I’ll be honest, my relationship with God has gone downhill of late. We haven’t been attending church regularly, nor have I been reading my Bible and praying like I should. Basically I haven’t been spending time with God. You know what? I miss Him. I miss the relationship, I miss the serenity, I miss the calmness in His voice when He speaks to my heart. I have once again let life get in the way. I have reduced my witness to a whimper and my ministry to a crawl.

A lot of it has to do with not having a church home. I have no root. I’m not grounded. But that’s not a good excuse. I still have a Bible, I still have the ability to talk to God anytime I so desire. I just don’t. I wake up early and check Facebook before I check in with God. I read my email before I read God’s word. I am doing life without the giver of life and it really just sucks. My empathy is gone, my compassion is low and my patience is small.

I see it most of all with my kids. I am meaner to them than usual. I snap at them instead of listening to them. I ignore them instead of getting down on their level and listening. I am quick to punish and slow to praise.

I don’t like me when I’m like this. I don’t recognize the man in the mirror. I know the face but the countenance is unfamiliar.

1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.

don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

Scrub away my guilt,

soak out my sins in your laundry.

I know how bad I’ve been;

my sins are staring me down.

4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen

it all, seen the full extent of my evil.

You have all the facts before you;

whatever you decide about me is fair.

I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,

in the wrong since before I was born.

What you’re after is truth from the inside out.

Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,

scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.

Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,

set these once-broken bones to dancing.

Don’t look too close for blemishes,

give me a clean bill of health.

God, make a fresh start in me,

shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

Don’t throw me out with the trash,

or fail to breathe holiness in me.

Bring me back from gray exile,

put a fresh wind in my sails!

Give me a job teaching rebels your ways

so the lost can find their way home.

Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,

and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.

Unbutton my lips, dear God;

I’ll let loose with your praise.

16-17 Going through the motions doesn’t please you,

a flawless performance is nothing to you.

I learned God-worship

when my pride was shattered.

Heart-shattered lives ready for love  Psalm 51:1-17 The Message

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

We do that all the time though don’t we?  We ask a question hoping that the answer "we" want will be verified and seconded by the person we are asking.  We want our answer.  Almost like we are just asking out of respect for that person, not because we want a real answer. 

Or maybe she didn’t know the answer until she asked it and as she was asking she realized what she wanted.  I ran across this picture the other day and it got me to thinking about this subject, take a look.

Pretty true though isn’t it?  Once we flip that coin, 9 times out of 10 we are hoping it lands on one particular side and in that moment clarity is attained.

We do this with asking advice from others but we also do it when talking with God.  We come to God with the pretense of seeking His will, asking His direction but secretly hoping He will verify and bless our agenda, our idea.  We have our own motives and inwardly we decide long before going to God what we are going to do.  But we pray anyway.  We come to Him out of some thin veil of respect almost as if to say, "This is what I plan to do, if you don’t like it then stop me, otherwise it’s what I’m going to do." 

The Bible says,

⁷ "Ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. (Matthew 7:7, New Century Version)

Ask, don’t inform.  Search, don’t direct.  Knock, don’t force. 

None of those three actions, asking, searching and knocking, imply that our will be done.  Actually in the Lords prayer it says "Your (God’s) will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." 

So before doing the Heavenly Coin flip, make sure you aren’t going into it with your own agenda.  Allow God the freedom to show you His plan and then have the sense to accept it as is. 

Don’t manipulate it your way but instead follow it His way.

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

You spread out our sins before you – our secret sins – and you see them all.  Psalm 90:8 (NLT)

I read Westerns.  I never used to like them but as I have grown older they’ve grown on me.  My favorite author is Ralph Compton.  While reading and watching Westerns I have heard the word “spread” a lot.  “How big is your spread?” or “I really want a big spread when I get done driving these cattle.” are common phrases. 

What they are talking about, for those that don’t know, is a piece of land.  “How big is your piece of land?” 

