All I Want for Christmas

So did you get what you wanted for Christmas?  Were all your wishes fulfilled?  Were you ecstatic or disappointed on Monday morning?  Maybe a little bit of both, I know how you feel, for the fifth year in a row I didn’t have a new BMW convertible in my driveway, actually for the fiftieth year in a row I didn’t have a new BMW convertible in my driveway, but hope springs eternal. 

Life often mirrors Christmas in that we don’t always get everything on our list and perhaps the problem lies with our lists. Maybe we have the wrong wants, except for my BMW of course.  And so as we move ahead into 2013, maybe what we really need is to make a new list of wishes. 

I think I’ll skip the BMW and instead wish for a deeper relationship with my Lord, a stronger relationship with my wife, and a more authentic relationship with my kids.  And instead of just wishing I think I’ll put some effort into it as well, that way there’ll be a much better chance the wishes will become reality. 

And just in case you are still shopping for my BMW convertible, crimson red would be nice.  Have a great week and   remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Post Mayan Apocalypse

Well, we made it through another “End of the World”. At least, if you are reading this I presume that the Mayans were wrong. If you’re not reading this, then perhaps one of the many and varied doomsday scenarios actually happened on December 21st. On the other hand, maybe you’re not reading it because you just didn’t come to church today. Presumably you are reading it, which is good news in that the world hasn’t ended and you are in church.

But, seeing that we have escaped yet another “End of the World” scenario, this might be a good time to reflect on what you are going to do with the rest of your life. Maybe you want to be lighter and healthier, smoke-free or friendlier.  Maybe you want the rest of your life to be more spiritual—you are going to pray more, give more, attend church more, read your Bible more, or tell more people about Jesus. If that’s the case, then you are going to need help because you already know that you can’t do it by yourself. So, now that you know the world will still be here in 2013, it’s probably a good time to let God have complete control.    Have a great week and   remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Be careful little lips

Let me start by saying I’m not fan of radio prank calls.  When they come on our local radio station I turn it off or find another station.  I also don’t like TV shows like “America’s Funniest Videos”, probably for the same reason.  I am really not into relishing  the humiliation or pain of others and calling it funny.  That being said, I find the public outcry over the prank call to Kate’s hospital somewhat hypocritical. 
  

I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. It’s been on the news and all the social media.  Two radio presenters from Australia called the hospital and pretended to be Prince Charles and the Queen & were able to get a progress report on Kate.  Nothing embarrassing or personal, the staff merely said she was tired and resting.  And people chuckled about it, especially considering the horrendous accents the Aussies used.  

Tragically one of the nurses involved committed suicide the next day and now the Australians are being blamed for her death.  Really?  

While I personally don’t think the blame can be placed at the feet of the radio station or the presenters, it reminds me again of the power of our words and the hurt they may cause, even if unintended.     Have a great week and   remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Dead?

Just a month ago, Dale Porch, 46, collapsed and died on his front steps after returning home from his night shift job.  The man’s death was certainly a tragedy at his age.  However, what makes it more disturbing is that the Denver man’s body remained on his front steps for two days before anyone realized that he was dead.  The United States Postal Service acknowledged that one of their mail carriers had visited the home but thought that Porch’s body was a Halloween display.

Contrast that with George Johannesen from Winnipeg, who recently discovered that he was dead.  Two weeks ago the 59 year old found out that he died sometime in October.  Guess nobody had thought to tell George.  He wasn’t even aware that he was dead until he received the paperwork from the Government. 

Ultimately it isn’t perception that determines whether or not you are dead, it is life.  And it’s hard to argue with life.  I wonder how many churches are mistakenly thought to be dead or alive simply because of the perception of others? 

However, for people and churches it is better to be thought to be dead and be alive than to be thought to be alive and actually be dead.    Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

The Scrooges of Christmas

Bah, Humbug,  Scrooge is like Bond, everyone has a favorite.  For some there is no Scrooge like Alistair Sim, he was the actor who portrayed Scrooge in the clip we just saw. He also reprised the role in an Oscar winning short film in 1970.  Maybe it is Albert Finney in the 1970 film simply entitled “Scrooge”.  For others it might be George C. Scott from the remake done in 1984 or Henry Winkler in the 1979 “An American Christmas Carol”.  My favorite was Michael Caine from the Muppets Christmas Carol.

