Feeding the Poor and Speaking Eloquently

When I was younger I was fascinated by language. I love words. One of the reasons my vocabulary was enlarged is because I had a fifth grade teacher who didn't believe in suspensions or writing sentences for bad behavior. Whenever one of her students was busted she would have us sit out our recess time by pulling out a big dictionary, turning to a page and telling us to write the words and their definitions as our punishment. Needless to say I learned a lot of new words during the fifth grade!

When I became a Christian, one of the mandates of Jesus that truly challenged me was his command to minister to the poor as often as I had the chance and means. I take that directive seriously. Now I have found a way to kill two birds with one stone. I was directed to a great little website, www.freerice.com that allows you to build your vocabulary while at the same time donating rice to feed the poor. In about ten minutes of having fun while learning new words I was able to contribute the equivalent of about two pounds of rice. I plan on spending my coffee breaks at this site for the next few days.

Give the site a visit. Learn a few new words and warm your heart knowing that you have fed a few hungry children effortlessly.

The True Meaning of Christmas

Thanksgiving is behind us. Well not really. We should always be in an attitude of giving thanks. After all, we certainly are blessed beyond measure. And now the Christmas frenzy begins.

There are homes to decorate, cards to send, food to prepare, trees to trim and gifts to buy. It's all part of this exciting time of the year. And here is something you can pretty much count on. One of the networks will undoubtedly show the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.

In what is commonly a secular arena, the true meaning of Christmas will be broadcast prominently. It wouldn't be Christmas without it. In the middle of all of your preparations you may be tempted to be a bit Grinchy. But pause for a moment and watch this clip and it will put it all in perspective.

Here's wishing you all a Merry, Merry Christmas.

None of Us is Average

No one wants to be average. Average is not only boring, but weird. As an example, read this exerpt from TIME magazine:

" . . .finding the Average American is a challenge, since means and medians and majorities can hide as much as they reveal: pity the statistician whose job it is to flatten us into a trend. The average household has 2.6 members, but most families prefer their children whole. On average we are 36.6 years old, but in reality we are newborn and toddling, aged and wise. We exercise close to the recommended 20 minutes a day—but that's because 17% of us exercise for well over an hour, while the rest of us scarcely stir at all. The vast majority of Americans believe in God, and more than 90% own a Bible, but only half can name a single Gospel, and 10% think Joan of Arc was Noah's wife. So what's the average state of our eternal souls?"

To read more click here. Now, how does that set with you? Where do you fit?

Young People Abandoning Church

I've written about this before, but it bears repeating. Young people are leaving the church in droves. And even among those still attending, many are living lives that don't reflect a relationship with Christ at all.

One of my many favorite blogs is Lifeway. This blog has many great articles about faith issues in everyday life. This article about youth leaving the church really caught my attention and heart.

Although I no longer have children at home, I am burdened by what I see around me. Many of these young people have broken homes, bad neighborhoods, negative peer pressure and media bombardment that eats away at any resolve they may have to try to live for God. Add to that the typical rebellion or challenging of rules that comes with this age group and you have a formula for disaster.

Some say that it is a stage they are going through and many of them will return to the Lord and the Church when they get older and have children of their own. But I believe this generation is different. The information and technology age has created an environment of pseudo-intelligence. Never before has a generation had more "facts" to challenge the existence of God. As a result many young people are making an "informed decision" to reject God. The enemy of our souls has found the perfect recipe for cooking up doubt and unbelief while looking and sounding respectable.

What can be done to encourage young people to have and continue having a relationship with God? Although I am grateful that our own children are pursuing God, I am not content with watching this generation drift away. There is too much at stake.

So, How Would You Describe the Christians You Know?

I love to read surveys and polls and the conclusions that are drawn from the collected data. I especially enjoy reading those that help me understand how Christians and Christianity is understood. One of my favorite blogs gives a summary of some information that has been collected classifying Christians under 5 categories.

