On The Same Team

I was asked a question last week about how I felt about other churches close to where I live and serve.

A little bit of background, there are two very large churches within twenty miles of my church. They are both doing very well and have decided to create new campuses for their respective churches, each in my town not far from my church. My friend was wondering what our church thinks about this.

For most people the knee-jerk reaction is "competition". Someone else trying to do the same thing we are in our area, how dare they. But for me, great! Why? Because we're all on the same team. If we start seeing other churches as competition, we've missed it. We should all be working together anyway. As Paul wrote:

Is there any such thing as Christians cheering each other up? Do you love me enough to want to help me? Does it mean anything to you that we are brothers in the Lord, sharing the same Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic at all? Then make me truly happy by loving each other and agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, working together with one heart and mind and purpose. ~ Philippians 2:1-2 (LB)

I know the churches who are coming in, I even know a few of their ministers personally. And I also know one other thing. 80% of my community does not attend church on Sunday morning. I can either view the other churches as competition, or we can all work together to make that number smaller and help them know there is a loving God who wants to restore them to a place of relationship with Him.

Maybe we should all try working together...

T

The Day After Easter

So here we are. We've spent the day at church, family parties, mowing the lawn, whatever it is we did to celebrate Easter. And we're back to the way things were.

Which is completely the wrong way to look at Easter.

For too many people, Easter is an end. It's a completion. Jesus said "it is finished" on the cross, and now it's done. He's back, grace is here, we went to church. We're done.

But if Easter was meant to be the end, Jesus would have made it the end. He would have rose from the dead with a grandiose gesture and made sure everyone saw what He had done. Then He would have said, "It's done. Thanks. See ya!" and rose to heaven right away. He didn't do that. He spent the next 50 days walking around, talking with people, giving hope and instruction.

Easter was not the end.

Easter is the beginning.

Easter is where new life is supposed to begin. All the teaching Christ gave before Easter was to prepare us for life after His triumph over the grave, without that the teaching meant nothing. Instead of celebrating Easter as an end, grace has won, we're done, it's supposed to be the start of a new life. We being anew in grace, we have a gospel to share, a life to invite people to start living, one that we start living into ourselves. If anything, today, the day after Easter, is the first day of our new lives.

So as we reflect on the weekend, don't let it be the end. Don't let it be a past celebration. Let it be the start of a new life in Christ. And let it be one we share with everyone around us.

Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power. Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.  ~ Colossians 3:1-3 (LB)





T

Passover Dinner

Last night sr. high students from Fire & Water celebrated a Passover dinner. It wasn't quite as solemn as I expected, but that's the fun of working with teenagers.

I think the big impact for me was the recognition of tradition. This is a meal that has been celebrated by billions of people over the course of 3500 years. Moses ate this dinner. King David ate this dinner. On the night that He was betrayed, Jesus ate this dinner with His disciples. It's this idea that people still eat this same meal down to what is served and what is said all to remember an amazing and mighty act of God.

What if every time God did something amazing in our lives, we created a personal celebration to remember it? What if every Sunday morning we approached worship with a sense of understanding that what we are doing has been in some form or another celebrated for thousands of years every single week by a huge population of our planet? What if every time we took communion we remembered that Jesus Himself started this tradition?

If you get a chance to this week, join a Passover dinner. You may be surprised at what you learn about God and about yourself.

T

Flooding

Thursday we had the pleasure of waking up to a downpour and thunderstorm (when I say "waking up to", I really mean "woken up by around 5:45am"). In addition to that I was lucky enough to see the water start to gather in my backyard as well as on the sides of the house.

I have the pleasure of living in a part of town that floods quite often. There's a park near my house at the bottom of the hill, it's now a lake. The roads had water gathering on them and I'm guessing some will be closed by the time I have to go home. That's part of the fun of where I live, there is limestone just a few feet under the earth so any water that falls has no place to go. It will just sit and rise.

There are many floods mentioned in the Bible (one that is now a major motion picture, and from what I hear, the flood is the only part of the story they got right), and the word is almost always used in a scary way. Once in a while a translation will say a room was flooded with light. Other than that, flooding always means death and destruction. One of the most popular flood mentioned is the Nile river, which floods every year. Sometimes it's even mentioned as an example of an army attacking, like the Nile flooding over the land.