And most of us have watched one of the over 20 movie adaptations or television specials of “A Christmas Carol”.  How many have read the book?  I have to admit that I haven’t.

The book, written by Charles Dickens was first released on December 19 1843, the Novella was met with critical success however the author was disappointed with it’s commercial success over the first couple of years it was in print, and yet it has never been out of print since that first edition.  And the first movie was made in 1901 and a new version with Jim Carrey was released just a couple of years ago, and it’s interesting that Jim has had the opportunity to play both Scrooge and the Grinch.  

In his book “A Christmas Carol”  Richard Michael Kelly writes “Dickens’ Carol was one of the greatest influences in rejuvenating the old Christmas traditions of England, but, while it brings to the reader images of light, joy, warmth and life, it also brings strong and unforgettable images of darkness, despair, coldness, sadness and death.”

A couple of highlights for those who have never experienced the movie or the book.  The story opens on a “cold, bleak, biting” Christmas Eve in 1843 exactly seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner, Jacob Marley.  Ebenezer Scrooge is described as “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!” who has no place in his life for kindness, compassion, charity or benevolence. He hates Christmas, calling it “humbug”.  It is on that night that Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of his dead partner who warns him to change his ways or end in misery as Marley had.  Scrooge is then visited by three ghosts the Ghost of Christmas Past who reminds him of the man he used to be, of lost love and missed opportunity.  The Ghost of Christmas Present then reveals the goodness of people to Scrooge as they celebrate Christmas.  Even those with very little to celebrate, including his clerk Bob Cratchit whose sick son, Tiny Tim is unable to get treatment because of the poor pay that his father receives from Scrooge.  And finally Scrooge is visited by Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  Here Scrooge witnesses the death of Tiny Tim and his own death where local business men say they will attend the funeral only if there is a luncheon. Of course you all know that Scrooge wakes up from his dreams a changed man, embraces Christmas and seeks to make the world a better place. 

Each year as I watch different people’s reactions to the Christmas season it gets me thinking about Scrooges.  And I decided that you didn’t have to look like this to be a Scrooge, (Alastair Sim) or like this (Jim Carey) or even like this (Scrooge McDuck).  And the more I thought about it the more I realized that there are all kinds of Scrooges out there.  As a matter of fact there are Scrooges who don’t even know they are Scrooges.  And if you told them they were a Scrooge they would probably be personally offended. 

So as I begin this message today may I categorically state that I’m not preaching to anyone here specifically, that the Scrooges I’m talking about are represented in society as a whole and in previous churches I have pastored but by no stretch of the imagination should they be seen as representative of anyone presently attending Cornerstone.  So if you feel like perhaps, by some stretch of the imagination that I’m referring to you this morning, I’m not.  You just a little bit sensitive, which of course is a nicer word then paranoid.

Today if you are a person who just doesn’t seem to truly get into the Christmas spirit there is a good chance that you would be called a Grinch, from Dr. Seuss’s book the Grinch who Stole Christmas.  But long before there was a Grinch there was a Scrooge.  So who are some of the Scrooges that we see each Christmas?

1) Classic Scrooge This is the Scrooge that Dickens was writing about.  It wasn’t Christmas itself that the Scrooge was upset with it was anything that made life more enjoyable.  Christmas seemed to be the culmination of all that was happy and joyful in London and it seemed to be personified in Bob Cratchit.  And so The Classic Scrooge isn’t opposed to Christmas per se instead it is all that Christmas represents.

People like this have kept the milk of human kindness bottled up so long that it has indeed curdled. They’ve been seasick on the entire journey of life.  Robert Lynd made this observation “There are some people who want to throw their arms round you simply because it is Christmas; there are other people who want to strangle you simply because it is Christmas.”

Ebenezer Scrooge was a classic Scrooge, he hated Christmas for the same reason as the Grinch hated Christmas but we’re not too sure what all of those reasons were. 

The book and the movie give us some hints, at one point Scrooge says Christmas is “a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!”