Let’s ask ourselves something.  How big is our spread?  The difference is that I’m referring to our spread of sin.  If God spread out my sin or your sin how big a spread would it be?  Would you have a lot, a block, how about an acre?  Maybe you are a hell-raiser and have a 40 acre spread.  I would be willing to bet that most of us have a pretty good size spread, I KNOW I do.  Today alone I have sinned at least 5 times that I can think of and I have only been awake for 30 minutes. 

Most of them are “secret” sins.  You know those right?  The ones we are ashamed for people to see.  The thoughts and intentions that if anyone got a good look at they would run screaming to the police that we were some kind of monster, yeah those.  We all have sins that it’s ok for others to see.  Mine are jokes.  I have a hard time controlling my humor.  It tends to get racy and mean.  I try to be careful but the words seem to flow out on their own.  And while this isn’t good the sad fact is that if you could look in my head and see what is really flying through you would probably be scarred for life.  BUT, (and it’s a big but) I bet the same would be true for you if I looked inside your noggin’.

The cool part is that not only does God see all our sins, even our secret ones, but He forgives all our sins as well.  We only have to ask. 

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.  1 John 1:9 (NLT)

This does not mean it is ok to sin.  It’s not ok to do wrong.  When we sin, when we go against God it does several things but mainly it hurts God and hurts us.  It hurts God because of His sacrifice to forgive our sins.  If we sin and keep sinning the same way over and over we make a mockery of what Jesus did on the cross, His sacrifice for us.  It also hurts us.  Sin repels God’s blessings in our lives.  Sin cuts our communication with God.  Sin hurts our relationship with others.  Sin can cause physical illness.  Sin destroys families. 

BUT!!!!   But, if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from every wrong.  That’s not to say the consequences from sin won’t still be there, but the relationship with God will be restored.  When my kids get in trouble and tell me they’re sorry I forgive them but the consequences remain.  They may not be as steep if they realize what they did and seek forgiveness, but the consequences are still there.  I am teaching them and reinforcing the lesson just like God does with me.

How big is your “spread” pardner?  It’s not nearly as big as God’s ability to forgive!

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

Wounds from a friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.   Proverbs 27:6 (NLT)

I read this the other day on a friends facebook post.  What a great verse.  Thanks Mrs. Beverly. 

The wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy.  Let’s start with the second part,

The kisses of an enemy.  Who likes to have their butt kissed raise your hand!  I do.  I like having my ego stroked, my actions praised and my looks complimented.  ( the last one is more a hope than something that actually happens all that often.)  Seriously though, we enjoy it.  It makes us feel good to be appreciated.  We enjoy hearing about how awesome we are.  I have a picture on facebook of Capt. Kirk (Star Trek) and he has a big old cheesy smile on his face.  The caption under the picture says, “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am.”  You can see it HERE. 

But Proverbs is trying to warn us about this.  The problem with many “kisses of the posterior” from enemies is they aren’t true.  They aren’t reality.  They are mainly lies.  We believe them because we want to believe them.  Even though sometimes our ego won’t allow us to see them as false, most of us have grown past this.  Most of us see ourselves warts and all. 

It is easy to get the last part of this verse.  The hard part is accepting the first part.  To realize that the wounds from a friend are actually good for us.

The wounds of a friend.  Hopefully you have friends.  I do.  I have a lot, actually according to facebook, I have 205 friends, but I only have one or two that really know the real me.  Only one or two that I truly open up to.  Only one or two that I share my heart and soul with.  Most of the rest are superficial at best, fake at worst.  For those that know me you would probably say I am an out-going and funny guy.  But for those that really know me they would say I am also a closed off and guarded man.  I share easily but I share myself rarely.  I believe most of us are this way though.  I think the vast majority only feel comfortable with a few close friends.  I think it is hard-wired in our genes to only allow a few people to breach the walls of our heart, to get past our defenses.  Just as the gladiators of old were trained to keep opponents from getting past their defenses so have we trained ourselves to not allow people through ours.  I can count maybe four people that I have ever let past mine. 

