experiences

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Why You Can’t Trust the News

Lately I’ve been bugged by the news. Actually, I’m regularly bugged by the news. My son says “Why do you even watch the news? It’s so negative and depressing.” And he’s not wrong in that.

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The news media claim that they are reporting the facts, which is true. They do. But they also add their political bias and even religious spin to it, which actually skews the facts to be something other than fact.

Years ago I had some blood work done and when the doctor gave me the report he was a little puzzled. He told me that they couldn’t calculate my bad cholesterol because my triglycerides were so high.

Let me say that again in words I understand: There was junk in my blood that prevented the lab from being able to decipher what my true bad cholesterol count was.

Relating that to what the newsmakers do, they mix their junk in with the facts so that you can’t really tell what the facts are.

I realize that this isn’t anything new. It’s been going on for a long time. All the while, the news media defend their right to inform us, the public, of the truth … except we are not getting the truth – their triglycerides are too high!

I don’t like how they slant their stories against the government, or Christian religion. But when you get such a steady diet of the same spin, you begin to take their word as normal, it’s the way it is.

It’s just like me and my blood test. I didn’t feel bad; I couldn’t tell my blood wasn’t in good shape.  I needed someone to look at it and tell me there was something wrong there.

However, it’s pretty difficult to convince the newsmakers that there is something preventing us from getting the facts and that something is their political and religious views … I just call them their triglycerides.

Recently when we had the shooting on Parliament Hill, the news – and even some politicians – were quick to give us the facts: there was a shooting; it was a terrorist attack. They even figured out how the gunman did it.

But then we were told over and over that this attack was ideologically and politically motivated.

We were assured that this was not connected to religion or religiously motivated at all.  However, the gunman had converted to Islam, and according to the RCMP commissioner, had recorded a video before the shooting in which he made remarks about Allah and expressed Jihadist views.

News correspondents, media personnel, and even one of our national party leaders, have gone out of their way to defend Islam as a peaceful religion, stating there is nothing in the Quran that would insight violence.

My first thought is that these people are just ignorant, and are not doing the proper investigation. They are going on what they have been told.

… You know, I didn’t realize that the things I was eating were causing my triglycerides to rise in my blood. But when I found out, I did something about it.

What our media is doing is ignoring the fact that their triglycerides are high, reporting skewed facts to us anyway. And that’s not ignorance, that’s manipulation.

Here’s the thing: Your number one source for growth in your relationship with the Lord should be your Bible. You see, God the Holy Spirit directed and guided the writers of the scriptures. We can be confident that what we have is what God wanted to give us. Everything else comes with some “triglycerides” added. Use those as second sources, not first.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you use to help you in your quiet time with God? Leave your comment below.

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Some Jobs Are Just Plain Fun 

The other day I got a taste of one of the few outdoor jobs I don’t mind doing.

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My grass needed to be cut – probably for the last time this year. But before I cranked up my Briggs & Stratton engine, I needed to clean up the leaves that had fallen off our tree.

I used to hate that chore, but I don’t mind it now because I have a power leaf collector.  The thing is awesome! – you should have one too.

Even if you don’t have a tree in your yard – or a tree on your street for that matter – you need to have one of these babies! Hey, the wind blows in the fall and leaves can come to your address from far away and land on your lawn … I’m just saying.

What this leaf collector does is it sucks the leaves up like a big vacuum cleaner (only much cooler) and then it cuts the leaves in little pieces so they take up less space and can be compacted easier. See? … Awesome, right?

In the old days, I would rake the leaves. It was such a tedious job, I couldn’t handle it.

But there’s nothing like having a motor strapped to my side, that’s producing a deafening 75-90 db (decibels) of pure suction power, to give me a bounce in my step, a spring in my stride.

I know I’m not the only one who enjoys collecting their dead leaves this way. When one of my neighbours saw me using mine for the first time, he went out and bought one too.

And the guy that lives across the street from me, well … the other day he sucked up every – I mean EVERY – leaf from his lawn! It took him hours, but he looked like he was enjoying himself.

And the lawn looked like a carpet when he was finished.

We have lots of leaves still on our tree so I know my job isn’t finished for the year. Besides that, there are the trees across the street, and all those leaves blow my way.

