This morning I noticed two disappointing things. First our cat (and when I say our, I mean the families, not mine) was tearing at a garbage bag trying to get something to eat. Secondly, our dog was in the middle of the back yard, getting a drink from a small mud puddle (what was left from the pond that had been there since last fall). Why were they doing these things? Because my two oldest sons had not done their job of giving food and water to the pets. One of them has the job of food, and the other does the water.

Because they had not taken the time to do their chore, which take about one minute each, our pets had to go scrambling to find their necessities of life. My boys were negligent in providing for their basic needs, so the pets had to try to find them somewhere else. And who could blame the animals? (I mean the pets, not my boys)

What a lesson this is for us as parents. Just as my boys were given charge of their pets, we are given charge of our children. We need to provide for their basic needs. And no, I’m not talking about food and water. We all do pretty good at that. I mean other basic needs, like love and attention. These are things that don’t take long for us to give, but we still don’t always find the time. And these ARE basic needs for a child, to be loved and cared about. And then we are surprised when they become teenagers to find them looking for love and attention in garbage cans and muddle puddles – metaphorically speaking. And who can blame them?

I know this sounds like a public service announcement, but it only takes a minute to catch up with your kid, find out what is going on in their life, and tell them how much you love them. And hopefully, you won’t consider it a chore.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

Notice it says “train” a child, not “teach” a child. Training is more than a one-time statement. It is a daily activity (not unlike my children’s chores). How many times have you heard a parent say, “That’s not the way I taught my child to act”? Yes, but is it the way you “trained” your child to act (or failed to train).

To be sure, there is no harder, more thankless job than parenting a child. But if we take care of the feeding and watering of their souls each day with love and attention, God willing we won’t find them eating from garbage cans and drinking from mud puddles later on. God bless you as you train up your child.

On Saturday, I attended a wedding in Lansing. The bride was a childhood friend of my wife. There were many unique and wonderful elements of the wedding and the reception. Sparty, the MSU mascot, made an appearance, as did an acapella group of singers who treated everyone to songs from the group “Journey”.

But the thing that really caught my attention was on the reception tables. Each table had an individual cake in the middle. Along with the cake was a note stating that each table had a one of eight different kinds of cake. If you didn’t like the one that you had, you could trade back and forth with another table. We also had a small sign telling us which cake our table had. Ours was marble. However, the women at our table had their heart set on some Strawberry Chocolate. So off I went to find the right cake and barter a deal. Soon, everyone else was moving around and talking and laughing and exchanging cake pieces.

I’m struck by how this is the way the Christian church is to work. God has several different kinds of gifts that he has given to his people. And he has scattered them all around. Our job is to go to others who have gifts we don’t have and work out a system where we can benefit from their gifts, and they can benefit from ours.  And at the same time fellowship is increased as we must communicate with one another to find out “who has what cake”.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 - There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

When we all work together, we have the ability to have our cake and eat it too.

OK, this is my second basketball related post in a row. (And if Michigan State wins again this weekend, it won’t be my last.)

As many of you know, MSU is playing the in Final Four in Detroit this Saturday. The last time that the Spartans went to the Final Four was in 2005 in St. Louis. My mom was able to get two tickets to the games (before we even knew that MSU would be there) and she took me with her. The Spartans lost in the semi finals to eventual champion North Carolina.

After that game, my mom and I, who were both wearing green MSU shirts, we deluged by Illinois and North Carolina fans about selling our tickets. They figured that our team had lost and that we wouldn’t want to stay for the final. People would have paid big money for the tickets. But we said no. We came to watch the Final Four. It was just a bonus that MSU was playing.

As Christians, we have been given incredible tickets. Tickets for a relationship with God not only for this life, but for eternity as well. We get back stage passes to the biggest event of history (since history is His Story). But when things don’t go our way, when circumstances betray us, when we don’t feel like we’re “winning” at life, don’t think for an instant that Satan won’t be right there trying to buy our ticket.

