Celebrate the wins!!

Okay so I was just thinking how when often times we make resolutions and don't keep them. I thought one way I could keep going with them is to make sure to celebrate those moments when you actually see the fruit of your labor.

So the other day I totally reacted in a calm way to a situation that I would have normally became angry. And it made me think that all the work and prayer I have been putting into not getting angry about stupid things has actually started to pay off in small ways. Praise God, he does answer prayer and changes you through it.

So I am gonna take this moment and thank Jesus for once again reaching into my life and changing me for the better.

I think it is really important to celebrate when we see God working in our lives. So many times I get caught up in how crappy I can be, that I forget that Jesus says I am forgiven and when he looks at me he sees a child who he loves and is good.

Stop believing the lies!! Celebrate the good things, and do away with the bad. God will change you, just make sure when he does you notice and thank him, and then celebrate!! I think it is amazing that over the course of a Christian's life God changes you to be more and more like Him.

So don't give up, celebrate the wins - even if they seem small, and keep pushing yourself to be more like Christ. Follow his example, read the bible and pray that he changes you.

My verse for the last week that has really spoken to me is Luke 6: 46-49 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord," and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

What have you built your house on? When times get hard do you fall apart? Make sure if you say you follow Christ you read his word, and then do what it says. Life is hard make sure you build a good foundation!! Let Christ be your rock.

That's all I got!! God is good!!

Refuse To Have Enemies.

So one of the big things I am working on in 2010 is not getting angry, in a bad, not so useful way. One of the biggest wastes of my time is when I let what other people do bother me. Seriously, think of how many times a day you let people make you upset. Someone says an off handed comment about you, a tailgater in traffic, sometimes even your family does it, for example there have been several times when my kids have said less than kind statements about me. And we let it all ruin our day.

What if in 2010 we followed the advice of scripture? What if we prayed for our enemies? What if we forgave people immediately without hesitation or even a reason to? What if we put others before ourselves?

I think a lot of times we are so prideful that we forget that God calls us to love our enemies, pray for them, and think of others as better than ourselves.

Colossians 3:8-10 'But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.'

If you have said yes to Jesus, then you have a responsibility to work hard at not getting angry, to not saying bad stuff about other people. We are called to put on the "new self", that is who we are in Christ - NEW!! Don't do the old stuff that revolves around yourself, strive to become who God wants you to be.

There are things that we should get angry about: poverty, starving children, victims of injustice, bullys, domestic violence, drunk driving, the list could go on forever. I've made a decision to not get angry about stupid stuff while the rest of the world literally goes to hell.

I am challenging myself to let go of stupid anger, and to make a difference in the world. I want to challenge everyone else to get angry the right way. Give to the poor, help earthquake victims, give a homeless guy a sandwich and a Coke rather than shaking your head at him. Life is so short and I don't want to waste another minute of it cursing the guy out who just cut me off in traffic. Refuse to have enemies, instead of finding ways to have them.

Witness Protection Program.

Did you ever see one of those movies where someone goes into the Witness Protection Program because they testified against organized crime? The whole deal is this, you fear for your life and you won't say anything unless the government gives you a new identity and starts your life over again in a different state with a new house and job.

So let me ask you this: Are you in the Witness Protection Program?

I was reading Genesis Ch. 20 today and Abraham did this thing where because his wife is good looking and they are going somewhere they have never been before around people they don't know he tells everyone that his wife is his sister. What, really? And not only that, it's not the first time he's done it.

Ok, so my first inclination is to say he is just dumb. But then I think, I do this all the time. I tend to kind of lay low and feel out a situation and make sure I feel real comfy before I ever reveal that I follow God. Why? Same reason that Abraham gives to Abimelech: "I said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.'"... (Gen. 20:11). I think often times we jump to conclusions about people, like they will think I'm crazy, or weird, they will make fun of me, so we don't truthfully, fully represent who we are.

Peter did the same thing. About 5 minutes (give or take) after he told Jesus he would never deny him, he's going Jesus who? Not sure who you mean, you must have me confused with someone else!! I think we all go through this, especially as new christians. There is good news though. Peter went on to become one of the greatest leaders in the history of the church. No he wasn't perfect and he still screwed up, but he learned it is better to not pretend.

You see we are all called to be witnesses. But if we put ourselves in the Witness Protection Program and people find out who we are in a different way other then from our own mouths we are not very good witnesses at all. Be brave, take a risk!! In the end, when Abraham came clean about who his wife really was, things went much better for him. Read the story!! Don't jump to conclusions about how you think people will react, you just never really know. God will not let your life get wrecked because you stand up for who he is and for who you are.

