Not Again Charlie Brown!

Poor Charlie Brown! How would you like to have his life? He is never invited to parties, doesn't get any valentines and he always seems to mess things up. His team never wins a ball game and everybody calls him a blockhead! What a life! Charlie Brown keeps thinking that one day things will change for him. One of his goals is to finally kick the football! Lucy has always told Charlie Brown that she will hold the football so he can kick it. The problem is that just as he gets up to the football she yanks the football out of the way and Charlie Brown goes flying up in the air and lands on the ground. In the beginning of It's The Great pumpkin Charlie Brown, she makes the same offer. He refuses because he knows what she would do. This time she hands him a paper that says she will let him actually kick it this time. He looks at the paper and she tells him it is a contract. He starts to think about it and convinces himself that this time was different. Guess what? It wasn't! He makes up his mind to go for it and just as he gets to the ball, Lucy once again yanks it away and Charlie Brown goes flying one more time and lands with Lucy standing over him. It is then he realizes that she never signed the contract! Once again Charlie Brown has failed to kick the football and have others laugh at him.

Some folks are more like Charlie Brown than they wish to admit to being. I am like him sometimes. You see people have things in their lives that they constantly strive to overcome and never seem to be able to "kick the football". They keep trying time and time again but always end up with the same result. They miss the ball and fall flat on their backs. Someone always seem to pull the ball away and they fail. The results are always the same because the ball or the person holding it never changes. Growing up I was told doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Israel in their history kept doing the same thing and got the same results. They would fall away and God would punish them for their sin until they cried out and He would deliver them again. Before any of us throw the proverbial stones, let us remind ourselves that we often do the same thing. The only way to change and finally get victory is to change the holder. Let us depend on God's strength and His power and we can change. You see God will never pull the ball but He will encourage us as we run towards the ball or task He has for us to do. He has plans to prosper us not to hurt us. When God is holding the ball, kick away! You cannot lose!

One day Charlie Brown might get smart and say no to Lucy. If he was really smart, he would get Linus to hold the ball since Linus is his true friend. Who is holding your ball?

Blame it on Linus!

Tonight a local channel showed "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" because of it being Halloween. I have never realized that even this cartoon can teach us a thing or two. As the kids were getting ready to go trick or treating,Linus went to the pumpkin patch to await the great pumpkin's arrival. The other kids get on their costumes and then go to talk with him. Lucy tells him he is dumb for waiting for the great pumpkin but he refuses to go with them. Sally decides to stay with Linus in the pumpkin patch. She keeps telling him he had better be right. Well, like it does every year, the Great Pumpkin never shows up and Sally gets mad at Linus because she missed out on the candy. She said its all his fault she didn't get any treats. In truth it was her own fault for not going with the others and staying with Linus. He didn't make her do anything. She chose to stay in the pumpkin patch with him.

Isn't that like most people in today's society? There are all sorts of people who make decisions that get them in trouble and ruin their lives. The problem is that they won't take responsibility for their their own choices and the consequences that accompany those choices. They are always quick to blame someone else or some event for their choices. They deny any part of the decision process and act like a victim in the whole thing. The problem is that no matter what they do or think, they are ultimately responsible for their choices. Others may influence them but when it comes right down to it, they are the ones who make the choice. No one else just them! I don't care if it is an addiction like drugs or alcohol or a behavior like stealing or anything else! We choose to do what we want to do and must accept the blame for the consequences. We cannot blame anyone but ourselves when we refuse to do what is right. God tells us that each of us will stand before Him and give an accounting for our lives. No one can stand in my place or your place when we face God. Take responsibility for yourself and what you do, what you say and where you go!

Let's be honest and let's not blame Linus for our behavior! After all, poor Linus misses out on the candy as well as not getting to see the Great Pumpkin! Remember that you could end like Charlie Brown and end up with a lot of rocks in your bag!

Inmates Working??

Last week my wife and I went to Charlotte North Carolina to go to the Nascar race. We had gone down on Wednesday and left to return home on Monday. We travel back and forth from Charlotte to home on I 81 and 77. This time as we were traveling home we had seen a sign that said "Inmates working". We started to look for these inmates as we were riding along that stretch of road. The problem was we didn't see any inmates anywhere but we did see lots of orange garbage bags laying along the side of the road for several miles. We surmised that the powers that be just forgot to take down the signs after the inmates were done picking up the trash along the highway. We didn't see the inmates but we did see the results of their work. The evidence that they had been there were those trash bags.