But like the Grinch the most likely reason of all may have been that Scrooge’s heart was two sizes too small.”   As evidenced by this statement of his, “If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!”

Scrooge would probably have gotten along well with Samuel Goldwyn who said “You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”

Now I know and you know that there isn’t anyone here today like that. But if there was I would say “Lighten up!”  Start to enjoy life because you won’t get out of it alive.  Remember what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 17:22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

There are all kinds of reasons to get uptight and cranky over Christmas and they are all choices.  Don’t let Christmas get you down, enjoy the season.

But not every Scrooge is a general everyday classic Scrooge some are specialized Scrooges  for example there are the 2) Secular Scrooges.  You can recognize this type of Scrooge by their language.  They never say Merry Christmas: it’s always Seasons Greetings or Happy Holidays. They don’t put up a Christmas tree they put up a holiday tree, their idea of a classic Christmas carol is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer or Frosty the Snow Man and they cringe at the very sight of a nativity scene.

These folks aren’t opposed to Christmas as a matter of fact they seem to embrace the holiday almost in its entirety. Almost.  It’s not Christmas they have a problem with its how the church has tried to make something religious out Christmas.  They want to go to their Christmas parties and get paid on their Christmas holidays and send out Christmas Cards, which of course don’t actually include the word Christmas anywhere in them. They buy and give and receive Christmas presents, they decorate their homes with Christmas lights but they won’t acknowledge that the first part of Christmas is Christ.

Sometimes we get the feeling that these people are in the majority, but you know there really aren’t a lot of these people out there. Not individually.  What there are though are bureaucrats who work for Government offices and corporations who have decided that it is their job to protect the feelings of those who might not be Christians.  And so schools are told they can’t celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and shops and store don’t put up nativities any more and sales clerks are told to avoid the “C” word and to say things like “Have a nice holiday” instead of “Have a Merry Christmas.” 

There was an interesting interview in 2005 with Ben Stein and in the interview Stein states “Next confession: I am a Jew and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish, and it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautifully lit-up, bejeweled trees “Christmas trees. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are — Christmas trees. It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they’re slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we’re all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year.”

But most people understand what Christmas is all about (Clip about Christmas) and even new Canadians who don’t share our Christian heritage know that Christmas is a Christian holiday, regardless of what it’s called.  And that even with the sanitized “Happy Holiday” the question then has to be asked “What holiday?”

Dave Berry wrote “To avoid offending anybody, the school dropped religion altogether and started singing about the weather. At my son’s school, they now hold the winter program in February and sing increasingly non-memorable songs such as “Winter Wonderland,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and—this is a real song—”Suzy Snowflake,” all of which is pretty funny because we live in Miami. A visitor from another planet would assume that the children belonged to the Church of Meteorology.”

On the other side of the coin are the people I would call the 3) Religious Scrooges.  You know who I’m talking about.  They would go to the other extreme and take everything secular out of Christmas.  For them Christmas is about Christ and nothing else.   If it was up to them they’d have Santa get a real job, fire the elves and put the reindeer in a zoo.

Now I know that Jesus is the reason for the season, ok don’t get me wrong on that.  But hang on to your chairs cause in 2012 he’s not the only reason for the season.  There are social reasons; people use this as an opportunity to connect with family and friends they’ve been out of touch with.  There are religious reasons, don’t confuse this with Jesus being the reason for the season.  Christmas is a time that people are God aware or at least religion aware.  There will be thousands of people attending church in Bedford and Hammonds Plains on Christmas Eve and it will have nothing to do with a relationship they have with God and everything to do with how they perceive their religious obligation. 

There are even economic reasons for the season.  I’m not sure what would happen to the retail sector of our economy without Christmas.  I’m not sure that people would buy the same amount of stuff the rest of the year. The money that is spent not only on gifts but on decorations, travel and food is staggering.    Is that bad?  A stimulated economy is good news for most of us.  And it was Eleanor Roosevelt who said, “People say that Christmas is too commercialized.  But I have never found it that way.  If you spend money to give people joy, you are not being commercial.  It is only when you feel obliged to do something about Christmas that the spirit is ruined.”

