I want to be on record

I do not like the Senate Health care bill just passed. I do not like the bill from the House either! While there are issues that should be addressed in our health care system I do not think this bill will actually help more than it will harm!

This is not Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative it's just my opinion. I would challenge our national leaders to draft bills that would address real health issues and keep each bill to 15 pages or less, to create no new bureaucracy and to "empower" not "enable" Americans to participate in the process and be easy to understand. Do something like that and not "politics as usual" and that would be CHANGE I COULD BELIEVE IN!

Okay...I am done!

Going home

I love being at home in Miami! The drive here was good and uneventful...this time! Things don't change a lot as you come home. Many times you laugh at the same stories and spend time just catching up on anything new. Going home is not about the sights and sounds that are so familiar, it's about being WITH your family.

The power of what God did at Christmas is found in that same word...WITH! He did not send His son to be near us or around us, but WITH us. Emmanuel literally means that God is invested with us. He is interested in us. I remind you of this fact since we feel left out alone at times...nothing could be further from the truth.

This Christmas, enjoy God WITH YOU! Merry Christmas.

Influence

I have been on a prolonged journey regarding the Church. After two difficult issues at two local congregations in a row, I have taken some time to slow down and reflect.

A byproduct of this "slow down" has been the INFLUENCE that I have thrown off that has negatively affected others. I have influenced friends who were marginal and even my own family and it bothers me!

My point in writing this morning is not about the Church or even my issues. It's my desire to ask you to consider the INFLUENCE you are spreading and what is its impact. Perhaps you can look across your life and be proud of what your life is doing, perhaps not. Today is the day to change!

Whatever you would like your life to count for in the end, begin today making that become a reality.

Into the furnace

As I sat in church at Heights Church last night, we were studying Daniel 3. Specifically we were working through the passages about 3 young men being thrown into a furnace for civil disobedience. They would not bow down and worship an idol of Gold the King have built.

Anyway, the boys were to be executed by being burned alive. They were bound and thrown into a furnace. Interesting as the Bible unfolds the story that the King observes 4 figures in the flames, when only 3 were thrown in...He says the fourth figure "looks like a son of the gods".

Here is what caught my attention. You may be rescued from trouble, BUT you may still go INTO THE FLAMES...FIRST! God could have saved them before they went in, but it's better that HE met them IN THE FLAMES.

When times are tough, God meets us...even in the worst places.

Moved by God

I was recently at a Conference for camp professionals. The final session had a speaker/pastor from Memphis, TN. He rocked my world and God reminded me to consider the poor, widows and orphans.

Brian Loritts spoke from Jesus' final sermon and challenged all of us to consider that "when we help the least of these, we are doing the same unto Jesus". This was not a holidays challenge, but rather a normal part of life and a reflection of my own faith.

As a family, we are beginning to discuss what God would have us do to help by using the "margins" in our budget, time and life. I will keep you posted about what we are doing.

Interesting side note: During the time of Jesus, land owners would harvest all but the margins of their fields and if anyone hungry needed the food, the could go out to the field and help themselves. The system worked by the generosity of people and the effort by the "hungry" to get the food.