"Ladies and gentlemen we have begun our descent, please bring your seats into their upright and locked positions and make sure your tray tables are fastened and your electronic devices are turned off."

I was reading, Decision Points by George W. Bush. I recommend it by the way. He talks about some key decisions he made, turning points, actually. Three important decisions were

1. to marry Laura - of which he says, "Thankfully I had the good sense to recognize it was the best decision of my life.”
2. to stop drinking - he says none of the other things that happened in his life would have come about without this decision.
3. and to put his faith and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

He had been thinking that putting one's faith in God was a good way for self-improvement but Billy Graham pointed out to him on a walk at Camp David when his father was president) that

"Self-improvement is not really the point of the Bible... The center of Christianity is not the self. It is Christ. Billy explained that we are all sinners, and that we cannot earn God's love through good deeds. He made clear that the path to salvation is through the grace of God and the way to find that grace is to embrace Christ as the risen Lord - the son of a God so powerful and loving that He gave his only Son to conquer death and defeat sin....Surrendering yourself to an Almighty is a challenge to the ego. ...As I deepened my understanding of Christ, I came closer to my original goal of being a better person - not because I was racking up points on the positive side of the heavenly ledger, but because I was moved by God's love."

I turned off my Kindle and put it in my purse. My seat mate turned off her computer and stowed it away; but she got out a notebook and continued writing. I glanced down at her work and read, "when good decisions are made" and it got me to thinking...

Sometimes we make decisions without thinking about the impact it will have on the rest of our life, like speeding, or an angry retort to a boss, or an indiscreet alliance. A poor decision can have disastrous consequences at a later time. Oftentimes our decisions reflect our self-serving natures. Once in a while we pray and ask God for direction. He shows us a better way.

When I was seven I gave my heart to Christ. When I was thirteen I decided to spend my life in mission service. When I was fifteen I made the decision to marry a man who also loved the Lord and had a desire to serve Him. These decisions have made a difference in every situation in my life.

Leviticus 18:3 says: Do not act like the people around you. You must not imitate their way of life. and verse 5, If you obey my decrees and my regulations you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

There is life in following the Lord. There is also love and forgiveness, grace and peace. Death and emptiness await those who live in sin and desire only to please self.

If any of you wants to be my follower you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me. Matthew 8:34b

Look at these words to Tom Booth's song, I Will Choose Christ (1991)

Verse 1

How many times must He call my name

and show me that He is God?

And as a servant He calls to me

you must serve too.

Verse 2

Christ my teacher and healer

teach my heart and heal my soul

And as I walk this road with you

teach me to love.

Verse 3

As I look upon Your cross

so too must I die with You

And with the death of my own desires

I'll rise with joy.

Refrain:

I will choose Christ

I will choose love. I choose to serve.

I give my heart, I give my life,

I give my all to You.

If good decisions are made you will find life through them!

The Wise Man Built His House Upon THE Rock!

I love my house on a windy day. Right now the winds are about 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph. When the wind blows like this you can’t even see the Organ Mts. It can be a little disorientating. What’s so cool about my house is that though I can hear the wind, occasionally it even rattles the windows, my house doesn’t move, it doesn’t creak or groan. It just sits still and solid. And though the winds come and go it never moves. It just silently does what it was built to do … protect us from the cold, from the winds …

Do you remember the kid’s song that goes like this …

The wise man built his house upon the rocks

The wise man built his house upon the rocks

The wise man built his house upon the rocks

And the rain came tumbling down

The rain came down and the floods came up

The rain came down and the floods came up

The rain came down and the floods came up

But the wise man’s house stood firm.

We have friends … and so do you … who are staying in “houses” that are built on sand. They put all their hope in their jobs, their money, or their relationships, and when those things fell through or walked out they were completely lost. And I have other friends whose foundation will be ok but they’re losing the roof, the shutters and the windows because they invested too heavily in temporal things and not enough on eternal things.

Do you remember the rest of the song?

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

And the rain came tumbling down

The rain came down and the floods came up

The rain came down and the floods came up

The rain came down and the floods came up

And the foolish man’s house went “plop”

(you know … with the hand motions that clap your hands together J

So how do you build your house upon the rock … upon The Rock? One rock at a time ^_^

You see the Master Builder will dig a foundation appropriate for the life He knows that you will be exposed to. Then He’ll bring in just the right kind of stones (experiences, people, situations) to make the base of your house strong … and attractive. How? Trust and Obey … reminds me of another song I recently sang to my 92 (almost 93) year old grandmother … cuz she likes it J

When we walk with the Lord

in the light of his word,

what a glory he sheds on our way!

While we do his good will,

he abides with us still,

and with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

My grandmother is facing some changes in her life … let me just say that you never get to old to need to walk in the “light of His word.” I pray that God will bless you abundantly and that you will let Him build your house strong. I pray that whenever you hear the wind howling all around you … real or spiritual … that you’ll remember to be wise … like the wise man!