2000 years after the birth of Christ it is virtually impossible to separate the true meaning of Christmas, that is celebrating His birth, from all of the cultural, social and religious traditions that have come together to form what we think of as Christmas. 

And then there are the 4) Pious Scrooges.  These are the people that would do away with Christmas in a heartbeat.  But not for the same reason that Religious Scrooges would do away with Christmas.   They look at some of the pagan roots of Christmas, and a lot of how we celebrate Christmas does have background outside of Christianity. 

They tell us that date of Christmas was originally used in pagan celebrations in Rome to celebrate the passing of the winter solstice. And they are right, the ancients knew that by this time in December that the shortest day and longest night had passed, and with that came the promise of longer days, shorter nights and eventually spring.  Around 270 a.d. Emperor Aurelia capitalized upon the heathen worship of the sun and declared December 25th as the birthday of the Unconquered Sun.   But when Christians celebrate this December 25^th they won’t be doing to recognize the promise of longer days or to remember the birthday of the Unconquered Sun.  

They would tell you that early pagan cultures from the Romans to the Egyptians to the Celts used evergreens in their celebrations to signify eternal life.  But when we put up our trees it will harkens back to a Christmas Eve about the year 1513. When Martin Luther was walking through the woods on the starlit night he thought the stars looked as if they were shining on the branches.  When he arrived home, Martin Luther placed a small fir tree inside his house.  He decorated it with lighted candles.

In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul addressed the issue of meat that had been sacrificed to idols.  Some believers felt that the meat was impure because of its pagan beginnings.  It had been offered up to false gods.  Paul said 1 Corinthians 8:4 So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God.

 And I guess that’s my thought, we can dwell on what December 25^th used to represent or we can focus on what it’s supposed to represent. Are we celebrating the birth of the unconquered sun or the birth of the unconquered Son?

Well I got through those four and had to ask myself “where do I fit in?” Because the reality is that I’m a little bit of a Scrooge myself.  If I wasn’t married with a family my house would remain dark, nary a card would be sent and on Christmas Day I would eat a pizza. 

Which is probably why I enjoyed Christmas in Australia, very few people decorated their homes and for Christmas dinner we had a BBQ then we went to the beach. Although my favourite Christmas tradition was when we’d all pile into my Volkswagen Convertible put the roof down, stick a Christmas tape in the stereo and go look at the houses that were decorated.

But I’m not the way I am because I don’t like Christmas or don’t approve of Christmas is just, well I’m one of those 5) Apathetic Scrooges.  I just don’t get excited over all the hoop-la that surrounds the Christmas season.  But I think it’s nature’s way of finding balance because my sister starts decorating and getting ready for Christmas shortly after Easter, well maybe she waits until the first of November. 

So what’s the answer?  2000 years ago Jesus Christ was born after Mary and Joseph traveled a great distance to get to the town his family was from. On that first Christmas there was a star and there was singing and gift giving.  The shepherds were told to rejoice and to celebrate.  And you know and I know Jesus probably wasn’t born on December 25^th, and we know that there have been abuses of Christmas both past and present.  But I don’t think it’s wrong to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  He came to offer us the greatest gift we could ever receive, the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.  And it all started in a manger in Bethlehem and that’s worth celebrating.

And to finish we have another quote from Ben Stein about Christmas “This is a revolutionary, stupendous freeing of the human spirit. This is why Christmas is such a joyous time for people, whether Jews or Christians, or anyone else, who want to believe that we humans can be forgiven and go on to lead lives of triumph no matter what has happened in our past.”

Taking a Stand

Well, he’s certainly gotten people talking.  This past week actor Angus T. Jones made headlines after his video condemnation of the television show that has made him a very wealthy teen-ager.  Depending on your perspective he was either taking a courageous stand for his faith or he was joining in former co-star Charlie Sheen in being a complete kook.  

If you missed it, Jones who played the ½ in 2 ½ men asked people to stop watching the show “and filling your head with filth.”  It seems that the actor has recently connected with God and has come to the conclusion that “You cannot be a true God-fearing person and be on a television show like that”, and he wants out.

