Doing Your Best!

Penn of Denn

Where does the time go? Christmas is a memory and we can almost reach out and touch 2009. 2009! Wow! It seems like only yesterday that people were hoarding water in anticipation of Y2K, what a letdown that was.

James was right when he wrote in the Bible: "Your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone." Life is short, no matter how long we live and while we may not have control over how many years we will have in our life each one of us will determine how much life we will put into our years.

2008 is almost gone you can't undo or redo what has already happened, but as you look ahead toward 2009 you can determine in your heart that as much as depends on you that you will do your best. Your best as a Christ Follower, your best as a friend, your best as a parent and your best as a spouse. And if you do that, you will have given an incredible gift to those you love the most. And you will have helped to make their year the best ever. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

    

Celebrate the Reason

Penn of Denn

Well, Christmas is almost upon us and if you aren't ready, then you had better hustle.

If you are like most people, you decided last Christmas, that this Christmas would be different. You vowed that you were going to slow down, that you weren't going to get caught up in all the commercialization of the season and you were going to spend more time reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas. So, how are you doing with that?

Christmas has come to mean so much more than simply celebrating the birth of Jesus. He may be "a" reason for the season, but in 2008, He's not the only reason. Today, it's about giving and getting. It's about spending time with our families and friends. And it's a time, to at least give lip service to peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind.

And those things aren't bad things.

But amidst the sacrificed trees and turkeys, let's remember that Christmas is about God stepping into our world and into our lives. And I trust that you will find Him a little time this Christmas, to welcome Him into your world and your life.

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

    

The Quest for Stuff!

Penn of Denn

Quite the story from the States last week, about the Wal-Mart worker killed in the shopping frenzy that followed Thanksgiving Day. The Friday following Thanksgiving south of the border, has traditionally been known as Black Friday and I'm sure that name has a different meaning for at least one family this holiday season.

One news story reported that police are reviewing security video, to see if they can pinpoint who was responsible for the man's death. I'm thinking that even if the pictures are crystal clear, showing perfectly those who trampled the hapless worker, I'm not sure they will have discovered those responsible.

Are those who were three or four feet to either side any less guilty, simply because of their location? Seriously though, would they have reacted any differently had they been closer?

When someone dies at the hand of someone else, it is usually the result of base emotions like anger or jealousy. In this case it was greed and people's quest for more "stuff" cost a man his life.

We need to be careful that our quest for more "stuff", doesn't cost us our eternity. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

    

I’m Going to Live Forever

Penn of Denn

I came upon an article the other day, about a research venture called "The Methuselah Project." Those of you with a grasp of the Old Testament, have probably made the leap already. The Methuselah Project is looking into ways that we can stop or maybe even reverse, the aging process.
As I read about medical advances and genomes, the benefit of a healthy diet and of regular exercise, they spoke about the possibility of people living to be hundreds of years old. And so I wondered, what happens if you get hit by a truck or eaten by a bear? You might not be health food, but you'd certainly be healthy food.
The quest to live forever, goes back to the Garden of Eden and we are no closer to living forever on earth now, than the first couple was then. Think about it; if we did discover an answer, we'd soon have to start feeding people to bears or we'd run out of space on spaceship earth.

Looking at the big picture though, as Christ Followers, we already have the answer to finding eternal life, it's given to us in 1John 5:13.Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

    

Shooting for the Stars

Penn of Denn

A couple of news stories have caught my eye the past few weeks. The first had to do with India's fledgling space program and the second had to do with said space program successfully landing a probe on the moon. Is it just me or is that a blatant case of spending money you don't have, on stuff you don't need, to impress people you don't like? Now maybe I'm wrong, I've been wrong before, but isn't India a third world country that struggles with providing adequate food and housing for their people? And if that is the case, that there are starving people living in squalor, than I think the Indian Government might have it's priorities a little mixed up.

And then it was with national pride that the people of India celebrated the accomplishment. Kind of like applauding the dance band on the Titanic.

But really, aren't we sometimes guilty of the same thing as Christians and churches? You know, we are more interested in making sure people are impressed, than making sure they are saved. And if that's the case, then we have our priorities mixed up. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

 

 

Who’s to Blame?

Penn of Denn

Perhaps I was a little idealistic, but I was really looking forward to November 5th and not having to hear any more American election rhetoric. But alas, it was not to be, because for the last week I've been listening to the post-mortem reports about what went wrong or didn't. What surprised me was how quickly the republicans turned on Sarah Palin, blaming her for the loss of the election. If she was as much of a liability as they are now claiming, it's hard to believe it is the same group of people who wanted her one heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

But really, isn't that simply indicative of human nature to say, "It's somebody else's fault." We have been shifting blame since Adam said, "The woman you gave me", which when you think about it, is what some republicans are saying to McCain, "The woman you gave us."

I guess we never learn that each of us are responsible for our own actions and the choices we make and blaming other people or circumstances might make us feel better, but in the long run it doesn't make us any better. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

    

Disturbing

Penn of Denn

A friend of mine related a disturbing conversation he had with a co-worker last week. It seems his co-worker is a hindu who immigrated from India a couple of years ago and he told my friend that there was hardly a day went by in India that some didn't try to convert him to Christianity. Interesting, but the disturbing part of the conversation was that during his two years in Canada nobody had spoken to him about his soul, nobody. And India isn't exacty open and receptive toward evangelism. But maybe that is why Christianity is growing in places like India and in decline in North America.

And I wonder if it's because Christians in Canada are apathetic about people's salvation?(apathetic is a nice way of saying: just not caring) And if we believe what we say we believe about heaven and hell then that would make us monsters.

Or maybe we are just trying to be sensitive about respecting new Canadian's cultural identity. If that is the case I think Jesus would want to know: What will it profit a man if he retains his culture but loses his soul? Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.