Insanity Defined

Most folks have heard the definition of insanity. It simply states " Insanity is doing the same thing each time and expecting different results." It is like watching a movie 50 times but you expect a different ending. The old movies show the bad guys lose and the good guys win. Now matter how many times you see it the movie ends the same. The government wants to raise the debt ceiling so they can spend more. It is insanity to think that raising the debt ceiling and raising taxes will cure our national debt crisis. You can think about many other things that describe insanity. Sadly there are those folks today who are spiritually "insane".

There are so many things that are wrong with the world today. The real cure for everything that needs corrected can be found in God alone. It doesn't matter if you talk about the economy, violence, wars, disease or anything else you could list. The problem is that the world looks to itself to deal all these issues. The problem is that the world is the cause. It is a fallen world and the only way to bring about change that brings sanity back to it is to look to the Creator for the answers. The world trying to fix itself is like cancer curing itelf. Left to itself, cancer spreads through the body once it is active. The patient needs someone outside themselves to attack the cancer. The world is in the same situation. God loves the world so much and has provided the answer for all the world's problems. The insanity is that too many people think we are getting better and eventually we will become whole and at peace with each other. That is the view of someone who is insane! This world will never be restored until God comes back and Jesus rules and reigns here on earth. Sin was addressed on the cross to provide forgiveness and restoration for people. Things will change one day but only because God will do the changing.

Just as the government spending and debt affects each one of us, so does the sin in this world. It impacts our lives all the time. Thankfully we do not need to let it master us and destroy us if we allow Christ to have His rightful place in our hearts and lives. Remember that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world!

Plans Change!

Today I was to go to Washington DC with my wife and go on a sedegeway tour of the different memorials but due to the high heat we had to reschedule the tour to another time when it is cooler. That was the plan until the country got into this huge heat wave. We then planned to run a few places then go to a picnic. Well those plans ended up changing as Captial City Church had several AC issues. I went and spent the day looking at several AC units and doing some repair. I was able to get all but one running for tomorrow's services. The plans I had were changed but they were changed because God had His plans for me today.

Anyone who has ever made some plans knows what I am talking about. Often we make these grand plans and lay out a schedule for our lives but there is only one problem. We often forget to check in with God and see what He has planned for us. Many have experienced the way God intervenes in our lives and alters the life plan we had for ourselves. He takes us down roads and paths we never would have imagined traveling. We think we know what we will do for the rest of our lives only to see God put up a roadblock then send us down another road. If you are like me, I do not like change. I sometimes battle when change comes in my life. I suppose it is because we get comfy in our routines. But we fail to see God's plan and the blessings that follow when we allow Him to lead. We cannot see the future but only that which God reveals to us. We can't see around the bend but He can. If were are smart then we would give Him full control of our lives and let Him lead us. Let His plans be the ones we follow and we will accomplish everything He plans for us while we are here on this planet.

Had we not had a heatwave that caused us to reschedule our trip, I would not have been able to be home to get the call to help with the AC units at the church. God was not unaware of the problems but He also knew how to deal with them. He changed my plans so I could be used to accomplish His! So instead of going through DC in the heat I spent the day in high temps in an attic! Go figure!

Known By Our Names

This past weekend Heidie and I made one of our regular trips to Lancaster County to get a couple of things for the house. For those who may not know, LAncaster County is where a lot of the Amish or the Plain folk live and work. Many Amish are running businesses since farming is no longer financially secure for them. They make some nice furniture, crafts and food goodies of all kinds now to earn money to augment the farming. We have been to this one store so often that when we come in they smile and welcome us back. But with us, they call us by name because they know who we are. That could be either good or bad. Good because they know us or bad because we spend a lot of time and money there! When they call us by name, we feel good and we know that we have a connection with them.

