It's All About Attitude!

"I don't give a __________!" and you fill in the blank. You have said that haven't you? Whether the missing word is "hoot" or worse. I have. I have never gone so far as to use the "worse" comments, but the feeling has come close at times. It seems that at a real high spiritual moment, where I think that I am about to turn a corner upward, "BLAMO!" out of my mouth comes some of the weirdest words.

They are not cussing words, or swear words, or explicative. They just aren't spiritually edifying words. They are words that would be better left unsaid. Why is that?

I believe that I am making progress in my spiritual walk. I'm turning a corner, pressing toward the mark, marking 40 days of progress! Then plop. On my spiritual nose, I go.

There is a key to this puzzle. It seems almost too easy. It can't work. Can it? Pretty much.

The fix is found in the Bible of all places. The Bible is a great place to get "key" information like this. It is principle-packed goodness, fresh as tomorrow's newspaper. Kids, a "newspaper" was a thing that your dad delivered when he was a kid. He went house to house, and people paid him money so that they would be up to date on yesterday's news. It was WAY before Google and Facebook.

Anyway, the Bible is much better than all of the information mentioned above. That is because the Bible is direct from God. It is a living book. You never have to recharge it. It needs no Wi-Fi. And you always have a good signal. There is no backlight, but there is also no subscription charge, and you will never forget your password because there isn't one. Does that sound cool or what? It is.

In the Bible, I found these words just a few minutes ago. They have inspired this blog post, "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, concerning you." They are found in a tiny portion called 1 Thessalonians. This was a letter written by a great man called Paul to a tiny church in a city called Thessalonica. That city still exists today, and you can read about it here if you have Wi-Fi, that is.

Thinking about the significance of that short sentence made me wonder. How could Paul have said to give thanks in everything? Was he on to something? Did he have superpowers? Or is it something that I can do in this new year?

January is an excellent time to put verses like this one to the test. We are in a fresh new year. We are in the "resolution-making" mood. So, how about it?

What makes this challenge doable is what he says just after he stuns us with the first four words, "for this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, concerning you." Did he mean that giving thanks is the will of God, or did Paul mean that the things that happen that I don't like to have to give thanks for are the will of God for me? Did you understand that last gob of words?

Or could he have meant, "It is all about your attitude. Whether the good stuff happens or the bad stuff happens, it is God's will. Be glad that He is working in your life through Christ. And say 'thank you for it." (this from the MJNSL Translation - Mike Jewell not so living translation).

That last sentence captures the idea. Stuff, both good, bad, and the middle ground, is going to happen to everyone. It is a part of life. There are no guarantees of bulletproof protection. There are no guardian angels. Stuff happens, and my reaction to it demonstrates how far God has to go to bring me into line with His Son Jesus Christ. Let's work hard on our attitude this lovely new year!

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...

Church Isn't a Place

Many times we say, I'm going to church on Sunday. What some fail to understand is that "church" isn't a building. I remember our pastor saying, "the church is an organism, not an organization." He was teaching us the Bible truth about the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the body, and the church is his body on earth. Another pastor once said, "God's hands have human fingers." This is a difficult concept for some to grasp, pun intended. However, it is important to understand that God accomplishes his work through human beings. He uses us, the church, to do his will and work. It's not that if we don't do his will that he is stymied. But he does use willing servants. To be in the church, one must be a part of the family. You cannot be in the church if you don't have the Savior. The church is not for the lost; it is for the edification of the saved. The lost can come and hear the message of salvation. But the church is made up of t...

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