Taking a few minutes out of your day to watch this video will provide you with a new, positive perspective — and it just might change the way you look at people and situations.
I was touched by it. I hope you are too.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
I saw this “Sign From God” last weekend on our way to Chicago.
“One Nation Under God is
right on the money”
Also, our family stopped to have dinner at a Cracker Barrell off I-65. If you know Cracker Barrell, they always have a country store connected to their dining room. And my wife loves their country store because they always have cool thematic items — holiday themes, country themes, John Deere themes, Americana themes, etc. Well, one corner was Spiritual/Religious themed and she was perusing the wares. One of the items was a church sign book. Basically, just pictures of all sorts of church signs. They totally snagged my “Sign From God” idea. And it was funny because I glossed through a few of the pages and they were messages I have posted here — not necessarily from the same church sign though. I guess the churches must use a church sign web site or database.
Don’t worry — I will continue to bring new Signs From God messages to you free of charge. 🙂
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
I’ve been slacking on blogging lately but this “Sign From God” comes courtesy of Haelie.
“Autumn leaves.
Jesus remains.”
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Today a friend of mine left for his deployment to Afghanistan. He is a C-130 pilot for the Kentucky Air National Guard and he and his crew departed SDF at 10am this morning. He is a wonderful disciple, husband, dad and friend in addition to serving our country.
So my prayer for him is that he would be guided and protected during his deployment. That he is kept safe from all harm and alert to being used by God. That he return safely to his husband and family role here stateside. That his family is comforted during his absence. That they are supported by the church and the community. And that their reunion is sweet, cherished and longed for.
Thank you for adding to the prayers for Charlie and his family.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Last week, if you remember, I wrote a post and confessed about a struggle I was having with meeting the needs of the poor and needy. Well, this morning during my breakfast devotions I came across the answer for me.
The scripture reading was from the Old Testament — Amos 5:12-24. You can look up the actual verses but it is where the prophet Amos was preaching to the northern kingdom of Judah that the day of judgment was coming. Being a very wealthy and successful nation, they were neglecting God’s blessing, becoming prideful and greedy, and neglecting their responsibilities to the poor and needy.
My scripture study notes are:
Here are eight common excuses for not helping the poor and needy: (1) They don’t deserve help. They got themselves into poverty; let them get themselves out. (2) God’s call to help the poor applies to another time. (3) We don’t know any people like this. (4) I have my own needs. (5) Any money I give will be wasted, stolen, or spent. The poor will never see it. (6) I may become a victim myself. (7) I don’t know where to start, and I don’t have time. (8) My little bit won’t make any difference.
Instead of making lame excuses, ask what can be done to help. Does your church have programs to help the needy? Could you volunteer to work with a community group that fights poverty? As one individual, you may not be able to accomplish much, but join up with similarly motivated people and watch mountains begin to move.
THAT is the way God works and the Holy Spirit moves within our hearts. #5 was the one that spoke to me. The why, what, who and when I give doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I give, and that I give with a servants heart. What happens after is for God and the Holy Spirit to work with.
I’ve said it before, I don’t need to have all the answers to be a small part of the solution.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Today my conference finally ended after a long week. I am amazed at how tired you can get just sitting in a conference room. Anyone else with me on that?
So after lunch today I took advantage of an open afternoon and hit a few of the museums around my hotel. This is important because I don’t like museums — well not normally anyway. Because usually I am with the wife and kids. And they view museums as fast food whereas I view a museum as a nice seven course dinner to be slowly consumed, absorbed and enjoyed. They are usually finished with an entire exhibit before I am done reading the first display. So when I am able to go to a museum alone, it is a special thing. I can take my time. I can read every single display card. I can absorb the atmosphere.
The first museum on my hit list was the Cartoon Art Museum. While I was expecting “cartoons”, a la Bugs Bunny, they mostly had comics. Errr, that would make it the COMIC Art Museum, genius! But, my seven bucks already spent, I meandered through the exhibits. To be fair, they did have some cels and animation from Disney, Hanna Barbara, Warner Brothers and others but there was only one animation exhibit. All in all, it was worthwhile of my coinage and my time.
Across the street and down a bit, the California Historical Society museum caught my eye. I walked in hesitant, but was more than willing to put down my three bucks for entry. More than that and I would have departed. It offered different glipses of my previous home, the Golden State. From it’s Gold Rush roots to the development of rail and highway transportation to the motion picture industry, there were many cool displays that covered the gamut of topics — all with the California thread woven into them.
My last museum target was the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. And guess who I saw out in front of the museum. You guessed it — Reggie. He came up and shook my hand like I was an old college buddy. I said “hi” and asked how he was doing for a Friday. That was about it and I headed in.
