Resolve not to resolve

This year, try something different: make your life what you want it to be every day. If there is something you need to change, change it. Don't wait for a new year to have an excuse to change; change now.

Life is short. And who wants to walk up to God in the end and say "I would have helped my fellow man, but it was the middle of the summer and the new year hadn't hit."

Be who you need to be now.

Holy Bible - stock car racing edition

Sometimes words are not enough and sometimes a picture is more than enough. I'm all for people having a Bible that speaks to them in their walk of faith, but this just seems like overkill.

If the message gets lost in the noise, it's probably not the right way to go, even if it does get you revved up for Jesus.

Take the good and the bad

Watching Squakbox in the gym during my workouts I can see why some people see how great and rosy everything is; there is a lot of good news out there and a lot of positive possibilities. But at the same time there is 10% unemployment and 1 out of every 10 is hurting.

You can't just look at the positive. Christ compels us to see the hurt. But you can't just look at the negative. Christ compels us to focus on the positive.

We must look to the positive to have hope and purpose. We must look to the negative to see what justices need to be administered and what wrongs need to be righted.

You take the good you take the bad you take 'em both and there you have the Facts of Life. Sorry. Wrong reference. ;)

I listen to Dave Ramsey a lot. I subscribe to his podcast on iTunes (Link requires iTunes). I like that he is positively focused. But he is also grounded enough to know there are people hurting. I think sometimes people work so hard to become successful which requires a positive mental image, they sometimes forget that people hurt. Yes, around 90% of people are currently employed in the U.S. and that's a great statistic but 1 in every 10 does not have a job!

Conversely you can't just look at the bad. Focus on negativity will make you lose hope. You have to be positively focused while being aware of the pain of others. It's a difficult balancing act to be sure, but it is a necessary one.

Find what makes you happy - focus on what you have, not on what you don't. Focus on who you love and what you enjoy. Be happy. Then keep your eyes and ears open and be ready to know where you need to spread your joy or even just provide a listening ear. That is the most empowering way to share love.

An interesting article about belief

Well this would explain a lot. A new article in New Scientist states that some of the beliefs we may attribute to God may be our own:

God may have created man in his image, but it seems we return the favour. Believers subconsciously endow God with their own beliefs on controversial issues.

"Intuiting God's beliefs on important issues may not produce an independent guide, but may instead serve as an echo chamber to validate and justify one's own beliefs," writes a team led by Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers started by asking volunteers who said they believe in God to give their own views on controversial topics, such as abortion and the death penalty. They also asked what the volunteers thought were the views of God, average Americans and public figures such as Bill Gates. Volunteers' own beliefs corresponded most strongly with those they attributed to God.

I can see some truth in this; there are hundreds if not thousands of denominations out there (Wikipedia puts the number of Protestant denominations at 38,000). This is why it's important not to believe what your church believes, or your pastor believes blindly. Vet this information. Read your Bible. Think.

Let your beliefs follow God, not the other way around.

Watch what you say

Proverbs 29:20

Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

When the Bible puts you below a fool, you know you're in trouble.

Think before you speak. It's that simple. Lesson over.

Selfishness in God's name

James 2:15-16:

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

This passage reminds me of times I would hear of fellow Christians going out to eat and leaving no tip and instead leaving a tract. The outward appearance says "spiritually minded" and the words they say are "I'm giving them the best gift of all" but they are simply being selfish - keeping the money for themselves and covering their tracks with a piece of paper that will serve only to steel someone's will against Christ. Who wants to follow in the footsteps of a person who's followers mistreat others?

Paying attention to people's worldly needs: food, friendship, money is not just kindness, it is an act of Christian faith. James realized that.

Most of our lives the most Christian act we can do will have no mention of God, Christ, or the Bible. Most of our lives the most Christian act we can do will be in small actions as simple as sharing a smile.

Don't get overwhelmed trying to act out your faith. Simply love one another. As Christ said loving God and each other is what it is all about.

God is not your pilot

I know every good Christian wants to be very Christ-centered and I know everyone wants to live according to God's will, but I hate to break it to you: God is not your pilot.

There are three basic reasons why:

1. God is a leader. Leader's delegate. They don't do the normal detail work. They see the vision, do the big picture work, and lead others to do the tasks. This is for several good reasons including:


2. Doing the work ourselves makes us better people. Sure we could sit on the couch and eat chips and let God save the world, but he calls us to do it and we will be healthier, happier, and more spiritually sound if we do.


3. God has asked us to do the work. What's the point of the Bible if not to instruct us on how to live and what to do? If God's going to do all our driving why did he give us instructions?

So don't take your hands off the wheel. If you want to know where to go, look at the road map, but you still need to put the effort in to get to your destination.

A righteous man rises again

Proverbs 24:15-16:

Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against a righteous man's house, do not raid his dwelling place; for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

Here's a great quote. It's not the part about the command not to hurt a righteous man that I dig. It's the part about what defines a righteous man:

...for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

Awesome. Want to be righteous? Don't let bad times bring you down. It's okay to be blue, upset, even angry. But a righteous man "rises again". This is so often not one of the things we talk about in church as it involves living a godly life, but it is so important to understand.

Job persevered. Jesus persevered. Paul persevered. Perseverance is a fruit of the Spirit. Be righteous when bad things come your way: dust yourself off, pick yourself up, and let your faith be your hope in the good that will come your way.