Why Don't You Unplug Too?

According to Dr. Monica Reed in her book Creation Health, your heart will beat 2.5 billion times and will pump more than 1 million barrels of blood throughout your body. It is important to note that between each powerful beat of your heart, it rests. This resting period allows the heart to “unplug” or “reload” to do the work of the next beat.

Likewise, you and I need to “unplug” or “reload.” We need rest. Science, however, wasn’t the first to discover the need for a cycle of rest. In fact, rest is part of the plan that our Creator gave to us at the very beginning. The book of Genesis tells how God provided for this rest. After creating every living thing including man and woman, Genesis 1:31 says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Then Genesis 2:1-2 adds these words, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”

Was God tired? No! He was setting an example for us! He was building a rhythm of rest into our weekly cycle. Why? Because God knew we would need it! Families are falling apart. People are working too much for too long. Even care providers and health care workers who know our bodies need to rest are guilty of over working themselves. That’s a few reasons why once a week on Saturdays, my family unplugs for 24 hours. Literally. We turn the cell phones off and unplug the TV. We worship. We laugh. We play. We rest. Why don’t you unplug too?

Did God Stop Speaking?

God didn’t stop speaking. We stopped listening. So start listening. Prayer is not primarily about lists and requests. It's about keeping company with God. Last week, Jackie and the kids [with a friend] and I did this by going Geocaching. Have you guys ever heard of that? I hadn’t until last week. But Jackie had. And we all really enjoyed it. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences with each other and if you want online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment [click pics for more info]. There are 927,257 active geocaches around the world and after typing some coordinates in our GPS, we found two more hidden at Wildwood Metro Park. We found a fox den, lots of leaves, and had a couple hours of fun. With eachother and with God PTL!!!

Can Christmas Change the World?

Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, and Greg Holder are right. In their book Advent Conspiracy [click pic for more info] they say, "Many American Christians have decided they can, to put it bluntly, love both God and money." Proof of this can be seen every Christmas. When we spend $450 billion/year each year. That's about $900/family. But what would happen if Christians proactively decided to spend less and give more presence this year? We could start by giving our children or grandchildren no more than three presents. Total. Since that's how many Jesus received at his birth. Or if that's too radical, consider drawing names or giving one less gift than last year. The time and money we save could be poured into local non-profit organizations like Haven of Hope or Serenity Farm.

Talking about giving, CS Lewis said it this way: "I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them" [Mere Christianity, p.86].

Christmas changed the world the day Jesus was born in a cold, dark stable; Christmas can change the world again!!!

Mini Mike and Jackie?

It was picture day at school this week. Lydia is in 2nd grade. Joshua is in 4th grade this year. Any grammas or grampas wanna order a pic of [not so] mini Mike or Jackie?

Father Forgive Them?

Old people are awesome. They’re not afraid of dying and they stopped caring what people think of them years ago like the grandma in this video clip. How many of you would be willing to forgive and pray for somebody robbing you? I’m not sure I would! Imagine the impact that a unified body of believers could make, regardless of age, if all of us actually prayed with unbelievers. Click the pic above for more details on how the Holy Spirit can help us navigate our lives and the triangular play button below to watch the video. Enjoy!!!