Valentine's Day Thoughts

So here we are a few days after Valentine’s Day. It’s a holiday that is spent by most finding a way to reconnect with their spouse or significant other. Most people do this by spending money on those that they love. Were you one of those people? If you’re a guy you possibly spent money on flowers, maybe a nice meal, or diet-busting candies of some sort. If you’re a lady you got one of those thoughtful things for him that if we admit it, will blow away many of the gifts the guys give to you.

You see, the holiday is about expressing your love for that someone special in your life. We don’t always find time to do that in our day to day lives. We get busy with work, kids, family commitments, and so much more. When you actually have time to do so the rest of the year, you’re often too tired or out of money, etc. So, having this holiday is very nice for all of us to make sure that we reconnect with our loved ones.

My question to you today is this - Do you do the same thing with God? Do you need to have holidays like Easter and Christmas on the calendar to remember to show Him how much you love and appreciate all that He has done for you? If telling your loved ones here on Earth is a smart thing to do on a daily basis, why not do the same with Him? This should be a part of your daily prayer life. Start by thanking God for all of the blessings in your life. You’ll be amazed at how many there are when you start looking for them. If you start reconnecting with Him daily as you do with your loved ones you’ll start to see that each day on the calendar is just another day of being a part of His kingdom – and how blessed you are to be a part of it every day….not just a couple times a year when it’s circled on the calendar for you.

It's Not Easy Being Green

I’m sure most of you remember who used to say this a lot. Think back to your past. I’ll give you a hint, his girlfriend is a pig. Yep, it’s Kermit the Frog. He was often quoted as saying that about his life. For some odd reason, I started to think about that just this past week.

I think this can relate very easily to our lives. You see, you and I are Kermit. (No, I’m not saying your spouse or significant other is a pig, and that your kid is a tadpole or piglet!) We look at our lives for what we are here on earth all the time. We complain because we don’t have enough money and can’t buy something, or are stuck at a job, or never get enough sleep, or that we’re green, etc. We don’t see where we stand in His Kingdom! We don’t realize on a day to day basis all the blessings that we have. We don’t see all that we have been given by Him.

You may ask why that is, right? It’s so easy because the world we live in tells us that we shouldn’t be happy. You should want better clothes, you should want the newest IPod or cell phones. We’re constantly told that we aren’t good enough without this or that, or that we don’t look good enough. We tend to measure ourselves on all the things that the world wants instead of what really matters: God.

My prayer for you this week is that you start to accept yourselves for who you are. You don’t NEED all the things of the world. I’m not mad at you if you get some of that stuff, and neither will He be. Yet, getting into debt or caught up in life is what leads to sin. Accept your place in His Kingdom. Accept who you are and why you were placed on this earth. Maybe your circumstances aren’t the best or you don’t have the best of everything. Yet, if this is where He wants you to be here and now, isn’t that all that matters? It’s time to accept what He has in store for your lives, even if you have to be green to fulfill it all.

Don't Get Boxed In

For years, at least in the business world, a big saying has been to think outside the box. The theory is that we all have our own boxes and that the majority of our ideas come from that box because it contains all of our training and experience, etc. Thinking outside of that box is to come up with ideas that are so different from the norm that they will actually work. They’ve talked this idea to death in the business world, and I know that it also spilled into the real world.

The reason I mention this is because I think that quite often we as Christians live inside boxes of our own. We’re seen by the outside world as regular, boring, etc. I mean, aren’t all Christians people who go to church every Sunday, and are nice people? Don’t they do things for others because it’s what they should do? And they never have arguments or problems, right? Why do we have to be a stereotype?

I’m not saying that you should go bar hopping every night, or fight with people just to prove you are different. What I am saying is that we need to show the world that it’s not boring to be a Christian. Let me give you an example: this past weekend Traci and I took the boys to Winter Jam in Cleveland. This is a great concert that has quite big diversity in the bands and fans that attend. There was a guy dressed up like the joker (he was a youth pastor of a church in fact) and then there were people easily in their 50’s and above there to watch. The bands were diverse as well. The headliner was Third Day. They have been around for awhile and have a huge following. They are more of a rock emphasis, but they are great at doing hymns as well. Before them was Tenth Avenue North. This group of 4 guys is not a huge rock sound, but not R&B either. Then there was Thousand Foot Krutch and Fireflight. They are definitely hard rock. I was taken back to my head banging days with these groups. They really rocked the place, and left everyone wanting more. Sidewalk Prophets seem to be more of an R&B type group, and actually started their set by doing Man in the Mirror that was originally from Michael Jackson. There was also Revive (looked like a much hipper Jonas brothers kind of group) and Robert Pierre who is a solo act who is only 17 and wore a pink shirt with a vest over it!

Each of these groups was unique. They were anything but your cookie cutter Christians that the world tries to portray us as. We had one guy with dread locks and face paint, almost every male had his ears pierced, and of course the guy in pink. Then, instead of the hymns that the world thinks we listen to all the time you had some bands doing rock music that almost blew the lid off of the Wolstein Center. You see, these groups are not going to be limited by any box.

We don’t have to be who the world thinks we should be. How boring would that be? How would we get others to a relationship with Christ if we didn’t have anything in common with people in the world? I’m not saying that it’s ok to do many things that people in the world do, but what I’m saying is that it’s ok to go out there and shine. You can have a Mohawk and still love God. You can pierce your nose, listen to rock music, and dress up like the Joker if you wanted to do so. In fact, I’d like to encourage people to do things just like that. Sure, it’s not for everyone (me included) and it takes a special person to do some of those things. I don’t expect everyone to be that way, or how would reach the people that are more like us “normal” folks? My main point this week is that we don’t have to live inside the box. You can be “different” and still be effective for Christ in leading others to Him. Go ahead and think outside the box, and you might just find a lot of other people there, waiting for you to lead them.

