like a Flower and Withers away

Life is short, it's really short. According to the CDC the average lifespan is 77.7 for anyone living in the US. That sounds like a lot, sure, but the older you get you will see how short life really is. As of today I've lived only about 13519 of my 28391 days, I'm young.. but still life goes by quickly. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 103:15 "As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;". What a great word picture, a field of grass and each day. In Job 14:2 it says "He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure." How true, when we think about our feeble lives, and how frail we will become. Eventually we all die, it's a fact, so what have we done with our lives up to now? What will we do with our lives going forward? How can we live each day with purpose and passion that it's going to be sooner rather than later we will die. If I had one request today, it's that each of my days have more purpose, more vision, and driven to Glorify God with each breath of that day. Will I fail, sure, will I fall into the the dry place, it's all going to happen, but will it happen with ambition and drive to live as if I was the only person left who is responsible for expanding the Kingdom?

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy work be done.

If anything, the last few months have taught me a lot about kingdom focus. When we live in the valley of life, and the grass is green, and the waters are calm, it's really easy to be content with life. When it's comfortable, it's good for us, but is it really good for God's Kingdom? When I'm placing my focus and my inspiration on what's yet to come, I look at this world as being a stale, pale, dead place in comparison to the next kingdom, to God's kingdom. Each day I find myself yearning for Christ's return, each day I'm told to have patience.

What does it mean to let go of this world, to let go of the stuff and place my focus on things yet to come? One major area of focus would be to understand that God has placed four wonderful children under my arms, to protect, to guide to educate, to shepherd into His kingdom. Am I doing this well, poorly, not at all? My focus is usually on the roof, food, and insurance... things that are important, but under God's providential hand, not mine. I work, but am I working to glorify God, or am I working to make money? The dance steps are all the same, its just the motivation of how they are performed.

May I turn my focus away from the 'Shadow Lands' and forward and upward into the kingdom. May this world keep turning pale and dim as I walk forward in the His kingdom. May each day I live as if I'm an Alien in an Alien land, and simply passing through to my real home.

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As a side note to my daily blog, I would like to make a recommendation to one of my favorite books: The Last Battle By C.S. Lewis. It's the last book in the Narnia series, and by far the best book. He describes the "Shadow Lands" and really describes "Kingdom Focus" through this great story.

A long walk in the desert places

As some of you might know, I was let go from the last job I was working. I'm not bitter, resentful or upset, it was the right course of action and I was a cost center rather than a generator, so I agree when belts need to be tightened costs must be reduced (I wish I could say the same for the federal government). This has been a great time to just trust, to lean back and let God lead my path, and a path I will place completely in His capable hands. This does not mean do nothing... These last four weeks I've met and talked to more people about business and needs, and ministry. My real desire is to work somewhere my job is ministry, where my life is transparent, and I can minister to those around me. Over the last few weeks I've felt like Elijah, who was fed by the ravens, waiting on the Lord for the next step... the right direction. The Resume's are out, and I send out a few each and every day, but I'm really enjoying the time I spend with people just learning about the needs. I would not say we are in a depression, but more in a re-tooling period. So many companies are just taking this time to rethink how they do business. Please keep me in prayer as we find where God is leading us.

Review and discussion of Hymns

Yesterday I had a great lunch with a good friend of mine. We were talking about worship, but I expressed my desire for deeper expression of what God has done for me, and is doing through me. I grew up in mostly conservative northern churches, where hymns are staple. I didn't think about it much growing up, but now I'm often drawn back to the lyrics of the hymns by Wesley, Luther, Newton, and so many others. Over the next month I'll be starting a stream looking at the messages, theology, and doctrine of the hymns.

All I want is happiness

Got this from a news story I ready this morning:

In tech beyond the big shows, an 18-year-old hacker calling himself GMZ admitted that he guessed the password of a Twitter administrator ("happiness") and hijacked high-profile Twitter accounts, including Obama's, Wired's Threat Level reported.

