Why Do We Grow Up?

It's just a shame that we "grow up" and forget how to live like a child.  We forget to be caught up in the moment of something that seems mundane, but is so interesting(Like splashing in water or running around the in the rain) because we have so many important things to do.  Seeing a bird in flight or a lady buy on the leaf no longer causes us happiness because we are too busy to see it.  We are so busy getting ready and rushing out the door that we forget to say good-bye and kiss our loved ones.  Something happens to us that jades us and makes us unable or unwilling to have a child-like outlook on life.  We have been burned too many times or have too many obligations.  Think about it:  Our children rarely worry about food or clothes because they know their parents will provide them.  They can focus on important things, like building with blocks, playing in Pla-Doh or creating a fortress out of boxes.  There is wonderment and joy because they are waited down by responsibilities.

This past Sunday, I was reminded of that child-like wonderment as we baptized Lance Dopp.  If you have talked to Lance in the past month, you have seen a young man who is excited about life and will talk to you about Jesus with unabashed enthusiasm.  As we prepare for his baptism, he wasn't shy but thrilled to confess to others that Jesus is his Savior and Lord.  Sunday was a huge day for him and I am so proud of his family and the Hillcrest family for making that day special for him.  It is truly a day he will never forget.  His smile is electric and his enthusiasm contagious.  Lance isn't a perfect young man, he is just enjoying the incredible peace Jesus has brought into his life.

 https://www.facebook.com/cara.peterson.9?fref=ts

We could learn a lesson from Lance.  We could learn to be excited about our face.  We need to beam the joy Jesus has given us from our smile.  We need to greet total strangers with kindness because Jesus has changed our heart.  Others may be jaded and selfish, but we have been set free.  I am amazed at how often I fall into the trap of being a responsible adult (i.e., a boring, introverted, self-absorbed Christian) rather than a wonder-filled child(i.e., a grace filled follower of Jesus).  I get too caught up in my own little world and my plan for the day.  My agenda sets the tone, so I am busy accomplishing what I think needs to be done.  So I miss out on the wonder God has in store for me because God won't grab me by the collar and make me look.  He drops little miracles in front of me, hoping I will stop and be thrilled.  But I just rush on past because I have such important work to be done.  I could walk right by you in the store and never even notice you if I am focused on finding something in that store.  Another opportunity blown.

 

I want to be like what Jesus said in Luke 18:16:  "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it".  Wow!  Jesus doesn't tell us to be childish, which is self-centered.  He tells us to be childlike:  Full of wonder, amazement and trust.

Do you remember what I said about our children being free to play?  They are free to play because they don't worry about food or clothes, because they know Mom and Dad will take care of that for me.  I worry too much about those things that my Heavenly Dad has said He would take care of for me.  He told me in Matthew 6:33 to seek Him and His Kingdom first and He will provide my needs.  I think I will try that this week.  I think I will attempt to slow down and check out the amazing miracles God has placed in my path.  I may not finish my list each day, but I will be more refreshed and at peace.  I will see my faith develop and grow as I see God's unmistakeable handprints on my life.  I will feel the nudge of His Holy Spirit and the love of His son in ways I usually miss.  

Do you want to join me?  Let's take a lesson from Lance and live today in the pleasure and giddiness of loving God

Challenge 2013

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the use of steroids has been implicitly banned since 1971 and banned since 1991.  However, testing did not take place until 2003.  During that time frame, two baseball commissioners (Fay Vincent and Bud Selig) both tried to develop comprehensive testing to make sure the MLB players were not using performance enhancing drugs.  Their efforts were to no avail because the MLB Players Union said this would violate the players privacy rights.  There had been acrimony between the owners and the union for decades with several strikes and lock-outs.  The union had most often prevailed against the owners, so the owners were reluctant to agree.  They also saw a revival in gate attendance because the plethora of home runs which were now being launched by players of all skill level.  These gate revenues allowed them to overlook the now-known fact that the inflated home run numbers were the results of cheating by using performance enhancing drugs.  So from the late 80's through the 90's, players were able to artificially improve their performance through the use of these drugs, and players generously helped themselves to these peds.

