Money – Money – Money…

by Tim Howard

This Christmas season started out by putting up some lights, getting the tree decorated and visiting some of the local stores in hopes of purchasing a few gifts for those I love and care about.  Since we are cutting back on the gifts I was sure my shopping would be done in a few hours.

Even though it took a few more days than anticipated – I’m glad to say I am finished!

During this time, I was reminded of that familiar phrase “Money Talks!” I think you would agree – because we’ve all heard its voice: It shouts, “Spend me!” and whispers, “Save me!” Someone said, “Money talks: Mine is always saying, ‘Good-bye!’”

That phrase means money has power and influence. Money talks…and one of the most dangerous things it says is: “LOVE ME!”

The Apostle Paul said: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs”   1 Timothy 6:10
Money is intrinsically neutral but loving money opens the proverbial Pandora’s box.

Maybe you’ve seen ‘A Christmas Carol,’ which is an 1843 novella by English author Charles Dickens. Many have seen or read this great fictional and prose narrative but if you haven’t you should. The story tells of a sour and stingy man named Ebenezer Scrooge and his ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation resulting from supernatural visits from Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.

Before the radical change, Mr. Scrooge LOVED money and USED people when he should have loved people and used money. When anyone confuses these two priorities, life is altered for the worse.

Jesus summed up the two greatest commands this way:  “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

When a passion for God and a compassion for people become your top two priorities, you experience what Scrooge missed. Life and True Love!

Money talks, but God also talks and says: Use money!  It’s a tool for helping others but love people.

In this season of giving, remember the greatest gifts can’t be purchased. You don’t need to go into debt to prove you love someone. Money’s important but one thing is very clear in his Word: Money is not the most important thing!

Churches talk about giving money; businesses talk about making money; Frugal people talk about saving money while extravagant people talk about spending money. Penny Pinchers talk about wasting money, Financial Consultants talk about investing money but God talks about Stewarding His money and using it to bless people.

When you hear the shouts of  ‘Money, money, money’ ringing in your ears this Christmas, make sure you maintain a correct perspective. You will be much happier and cause people to be filled with a whole lot of joy!

It's Back

by Andrew Cromwell

The holidays are back.  You know, that time of the year immediately following Halloween when the stores convert their displays to the Christmas theme and fill the air with the dulcimer tones of Christmas carols.  People exchange “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” greetings and, perhaps most wondrous of all, join together with extended family for the required festivities.

For many, this time of year is filled with joy and holiday cheer. These fortunate individuals find the holidays to be a wonder-filled season punctuated with tearful reunions, delightful culinary delicacies and a general sense of ecstasy.  You know the people I’m talking about, they have smiles permanently fixed on their faces, a sparkle in their eye and an extensive collection of red and green sweaters in their closet sufficient to carry them through the season without repeats.  It is as if they are mainlining their own private stash of holiday smack.

But such is not the case for everyone.  For many, the holidays are not a season of cheer, but a reminder of loved ones lost, failures not forgotten and brokenness unhealed.  I think of my grandma for whom the holidays are a sharp reminder of the loss of her husband of more than fifty years.  I think of a friend who is newly divorced and for whom the season is now a reminder of broken relationships.  I think of those who join with family only to be faced once again with that alcoholic and tyrannical family member.

It is for these, and for all others who find the season overshadowed by a dark cloud, that I seek to offer this encouragement during this difficult season.

First, remember the One who was rejected by all and lost all so that you could be accepted.  So much of what ails us during this season has to do with rejection and loss that we have experienced in our lives.  We can take comfort in knowing Jesus Christ walked this way before us – rejected by those who were His closest friends, there was even a moment when God the Father turned away.  But because Christ carried the weight of our brokenness, the Father will never turn away from those who have made Christ their focus.

Second, recognize the reality of your emotional state.  You can wish it were otherwise, but for many, depression and the holidays go hand in hand and no amount of wishing will make it not so.  Denying it does no better.  So admit it, but decide not to make it the focus.  Don’t allow yourself to descend into its depths.  Instead, seek out friends, go to church, go for a walk – do the opposite of what your emotions tell you to do!

Third, release the past and focus on the future.  Remember, the holidays don’t last forever, and neither does this life.  For those who have placed their faith in Christ, this sad day will soon be no more for we will be in the arms of Jesus.  We can do no more to change the past than we can to keep the wind from blowing.  So we must let it go and give it to Him who can take the brokenness of our past and work it into something beautiful in the present.

The Power of Gifts

by Tim Howard

The Christmas season may not be enjoyable for everyone but I love it! Not only because of what it represents and the remembrance of Christ’s birth but because of the lights, the love, the laughter and the joy of children.

At our home the Christmas tree has already been erected – the lights are strung and the house has a very festive feel – thanks to my wonderful wife. Christmas is a time for families to unite, people to celebrate, kindness to be demonstrated but let’s not forget or underestimate the power of gifts.  Oh THE GIFTS!  It’s extremely difficult for children and me as well to celebrate Christmas without thinking about the giving and receiving of gifts.

