Christmas time... past,present and future

It started with a star and a manger on a cold crystal clear night when our Savior and King was born. The blessed event was the talk of all the land. With both anticipation and excitement many awaited the One who was foretold would be the Son of God...while others stewed in worry and fear knowing the truth...that One among them would be greater than them. Gifts were given to celebrate His birth, a tradition that would grow over the years to become a worldwide celebration of all that Jesus Christ was...Joy,Love,Peace and happiness. Christmas became the term to acknowledge the birth of the Son of God.
Now as I lool around...substitutions of a jolly old fat man in a red suit has taken the place of the One who it should be centered around, the baby born Jesus Christ. No longer is it "Merry Christmas" but rather..."Happy Holidays"...a reason for time off work. And the anticipation and excitement is no longer that of knowing about the newborn King but rather that of presents in which we fill our lives with. All the worries and fear are due to overspending and debt. The joy,love,happiness and definitely peace is short lived and usually gone before dinner is served. Timeless traditions that once revolved around celebrating the birth and life of our Savior have now been replaced by "black fridays" and excuses to go shopping.
The present only shows signs that this joyous time of year will soon be forgotten completely as to why it is so special in the first place. I worry that Christmas really will turn into "X-Ma" and that Christ will be ta completely out of the conversation of the holiday season.
So as I sit back d pray...I shall pray that in each and every persons heart, for but a moment this Christmas season, they stop and think about what this time of celebration is really all about. Not about shopping,presents,decorations or some fat guy in a red suit who needs nine reindeer to pull him aroundbut rather that of a boy born into this world who would give the greatest gift through the greatest show of love in the most grandest way...that completely outshines and outperforms any light show. And we acknowledge that Christmas is the celebration of our King and Savior's birth and not the time off work or means to extend our debt. Because after all...if you are celebrating Christmas you must believe the greatest story ever told...shouldn't ya!?

My solution to the college football chaos!

Okay it is that time of the college football season when people start getting upset because there is not a system in place to determine a "true" national champion. As many of you know I am a die-hard (sorry John McClain) Notre Dame fan so some of what is about to be expressed by myself may come from left field but I believe if you really think about it...it is a reasonable plan and idea. Okay let's start... First, NO MORE INDEPENDANT TEAMS! The NCAA has to force the four independants into conferences. That includes my beloved Irish. So where do they all go.. Well, let's start with Army to the Big East and Navy to the ACC. TCU going to the Big East kinda helps this plan... it opens BYU to go into the Big 12 South and Notre Dame into the Big 12 North. Now you might say why not the Big 10...well the answer will come shortly.. now you have 6 major conferences in which after the course of the season you are left with a first place team in each division of the respective conference. Throughout the season a school may only schedule two non conference games. This keeps strength of schedule reasonably comparable and also allows for some long standing rivalries to keep going. Now let's look at why I think Notre Dame would be a better fit for the Big 12 than Big 10... NBC! If you think about it...the SEC is on CBS, BIG 10 and Pac10 on ABC/ES;/

checks and balances

A good friend of mine is going through some legal issues. I hate using the term "some" because he is going through ridiculous legal issues. He has been slandered and put through the ringer by the District Attorneys office, local news agencies and some of Salt Lakes' "wonderful and non-judgemental" citizens. He has lost clientel over this as well as a sister who was pressured so much by certain people to basically lie (as she knew of no wrong doing) that she took her own life. And the charges keep coming... because my friend won't give in to the prosecuting attorneys desperate plea to settle this without him looking like an idiot, more charges have been filed. The sad thing is, is that this happens all the time. When the D.A's office does not have enough evidence to convict in a trial they will start looking for ticky tack charges to keep adding to your record so that you give in to the overwhelming amounts of time you are facing and take a plea deal on lesser charges. I know this because I went through it. My ex wife after I told her I wanted out of our marriage lied and said I raped her. I spent 9 months in jail facing 5 first degree felonies. The deals kept coming but so did the ticky tack charges. I'd write my kids a letter and get a protective order violation. But I knew I was innocent and I stood my ground and took it to a jury trial where the truth came out and I was found not guilty and the charges were dropped. So as I have been there watching first hand at what is going on with my friend I can't help but to think back to what I went through and see he is going through the same thing. So how does the D.A' office get away with manipulating the system without any repercussions? Its because by law they can take any little act you do that they can charge you with they will... and because its not really (in my opinion) about serving justice or protecting society but rather about power, prestige, money and fame. They care more about their win-loss record or conviction rate than they do about the publics safety. It is parlayed in Tyler Perry's "Madea goes to jail" where the D.A in that case has a 98% conviction rate but it comes out that she pads charges and criminal history.
So what can we do? Well I believe we need to stick to our guns when we truly know in our hearts we are innocent. Take it all the way to trial. If you and God know you are innocent he will see you through for one and two.... it will make the prosecuting work and if you are out after they have charged you...DO NOT GIVE THEM ANYTHING TO USE AGAINST YOU. In other words don't help them win the case. Keep your nose clean. Then when you have been vindicated make sure everyone you can know that you faced the injustice and won. Write letters to the newspapers, tell the media, let the prosecuting attorney know that he/she can't manipulate eveyone. Hopefully the checks and balances that should be in place will take notice and step in and hold those who swore to uphold the law actually uphold it.