But there's one verse that's different:

And the waters of the Nile will fail to rise and flood the fields; the ditches will be parched and dry, their channels fouled with rotting reeds. All green things along the riverbank will wither and blow away. All crops will perish; everything will die. The fishermen will weep for lack of work; those who fish with hooks and those who use the nets will all be unemployed. The weavers will have no flax or cotton, for the crops will fail. Great men and small—all will be crushed and broken. ~ Isaiah 19:5-10 (LB)

Sometimes flooding is necessary. I have been to an area of the Mississippi that floods every year, and that flood deposits moisture rich silt and nutrients for miles and miles allowing crops to grow. The destruction that comes in the spring is crucial to the food and crops in the fall. Without devastating floods, many peoples of the world would starve.

Next time life seems like it's flooding all around you and you're to the brink of drowning, realize this may be necessary to fertilize something amazing in your future. It's horrible to be in the flood, but what the flood produces later could be amazing and bountiful.

T

Don't Forget...

I had Ephesians 2 left open on my computer from my blog last week, and something just hit me. Smack in the face.

Last week I quoted from Ephesians 2:8-10. The section that follows is all about reconciliation, talking about how Jesus saved Gentiles and Jews, all people (read it, it's good). That we are all saved through Christ Jesus. But there's an interesting start to that section. The Holy Spirit through Paul reminds us that we (the Gentiles) were outsiders. We were not invited into God's Holy Kingdom before. We were on the outside looking in.

What if looked around at people and remembered that we were once outsiders.
We didn't fit in at church
We didn't know the songs or when to stand or when to kneel
We didn't see the importance of joining with friends in a Bible Study
We didn't know or understand that God's guidelines for living are out of love and actually help us
We didn't have a pew to call our own
We didn't "feel" welcome
We didn't know people or have friends at church
We weren't invited or reminded of some fun event
We didn't see ourselves as holy or worthy enough to talk to God
We didn't know where to go, when to meet, or how to get there (church or any other gathering)
We didn't see understand how great serving feels

We didn't see the importance of getting to know God anyway

We just didn't know.

What if we understood that many people feel like outsiders looking in? Or maybe even outsiders not knowing they can get in or why they should bother. One of the best ways to cure that, when insiders invite the outsiders in.

What if you saw those who cross your paths as those on the outside without realizing it, understood where they are at and do what we could to move them from outsiders to insiders?

That's a Great Commission...

T

"Then Who In The World Can Be Saved?"

This was a question the disciples asked in something I was reading last night. It's a story in 3 of the 4 gospels, it obviously made a dent in the followers' minds.

It's a familiar story. A rich man wants to know how to get into heaven, and he tells Jesus he has followed all the laws since he was a young boy. So Jesus ups the ante. Give up everything, sell all your possessions and follow Him. And the young man walks away because he is very rich.

At this point Jesus turns to His disciples and tells them how incredibly hard it is for the rich to enter heaven, but He also says it is hard for everyone to enter the Kingdom of God. It is easier to shove a camel through the eye of a needle than it is to get into heaven.

Here the disciples ask that question. "Then who in the world can be saved?"

Jesus' answer: Humanly speaking, no one. No one can earn that right. But with God, all things are possible.

We have been talking about grace for the past few weeks at Fishers UMC, a really fitting topic during Lent, because this is the time we focus on what Christ did that none of us could do. Live a blameless life and earn salvation. And since He did it, He is also giving it away to anyone who wants it. For free. The truth is, there is nothing you can do to earn the right to heaven. There is nothing that can be done to somehow gain enough Jesus points to save ourselves. It is a gift, and one we should be incredibly thankful for and share.

Because of His kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. ~ Ephesians 2:8-10 (LB)

(notice we don't do good to earn God's love, because of God's love we want to do good, there's a big difference there...)

T

There's No Snakes In Ireland

Today is that wonderful day we celebrate by wearing green and drinking too much. St. Patrick's Day.

Here's the scary thing. Why do we remember St. Patrick 1600 years later? What are we actually celebrating? If you ask many people, St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Well, that's not really true, there were never any snakes there to begin with.

St. Patrick is remembered because of what he did for Ireland. He was a slave there and escaped, but instead of hating this land that beat him and imprisoned him, he went back to share Christ's love. At a time when the church said worship could only be done their way in their language singing their songs, Patrick did things differently. He explained Christ in the language of the people (he learned it as a slave). He used things around them to help them better understand Christ including their own legends and fairy tales. Instead of starting churches as we would see it, he started communes, places people could come to get food and shelter for no charge (and if he was asked why, he would share the gospel). St. Patrick even went so far as to dress like the people he was ministering to instead of dressing like a priest and standing out as a "holy man".