Maybe I feel the way I do because of all those beautifully wrapped presents I see everywhere or possibly it’s because my childhood was filled with fond memories of Christmas.  I loved the toys and my dad made sure we always had at least one under the tree!  Maybe it’s because I currently enjoy watching my grandson tear through the wrapping paper and seeing his eyes light up like a Christmas tree when he sees what now belongs to him.  Whatever the core reason might be, I’m convinced it’s a great motivation to celebrate the season.

Over the years I have received a variety of gifts – I hope you have as well.  Some were expensive and others were cheap.  Some I’ve kept and some I’ve re-gifted.  Others have made great yard sale items and some are still in my possession to this very day.  My most memorable and precious gifts, however, are not necessarily material in nature.  They weren’t purchased with money but have influenced me greatly. If you’re looking for the perfect gift or some great gift ideas this Christmas that don’t cost you any money but bless people in a great way – you might consider these five suggestions:

Give people some space. Don’t try to micro manage their lives. This gift is called Kindness.

Give people a break. Everyone needs a second chance. This gift is called Forgiveness.

Give people the benefit of the doubt.  When you hear something derogatory about them – think the best instead of the worst.  This gift is called Love.

Give people a hand.  Refuse to give a hand out but make sure you give people a hand up.  We all fall down and need some help now and again.  It’s not how many times you fall that counts but how many times you get up.  This gift is called Mercy.

Give your family some time.  Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them.  Play some games.  Tell them the story of Christ’s birth, and why He came to live with us.  Tell them how much God loves them.  This gift is called the gospel or good news.

The Bible tells us that three wise men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  They were honoring God who gave to all of us the greatest gift of all – A Savior!

The gifts you share with others this Christmas season don’t need to cost an arm and a leg! If they are from the heart they will be meaningful to people.

May every gift you give be in honor of Jesus.  After all, it is HIS BIRTHDAY we are celebrating.  Merry Christmas.

Gratitude

by Andrew Cromwell

Just three days ago we celebrated a holiday which, for many, involved gathering with friends and family, eating oneself into a stupor and then crashing in front of the television. For some, the additional caloric intake was designed to prepare them for the exertion of racing down the aisles in search of the “best deals of the year” during the Black Friday frenzy. For others, the food was a drug designed to lessen the impact of being face to face with the family members seen once a year.

But of course, Thanksgiving is not about the food, although in my house it is an incredible excuse of it! And, it is most definitely not about the shopping, as much as our retailers try to convince us it is so. It is not even about family, although being with family, is most certainly a highlight of the holiday.

We all know this—Thanksgiving is about giving thanks. Many of us usually remember to take at least a moment and say thanks to God, and if not that, at least thanks to friends and family for being there. And if the holiday is only that, then it is certainly not wasted, but I would argue that it misses something of what it could be.

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to highlight an attitude that we should seek to carry continually in our lives, not just once a year. We should seek to carry this “attitude of gratitude” wherever we go.

The Jewish sages of old taught that it was impossible for an individual to be truly thankful to God without first being thankful for one’s immediate family. I believe that part of the reason they said this is because when it comes to God, He’s the one who is in the position of power and authority. We must be grateful to Him, anyone who is not, doesn’t understand that He could squash us all like ants!

Being thankful to someone who is powerful, is very easily lip service. We say thank you because we must. Like children who are taught to say “please” and “thank you” but say it because if they don’t they will get smacked, we often say thanks to God because He is the powerful One who is out there and we feel we must.

But to be thankful to those who are around you who are not powerful, those who rub you the wrong way and who you see at their worst, that is required for true thankfulness.  For then you are being grateful to people who you know are imperfect. And to be thankful to them, requires more than lip service. It requires an acknowledgement that you need the people around you for you cannot do it on your own. To say that to God is relatively pretty easy, to say that to your spouse sometimes is not.

But this is the way we are all supposed to live always, not just one day a year. Living in an attitude of continual thanksgiving, remembering that everything we have and everything we are is possible because of other people and because of God the Father.

But how quickly we forget.

Give Thanks

by Tim Howard

Maybe this isn’t true for you but when the fall season begins and November rolls around – my thinking begins to revolve around Thanksgiving. For me, it’s not just about a one day event to celebrate with family and friends but a month long endeavor to give thanks for what we have. Each year at this time I make a dedicated effort to remind myself of all the things I possess that money can’t buy and then verbalize my thanks. Sometimes I say thanks to God directly and other times I share my thanks with people. Every time I do this – without fail – I realize I am rich. You don’t have to have a stockpile of money, investments, a 401K or a lot of stuff to be rich or thankful!

As a young boy my parents taught me the words: ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You.’ Please is a request and ‘thank you’ is the proper response when you receive that, which you requested.

I in turn, as a parent have tried to teach my children and now my grandson the same three words. I realize they are more than mere pleasantries when spoken.  They plant seeds within a person that can activate and shape a positive attitude.  Saying “please” can guard you from an attitude of entitlement and keep you from developing a demanding spirit.  Expressing thanks in verbal form can develop a grateful heart and create a spirit of appreciation.

