The Simple Life

God loves, God gives. Think of it. God, because of His tremendous love gave and continues to give. In the beginning He gave by creating an atmosphere that would be conducive to meaningful relationships He gave us significance by allowing us to call a spot in this universe home, and by choosing to walk with us. He gave us time, a new invention that could be invested or squandered. He gave us beauty, in the universe, the earth and in each other. He gave us opportunity to live with purpose. He gave us choice so that we could love. He gave us a real fight so that the victory could be extremely sweet. God gave us His Word. God gave us a host of examples in life to follow and to avoid. He gave us His son, who would come and give and give and give until He had nothing more He could give. He gave us an example of what absolute power and authority looks like and how it should be used. He gave meaning to every breath, to every life, to every death. He gives us hope, i

Keeping It Simple Sometimes I think we make the simple complicated.   It seems that whenever I want to enjoy a hot dog, there is always someone around to tell me a plethora of reasons why I will be suffering if I eat that hot dog. I guess my simple mind is thinking of being hungry and trying to fight starvation, rather than the ramifications of non- organic beef, chicken, and pork. Perhaps, at times, to know more than one needs to know is good. If the hot dog, long- term, is actually detrimental to my health, I would be wise to listen to the argument. However, for me, if I trusted the person and they were not a competing brands hot dog salesman, a simple warning could suffice, and more than that becomes information overload. I often see Christians in the marketplace complicating the simple. We so often want to argue points, quote Scripture, and give history lessons, when the one we are talking to may not be interested in such enormous amounts of

Alcohol…Friend or Foe According to Time magazine (October 31, 2011), the United States spends $224 billion a year to cover the cost of excessive drinking in the U.S.   According to About.com, on October 25, 2011, we have spent approximately one trillion dollars fighting the war in Iraq. The war started March 20, 2003, which means that at the writing of this article, we have been fighting there for about 8½ years (which I will round off to 9 years to make the math easier). If these figures are accurate, while we have spent approximately 1 trillion dollars fighting this war, we have spent twice as much cleaning up the messes left by the excessive use of alcohol (over 2 trillion dollars). On 9/11 about 3,000 innocent people died. In Iraq, there were/are 4,481 who were killed, and 32, 195 who were seriously wounded. (Total number killed: 7,481) In that same period we lost between 711,000 and 900,000 lives to alcohol abuse (depending on whose statistics yo

Sometimes we have a hard time understanding what we mean when we say church . To some, it is an institution that has been put in place for their personal benefit. To others, it is a place to visit, to be religious on Christmas and Easter, before attending family gatherings and celebrations. Still others use the church as a crutch for whatever ails them. The church in America has become somewhat impotent, yet the reasons for such a slippage into meaninglessness seem to be a mystery. To most, church attendance is not that important, and we have made it legalistic to be required to attend. In fact, a football game, a late night party, or a summer cottage can take the place of going to church, and we have no guilt, shame, or remorse for our actions. Some might look at this problem as that of the individual, and there is some merit to assigning the problem to the people. Certainly, the church has become something we do instead of who we are. It has become something we give to, rather th

Dave Wager davewager.com

So often we desire something so badly that we make it true. In fact, we might even say, “Well, it is true to me,” or “It is true for this person or that person,” and watch the people we are talking to nod their heads in agreement. In reality, the people we are with should be nodding their heads in disgust. It is typical of mankind to want to make up truth. In the Christian world we often hear people talk about God leading them, when in reality, they are leading God by their wishes and desires. They so want something to happen or be true that they assign the "God's will " tag to it to silence their critics. We often craft the stories we tell to our friends about ourselves and our lives so that the image we want to portray is clear. Oprah, who grew up Baptist, once declared that Jesus Christ could not be the only way to heaven. Rob Bell, who cannot fathom the idea that Ghandi would be in hell, has decided that eternal punishment is not consistent with what his wishe

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. Jesus, the creator and sustainer of all life, of all things gave himself so that we might escape hell? No. So that we might have a sugar daddy in the sky? No. So that we might have fellowship in a local church? No. So that we might have hope for the future? No. Sometimes we get things mixed up because we want to mix it up. This verse is often quoted but seldom applied. We love the idea of God dying for us, that makes us feel very special as it should. But we forget as to why He died, the reason that is stated in this verse. He died so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. His death was not just about saving us in our death it was and is about life. Life now, life abundantly, life that gives meaning. We have no life without His death, His death is meaningless if it has no effect on our lives, today. Titus 2:11-13

Colossians 3:1-10 Chapter 3   Put On the New Self   1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.   5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.   Ephesians 5:1-12   Walk in Love   1

1 Samuel 8:7-9 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them." This was democracy in action. The people voted, the people demanded, and the people were wrong. It is easy to get into a frenzy and join the rest of the sheep in running in circles. The other nations have a king; we do not. They are normal; we are not. We want to be normal; we do not care what it costs us. Sometimes we can be most foolish. God certainly gives man real choice and allows this real choice to be translated into real consequences. We the people are only free w

If the teachers and others who are protesting in Madison really believed in their cause they should take whatever consequence comes from their actions. The idea of calling in sick and then getting a doctor to lie about being sick is unethical and most cowardly. These are not people whom I would trust in leadership positions. They have proven themselves liars and cowards. (Those that are actually doing that.) Everybody certainly has the freedom to express their opinions and we have provision for such events. No one needs to lie or hate. Likewise, the Democrats who left town for Illinois are acting quite immature. There are not a majority of Democrats in the Senate for a reason. They need to deal with the reason, not run and hide. (Some of us in Wisconsin would be willing to draw a line around Madison and give it to Illinois....then perhaps we could land grab the U.P. and all would be good!) If those in Madison represent the unions then again, I would like to have nothing to do w

You were made to be loved.   I know there are times you feel like you were made to be used, but that is not the case. In fact, as you look at our wonderful creation and hear the voice of our Creator, you find that you were indeed made to be loved by Him and to love Him.  As God crafted the world in which you live, He saw that it was good, for it was being crafted for you. God personally created you and personally created the world in which you live for you, as one of His many gifts to you.   Since we live in a world that is Godless, we often do not see how special life really is, and we feel used, cheap, abused, and hopeless. God, who started it all, had a plan. This plan involved loving, and you are the target of His love.   Take a look around the room you are sitting in. Pick an object, like a lamp, or a couch, or a pen that you might have in your pocket or purse. As you look at that object you will know that that object has some kind of value to the one who owns it. They bough

A Chance For Civility Our president went to Tucson in order to represent our nation in the tragedy that unfolded there. While there he represented us well and spoke of a need for civility in government dialogue. He seemed genuine, sincere and, well, presidential. I could not help but be a bit skeptical because I have heard these words before and have yet to see any movement in Washington that indicates that they are anything more than words. In fact, if the politicians were Christians and talking like that we would be on them for their hypocritical words and reject their form of Christianity as something that lacks authenticity. Even though those were my immediate thoughts, I also had some other, more sane ones. I realized, that as I have prayed for this president and our leaders that God was at work even though I did not always see it. I remembered times in my life, game changing moments that changed the way I think and interact with others. I remember those hard times as being