Bary Bonds, Mark McGwire & Sammy Sosa (Before and after pictures - notice a difference?)

However, it all came to a head this past week as Hall of Fame votes were taken on players who played during this era.  The all-time home run leader was on the ballot, two players who hit over 60 home runs in a season were on the ballot and a pitcher who won 342 games was on the ballot.  When the votes were counted and the dust settled, not one of those players was elected to the HOF.  The vote became a condemnation of players who either by admission or by association cheated the game by using peds.  There is plenty of blame to be shared:  Fans who turned out in droves to see these towering home runs, owners who financially reaped wealth and players who had cheated.  The biggest blame lies at the feet on the Players Union.  They were given a sacred trust:  To look after the best interest of the players.  Rather than look out for the best interest of the players in the long run, they chose to be self-serving for a short term fix.  Now, every player who played during the "Steroid Era" will appear guilty because the union wasn't committed to the future interests of the players.  That short-sighted view is now costing all the players who paid dues to this union to protect them.  The union needed to protect the players from making these bad choices by joining with the owners to enact tough peds policies and testing.

Rafael Palmeiro telling Congress he has NEVER taken peds four months before he tests positive for peds.  Donal Fehr, head of the MLB Players Union during negotiations - The man arguably most responsible for the HOF debacles now taking place on players who played during the Steroids Era.

One of the side-effects of this neglect is that no player can actually prove his innocence because there is no empirical evidence to back up their claims.  We have listened as players like Barry Bonds have excused their ped use with flimsy excuses of thinking what he used was flax seed oil or Mark McGwire saying he didn't want to talk about the past or Roger Clemens verbally attacking his accusers at a Congressional hearing or Sammy Sosa claiming he didn't know enough English to testify.  We have grown jaded by hearing players life Rafael Palmeiro vehemently deny his use of peds only to test positive lately.  Even outside the baseball world, we are waiting on Lance Armstrong tearful confession to the use of peds to Oprah this week.  Many people have said Craig Biggio should have been elected to HOF because he didn't use peds.  My question to them is, how do you know he didn't use peds?  There is no proof that he didn't.  If peds were as pervasive in MLB club houses as Jose Canseco says, what proof do you have that he didn't use peds?  He may very well be innocent, but he is in a bind because of a foolish choice by his union.

Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros

This becomes a real life parable to the church about the choices we make.  As followers of Christ, the choices we make in the moment will affect our future.  If we choose to compromise now, we will have pain later.  I believe the Church in America has been making bad choices in the short-term.  We have chosen to act just like the world.  We have the same issues in the Church (Divorce, living together, lying, embezzlement, etc.) that are in the world.  We have also compromised the message of the Gospel by the methods we have used to bring people into the Church.  We have spent more time surveying the needs of the community and trying to have non-threatening campaigns to draw the unchurched in.  We have built a dependence on the performance of the band, the "timely" preaching of the pastor and the latest technology to entice those outside the Church to come inside.  The methods have become the driving force of the church rather than holy living.  We think people will be attracted to our coffee kiosks, our kid's ministries, our incredible praise band or our hip/cool pastor who preaches messages which won't offend the "user".  Eventually the chickens come home to roost, you have to pay the piper, you have to lie in the bed you made, you were barking up the wrong tree, you will find it's not all that it's cracked up to be and it has rained on your parade!

Herein lies the problem:  Those who are lost could care less about these things.  They want to see transformed lives.  They want to see the love of Christ being lived out in reality.  They want to see marriages which are thriving.  They want to see friends who deeply care about them.  They want to see people of different races and different ages and different socio-economic standings loving, serving and helping each other.  They want to see people who are as passionate about righteous living as they are singing the latest praise song.  The performance of the Church on Sunday morning is not nearly as important as the performance of the Church on Monday morning:  When the school bell rings, when we clock in at work or when we spend time with our families and friends.  But, alas, our culture sees our Church leaders leading the church to short-term choices which cause long-term destruction.