It's amazing what people's passwords can tell you about a person, we are all dreaming for some level of perfection, we are constantly striving for something better, even if it's just happiness. Where in the world do we get such a notion if we were just products of evolution. Common, my cat never dreams of having a bigger cat house. What is this 'thing' which drives us to always be looking for better, could it be that we were made in the image of God?

Just my thoughts...

How would your life change if you knew God didn't exist?

We are all confronted with a life of constant churn, trying to survive to the next day. Day after day I'm faced with moral challenges, dealing with things such as need, wants and desires. I'm confronted with an advertisement system which tells me "if it feels good, do it" but a struggle with a moral consequence to that action. I was taught that stealing, slander, cheating on my wife, murder, envy, not honoring my parents, and respectful speech of God is the moral standard set down by my Christian worldview. When I'm needing money, I don't rob a bank because of my moral standard.

Does a belief in God truly affect our moral decisions? According to The Pew forum on Religious and Public life 88% of Americans are sure or fairly sure that God exists. 57% of Americans feel that you need a belief in God to have a moral standard. The funny thing is the generational gap trend is showing that this is also a changing perspective. In the US 61% of the people over the age of 40 that were surveyed and only 51% of the people between the ages of 18-39 said there must be a belief in God to be moral. That means the trend is moving to a belief system which doesn't rest upon a higher moral authority.

In my last blog I talked about altruism, and how I don't believe that any human is selfless. I think that from the infant to the oldest of us, we are all selfish by nature. When we were born, we didn't desire the best for our parents, all we thought about was our needs: Food, warmth, and comfort. My argument is that if we are left to our natural desires, without some kind of external influence in our lives, we would have no moral standard. Even those who claim "there is no god", live under the shadow of His presence.

So lets just pretend we live in a world where God never existed, there never was a god. What would this world look like, how would it function, what would be the norms and morals of this society? What would the standard of human value be based upon? What is the worth of a person, merely what they are capable of producing? What would be the purpose of living?

Is Altruism real or a product of selfishness?

The term today is "pay it forward", the idea that you do something good for someone, not out of need but a desire that they in turn will do the right thing. I love the Liberty Mutual commercial which starts with one random act of kindness, observed by a third party, and then shared over and over again. Wikipedia says altruism is selfless concern for the wealfare of others, but is this true, do we as humans truly have a selfless concern for anything?
I often ask what is a persons motivation for doing something, is it fame, is it recognition, is it expecting something in return? If our volition, or motivation for doing anything has anything to do with our welfare in anyway, then I would claim it as being selfish and thus not altruism. I read a great article where a guy "payed it backwards". He even claimed his motivation was selfish, he wanted peace from a very unrest filled situation. My exploration is not into the question of "pay it forward", but rather into the motivation of a person who does that random act of kindness.
As many of you know, I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. Much of my motivation to do selfless acts has everything to do with my world view. I am motivated to help people selflessly, not to gain favor with God, but rather to demonstrate the selfless act of Jesus Christ. I often question my motivation for doing anything good, it's truly a struggle for me. Am I trying to gain God's favor, when I know from the Bible He loves me without condition of my actions. If I'm doing good, am I doing it to be more righteous, like the pharisees of Jesus day? The Pharisees would make sure everyone saw the good they did, and received praise. To this Jesus gave a great response, recorded in the book of Matthew 6:2-4