The reason St. Patrick is remembered is his love for people who really didn't deserve it. And instead of forcing them to be loved his way, he learned about them and loved them in a way they would understand. That's something truly worth celebrating. And I think the best way to celebrate this is imitation...

T

Would You Drop Everything?

If Jesus were to ask you to do something, you knew for sure it was Him, would you drop whatever you were doing to do what He asked? I was reading a story that made me think of this. Sir Ernest Shackleton was a great explorer who decided to make a what turned out to be fateful trip to the Antarctic (he had originally planned to go to the Arctic, maybe he should have stuck with the plan). The interesting thing about this trip was the publicity. Usually Shackleton would rather do the trip than go public, this time he was incredibly forthcoming with his plans. The story goes a friend asked Shackleton why he was so public for this trip. The reason was Shackleton's friend Frank Wild. Mr. Wild had been a leader on many of these expeditions, but at this time Frank Wild was hunting in the heart of Africa. No phones, no telegraph, he was in the middle of nowhere. The reason Shackleton was so public with the trip was in hopes news would reach Wild. Shackleton said if Wild heard of the trip, he would come. Sure enough, Frank Wild showed up at Shackleton's office in London. When he heard of the expedition, he dropped his gun, picked up his luggage and started home. He showed up asking what his orders were for the new trip. If you were living your dream on the trip of a lifetime and Jesus called, would you drop it all to show up? Peter replied, “Remember, we left everything to be Your followers!” Jesus told him: "You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for Me and for the good news will be rewarded. In this world they will be given a hundred times as many houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and pieces of land, though they will also be mistreated. And in the world to come, they will have eternal life. ~ Mark 10:28-30 (CEV) T

The Take5 Initiative

For those of you who don't know, the Richards family loves Disney. We love the stories and the experience of Walt Disney World. Ever since I first visited I realized there has to be something more to this place, there has to be a way to take some magic home and use it for Jesus. So I have been reading all sorts of books about what Disney does and why they do it. Something really simple that's amazing in a business concept, Take5's. Have you ever heard stories of Disney Cast Members doing something nice like playing with children, giving someone a snack even though the kitchen is closed, making extra room key cards as souvenirs? There's a reason. Every person who works for Disney is empowered to do anything the can think of that will take a guest's vacation from good to "wow" as long as it takes less than 5 minutes and/or costs less than $5 (the reality is most are free and take less than 5 seconds, but they are able to do more if they would like). Everyone is empowered to do this with the understanding of their purpose, making the guest's experience amazing. Here's my question. What do you think FIRE & WATER (or your church) would look like if every member/Insider on a Sunday night looked around for ways to do a Take5 for others? Holding the door for the person behind them. Cleaning up someone else's trash. Smiling "Can I get you another soda/hot dog/cookie?" Being the first to say "hello". Moving over a little to give the person next to them more room. Getting someone a pen or note sheet (rather than throwing it at them). Asking someone how their night is going and if there is anything they can do to help. Asking someone about their weekend. If someone is new, helping them find their way around or understand what's coming next Telling someone how happy you are to see them at FIRE & WATER. What do you think a Refinery/Drink Deep on a Sunday night would look like if everyone did these things (and more)? Imagine someone who has never been to church showed up on a Sunday night and everybody treated them like this. What do you think their first impression of Jesus would be? Almost everything on that list takes 5 seconds, and I'm sure you could think of many more to do. You could probably even do more than one on a Sunday. You could even do them during the week and when asked why you're being so nice, "My whole church is like this, you should come one Sunday night." What would the community think of our church? Think about FIRE & WATER? Think about Jesus? The real question is, are you willing in the craziness and fun of a Sunday night to give God 5 seconds, give someone else 5 seconds. Just imagine how loving and caring FIRE & WATER would be. You could almost describe it as "magical"... Some of you may recognize this verse from a few weeks ago. And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus ~ Colossians 3:17a (LB) T

