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 amount...

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 statistic...

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 ...