The company we keep!

Have you ever taken a look back and really looked at the people in your life? Spouses, family,friends, co workers and even people we see and interact with every single day? What is each relationship like?.. how are the alike? Different?... Do they have a positive or negative effect on your life? How much of an effect do you have in their lives? And does any of those questions really matter? Some will say that they only associate with those who have a positive impact in their life. Others say that they keep their friends close and their enemies closer. Some form clicks (cliques) and shun those who are not like them.
Is this really how we are interpretting the desire of Jesus Christ when He said that we should love one another. We pick and choose who we want to love. In the book of 1 Peter all it does talk about is love. Between 1 Peter 4:5-21 the reference to love is used 27 times. And we know that God is love and that if you do not love then you do not truly know God. And once again... its not when you desire to love, it should be all the time. No matter what that person has done to you, you should treat them with love. Yeah they may have hurt you, lied to you or betrayed you. And you may need to be away from them for awhile. But you should also forgive them and do so out of love not as an obligation or to punch a ticket into Heaven.
So the next time you come across someone in your life... ask yourself if you have truly shown that person love no matter how they have treated you. If you haven't treated that person with love then it might be a good thing to tell that person and let them know that they are someone in your life who you love and will try your hardest to treat them with kindness and respect. I truly believe if we as a society can start doing this we will do away with clicks, families will be stronger, friendships will be closer and work will be a lot more pleasant.

The Greatest Battle Ever

Every Friday night, Saturday. And Sunday in the fall many great battles take place on football fields across the nation. Sometimes the games are blow outs as one team dominates another but sometimes the game comes down to the last play, filling the stadium with tension and anxiety... Yetbthere are games in which one team makes a tremendous comeback and wins the game in the closing moments, sending joy and euphoria throughout the whole community. That is the game and outcome I love to watch. It reminds me of the battle that is going on today between God and the devil. It may appear as if the devil is winning by a huge margin... deceiving people, tempting and lying and it works... but the game is not over... Jesus, the star of which is fighting for every single one of us, is starting to mount a comeback. With each life that is given to Him he cuts the lead that the devil has and I know that this game is going to end with Jesus trouncing on the devils head on his way to victory. He will be able to do that by having a bigger team than the evil one has. That is where we come in... everyone wants to be part of a winning team... we all know that the day will come when Jesus steps on satans head with His heel. So like every successful team we need to do some things. We need to recruit.. start planting that seed of victory in peoples hearts. We need to practice... praying, reading the Bible, repenting and then we lead by example just as the Star did. I can't wait to go into the most grandous of locker rooms after this victory and celebrate.

examples for our youth

Throughout history dating all the way back to when Jesus walked this earth a common theme amongst all people has always been to pass on lessons learned, history, the right way to act and taditions.... why is it then that we have stopped doing that. No longer is it important to teach our youth to do the right thing or to pass along traditions that have been apart of their family for ages. And yet in the same breath we complain about them and the path they are on... as we are shaking a finger at them we should be looking at the three fingers pointing back at us because it it us who dropped the ball... it is us who didn't take the time when we should have to teach our younger siblings, children and students about these things... Now for the explosive part... How can we pretend to follow the desire of Jesus Christ when he asked us to live according to His desire...His way....His WORD!... when we cannot even pass on worldly traditions and proper ways of behavior. Jesus showed by the way He lived how to teach and inform and raise a following... now of course nobody expects you to go out and rise up disciples and perform miracles...but what is wrong wit5h living according to His doctrines and desires and leading by example. Showing our youth and impressionable minds that there is a proper way to act, there are such things as traditions ( especially at Christmas time...shoppers!)... and that life truly would be better all around if only we would lead by the same example He provided us with...or has that been forgotten by all as well?

dealing with stress

1 Peter 5:6-10 says to "humble yourselves,therefore, under Gods mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong,firm and steadfast. It is also said not to worry about tomorrow for today is still at hand. Not one of us knows what tomorrow will bring. Yes we can hope for good things to find there way into our lives but only God truly knows. All we can do is put our faith in Him that He will not put us through anything we cannot handle... we may have bills we cannot pay or ajob uncertainty but the one true certainty that we can count on every time is that He will never leave or forsake us and if we only trust Him to see us through any storm He will guide us through...let us not be like the apostles in the boat when the wind picked up... Jesus will calm the storm if you allow Him to...