So the 2013 Challenge for Hillcrest Baptist Church is one word:  "Discern".  The definition of discern is taken from Hosea 14:9 and is two-fold:  (1)  Discern means to understand God's ways and (2) to walk in His ways.  If we don't include both aspects in our lives, we are rebellious.  Read the Hosea passage and you will see it from God's own hand.  We need to discern and make decisions that will benefit the Kingdom of Christ in the long-term.  Yes, that usually means we have to make some serious changes in the short-term.  To discern means to evaluate our living situation in light of God's ways and His Word.  To discern means to evaluate our choices in light of God's ways and His Word.  Anything else is rebellion.  If you would like to hear the entire challenge on-line, you can go to our web page at   www.hillcrestbaptist.net.  Since the 1850's, there has not been a time when the Church in American needs to be discerning as today.  More compromise and sin-justifying theology is not needed.  We need to understand God's ways and then walk in those ways.  If you are a member of Hillcrest and are willing to take the challenge, make sure you sign up at the altar.  If you are not in this area, but would like to take the challenge and have me pray for you this year, please send me an e-mail and I will add your name to the list.  May this be a year where you make the tough decisions which will call for sacrifice now, but blessings in the future.

Procrastination Pain

Most of us were weary of hearing about the "fiscal cliff".  Most rational Americans knew that the elected officials would reach some type of last minute deal with each side claiming some type of victory.  Though the President and Congress had two years to work on this, they waited until the last minute.  The President even took off on a vacation to Hawaii while this "disaster" was still a possibility and as soon as it was over, he flew back to Hawaii to continue his vacation.  Sadly, this activity by our officials in Washington DC has become a staple of American life.  We have become a nation of procrastination, putting off what needs to be done until the last minute.

 

Now, if you got tired of hearing about the "Fiscal cliff" just wait for two more months when the debate over the national debt will hit the big time.  All the President and Congress really did was put off difficult choices for two more months.  Isn't it amazing that the fiscal cliff was scheduled to happen AFTER the November elections?  I'm not trying to sound cynical, but our government leaders have become driven by reelection, not by what benefits our country.  The debt ceiling discussions will probably be more heated than the fiscal cliff discussions were.  So enjoy the two months break before we have to listen to more politicking, arguing, newscasts and squabbling before another last minute deal is done.  This deal will once again, put off facing this national debt crisis, which will eventually destroy our country.  The President and Congress will try to assure us that everything is wonderful because America can now borrow more money (But there will be no substantive cuts made in spending).  The national debt has grown in every presidency since Gerald Ford, so this goes beyond party lines.  Below are the deficits at the end of each President's term.  Presidents who were reelected will have two lines:

Ford                653,544,000,000

Carter              930,210,000,000

Reagan         1,662,966,000,000

                    2,684,392,000,000

GH Bush      4,177,009,000,000

Clinton         5,323,171,750,783

                    5,662,216,013,697

GW Bush     7,596,165,867,424

                  10,699,804,864,612

Obama       16,443,486,609,000

This inability to control spending goes across party lines.  Senator Barak Obama in a speech on the Senate floor in 2006, was opposed to raising the debt limit to $9 trillion for a Republican President and said this:  "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."  Wonderful words, but once he became President, he was very comfortable with increasing the debt of our country more than the total debt of Presidents Ford through Clinton.  Our political system is set up for failure in dealing with long-term issues which are critical for the success of our country.

 

Eventually, we will have to deal with this incredible debt by making massive cuts to our spending or there will be an implosion which will rock our country beyond repair.  In most families, once we have maxed out our credit, the banks don't raise our limit.  The banks make us pay off what we owe. If we can't pay, they begin to repossess whatever we have of value.  Our families have to change habit and eat top ramen noodles instead of going out for steak.  We have to tell our children that we can't afford anything but the basics.  We make dramatic changes in our lifestyle to pay off our debts.  However, our Presidents and Congresses have been unable to do that.  They fear losing reelection if they make people go without all that was promised to them.  And so, we find ourselves in this mess which will bring irreparable damage to our country.  Each new President and Congress simply procrastinate rather than dealing with the root issue.  So the pain of procrastination builds.  Of course, those who vote must shoulder much of the blame because we keep electing the same people to those positions.  Obviously, the American people are comfortable with this massive debt and putting off dealing with it until there is a huge meltdown that cannot be changed.

