Things I've Learned From My Three Year Old (2)

Things I've Learned From My Three Year Old (2)

Sometimes we get so focused on the destination we fail to enjoy the journey. We are so rushed. So much to do. So many things to accomplish. So many problems to solve. Life can be one big blur. I teach in the same school my 3 year old attends. Every morning we travel together. I soon began to notice that even though we were going to the same destination, we were experiencing the journey differently. "Why is there a bridge here?" "Where do the deer stay at night?" "Where does the sun go when the clouds come?" His incessant questioning tries my patience but I do my best to answer each one. For him, it has not been so much about the destination as it has been about the journey, the "daddy time". As adults, don't we sometimes diminish our quality of life by allowing feelings of anxiety to fester. Worry can be so destructive.Those who suffer from thantophobia, the excessive fear of death, can attest that focusing too much on a future task or event can really spoil the journey. The journey would be so much more enjoyable if we would take Paul's advice to the Philippians, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

The Gospel According to Allen Iverson

During a recent interview connected with the NBA All-Starr game, Allen Iverson was asked about charity giving. He said he gives generously but doesn't really care to talk a lot about his giving. Romans 12:8 says when "contributing to the needs of others let him give generously." Allen should certainly be commended for his giving.Iverson revealed in the press conference that he has been contemplating heaven and hell. “I’ve done a lot of good things in my life and done a lot of bad things in my life so I don’t know. I hope the good things outweigh the bad things. . . . I don’t want to go to hell.” He should also be commended for giving serious thought as to where he will spend eternity.Unfortunately, he seems to perceive that our entrance into heaven will be determined by a scales that measures our good deeds against our bad ones. Scripture certainly encourages us to good works, in fact, it clearly states that good works will result when converting to Christ. But no where does scripture teach us that our own efforts at goodness will unlock the gate of heaven. Eph. 2:8-9 declares our salvation to be a "gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Thinking seriously about his eternal destiny and declaring "I don't want to go to hell" is surely a move in the right direction. I pray that Allen Iverson will come to a full realization that “The free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

A Little Whine With Your Cheese

As a high school teacher for nearly 25 years I have observed a very disturbing trend. Parents are much more concerned about providing rescue for their children rather than teach them responsibility. Our society is infected with a sense of entitlement. When our founding fathers established this country, it wasn't about who you were or what was owed you...it was about how hard you were willing to work. Students whine because the work is too hard. Employees whine because they don't think they are being treated fairly. Citizens whine because the government isn't doing enough for them. My father was so right when he told me repetitively, "Life is not fair" and "Nothing comes free in life".We now give our children participation trophies. You don't really have to excel to get a trophy. We have dumbed down our grading system in our schools so badly that our students are sensing we have no real academic expectations for them. Our college students now expect a passing grade because they were present. No effort required. Now we have a government that is floundering in bankruptcy because its citizens are demanding entitlements. Dad was right when he taught that fairness isn't always possible in this life. In an attempt to be 'fair' and to please all of our whining citizens we've successfully destroyed our economy. Rolling up our sleeves and putting our noses to the grindstone is what built this great country. Sitting in our easy chair with our remote control, pretentiously waiting for the government to send us our next check is what is destroying us.

Proverbs 12: 11 "Hard work brings prosperity; only a fool idles away his time."

Men Never Need Directions

Men Never Need Directions

One of the great mysteries of life is the fact that men don't like to admit they need directions. We always know where we are and we always know where we are going. It is a mystery to us when our wives lack confidence in our uncanny ability to find our way. It would be devastating for us to ever, ever admit we were lost. I'm not sure who invented GPS. It was probably a woman who thought her husband would more readily listen to a computer than to her. I'm almost sure of this because the voice is nearly always that of a woman...with a British accent. The voice always sounds so intelligent and confident. "Setting route, please wait". The typical male doesn't want someone else 'setting route' and he certainly doesn't want to 'please wait'.So he unplugs the machine and off he goes on his own to make a real mess of his trip. His wife thinks getting lost is second nature for him. Tension fills the car. The kids get restless. He can read his wife's mind, "Biggest mistake of my life." Eventually reason reigns and he humbly plugs in the GPS. The confident British lady tells him what to do and he finds his way. We're so like that in our attempt to follow Jesus. We sometimes think we don't need to listen to the voice. Or if we hear the voice it just doesn't seem to feel right to us. Or we are just arrogant and stubborn and think our way is always the best way. When we have made a total mess of the whole trip he is always waiting for us to listen. He doesn't say, "I told you so." He reaches out in grace and gently leads us back on track. "Come, follow me", Jesus said.