We often wonder about how God works in our lives or the lives of other people. We are told in His Word that God is at work in people's lives but sometimes it is tough to see what it is that He is doing. More often than not, we see His results in lives of people and marvel what it was that He did. Like the inmates, I didn't see them but I did see their results. God operates in much the same way. Just because we can't see Him doesn't mean that He isn't there or isn't accomplishing something in a person's life. I can recall in my own life how many times I was surprised about how God worked in my life and I wasn't even aware He was doing anything. He wants to do so much for us and to shape and transform us into the image of His Son. He does things in so many different ways. He doesn't always do the work the same way each time. We can trust that He will do what He promised in His word. He said He will do the work that is needed. We need to be willing to let Him do it in His way and in His time. Don't let the enemy deceive you into thinking God is not doing anything for you or in you. Sometimes it is necessary for us to step back and ask Him to show us what He is doing and what He wants to do.

As I thought about it, the work God does in our lives is not too far from what the inmates did along the highway. The inmates picked up trash from the highway and God is desiring to remove the "trash" from our lives to make us holy. I hope you will let Him do His work in you!

Dealing with Stinkbugs

This summer seems to have been a bad year for our area of Pennsylvania as far as stinkbugs go. They seem to be all over the place. Where I work has a lot of them and they even get into the house. When we see them inside, we grab a napkin or tissue and get them without smashing them. When you do, they put off a really bad smell thus the name. People have come up with ways to to deal with them but often times the cure is worse than the disease. At work last week I caught sight of a stinkbug caught in a spider's web. The spider came out and was starting to wrap the bug up when he abruptly stopped. He quickly started to cut the bug away from the web and made it drop to the ground. I can only assume that the spider found something out about his prey. The smell of the stinkbug is his defense and a potent one at that. The spider didn't want him in his web because he wouldn't be able to eat him anyway. So the best thing was to cut away the part of the web that kept the stinkbug from being able to escape. The spider knew there was better things out there to catch and eat.

We recently attended the Ministers Enrichment service one evening. We listened to the speaker share about dealing with our lives and how to move forward when things don't go the way we plan. If I was to ask everyone if that has ever happened to you, all of us would say it has. The speaker was telling us to focus on our strengths and not on our weaknesses. People tend to know what their weaknesses are far more than what their strengths are. We all have weaknesses and we all have strength in certain areas. When we focus so acutely on our weaknesses and shortcomings, we keep from moving forward and growing and instead keep right where we are. What we need to do is admit our weaknesses and ask God to help us get better in those areas but even more importantly we need to understand our strengths and see how God wants to use them for His purpose and His glory. We need to be like the spider and get rid of those things that we hold onto from our past that prevents us from growing closer to Christ and becoming more of the people of God we are called to be. Lets get rid of sin and everything else in our lives that block us from ever being the disciples He desires us to be. If there are things in our lives that will not lead to life and maturity, cut them loose and concentrate on those things that will lead us both onward and upward.

Stinkbugs are a lot like sin. We all deal with sin in our lives. Some are more victorious than others not because they know something that others don't! They are victorious because their focus is on Christ and not how to change themselves through their own strength. Let me encourage you to get the stinkbugs out and cut them loose!

Dealing with the Unexpected

Tuesday of this week a friend of mine lost his dad to a heart attack. I was called and informed about his passing and went to the hospital to be with the family. A viewing was held last night at the funeral home and Heidie and I went. We visited with the family for a while and talked with some of his friends. We were ready to leave when we were told the hospital had misplaced his body after the family had left. I was talking with the funeral director and he told us the story. I shared with him experiences I had as a pastoral ministries student with a funeral home at college. The funeral director had told us a similar story he had encountered. The most shocking thing though happened while we were there learning about what funeral homes do. The director told us he was going to show us a body that was ready for cremation. He opened up the doors and jumped back because he didn't see what he thought he would see. Instead of the body, he saw what we did. We saw the few bone fragments that actually survive the cremation. Once he regained his thoughts, he told us that we would now see how they processed the remains. He took the unexpected situation and was able to use it to teach us through it.

I am sure that you, like myself and everyone else, face uncertain and unexpected things that come along in our journey. These things can have various results in our lives. Some tragedies that happen often destroy some folks because they can't handle them. Others may not completely take someone down but affect their lives in so many ways that they are no longer the same person. Yet still others find that in the midst of these times they become stronger people because of them. They do not allow the circumstances to control their lives or change who they are except for the better. What makes the difference between those who fall apart and those who grow stronger? There is no real secret. The difference is the understanding and knowledge of the people as to who God is. Many people blame God for every tragedy and situation that comes along. They do not know God or realize how much He loves them. God doesn't cause these things but often will let them come so that the person would come to Him. Now those who know God and trust Him, He strengthens them to face those times of heartache and loss. They know that God is faithful and loving and will only allow things in our lives to make us strong in our faith. When the unexpected comes, God is not caught unaware or unprepared. We are the ones not ready but if we follow Him, He will make sure we are ready when things occur. He sees down the road and even around the bend where we can see a short distance ahead. Let God help you with the unexpected times and trials! After all, He knows what He wants you to learn!

We do grieve when we lose a loved one but if they go to be with their heavenly Father, remember that if we are ready when it is our time, we shall see them again more alive and happy than they were while here on this earth!