The way our country is handling our debt should stand in stark contrast to the life of the follower of Christ.  II Timothy 1:7 tells us, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of love, power and self-discipline."  Though others around us lack self-discipline, God gives us the Holy Spirit who brings this discipline into our lives.  We know responsibility because the Holy Spirit leads us in that direction.  So we are able to get up early each morning to spent time alone with God, praying and studying His Word in preparation for the day.  We are able to maintain a healthy weight and exercise regimen.  We are able to work hard at our jobs and be productive whether our human boss is watching or not.  We are able to listen to our parents and obey them with respect.  We are able to make time each day to be with our children and involved in their lives.  We are able to not use credit cards which wrack up debt, but pay off our bills each month.  We are able to speak kind words to others, even those who have nasty things to say to us.  We have become the antithesis of our elected officials because of the Holy Spirit.

So as you approach this new year, don't approach it with fear.  Approach it with anticipation.  Allow God to show you the areas in your life which are lacking self-discipline and dedicate those areas to Him.  Let the Holy Spirit give you the self-discipline you need.  

Today at the gym, it happened again.  The "resolution" crowd has shown up.  Of the fifteen men in the locker room I saw as I was leaving, only three of them were familiar.  These folks are either new members who have decided it is time to get in shape or they are older members who decided that since they were paying for membership to the gym they may as well use the gym.  We will see how they last because it usually takes until mid-February for the crowd to thin back out again.  I pray that you won't be one of those in the "resolution" crowd, but you will allow Christ to change your life in 2013.  Don't let the pain of  procrastination become a part of your life, but live in the joy of God's self-discipline.  And when you begin to hear politicians ranting and raving about the debt limit/ceiling, may it reminds you to allow God's Holy Spirit to give you self-discipline so you won't find yourself in the same painful situation as our country.

The Challenge of Comfort

We are all aware of the tragic shootings which took place in Newtown, Connecticut this past week.  Less than forty-eight hours after this heinous event took place, politicians, media talking heads, bloggers, radio show hosts and even people on Facebook were pontificating about the causes of this senseless violence.  There is already a call for stricter gun control laws with our president vowing this will never happen again.  I have heard the prattle that stricter laws would have kept this from happening (Even though the shooter broke over 40 laws in existence while committing this violence).  I have heard the prattle that had their been a policeman with a gun or if the principal or teachers had been armed, the shooter would have been killed before he could do any damage.  People have held vigils in front of the White House, asking the president to end violence by taking away the amount of guns and ability to get guns.  I have heard people comment about the amount of armed guards surrounding the president, even as he spoke out against automatic weapons and in favor of stricter gun laws.  People have gone to Facebook to post pithy little sayings, supporting their point of view.  This morning on CNN, they held their news from Newtown and spent over an hour reporting on this tragedy.  Then one of their commercials was an advertisement for the latest assassin video game with the tag line being, “Rated the number one shooter game in America”.  In the days to come, we will be inundated with people who have the solution to this problem:  Stricter guns laws, more citizens carrying guns, mental health improvement, better parental involvement, dangers of medication given to children and much more.  All the while, the next person is plotting how much damage he can do and the publicity which will be stirred by the gruesome act he is planning.

The truth is that the cause of this violence is far deeper than can be addressed on a Facebook post or a blog or on a newscast or an op-ed piece.  As followers of Christ, we know the issue gets back to our most basic human problem:  sin.  This is not giving a simple answer to a complex problem.  Yet, sin really is the root cause of the problems in our world.  We also know that sin will never be eradicated, which is the reason laws continue to be enacted to curb the base instincts of humanity caused by sin.