I’ll be busy burning out my ear drums, and filling up bags of leaves for the leaf collection guys, like I was being paid to do it. … I can see me doing this when I’m 90 and have to ride on one of those little three-wheeled scooters!

In the meantime, I’m spreading the love around because, while I wait for all my leaves to fall off my tree, some of them are blowing onto my next door neighbour’s yard.

He will probably be buying one of these lawn vacuum cleaners soon.

Here’s the thing: What can keep you growing with God is finding a tool or study method you really enjoy. It could be a set of questions you ask yourself about a Bible passage or even a special place you go to spend some time with God. When you find something that you enjoy, milk it for all its worth and enjoy a rich experience with God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you found enjoyable about your time with God? Leave your comment below.

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The Challenge Of Deadlines

Every one has deadlines that they have to meet. No matter if it’s highly pressurized, like getting a school paper in on time, or just renewing your driver’s license by your birthdate, we all have deadlines to meet.

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Some people are able to go a long time before they have to meet a deadline; others have deadlines to meet on an ongoing basis.

When I was in school, I thought I had a lot of deadlines. Each class had plenty, so it seemed I had to meet a new deadline every couple of weeks.

When I was done, I had hoped to be free from the pressure of regular deadlines. But I chose the wrong profession because, as a pastor, I have deadlines every week.

There is not a week that goes by that I don’t feel the pressure of having a sermon done by Sunday.  And though someone once said to me, “I thought you just got up there and talked”, it actually takes me all week to be ready to speak.

And there are other deadlines to meet, that I need to schedule for.

But the most pressurized deadlines are those you haven’t planned for, that you can’t plan for. They just appear out of nowhere.

It’s like the tree in my front yard. I saw the leaves turning colour and was really enjoying them. But then one day, out of the blue, those beautiful, coloured leaves started falling off the tree in rapid succession – no warning, just a pile of leaves that needed to be picked up.

When I get those random, unexpected deadlines, the pressure is turned up and some things that don’t have a time limit get put to the side to make room for those new deadlines.

That was the scenario that occurred in my life this past week. (The fact that you’re reading this tells you I survived, but I have to say that I’m hoping for a pretty quiet, restful day today!)

In the course of the week, there were many things that just got turfed to the sidelines. Some of those things included work that didn’t get done, personal time that didn’t materialize, even exercise that had to be put on hold. I had some early mornings and some late nights.

You just hunker down for what has to get done and you let everything else go.

But the most amazing thing about it is that now that it’s over, it doesn’t seem like it was that bad. You kind of forget what it was like … maybe so that you can cope with having to do it again some time.

It must be something like a woman giving birth. With all the pain they go through, you would wonder why a mother would agree to have a second child! But I guess when it’s all done, they just remember the good things – that precious little life that they see before them.

Well, I guess in some strange way, I am satisfied with how my week ended up, and I think more about that than I do all the pressure and work it took to bring it about.

Here’s the thing: We also face things in our lives that will apply pressure to our faith. Some of those things will come out of nowhere. You may find it extremely difficult to deal with, but tackle it with all your focus, because when you’ve come through, you will be able to handle another challenge to your faith when it comes.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you handle unexpected deadlines that come your way? Leave your comment below.

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Turn Your Toil Into Joy 

 

This is a re-post of a blog I published on October 13, 2012. This week I found myself in a very similar situation and this blog spoke to me all over again. Enjoy.

Yesterday I had to work late on my sermon.  It was Friday; I like to be done my sermon by 5 pm but it was obvious that was not going to happen.

working lateEvery week that Sunday deadline stares me in the face; it’s always on my mind.  Some weeks things go well.  I do a little work on my message each day so that the task is broken down.  Monday mornings I make notes on the passage and from commentaries.  Tuesdays, I read supportive material and start to formulate the main idea of the passage.  Wednesdays, I try to create the outline with supportive scripture.  Thursdays, I write a draft of the message.

These days I’ve been dictating that draft. Its an amazing thing, I speak and my computer types the words.  My wife Lily always laughs when I dictate because the program gets some words wrong … like the other day, when I said, “Because the word…” and the program typed “Because Al Gore.”