Learn from Abraham and Peter, God can do awesome things through you, but it will never happen unless you check out of the Witness Protection Program and be yourself!!

New Year Resolutions

Okay so I'm not much for New Year resolutions. In fact I don't think I've ever done them in any sort of earnesty. Here it goes though:

• I am going to spend more quiet time with God. Time spent alone, away from distractions, just talking and listening
• This one is linked to the previous one, I will spend more time listening to God. This has always been one of the hardest things for me. I will try to just concentrate on hearing his voice and not get distracted by my brain. Gotta pray more for that one!!
• I will let go of un-righteous anger. There is a right way to be angry and a wrong way to be angry. I will get angry at the things I should and not at the things I shouldn't.
• I will not let fear rule in my decision making.
• I will take more risks in 2010. Jeremiah 29:11; "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."

Well there it is, I could sit here and think of a million more things but those are the main four I will concentrate on for the next year.

Gonna keep this blog post short and sweet, hope you all have a great year!!

Christmas gifts.

So this Christmas season has had me thinking a lot about gift giving. I know as soon as I start talking about gifts everyone thinks ok ok, here he goes, he's gonna start talking about it's better to give than it is to receive. Well... sort of, but not really. I have actually been thinking about the gift God gave me about 6 years ago.

A lot of you know me as the mild mannered, funny, joke telling, church goin' guy. That was not always me. You see, there was a time when you couldn't have dragged me through the doors of a church if the world was all on fire and that was the only safe place on the planet. There was a time when I couldn't give a crap about pleasing God, much less care about how anyone but myself could be made happy.

As far as faith, I was truly what you would call a mocker. I thought as long as I believed in God I was as good as gold, going to heaven, if there was such a place. Also, as we all know, only really bad people go to hell, and I had never done anything really bad. I was content to live my life the way I wanted to, drink as much as I want, look at as many women as I want, pretty much live for whatever made me happy at the time.

When I saw people who were "living" for God, all I could do was make fun of the Bible thumpin' holy roller who thought they were better than everyone else. I had some bad experiences with people in my life who claimed to be God followers and as far as I was concerned they were hypocrites and I wanted nothing to do with it.

So what does that have to do with Christmas gifts? Well, for me that lifestyle started to be not fun. It was empty, ridden with guilt, and quite frankly just kinda started to feel wrong. I started to feel that there was more to life, like, maybe this wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It is amazing to me how much I clinged to things that were totally wrecking me. So I started to pray. I didn't pray like all feverishly or religiously, I just kind of started asking God to make himself real to me. To show me what life was all about. Maybe it was out of desperation, maybe it was out of guilt, maybe. I think it was God calling me back to him. I can see all the eyebrows of people who don't buy it going up in disbelief, hang in there though, I'm getting to the point.

So about 6 years ago, something amazing happened. God showed up in my life in a way I couldn't shrug off or dismiss as coincidence. This guy from Texas came to where I worked at the time. We were short handed at work and he flew up from our Texas plant to lend a hand and help out. All this guy could talk about was Jesus. I mean he was a total nut. But for some reason I just couldn't stop listening. I mean he wasn't preachy or anything he was just talking about how God was working in his life and the life of his family and I just knew that God had put this person in my life to get my attention. The kicker was this, he said that at first when his boss approached him about coming to Minnesota, in -20 degree weather by the way, he said no way. However, the following Sunday he felt like he needed to do it. He told his wife if they asked him to go again, he would know it was God wanting him to go. So sure enough, they asked him again.

So he showed up. He talked about Jesus, I listened. I knew deep in my soul that God had sent him to talk to me. I made up my mind then and there that God was indeed real, and that I would follow His plan for my life from that moment on. God gave me a great gift. I felt his love for me and I knew it was real. All the stuff that had kept me away from him no longer mattered, what mattered was he loved me.

I was reminded of that story this Christmas when I read John 17: 1-3 '"Father the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he may give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."'

See God wants us to know him. That is why he sent his son, Jesus. Jesus prayed that prayer just before his arrest and crucifixion. He died for our sins so we could have a relationship with God and receive the gift of eternal life. That is the greatest gift I have ever, or ever will receive.

It's funny to me now to look back and think how much I resisted God. How many times I mocked those who had faith and loved Jesus. My hope is this Christmas, if you are the mocker, to give God a chance. Think and pray about what life is all about. Ask God to show you the truth.
If you are someone who has a mocker or someone in your life who is extremely resistant to faith or even talking about it, don't give up on them. I was one of those people, big time. God will soften hearts, trust in him, keep the faith.

