Tag Archives: God

Thanksgiving Perspective

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“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” – Mark 9:37 (NIV)
988769_10202515955928334_2005026955_n  JAMES-FUND

It is Thanksgiving Week in the United States. Many of us use this week, and Thanksgiving Day, to connect with family and friends to enjoy fellowship and share what we are thankful for in our lives.

I’m not going to spend a lot of words today trying to guilt you into feeling bad about the good and wonderful things God has blessed you with this year. I’m simply going to ask you to click on the links below.

Read the stories.

Investigate the opportunities to share.

Rejoice. Give thanks. Share as you are able.

 

Opportunity #1 – God’s Littlest Angels Orphanage in Haiti – November 29 through December 1!
My friend Tom Vanderwell works for GLA. He lives near me in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tom is passionate about his work and the incredible opportunity that is available through a partnership with Family Christian Stores and Best Selling Author, Karen Kingsbury.

Click this link to read about the opportunity to help raise $500,000 to build a new neonatal facility in Haiti: The Haiti Challenge. Three Days, One Orphanage & You.

 

Opportunity #2 – SafeWorld Medical Clinic in Uganda – NOW through December 12!
My friend Matt Chambers is the Director of SafeWorld projects. He has assembled a team with a dream for Uganda.

The goal is $50,000.

1,000 people $50 each

WHY BUILD A HOSPITAL?
In the United States, we have 1 physician for every 390 people. In Nakaseke District, Uganda (where SafeWorld is based), there is only 1 physician for ever 29,000 people. As we researched the most immediate, effective, community-building ways we could help, this seemed the most crucial need. When we met with all the village, parish, and district leaders, they were unanimous that this should be the first building we construct.
Affordable access to excellent healthcare changes EVERYTHING.

Click this link for more information and to donate: http://hopemob.org/s/1ts-help-us-open-a-medical-clinic-in-uganda


Rejoice. Give thanks. Share as you are able.
Have a great week!

Explaining Love and Law

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“…because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” – Ephesians 2: 4-5 (NIV)

I love you God

After reading through Monday’s post and comments a few times, I realized I didn’t explain myself very well. I wanted to explain one thing, and it came off as something a little bit different. If you haven’t read Monday’s post, you may want to read it before continuing. Click here Love and Law

What I realized after reading it over again (and again and again…), is that I didn’t properly tell you where I was stuck.

You all understood the Love part. I need to let the grace and love of Jesus flow into my heart.

The stuck part is in my head. It is not, as I failed to explain, the Law. I’m not hung up on the rules. I’m not legalistic.

I’m stuck on the academic.

The desire to understand doctrine and theology, to decipher the words written by respected theologians and ministers, grabs me. It has grabbed me for decades.

I like reading what they wrote. I like reading about their lives.

John Calvin
Martin Luther
Abraham Kuyper
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and many more.

Sad to say, I can remember thinking more than a few times over the years, the sermon I was hearing needed more details on the doctrine and theology of the sermon topic. I wanted to know the roots and foundation of the pastor’s points.

Did the words I was hearing from the pulpit, in the music I was listening to, in the words I read in the dozens of books I read every year, fit with the doctrine and theology I believe? I wanted to understand the intricacies of the doctrine and theology. (I’m sure I’m not the only person trying to come to a complete understanding of the Trinity while on this side of Heaven. Right?)

Now I intend to pay attention to both. Love and Law. Or more accurately, love and the details of the love working in me and through me to better understand it all.

Let the Love of God flow into me so that I may better understand His Amazing Grace.

Il Divo – Amazing Grace

 

I’m a Man – Society’s Opinion

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The expectations of society on men vary. One sector tells men to be “manly men” with a scruff of a beard, work boots, flannel shirts and dirty hands at the end of the work day. Another sector of society tells men to be “clean-cut” with a sharp suit, $300 shoes, the perfect coif, and a 9-5 job that is actually a 6-9 job full of fast paced business decisions and high-powered meetings. There are also sectors in society that tell men to be timid and reserved. Another sector tells men to be a “great dad”. Men are pulled many different ways. Every day.

 

My question for men is this: What should you be? Where do you find yourself falling on the “man spectrum”? Is there one perfect model of what you should be as a man?

My answer to the question is that there isn’t one single perfect place on this spectrum. God created us all as unique people. What society tells us to be, isn’t necessarily wrong, but it isn’t right either. I’m certain there are men in $3000 suits and men in work boots who are both following the path God has for them. What society thinks about each of these men can vary.

Do you have a stereotype in your mind when the slick looking business professional walks into your auto repair shop? Is it different from your stereotype of the man in work boots wearing the Carhartt overalls? Do you value one over the other?

 

Value. Usefulness. Worth. Importance.

Modern society, by which I mean the all invading modern marketing and media, places “value” on money. Often the value of a human revolves around how much income is created by and around an individual. A popular professional athlete is perceived to have a far greater reach when compared to a person with a four month old blog with nine subscribers. The athlete has a higher “value” in our society.

 

Do you have a high value in society? Do we fall prey to the marketing influences in our daily lives as we place values on individuals?