Yesterday was the first day of Lent. For most is was just another Wednesday. For some it was a day to carry out rituals and religious obligations. For some it begins a 40 day journey towards the celebration of Easter. Where you might fall in this list, I pray that the next 40 days move you towards the God of love.
As I write this today, my own hunger reminds me of a world that is starving.
Peace and Grace be with you.
I was just sitting here wondering how it could be New Years eve 2009. Weren’t we just getting ready to party like its 1999? What about Y2K. What about the millennium? What ever happened to the 90″s? The year 2010 sounds like some science fiction film with people talking on flip up radios, and weird stuff like mini tape recorders holding 1,000 of songs. How fast will 2020 come? Probably allot faster than the last decade left.
A few things I predict for 2020.
Lisa and I will be living in another country.
My daughter will be leading some type of organization, and will be married to Mr. wonderful.
My son will be getting his Degree in applied science, focusing in Computer software design used in law enforcement and military applications.
I won’t need this pesky lap top any longer, my phone/ipod/camera/video/computer/you name it will do everything I need and will do it all via voice command. No longer need to see all that small font!
And I will be blogging about how fast the last decade flew by.
Happy New year to you, may you be blessed with a life better than you have ever dreamed of!
Hard to believe that Christmas is almost here! Just a few more days left to wrap presents, exchange pleasant greetings, and enjoy the lights and decorations. I have question for you to ponder as another Christmas season comes to an end.
What lies ahead of you after its over? Does your everyday life hold the same intrigue, the same excitement, the same anticipation as the Christmas story? I believe that the Christmas story is Gods yearly invitation for us to live life to the fullest. To live not just a good story, but a great one. One full of the same joy, anticipation, giving, love, and fun, that the Christmas story holds. The Christmas story should live through our lives every day of the year.
Merry Christmas to you all, and the best of new years!
I have thought allot about water the last year, and how water is life, and how water brings life, and how Jesus often used the metaphor of water and spirit together. There is a new documentary out about water called Flow. Check out the trailer, it brings up some interesting questions.
Do you have a great story? Do you even have a good story? Are you even aware that you are writing a story? Your life is a story, and what you do with your life writes your story.
I just finished Donald Millers new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Its the story about Donald trying to make a movie out of his own life. The problem is, his life is not an exciting enough story to make a movie about. He has an interesting life, but its missing some key elements.
In the book he learns that a great story always has purpose and meaning, its going somewhere. A good story also has a character that wants something and has to overcome conflict to get it. I would argue that a great story is full of tension, unknowns, and sometimes pain. These are the elements that make up a great story. Think about some of your favorite movies and you will see how this game plan plays out again and again in some of the best made for the big screen stories.
The problem lies that for our stories to be good they must involve these elements as well. Do you have a destination? A purpose? Where are you going in your life? And do you find yourself in the midst of tension, and conflict in you efforts to get to your destination?
I think we all want to write a good story, many of us have been lured away from our own stories by things that appear better than our own story, only to find out that it was not what we really wanted. We are invited to join in the greatest story ever told, its the God story. The Creator of the universe invited us into His story when He gave us the greatest gift anyone could give, his one and only son. Its through His son Jesus that we are invited back into the story. Its not a story of warm fuzzies, of always feeling safe and secure, its a story of tension and conflict. Its a story that has purpose, its a Kingdom story, a story of love, and good. Its a story that has been in the making since the beginning of time, and its a story that I believe we all desire to be a part of on some level, we just don’t know how to step into it.
This Christmas season you should remember that its about more than just baby Jesus, more than parties and lights on the tree, more than exchanging gifts, and friendly Merry Christmas with the people you meet. Chirstmas is Gods gift to us, the greatest gift He could give. Its an invitation to you to enter into the greatest story ever.
December 1st is world AIDS day. AIDS is still a huge problem in our world, especially in third world countries. 10% of the worlds population lives on the content of Africa, 67% of all HIV positive people live there. You may think that its a “them” problem, that they should make better choices, do the right thing. Its easy to point fingers and make speculations when you are uninformed. I have walked the slums of Nairobi, talked with many women and men that are HIV positive, listened to the problems that they deal with every day, like lack of food, water, housing. How they have been kicked out of their families, their churches, and their communities because they are HIV positivity. These people have names, they are real people with real pain and problems and I can no longer look at it as a “them” problem. Its a we problem, and we all need to get involved.
You can do a couple of simple things today to help. God to Starbucks and buy a hand crafted beverage. They will donate $.05 for every beverage sold to the global fund to fight AIDS in Africa.
If you live in Maricopa you can make a purchase of some of the beautiful jewelery that we have from Kenya. It is all made by AIDS support groups that live in the slums of Nairobi. 100% of the purchase price goes back to the groups directly. There is no middle man, or support fee involved. Our church handles all of the shipping fees, and the groups get all of the money.
