Love

God loves you!

we think you're pretty special too!

A few years ago I discovered this Desktop Wallpaper. “Hello, I’m your WALLPAPER (and I love you)”.  I think I can appreciate the thought behind it.  Everybody should be told daily that they are loved!

One year as I prepared to start a new job, I programmed my computer to give me a pop-up message in what I guessed would be the most stressful, anxious moments of my first year.  I totally forgot about that little memo until it popped up as programmed on my desktop.  

I was so touched by that note of encouragement I almost cried...

(Don't worry I know how pathetic that sounds... )

There's something about being told you are loved!

Atheists tend to reject God because, for many of them, He is a cranky, twisted, old, wicked being uninterested in any aspect of our lives. I believe in a God of deep, lasting, unrestrained, unconditional love.  I believe everyone can and should experience that love first hand.

Every week I get together with a bunch of folks who are trying to live out that truth.  We are a bunch of ordinary people, moms and dads, sisters and brothers, kids and grandparents who are trying to learn how to show it to others. I really hope that you have that kind of a community to be a part of......just sayin'

Topics and Themes

Thanks so much for paying attention to my ramblings!

I'm wondering if you could do me a favour.  If you happen to check back here on a regular basis to see what's new (or even if this is your first visit), would you mind using the comments option below to send me some suggestions for topics/themes that you would like to see addressed?

We're heading into the summer now which means more outside time and perhaps not as many posts but send me a note and keep coming back☻

Blesssing, Suffering and Faith

I’m blessed…

Usually what we mean is this:  Good stuff is happening to me… Life feels good… Life is comfortable…  It’s almost always said with a smile because typically it means we have stuff goin on that’s worth smilin’ about.

I’m blessed.

Ever notice how we equate God’s blessing with stuff?  So for example, because we have stuff we conclude that we are experiencing the blessings of God.   We equate having jobs and money to spend with blessings.  It follows then that so long as we have jobs and homes and cars we are blessed.

… only there are lots of folks with stuff like we have who are not believers… some who are downright wicked!  In fact, some of the people who have the most money on the planet are the most wicked!

Tell me, how did we get to the point where we equated our possessions with the favour of God?

A couple of weeks ago I read a report of a church in Nepal where something like 400 people were congregated when the earthquake struck.  Though the number of deaths in this earthquake has topped 8000 everyone in the church survived!

Here’s the thing – shortly after reading that report I heard another report.  Apparently, there were lots of other believers, in lots of other churches which were not designed to be quake-proof.  Some of those buildings collapsed and there were a number of Christians who died as a result.  That’s just one example – pick any type of natural disaster, any type of calamity or sickness and I’d wager that there will be numbered among those who suffer and die a healthy number of faithful followers of Jesus Christ.  

How does that reconcile with your definition of blessing?

What’s my point?  We are on dangerous ground when we use our circumstances as a barometer of our “righteousness before God”. 

In Luke’s gospel he recounts an interesting incident in which Jesus makes a similar point (Luke 4:24-30).  The reaction of the righteous was to try to silence Jesus by killing Him. 

Which perhaps leads us to the strongest argument against material wealth and comfort being proof of the favour of God…

Jesus…

...just sayin...

Dads

It’s tough being a dad…

We have a TV but don’t have cable.  As a result we don’t get any TV channels (remember when you didn’t need to have cable to watch TV… [sigh]).  Anyway, what it means is that I have no idea what shows are on TV anymore.

So I did an internet search to find out who might be described as the best TV Dads in the current crop of offerings from Hollywood.  We love lists so there were plenty of hits for me to wade through. 

One list I found didn’t include a single example of a good TV dad from the last 30 years!  I guess I’m not missing much. 

I was working my way through another list when I found they had included Homer Simpson… 

I had to double check the heading of the article.  It was: “Greatest TV Dads of All Time”

Homer Simpson?!?  As one of the greatest TV dads of all time?  Seriously, who writes this stuff? Clearly we’re operating with a different definition of “great” and “all time”… and “dad” for that matter… 

It reminded me of a report I heard a couple of years ago.  The reporter talked about how fathers are often portrayed in the media, in commercials and movies as buffoons, clumsy and concerned only with drinking beer and hanging out with their immature college buddies.  They went on to refer to “media dads” as being incompetent when it comes to any sort of meaningful relationship, unworthy of authority and nothing short of a hazard when left alone with children…

[sigh] It’s tough being a Dad…

To all you dads out there doing your best to do your best…  standing with your face to the storm… trying to shelter your family as you desperately try to remain sane…

…you have my respect and gratitude.

