Joel Stiff's Adventure

Time and money are finite.

Choices have to be made about where to invest your time and money.

Choose wisely.

God operates on a timetable different than ours.

That typically means that we are in a big fat hurry and God just isn’t. Most of our worry doesn’t come in the form of doubting that God will come through. Most of our worry comes in the form of doubting that God will come through in time.

James says that we should let patience have her perfect work.

The story is told of men during the gold rush who spent everything they had to start mining for gold. Many of them searched until their patience or their savings ran out. They would then head to town and sell off their used equipment and land. Other families would come in and buy the used equipment and resume digging. In many cases, gold was eventually struck. In one particular case, a man gave up three feet short of striking it rich.

I wonder how often we give up just before God is ready to act on our behalf.

A man had been stranded on a deserted island for a number of years. The day finally came when a ship noticed his SOS and sent a rescue boat. Upon arriving on shore, the rescue crew noticed three huts on the beach. They verified that the man was indeed the only person on the island. Knowing this, they asked him why he would need three huts. He the told them, “The one on the left is my house and the one on the right is my church.” They asked about the final one in the middle. “Oh, that’s the church I used to go to.”

Zig Ziglar used to say, “Some people find fault like there’s a reward for it.”

You will find exactly what you are looking for. If you look for faults, you will find them aplenty. If you look for reasons to be appreciative, you will find just as many.

In his epistle, James asks us if a fountain can send forth sweet and bitter water at the same time.

At Christmas, we see many of these duplicitous fountains.

Public personalities (actors, musicians politicians et al.) who reject God, blaspheme Him and mock Christianity all year long, only to sing hymns and songs about Jesus at Christmas time are duplicitous fountains.

God is not honored nor will He be mocked.

We should not be deceived.

Christmas isn’t the same for adults as it is for children.

It is still magnificent, but it is magnificent in a different way. Christmas for a child is magical because of the unknown. You go to bed with cookies and milk out and an empty tree. You wake to an empty plate and glass and a beautiful assortment of gifts. There is no telling what is in each brightly colored box, but it is believed to be exactly what we hoped for.

I believe Heaven will be just like Christmas again. We know what the scripture teaches us of Heaven, but we cannot begin to grasp what it will all mean. We do not know what life in a glorified body that lacks a sin nature is like. We do not know what pure air, water and food is like. We do not know what the glory of God and the light of Jesus will look like. The excitement lies in the unknown goodness that awaits us.

I think the first hour in Heaven will be just like Christmas was when we were children.

Shannon is attending a ladies conference tonight and tomorrow. That leaves me alone with the children. So far it’s been, pizza, coke, cookies, ice cream, video games and tv. Soon the mattress will be drug into the living room and the all nighter will begin.
Tomorrow at the last minute we will hurriedly clean up our mess as though nothing happened.
The stuff memories are made of.
Shhhhh, don’t tell her.

I’ve gotten a number of kind messages stating that I was missed at our church on Sunday.  I was preaching for a good friend and was out the whole day.  A number of our folks have been expressive about my absence.  It feels good to be missed.  It tells me that people feel that the value I add to their lives is noticeable when it isn’t there.  It seems that to be missed, two things have to happen: we have to matter to others and we have to go away occasionally.

Jesus was chewed out by Mary and Martha for not getting to Lazarus in time.
He didn’t apologize.
Saul chewed out Samuel for not arriving in time to offer the sacrifice.
He didn’t apologize.
In our day of cell phones, texting and email, people are of the opinion that we are obligated to respond immediately.
We are not.

In the game of black vs white, no one wins.

I have lived nearly my entire life in a city that is nearly 50/50 split between black and white people. As of the 2010 census, it was 56.6% black and 37.4% white with the rest being hispanic or biracial. I attended an elementary school that was majority white, but bussed in a small percentage of black kids. I attended a junior high and high school that was majority black and bussed some of us white kids in.

I remember vividly the white kids who harassed me and gave me trouble. I also remember vividly the black kids who harassed me and gave me trouble. What I learned from my integrated upbringing is that there are some white people that are punks, thugs and bullies. I also learned that some black people are punks, thugs and bullies. I’ve learned that you have to be on guard against those who would seek to do you harm based on their mindset, attitude and disposition and not as much based on the color of their skin. I seem to remember someone who mentioned the content of a person’s character being important.

I usually avoid the subject of prejudice and racism with the exception of preaching against it, but I’m noticing trouble as a result of the Ferguson matter. As I understand it, the rioters and looters in Ferguson do not have the death of Michael Brown at heart in their actions. No one in their right mind burns their own neighborhood down to protest the death of one of their own at the hands of another. The rioters and looters are simply opportunists who are using the decision as justification to engage in destructive behavior.

The media coverage is extremely divisive. If they can create a civil war within our country between black and white folks, they will have plenty of sensational headlines to report. I’m watching my black friends post articles and comments about the evil white cop that murdered an innocent black boy. I’m also watching my white friends post articles and comments about how black men are killing white cops and no one is reporting about it. It seems that many are choosing to respond emotionally rather than rationally. This, “One of yours killed one of ours so we’re going to kill one of yours” or “One of ours may have killed one of yours, but yours kill ours too” is not productive. It’s time we start viewing such matters through the eyes of justice and not emotion.

Criminal’s lives end badly, white or black. If my son ever gets shot by a black cop, I’m sure he will have done something to deserve it.

The day of the broad brush has to be retired. Whites cannot blame all blacks for being racist or criminal. Blacks cannot blame all whites every time a white cop misbehaves or does his job regarding one of their own.

White men throughout American history have committed great atrocities against other races. From slaughtering the Indians to enslaving black people, there is much blood on white men’s hands. But the current generation has had no hand in “whites” and “colored” drinking fountains. My children bear no more blame for the wickedness of previous generations than the children of Germany are responsible for the horrors of the SS.

Day to day life in high school was pretty uneventful. White kids and black kids got along just fine with only the occasional misstep. Nothing more than what happened with someone of our own race at times. But when the national media starts fanning the flames of white vs. black, we become irrational.

Maybe I am naive to think that we should be blind to the amount of melanin in someone’s skin and make our judgments based on their hearts as revealed by their behavior. It is, however, the biblical directive. Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman. One whom He should have avoided based on cultural attitudes regarding both race and gender. Paul said that there is neither Jew nor Greek, but that we are all one in Christ.

Race is certainly a strange thing. I remember one day after gym a white kid named Chris White fought a black kid named Eugene Black.

There was no winner.

There is something about a Christmas tree in the living room.
It’s nostalgic, calming and soothing.
It encourages reflection.
Its empty base foretells what is to come.
On Christmas morning, its presents bring excitement.
After Christmas, it is a reminder of good memories.