Consider this

             When Doug Eaton turned 65, he wanted to do something special to celebrate, so he decided to stand on a street corner and give money to strangers.   Turns out, handing out free cash is harder than it sounds.            Doug made a sign that said, “I have a home… and a car… and a job.   Do you need a few bucks for some coffee?”    He then spent 65 minutes in downtown Oklahoma City giving away $5 bills, or, at least, he spent 65 minutes trying.               Many people would not take the money! They thought that it had to be a trick, because it sounded too good to be true.     In fact, Doug had to plead with several people saying, “It’s ok.   It’s just a blessing” before they would accept his gift.               I wonder if that is how God sees us at times.   Many times, in his word, God says, “I am just waiting to bless you”, but instead of listening and accepting that, we refuse, because we do not think that His offer is real, or that we somehow have “

            “What are the two most powerful words in scripture?” the speaker asked.   Then he answered his own question with two words: “In Christ”.               I sat there for minute and then thought, “He may have a point.”               I am sure that one could make a case for other phrases as well, but a quick survey of the New Testament will show that “In Christ” is right up there.               For example, Romans 6:11 says that we are to be, “Dead to sin but alive to God in Christ.”             Romans 8:1 says that “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.”             In verse 38 of the same chapter we read that “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”               “In Christ we who are many form one body” (Romans 12:5).    

            This past summer, my family spent two weeks on the north shore of Lake Superior and it was great!   I would highly recommend it.   We visited a bunch of State Parks.   We hiked miles and miles of trails.   We saw lots of waterfalls and we even “cliff dived” (or more accurately “cliff jumped”) into the lake.   None of that surprised me.   After all, we went there because of the trees, the hills and the water.   However, there was one aspect of our trip that I truly did not anticipate and that was hearing Gordon Lightfoot’s voice every five minutes!            Every store we went into, all up and down the coast, was playing “The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald”.   You know the song that starts, “The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee’”.   (If you still don’t know the song, “Google” it and you will likely say “Oh, I remember that song”).               The “Edmond Fitzgerald” was a freighter that carried taconit

          What do you do when people say “no” to you?     Generally speaking, most people react in one of two ways:   Either they get mad or they pout.   King David chooses a third option and that choice changes everything.             In 2 Samuel 7:2, David states, “Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent”.   He decides to fix that problem by building a place to worship God.   In fact, he wants to build a temple that is so beautiful that everyone will know, just by looking at it, how wonderful God is and how good he has been to his people.               There was just one problem with David’s plan:   God says “no”.               In fact, God says that David has shed too much blood in war, so the job of building this temple was going to fall to David’s son, Solomon, instead (1 Chronicles 22:8).   David’s reaction to this news is not only Godly, but I think it is also a reminder to God’s people for all time.   Rather than saying, “

              Ask most people, “What was King David’s worst sin?” and they will say “His affair with Bathsheba” (2 Samuel 11).               That is a good answer, but did you know that in terms of impact on the kingdom, the people and himself, David does something much worse later in his life?   The event is recorded in 1 Chronicles 21.   Are you ready for this?   Brace yourself!             “David said… ‘Go count the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba.   Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are’” (Verse 1).             Whoa, that is crazy, right?               Well, you may not think so but look at how others react to this command.               Joab, the commander of David’s army, asked, “Why does my Lord want to do this?   Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”(Verse 3).             Verse seven tells us that, “This command was also evil in the sigh of God; so he punished Israel”.             Obviously, we are missing something here.