However, lost in all of the rhetoric is the pain of loss.  Parents have lost children.  Children have lost mothers.  Children have lost classmates.  When the political and media pay-off isn’t there anymore, the politicians and news will pack up for the next calamity.  Oh, they will always bring up Sandy Hook again whenever it is expedient for the cause they are pushing.  But the parents of those students will forever have a loss which cannot be replaced.  Only those who have lost children can understand the pain these parents are experiencing.  Unfortunately, politicians and the media will interview and quote the parents whose words fit their agenda.  But the pain of these parents will never go away.  There will always be a place at the table which is empty.  There is a bed which may never hold another child.  There is a room which carried the unique decorating of that child which is now empty.  There are arms longing to embrace a child who will never come home.  Birthdays will come and go with parents wondering what their child would be like at a certain age.  The town will grieve and mourn, but life will not stop for them.  The mundane aspects of life (Like work, bills, preparing meals, etc.) will all be awaiting them in the near future.  The publicity and out pouring will move on once another “tragedy” strikes.  Then, parents will have to find a way to place their memories in a perspective that is healing rather than destructive.  In a perspective which will lead to an appreciation, not depression.  It will take more than months or years.  This is a loss that will color their entire lives, from which there is no escape(Nor would any parent want to escape the memory of his/her child).

Our church challenge for 2012 was “Comfort”.  In Isaiah 40:1-2, we see God’s call to His people is to bring, not just comfort, but comfort comfort.   God repeats the word comfort to us as a reminder that comforting those in need is an investment which may not have a pay-off any time soon.  The chief call to the follower of Christ is not to pass laws seeking to end gun violence, but to bring comfort in our corner of the world.  There are people all around us who are struggling to cope with life, especially during the month of December.  There are many around us who are thinking about giving up and see no reason to live.  We are called to have eyes that see beyond our own world and look for the hurts of others.  Jesus told us in Matthew 25 that whenever we do this for someone, we have actually touched the face of Jesus. 

I cannot and will not even attempt to give answers concerning this tragedy in Connecticut.  My Facebook will never post a “bumper sticker” with quick words about how to fix things.  Because of sin, there are not easy answers and quick fixes.  However, I want to be more faithful in reaching out to those who appear as outcasts and loners.  I want to reach out to those suffering loss and bring them a sense of God’s comfort and peace.  Maybe that is avoiding the issue, but I would rather be an instrument of God’s healing than invest my limited energy ranting about that which I cannot fix.  As a follower of Christ, will you take the time today to look with the eyes of Jesus?  Will you reach out to someone who appears to be hurting?  Will you seek to bring comfort, comfort to your corner of the world?  Will you seek to embrace with your arms rather than confront with your words?  Giving comfort is not for the timid nor easily discouraged.  It is a calling which will radically change our priorities and the lives around us.  Will you keep responding to the 2012 challenge to comfort?

A Lesson Learned?

"I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishment.  The front page has nothing but man's failures."    Earl Warren 

The reality of my life is that most of my life's greatest lessons have been learned or sharpened in the sporting arena.  Sports offers us a wonderful opportunity to see our weaknesses and push ourselves to excellence.  Team sports can help us understand more about serving in a church than most any other experience.  Individual sports teach us about determination, sacrifice and endurance.

 

We have become a nation enthralled with watching sports.  We would be much better served to play sports than watch them.  We would have much less obesity, depression and illness if we would spend one half of the football game we plan to watch exercising, then watch the second half.  Of course, most Americans are addicted to entertainment, so I doubt this will happen any time soon.  The lessons we would learn if we would only participate rather than just watch sports are life lessons which prove invaluable.

Unfortunately, this obsession also affects the examples we have in life.  Too many people want to imitate the athletes in how they dress, talk and walk.  Charles Barkley put this into perspective when he said:  "These are my new shoes.  They're good shoes.  They won't make you rich like me, they won't make you rebound like me, they definitely won't make you handsome like me.  They'll only make you have shoes like me.  That's it."  What a wonderful reality check as Michael Jordan just unveiled his latest shoe line, which costs $250.  There will be people in America who MUST have these new shoes and will dish out that kind of money for a pair of shoes.  Whatever happened to PF Flyers which promised to make us run faster and jump higher for only $10?