The Importance Of Hockey

Yesterday Canada played in the Gold Medal game of the 2014 Olympics (and won, way to go boys!) And many of my friends and family watched it. But here's the interesting thing, due to the game being played in Russia, for some parts of Canada the game happened as early as 4:00 in the morning. 4am! And yet, they watched it. My friends from high school had a party at 6:30, and people came over, it was crowded, to watch the game. There were law changes made so bars could open at 4:30 so some people I know could go to watch the game at 5:00. These people all got up, got ready, many went out or even entertained to watch a hockey game before the sun came up. And yet, going to church at 11:00am is too early... For many, the question is why. Why is it someone can get up for a hockey game but not for church. The answer is simple. Hockey is more meaningful than church. I know that sounds horrible, I don't like it, but it's obviously the truth. To many people a game is more important than worship together with the family of God. If something is important to someone, they find a way to make it happen even if that means planning a 6:00am party. The real question is why is hockey more meaningful to someone than spending time with God and His people. Is it because they don't know who God is and that He loves them? Who's responsibility is it then, them to find out or the church to help them learn that? Is it because Sunday worship isn't as life-changing for them as a hockey game? Again, is that their fault for not being invested? Maybe. Is it the church's fault for not being welcoming and helping them get plugged in to the family of God? Maybe. But again, isn't that something we can all help to change? The even bigger question is are we going to accept this or do what we can to change it? Someone likes hockey more than Jesus, that's just the situation. Are we going to do the hard work of loving them into knowing Jesus, coming to church not to be served but to serve others so they can experience that love here, are we going to purposely invite people into our lives, our Bible Studies, our ministries, our whatever it is so church changes from "that thing I need to do every couple of Sundays" to "that thing I want and need and will even DVR a hockey game and watch it later so I can be a part"? By the way, I had some friends watch the game at 5:00 and still go to church after. Now that's commitment! Do what you can to be the change. T

We're Right By Following Wisdom

Have you ever noticed that following Jesus means everyone thinks you're wrong? I get into this one all the time with music. If I only listen to Christian music, I'm a fanatic. But if I listen to other music I'm judged for listen to secular/heathen music. (I got into a great conversation with someone telling me how any music that is not defined as Christian leads people to hell. I told them my dad plays non-Christian music for a living and they told me he must be going to hell. But when I asked how "She'll be comin' 'round the mountain" and "If you're happy and you know it" were so horrible the backpedaling began.) The simply truth is, people will always find some way to pick you apart and pull you down, no matter how you live. Even Jesus had this problem... and He's Jesus! "For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” (Luke 7:33-35 NLT) The same people judged Jesus and John into a no-win situation. But Jesus said we are shown right by how we live our lives, not in a single action. Are our lives pursuing and following wisdom? Following Jesus and becoming His disciples? Instead of focusing on the little things like how much we eat we should be focusing on the bigger actions, do we love others, are we telling people about Jesus, are we serving and caring and showing hospitality everyday in our actions? That's what will prove us right with God. Maybe we need to shift our focus onto the big things, or even better, off of the little things others do and onto bettering ourselves. T

Fractions of a Second...

I love the Olympics. Maybe it's my love of sport and getting to see so many different "games" performed by so many athletes from all countries of the world, but I love it. And one reason I know is, everything is so close. These are the best athletes in the world. Not the best of a state of a few million, not the best of a country of a few hundred million (if they're big), but these are the best handful of people out of a possible 7 billion participants. When you get people of that caliber together, everything is going to be close. Many of the games are now measured in thousandths of a second. That is how close these games are. So now, every little thing makes a difference. Your knees perfectly bent, your balance exact, how hard you sweep the ice in front of a curling rock, all the little things come into play (and if you know me, I'm obsessed with miniscule). The tiniest detail can be the difference between gold and silver, or gold and going home empty handed. Four years of training comes down to 1/1000th of a second. The reality is, our lives are the same way. It's not defined by the big things, it's defined by the little. How hard to we train spiritually? Like it's the Olympics or like we're watching the Olympics? Because that training helps us do the little more we need. Taking the few seconds to talk about Jesus, taking a little more effort to serve, realizing that something as small as treating someone with the dignity of a smile can spread the Gospel in ways we may never see. How can we better ourselves spiritually so that we are ready when we need to be just fractions of a second more like Christ? T

What's The Goal?

A few months ago I watched this on TV, and was thoroughly impressed.

http://msn.foxsports.com/college-football/story/girl-wins-100-000-in-halftime-challenge-throwing-football-with-two-hands-120713

Here's why I like it so much. Because she knew her goal.

Put the ball in the hole.

The other guy, he would never throw that way. Why? It looked stupid. On national television. So instead he threw like a man, and got beat by a girl, on national television. She didn't care what she looked like, she was focused on doing the job in front of her.