Luckily, my work has a membership and my ID badge gained my free access because there is no way on this earth I would have paid the $18 to gain entry. For starters, I am not a fan of modern art. I view art as someone doing something that I can’t do. That can be paint, draw, photograph, play an instrument, etc. It does NOT mean four pieces of packing tape splattered with colored laquer and hung on a wall. Sorry. And don’t try to pass me any of that crap that the artist “felt” his work and was exposing his soul in some sort of esoteric monologue to the 18th century. I don’t buy it. Face it — they pulled it out of their butt, framed it or arranged it, called it “modern art” and people go ga-ga over it. Give me Ansel Adams or Michelangelo any time.
So needless to say, the Modern Art Museum didn’t take me much time to go through, even though it was much bigger and had more displays. Speaking of which, I think I’ll put my “modern work of art” up some time soon. It will be titled, “Crap That Is In My Hotel Room”.
After my museum escapades, I received a call from an old friend who made his way down from Sacramento. Of course, we hit our old favorite In ‘N’ Out Burger and caught up with each other since we haven’t seen each other since May. It was nice to catch up and we walked around the Fisherman’s Wharf area gawking at all the craziness and wackiness that goes on down there. I am never disappointed when I go down there. Beggars now have signs soliciting “Give $1 for weed”. And there was more than one — seems it must be profitable. Streetshow Keith was there with his unique juggle flaming sticks comedy act. He cracked me up and was also talented at not burning himself. Further down was crazy spray paint guy painting psychodelic pictures of made up space scenery. And, of course, there was “Bush Man”. I warned my buddy about him. He is a homeless guy who takes these plant branches and conceals himself up crouching against a trash can. As an unsuspecting tourist passes by (not paying attention), he leaps out yelling and usually scares the crap out of them. Subsequently he then expects a tip or reward. That part I do not get and I am surprised he hasn’t gotten clobbered by a big biker guy or had a drink thrown at him from a lady. And “Trash Guy” was a varient of that. Some guy squeezed himself into one of the city garbage containers and would reach out and grab unsuspecting passers by. Again, so surprised that guy hasn’t been turned over like a frat house port-a-potty.
We also headed to Ghiradelli Square to get some famous chocolate. I skipped it because it wasn’t any cheaper at the factory store than what I could get back home and I was sure that it would melt or be damaged on the plane ride home. However, I did snap this lame, blurry cellphone picture to send to my wife.
On our way back to my hotel, we were driving up one of the many one way streets when we were stopped at a red light. Up ahead we could see the light cycle but no traffic moving. A car made a U-turn and another. Soon enough we were close enough to see bicycle after bicycle after bicycle. As we got closer, we noticed all the bikers had costumes on. It was a bike costume parade. And it went on and on and on and on. Once we realized we were trapped and could go nowhere, we sat back and enjoyed it pointing out all the funny and crazy costumes. There was the Tin Man, the old Evel Knevel, the wicked witch of the west, several tandem bikes, glow in the dark spiky helmet guy, a large unicycle and naked man to name a few. My buddy and I couldn’t figure out if naked man was really naked man or if he had a body suit on. Probably the former because, after all, this IS San Francisco. Either way —-eeewwwwww!!!!
Finally, after about 5-10 minutes of alternating funny and painful moments waiting and laughing, the last biker rolled by and traffic tried to resume to normal. A little while later we were within a stone’s throw of my hotel and I hopped out so he didn’t have to circumnavigate the crazy one way streets just to get me to the entrance.
The rest of the evening was quite mundane as I packed my stuff and prepared for my pre-dawn exit from the hotel and oh-dark-hundred tomorrow morning. Signing off and going to bed. So long Frisco.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
I am in downtown San Francisco on business travel attending a organizational unit forum for my company. This evening some dinner plans were rearranged by the forum team due to the World Series. It moved back dinner to a very late time of 8pm – which is 11pm my east coast body time. So I declined and instead enjoyed a much earlier dinner with my boss.
After a nice meal and conversation, she headed home to her family and I took the opportunity, because it was still early, to walk over to the Apple store. Now I am not necessarily an Apple fan, although I can appreciate the design and simplified interfaces. And because it is tech, I have a natural inclination towards anything tech. So my quick stroll over there brought me in front of the store and into its innards to explore the tech offerings inside.
I mostly wanted to see the iPad. I played around with it for 20 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed what it could do and its interface. I even thought about surprising my wife with one – something we could use at night in bed for surfing, email, simple reading and video watching. I think it would outperform the laptop we currently share now. However, I ultimately declined and moved on to look at other things – mainly because I could not justify the high price for such a gimmicky toy, which is really what it is.
After another 10 minutes walking around gawking at the tech toys, I exited the store and proceeded on my short 2 city block walk back to the hotel. While at a corner, waiting for the light to turn, a bum, homeless man, beggar – you choose your particular term – walked up to me and asked for a handout. I politely declined. He said “Hey, come on man. The Giants won and I want to get something to eat”. I declined again and told him that I didn’t give out money. However, if he was truly hungry, that I would share a meal with him. I suggested Subway which was within sight. He agreed and we began walking towards our dining destination.