What A Team!

Has anyone who has kids not put them in some kind of team activity? Be it sports, music, or a play of some sort? Also most adults work in team environments, even if they don’t see it that way on a day to day basis. So, you can see that teams are a very important part of our lives, even from a young age.

I mention this as I had the opportunity to watch both of my boys play basketball this past week. Noah is the team player of his 3-4^th grade team. He’s not the most athletic player, but he knows where he’s supposed to be and will help make sure the other players get to the right spots as well. Andrew is on a K-1^st grade team and completely different from Noah. Sure, he’ll work with his teammates but he frustrates easily when they don’t catch a pass or get him the ball when he’s open. So, Andrew often will not worry about the team as much and instead try to do it all himself. Both are perfectly acceptable ways to play at their age.

No, I’m not trying to brag on my kids here, although I am proud of both of them. What I am trying to do is show you that it takes all kinds of people to do the job. In team sports you need role players and stars. Lebron James wouldn’t be nearly as successful without a Z or Wild Thing. Peyton Manning and Drew Brees don’t get to this year’s Super Bowl without the Offensive Line who gets in the rushers way, and the receivers who catch all of their passes. And don’t forget the defenses each team has that get them the ball back time and time again.

The same is to be said of the work that we do in His kingdom. It takes a preacher, a prayer warrior, a worshiper, etc. for the kingdom to move in other’s lives. We say quite often that it’s often not the first person who contacts a non-believer to get them to a relationship with Christ, and that is extremely true. It may take 2, 18, or even 50 of us before that person’s heart is changed. The question I have for you is do you think it’s worth it? Will you accept your role knowing full well that it make take more than just your contact to help that person God has laid on your heart? I know that when you feel it’s worth the effort you’ll truly be a part of His team. Sign up yourself and your friends to this great team opportunity today!

What Are You Looking At?

Why is it that we all have such a problem looking away from a car accident? What is it that draws our attention? Do you really want to know if the people are ok, or are you really interested in how badly the cars are mangled?

We can be like this quite often in our day-to-day lives. For example, let’s say you see a drunk person take another drink, and continue watching while he stumbles while walking to see if he will fall. We don’t help him get to where he’s going safely, we watch him fail. We do that more often than you we probably even realize. On the news and in the paper every day is story after story of failure. The positive stories get pushed mostly to the end of both because they aren’t what draw our attention.

What would your life be like if you made God the focus and gave Him all of your attention instead of the above? It’s time to get an eye exam and get your life back into focus. Get focused on what really matters….God!

Silence!

That’s right, it’s time to be quiet now! You spend way too much time talking. You know that right? In fact, you spend too much time thinking too! You spend a lot of time planning on top of that. It’s now time for you to just sit down and shut up, as the saying goes.

You see, I’m convinced that we don’t spend enough time listening to God. We pray all the time for all kinds of things, and barely ever spend the time to listen for the answers! We don’t give Him time to work in our lives because we’re too busy voicing what we think He will say.

I challenge all of you this week to be quiet for once. Spend time with him doing nothing else at all. It’s not a time for us to take action in the normal ways that we do. Instead, come to Him without an agenda of your own, instead listening for His agenda for your life.

Snow

Just seeing that word probably makes many of you cringe like it does me. It usually brings negative feelings due to the cold and extra work that usually come along with snow. Yet, since I’ve always lived in Ohio I’ve grown accustomed to being here every year.

I remember when I was a kid and I looked forward to the snow coming. I always enjoyed the way it looked as it fell. I enjoyed making snow forts and participating in snow ball fights. Those were the days weren’t they? My dad usually did all the shoveling and I just got to enjoy the spoils, so to say.

Turn the page to the present. The snow now means that I have to go outside and shovel, and that the roads probably won’t be too much fun to be on. Sure, I want snow for Christmas, but only a little to make it look nice.

Yet, the other day I started to look at snow a different way, more like the thoughts of the past. You see, the other day during the snow I had two different people help me with getting the snow off my sidewalks. I started to think about how the snow can actually bring out a sense of community in all of us. Let me explain that further:

At our last house I had a big driveway to shovel. (No, I did not, nor do I currently own a snow blower) I would always take at least 45 min to an hour to shovel that entire thing even on a light snow. I’d then take the time to at least do the sidewalks of the neighbors on either side. I didn’t do it to get praised for it or anything, but instead to help those who lived next to us. At our current location on Welton I have a lot less to shovel. I still try to do some of the sidewalks on both sides, but a lot of the time my neighbors have already done it, or someone has done it for them already and myself as well.

What an idea, people helping other people! You don’t get those acts of service as easily the rest of the year. I don’t have neighbors coming over to my house to mow the lawn or rake the leaves. Yet, those same people will be happy to use their snow blower (which use gas at over $2 a gallon) or shovel to help out others that they barely know. I actually finally met a neighbor the other day in the freezing cold as he told me to take a break as he’d do the sidewalk for me.

So, I have a new appreciation for snow. I’m starting to see it as I did a long time ago as a child. It’s a positive kind of thing. It brings neighborhoods together by giving us a common adversary. Now the question is how can we use snow to advance His kingdom? The simple act of service can lead to many an open door in the future. That neighbor you never talk to or see may be search you out in the spring to thank you for the help this winter. That could possibly lead to other subjects which can lead to you witnessing to them and helping them to find a relationship with Christ. Have you ever thought that something as simple as snow could be a witnessing tool? Think about that the next time you are clearing your driveway, as maybe that dreaded next snowfall could just be that open door you’ve been looking to get!