TFTD: “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” –Galatians 2:20

As I sit here in my office this morning admiring the beautiful snow that is coming down, I am reminiscing about last night’s events. My wife and I were given the opportunity to go to a church/school in inner city Minneapolis and help other members of our congregation serve a Thanksgiving meal to the members and families of that church and school. We have only lived in the Twin Cities area for almost two weeks and so this was our first opportunity to see what the inner city area was like. What an experience it was for us! We met and talked to people from all different walks of life. Some were teachers of the school, some were families of the school, and they all had different stories to tell. But the one thing that I noticed most about our experience there was that there were a lot of happy people. Everyone who was there to serve the meal and help clean up all seemed really happy and I think I know why.

            All of these people were serving others. Most of them had taken time out of their hurried lives and schedules to come and show many underprivileged families what it means to be taken care of. It didn’t seem to matter what was happening in their lives or how stressed and tired they were, there were smiles, laughs, and many conversations that produced this happiness. Now as I think about it, it seems a little strange that people would give up their time and offer their services to do jobs that people try and avoid on a regular basis. I know that in my time in high school I did everything I could to avoid working a janitorial or food service job but last night, no matter what the job, people were pitching in and helping with smiles to go around.

            That’s really weird isn’t it? I mean isn’t the American dream fall into a category of being prosperous and climbing the work ladder as fast as possible? Then why does it seem that some of those people who are working and living the American dream just aren’t happy or maybe are extremely upset about the things that are happening in their lives? Look at who their focus is on. It isn’t on the other people in the office or even on the job itself. It is on them and how quickly and successfully they can achieve something. Then look at our experience last night. Lots of people doing food service and janitorial jobs, but they had a different focus. It was on those who they were doing it for.

            So where does this strange happiness and attitude come from? Well Christ of course. In Galatians 2 it talks about how we were crucified with Christ and now it is no longer us who are living but Christ living and loving through us. That is where it comes from. This unexplainable joy that we get from serving others and doing good from others is the Holy Spirit living and working through our lives. So what does that mean for you and me? Well it means that if you are unhappy you should quit your job and go find a McDonalds that needs another janitor. JUST KIDDING! It might mean that you need to look at your job a little differently. Is there a way that you can look at your job as a service to others and find joy knowing that you are helping someone accomplish or gain something and you want nothing in return for it? Give it a try and see how Christ changes your attitude towards those around you. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Question for the day: Is there a way that you can look at your job as a service to others and find joy knowing that you are helping someone accomplish or gain something and you want nothing in return for it?

“The best feeling of happiness is when you’re happy because you’ve made someone else happy.”

 –Anonymous

TFTD: “For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” -1 Corinthians 4:15

About 4 months off and some great changes to my life I am happy to be posting again this morning from MY desk! I am now a full time Director of Christian Education (DCE) and am very excited to be starting ministry in the Twin Cities. So hopefully I will be more frequent about my posting moving forward. Anyway… enough about me. Let’s get to some Jesus!

I don’t know if you were like me and spent last night at home watching The Voice, Scorpion, and Castle under a blanket because it has been abnormally cold for this time of year, or if you were out and about running errands and trying to keep up with the tasks of everyday life, but I’m sure that at some point you heard the news that a verdict came in Ferguson Missouri about the altercation between a police officer and a young man which resulted in the young man’s death. The verdict stated that the police officer was found not guilty on 5 different counts of intentional or unintentional murder. This story has been tough to deal with for many people and kind of hits home for me because I have many friends from the greater St. Louis area, some of which have been trying to help the people of that area deal with and understand the anger and the frustrations of everything that has happened. As a result of the verdict last night, and even before then, there have been a lot of protests, most of which have been peaceful but some that have caused a lot of damage.

So why do I bring this up and make another post about something that we have already been inundated with since early August? Well, it’s because we can all relate to this story. It seems that those who are the most upset about this event feel that way because they think someone has been wronged and that there were no consequences for what happened. I understand that the last statement is a generalization but hang with me please. When it comes down to it, isn’t that why we all get angry? No matter the situation we feel that we or someone we know has been wronged and that appropriate actions have not been taken to right that wrong. Now there is a big difference between what has happened in Ferguson and our general anger. Please know that I understand that difference, but what if God dealt with us the same way we deal with our anger and feelings of injustice and frustration? Life would be a little bit different wouldn’t it?

If God got angry with us for all of the times that we sin and make mistakes, and gave us our just punishment for those actions there would be no human race. We are a people who, because of what happened in the Garden of Eden, are sinful and screw up on a regular basis. We do our best to do things right and in the proper manors but it doesn’t always work. Sometimes our actions, well intended or not, end up causing pain to those who are around us. But that’s where God comes in. He didn’t deal with us according to our actions or intentions. He dealt with us in a loving and kind manor. He had every right to be angry with us and destroy the world and everyone in it. But He didn’t. He had mercy on us. He saw that we are people whose actions and intentions often fail us and then decided to send His only son to the cross to pay for those things that we did so that we could live with Him forever. He didn’t do that because He was angry with us. He did it because He loves us.

So when it comes to tough situations that we see happening around the world and in our own lives let’s remember that the grace and forgiveness that we have been given. Let’s let our anger cause riots and uproars, but let those uproars and riots be of grace and forgiveness and see how it changes our lives and attitudes.

Question for the day: In what situations can you overcome your anger with grace and forgiveness today?

“Do the best you can with what you have, and God will take what you’ve done and pass it on.”

-Zig Ziglar