Good bye Winter

So, by my figuring, spring must be just around the corner.  No really, we’ve had more winter, this winter, then we had last winter and winter has only been here for a week.  So by the time we had this much winter last winter, winter was almost over and spring was almost here.  You still with me?  So put away your snow blowers and pull out your lawnmowers.  If only it worked that way.

In case you don’t know me that well, I really dislike winter; loathe might be a better word and so I look forward to spring with great longing, it’s less than 12 weeks away.

I remember when I looked for the return of Christ with that type of longing and I wonder when and why that changed.  This time of year we celebrate the first coming of Christ and as believers we are told that He will return and even though it might not be tomorrow, it might be.  Are you looking forward to His return?  Or would it put a crimp in your plans?

So this Christmas, as we look back at what His first coming meant, perhaps it would be wise to look ahead and consider what His return will mean for you.    Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

End Thinkism. . . Part 2

It happens to all of us, we read something online that we really enjoy, a post, a news story or just a picture that brightens our day.  And then we read the comments that people post.  What is it with people?  I understand that not everyone will agree with everything.  But do folks really need to be so hateful.  And it’s just as bad for church and ministry posts.  It’s almost as if we need to belittle the ideas of others in order to justify the truth of ours.  And that is . . .thinkism. 

Author James Grippando says that while it’s no longer acceptable to hate or pass judgement on someone because of their gender or race, too many people will say hateful, judgmental things about someone based on their ideas or their thoughts.  Very few folks want to be thought of as a sexist or a racist but many apparently have no qualms about being thinkists.

And being a thinkist may have been fine when folks were speaking to a limited audience.  (No, it probably wasn’t ok then either, but at least the hate was compartmentalized.)  However, today when you post online you are exposing the world to your thinkism.    So again I say:  It’s time to end thinkism.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Must be an easier way

Just this past week a homeless man in Seattle was arrested for stealing... a high speed ferry. When the crew from a local tugboat company noticed early Sunday morning that the vessel seemed to be adrift, they boarded it to bring it back to the wharf, only to discover 33-year-old Samuel Kenneth McDonough onboard. According to police reports, McDonough had managed to get gain access to the locked terminal, snuck aboard the ferry, started it, and was planning on using it to make his way across the border to Victoria B.C.

If nothing else, you need to admire the man for his chutzpah. Surely there must be easier ways to get to Victoria from Seattle.

How often do make the trip to heaven more difficult than it has to be? Over and over again, the Bible talks about our salvation being a free gift. We can’t earn it and we certainly can’t steal it. And yet people are always trying to do it the hard way.

McDonough didn’t make it out of Seattle harbour on his own efforts, and none of us will make it very far on our own efforts, either. But the good news is that we don’t have to. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

The cost of a Beautiful Day.

I was on my way back from my trip to Peru last week and we had a three hour layover in Dallas on November 22, 50 years since the assassination of John Kennedy.  And it was cold.  Not cool….. cold.  When we flew in it was 3 degrees Celsius and raining, it was warmer in Halifax!  But the weather got me pondering.  If it had of been 3 degrees and raining 50 years ago, JFK and Jackie would not have been sitting up high in an open convertible and perhaps this year he would have been celebrating his 94th birthday.

But because it was a beautiful day, life changed for JFK, his widow, Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby.    

And once again I realized how fragile and fleeting life can be.  God’s word says, “ life is like the morning fog, it’s here a little while and then it’s gone.” 

As fleeting as life might be, it is the life that was given to each of us to make a difference in our world.  So, the question is: do you live your life in such a way that when it’s gone you’ll have no regrets?  There are no mulligans in life, and I don’t want my last thoughts to be “If only. . .”  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Defining Moments

Defining  moments.  Do you  ever think about the defining moments in your life? You know, the big things that make you stop and think about life. A couple of the defining moments for our generation, celebrated (if you can use that word) major anniversaries this past week. The assassination of John F. Kennedy happened fifty years ago on Friday. For many people inside and outside of the U.S. this was definitely a defining moment in their life. They can tell you where they were and what they were doing when it happened.

For example, I was three and I was playing with my building blocks.  I remember thinking, “This can’t be happening.” Just kidding.

I have no memory of that event whatsoever. On the other hand, I do remember where I was and what I was doing on November 18th, 1978, and I remember how I felt when I heard the news about the Jonestown tragedy. At 18 years old, I couldn’t comprehend what would compel 913 people to commit suicide.  At 53 I’m none the wiser, at least in regard to that incident.

So here’s the question. Are we as committed to giving Jesus Christ our lives to live as they were in giving Jim Jones their lives to die?

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