Joel Stiff's Adventure

Maybe you’ve met these people.

They are the ones who believe it is their job to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to do. This is regardless of whether or not it is their job to do so.

Sometimes it is my job to make sure someone is doing what they are supposed to do. My children, my employees and anything or anyone else I am supposed to be overseeing is completely appropriate. What is not appropriate is everything and everyone else.

The Bible calls these people busybodies who meddle in the affairs of others without request. They are known to be idle without enough on their own plate.

You will know these self proclaimed managers of the universe by the advice they give you about your life, your choices and your behaviors. They will also advise you on your kids and what they ought to be doing.

The irony is that those who are responsible for the management of others have no desire to expand that circle. If I am not responsible to manage your behavior, I want nothing to do with it. I have plenty to do without obsessing over business that isn’t my own.

In a perfect world (my idea of perfect anyhow) I would not have to manage anyone other than myself. I am uncomfortable being a boss and giving direction.

It makes me wonder what the busybodies are made of.

So I’m listening to this preacher tell a story of some trouble that he had.

About ten years ago, property values in his state were rising. He decided it was a great opportunity to make some retirement investments. He pulled the equity out of his home to buy a couple other properties. Not long after that in 2008, the housing market bubble burst. He lost the investment homes as well as his own family’s home.

At the family meeting where he broke the news to his children, his son asked why he didn’t seek any advice before making such a move. The dad responded that he had……from two other preachers.

Now, I am all for getting advice from a preacher. I am one who dispenses advice daily. But preachers shouldn’t be dispensing advice in areas in which they have no expertise. On top of that, people shouldn’t seek the advice of their pastor in areas in which he is not an expert. As pastors of congregations, we should not allow our ego to lead us to believe we are the source of all human wisdom.

The Bible says that in a multitude of counselors there is safety. We should have advisors in our lives that are experts in their respective fields. I wouldn’t go to my mechanic for child training advice or my banker for car repairs. I also wouldn’t get financial advice from a poor Baptist preacher. Seems like common sense.

He should have bought a scratch off lottery ticket. He’d be out a lot less money. I mean if you’re going to gamble, don’t put your house on the table.

I’ve never had one turned down.

They use the same system of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies as the United States. I’ve never met a business here yet that will turn them down.

Is the exchange rate exactly the same? No. Does it matter? No.

We use them interchangeably as do they accept ours. The differences are simply too insignificant to matter.

I once traveled to the south with a pocketful of international coins. Out of habit, I handed a cashier a Canadian coin and was nearly arrested for fraud. You would have thought I was printing money in my basement by the reaction I received. I understand the reaction. After all, that coin “isn’t from around here.”

But if you stop and look at it a little closer, it isn’t as different as it seems at first.

When I was a kid and had not yet learned the days of the week, I used to ask my mom every day if it was cartoon day.

For those of us old enough to remember, there were only three major networks and a handful of local channels. We turned the channel by getting up, walking to the tv and turning the knob. My parents were on a second shift schedule so I had to be quiet when turning that big knob to keep it from making that loud clunk noise.

Each Saturday on the three major networks, they would show different cartoons from 8:00 AM until Noon and then at Noon, ABC would show their Weekend Special. It was an hour long, usually live action program that told an interesting story. All said and done, I would spend five hours each Saturday in front of the tv and it was delightful.

Bugs Bunny / Road Runner, Flintstones with Captain Caveman and the Shmoo, Pink Panther, Spider Man and His Amazing Friends, Johnny Quest and Scooby Doo were all on tap for that day.

Saturday was the greatest ever. It was what I looked forward to every single day of the week. Sadly, cartoon day has given way to infomercials and news. It’s a crime against humanity. I still have things I look forward to as much as cartoon day. Things I can’t wait to do, see and be a part of. Part of the joy of childhood is the anticipation of something good.

What is a part of your week that you look forward to so much you can’t hardly stand it? If you can’t think of anything, you need something.

Christians can be an unusual bunch.

We tend to judge things as dangerous or safe based on our experiences with them rather than truth.

