Sympathy versus Compassion

I usually listen the radio station (FM) 104.7 on my way to and from work.  This morning Kevin was talking about the disaster in Haiti.  He asked us not to just have sympathy for the people but to have compassion for them.  He said that sympathy feels bad for the moment but soon forgets all about it.  Compassion reaches out and does something about a problem. 

He challenged us to at least give a small contribution to the rescue efforts.  Haiti is poorest country in the western hemisphere.  The people have nothing and what they did have, they lost. 

Tens of thousands of people have died and that number may rise.

If you really want to help the people in Haiti, below are some organizations that could use your help.

World Vision

Samaritan’s Purse

Food for the Poor

Compassion International

So the challenge today is, will you help? 

Matthew 14:14 talks about Jesus’ reaction to the needs he saw.  “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

James talks about the idea that faith without action is worthless.

I don’t believe that any amount of works will add anything to your salvation.  However, if Jesus has really changed your heart, you will want to help others.

We have so much and are so blessed.  Are you willing to share a little with the Haitian people who are desperately in need?

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Google Docs

This post has nothing to do with spiritual things but I thought this was good information.

Google has just announced a huge addition to Google Docs, more free storage for all of your files. Google Docs now allows you to upload almost all file types including video, images, and document to your account. Each file can be up to 250 MB and your total amount of free storage is 1 GB. If you need more space you can buy it for $0.25 per GB per year. 

Compared to buying even the cheapest 1 GB flash drives, $0.25/GB is very very cheap and comes with the added bonus of not worrying about losing the storage device.

All of the folder and file sharing capabilities that you've come to love about Google Docs will apply to the files you upload and host on Google Docs. So if I upload a PDF or a Word file to my Google Docs account, I will be able to share those files with anyone else that has a Google Docs account.

If you’ve never tried Google docs, now might be the time.  You can access from any computer that accesses the internet.  You can’t lose your files because they back everything up. 

If you’ve ever lost files when your hard drive crashed, consider using Google docs.  Accounts are free – you just have to register and set it up.

Attitude is everything

You’ve got to see this video….

 

Isn’t he just amazing!  It’s not just his musical talent but his attitude is amazing. 

Lord, remind me of Patrick when I feel like complaining and help me to count my blessings each and every day.

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Snow Day

We had a day off on Friday – a snow day.  Snow days are the best.  They are a day off when you aren’t expecting it.  You never want to anticipate having a snow day.  If you think you are going to get one, you never do.  The trick is to make yourself do everything you would normally do to get ready for work the next day.  Go to bed at your regular time, pack your books the night before, etc… Never count on a snow day!

So when you get that phone call that school is cancelled, it becomes the grandest of all school events.  It is unexpected and greatly appreciated. 

This was an extraordinary snow day because the call came the night before.  That meant I could turn off the alarm clock and sleep in the next morning.  Not that I didn’t do any work on Friday, I did, but it was all like a bonus. 

The specialness of a snow day is not what you do but what you don’t do.  I didn’t get up at 5:00 am, I didn’t wear school clothes, I didn’t answer phone calls from salesmen, I didn’t send a couple of hundred emails, I didn’t eat a school cafeteria lunch, I didn’t do anything related to school. No meetings, no schedule, no anything.

Don’t read into anything here.  I love my job.  I love teaching students.  However, when something as great as a snow day comes along, you just have to love that, too.

Snow days are also great because they remind me what Christ has done for me.  He has forgiven me and cleansed me from all my sin.

So the next time it snows, let it remind you that if you are a Christian, you are clean in His sight and your sins are no more.

Psalm 51:7 “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

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Tiger should turn to Christian Faith

 
The video below is about 1 minute long.  Listen to it and then read my reaction below.

 

"The extent to which he can recover, it seems to me, depends on his faith. He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So, my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world."

I don’t know a lot about the Buddhist religion but I do know that they don’t really believe in God.  They believe they can become their own gods.  Perhaps Tiger thought he was starting to achieve this. It seems like he thought he could do what he wanted and not get caught.

I think the guy on this video had a lot of guts to say what he did.  He correctly analyzed Tiger’s problem.  His problem is a spiritual one.  His problem is that he needs a relationship with the living God.

He needs that relationship to help him find meaning and purpose in life.  He needs to trust Christ to save him and help him through tough times.  When a person becomes a Christian, everything he has done in his past is forgiven.  (i John 1:9)  After receiving the forgiveness, the Christian is expected to turn from his sin and change his ways.  No other religion offers this kind of forgiveness.

I’m glad this news reporter had the guts to talk about the real issue.  How many of us would have done the same thing ….

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New Starts

I feel like the theme for the last week has been “new starts".” 

I wiped out my hard drive on my laptop and loaded Windows 7.  My laptop got a new start.  All that was done before was gone and I am slowly reloading just the software that I am currently using.  That should make the computer faster and easier to use.  The old is gone away and the new has come.  (By the way – I love Windows 7!)

Our church voted the end of the year and elected a new pastor.  He started this past Sunday.  Therefore, the church got a new start.  I think he is going to be great.  He is a godly man and a great leader.  I think we will be challenged to get off our duffs and do something for the kingdom.

School started back up today and we are beginning a new semester.  All the students got a new start with their grades.  Since my class is only a semester long, I have a whole new group of students to get to know and I get to start the material all over again. 

Of course, I could always talk about the New Year.  Are you getting used to writing 2010 yet?  With the New Year comes lots of new starts.  You could have a new start with keeping up with your finances or your health. 

As we look forward to a new start, let’s always remember that God is always in complete control.  It is His plan that His children grow up to be more like Christ.  He knows the plans He has for us. 

As we look to the new year, do not forget the past.  We need to remember the past so we can learn from it and then move forward into our future with open hearts and minds for whatever God has for us.

Start out the New Year with a fresh point of view to new experiences, memories and blessings. Having an opened mind and heart to wherever the Lord may take you with full assurance and confidence that He is with you. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Be sure to allow others the chance of a new start. Don’t hold things that happened in the past against them.  Allow them room to change as God works in their lives.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Look at your life and try to find areas where you need a “new start” and then go for it.

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Vision

Happy New Year!

I spent the last week taking a class at Liberty University.  I was not excited about having to spend a week of my Christmas break taking a class.  However, it was one of the best classes that I have ever taken.  As with a lot of things that happen in our lives, my opinion of the situation looking back on it is quite different than my opinion was prior to it happening.

I was thinking about how I need to have a clear vision of what I want for my future.

The Bible says that without a vision the people will perish.  (Proverbs 29:18)  We need goals and hopes for our future.  These goals and hopes should have something to do with our Christian life.  Do yours include growing in your faith?  Or, are you happy to just keep floating along  - having a kind of whatever will be, will be attitude. 

It’s good to have goals.  “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 3:14)  We need goals for our walk with Christ, personal goals, dreams that we believe in, a vision of how we can serve God.  Then we need to be determined to see these goals into reality.

If we don’t have a vision, then we don’t have a focus.  We will perish from the lack of focus and drive.  We will perish for a lack of vision.  We won’t achieve the things we want in life.  We need to have hopes and goals, to aim for a vision to believe in, to have something that grips us so much that we cannot and will not let it go.  We need to have that vision for God, to be purpose driven in God, to hold fast to that vision and make sure it comes to pass.

I have had this hymn stuck in my mind today…

Be Thou My Vision – Lyrics

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Look at all the titles that the author of this hymn gives to Christ - Vision, Wisdom, Word, Great Father, Power, Inheritance, High King of heaven, Treasure, bright heaven's Sun, Ruler of all.

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