Why?  Why are we this way?  Why are we so guarded?  Why have we built these massive walls around us?  Simple- survival.  The greatest pain I have ever known has come from my friends.  The most hurt I have endured has been at their hands.  But at the same time the most truth I have learned and the most healing has come from them as well. 

The true friend knows what to say and when to say it.  The true friend does not turn from their duty to speak the truth in love even when it means pain for their friend.  I have been on both sides.  I have been the one that truth hurt and the one to speak those painful words.  Neither side is very fun I can assure you.  But the necessity of having and being such a friend is undeniable.  The truth is hard to swallow at times, and at least for me, I tend to need someone to force me to drink it. 

My daughter Abby is stubborn.  I mean mule-stubborn (she gets it from my Mom- I get it from my Mom as well, but Abby didn’t get it from me)  The other night she refused to take her liquid medicine.  After 30 minutes of trying to reason with her I finally looked at her and said, “Baby-girl, you’re gonna take that medicine even if I have to force it down your throat.  Now, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?”  Of coarse she chose the hard way!  I usually do too.  (thanks Mom!)

But once the truth is swallowed and it begins to digest in our soul it becomes sweet and nourishing.  It may be a bitter pill to swallow but it becomes a piece of chocolate cake once we begin to accept it. 

As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be committed and repent. 20 Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me.  Revelation 3:19-20 (CSB)

Jesus IS truth.  Invite Him in.  Have dinner.  Enjoy the company.

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

”Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to fight against my will.”’  Acts 26:14 (NLT)

   This hit me like a ton of bricks (which hurts by the way).  Whose way am I following?  Am I like Saul?  Am I unknowingly fighting against God and His will or am I working with God?Saul was a priest, and a devout one.  He truly thought persecuting the early Christians was the right thing to do.  He believed in the cause.  He rallied to his holy crusade.  The problem was he was wrong.  He was WAY off the course God wanted him to take.  But God stepped in and knocked him to the dirt and asked him, “Saul, hey Saul!  What are you doing?  Why are doing the exact opposite of what I want?  You are actually persecuting me.  It is tough to fight against me and serve me at the same time.”

So this begs the question, what am I bringing into my relationship with God that is in reality going against His will?  What attitudes, preconceived notions and great ideas do I have that would make God tell me, “It’s hard to fight against My will Shawn.”  When I read the Bible, what context am I reading with?  My American upbringing or am I trying to read it through the eyes and mind of God?  What type of prayer am I praying?  Is it in humble supplication to God or is it full of “I wants” and “I needs”?  What great ideas do I have to change the world for Jesus?  Are they really His will or are they my selfish desires to make my ego grow? 

John, the cousin of Jesus, said in John 3:30 that “I must decrease so that He (Jesus) can increase.” 

This is my prayer,

“Dad, I MUST decrease, it must become less about me.  I must decrease, it must become less about what I want.  I must decrease, it must become less of my ideas.  I must decrease, so that You can increase.  Amen.”

Increase your decrease so that He may increase in your life!

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

Oswald Chambers said it this way- “Troubles nearly always make us look to God; His blessings are apt to make us look elsewhere.”  Here, here Mr. Chambers.  I see that happen to me all the time.  When life sucks, I’m talking to Jesus.  When life is going well, I’m talking to everyone but Him.  My prayer this morning was “What have I been doing?  Why am I playing at being a Christ-Follower again?  Why hasn’t my walk at work matched my walk at home?  Why haven’t I really talked to you in a while God?”  Then He answered me, “Because life is going well right now.  Life is good and you’re taking me for granted.” 

