IF

As the current golf season gets into full gear I am hoping to play more than I did last year. One of my favorite golf terms is “Mulligans.” The infamous term in golf, for those like me, that comes into play when you hit one of those shots that you just wish you could do over again… You know, the topped my ball, out of bounds, in the water, rolled into the bunker, stuck behind a tree kind of shot that won’t do anything to help your score. In a friendly game the usual set is one for each nine holes, and if you play the video golf version you can arrange the settings to have as many as you want…

Staples has produced a product that for them is a symbol of the simplicity in finding the answers to business life, the “Big Easy Button.” When you’re in an office jam you push the button and the answers will just be there. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a “Do-Over Button” that functioned as a “Mulligan” for life? How many times have we wished to have a conversation over again, or done something differently, or acted differently and if we could go back and change it our lives would be so much better… or at least more peaceful…

“IF is half of LIFE.” I know for myself that making “WHAT IF” statements will not change what has already happened, and really has no benefit other than to help me make a different decision in a similar situation in the future. Sometimes you can get so stuck on what took place in the past that you can’t let go of it, and it actually prevents you from moving forward. Hanging onto what could have been leads to holding grudges, complacency, indecision and the inability to be functional. In a sense living the “IF” does swallow up half of your life…

Letting go of what might have been and looking forward to the potential of what could be is not an easy step. Life would be so much easier if we had a “Magic 8 Ball.” Maybe you remember that toy as a child and asking a question then shaking the ball and waiting for an answer to appear. To have that information at our disposal now would be of tremendous benefit, but it would also rob us of one of the most important parts of life…FAITH. With the answer to tomorrow in front of us the aspect of faith would be removed. Faith is sometimes spelled R-I-S-K, because it is a decision to move forward without knowing exactly what tomorrow is going to bring or where it will take you…

For some, tomorrow is no worry at all because they have faith in God and know that He is more than capable to handle what tomorrow will bring. All “Mulligans”, “Easy Buttons” and “Magic 8 Balls” aside, the only true guarantee with regards to tomorrow is to place your trust in God. He took care of yesterday, is looking after today and will be present tomorrow, and He wants you to put your faith and trust in Him. We only have the opportunity to go through life once, and then we have to answer for our actions during this life (Hebrews 9:27-28).

You can “IF” your way through “LIFE,” or you can LIVE your life in FAITH.

The Lord is My Shepherd

                                                                       

Amidst the hustle and bustle of life, and even on those days when I would say life is in turmoil, it is good to know that God is watching out for me. The Bible speaks on a continuous basis of God being our Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd and as such He cares for each sheep in the flock. Psalm 23 relates to us the relationship that we can have with the Shepherd if we choose to follow Him.

The Lord is my shepherd, -- I have made a choice to have God as the one who leads me                            and guides me.

I shall not be in want, -- As God has made everything and has everything to supply my                              needs, I do not need to worry about the basics of life, but simply need to trust Him to supply them.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters – As my Shepherd, God knows that I need to take time out of the busy pace of life to rest.

He restores my soul -- It is in those moments that He refreshes me and renews me to meet                         the pace of life. When God made the world He worked six days and on the seventh he rested. How many of us take the time to rest and be refreshed. Part of being refreshed comes from spending time with the Shepherd

He guides me in paths of righteousness – God’s intent for my life is to show me the right                           way to live and when I spend time with Him, my values for life will be in line with His

For His name’s sake – the reason I exist and the purpose for what I do every do in my actions, in my words, and in dealing with others is to make God’s Good Name known. When others look at my life they are to see that God is my Shepherd

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, -- There are times in life                               when it does not seem that like God is near, or that he even cares about                               me. It is in these times that we ask the questions, “WHY GOD?” and we                                   are often baffled by the lack of response. It is during these times in life                                that we need to realize the good and the bad of life just happen, but God                           does not change. The role of the Shepherd and the way He cares for us                         

                         does not change, what happens is that we tend to wander off from the flock.

I will fear no evil, for You are with me – There is no need to worry or fear in the darker                              moments of life, if we take the time to stop and realize that God is right                                     there with us. The shepherd cares for his sheep on the peaceful sunny days

                               and on the stormiest days of life as well.

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me – When I get myself into trouble through the                              choices of my life, the Shepherd’s crook is the rod that beats away the predators and enemies that want to attack me, and at the same time the staff can hook me and pull me back when the Shepherd sees me going a                                   direction that I shouldn’t.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies – The situation of life does                            not affect whether or not the goodness of God is before me. It is always                                 present, and sometimes even more so when the trials of life seem most difficult.

You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows – When I choose to live my life with the    Shepherd’s guidance, following the flock and listening to His direction, then I will live     with God’s blessing in my life.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, -- The gentle guiding hand of         God will provide for me during my life, as I live under His goodness and enjoy the    benefits of his love for me.  John 3:16 says… “For God so loved the world that He gave    his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” To     accept the Shepherd’s guiding hand and experience the benefits of a life under His care,   we need to begin a relationship with Him. This is through accepting that Jesus died on the cross for us to pay a price we could not pay for ourselves. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Won’t you take a moment today to look at your life? What eternal benefits do you live with, or are all your benefits only for the here and now? It is time to make the decisions in your life that will    enable you to say,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Are You Watching What You're Watching?