I had the same thing happen to me in college. At a team hockey practice they invited all the students to participate in a challenge to shoot 10 pucks at a net that was mostly covered with a few holes. The person who scored the most won gold tickets to an Edmonton Oilers game. While everyone wound up and shot real hard, looking cool for the girls, I lightly slid the puck on the ice toward the bottom right corner. They got to show everyone how hard they could shoot. I got to sit in the 12th row of a game where Georges Laraque scored his only hat trick (he only had 8 goals all year), and was so close to the bench I could hear the LA Kings players swearing about it.

Both times the question was asked, do I do things the proper way and look cool, or do I risk looking stupid to win. Sometimes we hold back from doing something amazing because we're scared of how it will come across. What if we lived lives of worship and didn't worry about how it would look? What if we told people about the love of Jesus instead of worrying about what we look like? What if we served, prayed and lived in such a way that knowing Christ was the goal, no matter how it looked? Amazing things might happen...

T

Stop Complaining About The Weather

Because you can't change it.

No matter how much you complain about it or lament it or hate it, there is absolutely nothing you can do to change how cold or snowy (or warm depending on where you are) it is outside.

But that doesn't mean you can't change something else.

The key to dealing with cold weather? Dress warmer. Plan more travel time. Make plans that don't revolve around being outside. You can't change the weather. You can change how you react to it.

And this is bigger than weather. A person is not defined by what happens to them. They are defined by how they act no matter what happens to them. The good things or bad things that happen to you in life make you no better or worse of a disciple of Christ. The circumstances around you have nothing to do with your faith. You have no control over those things. All you can control: your actions. And that shows who you are. The situation does not make the hero. The actions done in the moment make the hero.

So stop complaining about things you can't control, like the weather. Instead, do something about it. It's what makes you a better person.

T

Good Advice For Going To Church

I know some people have made the resolution to be more involved in worship services on Sunday morning as a part of bettering themselves in 2014. Great! But for those heading to church or youth group or wherever it may be, here's a little verse form Ecclesiastes I was looking at:

Watch your step when you enter God’s house.
        Enter to learn. That’s far better than mindlessly offering a sacrifice,
        Doing more harm than good. (Ecc. 5:1, MSG)

Unfortunately, there are no attendance points in heaven. You don't get better marks with Jesus just for showing up. It's why you show up and what you do when you're there. I want more people to attend Fishers UMC, on Sundays, to the youth ministry, Bible Studies, whatever they may be, but I also want it to be something worthwhile. Look at worship as a chance to learn, not offering the sacrifice of an hour Sunday morning God requires. It will really change worship for you!

T

How To Keep Your Resolutions

It's that time of year, where people seem to go full steam ahead into personal improvement. And the steam usually lasts about 3 weeks...

So how do you make sure you actually improve? What can you do to better your spiritual life this year?

Make fewer goals: If you have more than 3 resolutions, you're probably not going to keep them. I'm going to eat better, work out more, read a book a week, write a symphony, volunteer an hour a day, build a house from wood I chopped down myself, etc., etc. It's too much. Pick 3 or less, you may have a better chance at doing them.

Make a plan: I'm going to read a book a week. Great goal. Now, that will take about 6 hours a week, where does that time come from? Despite what people say, you can't make time, it's not possible. All you can do is reallocate it. So if you don't make a plan to get back that 6 hours, you'll never read that book.

When it comes to your relationship with Jesus and your spiritual family, are you making resolutions in a way you can actually keep them? Can you make one resolution like "join a Bible Study", plan out which one works for your schedule? Maybe make sure your homework, exercising, Netflix movie is done at a different time to free up that hour or so? Make a plan for how you're going to get there if you need a ride?

Here's a challenge for you, read the Bible this year. Most Christians have not read the entire Bible (I've been in a room where a lot of pastors had not), what if you actually read your Holy Library just once? You can do it with 10-15 minutes a day, the internet is littered with reading plans (there are some in the Wharf for FIRE & WATER students).

Don't make resolutions this year, keep resolutions this year. There's a big difference between talk and action...

T

Skeuomorphs

Ever heard of a skeuomorph? You see them every single day, and probably don't even think about it.

