You Can't Be Fired (But You Can Quit!)

You’re Fired! Perhaps you have been on the receiving end of that announcement, or maybe you were the one who said it to someone else. Before he became president, Donald Trump had a TV show called “The Apprentice”. The contestants all competed for a single position in the Trump organization at the end of the season. Each week, he would review the accomplishments of them for that week and would eliminate one by saying, “You’re fired!”. I worked for a company once that was bought out by a smaller company and, of course, the new owners told us that they were not planning any layoffs, that we would all keep our jobs. Then they started downsizing. When the VP I worked for was let go, I knew my time was coming and, sure enough, the next day they packed up the things that were in my cube and escorted me out the door. In a sense, those of us who were let go had the last laugh because a year later they went out of business, fired by their customers who took their business elsewhere.

How about our position with God, and his son, Jesus Christ? As believers and followers of his teachings and commandments, can we be fired and lose the opportunity to get our promised reward of an eternity with God? None of us are perfect and we all violate his rules again and again, we all sin. What if God got fed up with you and decided to fire you, strip you of your heavenly reward? Fortunately, we know from the bible that there is no limit to God’s forgiveness. When we sin, it is a matter of asking for that forgiveness. If you confess your sins, repent for them, and ask for that forgiveness, then God will pardon you for it. But you have to ask.

How about those people who reject God, reject Jesus Christ? Those who sin against God and do not repent? Do not seek his mercy? What happens to them? Some people believe that God sends those people to hell. Many years ago, I attended a weekend retreat and renewal of faith. One of the speakers said God does not send people to hell, they choose to go there of their own free will! God will do everything he can, in any way he can, to convince them to change and spend eternity with him. Sadly, some people still continue down the wrong path to a different eternity.

Which gets to the second part of the title, the part that says you can always quit. I am sure you have seen that dramatic moment in a movie where the star says, “You can’t fire me, I quit!”. Well, I have already shown that God will not fire you, no matter what you have done, as long as you ask for or are willing to receive, his forgiveness. So, how do you quit? Simple. Just turn your back on him, reject his ways and plans for you, and refuse to accept him into your life. Even after seeing and knowing what he has for you, some people still quit, stop being believers, and go the other way for timeless time.

So, how about you? Maybe you are the stellar employee, or maybe you just feel you are barely hanging on to your faith and belief. God has a plan for you, regardless of which end of the scale you find yourself. You can still get that final paycheck, that final reward for your good and faithful service.

Or you can quit.

It’s your choice.

Shout!

In 1959, the musical group, The Isley Brothers, released a song which has never stopped being a hit. That song is “Shout!”. It has been recorded by several artists since then and it is almost impossible to go to a dance featuring rock music without hearing it and dancing to it at least once. Here are the first few lines:

You know you make me want to (Shout)

Kick my heels up and (Shout)

Throw my hands up and (Shout)

Throw my head back and (Shout)

Come on now (Shout)

That is probably the way your soul felt when you first found God, the first time you let Jesus into your life. You were full of celebration, of joy, full of life. Maybe you are very demonstrative, very vocal and couldn’t wait to tell everyone what you found. Or, maybe you are quiet, internal, and felt the thrill of discovery fill you up like a cup filled to the brink of running over.

The knowledge and love of God, of his son, Jesus, may make you want to share it. I’m not talking about standing on some street corner, buttonholing every passerby, to tell them your story. Such a thing would be counterproductive in the extreme. (Just think how you would feel if you were the accostee!) Instead, be God’s instrument and let him guide you to those who need to hear what you have to say. Let him do the choosing, you do the telling. In this way, you can serve him, leading others to what you have found, what you have made a part of your life.

Psalm 100:1-5 starts put this way:

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands.” (NKJV)

Let the way you live your life be your shout. Let the joy of your love for God, for his son, be integrated into what you do, what you are, so that it attracts those whom he wants you to bring his way.

Homecoming

Back during the last Christmas season, every time I turned on the radio I was treated to an unending stream of Christmas songs. Whenever I walked into a store, it was the same thing, Christmas music from the ceiling speakers. While there was a lot of variety, I could count on hearing Gene Autry spin the tale about Rudolph and listen to Bing Crosby sing about his memories and longing for a White Christmas. Among all of the selections, I could count on hearing those two at least once per day, and often more.