2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This is a great passage to really reflect on as I think about how do I go about doing things that will help people. First I must do it in secret, I like this, because on many situations I've run into people who give money, and demand to be recognized for what they've done. They receive fame and honor from the action, and thus would be a reward in itself. Selfless acts must be done without any rewards. As a recipient of good will, I've often wondered what the motivation of someone who gave, are they looking down at me for not having as much. But when that item just appears it is a miracle, it has no cause and effect, it has no response, there is no reason for it. But now as a Christian, am I doing this for another reason... if you read the passage you will pick up on the motivation it gives: "Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." I now push the question forward, is there such a thing as true Altruism?
I think there is only one example of true altruism, a true selfless act, which no logic can truly understand:
The Master Creator, the Author of time and Space, God. He created everything to His standard which was of course perfection, we call his perfection Holy. He created beings, to enjoy what he created, not because He was lonely, or He needed them, but truly wanted to share His creation. This would be the first major act of altruism. But something entered the world which caused his creation to become corrupted, it was anything but his design, a term we call sin, which means missing the mark, or less than perfection. We live in a world were sin is normal, it's expected, it's the way things are. I can't even imagine what the world was like in it's perfect state. As a creator, he had two options: He could of course start over, like a potter who smashes down his pot or a painter who re-primes the canvas. His second option would be to correct the wrongs, and resolve the offense. But the offense had a cost.
When I think of cost, I'm often drawn to our current economic situation, where the system of monetary balance is off-kilter. The banks who are overdrawn because of the corruption of itself, and greed of people misusing credit, are now going to be bailed out by the federal government, which represents taxpayers, which is about everyone. The cost isn't isolated, it effects everyone. So the cost of Sin is huge, it's not perfection. If a Holy God accepted any perfection, lets say he just ignores it, He is no longer Holy. For God, the logical thing would be to start over, but He didn't.. He stepped into time and space, and took on flesh, and became a man, the God Man, Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life, something impossible for all of us under the curse of sin. As a blameless perfect lamb, died on the cross, removing the curse of sin from those he loved. Not to gain their favor, because they have nothing to give, they we slaves, they were in debt to perfection. You see, that I believe is the second truly altruistic act ever committed on our planet.
What is your opinion of altruism, am I off the mark, please let me know.

New Year, New ways to make a living...

As the New Year begins, we are facing a time of financial turmoil and frustration due a lot to the fact that our economy must go through the withdraw pains of credit abuse.  Think about it, we've been so addicted to credit as a nation, that even the solution involves borrowing more money!   Sorry to say, this will not bode well for us going forward, and inflation will eventually take over.   Currently Treasury bills are being issued at around 0% interest, meaning they will have no value to the holder (and will cost the holder with inflation accounted).  This is the writing on the wall for many that it's time to get all the ledgers straight as we move to a period of belt tightening.

So what's a family to do during times of recession?  Well, it means you need to produce more and make more capital in order to pay those raising prices.  I know it's a tough time to ask the boss for a raise,  since most companies are trying to cut those costs also.  This is where innovation and creative thinking must reign.  

Start with getting your household in order, make a living budget that includes what it cost to live right now.  In a financial planning class I took some years ago, they suggested you create a log and write down every cent spent.  Do this for 1 month including all your bills, nail down where all that money is going, down to the item purchased if possible. 

Now understand what you are paying for, if a loaf of Organic top shelf bread is costing you $2.53, look for other solutions.  Bread machines at a thrift store might only cost you $15.00, and a loaf of bread with a machine might only cost $0.45 to make.  Consider making bread not just for you, but also for your neighbors, at $1.20 a loaf you can make up the cost of the machine, and also put a little cash into your pocket.

Electricity is another huge cost, though our bill is normally about $150.00, there are a ton of ways to save which are simple, like unplugging those voltage adapters (the big bricks on game systems and cell phone chargers) when not being used.  These are often called 'Vamps' simply because they suck electricity even when not being used to charge the batteries.  What did our great-grandparents do before they had electricity... well they used candles and lamps.  This is also a simple solution, though does not necessarily provide for cost savings.

Another simple solution, which uses a lot of our time is TV, consider firing your TV.  I know Americans spend a lot of time in front of the TV, and this isn't very productive time.  Instead, read a book, take up a craft which could provide a source of income.  

I know that what I've written above isn't revolutionary, actually it might seem downright barbaric to some.  Times are changing, and things aren't going to get easier.  Right now is the best time to pay off those credit cards, loans, and mortgages and try to get as debt free as possible.  

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Disclaimer:  The ideas and thoughts above are mine completely, and don't endorse or promote anything other than my thoughts.  Please leave comments of suggestions if you have any ideas yourself for saving money, or making extra money during lean times.