Skeuomorphs are design elements from earlier models that are added to newer models for the purpose of making people feel comfortable. I am typing this on a computer. In many computer programs when you save something a little picture of a floppy disk shows up to let you know your file is being saved. Here's the thing, who still uses floppy disks (beside my pile downstairs)? It's a symbol we've become familiar with so it's kept to help us feel comfortable. On a DVD and Blu-ray player the play button sometimes is a triangle or arrow pointed right. That's because in the good old VHS days, the tape actually played to the right. So why do we still use an outdated symbol on this new technology? It's familiar and comfortable.

The sad part is we've actually become dependent on skeuomorphs. Almost every single sound your car makes is unnecessary and added just for you. Think about it, do you really think in the 21st century we can't make a turn signal that doesn't click? So why is the click there? How many people do you see driving with the turn signal on? Now imagine how many more it would be if there were no sound. The "click" you hear when you buckle a safety belt is louder than it really needs to be simply because we feel safer when we hear that sound. For some cars the sound of the engine is amplified or even created and played with speakers (like in electric cars) because people kept thinking their car wasn't started because they couldn't hear it, and people didn't see cars coming because they weren't looking and they needed the sound to alert them.

Here's my question, what skeuomorphs are in your spiritual life that you are holding on to, maybe even depending on because it's easier to have them than learn to operate without them? Tomorrow billions of people are going to attend Christmas Eve services. What things have we told ourselves are necessary for worship? What if they don't sing "that Christmas carol they sing every year" or light the candles we like or ____________? Is that thing really necessary to celebrate Christ's birth or are we so dependent on it we rely on it when we shouldn't (like the car engine, people should look both ways before crossing the street without hearing an engine, but they don't)? When we gather to worship on Sunday morning, what is necessary other than Jesus showing up?

It's challenging, but try it. Look for skueomorphs this week. A page turning on a digital book isn't necessary, but it looks pretty and we depend on it. What else can you find? Even harder, what spiritual skeuomorphs have you made? Something to think about.

Merry Christmas.

T

"I Need"

In the spirit of Christmas, this statement bugs the snot out of me.

I challenge you to a little social experiment. While you are out and about some day, listen to how many times you hear this statement at stores, restaurants, etc. It always bugs me. We have convinced ourselves that something petty and small has become a need, something we cannot live without.

"I need an Xbox One" - No, it would be nice to have that game system, you would like it.
"I need extra fries with that" - No, trust me, you don't.
"I need it delivered by tomorrow" - No, no one will die if they don't get that card you should have sent out last week.

For most of the people I know, really, there are very little that we still need. Water is piped straight to our houses and clean enough to consume, the amount of food available in ten miles from my house is obscene, to order or groceries, most people have so many clothes they actually complain about washing and folding them, the living rooms of some houses in my town are bigger than an entire family's house in another part of the world. Because we have our needs met, and met so extravagantly, we have tricked ourselves into believing that some minor wants are now needs.

It still dumbfounds me to hear someone in a restaurant say "I need tomatoes on that." You're in a place that is cooking your food for you, food that is deemed safe by the FDA and prepared by professionals, food that is paid for from jobs that give us enough money to pay others to prepare our food, food that is so diverse that many people in the world would not eat this many different types of food in their lifetime, let alone one meal. But I need tomatoes on it? No, I would like. It would be nice. It would be tasty. But it's not a need.

God can bless you with everything you need, and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others. ~ II Corinthians 9:8 (LB)

As you shop and are out and about, think about what you really need...

T

Standing On Water

Please read this post at the Fishers UMC blog:

http://www.fishersumc.blogspot.com/2013/12/standing-on-water.html

T

There Is Nothing More Deceptive Than An Obvious Fact

I saw this statement a while ago and it got me thinking. How many things are there in my life that are glaringly obvious, especially to others, but to me they seem hidden? And why? When it comes to faith it really makes me wonder if we feel the same way.

-We go to church every Sunday, but do we see the person sitting in corner waiting for someone to be friendly to them? Or do we see them every week and just keep "seeing" them?
-We say faith is about grace, but what about the person who hurt me?
-We know a great way to learn about God is to read His Word, but when was the last time we did that?
-Another great way to learn about God and His children is in a small group or Bible Study, but who has the time?
-God is love and loves us completely, and we believe that for others, but what about ______?
-We know prayer can move mountains, but do we pray like it?
-People in our lives need to know there is a God who loves them, so what are we waiting for?

-Insert your own obvious fact here.

There are a lot of things about God and living for Him that are obvious, very obvious. So why do they seem so hidden and hard?

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