 

I've learned many lessons playing sports and continue to learn them as I continue to play sports.  One of the game changing lessons I learned came from my Dad and involved the sport of tennis.  For those who don't know me, I have just a bit of a temper.  As a teenager, I was playing tennis when angry players like Ilie Nastase, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe were at their zenith.  So the natural thing for me to do was express my anger on the court like they did.  Now, my Dad was not really known for being quiet or docile and was rather passionate himself.  He and I would play each other in tennis, just banging away at each other with my Dad usually dusting me.  I knew I had finally improved when one Saturday, he invited me to play doubles with his usual crew.  As a cocky teenager, I thought, "I'm going to show these old men how to play."  Well, older players may not have the strength, but they have the wisdom and guile which comes from experience.  So they were wearing me out and I was getting frustrated and voicing my frustration.  To me, I was just doing what I normally did on the court, but my Dad was having none of it.  After the first set, he pulled me aside and told me that if I didn't watch my temper, there would be a huge price to pay when we got home.  Of course, that only stoked my fire.  Though I kept quiet for the rest of the matches, I was fuming when we got into the car to leave.  Before my Dad started the car, he looked at me and said, "If this is the way you are going to play tennis, I suggest that you quit.  You embarrassed me in front of my friends.  Your lack of composure will do you in one day unless you get it under control."  That became a turning point for me as I began to see how my temper was not only affecting me, but those close to me.  I still have a long way to go, but I thank God for a loving, Godly father who was willing to point out my flaws, speaking hard truths to me.

Proverbs 14:17 - "A quick tempered man does foolish things."

Proverbs 14:29 - "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick tempered man displays folly."

Proverbs 19:19 - "A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty; if you rescue him, you will have to do it again."

I share that lesson to remind you that we each have lessons we need to learn in life.  As you run your race, what lessons are you learning?  If you need a few new ones, get on the court, ball field or gridiron and let God speak into your life.  then put those lessons into practice.

Tis the Season

Tragic news greeted the sporting world on Saturday as Kansas City Chiefs' linebacker, Jovan Belcher, took the life of his girlfriend and then took his own life at the team's practice facility.  The families and the Chiefs are heartbroken and struggling to understand how this could happen.  Belcher was only twenty-five years old, a professional athlete with a bright future, but all of that ended suddenly.  I'm sure there will be an investigation, which will probably find no easy answers to this tragedy.  How does someone who is so young with so much ahead of him become so hopeless that the only way out is death?

I bring this up, not to make light of this situation nor to try to devise any answers, but to remind us that this is the season of depression.  The suicide rate actually doubles during the month of December, which tells us that depression should be taken seriously.  We too often look at this season as a time of joy, when in reality, for many people, it is a most-depressing time.  There are a variety of factors for this:  Many who have lost loved ones during the year are facing the pain of Christmas without that loved one.  Many have high expectations for the season and then they are not met, depression overwhelms.  Many are simply lonely and this time of the year magnifies that loneliness.  The rush of the season, but itself, can cause overwhelming stress.  There are so many expectations and activities that we get overloaded.  The list could go on and on.  One of the holiday classics, "It's A Wonderful Life" shows a powerful portrait of a man who has lost hope during the holidays.

I share this, not to rain on your parade, but to make us aware that there are many hurting people around us.  We have a fantastic opportunity to offer the true hope of the "Holy-days" in Jesus.  Psalm 42:5 puts it this way:  "Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why do disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will praise my Savior and my God."  Too many around us have lost hope because they have placed their hope in things that cannot bring them lasting hope.  We have peace for a moment, but that peace if fleeting.  If we would take the time to slow down, we would see a slew of hurting people around us.  They have lost their way, have lost their passion, have lost their energy and have lost their hope.  Yet our hope is in the Lord.  Isaiah 40:31 tells us that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  God promises to be our strength when we put our hope in Him.  He is our lasting hope.

