The family of God

I woke up to sunlight in my own bed this morning and the first thing I did was give God a big "thank you." As I made my way out to the street I looked at my home in a new way. I wore a smile as I greeted people at Friendly's restaurant and on my way into the Post Office. I said hello to the people I met on the street. I wore an ear to ear grin and was so happy to be home.

Each time I come home from a mission trip I gain new insights into life. This time we went to a small town in America. Northfork, West Virginia isn't much different than the town I grew up in. The people all know each other. They support each other's businesses and attended the same schools. As I looked at Norwich I saw the city as that same type of place.

Over the twenty five years I have lived in Norwich the city has changed. With the additions of the Casinos we have become a multi cultural city with many neighborhoods, many languages and many different beliefs. Everywhere you turn people are talking about our differences.

When I got up this morning I realized that it didn't matter where we've come from as much as what we are doing today. We are all from Norwich and we are all looking for the good life. This is our town and our time. I began to see people as brothers and sisters today. Before I looked at them as strangers.

When we were in Northfork our group reached out to Don, the man we were working with, as a brother in Christ. We didn't know him. Yet we had that one thing in common. The truth is that here in Norwich we are all children of God. We need to remember that we are all part of God's family. Someone once said that "A stranger is just someone in God's family that we haven't met yet."

If we were to look at everyone we met as our brother or sister, this would be a better world. There would be no poverty, no crime, no war. That is God's vision fro his creation. No wonder Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as your self. To punctuate his point he told the story of the Good Samaritan emphasizing that even the most despised person was a child of God capable of following his commandments.

I am going to keep smiling and greeting the folks I see on the streets of our city. Won't you join me. Maybe we can start a revolution?

Cal

The Baptists head south to do mission work.

Our mission team from the First and Central Baptist churches has been in West Virginia working on the home of an elderly man with a group called Mustard Seeds and Mountains. If you would like to read about it, head over to www.firstbaptistlife.blogspot.com

Cal

Don't get too close or you may get bit

I couldn't believe my eyes. Outside the door was a momma skunk and three little babies. Lori said she thought they had taken up residence in the shrubs outside our side door. My first thought was that this was cool. Here we are in the city and we have wildlife visiting our yard.

Once the cobwebs cleared I began to realize this could be a big problem. Skunks, raccoons, squirrels, deer and even an occasional bear has been sighted in Norwich. We tend to think of them as cute and dream about having them as pets. The truth is that having them around could be dangerous. Never mind the bites and rabies. These animals were never meant to be domesticated.

It made me think about certain vices that seem more appealing before you get hooked on them. I began smoking when I was seventeen years old. My high school girlfriend smoked and claimed it helped her lose weight. I believed her. Within a year I was hooked and it took me fourteen years before I could quit.

When I had my angioplasty in 2003, the doctor at Yale New Haven said my blockage was most likely caused by the fact that I was a heavy smoker for all those years. Even though I had quit in 1989, the effects had touched my life and compromised my health.

That is exactly what sin does. It looks appealing and seems reasonable until it bites you. Then its too late. It doesn't matter if it is alcohol, drugs, greed, promiscuity or something else. There is always a price to pay and it never lives up to to the first appeal.

Wild animals belong in the wild or, at the very least, in a ZOO. When it comes to sin and temptation, it is best to never give in. That way you don't have to deal with the consequences.

Cal

The one thing that never changes.

Its been a long time since I rang a cash register. Things used to be pretty simple. You rang up whatever the price tag read and it was added in to the running total. There was no question as to the price. Today things are a bit more complicated. Scanners are used and bar codes are read to get the price. Everything is done with software. It doesn't matter what the price on the shelf tag says. The pre-programmed price rings up. If it is different than the shelf price, you have to point it out to them. I don't like that.

Fast food restaurants are even worse. Their special value meals are coded into the computer. When you look at your bill you can never quite figure out how they arrive at the price they charge you. The menu has one price and the receipt has some formula that gives you a total. I go to Subway Restaurant all the time and I swear I get charged a different price depending on who is ringing me out. I think it is because it depends on which buttons they hit.

This afternoon I paid a little more for my value meal. I considered saying something but then held my tongue. It wasn't her fault. She just hit the buttons. If I wanted to blame somebody it would be the people who programmed the computer with so many different options.

