Your favorite things.

Your favorite things. Quick...what comes to your mind? Don't think about it. What are the first visions that pop into your head when you read that phrase. Is it people, hobbies, a favorite vacation spot or a particularly delightful food you enjoy? If you're like most people, it's a myriad of things that fill that spot in our heart. You probably flipped through those thoughts like a Rolodex (I just dated myself. My kids have no idea what a Rolodex is any more)

The Bible says that we can get sidetracked by many things, thoughts about the temporal surroundings of this place. Look at the way the Message translates Colossians 3:1-2:

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

See things from His perspective. An interesting thought. Now, don't misunderstand what's being said here. Jesus was human as well as God. I believe Jesus had a favorite fish, a favorite place to get away and even enjoyed the company of three disciples more than the others.

But to "see things from God's perspective" (what Jesus did and what we should strive to do) means the worries diminish and stress melts. It means we see this world for what it is. Instead of constantly making deposits in our accounts here, we are looking for eternal investments where things really matter. It's having a Jesus filter.

So, while we still have to earn a paycheck and feed our bodies, we can't get caught up in building wealth here or fighting a pointless battle to keep our bodies from aging (man, how I see that all around us where we live). We understand that, at best, our lives are given no more than an average of 75 years or so in preparation for the real life, the one that is yet to come.

Look up! Be alert and watch what Christ is up to. That's where the real action is...and the best investment of every thought we have.

Here's your worthless information of the day.

Here's your worthless information of the day.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/celebrities-tv/wisconsin-dad-133892.html?cxntlid=thbz_hm

It seems as though this family has become extremely adept at spitting...crickets. That's right? Crickets. Now, I have to be honest with you. My first thought upon reading this article was not, "I wonder how far they spit it?" Nor was it, "I wonder if I could top their records?" No. Here's where my thoughts settled. Who in the world was so bored that they decided to freeze crickets (hope they remembered which frozen package was which in the freezer), pull them out hours later and see who could spit them the furthest? Better yet, who decided that it was such a popular thing that it needed to be a state fair event with age groupings and everything (yes, there was a category for 5 to 8 year olds)?

Funny how we can get caught up in some trivial things. Honestly, I think it's kind of cool (gross as it may be) for father and son to enjoy a common hobby. I'm not quite sure what happened to putting the cricket on a pole and trying to entice fish with it. But, hey, who am I to question?

It made me think about all the trivial things we can get caught up in when it comes to our faith. Think about. There is this giant state fair going on--rides, entertainment, food, games (I can hear the sound of money being sucked from people's pockets as we think about it). But over in a remote part of the fairgrounds, there's a small group of "cricket spitters." There is even a strategy to the whole thing. And these people are missing the real reason for coming.

We can do the same thing with our faith some times. We can miss the whole point of what God is seeking for us because we get focused on the little things. The end result? Religion...at its worst. Religion focused on ritual, performance...trivia. And what you have left? Cricket spitters.

I've been a parent now for 14 years (and then some)

I've been a parent now for 14 years (and then some). With every year that passes, every new event that I move through with my kids, I am learning more and more about God and how much He loves me (and, yes, puts up with me). I don't think it's a mistake that one of God's favorite references to us is as His children. He knew what we would be like when He created us.

I think about that every time I catch myself saying to one of my kids, "You just need to listen to what your mom and I are telling you. It may not make sense but we know what is best for you. Until you've been through some things, you'll never understand why it is better this way." I just have to smile. I know God is thinking the same about me. I know He gets frustrated having to explain Himself or having to watch my disobedience. I also know that, like any good parent, He hurts and cries when I don't get it right or I am forced to go through something that is painful.

I remind myself that, as much as I love my kids, God loves me that much more and far deeper. And, just as I do with my four, I am reminded by Him that the safest place to be when I have failed is close to Him. It's there that I will be lovingly corrected, forgiven and restored. It's there that the guilt will be removed. It's there that I will find the direction to live this life with more purpose and less chaos. It's there that I belong.

This is what the Lord says--your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Isaiah 48:17 NIV

My mom always told me to be careful what I say.

My mom always told me to be careful what I say. You never know who may be listening or what they may be hearing. And (mom and the Bible agree on this) the tongue has the ability to kill. With our tongues we can nag, demoralize, tear apart, tear down, cause conflict, spread rumors, split families, split churches, cause wars and create chaos. It's such an incredible weapon.

But such as incredible is our inability to listen or to hear what others are saying. You see, what we hear can often be skewed by our own experiences or by what we expect others to say. Literally, our upbringing can act as a filter on the things we hear. And, in some cases, what we are expecting someone to say can keep us from hearing what is actually said.

That happened near the end of World War II and cost more than 100,000 people their lives. By the end of 1945, the Japanese were weary from fighting and prepared to accept the generous terms of surrender that were offered by the United States. In fact, they were thrilled that the U. S. was offering such a lenient end to the hostilities. The Japanese cabinet was waiting for official word from the U. S. that these would, indeed, be the terms when the Japanese emperor called a press conference and the Japanese press made a fatal error. Emperor Suzuki used a Japanese word--"mokusatsu"--which had two meanings. One definition is to "hold off comment to a later point." The other, the one that the press service expected from their leaders and that they chose to use, was "ignore." Rather than the Allied leaders hearing that Japan was waiting to comment, they heard a Japanese government who was refusing to listen to their generous offers. President Truman had no other option but to allow the use of both atomic bombs to bring an end to the madness. The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed--in part because an Emperor did not choose his words carefully and a reporter allowed his expectations to temper what he heard.

Be careful with your words--and your ears--today. Either could lead to broken relationships or someone's self-esteem being crushed. Let your words be encouraging and affirming for all who hear you today.

It's really very simple.

It's really very simple. At least it should be. That's the thought that came to my mind over and over again as I took my walk this morning. I was listening to a podcast and it had stirred several thoughts by way of what the speaker was sharing. This was the primary one--our faith, real faith, the kind that Scripture that talks about over and over again, is really very simple. In fact, the more complex it becomes, the less it resembles faith and takes on all the traits of religion.

Now, you don't have to be a history major to understand the bad things that religion has done to mankind over the centuries. With its layers of rules and restrictions and rituals, it creates a complex system that is destined to make sure of one thing--its adherents are failures.

My grandmother was no failure. "Granny" to me, she was Miss Eva to the people of the town where she lived and died. And anyone who watched Miss Eva got to see an up close portrayal of what I'm talking about--simple faith. Stripped of all the complexities, it was a marvelous thing to observe. She loved her family, supported her husband (a farmer by weekday and an itinerant Baptist minister on the weekends), disciplined her children and prayed with great hope and trust for everyone she knew. Ask Granny about predestination, she would have probably given you a curious look. Talk to her about the Tribulation and she would have shared what she knew about the ones that were in her circles of influence. But ask her about Jesus, about love, about forgiveness or about the cross and Granny's eyes would have lit up. She knew what she knew and that was enough. Leave the complex questions to others who had time for that. Granny had children to raise, friends to love and a simple life to live. It was a life full of really simple trust in a God she knew very personally.

As I finished my walk this morning, I thought to myself how sweet her memories were. And I prayed that God would teach me to keep it simple so that I would never lose sight of the things that really matter most.

Everything you were taught can be put into a few words: Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about. Ecclesiastes 12: 13 CEV