I’m not sure what Al Gore had to do with my message – it had nothing to do with saving the planet’s environment!  On the other hand, my sermon did have to do with saving people ON the planet.

Fridays, I edit my message, prepare the media presentation and internet support.  This Friday by 4 pm, I had not even started to write the sermon.  It had been a very difficult week, with many interruptions and meetings.

At 4 pm I was tired, and frustrated because focus had been an issue all week for me.  I was not looking forward to spending all evening writing a sermon.  But as I was checking a reference for something, I ran into a quote that struck me.

The quote was from Samuel Chadwick a Methodist preacher. “The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying.  He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion.  He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”

I had just finished praying when I read that, asking God to help me get my sermon done quickly.  But something struck me in that quote; it was the part about Satan laughing at our toil.  My sermon writing felt like toil to me right then.  I was not excited about writing it; I just wanted to be done.

After pondering the quote for a moment, I began to pray again.  This time I asked God to give me a passion for my writing.  I asked Him to fill me with excitement and enthusiasm for what I would put down.  I asked Him to give me joy in writing my message, no matter how long it took.  I asked Him to fill me up with the message He wanted me to bring to my congregation.  I prayed, “Lord, don’t let Satan laugh at the work I am doing.”

The Lord answered my prayer, keeping me focussed and moving ahead as I dictated. He filled my mind with thoughts and words and illustrations.  It was a pleasure to write that message, and I finished before 8 pm.

Here’s the thing:  When we are struggling with something, no matter what it is, it’s always a good thing to pray.  Keep in mind that Satan would love to keep you toiling and prayerless.  Do the opposite.  Pray and watch God make your work a joy.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do when you find your task is more toil than joy?  Leave your comments below.

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Don’t Let Many Options Cause You To Settle

The other day I was attempting to purchase a light for our remodelled bedroom closet from the many options out there.

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I wanted a light that would come on when the doors open, and turn off automatically. My wife Lily had seen such a light at Ikea.

So rather than travel to Toronto or Ottawa, we thought we would try the three big box stores in town.

We found virtually the same options at all three stores, but not one of them had the kind of motion switch we were looking for … so much for competition!

The prices were pretty much the same, and all the stores had all the items in stock. It was like all three stores were owned by the same company, with the same purchaser, and the same salespeople telling us the same thing:

“No, there isn’t anything like that.”

My problem with that is, that in a town far away, there is a store with a product that’s like that.

The three box stores in my town are situated within a 6 km radius. They obviously want to be all together, so we can be disappointed three times within a few minutes!

Maybe they don’t feel they have to compete with a store that’s two hours away. All I know is there is a store that sells the product we’re looking for. We just have to wait for an opportune time to get to it.

I think the stores in our area know this and assume we will settle for something they offer. In fact, I almost did. I almost thought, “Turning on a light switch in the morning when I’m hunting for clothes is not that bad. I may be tired, but I can find a switch in the dark and flick it on.”

At one time, I remember we had to get up off the couch and walk over to the TV to turn it on. And then if we wanted to watch a different channel we had to get up again. I know, that was back in the dark ages, and we would never think of leaving the couch to go back to manual channel surfing now.

But it’s just one on and off switch I’m talking about. I know that even if my wife doesn’t think so, I could be trained to turn that closet light off when I’m done.

That’s the reasoning our box stores are hoping we will come to; that’s what they want us to settle for.  But they don’t know my wife.

No, we will wait, me picking out my clothes by braille each morning until we can locate a light that will illuminate my chore without having to flick my index finger.

I just hope I can find the closet doors to slide them open between now and then.

Here’s the thing: I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have too many options that fill my mind first thing in the morning. There can be an overpowering desire to get right at the most urgent thing on your list … or get distracted by something that catches your interest … or not engage your mind because you’re tired. These are all options that will keep you from doing the one thing you should do and that is spend time with God. Set your priority and don’t give in to the other options.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What other options are you presented with when you spend time with God?  Leave your comment below.

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Sometimes Change is Difficult

As your family gets older, you find some things change, some things don’t. This year, for a change, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving up at our cottage.

