My Christmas Poem

Oh Christmas time is a time of cheer

When folks gather and celebrate each year

But time has changed this Holy day

To a marketplace I’m sad to say

The one who’s birth gave cause to rejoice

Has been removed from sight and voice

For God His only Son He gave

To each of us that we’d be saved

So as I write these thoughts of mine

In hope of sharing the Divine

With friends and family through the years

My eyes are welling up with tears

Because His birth on that special day

His name in public we cannot say

It’s sad to see what we have done

He gave us life and we turn and run

My Lord, my Savior and my friend

They will reject you to the end

I’m proud to know you Lord and Savior

I only wish that they were braver

and boldly say yes to you now

Cause when it’s done, they’d wear a crown

The final thought I’ll share with you

Are words that can belong to you

May your name be among those who hear

Well done my good and faithful servant

And that is all I’ll share this year.

Robin Hood

story #1:

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college.  Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be very progressive in her ideals. As a result, she was very much in favor of higher taxes for the rich to support government programs which she believed to be the compassionate thing to do. In other words, she believed in redistribution of wealth. No problem so far she thought.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed.  Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his. What about those who have less?

One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.  He responded by asking how she was doing in school.

Not expecting that, she answered rather proudly that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew.  She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, how is your friend Audrey doing? Audrey is barely getting by she takes easy classes, never studies and barely has a 2.0 GPA.  She is so popular on campus college for her is a blast.  She's always invited to the parties and often doesn't even show up for classes because she's hung over.

Her wise father asked his daughter, why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0.  That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.

The daughter visibly shocked by her father's suggestion angrily fired back, are you crazy, how would that be fair?  I've worked really hard for my grades!  I've invested a lot of time and Audrey has done next to nothing.  She played while I worked my tail off!

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, welcome to the conservative side of the fence.

story #2:

I recently asked my friend’s son what he wanted to be when he grows up.  
He said he wanted to be President of the United States. 

Both of his parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there. 
So I asked him, "If you were President, what would be the first thing you would do?" 
He replied, "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.” 

His parents proudly beamed "Wow, what a worthy goal."
Then I told him. "But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. 
Tell you what - you can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds,
and sweep my  driveway, and I'll pay you $50. 
Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can 
give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. How about doing something wonderful like that?" 

He thought that over for a few seconds, then looked me straight in the eye and asked, 
"Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work himself, and you can just pay him the $50?" 

I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party." 

War and Rumors of War, What to do?

What about global chaos, riots, wars and rumors of wars? Declining global economies, increase in taxes, homelessness, joblessness, unsettled nations throughout the Middle East. Do we continue to put our trust in Man? What is man’s basis for how he makes decisions, are they founded in truth? Will a conservative alone change the hearts of a godless society? Where do we put out faith and trust? Can we face our children and tell them in complete certainty that no matter what chaos we might find ourselves in, God loves us and has a plan for us? Yes absolutely, and the and sooner the better. 

What brings comfort to us, especially in times of trouble, are God’s promises. He is consistent throughout eternity and therefore never changes. As a result, His promises are forever and for everyone. That in fact is one of His promises: that we can always know who He is, that He will never change, and therefore we can depend on Him. Our constantly evolving life situations will never change Him. It is like giving us a rock as a foundation rather than the shifting sand which is the emotional roller coaster that is humanity.

This is why we know that principles are timeless and proven as true and consistent. God is the designer and source of all principles based in truth. Principles are those things that one can anchor himself to and establish a path to run on. 

One of the most famous scripture verse/important promise is found in John 3:16                     For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

In a prayer to the Father and in the presence of His disciples, Jesus gives us the definition of eternal life:  John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (Contemporary bibles print the words of Jesus in red)

Notice the key word Know. God designed us to be in relationship with Him and Jesus states it in this verse. God (the Trinity, Father-Son-Holy Spirit) lives in relationship. Families are relationships. Business is effective through relationships. We were designed for relationships.

God reveals Himself in scripture so that we can come to know Him and grow in that relationship. Ask yourself: How many people can you be in relationship with that you know nothing about? The obvious answer is zero. This is why the creator of the universe has given us 2 ways to know Him (His character and very nature).

1)      His creation. His fingerprint is all over the globe in His magnificent design.

2)      The bible. His living word. Scripture is nothing less than the inspired word of God by the hand of His chosen scribes. It’s effectively a love letter to those who will listen from the creator Himself.

 Have you ever dumped a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle on the table only to stare at it for a while and wonder why you ever purchased it? It seemed like a good idea at first but when you saw all the pieces, it became overwhelming. Most people will begin with simple steps: place all the pieces right side up, begin to connect the border pieces, fill in towards the center as best as they can by color and shape, then confusion sets in. If you don’t remedy the confusion, things go south quickly. What’s the remedy? You look at the picture on the box for guidance. This brings hope, relief, a clear vision and a new sense of excitement. 

The bible is that picture on the puzzle box. When you begin to read scripture with the desire to know God, He reveals Himself to you. The bible is like a love letter from your creator to you where you’ll find hope, clarity, vision, understanding, wisdom and salvation. You will find yourself in a relationship with the one true and living God.  The same one who loves you unconditionally and created you with a purpose, the one that sent His Son to bear the burden of sin for all mankind that we may have eternal life (relationship with Him). And that we might have it now.

Know this:

God reveals Himself to us that we may know Him (remember John 3:16 and 17:3). He designed us to be in relationship with each other and with Him and the reason that we can do this is because He created us in His (triune God) Image.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

(Notice “our image”; God is speaking of the Trinity, 3 in 1, triune God)

Some thoughts to consider:

If we continue to view life through our eyes only and do not consider what He says, it is an outright rejection of God. If we continue to view life as “I think”, it is saying that we are not open to what He says but rather fixated on what we think. If we don’t make a decision to place our faith in the saving grace of Jesus, we are rejecting the greatest gift man has ever been given. This is the direction man has chosen because of our sinful nature and the consequences are there before our very eyes. 

Question to ponder:

With all that is happening, all the uncertainty, the push to socialism/Marxism/communism even with the glaring European example right before our eyes, I ask myself the question: Why are people so inclined to repeat history, when it is being unveiled for all to see?

The answer is clear. What we see is the result of Godless societies where false religion/teachers, governments, systems man has established to make itself feel good, or man’s views on what is and what isn’t has replaced the true and living God.