In the past 12 months, Jones has made approximately $8,000,000.00 from the show, and it seems that he willing to give that up for his convictions.  But really, the important issue isn’t whether Angus T. Jones walks away from his $350,000.00 per episode contract because of his Christian faith, but whether his words will have any impact on the television watching habits of Christians.  I wonder how many Christians who applaud his stand will still watch the show or shows just like it?    Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

They don't have a prayer

So, Kim Kardashian had to apologize for comments that she made on Twitter.  And you might be thinking, “ and this is worthy of a Penn?”  Well yeah, because of what she had tweeted.  It appears that Kardashian had the audacity to post “Praying for everyone in Israel,” and she followed that with, “Praying for everyone in Palestine and across the world!”  The reaction from her almost 17 million followers (which could be a whole Penn on its own) was overwhelmingly negative. 

It seems that the reality TV show star can talk about fashion and what she has for breakfast but that she stepped over the line with her comments about her prayer life.  Ms.  Kardashian not only received negative, obscenity laced responses but also had several death threats.  I don’t know if it was because she was planning on praying for Israel or for Palestine.  Wow!  She probably should take the threats serious, after all, it was teaching like Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” that got Jesus killed.

And as Christ Followers we are still supposed to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us and maybe even tweet about it.     Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

Caught!  He got caught.  The fact that a high ranking government official was caught cheating on his wife really shouldn’t be a newsworthy item.  We’ve seen it happen with mayors, senators, governors and Presidents.  That doesn’t make it right, it just makes it common.  But this guy was supposed to be able to keep secrets.  Last week David Petraeus stepped down as director of the CIA (That’s the Central Intelligence Agency, just to be clear) after having admitted to an extramarital affair.

As in most cases, Petraeus didn’t admit to cheating on his wife of 37 years out of guilt or remorse, he did it because he got caught.  Had he not been caught, the 60 year old, 4 star general would have kept right on cheating. 

In a letter explaining his decision the director wrote “After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”   Which roughly translated means, he was sorry he was caught. 

But, it was inevitable, even for the director of the CIA.  God’s word tells us “You may be sure that your sin will find you out.”  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

What is in a name?

She was proud of the name she carried and tried to her best to add to the legacy of that name.  Most of us heard the tragic  news of the sinking of the HMS Bounty this past week. What you may not know is that the crewmember whose body was recovered was Claudene Christian.  Does her name ring a bell?  It should, her great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was Fletcher Christian and he was the chief mate who led the Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.  Now think about predicting that Buzz Aldrin’s great-great-great-great-great-grandchild would die in an accident involving a working replica of Apollo 11. Mind boggling isn’t it?

42 year old Christian, joined the Bounty in May and spoke on several occasions about the pride she felt following in the footsteps of her mutineer ancestor.

As “Christians”, we follow in another’s steps and the name we carry isn’t that of a mutineer but instead it is the name of the Saviour of the world.  And while most of the world didn’t know about Claudene’s heritage until her death, we proclaim our heritage through our lives.    I hope that we will be as proud and as conscious of the name Jesus Christ as Claudene Christian was of the name Fletcher Christian.   

 Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

The Price of Leadership

The Bounty has been lost. . . again.  I first heard about the problems the Bounty was having early Monday morning as the initial reports came out and I followed the progress of her loss and the rescue of most of her crew with rapt fascination.  It’s an interesting quirk of human nature that I seemed to feel worse over the loss of her two crew members than I did for the dozens who died in the Caribbean as a result of the same hurricane, but that is a “Penn” for a different time.  Charitably I will say that was the result of my time at sea.

The interesting thing for me is the people who were on dry land, often behind a desk who have questioned the decisions of Captain Robin Walbridge.  The tragic loss of the vessel and at least one crewmember will probably be laid at the feet of Captain Walbridge. How often do we hear the term “Captain error” or “Pilot error”?  And that is the price of leadership. 

Sometimes leaders make the right decisions and sometimes they make the wrong decisions, but we have entrusted them to make those decisions and until we have stood in their shoes we are only guessing at how we would have reacted.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

Shameful . . .

