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Sex, Cigarettes, Regrets

   There are many things that people do in life that lead to regrets. Some are just unfortunate "I wish I would have known" moments. But others are the result of choices made at a young age, choices even Christians make, choices to please one's flesh, vs. allowing your body to be a temple of the Holy Spirit.

   Let's start with smoking cigarettes. There is no health benefit, even in moderation. I have been robbed of a brother by lung cancer; the door was opened to this disease because of his smoking.

   I have friends who are smokers, and that doesn't change our friendship. I grew up with smokers; I understand the feeling of NEED to have a cigarette. I understand the difficulty in trying to break this habit, it is a powerful addiction, but...

   If all my younger readers (especially those who smoke) read only one paragraph of this note, read this next one.

   If you smoke, there WILL come a time when you will want to quit; and it will be HARD, and you may not even be successful. Every adult I've ever talked to that smokes, wants to, or has wanted to quit, and  every  one  of them REGRETS having started in the first place, or wishes they had quit sooner.  Conversely, I know of NO non-smoker that ever regrets not having smoked when they were younger. THIS is your chance to choose the path that won't lead you to regrets later.  DO your future self a favor.  Either don't start, or quit now. I'm not the only one that cares about you. Please start caring more for yourself.

    I had one person in mind when I wrote this, but I realize we could all use this lesson. When faced with a choice, ask yourself, which one of these roads am I likely to regret having taken, or which one am I likely to not regret.

    The same rule applies to pre-marital, or extra-marital sex. I won't lie. Sex is fun. But it is THE BEST when enjoyed in the relationship of marriage. Pure, guilt-free, unadulterated sex is an AWESOME thing. The person with the power to keep you pure is YOU.  Going back to mature adults who've lived through this:  I have heard women say that they wish they had stayed pure before their marriage. They REGRET the choices they've made, and have robbed themselves of that gift of purity. However, I have never heard of even ONE married woman who kept herself a virgin until marriage, later regret not having had a sexual relationship before she had a husband. No man ever says, "I am glad I had that affair."   It is to YOUR BENEFIT to take the path of no regret.

   God isn't trying to keep you from fun or pleasure. He is trying to enhance it!  But you have to help him out. Say, "no" to the quick and easy pleasures that are right in front of you, because what's down the road is so much better.

Imagine...

   I've heard people say time and again that the song, "Imagine..." was John Lennon's greatest work.

   I find that somewhat disturbing.

   Hear me out here, please.

   I realize it is heralded as a wonderful song of unity and peace. I just believe that there can be no true unity or peace apart from God.

   I have little to no problem with the fact that the words "there's no heaven" are contained within the song, or even with the idea of imagining such a thing. I just imagine a drastically different conclusion than John did. Let's take a look at John's crowning achievement verse by verse.

   Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

   Okay, so, no heaven or hell, thus no eternal judgment. Above us only sky; no higher power whatsoever. I see why the people are living for today, it's because their actions have no eternal consequences. When I imagine all those people living for today, I picture chaos. John Calvin would agree. Total depravity. Man, left to himself, will follow after his own pleasure, his basest desires. Our own righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)  Do you ever see the news when there is a blackout, or rioting in the streets, and looting almost always ensues. That is what people "living for today" looks like.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

   Nothing to kill or die for. Hmmm, there are other things worth dying for besides land borders and dogmatic ideals. I, for one, am glad that God considered my life worth dying for; that he chose, in his Son, to be put to death, as the necessary punishment for my sin. Although there is no value in religion only without righteousness, one must have a valid established belief system. Living life in peace comes from having an ordered system of rules & rights, do's and don'ts. Peace does not follow from "no religion" but follows from people obeying a set of rules that they all believe to be right, i.e. religion with righteousness. If you want to consider a parallel to this verse...  Imagine there's no streetlights. 

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

   Finally, a couple things I can agree with. Mankind does put too much stock in possessions, and we tend to hoard more than we share. (Matthew 6: 19-20) Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven...  oh, but if there's no heaven than we can't do that...  rats!

   I wonder about that term: "brotherhood of man".  Brotherhood comes from having a shared father. I have brothers and sisters in Christ, because we are adopted into the same family. And even on a carnal level, brotherhood is an association based on a union, or a common purpose. But John's imaginary world offers no such purpose. In his world the only type of brotherhood that exists, is analogous to a brotherhood of two water molecules that happen to be "sharing" the same glass.

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

   I'll say it... He is a dreamer, and he's not the only one. Unfortunately his dreams have no basis in reality. The world can only live as one, as we are one in Christ Jesus

    It would have been better for John Lennon, had he spent more time imagining the alternative, that there is a heaven and a hell, and he had a destination (John 3:18 - He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.)

   I would like to be clever here, and say, "I can't imagine how this song became so popular" but that would be too easy, not creative enough, and inaccurate.

  I know why it remains on the charts.  It is because we are tired of war, and hunger, and selfishness. The song is popular because the world is tired of seeing the abuses of religion and position and power and possessions. But the cure is not in the abolition of these things, but in the proper use and establishment of such. You wouldn't treat a rash by removing your skin, or heartburn by removing the heart. You would try to re-establish the proper function of these organs. All creation is groaning for redemption. But only when the Son of God returns, and establishes his kingdom, will the world live as one.

Empty & Useless ??

Two strange and wonderful things happened today.

   I am selling 40 empty Altoids tins on eBay.  I believe that most people throw out their Altoids tins, but for some reason, if you have enough of them together, some people will pay good money for them. They had sat for a few days, selling for around 2 or 3 dollars, but as of my checking this afternoon, they were selling for  $21.50

   That is insane!  That’s more than 50 cents a tin. Granted, a couple of them are “collectors edition” tins, but even the other guy who’s selling 50 plain old peppermint Altoids tins is going to get at least 15 dollars for his.

   So many people save their pop cans worth 10 cents apiece, and then throw out their Altoids tins…   * sigh *   If only they knew of their value to others.

   On another note, we have had for some months have a van that doesn’t run anymore. It won’t start. It could be a fuel pump or perhaps a timing belt. There are enough other things wrong with it that I felt it was not worth fixing. To me it is an empty shell holding some parts, gas, and maybe a couple of good tires. I would be happy to just see it towed away.

    After dinner, a man stopped by the house to inquire about the van. I told him it won’t start, and a few other things. He still wanted to buy it. The negotiations went like this: “hundred bucks?”  “okay”   (ahhh but who said which one…   and does it matter? )

   Anyway, all this got me thinking about the potential spiritual parallels.

  Here are we humans. We may not be worth much to some, but God saw value enough in us to send his Son to earth, to pay the ultimate price, His death, in order to purchase us back to Him, to have fellowship with him. We need to empty ourselves, so that we can be vessels fit for his use… like Altoids tins.

   So if you’re feeling empty and broken, perhaps you’re exactly what God is looking for.

My Salad dressing puzzle

  Okay, here's the deal.

  You have an upcoming salad party, and you need lots of dressing.

  Your favorite type of dressing is sold in 2 sizes:

   - 8 ounce bottle - for $ 2.00

 - 16 ounce bottle - for $ 3.25 

  You also have an unlimited supply of coupons for $1.00 off of any size bottle of said dressing.

   Which size do you stock up on ??

  Think about it a second

  If you grabbed a bunch of 16 oz. bottles

 Then you spent too much.

 You actually get a better deal, i.e. pay less money per ounce, by using your dollar off coupons on the smaller size bottle.

Coffee STAT !!

    I need to relax, immediately !!