There is someone else who I love to know the fact that He knows us by name. That person who knows just not our name but knows us intimately is God. Why would God know us by name when we are just another insignificant human being on a planet with over 6 Billion people on it? After all, what makes us so special? Would you like to know the answer? It is very simple! God created us and made us in His image. We weren't spoke into existence but formed then life was breathed into us by God Himself. He has created us because He loved us and loved us so much that He gave Jesus to die for us. He gives us everything we need to live from the food we eat to the air we breathe. But He goes beyond the physical needs and gives us the spiritual needs as well. There is never a day that goes by that God does not know what we need. He longs for us to have a relationship with Him. He desires to give us eternal life and bless abundantly with all sorts of heavenly blessings. He does that because he knows not just our name but everything about us. I love how God calls us by name even though we do not deserve His mercy or grace but He gives them to us anyway. What an awesome thought!

I love the feeling when I meet someone I haven't seen for a long time yet when they see me, they call me by name because they know who I am. I am looking forward to the day when I hear God call my name one more time and then I will go to be with Him for all eternity. As the Apostle John said Come quickly Lord! I want to hear my name called!

Known By Our Names

This past weekend Heidie and I took another run to Lancaster County to pick up a couple of things for the house. In case you aare not familiar with pennsylvania, , Lancaster County is the home

Missed Blessings

Yesterday I was waiting for my lunch when I saw a HVAC contractor come into the store and I saw something on his company's patch that caught my eye. Under the logo it said something like It's our soil. The oil is in the soil. What they mean is that we here in the United States have a huge oil reserve that dwarfs the Middleeast. The problem is that we have a government that will not allow us to drill our own oil. They would rather we be so dependent on foreign oil and pay more for oil. We could be energy independent if we started to drill and refine our own oil. We could be so better off financially if we stopped depending on other nations for our oil.

I mulled over what I had seen on the company patch. I thought about how we as a nation are missing on out on a way to lower our debt becuase we don't drill our own oil. I thought about how people miss out on the blessings that God has for them because they don't know they are there or know they are acessible but don't take possession of them. God offers us as His creation so many blessings. First we need to know Him if we want the blessings. If we do not know Him, we would never know that He wants to bless us with all kinds of blessings. Secondly, His blessings come as a result of obedience to Him. Just as a child who wants his or her parents' blessings knows that if they disobey they will not see blessings but punishment, we realize that neither do we if we disobey God. many today claim to be Christians yet will not give up their will for God's. They want to keep control of their lives and do as they please. That comes with a consequence. What is the consquence for our disobedience? The Bible states clearly it is death. Yet God provided the greatest blessing in His Son Jesus Christ who took our place so we wouldn't have to face eternal separation from God. The gift, or blessing , is there for us to just reach out and receive it from Him. Like the oil in our ground, it doesn't do any good knowing it is there if we don't drill and collect it. Oh that we would choose to see and accept God's blessings!

I get frustrated when I tell people we ought to start drilling our own oil and stop being dependent on the whims of other nations as to what we are paying for oil. But what really drives me nuts is when people refuse to accept the gift of life that God offers them. It breaks God heart for when people reject Him amd decide to go into eternity without Christ when there is plenty of "oil" available to them!

What Was the Bird Thinking?

Sunday I went out to check the flowers and see if the weed killer did its thing. I like most people have a constant battle with the ever present weeds. As I was checking the flower bed I happened to catch a glimpse of something under one of the flowers. When I took a closer look, I realized it was a bird's egg. There are no trees or even bushes near these flowers. My great deductive mind kicked in and I concluded that some bird had to lay the egg there. My first thought was what stupid bird would lay an egg on the ground and not in a nest. I couldn't get that egg out of my mind. When that happens I know that God must be trying to teach me something.

There were three things that I heard God telling me about the egg. The first thing was that the egg was alone where it laid on the ground. One thing that we know is that God has promised we would never be alone. He tells us that He would never leave us alone but would always be there for us. The fact is everyone has felt alone at some point but that doesn't mean God left us. When we feel that guess who mopved. I also had the thought that sometimes we as people don't make wise choices when it comes to life. How many times have you ever made a choice and realized afterward that you made the wrong choice? I know I have done it. Thank God for His grace in those times! We, like the bird, put our future in the wrong location. We need to make sure that we place our trust and our future in God's hands and not in anything else. When we do that we can assure our legacy will be there when we depart this earth. The third thing is that the egg would never become fertile laying there. Our dreams and goals that God gives us become fertile and grow when blessed by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit. That is why God gives us our dreams in the first place. He wants to help us grow and become everything He has planned for us. But many, like the bird laying this egg, are careless with our dreams and give up on them.