Have you ever asked the question of your kids, “What are you watching?”, “What are you playing?” or “What are you listening to?”, only to receive a generic response. “It’s a good show…”, “Just a game (video)…” or “All the kids in my class listen to this.”

I am having a hard time keeping up with all of the music, movies and media that scream out at my kids everyday. With the plethora of choices bombarding our kids everyday, how can we keep tabs on what they are allowing to influence their minds?

We tend to live in a bubble of naïve thinking that wants to believe what they are listening to; watching on the TV or playing on their favorite video game is not affecting them. It is time that we take some responsibility for what we are allowing our children to feed their minds with. When you take a trip to the video store, do you really know what is on the movie or video game you are renting for your kids? When your child asks for the latest music CD do you know its content? It is time for us to take a serious look at what our children are asking us for instead of trying to placate their every request.

Instead of blindly saying yes to their suggestions for a rental, take the time to really look at what they will be viewing or listening to. Look for the rating symbols on the products and see if it is really something your child should have.

The real question in regards to the whole aspect of what you are watching, has very little to do with the media. The question is, “What are your Boundaries?” You need to know what your limits are and clearly communicate these to your children. Then they will know ahead of time whether the movie, music or video game is suitable for them.

What do I do as a parent when I don’t have a clue about half of the things they are listening to, playing and watching? I’m glad you asked. There are plenty of parent helps available online, and one of the best that I have found to date is www.pluggedinonline.com. This site is sponsored by Focus on the Family and provides a detailed breakdown of the content in the songs, background on the music group, the details of a movie including language content, sexual content, violent acts, as well as a review and more. This has been an invaluable site to me in the review of all forms of media, and allows me to be informed about what my children are watching as well as everything else that is out there.

The Bible tells us that what we take into our bodies, into our minds, directly corresponds to what comes out of our mouth, our minds. “Garbage in, Garbage out!!” It works the other way as well, “Good in, Good out!!”

As parents it is our duty to guard the hearts and minds of our children and to allow them to be just that, “children.” They will grow up fast enough with out all of the input of the world and the media around them. So ask yourself the question on a regular basis. Are you watching what you’re watching?

Missing Jesus

The following story carries the heart of the Christmas story... too many people miss Jesus in the hustle and bustle of Christmas...

About a week before Christmas, our family bought a new nativity scene.

When we unpacked it, we found two figures of the Baby Jesus. "Someone must have packed this wrong," mother said, counting out the figures. "We have one Joseph, one Mary, three wise men, three shepherds, two lambs, a donkey, a cow, an angel and two babies. Oh, dear! I suppose some set down at the store is missing a Baby Jesus because we have two."

"You two run back down to the store and tell the manager that we have an extra Jesus. Tell him to put a sign on the remaining boxes saying that if a set is missing a Baby Jesus, call 7126. Put on your warm coats, it's freezing cold out there."

The manager of the store copied down mother's message and the next time they were in the store they saw the cardboard sign that read, "If you're missing Baby Jesus, call 7126."

All week long we waited for someone to call. Surely, we thought, someone was missing that important figurine. Each time the phone rang, mother would say, "I'll bet that's about Jesus," but it never was.

Father tried to explain, there are thousands of these scattered over the country and the figurine could be missing from a set in Florida or Texas or California. Those packing mistakes happen all the time. He suggested we just put the extra Jesus back in the box and forget about it.

"Put Baby Jesus back in the box! What a terrible thing to do" we children said. "Surely someone will call," mother said. "We'll just keep the two of them together in the manger until someone calls."

When no call had come by 5:00 on Christmas Eve, mother insisted that father just run down to the store to see if there were any sets left. "You can see them right through the window, over on the counter," she said. "If they are all gone, I'll know someone is bound to call tonight."

"Run down to the store?" father thundered. "It's 15 below zero out there!"

"Oh, Daddy, we'll go with you," Tommy and Mary began to put on their coats. Father gave a long sigh and headed for the front closet. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered.

Tommy and Mary ran ahead as father reluctantly walked out in the cold. Mary got to the store first and pressed her nose up to the store window. "They're all gone, Daddy," she shouted. "Every set must be sold."

"Hooray," Tommy said, "The mystery will now be solved tonight!" Father heard the news still a half block away and immediately turned on his heel and headed back home.

When we got back into the house we noticed that mother was gone and so was the extra Baby Jesus figurine. "Someone must have called and she went out to deliver the figurine," my father reasoned, pulling off his boots.

"You kids get ready for bed while I wrap mother's present."

Then the phone rang. Father yelled, "Answer the phone and tell 'em we found a home for Jesus." But it was mother calling with instructions for us to come to

205 Chestnut Street

immediately, and bring three blankets, a box of cookies and some milk.