Thanks for reading, have a great Christmas and a happy new year.

Wisdom. Where are you getting it?

I have been thinking a lot lately about where people get wisdom. I mean it seems time and time again people are hearing bad advice and running with it. The more I think about it the more I realize that we are constantly bombarded with advice. You've got Oprah, Dr. Phil, Maury, Kathy Lee, The Today Show, radio, podcasts, magazines, newspapers, bloggers (ironic huh?), co-workers, friends, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, books, all telling us how to do things.



People are all too glad to be helpful. I thought I would just take a few minutes today and rant a little about where we get wisdom in our lives and how it can wreck us or help us.



So first of all, I am not saying that talkshows and books and friends and family are bad places to gain wisdom. I just get a little freaked out that people hear bad advice and it can wreck them. We've all been there, took the wrong advice or wisdom and it worked out bad. For me, the dumbest advice I ever take... is my own. Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." In other words, I am really dumb, on my own... If you go through life and just do things because YOU think it is the right way, you are screwed.



About a year ago our washing machine broke. So... I became the Maytag repair man. I thought hmmm, must be the motor, I'll just order one online and slap it in myself. Motor shows up on the door step, I put it in, plug in the machine, it fills with water and...... nothing moves. Crud!! Okay so now pride kicks in, just a little, not too much, tee hee. Okay so it must be the timer, duh. Go online order a timer, shows up, put it in, washer fills up with water..... nothing - again. I have never gotten this thing fixed to this day, luckily friends of ours intervened into the insanity and blessed us with a new washer.



If you are like me, it is really hard to look anywhere but within for wisdom, and let me tell you there just simply is none in there. You have to be extremely careful where you look for wisdom, for some it's not looking within for wisdom, it is looking to anyone who will listen. This too is dangerous. Proverbs 14:15 "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps."



Did you hear that? A prudent man gives thought to his steps... This does not mean a prudent man knows everything. But, he looks in the right places. It is so important to look in the right places. Don't just listen to any idiot with an opinion, including yourself. Heed wise counsel. Look for someone with their stuff together. If you're having money problems, talk to someone who has it together financially and do what they are doing. If you have issues with your kids, talk to someone who doesn't appear as crazy as you do and learn!!



I think often times we are too prideful to admit that we don't know what to do, so we either seek help in the wrong places, or with foolish people who don't know anything, or we just don't seek help at all and just suffer. Seek wisdom from those who you know are wise!! We all know people who are wiser than us. Suck it up and ask for help!!



The first place to look should always be God and his word. Pray and read your bible, ask him to show you the steps to take, I promise he will. Just be careful who and what you listen to, tune out the idiots and listen to the wise people!!



Proverbs 13:14 "The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death."



Don't be like me, just call the Maytag man!!

Thanksgiving.

Today is the big day. The day when most of strap on the 'ol feed bag and eat ourselves into oblivion, and then flop down on the couch and melt into a turkey induced football coma. Gotta love it.

I would urge all of you though to take a moment and thank God for all that He has blessed us with. I hear a lot about the bad economy, the health care debate, and how much things generally suck. I want to remind everyone of how good we really do have it, for the most part.

We live in a country where we have freedom. We all, for the most part, have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. Even if you don't have some of those things, we still live somewhere that we have an opportunity to get them.

This Thanksgiving and Christmas season give thanks for what you have, and not only that, think of those who don't have as much as you do. There are a lot of people who are in need. Homeless people, people who just lost their jobs, can't afford to get food, can't afford to buy their kids gifts for Christmas. We all at some time or another have had the gift of help from somebody. This summer and fall a lot of my friends and neighbors and family came together in some way or another to make sure that the roof on my house got replaced. It was amazing to see God work through people!! To see people give up their time and cash so that a friend could not wake up on Christmas morn with a lap full of holiday snow.

I would implore and beg all of you to help someone in need this season. Contact a local charity and see if you can adopt a family for Christmas, give your time or money to a local mission where they feed the homeless, every time you walk by the red Salvation Army kettle throw in some cash or change. If we all do a little it adds up to a lot, and we can change the world, just a little for the better.

Matthew ch 25: 34-40; "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

We have so much to be thankful for, let's share what we have with others. Let's give, so others also can have something to be thankful for.

Thanks for listening to me rant, have a great Thanksgiving, God bless you all.