If this egg would have been laid in a nest and kept safe and warm like God planned for it, it would probably hatch and the world would see another robin flying around in spring looking for some nice fat worms. How about you? Where do you keep your egg? I hope it stays in God's nest!

Curing the Symptom Not the Disease!

Today I read about a shooting that occurred in Las Vegas at a funeral being held for a woman who was stabbed to death. A gunman showed up then opened fire on the crowd. Fortunately, seven people were only wounded and all are expected to live. As I read the article online, I noticed a comment that someone posted about the shooting. The person making the comment stated that this nation is a 3rd world cesspool and it was no wonder why they removed prayer from the schools. What a sad misdirected thought! Prayer was not removed from school because we were a cesspool but we became a cesspool when they removed prayer from the schools. The "cesspool" symptom is caused by the disease and we are trying to cure the symptom but do nothing with the disease itself.

Before the schools were forced to remove prayer from their classrooms, they addressed tough issues like gum chewing in class, running in the halls, kids playing hookie, and class clowns making fun of the teachers and faculty. Today teachers only wish that they could address those issues instead of the ones they now face. Rape, murder and drugs are only some of the major issues facing schools. They now have metal detectors in schools and security guards walking the hallways. Even as a junior high school student I recall an attack on a teacher by a student while we we were in class. My question is why the change? Altough most questions do not have simple answers, I believe this one does. When what our nation was founded on (biblical principles and a belief in God)is removed as our foundation, we begin to collapse as a nation from the inside. Our nation's morals are under attack not from without but within. When we remove God from our foundation and replace Him with all sorts of vile and impure things, we get what we have. There are those out there who would remove any vestiage of Christianity from our history if they could and then silience us today. We need more than ever to be the Salt and Light to this nation and the world if we are to fulfill God's command to share His love with the world. Time is short and we need to share the gospel with everyone we know and meet.

I have always thought it was strange how we cannot allow the Bible to be taught in schools but they can teach students about the Koran. Bibles are not allowed in schools but they are welcomed into prisons. What if we reintroduced God's word back into the public schools? Did you think the prison population might go down? I am all for giving it a try! We can only go up from here!

The Cost of Freedom

Today, July 4th, we celebrate our nation's independence from Britian. Many places celebrate the day with parades or community picnics. Families have loved ones over for a cookout and watch fireworks as we did. Actually we did it on Saturday evening since Carlisle does it early to save money! We have familiy and friends over for the evening since we can see the fireworks here in Carlisle right from our backyard. We remembered why we were together. We talked about many different things through the evening. The main theme of our discussion was the cost of our freedom. Many today have forgotten the cost for our freedom. "Freedom is not free!"

Too many have forgotten the cost of the freedom they enjoy today. The price of that freedom was not cheap but came at a high price. The price for our freedom was paid for by the blood of those who were willing to sacrifice their lives for that freedom. Many, like myself, served to protect that freedom while others today are giving their full devotion to preserve it. The freedom we have cost us. There is another freedom that not only Americans but all nations can have today. That freedom is the freedom from sin and death. God has made it possible for us to have forgiveness and a relationship with Him. That freedom too was purchased with blood. Jesus came to this world to offer His own life as a sacrifice for sin and pay the penalty for sin. God offers us the freedom because of the sacrifice Christ made for us. This freedom can also be neglected or taken forgranted by us. Many folks take our earthly freedom forgranted but God forbid they do so with their eternal freedom. That freedom is far more precious than what we have here. The freedom from sin is only good if we accept it as the free gift to us that it is.

We need to be careful that we do not allow our freedom to be lost. Freedom is never missed until it is gone. We must be careful to preserve it and not allow it to slip quietly away unaware. It is my belief that we need to start fighting for our freedom and do as those who have sacrificed their lives to keep. Lets stand up as people living in the "Land of the free and the home of the brave!"