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It’s the first time that all four of us have been there at the same time. We’ve owned it for about five years, but for most of that time our daughter Karlie has been out of the province.

And son Mike, well, he came up once the first year with some buddies and it was cold, rainy and miserable the whole time. He’s never been back.

But times change. Karlie now lives only a couple hours away and Mike, well, we twisted his arm, with the promise of a golf game.

This was going to be a big deal, so my wife Lily spent most of Saturday preparing food, baking, and gathering what she would need to build a Thanksgiving turkey dinner up at Sauble Beach.

As I started to pack the car Sunday afternoon, that’s when I noticed that not all things change somethings remain the same.

When we used to go away as a family, the day we packed and left was always a little tense for Lily. In the last while, when it’s just been the two of us, she’s been much more relaxed about it.

Not yesterday. Some latent matriarchal hormone kicked in and she was in my face while I was packing the car. She was stressed and hovering around me. I could feel a couple of very intense eyes, burrowing holes in the back of my head like lasers.

It was not an easy task to pull off, even without her there. Our car is a small Hyundai Accent and we had to cram two golf bags in it, along with all the food and other stuff … a big change from when the kids were little and we used to travel in a big ol’ Safari van, a 7-seater for the four of us.

On our way up, we had to grab some dinner. However, I made the mistake of not stopping where there was a variety of restaurants, opting to get farther on our journey.

Well, by the time we found a restaurant most of us were happy to eat at, we were all pretty hungry. However, when we got inside, Mike didn’t want anything on the menu. We all ate except him.

It just reminded me of going camping one time as a family when my dad was with us. We had stopped to eat at a restaurant of Dad’s choosing, and somehow Mike – who was about 14 at the time – didn’t like the menu and didn’t eat anything. This experience was like deja vu!

But when we got up to the cottage that’s when I noticed the biggest change. We were all sitting around talking, I fell asleep in my chair, and the kids took the car into town to grab a midnight snack.

Here’s the thing: In order to develop your relationship with God, you have to notice the things in your life that are resistant to change – attitudes, emotions and actions. You have to acknowledge them, confess them and figure out a way to get beyond them so that you can continue to grow closer to God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you found to be hard to change in your life? Leave your comment below.

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Evaluate and Make A Plan

Recently, I made a plan to exercise more regularly. I looked back over the past spring and summer and noticed that I have biked only half as much as I did the previous year.

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I’m not sure whether it was because of the weather or me just being a slug. Whatever the reason, I turned into a slug regardless.

Now I’m trying to work my way back to a regular exercise routine, so I’m looking for a little cooperation from several sources: weather, schedule, and equipment.

I’ve taken a little time to evaluate and research the top contributing obstacles to my regular exercise.

Weather is a big one for me, especially in the spring, summer and early fall, because all my exercise is geared for outdoor activity. I mountain bike and play golf, and though golf is not a high level of exercise, it does keep my step count up.

And I depend on consecutive days of dry weather, because the day after a rain the trails are sloppy, slippery and generally a mess. This year it seemed like we couldn’t get more than a couple of days in a row of good weather, which leads me to my next obstacle.

My schedule this year didn’t provide me with the freedom I needed to get out there and make a difference with my health.

I regularly bike on Mondays, Wednesday evenings and Saturdays and it seemed this year that there was a meeting or I was out of town or some other responsibility kept me from hitting the trails.

Other times that I found myself free to go, I ran into the weather problem – it was raining or it had rained hard the day before.

What I really need is an option that gives me freedom to exercise regardless of the weather and my schedule – something I can do indoors and can fit between finishing at the office and an evening meeting.

And that is where my third obstacle comes into play: equipment. I don’t have the equipment I need at home to make that work. Getting a gym membership doesn’t work for when I don’t have much time.

I need equipment at home ready to go. Something like a rowing machine.

When I did rehab after my heart attack, they had me use a rowing machine as part of my exercise routine. I really enjoyed that piece of equipment.

They had me on other equipment too, but it was the rowing that I enjoyed the most. The treadmill was boring and the elliptical, well I had to be careful not to get out of rhythm with it and fall off the thing.

I really didn’t like the movement, maybe because I can’t dance.