Now, I like Gene Autry. He made a lot of low budget western movies and a TV series back in the 1950’s. As for Bing, he had a very long and successful music career. However, after a while, I maxed out on Gene, Bing, the Chipmunks, and all of the other Christmas fare and went searching for something else.

One of the places I went was to YouTube. I have gone there quite often when I was trying to do something or fix something, like the time I replaced the headlights on my wife’s car, repaired the leaf blower and figured out why the refrigerator was leaking water. There is also a lot of music and music videos out there, too. This time I went looking for different Christmas music and I found some. What I stumbled across was the United States Navy Band Christmas Concert 2018. If you have never listened to them before, check them out because they are absolutely top drawer professionals. Besides the main band, there is a country music band and a couple of choirs. Great music!. Anyway, interspersed between some of the songs were videos of sailors and marines with recorded Christmas greeting for the family and friends back home. Then there were videos of homecomings, when the deployed members returned home after a deployment and were reunited with their families. As expected, there were spouses and kids running to their sailors. One video was of a daddy who walked into his daughter’s classroom and she was stunned! - and then leaped into his arms. Joyous reunions among the joyous songs.

Joy-filled reunions. There is the bible story we all know about the prodigal son who finally came home and his father running down the road to welcome him back home. There was also the story of the lost sheep and how the shepherd rejoiced and celebrated when he found it.

Sometimes we also lose our way, we get separated from God for whatever reason. We go our own way and end up in a place and set of circumstances which keep us away. God will always welcome us back when we return, when we see where and how we are, and turn back to him. He is always there, waiting with open arms, welcoming us back with great joy. Sometimes he will send a messenger to try to point us in the right direction. It may be a family member, friend, a minister, or even a stranger we just “accidently” run into one day. Sometimes it may even be a movie, TV program or a book that catches our attention. Whatever it takes, in whatever form, God is waiting for us and he wants us to return to him. And then there is that final welcoming, when we leave this life behind and join him for eternity.

How about you? Hopefully, you are one of those who have followed him throughout your life and know you will be welcomed home. If, on the other hand, you are one of the lost sheep, then you need to stop and hear the call and return to his earthly home, whether a church or elsewhere, so you can be ready for that final welcoming. Take a look at yourself and see where you are, and fit yourself into his plans. You can do it. Happy Homecoming!

Think It, Be It!

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (NKJV)

A more modern version of that quote is, “You are what you think you are.” You have an incredibly
powerful tool at your fingertips, figuratively speaking. Actually, it is located between your ears. It is
your brain; it houses your mind, that very complex three-pound tool that runs your body and your life.  Once upon a time, it was a known “fact” that no one could run a mile faster than four minutes. A man named Roger Bannister didn’t believe it and on May 6, 1954, he ran the first sub-four minute mile.  History books and record books are full of stories of people who did not agree with a popular belief, either about themselves as individuals or as part of a group. In the last few years there have been two movies about the Tuskegee Airmen, the group of African-American fighter pilots in World War II who, as the 332nd Fighter Group, amassed a tremendous record. They proved beyond any doubts that an official Army study which stated African-Americans did not have the brain power, physical ability and aggressiveness to become fighter pilots was completely wrong. They saw themselves differently and proved it in the skies over Europe.

That power that God gave us to control our own life, our destiny, is one of His greatest gifts to us. He
has given us the ability to change our lives, our behavior, in such a way that it benefits us, our family,
and God. It also has the unbridled ability to do just the opposite. Our thoughts can raise us up above
the expectations of anyone else, or they can sink us to the lowest depths. Our lives, within the
limitations of our physical bodies, can accomplish almost anything we can imagine.