In this season of Thanksgiving it is easy to lose a sense of gratitude when we forget how blessed we all are.  This is precisely what happened in the Old Testament when people forgot God’s goodness. Psalm 106, beginning in verse 12, God summarizes this unhappy time in history by saying:  "They believed His promises and sang His praise."  That's the good news!  "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel."  They didn’t give thanks!

Their forgetfulness closed the door to thanksgiving and opened the door to a spirit of complaining and criticism.

Years ago Jay Leno wrote a satire on complaining: “Are the American people complaining because they have electricity and running water 24/7? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?  Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in recent years?  Or perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.  You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.”  Maybe we have forgotten how blessed we are!

It’s not just the Israelites in the Old Testament – All of us are prone to forget what we have. The antidote for spiritual forgetfulness is called praise and thanksgiving.  Praise and Thanksgiving is a discipline - a deliberate focusing of our thoughts on things we have rather than what we don’t have.  When this is practiced, an attitude of gratitude will be present and the atmosphere around you will change.

We would be wise to train our minds and hearts to express thanks – all the time – Starting now!  Let this month be a month of praise and thanksgiving. We have much to be grateful for!

Be Significant

by Andrew Cromwell

Almost everyone wants to have a feeling of significance for their life. Something deep inside us cries out for it. We all want to “leave a mark”, “make a change”, and “be somebody.”

But what does it mean to “leave a mark”?

For some, it is about the number of facebook friends or instagram followers they have. For others it is about making a lot of money and buying the big houses and toys that impress others. Some choose to go the political route and seek to make a change for the better. They measure success in terms of mouths fed, freedoms protected, or children cared for.

How do you measure significance in your life?

The author of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, is said to have been the wisest man, ever. He had a rather skeptical view of our ability to make a difference in the world. Here’s what he says:

“What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.”

Now that’s some pretty depressing stuff! But at the same time, this is something we would all do well to pay attention to. Isn’t it true that we will be forgotten by future generations? For most of us, it won’t take very long at all for our name to be lost. Almost anything we do today is pretty meaningless in the vast scope of things.

So what is the lesson? Humility.

Certainly, we can do great and significant things in this life. But let’s all remember how small we all are in the big picture. And actually rather than making us depressed and despondent, this reality should actually make us feel better. We should feel a weight lifted off of our shoulders as our understanding of what it means to be significant is changed forever.

So if we don’t have to worry about doing something so big that it will be remembered 1,000 years from now—because no one will remember it anyway—what do we need to focus on when it comes to living a life of significance?

Two things. Your character and your relationships.

If you want to leave a mark in this world for the better, then get your internals right and get your relationships right. People that make a mark for the better are those who have found a way to kill selfishness and self-serving impulses and are focused on serving and loving others. It’s that simple.

Simple, but the most difficult thing you’ll ever do. The only way I know how to really get your character to change and to learn how to really improve your relationships is to go to the One who formed you in the first place—God. You can make a lot of change without Him, but you’ll only get so far. And it’s pretty incredible what can happen when you get Him involved!

Give Thanks

by Tim Howard

Maybe this isn’t true for you but when the fall season begins and November rolls around – my thinking begins to revolve around Thanksgiving. For me, it’s not just about a one day event to celebrate with family and friends but a month long endeavor to give thanks for what we have. Each year at this time I make a dedicated effort to remind myself of all the things I possess that money can’t buy and then verbalize my thanks. Sometimes I say thanks to God directly and other times I share my thanks with people. Every time I do this – without fail – I realize I am rich. You don’t have to have a stockpile of money, investments, a 401K or a lot of stuff to be rich or thankful!

As a young boy my parents taught me the words: ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You.’ Please is a request and ‘thank you’ is the proper response when you receive that, which you requested.

I in turn, as a parent have tried to teach my children and now my grandson the same three words. I realize they are more than mere pleasantries when spoken.  They plant seeds within a person that can activate and shape a positive attitude.  Saying “please” can guard you from an attitude of entitlement and keep you from developing a demanding spirit.  Expressing thanks in verbal form can develop a grateful heart and create a spirit of appreciation.

In this season of Thanksgiving it is easy to lose a sense of gratitude when we forget how blessed we all are.  This is precisely what happened in the Old Testament when people forgot God’s goodness. Psalm 106, beginning in verse 12, God summarizes this unhappy time in history by saying:  "They believed His promises and sang His praise."  That's the good news!  "But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel."  They didn’t give thanks!

Their forgetfulness closed the door to thanksgiving and opened the door to a spirit of complaining and criticism.

Years ago Jay Leno wrote a satire on complaining: “Are the American people complaining because they have electricity and running water 24/7? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?  Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in recent years?  Or perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.  You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.”  Maybe we have forgotten how blessed we are!

It’s not just the Israelites in the Old Testament – All of us are prone to forget what we have. The antidote for spiritual forgetfulness is called praise and thanksgiving.  Praise and Thanksgiving is a discipline - a deliberate focusing of our thoughts on things we have rather than what we don’t have.  When this is practiced, an attitude of gratitude will be present and the atmosphere around you will change.

We would be wise to train our minds and hearts to express thanks – all the time – Starting now!  Let this month be a month of praise and thanksgiving. We have much to be grateful for!