Black Toilet Paper

Black Toilet Paper!!

More doesn't always mean better. We certainly have access to more music today than at any other time in history. It doesn't mean its better. We are deluged with news from a multitude of sources but it doesn't make it better. American's are infected with a very contagious disease. Affluenza, is the empty feeling we get when we expend exorbitant amounts of effort trying to keep up with the Joneses. We can now buy customized m&m's with our name and picture on them for $100 a bag.An oil Sheik in Saudi Arabia owns a car made of silver. (is this an urban legend?)Thomas Pinnau works for Mars Candy Company: His title is VP of Indulgence. (Honestly)A company in Tasmania, the island off the southern coast of Australia, catches rain water that formed while crossing Antarctica and 10,000 miles of ocean and they sell it for $25 a bottle.Upscale New York restaurants and clubs provide Renova Black for their customers. Its black toilet paper that sells for $15 per roll. Everyone is selling us things we don't need and no one is selling us what we really need., We should take some advice from the greatest economic genius to ever live. No, not Warren Buffet. Not Barack Obama or even Bill Gates. Jesus said more about economics in his ministry than any other topic save the kingdom of God. He put it all in a nutshell for us.Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

Things I've Learned from My Three Year Old (1)

Things I've Learned from My Three Year Old (1)

Psalm 51:5 "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." This verse teaches us that we are all born with a sinful nature. But why do so many assume that because we are born with a sinful nature we MUST sin?? The carnal nature we are born with assures we have a propensity to sin but it does not teach the necessity of sin. If we must sin and have no free will in the matter, how are we responsible? How can we be accountable for something we cannot control? Would a just and loving God send us to an eternal punishment over something we have no control of?My son, Kameron, is only 3 years old. He is living proof that we are born with a rebellious nature, a propensity to sin. When he disobeys, when he is defiant, when he insists on doing what he wants instead of what his father wants a call for discipline is in order. I would never correct him or send him to "time out" were he incapable of determining right from wrong. He doesn't deserve discipline if he is not responsible for his choices. This is why we have a different standard of discipline for those who are mentally or emotionally challenged or for those who are adolescent.Norman Geisler says "Sin in general is inevitable but each sin in particular is avoidable--by the grace of God." If sin were unavoidable and we had no free will to choose between sinning and not sinning, how could a just God punish us for something we can not be held accountable for. Our sinful nature makes sin inevitable but God's gift of free will makes sins avoidable by the grace and power of God. (1 Corinthians 10:13) "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

An Open Apology From My Generation to Yours

Open apology from my generation to yours

I would like to present an apology to my children and future grandchildren. It was my generation who got us into this economic mess. We were very unwise when it came to managing money. I'm sorry that you will eventually suffer the brunt of our failure. I'm sorry we had to use you retirement, social security and healthcare in order to satisfy our own selfish desire to maintain an unsustainable standard of living. I'm sorry that your generation will likely be the first American generation to experience decline in their standard of living. You won't live in a house as nice as your parent's nor drive a car as nice as theirs. Your income will be overtaxed to pay for our excesses. The Bush and Obama stimulus packages will assure this for generations to come.Thank you so much for being so passive about us stealing your future from you. A couple hundred years ago they threw tea in the Boston harbor but your generation has been mesmerized by easy living and excessive entertainment. Why, most of you reading this letter may not have the slightest idea what this apology is all about. Your minds have become numb by years of "MTV" and computer games. In closing, we hope you the best as you try to solve the problem we created for you. You will certainly have to be more ingenious and brilliant and disciplined than we to solve a problem we gave up on. I must say we feel just a tinge of guilt living high on the hog at your expense and we're not too thrilled about going down in history as the most selfish generation. But...we always believed it was best to eat, drink and be merry. Live for the day and let someone else worry about the future.

Sincerely,

A Generation of Hedonists