So, who is in control of the way we act, speak, or think? We are. No one can control us except God, and He has given us the free will to choose. We choose. One more time: WE choose. It is a natural
tendency to blame someone else for our poor behavior. How many times have you told someone, “You make me SO ANGRY!”? Really? Just how did they do that? Did they take over the control of your mind?  For you Star Trek fans, did someone do the Vulcan Mind Meld and force their thoughts into your mind and control you? Nope. It didn’t happen. Someone else may have done something or said something you didn’t like, but you made a choice to get angry, even to the point of physical violence. There was a comedian many years ago whose catch-phrase was, “The devil made me do it.” Not even the devil has that much power. He can tempt you and you can follow that path, but it is still your decision.

We also make a choice to be happy. There is so much focus on the negative aspects of choice that this
needs to be said as well. Life’s events are neutral. How we react to them is the choice we make. When we engage in certain activities, see certain people, observe something or someone, we choose our reaction. When we judge that as something good, we choose to be happy. It may not be a conscious choice; it may be a matter of acting or thinking or feeling that we have done before and now repeat.

All too often, a relationship starts out smoothly. Whether it is with a spouse, child, parent, friend, or
work associate. What happens when one of them starts to have a problem with the other? What may
happen is that a choice is made to cause damage to the relationship, one that should not be made. Or, a choice may be made to work on it, to not allow damage to happen. One person CHOOSES to take that path. Any relationship is tough by anyone’s definition and making it a successful one is not for the fainthearted.How do you see yourself in your relationships? Do you see yourself as being strong in it, willing to be a partner, to compromise when necessary, to help and support and defend? Or, do you see yourself as having one foot out the door, as being willing to “try” to make the relationship a success, but in reality ready to quit at the first difficulty, to cause relationship-ending damage? As the Proverb above says, the way you see yourself, the way you see your part in any relationship, is how it is going to be, because that is the way that you are going to make it be.

No one likes to take the blame for their own actions or words. We all like to blame someone else for our failures and, conversely, take the credit for our successes. Like the student who takes the credit for the top grade and then blames the teacher for the poor one, we are the sum of our choices in this life and the product of how we see ourselves. We are also responsible for where we spend the next life. If you choose to follow the guidance that God has given to all of us, then you will get to be one of those who spend eternity with Him. If you choose to ignore His guidance, then you have chosen to spend eternity someplace else, in a place that is infinitely unpleasant.

Think about what you choose to be. Do you see yourself as one who chooses to believe in God, to
follow him and his son, Jesus Christ, to allow the Holy Spirit enter into your life? Or, do you see yourself as one who denies all of that? The scripture quote at the top is not just some catch phrase, it is an absolute truth.

Life and the afterlife are all within your control. You get to choose. It is how you see yourself that will determine your ultimate destination. So, what is your vision?

Oil And Water

It is a well-known cliche' that oil and water do not mix. It doesn't matter how hard you stir or shake it, when you finish, it will separate back to two distinct layers of oil and water. However, if you add some soap to the mix, then the two can become one liquid which is neither oil nor water but something else entirely.

The same is true of another saying that you cannot mix fire and ice because one will destroy the other. However, if you do put them together what you will get is warm water, again something that is a combination of the two.

People are the same as either of the above or any other set of opposites you can imagine. Each brings particular characteristics to the relationship that may not seem to mix well with the other. It is what they do with the differences that make the difference. The differences can continue on for years as each tries to maintain their individuality. What is needed is a substance like the soap that is added to the oil and water. That is not a "what" but a "who". The best "who" for this is God. It takes more than just his presence, but rather the willingness of the two individuals to allow him into the relationship and to follow what he teaches us about the way he wants us to live.

The bible is certainly the primary source for that, but there many books that have been written on the subject and priests, ministers and rabbis who are there to teach us and lead us. On top of that, there are counselors who have been trained to guide people, not just according to the guidelines of psychology, but also in God's way.

Are you the oil or the water? Are you the fire or the ice? Are you sticking with what you are or are you open to change? If you are in a relationship and you are insisting on keeping your identity, then you cannot become something new. Do you reject the soap that can change you into something new and exciting? Are you avoiding the proximity of the other so you cannot change into something warm and comforting? If so, then you are avoiding the plan that God has laid out for us. It was never in his plan for us to be alone, ever since the first couple trod the land. Are you afraid of the change, that you will lose yourself? In a sense you may. You will lose part of yourself in the other person and, and at the same time, gain a part of them to make a whole new being, a new life force. Remember what it says in his book, that a man will leave his mother and a woman leave her home and the two shall become one.