It got me thinking about the human predicament. God gave us this little thing called free will. That means that every single one of us can make a different choice in every situation. There are no preset formulas. It makes life interesting, to say the least. We never know what we are going to get in any given interaction with the people we meet. Even if someone is very consistent, honest and fair, there may be a time or two when they respond differently. That's the nature of human relations.

The one constant in life is God. He never changes. He is the today as he was yesterday and as he will be tomorrow. He is dependable. Praise God for that! You never have to guess with him. The good news is that he loves you and me and always will. You can't get a better deal than that.

Cal

Finish the story before looking ahead.

I don't know what I was expecting but I was a little disappointed by the newest Harry Potter movie. I heard it was very good, maybe the best yet. As the movie started I was caught up in the action. I was moved by the characters. The story was compelling. It had the making of a classic. Then it fell flat as it came to the finish line.

As the movie whimpered to its conclusion I couldn't quite believe it was going to end. I was waiting for more. Then it just ended. You could tell that this franchise was now becoming more interested in making money than making good movies. It ended setting the stage for its sequel rather than standing on its own as a classic movie.

It made me think about our Christian faith. A lot of us think about faith only in terms of what it means for our afterlife. We live as if it only kicks in after we die. The truth is that Jesus calls us to live life as if each day matters in itself. Heaven is simply the icing on the cake after a life that is complete and well lived. We are called to live in the here and now and not worry about what comes next. That's the formula for a good life.

It's the formula for a good movie too. I wish the Harry Potter people knew that. I think they forgot. In the past I couldn't wait to see it again. I will be able to pass on this one.

Cal

Looking for a daily devotional?

Are you looking for something to help you in your daily devotions and Bible reading? I think you will find this website very helpful. It gives you a lot to think about as you spend time in God's Word.

http://www.oneyearbibleblog.com/

It gives you four readings for the day and a link to a cyber Bible. A devotional thought follows for each of the passages. It gives you a jumping off point for your own conversations with God. Many of the daily blogs also include a song or video to close things off. Here is an example by Jeremy Camp.



Enjoy. Cal

He's reaching out to you

I watched the home run hitting contest at the All Star game last night. It was fun. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that Brandon Inge of my Detroit Tigers didn't hit any home runs. That was a bummer. None-the-less it was a fascinating display of power as one slugger after another ripped the balls and sent them into the bleachers.

One of the sluggers was Prince Fielder. He plays for the Milwaukee Brewers and in 2007 he hit 50 home runs. this year he has already ripped 22 homers and is a real offensive force for his team. He has become a more patient hitter and is batting over .300.

The reason that Prince Fielder interests me is that he is the son of former Tiger slugger Cecil Fielder. In 1990 Cecil signed with the Tigers and proceeded to blast 51 homers. He was the first player to reach the 50 homer mark since George Foster did it in 1977 and the first tiger play to hit 50 since Hank Greenberg did it in 1938. I loved fielder and when he followed that season with 44 more homers in 1991 he became one of my heroes.

Prince was just a little kid back then and every time you looked at pictures of Cecil Fielder, he seemed to have his son with him. Prince roamed the locker room as if he owned the place. In 1995, as an eleven year old, people were already saying that Prince would be a big league slugger like his dad some day.

Fast forward ten years and Prince made those prophets look like geniuses. Yet this storybook story is really more like a Greek tragedy. That's because the younger Fielder won't have anything to do with his father. He refuses to speak to him or even acknowledge him. When they became the first father/son team to hit 50 homers in a season Prince wouldn't even acknowledge it. When Prince came to Detroit for the first time as a big leaguer, he wouldn't answer any questions about the time he spent in the dugout with his dad. He didn't even want to acknowledge that it ever happened.

Nobody is quite sure what happened but the two had a rift in 2002. Despite several attempts by the father to reach out and be reconciled, the younger Fielder has turned his back on him.

As I think about this story I can't help but think of God and his attempts to reach out to us. Now Prince ma have every reason to turn his back on his father, but you and I have no reason to turn our backs on God. He wants to bless us. He wants to share his joy with us. He wants to live in peace and harmony with us. Yet so many of us keep our backs up and refuse to let him into our lives. It's sad really. Instead of enjoying all the blessings that the prodigal son enjoyed we keep up our front and pretend that we are the offended party. The truth is that the only one losing out is us.

If this sounds like you, then I hope you will reconsider and give God another chance. He is just waiting to spend the rest of eternity with you.

Cal