I see my blue-tooth earpiece plugged in to charge: it just turned green indicating that it is ready to go. And it will go - I take it with me when I go walking every morning. Why? I have no idea! I have never gotten a call while on a walk, that I can remember, and I have been doing this on and off for several years now... other than people in other time zones, I don't know very many people who are even up and around while I'm out walking, let alone calling folks.

So why is it I can feel so 'naked' and incomplete by the lack of one little thing like that, and yet there are days I can leave my house without so much as a glance at God's word or a song of praise?

God's word - don't leave home without it.

Counter Culture

Did you know that you can find great-tasting recipes for the traditional Thanksgiving feast which contain much less fat? And far fewer calories? Why don't we, as a culture, pursue these things? We just tend to pour on the fat, add the oil, bake in the calories. Why? We have always done it that way...

I heard an old joke once: a young man and his grandfather were fishing in the stream near the old farmhouse. Every time the grandfather would catch a fish, he would quickly measure it, and to the surprise of the boy, he would toss back the big ones and keep the small ones.
"Why do you toss back the big ones, Grandpa?" he asked.
"Grandma's skillet is only ten inches," said the wise old man...
Some traditions just seem to make more sense than others, I guess.

So - I just downloaded a bunch of new recipes for our feast this year. We are inviting about twenty or twenty five people over for T day. Among them are my walking partner and my Weight Watchers partner. So, I'm hoping that if we offer some lower-cal recipes they will go over alright... But I'll update the blog after the fact and see if we lose any friends over it..

In the meantime - you'll have to forgive me if I have become a good-health evangelist. I don't mind that so much, but let me know if I cross the line and become a low-fat-vigilante or anything. I don't want to reach out and smack the cookie out of your hand... But I do care about my friends and relatives. And I can't tell you how bad it got for me when I was not caring about my own health. So I am putting the two together.

Go to Weight Watchers.com and look around for good recipes. Google "low fat alternative recipes" and find some for T day. Let's get radical! Let's go against the flow! Let's lose the flab, America!

I am going walking now...

Law breakers

I saw an ad for a new SUV which said, "Don't tell small that it can't do big." They were trying to say that their new vehicle was small on the outside, but huge on the inside. Cool. The laws of physics must have finally been repealed. I didn't get the memo. I wonder what other physical laws might no longer apply? Can I eat all the sweets I want and stay healthy and lose weight?

"Honey, I'm staying in bed today and eating!"
"What!?"
"I said I'm staying in bed all day and eating. Get me some ice cream, will ya? I'm starving. And pour some chocolate sauce on it. Any of those cookies left that Tiffany baked last night?"
"You have finally lost it - I'm calling the Pastor..."
"Why, does he have the cookies?"

OK - you and I both know that a car can't be tiny on the outside and huge on the inside. But we do sometimes make similar mistakes with God. I can't run my own life, and have God work through it at the same time. That would be the classic example of being small but expecting big.

I don't wanna!

I have been walking early each morning now for a month or so. I have lost twenty five pounds, and I have stopped being a type-II diabetic. I feel better, I hear every once in a while that I look better - though in all honesty I have a long way to go before I would say that I look slim again - and I can move about much more freely. I have more energy. I bring my lunch - In N Out may drop me from their Christmas card list!!

But the most amazing part is that I noticed that I enjoy getting up and moving. I will go get something at the other end of the building at work, or the other end of the house at home. Just to get up and move. I sat in my recliner for the first time in a long time last night after walking a mile and a half, then going to rehearsal and then walking home. It didn't feel right just sitting there, so I finally shut off the movie and went to bed, knowing that five O'clock was going to come around so very early today. This is a fundamental change, and fundamentally, I am mental.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Our pastor has been teaching on this for several weeks now - as part of a larger study. But I realized that if I allow my flesh to rule in my life, it will kill me. Doesn't seem to make sense right off the bat: so many folks seem to feel that our bodies are in touch with some various galactic forces which can guide all parts of their lives if they just 'get in tune with your inner self.' My inner self likes to eat. Not just eat until it is satisfied, but basically eat until it is tired. Or eat until my inner stomach hurts. Or eat until the food is gone. All bad.

So - I am letting my mind take over for awhile. And in my case, my mind is in touch with God, through Christ Jesus, and that makes it a powerful force to be reckoned with. I don't want to do the things I used to do. Amazing. And I'm not some bank-robbing serial killer with a twelve-year-old for a wife, chained up in the basement. I generally fit the mold of normal. I just have a connection to the Almighty inside me. And that is helping me to get over myself, and begin to do the things that I should be doing.

In fact, the call to have a more active ministry at the core of my existence is getting stronger. All because I said "no" to my inner child. Get in touch with your inner child: smack it down.

Titus 2:11-14 (New International Version)

¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Good morning! I just got back from a walk of 2.4 miles, with one good hill on the route. My loving and gracious wife joined me this morning, and we laughed and goofed around as best we could in between gasping for breath. After all these years I can't tell you how glad I am that we are such very good friends. We are both still new to this "exercise" thing, or whatever it's called.. I guess the thing which has kept us from participating for so long is that it happens mostly outdoors. But we are working at it, and so far we have lost 40 pounds combined, that is, between the two of us. Cool!

I want to blog today about something closely related - self control. I have begun a quest for purity in my life, because frankly I have nothing to say in a blog, in person, or in public unless it comes from God. And I find that when I let the stuff of the world junk up my life, the conduit gets clogged. The conduit, that is, through which God can speak to the people around me.

I don't want you to misunderstand, I am not saying that I am anything special, or gifted in any way. Quite the opposite: I am only here to repeat what God says to me first. My pastor has a phrase which he often repeats, and it is absolutely worth repeating: "If God can get it through you, He can get it to you."

So - I get up each day before the sun. I do some time in the word, I do some time in the presence of God. I am working on incorporating worship into my schedule, but I'm going to have to do it in a way which will not wake the rest of the house. So I worship as I drive, or on those occasions when I walk alone. I bet I look perfectly amazing walking down the street yelling and singing with my hands in the air... not going to worry about it. And; I figure if I can remember to feed the dog twice a day, I should be able to remember to feed my spiritual growth every day.

So jump on board with me. Let's learn to live self-controlled, upright and Godly lives, even in this present age. And then let's expect a miracle: God will begin to use us to bless those around us.

Can I count on you? Can God?