 ^5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
   don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
   he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
   Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
   your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
   give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
   your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
   don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
   a father’s delight is behind all this. (Proverbs 3:5-6, The Message)

I am NOT a prosperity preacher type guy.  (see 1 Timothy 6:6-10)  I think most of that is garbage.  Just my personal opinion but I can’t back up the belief that God wants me to have a Corvette or a Benz.  However God does bless us tangibly and intangibly, but rarely in the way we want.  He may give us peace in a dark time or help us pay for groceries when money is tight, but as far as I can see He isn’t going to give me a Corvette when  what I need is a mini-van.  God gives us what we need to serve Him, not what we want to serve our egos.  But no matter what the blessing is, tangible or intangible, it still tends to make us forget God. 

Maybe you are more spiritually disciplined than I am, if so- you are awesome.  But I imagine that 99.9% of us, if we really looked at, and I mean put a 500 watt quartz light bulb in the lamp in the living room of our heart and looked in the corners and under the love seat I bet what you will find is that, like me, you slack off when things are ducky quack-quack.  Your relationship gets stale.  Your prayers are shorter with way less emotion.  Bible reading is boring and nothing seems to be jumping out at you. 

If this is happening, be careful because the next step is for God to do something or allow something to happen that will get your attention.  Why?  Because He knows the longer you take Him for granted, the farther you get from Him.  The more comfortable you get with not praying or reading, the easier it is to ignore Him.  No one likes to be ignored, God definitely shouldn’t be ignored.  But we do.  I know I do. 

This morning He gently reminded me that I have been ignoring Him.  Hopefully I listen, because usually the reminders get a little more intense each time. 

Sometimes I hear my wife but I don’t listen.  I know she is talking, I hear her voice but I’m not listening to her words.  Usually a few minutes later a pillow or something comes whizzing at my head.  If I still don’t listen the object gets bigger and harder.  Ouch!!!  “What honey, I’m ready to listen!” 

God’s discipline (see last few verses above)  tends to start gentle and get a little harder each time as well.

“I hear you God, please help me to listen.”

——————————————————————————————————————–

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

Maybe He isn’t playing hide & seek, maybe He’s playing Marco Polo.  So you yell out, "MARCO!" and anxiously wait for the standard reply of "Polo" but it never comes.  Silence fills the air.  Loneliness creeps in and then you realize you aren’t playing Marco Polo or hide & seek at all, what actually happened is that you have lost God.  You left Him somewhere and now you can’t remember where.  Just like when you lose your wallet, purse or your keys you start to scramble around looking in the normal places you would leave such items.  In the same way you begin to search for God in the spiritual house of your life. 

Charles Spurgeon in his devotional Morning and Evening said,

"Tell me where you lost the company of a Christ, and I will tell you the
most likely place to find him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by
restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find him. Did
you lose Christ by sin? You will find Christ in no other way but by the
giving up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the
member in which the lust doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by neglecting
the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the Scriptures. It is a true
proverb, "Look for a thing where you dropped it, it is there." So look
for Christ where you lost him, for he has not gone away."

Go to the last place you felt Jesus in your life and start there.  Most likely He is still there waiting on you.  Something happened there that made Him dig in.  There is something there that He wants you to see.  Something He wants you to learn.  Maybe something He wants you to give up?  Find him where you left Him.  So maybe this IS more like Marco Polo.  When you step outside the light of Jesus and it’s dark it’s just like when you have your eyes closed fumbling around yelling "Marco" hoping someone will answer.  The cool thing about God is that He always lets us find Him. 

Maybe it’s time to start yelling "Marco" in your own life.  But I would start the game in the last place you lost the company of Jesus.  Chances are good He is still there.

"MARCO!!!"