Personally, I agree with the findings. After 30 years of being a pastor, I have found that these categories are not limited to professing Christians who are CINO (Christians in Name Only). Several categories of these people who fit in these categories are regulars in many of our churches.

You can read the entire lengthy article here. It's really worth the read. Do you recognize people who fit in these categories? Do you find yourself fitting into a category that may have taken you by surprise?

Quote of the Week

Quote of the week: Sometimes 80% is 100%.

I have always struggled with the idea of “excellence.” Often proponents of “excellence” are really perfectionist. These people slave over every little detail believing that God is in the details. However sincere they may be, they come across to me as insufferable. I’ve come to grips that not everything we do requires a perfect end result.

I don’t like chain restaurants. I avoid them whenever possible. They shape every hamburger perfectly, they weigh their French fries and measure each ingredient so as to have a standardized product. This method has its place. When you are on the road you can expect that McDonald’s in Phoenix will pretty much look and taste the same as McDonald's in Portland. No one likes surprises when they are traveling.

But given the choice, I’ll go to a mom and pop restaurant where the burgers are hand shaped and custom cooked. These kinds of restaurants don’t bother with the details of trying to make a perfect hamburger. They settle for making a good one and for most of us that’s good enough. Every hamburger looks different, but they’re all good.

I work in a high demand environment. We have a small staff and a huge load of work. We have deadlines to meet and they come upon us at the speed of light. We often have to send out a product that isn’t perfect, but it is certainly good enough. We agonize over our imperfections, but if we waited until every detail was wrapped up, we’d never send anything out.

There are situations that call for perfection. I expect nothing less than perfection from a nuclear physicist. I want my surgeon to pay attention to the details. I want my bookkeeper to balance the books to the last penny. But I’ll settle for my clean-up hitter to hit .300. I’ll gladly accept an 8% return on my investments. I’ll continue to work on bowling a 200 game. Sometimes 80% is 100% and knowing that takes a lot of stress out of life.

Mike Huckabee for President?

Could this man be your next president? Do you recognize him? He's Mike Huckabee former Governor of Arkansas and Republican candidate for president. He has been making slow progress in the ranks of the Republican party but he is winning over evangelical, Christian voters in large numbers over the past few weeks.

I have never publicly discussed politics although I have had a number of animated private discussions with family and close friends over the years. I was born and raised a Democrat but became a Reagan Republican and have voted mostly Republican since because it was the party that best reflected my understanding of issues from a conservative and often Christian perspective.

I am stepping out of character and telling as many of my friends as possible that they need to look into this man' s campaign. Mike Huckabee is the most consistent conservative running in the race. He has a track record that has so far failed to bring a challenge, or revelations of a scandal from any of his opponents. He seems to be the real deal.

A few months ago I had never heard of the man. I was challenged by a fellow blogger to look into Huckabee's story and it got me to thinking. Why would I want to waste my vote on another candidate that didn't hold my convictions? Why be sucked in by the media into believing that it is inevitably a Rudy vs. Hillary race? After all, it is only the primaries. The primaries are when you vote your conscience, the general election is when you may have to settle for the lesser of two evils.

Some of the most respected Christian bloggers are trying to get the word out. Randy Alcorn is one of them, and so is Justin Taylor. They have put their support behind Huckabee and written excellent blog posts explaining why.

Christians should make informed decisions. They should vote for a candidate that holds the closest biblical and moral views. If you want to know more about Mike Huckabee, you can go to www.hucksarmy.com and view some of his videos. There is even a place on this blog to put your money where your mouth is if you believe that this candidate is a good choice for conservatives and Christians.

And by the way, if you are concerned about electability, Mike doesn't stand a chance unless people vote for him, but neither do Hillary and Rudy. It's the voting that counts, not the polls and surveys.

For what it's worth. My primary choice for the President of the United States is Mike Huckabee. I think he is the best choice for Christians and conservatives based on his stated positions and his record.