Well 2008 is officially off the books.  For those in the stock market, you probably will be happy to forget 2008, many busines owners probably feel the same way, but how were things spiritually for you?

How did your relationship with the Lord fair in 2008?  I can humbly say, 2008 has been the sweetest year of my life in my faith and relationship to God.

And now, we have 2009.  What will happen?  What will our goals be?  What will we strive for?  What are our we resolved to do?

For me, I have one:

To learn to approach each crossroads I face and ask myself, “Which decision loves God more?”  If the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind, then can we resolve to do anything greater?

I first had the last paragraph starting “To approach each crossroads….”, but I changed it to what it says now.  I know I am selfish, and I know I will fail, but I will work towards conditioning.  I will pursue the transformation process.  Not because I should, true love is never motivated by have to and should, but true love is motiviated by want and desire.

I desire in 2009 to love the Lord more richly and deeply, and I hope you do to.

Technorati Tags: 2009, faith, god, love, new year, resolution

First, an update on our love assignment-  Everyone who participated, raise your hand.  Hold on, I cannot see everyone, raise it really high.  Ok, now put it down, noone can see you, you are sitting at a computer.  Now anyone who actually raised your hand, yo need ot let us know in the comment section.  Don’t be shy, be honest.

I pulled into Wendy’s around 11:50 last Saturday.  There were about 10 cars in front of me, and immediately after me, one more pulled in.  “Sweet,”  I thought, it was busy, so I figured I would get a number of cars behind me.  Only one more pulled in.  Regardless of how many I was prepared to pay for, I was left with two.  I pulled up to the pay window, handed the girl my Credit Card and explained what I wanted to do.

She promplty reached outside the window and swiped my card at the CC processer smack dab in front of my face, not sure how I missed it.  Then she had to call a lady to put in a password to enable me to pay for the other two cars.  For the car right behind me, she swiped my card at the register inside.  Then the manager put in the code again, and the girl gave me back my card and told me to swipe it at the processer located in my face.  I promptly dropped my card on the ground.

For those who may be not fully appreciating the gravity of my situation, the lady behind me was getting mad (she had no idea why the idiot in front of her was having so much trouble paying for his order), I had dropped my card on the ground, and no, I could not open my door because it kept hitting the side of the building.  I turned my wheel fully to the right, and pulled forward enough to get my door open 6 inches.  Then I slid my foot out the door, and used it to slide my card over to the door.

After many tries, I succeeded in bringing the card directly under the door opening, but being in a minivan, reaching the card from my seat was not a simple task.  I had to put the van in park, put my legs in between the bucket seats, almost laying on the seat, and stretch my arm down to the ground to reach the card.  Success at last.

I then paid for the car that was 2 cars behind me, and was able to proceed to the pickup window.  To make the whole thing even more funny, the poor lady behind me only bought something for $1.26.  She probably would have been happier paying her money than having to wait, but that is the risk she took pulling into Wendy’s on that particular day.

I hope many of you had the opportunity  to have fun like this, and I hope it went off with less problems than what I experienced.  A bonus assignment for anyone who wants extra credit:  Read Luke 3:10-11, and Luke 14:12-14.  One is Jesus, and the other is John the Baptist.  Then read I John 3:16-17.  Now here is what I want you to do.  Look at your possessions and pick out one thing you have extra of.  Do you have an extra car?  Do you have an extra coat, or maybe you have extra food.

Once you have identified this one thing that is extra, start praying.  Pray that God will bring someone into your life that needs that item.  Pray for a divine appointment to give God’s love to someone.

If you have 2 cars, and only need one, pray that God will bring someone into your life that needs a car, and give it to them.  If you have an extra coat or two, pray that God will bring someone into your life that needs a coat.  If you have extra food, pray that God will bring you a hungry person.  If you have extra room in your house, pray that God will bring you a person who needs shelter, or a child who needs adopted.  If you have multiple game consoles, like a wii, and an xbox, and a ps3, pray that someone will come into your life that possibly only has a ps1 with only one game and happens to write your favorite blog. (ok, ok, I am just kidding on that last one).  Seriously though, pray this, and expectantly wait for God to answer.  When he does, give this person your stuff.