——————————————————————————————————————–

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

I am pissed off.  Yes, I said pissed off.  I try not to swear on this blog but sometimes there just isn’t another word for it.  I am pissed off at Christians that attempt to decide what was/is God’s judgement.  Who am I referring to?  Pat Robertson.  Please do not think he speaks for all Christ-Followers because I can assure you he does not speak for this one.  Was this the judgement of God on a nation of Satan worshipers?  Beats me.  I doubt it though.  Why do I doubt it?  In the Old Testament we read about two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah.  Cities of sin and evil.  It got so bad that God decided to destroy them because of the evil they contained.  But Abraham asked God if He would spare the cities if 50 righteous people could be found.  God agrees.  Abraham knows that 50 righteous people can’t be found there so he continues to haggle with God and gets God all the way down to 10 people.  If 10 righteous people can be found God will spare the city.  But 10 could not be found and the cities were destroyed.  What am I trying to say here?  I’m saying that God does not bring judgement lightly nor should we attribute disaster to Him lightly.

Here’s what I do know.  I do know that there is faith in Haiti.  There are Christ-Followers in Haiti.  The love of God was there before the disaster and is growing day by day after it.  Please take a moment and read the following news article on MSNBC, Many faiths unite in facing horror in Haiti.  Author Manuel Roig-Franzia does a great job of letting us know about the faith of a large portion of the Haitian people.

A few quotes from the article I really liked were,

Seekers stream into the parking lot of the ruined Sacre Coeur Catholic church, a 105-year-old brick gem that was turned into a grim, hollowed-out shell, its stunning stained-glass windows tossed to the ground in shards. There, the Catholics and the Protestants and others seek solace from Father Hans Alexander, a Haitian priest who took his decidedly un-Haitian first name from his German father. He doesn’t ask them about their religion; he asks them about their pain.

and,

“This is not the will of the Lord,” Alexander tells the two women, sisters who lost their mother and one of their children, a 1 1/2 -year-old, in the quake. “Don’t put this blame on the back of anyone. Don’t put it on yourself.“

also,

Alexander, 40, grew up in this church, first as a vicar and for the past seven months as its principal priest. He is himself pondering basic questions. He has spoken so many times of “original sin,” but the quake has led him to what he calls “a discovery,” reinforcing his belief that “God created us to be good.” The neighbors he sees helping one another — carting debris, digging for survivors, patching wounds both physical and psychological — confirmed it for him.

I like that a lot!  God created us to be good, to help each other, to love one another.  He created us to be good, but along the way we have forgotten that our original purpose was to take care of and help each other all while loving and worshiping God.  Sin destroyed that, but as Christ-Followers we have the Holy Spirit to mend that rift that was created and restore the ability and desire to love God and love each other.  We have no excuse.  Just as this Priest in Haiti is learning and seeing first hand, we can love, we can help, we can do great things.

So let’s not hate on Haiti.  Let’s not decide who is being punished by God and who isn’t.  That’s not our place.  Our place is to help, love and reach out.

And to Pat Robertson and all the other people out there that decide to proclaim what they believe to be God’s will or actions and ascribe disasters whether natural or man-made as proof of God’s judgement, be careful, because 1 Peter 4:17 says

The time has come for God to judge people. God’s people will be judged first.

When God’s judgement does come, we’re first in line for that judgement.

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

Let me make a point, every one knows about the new Health Care Reform that President Obama and most of the rest of the Democrats are trying to pass through right?  I don’t care what side you fall on, agree or disagree, the fact is that it shouldn’t be an issue.  Why?  Because if those of us that call ourselves Christians or Christ0Followers were doing what we were supposed to, taking care of the poor and needy, the sick and oppressed, the widows and orphans there wouldn’t be a need for Government Health Care.  But what we have done is become greedy.  The New Testament Church was way different than us.  Do you know how they dealt with those in need? 

^43-45Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met. (Acts 2:43-45, The Message)

They sold their “stuff” and GAVE it to those in need.  I am as guilty as everyone else.  I love my “stuff”.  I want new “stuff”.  But “stuff” doesn’t make you happy or content.  It just makes you want more “stuff”. 

Here is the cure for that cycle of buy, buy, buy, want, want, want…..  Give “stuff” away.  Give away money, cars, furniture, whatever.  Give it away. 