No Reference Needed
by Barbara Chadwick



A lady recently asked me to give a reference for her for a job interview. The problem for me was that I didn’t know her very well. What could I say about her? She’s pretty, she wants to please, she cares about her family – all commendable things in a woman. But the other part is she does not show up to meetings, she has an anger problem and she sometimes does things haphazardly. What could I say that would help her get a job?

A Human Resources Director for a company wants to know if you are reliable - will you show up for work at the appointed time and work the stated hours? Are you conscientious? - do you try to do your best? Are you trustworthy? - can you be trusted to do your work and care for your workspace? Are you considerate? – do you treat others with respect? Are you presentable? – do you care about your appearance? These are all human approaches to how to do life.

But all of this got me to thinking. What if I asked Jesus to give a reference for me to take to heaven. I know, I know. God already knows everything about us. Even the very hairs on our heads are numbered. (Luke 12:7) He knows when we rise and when we lie down and He knows our thoughts. But what if I approached Jesus like this:

Me: Jesus will You represent me to God?
Jesus: Can you show me any evidence that would help?
Me: Well, I read my Bible every day unless I have too many other things to do.
Jesus: Hmm.
Me: I go to church every Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday.
Jesus: Yes….
Me: I have a picture of an angel on my bedroom wall.
Jesus smiles.
Me: Remember that I took food to that family after the funeral?
Jesus: That was nice.

This approach won’t work. This is the way we humans look at things but, we can’t justify ourselves to Him. Psalms 51:17 says, You do not delight in sacrifice…you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite spirit. Isaiah 64:6 says, All our righteous acts are like filthy rags to Him.

So just, confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.(Romans 10:9) Then talk with Him daily (Pray) and learn about Him daily (Read the Bible) and use the talents He has blessed you with (Serve Him).

When we enter heaven Jesus will take us by the hand and bring us into the presence of Almighty God. He will say to the Father, “Here is Barbara (or put your name here) I bring her to you. She is mine. She has served me faithfully. It is true that there were times when she was not perfect but I have washed her clean by my blood.” (Romans 5:8)

Wanna be RED?

Just watched RED: Retired Extremely Dangerous. I love watching movies where the bad guy is eliminated in 1 hour and 45 minutes (the movie is actually 111 minutes long) and the good guy gets to jump in there and kick … something or shoot something … really just make the bad guys pay! I mean the story line is just long enough to enjoy getting all worked up and involved with the characters and plenty short enough to share the whole thing with a friend or too and remote enough that I can go to bed and forget all about it. SO not like real life.

In real life … I prefer problems that I can solve and feel like the hero OR problems that my husband can solve and I’m married to the hero OR problems that my friends have and it takes me, or them, 1 hour and 45 minutes to help out and “poof” the problem’s solved. SO not like real life.

In real life … about the only problem that can be solved in 1 hour and 45 minutes is dinner … Start to finish and it’s done. Most of my problems take days, weeks, months, years … They take my prayers, my husband’s prayers, my family’s prayers, my friend’s prayers, … God’s intervention.

In real life … I’ve spoken to people who’re homeless, who’ve lost their jobs, who’re addicted to food or drugs, who have no idea how to maintain healthy relationships … and my response? … I want to solve it … my mind (with its extensive knowledge of book and movie lore) begins to search for the 1 hour and 45 minute solution … you know the plot (if you’re American) because we’ve seen the solution on the screen or on the printed page all our lives. And worse, once I’ve arrived at a solution, I’ve opened my mouth and suggested it. I don’t know about you, but I rarely need to pray to come up with these great ideas to solve social issues, to solve other people’s problems, to solve my own … because the answer is obvious … right?

In real life … that’s not how God works. It’s not how He works with me and it’s not how He works with you and it’s not how He works with the homeless, jobless, hopeless, hurting people who desperately need our help … not our help … God’s help. In real life they need someone who will give them every opportunity to change, every opportunity to accept free gifts of hope and healing … of encouragement and energetic friendship … of solutions that are patient enough for a lifetime of giving.

Remember Judas? Jesus knew from the beginning who was going to betray Him and yet He continued to offer him opportunities to “flip” over to the good side. Remember Peter? Jesus knew He was going to deny Him, in fact He warned him that he would deny Him three times and yet when he did, Jesus forgave Peter and welcomed him back. Remember the 10 lepers? Only one of them came back and said thank you. Remember me? Oh … maybe you don’t know me … but God has given me grace and forgiveness and opportunities to learn from Him … over and over and over … I’ll run out of paper … I’ll run out of ink … I’ll run out of megabites before I would run out of ways that He has rushed to help/save/solve my dilemmas.

In real life … there are too few of us who are willing to just be someone’s friend … to just pray for God to help these people and then go the extra mile, give the extra jacket, … to just give Jesus as a solution. I don’t want to be a Religiously Educated Dingbat. I want to be RED: Radically Empowered Disciple. I want to be someone who runs to help the poor and needy … and stays till the job is done not just 1 hour and 45 minutes … in real life … wanna be RED?