Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! I'm on the road today. I was going to post last night about being alone on Christmas eve again but then I found some friends online and wasn't sensing the aloneness quite so much.

Enjoy this blessed day and please remember what its supposed to be about... the birth of a baby.

Blessings,

Christmas shopping

So, do you have all your Christmas shopping done? This is a relatively inevitable question this time of year. Probably because buying gifts at Christmas is something I would venture 99% or more of us do. I'm not really sure why we do it though?

What is this holiday really about anyway? It's not about gifts - at least not the ones we give each other. It's about the greatest gift of all - God's son sent to earth as a baby. That discussion is one for another day. Today I want to focus on this gift giving tradition.

Are there alternatives? What do you say to your children if you don't give them gifts? I've been blessed and am able to buy gifts for my niece and nephews, my dad, and my brother and sister. But what if I wasn't? Would that make me a less loving person? Would it make me less of a Christian?

What if gift giving or gift receiving isn't my love language? (See Gary Smalley's book, "Five Love Languages" if you don't know what I'm talking about - you're welcome Gary) Do I care about the gift? Does anyone else care if I give them gifts?

What does the sharing of a gift mean? I think it is supposed to show care, love, and generosity. So let's take on the subject. If you are hungry and I give you a gift but don't feed you, have I cared for you? Have I loved you? Have I truly been generous? If you would rather have me spend time with you but instead I buy you a gift and walk away, have I cared for you? Loved you? Truly been generous? I think the answers are obvious and you get my point.

But how about this. If one of the primary ways I express love is by giving gifts but a person doesn't receive love that way should I get them a gift? Do they need to learn to be gracious and receive it? Yes, they do. However, can I learn creativity in my giving so that it does match the recipients love language? I think so. If their language is quality time can I plan my gift to be spending time with him/her? If it's encouraging words can I make my gift a note - or the perfect card which tells them how special they are? I think so.

So what does this all mean? I think it's time the shopping was slowed. (I might not agree if I still worked in retail.) Think about the gifts you are giving before you go out and spend money. Be creative. Recognize the love language of your gift recipients. Maybe you do something together instead.

Take the money saved and use it for those with legitimate needs. Have family bonding time serving a meal in a soup kitchen on Christmas day. Maybe you also supply the soup, or at least make a donation to the soup kitchen so they can continue to serve those in need.

Just a few thoughts as we close in on Christmas and celebrate the birth of our Savior - the epitome of love, care, and generosity.

Blessings,
Eric

Todays thought

This is the thought for today. I wish it was a new thought. Instead it's one i've had for many years and continue to struggle with.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he replied, Love God with all your heart, soul, and strength and that second is like it - Love your neighbor as yourself. I have for years preached and taught about loving God and loving others and I still will. But on the inside I wrestle with something. Do I really know what it means to love? How do I know if I'm loving God? How do I know if I'm loving others. I think I am. But how do I know.

If those questions take you back a bit, my apologies but they aren't really the question I was getting to. Here is the real question - How can I love others like I love myself if I don't love myself?

I could explain a lot and ramble for a while but maybe this is better left just as is. Those of you who don't know me might freak out at that question but don't - just ask it and let it sink in. I'm not looking for you to answer it for me but for you to use it in your own thinking.

Be blessed,
Eric

Core Value - Integrity

So I'm building a web site. Actually, I'm not. I'm providing information and layout suggestions within the framework of google apps to build a website. You can find the site at http://www.4freedomonline.org/. Their program does the building for which I'm extremely grateful. I'm currently working on the core values page. I'm taking 12 principles for ministry that were defined back in 1996 and combining them down to 5 core values. At least that is what I've seen so far. And this is where it gets a little sticky as I don't think a Core Value should need 1/2 a page of explanation. So I'm going to be working on wording for a while and I thought I'd post them here to see if 1) anyone actually finds, reads, and bothers to respond to my rambling, and 2)if anyone does to see if they have suggestions for wording.

Today's value - Integrity - below are the original principles of ministry that I think fit with integrity.

• We will maintain integrity in our ministry by staying focused on our mission, remaining open to God's direction, and operating by a higher ethical standard than we are obligated to by our society
• Dependence - God is our founder and it is for His glory that we exist. Therefore we will seek God's counsel and direction in our decision making, even when consulting with other people, and we will trust Him to provide all our needs.
• Accountability - We will be accountable first to God and then to the appropriate people in our finances, counseling, and services provided.
• We will be transparent for the world to see in our finances, programs, and in all our relationships
• humility - we will remain in awe of what God has chosen to do through us. Renouncing all pride and desire for recognition we will give God glory and credit for everything accomplished through us.

So there you have it. Feedback is appreciated. If you read this but don't want to give feedback, post a reply just to let me know someone read it. :)

Welcome

Welcome to my private thoughts turned public. You are about to embark on a journey that may well take you to the edge and maybe beyond as you are granted access to my thoughts and ideas. I don't know that this has ever been attempted before so welcome to the journey. I really am glad to have you along for the ride and I hope you will find it challenging and thought provoking. From that end I also hope you enjoy it but it will likely not be a happy-go- lucky type of enjoyment - oh, this is fun.

So, welcome, hang on, and I look forward to the journey with you.

More to come soon.