So, did you vote last week?  Probably not, since we were told that less than half those who were eligible to vote actually cast a ballot.  And if you fall in that category it is shameful and inexcusable.  People say “But Denn you don’t understand,  I didn’t know the issues or candidates.”  Well, whose fault is that?  Others say “I just didn’t have the time.”  Yet you had time for Facebook and television.  Still other’s maintain that it doesn’t make a difference. Well it most certainly does, just watch the news and see what happens when people can’t vote.  And in this election it was so easy to cast a ballot.  If you didn’t have a car, a candidate would have driven you, if you didn’t want to leave the house you could have voted online, if you didn’t have the interweb thingy, you could have voted by phone.  Shameful and inexcusable. 

But that is just my opinion.  The Bible never told us that we had to vote for those in power, but it did tell us to pray for those in power, regardless of whether you voted for them or not.  And if we don’t do that, not only is it shameful and inexcusable, it is disobedient.  Just saying.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

Going Up?

Faster than the speed of sound!  This week, Austrian extreme athlete, Felix Baumgartner, became the first human to break the sound barrier.  Well, the first human to break the sound barrier without an airplane. 

“Fearless Felix” jumped from a capsule that more than 38 kilometers above the earth and before deploying his parachute he reached a speed of 1,342.8 km/h, which broke the sound barrier — 1,200 km/h.  Baumgartner’s jump broke the previous record that had been set in 1960 by US Air force Colonel Joe Kittinger.  Which was the year I was born. 

Very few if any of us will ever have the chance to break the sound barrier, at least not on the way down but maybe on the way up. The word of God tells us that someday the church, the bride of Christ, will disappear in the twinkling of an eye to be with Jesus. We don’t know if it will happen in our lifetime or not, but it might, and the question always has to be “Will you be ready to go?”  And going up will be even cooler than coming down, and so I leave you with this thought, “I trust that I’ll See you there or in the air.”      Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Happy Thanksgiving

So, how was your Thanksgiving?  We had a full house this year. My folks were here from Saint John, our daughter and her family we up from Shelburne,  and we had some time with our son and his girlfriend in the Valley on Saturday.  We did the traditional feast on Monday and will eat leftovers for a good part of the week.  Thanksgiving was good, and we had a riot with the grandkids.  But it was a busy weekend, with a trip to the Valley on Saturday, three services on Sunday and the feast on Monday. I wonder how much time I really had for giving thanks.  And I have much to be thankful for, especially as I look around at the rest of the world, and I don’t just mean material blessings.  I love my wife and I love my life and there’s a lot to be said in that statement.   Often though I take those things  for granted, or worse, take them as my due.    

I’m not going to make promises about how next Thanksgiving weekend will be less rushed because  it won’t be.  But I am going to try really hard through the year to say “thank you” more to my family, my friends and my God. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

It's Just a Matter of Time

The Toronto District School Board insists that it’s not endorsing polygamy.  In a recent promotion to help prevent “gender-based violence”, the school board’s website has a poster with the message “Love has no gender” in white capital letters surrounded by various hearts containing stick figure people.  In one of the hearts, there is an image of a man with two women; in another, two women with one man. 

Sounds like polygamy to me, but apparently not, at least not according to the school board.  “First, the board does not support polygamy,” said TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird. “The images in question were meant to support an individual's right to choose whom they love, regardless of gender. For example, the reason for depicting two women and one man was meant to show that a person can be attracted to more than one gender.”  That clarifies their stand, it would be wrong for a man to have a relationship with two women but all right for a woman to have a relationship with a man and a woman.  

It’s good to know that those who educate children would never endorse polygamy but have no problem endorsing bisexuality.  But really, polygamy is only a matter of time.    Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

Who Cares?

The question apparently isn’t “was he or wasn’t he?”. . . the question is “Who cares?”   A couple of weeks ago it was reported that a fragment of manuscript had been discovered with the words “Jesus said to them, ‘my wife. . .’”.  Well, that set the cat amongst the pigeons, so to speak.  The “Jesus had a wife” bunch are saying, “We told you so”.  The other bunch are screaming “Heresy!”.  And most of the world is saying “Who cares?” 

ATV news did a web poll and 45% said it didn’t matter to them if Jesus was married. It’s kind of interesting that the number of people who said they didn’t care was 666……. I kid you not.  But if the manuscript is authentic, and if it didn’t refer to the plethora of Jesuses who lived 2000 years ago, what difference would it make to your understanding of Jesus?

