Where Have I Been?

I couldn't believe it had been almost two weeks since I placed anything on this blog. We are currently in Colorado to celebrate Christmas with Sue's family. It took us 15 hours to get here and went through only 1/2 hour or so of snow on the way.

Keep these things in mind as you celebrate:
1) Christmas is a holiday which celebrates very real events.
2) What happened at that first Christmas provides hope for all of us.
3) Christmas looks forward to the day when Jesus comes again to fulfill more of the promises of God.
4) Everything else with Christmas is only fluff. Fun, but only fluff.

Keep your perspective as you enjoy family, feasting, presents and everything else our celebrations have become.

Our God is the everlasting King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin

Christmas and Consumer Confidence

Comedian Jeff Allen wrote the following in an e-mail communication:

"Oh boy. Where do I start? Well, it's the holiday season. The season of brotherly love and shameless advertising. Which reminds me, in the spirit of giving, we're giving free Happy Wife, Happy Life tree ornaments with every purchase from our store this month. And giving the My Heart, My Comedy DVD is more than just giving a nice gift; it gives a great message of love and hope. It also gives Tami money for dog food. OK, truth be told, the dogs get fed first. If there's any money left over, we buy groceries. On a particularly good week, Tami lets me get Pop Tarts.

To my Christian friends, let's remember that this season is about He who had no Pop Tarts, who was born, not to inspire consumer confidence, but so that each of us can be born again."

I d find it amazing that the success of this season is all about the economy, which really gives no lasting hope, peace or joy. Invest in the one who can give all three, and became The GIFT for us.

John Wesley Prayer

This is an outline of a Prayer John Wesley used on Thursday evenings. It was printed in 1733:

"To you, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, my Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, I give up myself entirely. May I no longer serve myself, but You, all the days of my life.

I give you my understanding....

I give you my will. May I have no will of my own....

I give you my affections....what you love, may I love, what you hate, may I hate....

I give you my body...

I give you all my worldly goods. May I prize them and use them only for you....

I give you my credit and reputation....

I give you myself and my all....be my sole disposer and governor of myself and all...

O my God and my all, when hereafter I shall be tempted to break this solemn agreement, when I shall be pressed to conform to the world and to the company and customs that surround me, may my answer be: "I am not my own. I am not for myself, not for the world, but for my God. I will give unto God the things that are God's. God, be merciful to me a sinner."

What Is the Life You Want Me To Live?

I am using John Eldredge's book and workbook, "Walking With God," as a part of my daily devotions. He gives a question that he has begun to ask God, that I think would be both a challenge and an answer to life, "What is the life you want me to live?" As a Christ follower, isn't that the question we ask when we ask for God's will. God's will for us is that we live as His followers, in His way of life.

Children's author E.B. White penned this note in the New Yorker in 1936:

Shopping in Woolworth's in the turbulent days, we saw a little boy put his hand inquiringly on a ten-cent Christ child, part of a creche. "What is this?" he asked his mother, who had him by the hand. "C'mon, c'mon," replied the harassed woman, "you don't want that " She dragged him grimly away, a Woolworth Madonna, her mind dark with gift-thoughts, following a star of her own devising.

Maybe the question really asks us, "Which star do you choose to follow: the one the wise men followed, or the ones fools follow?

Too many times we follow with fools.....

Facebook, MySpace and the Christian

I don't have a MySpace or Facebook account and don't plan on getting one. But I have heard stories from those who have them about the behavior of some Christians and the things that are placed on their sites. I know these things I hear are not indicative of a majority of Christians but I have found these things placed on the pages of professing Christians to be unsettling.

For some reason there is a thought that we can write out things using language we wouldn't dare use in another person' presence. I have heard about swearing, vulgar statements, backstabbing, lying abut who you are and many other things that are decidedly not what God would have us be about. What does that say to others who know you are a Christian? What kind of example are we setting? The Scripture is pretty clear:
(1Ti 4:12) "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

Although there are many good things that happen on these accounts, watch out for the dangers associated with them. Be who Christ wants you to be. BE an example for others who think they become more cool by their use of certain language. And call them on it. WE are responsible for one another.

Probably the biggest reason I do not have one of those accounts is that it could be an incredible time waster for me. I think I could get lost in looking for people and not get done the things I need to get done. That is my personality.

Anyway, that is my own rant. REspond if you disagree or agree.