Why do you need an extra car?  Why do you need more than one coat?  Why do you need to have a spare bedroom?  Why do you need to eat all that food?  Give it to God, and see what happens.

Ok, on to today’s topic:

About a week ago, a retired missionary friend of mine was describing how Christmas is celebrated among Christians in the Central African Republic.  They take the fact that it is Christ’s birthday quite literally.  Instead of buying gifts for each other, they give gifts to Jesus.  What a neat concept.  In America, we have commercialized Christmas so much.  Even though we as Christians know the real reason, and celebrate it for what it is, we still often get caught up in buying gifts for each other rather than giving to the one whose birthday it really is.

After hearing this story, my wife and I talked (we try to do this occasionally, not sure why).  Barring any unforeseen changes to our thinking, next year will be different.  Too late for this year, we already bought many of our gifts.

Our plan for next year is to not buy our children any gifts.  We still need to work out all the details of how we are going to implement this, but here is a rough draft of our plan:  Around Thanksgiving of next year, we will sit our kids down and explain the no gift policy, and explain why.  Then we will laugh at their reaction and count up all the money we are saving.

No seriously, (once again, I apologize for my warped sense of humor) we will figure out about how much we would have spent on there gifts and then give then 3-5 options to give to Jesus with it.  Whether it is giving to orphans, giving to a shelter, or something else entirely.  Next year, the 2 oldest will be 6 years old.  Hopefully in the next 2-3 years, as this bcomes integrated into their lives, they will start seeing opportunities, and bringing them to us.

What a privilige it would be to raise kids who get more excited about where and how they will give each Christmas than about what they will get.  Lets be honest, our kids have enough (too many) toys as it is.  The grandparents are still going to buy them stuff, so please do not worry about my kids being deprived.  Even if there were no grandparents to give them stuff, they still would not be deprived.  Do you remember what Christ said in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  Think about the times you have had the privilege of meeting someones physical needs.  How great is that?  Doesn’t it feel better than opening up a truck load of presents?

If we train our kids at a young age to model this truth, there lives will be far richer than if not.  Take a look at how you celebrate Christmas.  Are you acting like it is your birthday?  Are you acting like it is your kids birthday?  I know tradition dictates we buy gifts, but for who?  Whose birthday is it?

Merry Christmas everyone, and FYI, due to the business, I may not post next week.  I will try, but it just may not happen.

Technorati Tags: christmas, faith, give, increasing faith, kids, love, thanksgiving

I am always hesitant to recommend Christian teachers publicly.  Inevitably, someone takes issue with a certain viewpoint of a teacher, and crucifies me for these views.  Or sometimes the teacher I recommend will have a very public moral failure, and once again, I get caught in the debris field.

People are so quick to point out the flaws in leaders you listen to.  It is as if by pointing out their flaws, they can ignore their flaws.  Honestly, I find it a bit sickening.

All that being said, I was recently introduced to the teachings of Francis Chan.  I encourage you to listen/watch some of his sermons.  I particularly like the one on Christ Centered relationships which his did with his wife.  It is actually three sermons, and they are excellent.

Disclaimer: I have no idea about his personal life, or all his teachings, or any of that.  What I have seen I like and agree with, and I have never listened to a more real, skilled preacher in my life.

If you want to experience an increasing faith, a deeper relationship with Christ, and a deeper love for Christ, I highly recommend you take a few hours and watch some of Francis’ sermons.

Technorati Tags: faith, francis chan, increasing faith, teacher

Tonight, I want you to take a moment to take on the mind of God.  Imagine sending your child to die for someone who hated you.  If I stretch my mind, I can almost imagine this.  I can almost imagine sending my son to die for those that hated me, if I knew he was going to be resurrected again, but then it hits me.  Could I ever concieve sending my son to suffer to the degree Christ did?  Could I allow my son to go through what Christ went through for people who hated me?  Heck, I couldn’t even do this for people who love me.  This is what God did for us.

He sent His Son to be beaten, to be whipped, to have his skin ripped right off his back.  He sent His Son to have huge thorns pressed through his scalp.  He sent His Son to have nails hammered through His hands and feet.  He sent His Son to be rejected.

He loves us that much.  Thank you Father.

Technorati Tags: christ, Easter, Father