I know that nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus was married, but nowhere does it say he wasn’t. The bible does tell us he was sinless but in no place does it tell us that marriage is sinful. 

Neither the words nor the grace of my Jesus would be minimized if he was married.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

Panem et Circenses

Topless princesses or spoiled hockey players? The news is full of both stories.

It is interesting that the obscene salaries of professional athletes only becomes an issue when there is a strike or a lock out.  But as long as the fans have something to watch nobody really talks about salaries.  People are always decrying the salary of the CEO of Nova Scotia Power, but he has a real job with real responsibilities, making sure the power stays on for a million people.   Hockey Players “play” hockey and I know that their career may only last 5 years, but still. 

However the reality is that hockey players demand those salaries because they know they can get them, because people will pay to be entertained.  The same reason tabloids will pay for and print pictures of topless princesses.  The Romans had a phrase for this “Panem et Circenses”, “Bread and Circuses”, the entertainment of the masses.   Maybe it’s just my cynical nature and we aren’t really seeing the swirls of our society heading in the direction of the Roman Empire.

Can the church changes society?  Is that the churches job?  Nope.  It’s to preach Jesus because He can change people, and changed people will result in a changed society. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

Who's Your Daddy

Who’s your daddy? Or, who isn’t your daddy?  A company in New York City, cruising the city streets in a mobile medical clinic, is offering people a chance to find out for just $299.00.  DNA testing, once an expensive time-consuming process out of reach of most people, has suddenly become affordable.  Sources say over 500,000 of the relationship tests are done every year in the United States. However, experts are warning of the danger of these tests claiming that many clients may not be psychologically prepared for the results.

Many of those who purchase the test are looking for confirmation that their fathers or their children are or aren’t who they were told they were.  Social scientists warn that the results could diminish past family relationships if new biological connections are discovered.  In some cases they say it is better to let sleeping dogs lie.  But sometimes the dogs aren’t the only ones lying.

If you are a Christ follower then you will always know for sure who your father is, perhaps not your earthly father but ultimately your heavenly Father.  And you don’t need to spend $299.00 to have your DNA checked. All you have to do is read the New Testament.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

Here Kitty, Kitty

It sounds like something from a science fiction novel, a harbinger of things to come.   A computer that has been taught to learn.  Can anything good come from this? 

In June, Google’s secretive X-Labs conducted an experiment involving the networking of 16,000 ultrafast computer processors.  Then they loaded 10 billion random images from YouTube videos and waited to see what would happen.  And . . are you ready for it?  The machine taught itself to recognize cats.  Which kind of makes sense when you think about it, if it was on YouTube and it wasn’t drunk then it was probably a cat.  Jeff Dean one of the scientist involved stated “We never told it during the training, ‘This is a cat.’ It basically invented the concept of a cat.”

One commentator wrote, “The frightening part of this report is that modern computers appear to be capable of independent learning through extrapolation.”  Hate to burst their bubble but what it took 16,000 ultrafast processors and billions of pictures to accomplish, our two year old granddaughter did last year.  Because there has never been a creation as marvellous as the one that God created on the sixth day.  And that is you!                   

 Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Poor Harry…… part deux.

Poor Harry…… part deux.  Alas, it wasn’t enough to have to write about Harry last week after it was reported that he was cavorting with members of the opposite sex by the pool. Then he goes and loses all of his clothes in  a strip billiard game and his friends post the pictures they took.  Harry, what are we going to do with you?  Of course, some of the news reports on that same day were “Celine Dion poses topless”, “Kidman shows backside in pic” and “Lady Gaga bares breasts in video clip” and nobody really seemed to care about that, but maybe that’s what is expected.  Well maybe not from Celine but from the rest of them. 

It appears the Royal Family is not amused. But Harry is not the first Royal to act badly, Mummy and Daddy weren’t saints, nor will he be the last. 

If you follow the stories there are all kinds of opinions about what the Prince needs to do. Some people think he needs to grow up, others suggest that he needs to act more responsible and remember who he is, while others think he’s doing a fine job. 

But what Harry needs more than anything is Jesus, then maybe billiard lessons and better friends.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.