Ugly Betty?

Betty was celebrating her 60th birthday and a crowd had come to join her in the celebration. Her husband Frank had turned 60 earlier in the year and was now going outside to get some fresh air. After a while a Fairy God Mother showed up and said, “Frank, this is your lucky day. You’ve been a good man and you have had a good marriage. Today you get whatever you wish for.”
Frank thought for a moment and then said, “What I would really like is to be married to a woman thirty years younger than me.”
The Fairy God Mother said, “No problem.” Poof with her magic wand and Frank was now 90 years old.
The story has a moral: When you do not love people where they are, you get uglier.

Be like Jesus!
Sid

More Than Conquerors

It is hard to stay right with God. It is hard to do the right thing every time. Satan pulls at our ear, turns our head, distracts and confuses us. We are easily turned. But it does not have to be that way.

Paul challenges Christians to be "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37 NIV). Conquerors are people who impose their will on victims. They force their presence with might. They demand. They never ask. So what does Paul mean that we are more than conquerors?

To be more than conquerors means that we are people who can withstand anything. Nothing can defeat us. No one can impose their will on us. This does not happen by our power, but by the power of God's Holy Spirit. It is through Him (Christ) that we are able to withstand and maintain.

Be more than a conqueror. Be like Job, Daniel and Joseph. Be like Jesus for he is our King.

Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

This is the problem with us - we blame, make excuses, ignore or even rationalize, but in the end it is the wolf we feed that drives us. Serve God. Feed the right wolf - and bring compassion and love and Jesus to this world that serves themselves.

Sid

On The Beach

Last night I watched a remake of the "On The Beach." On The Beach is a post-apocalyptic television movie released in 2000. It is a remake of the 1959 film, and is based on the book by Nevil Shute. It starred Armand Assante, Bryan Brown, and Rachel Ward. The original movie starred some more notable names Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Fred Astaire.

The conflict has devastated the northern hemisphere, polluting the atmosphere with nuclear fallout and killing all human life. While the nuclear bombs were confined to the northern hemisphere, global air currents are slowly carrying the fallout to the southern hemisphere. The only part of the planet still habitable is the far south of the globe, specifically Australia.

The movie is a somber reminder of our mortality. How would you act knowing that you had only a few days to live? What is really important to you knowing your end is near? The movie makes the audience deal with death.

If I knew when I was going to die, how would I live? What was sad about the movie is that God was not there. There was no hope for anyone. I pray that no matter the circumstances, whether global war or personal tragedy faith, hope and love would ring out in my life.

We all die, we just don’t always know when. Live for God no matter.

Angry Eyes

My three-year old grandson Drew was being disciplined by my son-in-law, his father. I have no doubt that discipline was the appropriate action. And Drew took it like a man. His reply to his father was, "dad, I'm looking at you with angry eyes!"

While humorous, I thought about the times that I have looked at others with angry eyes. Sometimes they probably deserved that kind of reaction. Other times, I am sure, they were not. The point is not whether one deserves angry eyes but that we leave the revenge game to God. It is not our place. It is not to be our reaction.

Some may argue that angry eyes are justified. They may have a point, but the "angry eye" mentality goes so much against scripture and Jesus. Statements like turn the other check, leave revenge to God, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, all seem to breakdown the notion of us using angry eyes to get our point across.

Drew is three and I pray he will grow out of it. I pray that you grow out of it. And I pray more intensely that I do.

Kenny Loggins sings, "You and I must start to realize blindness binds us in a false disguise. Can you see me through those Angry Eyes?"

God forgive us when we use angry eyes.

Serving Breakfast in Hell

When the toast is burned,

And all the milk has turned,

And Captain Crunch is waving farewell,

When the big one finds you,

May this song remind you

That they don't serve breakfast in hell.

This is from a Newsboys' song "Breakfast In Hell"

Carter, age 6, is one of our boys at church. He was at concert at King's Island and heard this song being performed by Newsboys. Being a very insightful kid, he turned to his mother and asked, "do you have to get it yourself?"

People don't like to talk about hell. We use the word a lot, but don't real deal with the theological truth of its existence. What is interesting is that Jesus talked about hell more than heaven.

Have you ever wondered why?

Blood, Sweat and Tears sang in the 60s - "I know there ain't no heaven and I pray there ain't no hell!" Live for God and in his love and grace, we will experience heaven and not hell. Remember, there is no breakfast in hell.

Raining Cats and Dogs

I love real stories from the people I know. I would like to share a story from a family at Southern Hills Church that has blessed us. Below is a conversation with a three-and ½ year-old boy and his mother as told by her.

In the middle of a store during a very loud thunderstorm…
Cash: "Who makes it rain?"
Mom: "God"
Cash: "Why's him do that for?"
Mom: "The grass needs the water to grow and it cleans the streets off!"
Cash: "It shouldn't clean the streets too good, the lines will come off."
(Cash’s dad has a commercial line striping business.)
Mom: "It'll be OK."
Later while driving home from Bloomington we are stopped at a traffic light. Right next to us is a pickup truck with a dog hanging out of the passenger window. He had managed to get his entire top half, including front legs, out this window. The rain was still pouring down and soaking this funny mutt!
I pointed it out to Cash...................
Cash: "Why's that dog hanging out that window? He's gettin' all wet!"
Mom: "I know, but look how much fun he's having. He's loving it!"
The light turns green and the truck gets ahead of us.
From the backseat I hear.........
Cash: "That dog sure loves God."
Mom: "Why is that?"
Cash: "He's gettin' clean!"

Out of the mouth of babes . . . and it got me to thinking about how much do I really love God. Look what he has done for me. Look what he continues to do for me. Look at what he promises to do for me in the future. Do I thank God that I am clean? It makes you think, doesn’t it.

We should be like Saul of Tarsus when Ananias told him, What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord. Saul got up, was baptized and then spent his life telling the world that he loved God because he was clean.

Let the world know that you love God because we are getting clean.