One Million Dollars

If you were buying a microwave and vacuum cleaner from Wal-Mart, would you try and pay for your $476.00 purchase using a million dollar bill?  Probably not, but police say Michael Anthony Fuller insisted he could pay for his vacuum cleaner and microwave oven with a $1-million bill.

Fuller insisted the bill was real but the problem is, that there is no such thing as a million dollar bill.  Police later arrested Fuller and charged him with attempting to obtain property by false pretence and uttering a forged instrument.  Apparently million dollar frauds aren’t as uncommon as you might think.  Just this this past summer, a Pennsylvania man was charged with trying to use a fake $1 million bill to purchase marijuana.  I wonder who complained?

We don’t know where Mr. Fuller obtained the bill, but he seemed to be quite convinced that his money was real and he was sincere in his belief, but that didn’t make the bill any more real. 

There are all kinds of folks out there who will try to use the spiritual equivalent of a million dollar bill to gain eternal life, and it doesn’t matter how sincere they are in their belief, it won’t make their beliefs anymore real. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Staying Close

Have you heard about the family in Ontario that is appealing the water bill that was received by their late father's estate?  Apparently, when their dad passed away he left the tap running in the bathroom and it was three weeks and $586.44 worth of water down the drain before his body was found.  Three weeks! I certainly hope that when (notice that I said “when”, not “if”) I die, that I will be missed by someone, anyone, in less than three weeks.  I don’t want to be critical of a family I don’t know but three weeks is a long time for your absence to go unnoticed.

It did get me thinking about the impact that we have on those around us. The Bible describes our life as a morning mist, here and then gone, but even a morning mist is noticed by those nearby.  Back at creation, God said “It is not good for man to be alone.”  Not to live alone and not to die alone.

Is there someone important in your life that could be gone for three weeks before you realized they were missing?  If so, why don’t you pick up the phone and give them a call today?  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Abandon Ship

The Costa Concordia has been the focus of the news over the past few days.  If you’ve been hiding under a rock, the Concordia is an Italian cruise ship that ran aground in Tuscany this past weekend.  Initial reports point to human error for a tragedy that resulted in the loss of upward of three dozen lives, a half billion dollar cruise ship and the confidence of the cruise industry.
There has been a lot of talk in the media about problems with the crew and emergency procedures during the incident.  Not to negate the loss of life but there were more than 4000 people aboard the ship when it started to take on water.  Over 4000 people, and 99% of them survived. That doesn’t happen when an airplane hits a rock.  Someone must have done something right at some point.
What was most bothersome were the reports and videos of adults pushing children out of the way as they rushed to get to safety.   Adults who were more concerned over their priorities than the future of the children. 
My prayer is that as Cornerstone continues to grow, that this generation never becomes so selfish that we willingly sacrifice the next generation for the sake of our own priorities and preferences.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Unseen Blessings

I got up the other day and there was just a light dusting of snow on the ground. When I looked out the window I saw several set of tracks crossing the front lawn.  On closer examination, I realized that they were deer tracks where several deer had crossed the yard sometime through the night.  

My first thought was “Darn, I wish I could have seen them.”   One of the joys of living in Kingswood is the opportunity to see wildlife, whether it is deer, rabbits, foxes or maybe even bears.  My philosophy is: if you don’t like wildlife then you shouldn’t live in the woods.

Then I had an epiphany: it still happened even though I missed it.  The deer were there while I was sleeping.    It is so easy in our lives to think we haven’t been blessed because we didn’t actually get to see the blessing when it happened.  Then, because we haven’t actually seen the blessings we assume they didn’t happen.   But God doesn’t stop working just because we are sleeping or not paying attention.

Why not take a few minutes to look around today, you may not see the deer but you might see their tracks.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Priests with Brooms

I’m not quite ready to leave Christmas yet, at least not in the Penn.  Did you read about the fight that broke out in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity during the Christmas season? The Church of the Nativity is the church built over the site where some believe Jesus was born.  The incident made the news around the world and there was even video available for those who wanted to see what actually happened.  It wasn’t pretty.  You see it wasn’t terrorists armed with bombs, it was priests armed with brooms.

That’s right.  Priests and brooms!  And the scuffle had to be broken up by policemen armed with batons and shields.    The 1700 year old church is administered by rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian Clerics who were cleaning the church in preparation for Orthodox Christmas which is celebrated on January 7^th.  The two denominations share the administration of the church and speculation is that the incident was sparked by perceived encroachments on one group's territory by the other.

Bethlehem police Lt-Col Khaled al-Tamimi commented, “It was a trivial problem that... occurs every year, no one was arrested because all those involved were men of God.”  Then they should act like it.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

What Next?

WELL, CHRISTMAS HAS COME and gone and New Year’s Eve is just a memory. How are you feeling about 2012? Are you excited? Are you cautious? Are you simply resigned to it happening?

The reality is that, regardless of how we feel about the coming year, there is a very good chance that it is going to happen, with or without your permission.

We have very little control over the coming of the New Year. What we do have control over is how we react to the events of the next 365 days regardless of whether they are good or bad.

Ultimately it will be your choice whether you allow the events that come into your life to make you a better person or a bitter person. Others may determine what happens in your life, but only you will determine what happens in your heart.

So, as we bid farewell to 2011 and hello to 2012, let’s do so looking forward to the New Year as an opportunity to do great things for God and to allow Him to do great things for us. It’s a brand new year with brand new possibilities, if we are only willing to see them and claim them.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.