Brother In Need

For those of you who grew up in the same religious tradition (aka tribe) as I, you know that we were taught that the Bible has different ways of teaching. Two of those ways are inference and example. I am still trying to figure out where I stand on the following and what it means if I end up where I think I am heading. Let's look at the following scriptures starting with Acts 4:

32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

Followed by Acts 2:
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

If this is the example set forth in Acts, then why do we still have poor and needy in our fellowship? What is my responsibility to them? What about the believers in Central America, Africa or China? I have never heard a sermon based on the inference of these two passages but I wonder if someone dared would we have an auditorium full of rich young rulers who went away sorrowful because we have much possessions?

I'm not saying that we sell everything we have, move into a commune and sing Kumbaya. What I am suggesting is that we examine to see if we are more American than Christian when in comes to the value we put in our possessions.

I would love your comment.

In Him,

David

Mickey Mouse and Easter Eggs

We had a first with Christopher this morning. Janelle was there and told me about it as I was at work. Christopher was playing with his Thomas train set and was having some difficulty with one of the hills. As he grew increasingly agitated with the problem he finally blurted out in anger 'mmmmmmm Mickey Mouse". Apparently Mickey Mouse is a new expletive in our house. It is a reminder to me to be careful with what I say and to be slow with my temper.

This weekend we are going to Elizabethton for the Peter's Hollow Egg Fight. The boys will get to see lots of family members that they don't know, some of whom I hardly know and fight eggs. The egg fight is nearly 2 centuries old and started when some farmers started arguing whose chickens laid the hardest eggs. So they "boiled them up" and commenced to cracking them against the other farmers eggs. The Egg Fight is an annual Easter Tradition up there but sadly it does not bring in the crowds like it used to. Still it is a great way to touch the past and hopefully pass along something to another generation as a reminder of simpler times. For me it is a way to keep connected with family that I never get to see often enough.

In Him,

David

LOST

Okay, I am finally wading into the LOST foray on my blog. If the theme of LOST is finding redemption then Charlie and Jin had to die. The changed their ways (drugs/murder) and found a new life. That new life led to their death and one and possibly both laid down their lives for others that they loved.

For us, we change our ways and find we find life. In death we then have fulfillment of the promise that was given when we changed and we are no longer LOST but home.

In Him,

David

Jubilee or Jaded

What if we still observed a year of Jubilee? What if every 7 years we forgave the debts of others and they forgave ours? What if we left a portion of our fields and the fruit that we dropped behind for the poor to gather? What if I looked at the homeless, the beggar and saw a man rather than a nuisance? What if I gladly gave of my first fruits to the Lord with joy? What if the church took care of the widows and the orphans? What if I let it begin with me?

This Christianity thing is not easy but then again we are called to be holy not common. I live in the most affluent society the world has ever known. We have two cars, a home and food on the table. Can I be happy with that? We have brothers and sisters around the world struggling to survive, can I ignore that? I must provide for my family but I cannot let that "providing" become an egocentric exercise in keeping up with others for appearance sake.

In Him,

David

The Weekend

First of all let me start by saying "Way to Go VOLS". The men won the SEC Regular season title and the Lady VOLS won the SEC Tournament.

The weekend started off kind of shaky but it ended up okay. Getting to the campground Friday afternoon was an adventure. I left at 2:30 on what should have been a 1.5 hour trip but I did not calculate having to sit in a huge traffic jam near the Tennessee River. It took an hour and twenty minutes to go 5 miles, luckily I came upon the exit for Waverly and knew that I could get on Hwy 70 there and make it to where I was going, if only I could get there before the sleet and snow settled in. The weather turned REALLY bad in Waverly and luckily I was able to fall behind 3 semis all the way to Camden, they cut tracks through the muck and I was able to get good traction. At that point the wiser decision was to press on than turn around although every fiber in me wanted to be home with Janelle and the boys at that point. Once I got to Camden I found that the road I needed to travel to the campground had just been salted so I ended up arriving there much later than attended but with no damage to the car or me (except the somewhat frayed nerves).

I had a great time with some regrets. Here we get a good snow and I am not at home to enjoy the snow with my family. Janelle and I watch movies when it snows and I wanted to build snowmen with the boys, hopefully we'll have plenty of opportunities to do both in the upcoming years. The upside was that being away for a little while was a good reminder to how much they mean to me.

Sunday was a busy day. I got up early and drove home then met the family at the church building. We had a fellowship lunch after services, ran a few errands, went home and took naps and then it was back to the church building at 4 for an Easter egg hunt.

Well it is back to work now. Enjoy the week.

In Him,

David

GO VOLS!

I can't blog and not say something about the fact that UT has won the outright S.E.C. Championship (regular season) for the first time in 41 years. Go VOLS!

In Orange and White,

David

Trepidation

I am leaving tomorrow for a guy's out weekend. While I am looking forward to this time I also don't like leaving my family behind for 2 nights. Yes, I know it is only two nights but that is a long time not being with Janelle (in a place without cell service I might add). While I could enter a joke saying "that will be two days worth of talking that she will have to catch up on on Sunday", I won't do that.

Let's leave it at I love my wife and I love my family and I do enjoy the time that I get to spend with them. I will also enjoy being able to recharge my "manly" batteries.

In Him,

David

There still is hope

Last time I wrote about what a sick world we live in. Today a friend passed along the story about a special needs person who in the final game of the season scored 20 points in under 5 minutes of a high school basketball game. Thank God for coaches who know that they are there to mold lives and not there just for the W's. Click on the title above to see the story and in case the link above does not work, past this in your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek1iIOTsiRo&feature=related Please take time to watch the ESPN version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngzyhnkT_jY&feature=related

In Him,

David