That is the plan God laid out for us from the very beginning. Since it is his design, it is one of perfection. How can you go wrong with a perfect plan?

Basic Is Basic

A while back, a friend of mine and I were discussing these writings which I have been posting on this blog site for the last four years. I said that of all of them, and others not yet published, none of them got into deep discussions of theology, religions, denominations, or beliefs. I said they are all just about God and the different ways he is in our lives and, from time to time, Satan and his wiles and dangers. My friend’s response is the title, “Basic Is Basic.”

What he said about these writings is true. They are all simple, uncomplicated things having to do with God and his ultimate creation, us. They have to do with the wonders of God and how he fits into our lives. I think this one is the 90th posting and there are recurring themes from time to time. I see his purpose being that different approaches will touch or appeal to some people and make sense, while some others will reach out and make sense to someone else.

There are all of the simple facts of the story of creation. We all known what God did, it is simply written in his book. What we don’t know is how he accomplished it and how long it really took. God did not punch a time clock, since the keeping of time is our invention, nor did he cross off days on some spiritual calendar. He simply did what he did and in his own way and time.

When he was finished and had created that first pair, he probably sat back and looked at all he had done. Just think how disappointing and insulting it must have been to have that first pair, created in his spiritual image and likeness, turn their backs on him and violate the single rule he gave to them. I can just imagine that when he confronted them, they pointed at each other and said, “He/she made me do it!” and there is that other excuse, “The devil made me do it.”

Did you ever think how God must have felt at that time? He must have certainly loved them even so. Instead, he could have just erased the whole project and started over. Rather than that, he loved them and, as redemption for their sin and all of the sins by all of us since then and for all time to come, he sent his one and only son to come into this world in the same manner we do. In just a few days, we will celebrate his birthday. He came with a mission, a goal, to suffer terribly and die as a common criminal, nailed to a wooden cross and, in that way, redeem us and open heaven’s gates so we could spend all of eternity in his presence.

It all goes back to the basics, doesn’t it? While there are differences, large or small, in how we worship, the basic bottom line is we know who God is and worship him.

As you celebrate the whole liturgical year, take an active part in the pomp and celebration of the whole cycle. But, remember throughout the whole cycle, the basic bottom line: there is a God and he loves us far beyond our widest understanding of what that really means.

Mission Statement

Most companies have a sign on a wall or a page in the employee handbook
that is titled “Mission Statement”. It lays out the company goals, ways they
treat customers or clients, and employees. It invites the employees to make it
a part of the way they work so it will be accomplished every day and
throughout the life of the company.

God also has a mission statement. His is written in a large book, expressed
through the divine inspiration of the men and women who wrote down his
words. God’s mission is to be with us and love us from conception to death in
this life and to welcome us home when this life is finished. He guides us and
is there for us at all times. He wants us to be successful in our material life
and in our spiritual life. He is there for us at all times, even when we are angry
at him or even deny him. His final mission goal is to have us with him for
eternity.

Satan has a mission statement as well. From Adam and Eve through today,
and all of the tomorrows yet to come, his mission statement is a simple one-liner:
steal as many souls from God as he can, using any and all means, fair or
foul, to have us turn away from God and follow him. Being with Satan also
lasts for eternity but the stay is far from pleasant, it is pure Hell beyond our
ability to begin imaging. He is a hard worker and we are the targets for his
efforts. Just as you have an alarm system in your house to prevent intruders,
you should have a very active and strong spiritual alarm, one that warns you of
any satanic intruders.

How about you? What is your mission statement? Is it a plaque on the wall
that you bought in a religious goods store? It is something you have
developed over time and modified for yourself and, if applicable, your family.
Maybe it isn’t formalized and written down, but you know what it is and you
expend your efforts to follow it. It should contain guidance for you in your work
life, play life, home life and, of course, your spiritual life. The bottom line is to
spend the rest of eternity with God. Take time to review your mission
statement and be certain it is in accordance with God’s, and revise where
necessary to lead you all the way to him.