I introduced myself and he replied and said his name was Reggie. He was from New Orleans but left after Katrina ravaged the area. I thought I heard him say he was with the merchant marine there but the traffic drowned out our conversation. I did find out that he was in San Francisco because he wanted to get far away from his two ex-wives.
Reggie’s physical condition was one of unemployment but it did not look like he was living on the streets. I say this because I have seen guys in his same circumstance much dirtier and more aeromatic than he was. He sported some newish sneakers and his courderoy pants were not frayed or stained. His Army jacket conveyed some weathering but he seemed to be better off inside – mentally and emotionally – than his direct, first glance appearance let off.
We arrived at Subway and he proceeded to order his sandwich. I grabbed a lemon iced tea and then watched him grab a bottled soda and a bag of chips. He ordered a foot long pastrami and cheese and then got my money’s worth by piling all sort of the veggies and condiments on it. At checkout, he added two cookies to the list along with an empty cup and asked for a bag so he could take it to go. I paid the cashier, grabbed one of my business cards and told Reggie that I wanted him to have my business card. He took it and gave it a quick glance. I didn’t think he realized exactly what it was or said – he just said something about calling me tomorrow for another meal. At that, we began to exit the store. He abruptly turned to the drink bar to maximize his cup while I was exiting the store.
So now to the blog post title subject – what I struggle with.
I struggle with do I define boundaries on my giving or just meet someone’s physical need. My perspective was that Reggie found himself a “free lunch” and was taking advantage of that. Do I let that happen or do I restrict it or hold him accountable? It became apparent that this meal would not make or break me or Reggie. I obviously could afford it. But he treated it just like another gullible city folk free lunch. I do not think it really impacted either one of us. I felt like I felt back when I had Jamba Juice with Aaron that there might have been a slight need, but it was more of an “angle” or scam rather than a true need. I struggle with differentiating between scam and need. And that is a huge challenge in a city like San Francisco where homeless folks are littered all over like trash, and also ignored and stepped over like trash as well. Is it better for me to find a homeless person to share a meal rather than the hustler homeless person finding me?
And I ask these questions because I hope, you the reader, might have some insights that can be shared via comment or email.
Again, I don’t pretend to have all (or any) of the answers. However, I do know that I am called to be obedient and to serve Christ and that I do not have to have the answer to the problem to be a small part of the solution.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
A fellow at work and I had an interesting conversation that caused me to take a step back, pause and think about an issue within the church. It relates around end times prophecy.
There are many who preach on end times prophecy. It is a popular topic that tends to garner lots of attention. From Nostradamus to the book series “Left Behind” to the movie “2012”, there are many opinions of how, what, and when the world will end as well as many different people preaching many different things. Some are based on scripture, others not so much. But it seems that no matter what perspective you are taking – Biblical or secular – we all want to know the future and what is going to happen in the end.
Now some of these answers are, indeed, in scripture. The book of Revelation is probably the most common resource people look to for answers. And because of its figurative and metaphorical writing, it is very challenging to get a clear picture on the end times. However, there are a few other books in the Bible that hint at future occurrences. The books of Daniel and Ezekiel, for example, have a few nuggets that point to some possible end times events. The Gospel of Mark in chapter 24 also has some insight. But overall, there are as many interpretations of the end times, as there are translations of the Bible.
But I am here to pose a totally different “end times” prophecy perspective. IT DOESN’T MATTER!!!!! Matthew 24:36 says “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Because even Jesus doesn’t know when He will return, any time spent by us trying to figure that out is in vain. Additionally, in Mark 12:29-31, Jesus boiled down all the commandments, in essence the entire Old Testament, to two orders – love God and love your neighbor. Done! Simple, easy, effective.
We should not be wasting our time “preparing for the end”. We should be loving, praising and worshiping God and then we should be loving our neighbor – serving, helping, giving and sacrificing ourselves for others. In fact, if we are doing all that, we will, indeed, be preparing for the end times!
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
A big welcome home to the women of Emmaus walk 130 – pilgrims and team members. All daughters, wives, mothers, sisters and friends. Send off, Candlelight, and Closing were all awesome. Some spectacular worship, praise and lifting of voices in song.
And now this post is done. Gotta use the 10 hours my ship is passing in the night with my wife (who worked the walk). She returned home from the long weekend this evening, but I depart first flight out tomorrow until Saturday.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Early Accountability group this morning, followed by helping a friend with a tile job, have given me to the temptation of a Saturday afternoon nap before church service this evening followed by the Emmaus Women’s Walk #130 Candlelight.
But on the way home this afternoon, I saw the church sign below.
“Get right
or get left”
Pretty straightforward, I’ll say.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