Who am I... really

So one year I decided I was going to “live life to the full”… I was going to seize every opportunity that came my way.  I was going to enter every contest.  I was going to “walk through every door” as it were and open wide every window.

It was both exhilarating and humbling… 

At one point I entered a writing contest.  I really thought I had a good chance of winning it... 

I didn't ... 

I wasn't the runner-up... 

…didn't even make the short list. 

In an attempt to bandage my bruised ego I started imagining things.  Maybe they didn’t get my entry.  Maybe someone has it in for me. I bet the winner had someone on the inside!  Yeah!  That’s it! The whole thing was rigged!

Really?

Probably my entry just wasn’t good…  (I was going to try to save face by adding “enough” to the end of that sentence)

Ouch!  That hurt (a single tear trickles down my cheek)

I’ve spent years on both sides of the audition desk.  If I haven’t “seen it all” I’ve seen a pretty good chunk of it.  I’ve seen…

…people who were brilliant and knew it.

…people who had talent to spare but really didn’t care.

…people who were naturally talented and didn’t realize that can only take you so far.

…people who worked hard and it showed.

…people who worked hard… and it would never show.

…people who had been told all their lives that they were gifted – by people who clearly had no idea what they were talking about.

What if your “entry” isn’t good?

[choking back a sob]

OH GET OVER IT - nobody is saying you are a bad person or anything - It's just maybe there are better actors, story-tellers, singers, or writers, or composers, or runners, or hockey-players, or skaters or whatever...  Maybe you are not the best - it's not the end of the world!

...unless it causes you to refuse to accept, pursue and become who you really are...

just sayin…

Shane & Shane - Embracing Accusations

Count the Cost

I enjoy detective/legal mystery shows… though I must confess the formulaic tripe that gets churned out and aired these days has kept me from subscribing to cable/dish/satellite for the past two decades…

Anyhoo…

We’ve all seen the scene where Bob and his wife Sara-Mae are arguing about the renovations they are in the midst of. She’s wearing a tattered, once-colourful scarf wrapped around her dirty blond hair and telling him that on second thought maybe they shouldn’t take out that wall after all. He has curly brown hair a small paunch and is holding the handle of the sledge hammer he has just put through the wall they had agreed to remove.

“You couldn’t have said that sooner?” He asks

“I dunno, I just thought that… I dunno…”
He yanks the hammer out of the wall and turns to face her. His face is covered with dust but you can still clearly tell by his expression he’s about to blow his top. He already has the big breath needed to support the diatribe he’s about to unleash but her expression stops him cold.

He slowly turns to see what we (the viewer) have already noticed over his shoulder... the limp decomposing arm of some poor dead soul has fallen through the hole in the wall.

..cue some edgy, hip music as the show begins..

We’ve all been there right…

OK maybe you didn’t have an arm fall out of the wall but you know what I mean. You start work on a simple renovation but when the wall comes down there is black mold behind it and the $5000 renovation becomes $20 000. You decide to take the tile out of the bathroom (or kitchen) but when you have it down you discover that the tile was covering a massive hole in the wall.

We could take this in a bunch of different directions.  Let me suggest some possibilities…
1. We all have secrets… holes hidden behind the tile…
2. We all look good with our holes covered
3. Some of us have better tile than others…
4. Some like DIY renovations while others always hire a pro…
5. Some pros are shysters
6. When you decide to “renovate” make sure you have enough “money” in the bank for the unexpected.

In Luke 14 Jesus is teaching on this whole “count the cost thing”.  One bible inserts a break at verse 25 and adds the heading “The Cost of Being a Disciple”.  This is the point where Jesus talks about giving up everything and picking up a cross if we really want to be His disciple… that’s a little harsh so let’s skip that and get to the reasonable sections in verse 28 and following. 

In verses 28-33 Jesus gives some sound fiscal, management, planning, even battle advice by encouraging us to consider how much the change, how much the transition is going to cost before we start.

…of course as we start nodding our heads at His wisdom he drops the bomb again.  I suppose He meant it when He said it the first time…

“by the way… the cost to be my disciple is…  everything.” (Luke 14:33 PNWiV)

It’s a good thing the Bible is so hard to understand…

…just sayin…