Wednesday morning the U.S. awoke to see tragedy and suffering on a scale we haven’t seen since the tsunami’s hit the Asian and African coasts.  Now is our chance to help.  Below is a simple, easy way you can help.  Please take the time to consider it.

HOW CAN I HELP!

The easiest way is to text the word “Haiti” to 90999.  This is a legit number.  It is  posted on the The White House Blog as well as on the Red Cross website.  If you are not a texter you can also make a donation by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). 

Another way to help is to call local churches and ask if they are doing anything.  I know a few in my local area is taking food to send over.

You can pray.  You can PRAY!  YOU CAN PRAY!

Now is the time to make a difference.  Now is the time to step up.  Let this be the beginning for us all.  Help those around you.  Help those in need.  Show them the love of God.

View Full Album

——————————————————————————————————————–

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Did you like this post? Did you hate it? Please share it with your friends and leave a comment below. I would love to read your thoughts and opinions.

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!

Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist of creating out of void, but out of chaos.~ Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. ~ Thomas Alva Edison.

Necessity, who is the mother of invention.~  Plato

Want is the mistress of invention.~ Susanna Centlivre

Thank God for inventors.  Thank God for people willing to think outside the box, take  chances and put feet on their ideas.  Think about it.  Things we now take for granted at one time were cutting edge.  Light bulbs, cars, TiVo, cell phones, heck, even toilet paper was cutting edge back in the day (actually, corn cobs and Sears catalogs would be more “cutting edge” I guess, but you get my point).  I would have to say the greatest invention of my time would be the Snuggie Blanket.  It’s a blanket with sleeves, did you read that- WITH SLEEVES!  That’s pure genius.

Not really, that’s a joke, honest engine.  No seriously, I don’t have one, ask my wife.

Meanwhile, back on the farm~

Our ability to invent is only limited by our inability to dream.  (Hey, that’s good, maybe one day I’ll be quoted for that.)

The Bible also talks about inventing, did you know that?  I didn’t either so don’t feel bad, but I read about it the other day and like Mr. Edison’s light bulb, it lit up as I was reading it.

“Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.”  Hebrews 10:24 The Message

How inventive can we be?  We should be driven by two different factors, want and need.  We need to be inventive because the big Day is approaching.  The big Day is Jesus’ return.  While I am not trying to predict when He will be back it is a Biblical fact that He will.  So we NEED to be inventive about how we love and how we help others.  We should also want to be inventive.  Because of God’s great love for us we should have a WANT to share that love with others.

But above the need and want to show love and help others ourselves we are supposed to be encouraging that love and helpful attitudes in those around us.  That’s really what church is for.  It’s a place to get together and encourage each other.  We have moved away from that purpose and made it into what we have now.  We sing, we shake a hand or two and listen to someone talk for 30 minutes then we all make a mad dash for the door and then play NASCAR while trying to get out of the parking lot to go home.  But the original plan for church was a lot different.  It was all about getting together and spending time with each other and encouraging one another to show love and help others.

Let’s re-invent how we do things.  Let’s see if we can come up with new and better ways to love and help others and then let’s share what we learn with everyone else.  Following Christ is not supposed to be a Lone Ranger style of life, it’s supposed to be more like the Wonder Pets.  Never heard of the Wonder Pets?  You must not have kids.  If you have kids all I have to do is type, “What’s gonna work?” and you would instantly reply, “TEAMWORK!”

So let’s pretend we’re Wonder Pets and all say with one voice, “What’s gonna work?  TEAMWORK!”  Let’s get together and start inventing new ways to love and help.  Let’s do more with more instead of today’s “more with less” philosophy.

TEAMWORK!

It’s all about Him,

Shawn

Questions? Don’t forget to visit the Questions??Questions?? page and let me know. I will try to answer it the best I can. No Quantum Physics or Time Travel questions please!

I’m not Einstein!