"Now what has she gotten us into?" my father groaned as we bundled up again. "205 Chestnut. Why, that's across town. Wrap that milk up good in the blankets or it will turn to ice before we get there. Why can't we all just get on with Christmas? It's probably 20 below out there now. And the wind is picking up. Of all the crazy things to do on a night like this."

When we got to the house at

205 Chestnut Street

it was the darkest one on the block. Only one tiny light burned in the living room, and the moment we set foot on the porch steps, my mother opened the door and shouted, "They're here, oh thank God you got here, Ray! You kids take those blankets into the living room and wrap up the little ones on the couch. I'll take the milk and cookies."

"Would you mind telling me what is going on, Ethel?" my father asked. "We have just walked through below zero weather with the wind in our faces all the way."

"Never mind all that now," my mother interrupted. "There is no heat in this house and this young mother is so upset she doesn't know what to do. Her husband walked out on her and those poor little children will have a very bleak Christmas, so don't you complain. I told her you could fix that oil furnace in a jiffy."

My mother strode off to the kitchen to warm the milk while my brother and I wrapped up the five little children who were huddled together on the couch. The children's mother explained to my father that her husband had run off, taking bedding, clothing and almost every piece of furniture, but she had been doing all right until the furnace broke down. "I been doin' washin' and ironin' for people and cleanin' the five and dime," she said. "I saw your number every day there on those boxes on the counter.

When the furnace went out, that number kept goin' through my mind -- 7162, 7162. Said on the box that if a person was missin' Jesus, they should call you. That's how I knew you were good Christian people, willin' to help folks. I figured that maybe you would help me, too. So I stopped at the grocery store tonight and I called your missus. I'm not missin' Jesus, mister, because I sure love the Lord. But I am missin' heat. I have no money to fix that furnace."

"Okay, Okay," said father. "You've come to the right place. Now let's see. You've got a little oil burner over there in the dining room. Shouldn't be too hard to fix. Probably just a clogged flue. I'll look it over, see what it needs."

Mother came into the living room carrying a plate of cookies and warm milk. As she set the cups down on the coffee table, I noticed the figure of Baby Jesus lying in the center of the table. It was the only sign of Christmas in the house. The children stared wide-eyed with wonder at the plate of cookies my mother set before them.

Father finally got the oil burner working but said, "You need more oil. I'll make a few calls tonight and get some oil. Yes ma'am, you came to the right place," father grinned.

On the way home father did not complain about the cold weather and had barely set foot inside the door when he was on the phone. "Ed, hey, how are ya, Ed? Yes, Merry Christmas to you, too. Say Ed, we have kind of an unusual situation here, I know you've got that pick-up truck. Do you still have some oil in that barrel on your truck? You do?"

By this time the rest of the family were pulling clothes out of their closets and toys off of their shelves. It was long after our bedtime when we were wrapping gifts.

The pickup came. On it were chairs, three lamps, blankets and gifts. Even though it was 30 below, father let us ride along in the back of the truck.

No one ever did call about the missing figure in the nativity set, but as I grow older, I realize that it wasn't a packing mistake at all.

Jesus saves, that's what He does.

What are You Looking For?

I have climbed highest mountains

I have run through the fields

Only to be with You, Only to be with You

I have run, I have crawled

I have scaled these city walls

These city walls, Only to be with You

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

I have kissed honey lips

Felt the healing fingertips

It burned like fire, this burning desire

I have spoke with the tongue of angels

I have held the hand of the devil

It was warm in the night, I was cold as a stone

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

I believe in the kingdom come

And all the colors bleed into one

Bleed into one, but yes, I’m still running

You broke the bonds, You loosened the chains

You carried my cross and my shame

And my shame, You know I believe it.

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for   (U2)

Words of wisdom these may be though definitely not new in their content, for the search of the heart is something that everyone goes through.

The wisest man to ever live wrote down for us his journey of discovery in life. This revelation to us can be found in the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. Step by step through the aspects of life he determines that everything is meaningless. Wisdom, folly, all labor and achievement, advancement at work or in society, riches and material possessions, all these and more are meaningless, “a chasing after the wind!”

But all is not lost, because there is a greater purpose to life than the daily grinding road from birth to death that all humanity walks on. The writer of Ecclesiastes at the end of his search concluded that our responsibility is to:

            “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

If you are on a search for what really matters in life, give Ecclesiastes a read and gain some perspective on what is worth committing your time, energy and life to.

God’s message to us did not stop with Ecclesiastes. He continues our journey with the message of the cross. Jesus carried our cross, our penalty, our judgment and bore all of the suffering for our sakes so that we might have the promise of life to come, a life with meaning and purpose.

            “For God so love the world that He gave His one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Knowing the truth and believing in and living the truth are totally different. Once you have accepted the promise of God for eternal life, you can also accept his promise to guide you in your search. You will find what you’re looking for in life when you put God in his rightful place in your life.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11)