If you would like to make a purchase send my wife Lisa an email, she will be happy to show you what we have. We will also have it available at COH church the two Sunday’s before Christmas. lisa@cohmaricopa.com
Do your part today to stop AIDS!
loved the text that was added to this graphic.
For God so loved the world he gave us an excuse to overspend every year!
It is here again! Can you believe it? It seems like it starts sooner every year. I know that I saw things being put up in some stores in mid October. Most every other store opened up their stash the week after Halloween; at least they waited until November. This week, as I made the turn into my home, I saw them, can they be here already? Can it be that time of year? It is still in the 90’s outside, can it be here already? Last night, as I drove home, my worst fears were confirmed. Christmas lights were indeed going up at the entrance to Rancho El Dorado. It is November 12th, I am still wearing shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops, and there are Christmas lights already up! My daughter informed me that one of her friends already has their tree up. It has started, and it is starting earlier, and earlier, and earlier. It is that time of year, when the world we live in, convinces us that we need to begin the preparations for the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas.
I want you to know, that I am not against the whole Christmas thing. I love to decorate my house, and put up a tree. I love the fact that I get invited to parties, and throw my own parties, and everyone seems to be in a better mood. I love the fact, that I can say Merry Christmas to the checker at the Grocery, or the Bank Teller and they always give me a smile, even if they are not allowed to reply with the same greeting. Christmas is definitely a time of preparation, a time of celebration, a time to give, and a time for peace on Earth, good will to men. It seems that Christmas has somehow gotten out of hand. What started out as a way for the Christian faith to celebrate the Birth of Jesus, has turned into one gigantic, stress induced, spending spree! Christmas has become a poorly organized, American made holiday, designed for us to spend money we don’t have, on people we don’t like, and basically look forward to New Years eve when we can move on to the new year.
Is this what we really want out of Christmas? Is this what Jesus had in mind by coming to earth on the first Christmas? What if Christmas became a world-changing event again? What if Christmas once again was a time when hope was distributed to the hopeless? What if peace on earth, good will to men, actually meant what it said? What if the conspiracy known as Christ, came alive every Christmas season?
What would happen, if rather than hurrying from one place to the next, buying gifts or attending parties, we spent more time with the ones we loved? What if we actually took some time this Christmas season to rest, to breathe, to pause? Do you think our lives would get better or worse? What would happen if we made space to prepare for the real reason for the season?
What would happen, if rather than spending more this year, you spent less? What if you made gifts with the time you have? What if you chose to spend time with those you love this year rather than buying that gift that won’t ever be used. Most people would rather have the gift of presence, rather than presents. You may not realize, that the reason we celebrate Christmas, is because the Creator of the Universe decided to spend time with us, and came as a baby born in Bethlehem.
What would happen, if this year, you decided to give more? Not more gifts to your family, or your friends, but give more to those that have little or nothing? Do you know that Project Angel tree, with the help of churches around the US will give gifts to over 500,000 children whose parents are incarcerated? Others, like Samaritans purse, will donate thousands of shoe boxes filled with small gifts and life giving supplies to children around the world. Right here in Maricopa, many are giving to our local food bank, F.O.R. Maricopa, and to local Angel Tree projects and the Salvation Army. I will be traveling with my friends at Weekend Missions.com to Rocky Point in early December with truck loads of gifts and supplies for the needy in Mexico. If you have never had the chance to give to those with less, you have never truly experienced the meaning of Christmas. It is truly better to give than receive.
What would happen, if this year, you decided to really try and love all? Not only those who are close to us, our friends and family, but those that are really in need. Those who otherwise will go hungry, or thirsty, or cold this Christmas season. What if, Christmas once again became a world-changing event? What if, Christmas once again, was a time when hope was distributed to the hopeless? What if, peace on earth, good will to men, actually meant what it said? What if, the conspiracy known as Christ, came alive every Christmas season?
Its fall, autumn, a time for things to change. In some places the leaves turn colors, they fall off the trees, the grass goes dormant, things begin to switch to off. I love fall in central Arizona, we can finally turn off the AC, go outside and enjoy the weather, and leave the windows open. Fall is part of the rhythm of life, part of the rhythm that God designed for us to live in.
Let me ask you a question? What are you doing in you personal life to move with the rhythm of fall? What are you preparing to go dormant in your life for awhile? What are you letting go, letting turn with the season and just set for the winter?
We are designed by the creator to move in rhythm, a rhythm of off and on. But for some reason most of us just live in the on position all the time. Find some fall in your life, find some things that need to go dim for awhile. Find some space for some things that haven’t been there for awhile. For fall brings winter, a whole different season.