No. A rowing machine is what I need. I’ve done the research. Of course, they’re expensive, but I have narrowed it down to one or two possible makes.

Now all I have to do is convince my wife. How’d I do, Lil?

Here’s the thing: After making a decision to do something, evaluation and planning are what come next. And it is true with your relationship with God as well. If you feel convinced that God is asking something of you, or you feel convicted to do something for God, evaluate your life, determine the obstacles and plan a method of overcoming them. Then follow through.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What obstacles are in your way of following what God is asking you to do?  Leave your comment below.

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Difficult Choice

It’s alway more difficult to make the hard choice over the easy one.

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Not long ago I did a blood test for my doctor. I say it’s for him because he’s the one that asked for it. Personally, I had no desire to have a blood test.

It was not anything special, just a routine test I should probably have every year … but I’ve extended it a little – like about 2 1/2 years!

Since the test, I’ve been holding my breath hoping that my blood was red or the right colour of red, or whatever they were looking for in my blood. One week went by and I thought, “That’s a good sign. I haven’t heard anything, so maybe everything’s good.”

But I wasn’t convinced, so I thought I’d hold my breath for another week, just to make sure. The week went by; still nothing from my doctor and I was starting to think about breathing again.  That’s when my doctor informed me that my cholesterol was high.

My first thought was, “What’s wrong with my cholesterol pills? Are they not working? Did they give me a placebo? Are they past their expiry date?” Then I realized, no, I just thought I was immune to bad cholesterol while being on them.

I’d been living large, thinking I could eat anything because my cholesterol pills would eradicate any of the bad stuff out of my system.

My doctor and I had a brief chat about my recourse: Option 1 was to double my cholesterol pills.  If I did that maybe I could go on eating as I pleased. But I wanted a different option. Option 2 was lose weight.

I’ve done that before. I lost 28 pounds in six months once. I lost 10 pounds when I had my heart attack. There were a couple of times I lost 5 pounds just by getting the flu.

But this is a little different. I have to have a plan for eating, and I know that’s not going to be easy.

When I lost that 28 pounds, I only ate things that were low on the glycemic index. That got rather boring after a while and difficult to manage. So this time my strategy is a little different. I’m only eating at meal times. I’m not restricting my diet, just not eating outside breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I started five days ago and it’s been doable. There have been a couple of times I’ve wanted to search out a little snack in the evening, but I’ve resisted heading for the panty where I’ve got a stash of liquorice.

I don’t like not being able to snack, but the crazy thing is I’m feeling better. I’ve also lost 4 pounds (by the way, I’m whispering so my wife doesn’t hear me write this – it bugs her that I can lose weight so easily).

Losing weight has not been a problem for me when I really work at it. Like most people, my problem is in keeping it off! My desire for a good burger and fries, wings, Dr. Pepper, chocolate, liquorice – well you get the idea – is strong!

Right now I’m motivated for the challenge … we’ll see where this takes me.

Here’s the thing: I’ve chosen the hard option – to reduce my cholesterol – but many are inclined to take the easy way. The life of a Christian is not taking the easy way. It is taking the hard option of being obedient to God and His will over living to one’s own impulses and desires. It will always be a challenge and the easy way will always be a temptation.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When have you had to choose between the hard and easy options? Leave your comment below.

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Mistake After Mistake

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a new project Lily and I are working on at our house. We’re putting new closet doors in our bedroom. (You can read that blog here.)

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At that time, it was mostly an idea to follow through on. I had taken the old closet doors off, and since then ordered new doors and begun the work of widening the closet opening.

It was going pretty well … up until last Saturday.

Our new sliding doors arrived and all I needed to do was set the door jams in the frame to make the finished opening the right size.

… It sounds pretty simple, but this is the very reason why I would never make it as a carpenter.  You see, I’m just not that good at getting things level and square and … precise.

I’m more of a rough estimate kind of guy. I also am much better at demolition than I am at construction. I had no problem taking off the drywall (though Lily didn’t like the mess), and I was pretty good and creative at removing a couple of 2×4 studs on either side of the opening.

That part went so smoothly, I even thought I kind of liked doing this project …

… until I remembered my mother’s words to me and my brother when we were young and had just broken another one of her Hummel figurines: “You two should go into the demolition business when you get older because you’re really good at it.”