To what have you been turning to for hope?  Your success?  A relationship?  Our money?  A drink of a drug?  Sports?  Friends?  Church?  If we are ultimately trusting anything other than Jesus, we will be disappointed and left empty.  Embrace Jesus for your hope and then you can help others who are hopeless.  Would you keep your eyes open this week for those who seem to have lost their hope?  Will you take a moment to listen to their story and try to help them turn to the only One who can give lasting hope?  Jesus, the Messiah?  May this Sip help you satisfy your thirst in Jesus.  Tis the season for more than depression - Hope in Jesus!

Debt

Today is something that is called "Cyber Monday".  The term made it's debut in 2008 as merchants tried to attract customers to buy on-line the Monday after Thanksgiving.  It has now become the busiest day for on-line purchases with the total being over $1.2 billion.  That's a lot of money being spent on one day.  One of the greatest dangers to this trend is the use of credit cards.  To purchase items on-line, the user must have a credit card for these purchases.  Even a cursory look at American spending habits shows that we have a serious credit card problem in this country.  The average American household owes over $8,500 in credit card debt.  This debt can't be paid off at the end of the month, which means the huge APRs affect finances.  65% of all Americans have so much credit that they only make the minimum payment every month.  This means we are squandering money by spending huge amounts of it on interest.  

Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is the slave to the lender".  A while back, we heard about the 1% and how much wealth they have.  The media has treated the rich as evil, when really, the poor have made them wealthy.  Every time we pay interest on a credit card, we just helped make the rich richer.  Many Americans are upset over the wealth of the 1%, but those same folks who are upset are making it possible for the rich to be rich.  Credit card debt is the easiest way to make sure the 1% have more money.  If we really want equity, we should stop using credit cards unless we can pay off the balance at the end of each month.  As long as we owe, we become a slave to the one we owe.  We have limited God's movement in our lives because we have no freedom.  We can't tithe because we are stretched so thin financially with all of our bills and debt.  We aren't able to go on mission trips because we can't afford time off from work.  Or we just chuck it all and walk away from our debts by claiming bankruptcy.  None of these options are pleasing to God.

Why do we have debt?  We want things we can't afford.  We want things for our children we can't afford.  Instead of driving a used car, we have to have a new car.  We have to have the latest phone.  We have to have to newest computer.  We have to have the latest sneakers.  The list goes on and on.  The bottom line:  We aren't satisfied with what God has already given us.  Rather than be grateful for what we already have, we buy more things to go into an already-packed full closet.  We look at how much our monthly payment will be rather than praying and asking God if this is necessary.  Then we pass it on to the next generation as our children learn to go into debt watching us go into debt.  They think it is normal to have several maxed our credit cards, a house payment, a car payment, a student loan, etc.  

As followers of Christ, we need to end this madness in our lives.  The financial debt we have incurred need to be paid off and no new debt needs to be taken.  We need to honestly look at our lives and determine "need" versus "want".  December is a perfect time to look at this because advertisers are working overtime to make sure we know what we need and how easy it will be to get it.  Just whip out the Master Card and you can have it today.  This is a perfect time for us to teach our children the discipline of paying as you go.  Maybe we need to tell our children and grandchildren that we just can't afford more stuff.  Maybe there is more we can "do" this Christmas rather than "buy" this Christmas.

There is only one debt that is good:  The debt we owe to God for offering Jesus as the sacrifice for our sin.  This is a debt of love which allows us to live a life of worship.  This debt causes us to be thankful and generous because God has been so generous to us.  The advent of Jesus is the ultimate debt payment:  Jesus paid the debt for our sin that we couldn't afford.  Sin will cost us our souls, but Jesus redeemed that debt.  Have you trusted Jesus with your debt of sin?  It changes our entire outlook on life.

So don't let Cyber Monday rule your day.  Let the love of God, which dwells in your richly, rule your life and advent!