Avoid Holiday Arguments

By the time many read this article, Thanksgiving will already have passed and their respective maws will be filled to the hilt. For those of you reading this post Thanksgiving, you might be able to use this information for future family gatherings. Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley and a couple others discussed how to avoid family fights during Thanksgiving by derailing various political arguments. For instance, one can lead a heated discussion of health care in to a conversation about Charla Nash, the woman injured in a chimp attack. She is currently awaiting a face transplant and learning how to live without hands or a face. Barack Obama is always a battleground, angering those who refer to themselves as either liberals or conservatives. If your family starts talking about an Obama, try to make it Michelle Obama, who with a 63% approval rating has started a garden, supported military families, and won Banana Republic on stage.
If the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan become a topic for discourse, try to put the focus on the respect we should have for the men and women serving overseas. Show your family videos of soldiers reuniting with their loved ones or their dogs. Finally, if Al Gore or the general subject of climate change comes up, lead the exchange towards the tornado chasing Henne family and the now famous “Balloon Boy.” At the very least your family will seem much more normal.
Satan feeds off of our arguments. He wants us to be split in to as many groups as possible. Ephesians 4:2-4 tells us be humble, gentle, and patient with each other. We are to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Paul brings unity up quite often. Paul tells Titus (in chapter 3) to remind people to submit to the government and “to be ready to do whatever is good.” We were saved by the kindness and love of our God when we least deserved it. We are to avoid arguments and instead do good to all of God’s people.

Electronic Polar Bears

I came across an odd story this morning from the Riverfront Times, a St. Louis new blog. Apparently, the St. Louis Zoo hasn’t had much good fortune in the area of polar bear longevity. The zoo’s last polar bear, Hope, was euthanized last April when veterinarians discovered she had cancer. In May 2005 a polar bear named Churchill ate a fatal amount of cloth and plastic. Churchill died during stomach surgery. Just five weeks after that, a bear named Penny died from infection. She had two dead fetuses inside of her uterus. Zoo officials didn’t know that she was pregnant. According to a commenter on Riverfront Times, zoo keepers can only observe the bears from about the same distance as visitors This is due to safety reasons and not the zoo’s negligence.
The very strange part of this story, which references a photo from the Post-Dispatch (Google it!), is that employees with James Trogolo Co. installed a family of electronic polar bears where the real bears once lived. I can’t decide if this act is in bad taste. Evidently, James Trigolo Co. installed the electronic bears to promote their holiday decorations. Due to a rebound in the sale of commercial decorations, James Trigolo Co. is opening a new office in downtown St. Louis (exciting stuff... I know).
The world should not have to be subjected to a pale imitation of Jesus Christ. When Paul said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” in 1 Cor. 11:1, he wasn’t telling the church in Corinth to work on a good voice impersonation or to do a couple things like Jesus would. He was telling them to become an exact reflection of the character of Jesus. In 1 Cor. 12, Paul tells us that we are the body. The Spirit of God dwells in us and we are witnesses in every way that we allow the Spirit to be seen in us. (1 John 5:6-12). Too often we use our imperfection as a crutch or exit strategy. We all are able to be Jesus for people that have yet to get to know Him. Don’t wait for others to be Jesus.

Bi Bi's Dilemna

This week’s interesting news that leads to discussion of more spiritual matters comes to us from Victoria Australia. Sue Drummond was walking her maltese/shitzu mix on Brighton Pier when the dog was suddenly swept off the pier and in to the bay waters by a gust of wind. Drummond watched helplessly as the poor pooch, appropriately named Bi Bi (pronounced “bye bye”), struggled to stay afloat in the waves below her. A young man named Raden Soemawinata heroically stripped down to his skivvies and dove in to save the water logged canine. It was discovered by the “Herald Sun” that Soemawinata was at Brighton Pier to spread his grandmother’s ashes in to the bay. The humble hero stated, “It was pretty cold and windy, but it wasn’t such a hard decision to jump in.” He also said, “I’m a part-time model, so getting into my jocks isn’t so different to what I do for work.” Some fantastic photos tell the story better than I can. Google them at your earliest convenience. Be forewarned that the tasteful photos involve underwear.
To many, a dog in distress isn’t something that inspires much of an emotional response. Not having children and owning the first two dogs I have ever had the pleasure of caring for, I can certainly empathize with Sue Drummond’s plight. I would most definitely be in tears if one of my dogs fell in to a bay. I would jump in to rescue them, but I don’t think I’d be able to stand the embarrassment of dropping my pants to do so. If I was an angel at the time Jesus was sent to Earth, I would probably think to myself, “Why embarrass yourself to save pitiful, sinful creatures like men?” Even as a man it’s impossible to fully understand why the Son of God had to die for me. Who in heaven would miss a shaggy wet dog? God would. He loves us unconditionally and demonstrated His love in the greatest way possible. He gave His own life for sinners like you and I (Rom. 5:8). We should never fail to appreciate this gift.

Fast Food Christianity

Ever experience discomfort, weakness, or pain caused by a prolonged lack of food? This desire for food, known to the masses as "hunger," affects millions of Americans daily. The solution for a working individual such as myself is often visiting a local establishment known as a restaurant, pub, or "fast food joint." The experience associated with these ventures is always two-fold. The first part of the experience is the quality of the food, typically consisting of simple carbohydrates soaked in fatty oils. The second is the quality of the service. I've attempted to work my experience at "sandwich shops" such as Subway, Quiznos, and Blimpie's, down to a science. The "sandwich artist" typically asks,"What would you like on your sandwich sir?" to which I respond, "Everything except tomatoes and jalapenos." (for I believe tomatoes to be a forbidden fruit not to be ingested in their pure form) After this response I occasionally receive an expression of confusion, a long pause, and several questions such as "Do you want pickles?" and "So, you want tomatoes, right?" This is truly a great enigma. Does not the exclusion of certain items infer that the remaining sandwich toppings are acceptable?
We often apply the same “choose your toppings” ideology to our faith. We are only able to accept God in the right environments and under ideal conditions. Anything apart from these circumstances becomes difficult for us to grasp. James 1:17 tells us,“every good and perfect gift is from above.” We shouldn’t experience God exclusively in a church building or strictly among other Christians. Every thing that you have in life and every moment that you live is a gift from God and should be treated as such. These gifts are to be enjoyed with gratefulness and adoration directed towards their source. We might not always understand why we are presented with certain “toppings” in life. People are not going to act the way we want them to 100% of the time and we aren’t going to receive 100% of the things we wish for. According to Romans 8:28, God works for good when we give him 100% of our lives.