… until Saturday. That’s the day I needed to put the door jams in. All that required of me was to make sure my opening was large enough, nail three pieces of wood together (two sides and a top piece), and shim it in level and square.

That’s it. It sounds so simple but it took so long! I had to call in the cavalry (my son, Mike), and even between the two of us, we worked all afternoon on it.

When it was done, the sides were pretty level and square, but the joint at one of the corners was splitting. I didn’t care at that point. I figured we could cover that up some how.

So we put up the tracks for the doors to hang on. That part was easy. But when we went to hang the door panels, we realized I had not calculated enough for the height of the doors.

They rubbed on the carpet so that it took a little effort to slide them back and forth.

I was pretty discouraged and didn’t know what to do. I really didn’t want to take that jam out after spend a whole day putting it in.

But by the next morning, I realized I needed to do it. So I did what I do best … I demoed the door jams and took out a 2×4 at the top and replaced it with a 1×4.

Now all I have to do is put in the new jam, and shim it level and square. Sounds simple, right?

Oh brother, here we go again!

Here’s the thing: When you make a mistake, the last thing you want to do is correct it. You try to cover it up, make do with it, even blame someone else for it. But the only way to really fix it is to correct the mistake. This applies to sin in your life too. Don’t cover it up; don’t make do with it or blame someone else. Go to God and correct it. Then you can move on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you dealt with mistakes you’ve made? Leave your comment below.

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Anybody Else Have Hair Issues?

This morning I looked in the mirror and realized I can’t keep up with the hair on my body. If you’re under 40 and reading this, right now you’re thinking, “That’s gross!” – maybe you even said it out loud. If you’re over 40, you probably just thought to yourself, “Ya, so what?”

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At the time I made this discovery, I was using my handy, battery-powered shaver for hair that grows on one’s ears (yes, they make something for that). And, as much as my son chuckles at all the hair I have on my body, there was a time when it wasn’t like that.

In my teens, I focussed growing hair on my head – and I did a pretty good job of it. I’d show you a picture, but for some reason I don’t have any pictures of myself when I was a teen. It’s too bad because I had some pretty good outfits back then to go with my hair!

My hair grew long and thick and people who cut my hair would say, “You’ll never go bald” … but I’m not so sure of that now.

You see, I’m still growing hair – and it grows long – but it’s not focussed on my head any more.  That part is thinning out. But I can grow some great patches of hair on my ears and back. I’m thinking of buying a mini lawnmower just to keep the hair on my back neatly trimmed.

Then there is the nose hair. I know that if I just left that to itself, I’d have a jungle in there. Even my eyebrows – I can grow some funky, long curly hairs there too.

What happened to me? One day you’re smirking at the gorilla guy on the beach, and the next day you ARE the gorilla guy on the beach!

I realize that people who read this and see me on a regular basis will start checking me out a little more closely. I’ll just warn you now, you’ll see some wild hair, because I’ve lost control of it.

One of the differences between men and women is that women have been plucking and pruning all their lives. But for guys to start doing that in their 40’s or 50’s, it’s too late to put that into our regular grooming routine. It just gets away on us sometimes.

You know when you see your lawn and think, “I should really cut the grass today”, but you’re so tired, you don’t?  And then it rains for the next three days and you have meetings in the evening for the next two after that.

By the time you cut your grass, it’s twice as long as it was when you originally noticed that it needed cutting.

That same scenario applies to trimming the hair on your body.

This morning I threw my hands up in defeat, and said, “I give up”.  I couldn’t even get myself to shave my face. Fortunately, it’s Saturday. I have work to do around the house, so no one’s going to see me anyway.

I’ll worry about getting all my hairs cut tomorrow . . .  I hope it doesn’t rain.

Here’s the thing: You can’t control how your hair grows as you get older, but you can control how your relationship with God grows. The tendency can be to coast and not take care of it. But don’t settle for that. Keep growing as you get older. Your relationship with the Lord doesn’t have to get old as you age. It can be fresh, exciting and new if you will tend to it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What ways do you fight getting older? Leave your comment below.