Anyway, I am stoked, its the last day of school, my nephews soccer team is one game closer to wining the Tennessee State Championship ( 3-0 victory last night) and I get to live another day in service to my Lord and Savior – Mr JC.

So lets through out a quick Psalm of praise today:

Psalm 117

¹ Praise the LORD, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.

² For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD.

Its the end of school, but its the first day of the rest of your life, what are you going to do with it?

Anyway, enjoy the day, and as you interact with others, remember the actions of the Christ and the impact that can have on your life – if you let it!

Ephesians 2:4-6 (New International Version)

⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

¹⁴Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. ¹⁶From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Matthew 26:14-16 (New International Version)

Yep. Judas, the traitor.  The one who demonstrated his selfishness on the worlds stage.  This is the day where is seemed that Judas sealed the deal the “hand over” Jesus.  We give Judas a really hard time some times, because we know that we are so perfect!  But really, I was thinking this morning about “What are willing to give me if I hand him over?”or maybe “What am I wanting to get that makes me hand him over?” Don’t we find ourselves asking that question some times?

It may not be thirty silver coins, the price of a slave, but it may be something just as cheap.  Or it may be something of more “value” – a job, a thing, a pleasure, a moment?  Its a daily battle for us to continually balance the value of our “stuff” versus the value of freedom from Christ.  I personally find it rather easy to hand over Jesus for “stuff” , as much as it pains me to admit it.  We just have to remember that if we stick with him, we will get all that we ever want.

¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:10-11 (New International Version)

So today, don’t trade Him in.  Stick with him!  Complete your Joy!

Unemployed D.C. man giving money away to strangers to help foster kindness

I was immediately blown away, and inspired at the same time!  This guy had lost his job, yet he is out giving $10 away a day – to complete strangers.  He also has been blogging about his encounters here.   This blog is definitely worth a gander as he retells of his encounters each day. Its confusing.  its a little mind boggling.  He should be saving everything he has correct?  Unfortunately, that’s the way we usually look at things like this.  But really imagine if we all took approaches like this.   I have taught many classes on this concept from Luke:

Luke 6:38 (New International Version)

³⁸Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

But this at times is a hard concept to implement.  Yes, Ray its not all about money ( sorry that’s a little inside joke to my friend Ray), its about giving and trusting.  I am impressed with Reed Sandridge.  I am inspired by him and I hope to learn from him.

Today, give.  Give because it helps others.  (and as I blogged about two weeks ago, that’s good and catchy!)  Give knowing that it will come back to you in ways that you will never ever expect.

Anyway, while I was still awake, I was asking my lovely and multi-talented wife why she thought there were so many falls.    We both through out several theories, including that they tired ( like us), they didn’t get enough practice, or that is was Bush’s fault. (ok just kidding on the last one).   But ultimately we settled, and I think this is true, on that fact that they are having to push so hard because there is such a small separation between Gold and last.  They push so hard, and when you push yourself, sometimes  you make mistakes.   All of these athletes are capable of pretty incredible athletic accomplishments, but on the world’s stage we see them falter. They could pull back just a little and finish their event without a fall, but would fall would be any chance at a medal.  So, they go for it, they push themselves a little past what they can comfortable do, and when it works – its awesome!

So it is with our lives – physical and spiritual.  We can live in our comfort zone and never make a mistake, and never reap the reward.  Live it out on the edge.  Push yourself in your life.  Accept that you will not be perfect, but at times, things will work out in a way that you just can’t even imagine how awesome the reward will be.

This is why I love the Olympics.  It so inspiring, its so motivating, its such a microcosm of life.

So, lets take some risks, lets live a little bit crazy, step out of the place of comfort and lets impact others by pushing on the edges.

And then find your safety in God.

New International Version (NIV)Psalm 4:7-8

⁷ You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

⁸ I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

Parking Lot after Work

I was so excited.  Finally, after years of traveling to Maine I was going to be able us the scrapper thingy they provide for you in the car.  ( By the way, that thing is in the car in the middle of the summer!).  But yes, I was going to be able to scrape off the windows of my car.  To most Mainers, that is a pain – an unwelcome sign of winter.  But to me, on this day, it was a source of joy.  A simple event,  but a one that I cherished. 

You probably have things like this in your life as well.  Most days, these are over whelmed by the trials and mundaneness of life.  Today, challenge yourself to find those little things that bring you joy, cherish those, and give thanks for those.  And if you don’t mind - add a comment to this post, and share those moments with all of us.

And I will help you will one – just to get to you started.  The Good News from Acts 13.

 ³²“We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers ³³he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:
   ” ‘You are my Son;
      today I have become your Father.³⁴The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words:
   ” ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ ³⁵So it is stated elsewhere:
   ” ‘You will not let your Holy One see decay.’

 ³⁶“For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed. ³⁷But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

 ³⁸“Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

Joy Joy Joy!

After all there’s only one more sleep to Christmas..Day

-Kermit the Frog

Its here.  Set out the cookies and milk – the big guy with the presents comes tonight. You can track him with your little ones with help from NORAD.  For several its a tradition to pass the time away on this night before Christmas driving around viewing the lights.  Well, today, thanks to The Sacramento Bee, the lights are coming to you from around the world.

It only seems right that we travel back to Luke 2 for today.  Enjoy the time with your family exchanging gifts and loving each other, but take a little time and remember the greatest gift – a Savior.

Luke 2:8-14 (New International Version)

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.

Wow, his favor rests with men.    I don’t know about you, you may find this all to be craziness, but I find this all to be a source of Joy, unrelenting, unmeasurable Joy!  And for the next few days, I will praise God and thank God for sending his son to this earth, and for all the blessing it has brought to us.

Merry Christmas! – Glory to God in the highest!

Its the reason that songs like Jars of Clays “Two Hands” have such meaning.  Even Paul talks about it in Romans 7

²¹So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴What a wretched man I am!

And I think it because of this struggle that we struggle so much with works and grace.  I know I do.  I want to work.  I want to produce good fruit.  I want to love deeply, I want to give, I want to serve.  Not because I think I can earn my way to heaven, but because I know that the fruit of righteous living is exactly what the Lord wants, and that its creates peace.  But I am sure glad for grace.  Because its grace and mercy that brings me right out of the rage and back to the song of praise.  Its grace and mercy that hits me in the head like a two by four and says – thats a person, a son of God standing on the side of the road.  Its grace and mercy that brings us to a place where we understand that works are not the means, but the fruit of a person who realizes how dependent they are on grace and mercy.  I also believe its this understanding and not by working harder, that will reduce the double mindedness of our lives.  I am going to test that.

Ephesians 4:31-32 (New International Version)

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

You see I so badly want to follow Ephesians 4:31-32, but a fail miserable quite often.  But I can take solace in the last 7 words.   Those 7 words full of grace and mercy.  The seven words full of a Christ, who came willingly.  Those 7 words can provide a place of hope and a starting place move to from double mindedness to obsession.  Will you move with me? Paul concludes that is the way as well in the rest of Hebrews 7

Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So lets start by celebrating the fact that the Christ, the newborn king, come to Bethlehem with the full intention of bringing forgiveness to you.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

Oh, the with 9 days to Christmas, lets finish this on rocking note.  From Josh’s List its another cheezy 80′s Christmas song with a “Rebel Yell”- Billy Idol’s Jingle Bell Rock.