The Gentiles were horrified that the Jews would eat meat that had previously been sacrificed to an idol. Surely, the pagan ceremony somehow tainted the meat making it inedible.

The Jews were equally horrified that the Gentiles would fail to observe the Jewish holy days. After all, it’s what they had been doing for thousands of years. How dare you neglect to observe it.

The Bible clarifies both of these things by saying that neither one matters. Eat the meat or don’t eat the meat. Observe the day or don’t observe the day.

Growing up in the midwest, halloween was a big deal. It was all about candy, costumes and fun. No one sacrificed any goats or chanted to the devil. These days, you have to turn in your Christian membership card if you dare mention trick or treating or spider webs adorning your porch.

The sad side of it all is watching those who hold this self righteous line of preferences that have nothing to do with scripture. I hear of them committing adultery or their children end up hating them because mom and dad were more interested in keeping up appearances than having a sincere walk with God.

Thankfully, I do believe I see a moving away from preaching against Teletubbies, He Man, the Smurfs and other such nonsense.

There is plenty of life destroying sin in he Bible that needs to be covered.

It’s about time we stopped being scared of the wrong things.

The forecast in my area has called for high percentages of rain for much of the week.

How much has it actually rained? Maybe a total of twenty minutes. If you listen to the forecasters, it’s as though it will rain buckets around the clock.

How many people have changed plans or called them off altogether because of what was said? What a disappointment once it is realized that it was just hyped up sensationalism.

Most fear is based on hyped up sensationalism.

Once a week, the family and I get a nice coffee drink and donut from Tim Horton’s.

I always get the double chocolate donut. It is chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. At the location we patronize, the person in charge of the frosting was incredibly generous. It was always laid on thick and ran down the sides and inside hole. It was a delightful treat.

I keep saying “was” because the last two donuts I received have been frosted with less generosity. The donut is not as good and I am not really interested in eating them anymore.

It’s funny that something so little can make an experience with a product or service company so delightful. And then once it goes away, so does the delight.

If you are offering a product or service, that little extra effort makes all the difference. If it ever goes away, you are just like everybody else.

I read a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant once that said, “He who chases two rabbits catches none.”

When we first started our church, a man named Bill Pavelin started attending from the very first Sunday.

Soon in our acquaintance, Bill said to me, “Don’t try to please everyone. You will fail every time.” It was something he said to me pretty regularly. He wasn’t bossy or forceful. He was just trying to help a young preacher out. He was with us for about five years, I suppose and then went home to Heaven. I have never forgotten what he told me. In fact, I understand it a bit better now than I ever have.

As we are inundated with commands, orders, preferences and the advice of others, we can become confused as to what we are actually supposed to be doing. The world is full of people who feel it is their job to boss us around and are not intimidated to do so. The struggle comes when we start thinking that their instruction holds any weight. It is interesting to note whose opinion sways you the most. What criteria is your brain using to determine this order anyhow?

There are many rabbits you will be tempted to chase for one reason or another in an attempt to please them. So today, as dozens of people try to sway your behavior in their direction, my advice is to ignore them all.

It’s time we got out of the rabbit chasing business altogether.

Monday, we had a very brief storm system roll through.

A cell several miles wide swept over our area. It had lightning, thunder, hard rain and left behind a double rainbow. It was a fabulous, yet brief storm.

Afterwards, I noticed just a very few handfuls of cumulous clouds. Most of the sky was bright blue. The sun shone bright. Here and there were a smattering of these smaller, white, billowy clouds.

It dawned on me that my life is about like that.

When there is a storm, it is tumultuous, yet fairly brief. Afterwards, there are the clear signs of God’s hand in the storm. My life is overall bright blue and filled with sunshine with just a small, occasional cloud here and there.

Life is good.

God is good to me.

Ups and downs.

Positive people, places, books, podcasts, programming, humor.

Gratitude, generosity, expressive thankfulness, kindness, love, peacemaking.

Negative people, places, books, podcasts, programming, humor.

Ingratitude, fault finding, hateful, bitter, critical, pot stirring, mean.

Are you going up or down?