“You’ve tried following God, but he let you down. You need to start looking out for yourself. You need to find your purpose and identity in worldly success, pride, popularity, possessions or pleasure.”

Don’t sell. God is more interested in your character than your comfort. Blessings don’t always come in the way we define blessings. Jesus’ disciples thought he was going to become the next King David. When He wasn’t, many of them sold their ticket, and no longer followed him.

The Bible says that if we suffer with Christ, we will be glorified with Christ.(Romans 8:17) And that’s the kind of glory that no Final Four can match.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament will be beginning in less than an hour from now. Eight hours from now I will have at least three mistakes on my bracket. After this weekend I will be holding on to a slim hope that at least two of my final four teams make it. Two weeks from now I will be saying, “I knew I should have picked Purdue to go farther.”

My problem each year is that I pick teams with my heart instead of my brain. I tend to pick who I want to win instead of who I think will win. (Which is why, once again, MSU is in my final four). I value my feelings more than the truth. And I almost always lose.

As people, we tend to follow the same philosophy when it comes to our spirituality. We really hope that God is just going to turn a blind eye to sin. We really feel like God’s definition of “follower of Christ” is the same as our definition. Or for those who don’t follow at all, we’re betting that all “good people” go to heaven (along with dogs, according to the animated film).

The best definition I’ve heard of discipleship is “To give as much of yourself as you can to as much of God as you understand.” God is more than aware when we give him our best, or just better than the rest. God knows when we give what is right, and wwhat is left.

As you make decisions with your spiritual life, make sure you are looking into God’s word and not just betting on your feelings.

“I FEEL this is how God will come down on this social issue.”

“My FEELING is that this is how much of my income God wants me to give.”

“I’m pretty sure that it’s OK to be a little bit flexible on……”

Just like with March Madness, you fill out your bracket of life one line at a time, one decision at a time. But this bracket is too important to go on feeling. But for what it’s worth, my gut tells me that North Carolina is going to top Connecticut in the final, 75-70.

Good luck filling out your brackets (of life)!

Throughout my walk with Christ, I’m constantly made aware of one fact. There’s more.

Every time that I read the Bible, I find something more. It’s like I’m peeling back the layers of a never-ending onion, or artichoke, or whatever your favorite layered vegetable is.

It seems like Jesus was constantly telling people that there is more to this life. More than what the Romans are selling. More than what the Pharisees were teaching. More than what your friends are living for. More than what the advertisers are pushing on television and billboards. (Maybe even more than what gets preached at church…)

Pastors can’t preach every layer of the onion at once. God is calling you deeper, farther in. He’s calling you to more. Christianity is not about arriving somewhere, it is about the journey.

At what point do you say, I hope my marriage, or my relationship with my parents, never gets any better. You don’t. It’s the same with God.

As we strip away the desires for power, popularity, position, pity and possessions, we can see what is behind the curtain. As we blow those smoke screens away, we get a back stage pass to what God really has in store. I can’t tell you exactly what it is God has in store for each of you, but I can tell you this: It’s more.

John 10:10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “ignorance is bliss”. Well, yes and no.

I used to see advertisements all of the time for High Definition TV. People would tell me what I was missing out on by not having HD, especially watching sports. “The game really comes to life.” “You feel like you’re right there on the field.”

I figured that I never had a problem with my viewing pleasure before, so I can’t miss something I’ve never had. And yet the encouragements continued from the advertisers and my friends. “You need to try HD.” “ It makes the picture come to life.” “ It seems like you’re right there in the game.”So I finally caved. I got the HD. And I have to admit that it makes a difference. I switch back and forth between regular NBATV and HD NBA TV, and I now realize what I’ve been missing. I watched the Superbowl this past Sunday and I could actually see how unusually clean shaven Kurt Warner was.

Now it’s my turn to sell you on something. The Bible is like an HD channel. The more you read, the more you learn, the more you immerse yourself in the study of it, the sharper it comes into focus. It makes the Bible “pictures” come to life. You feel like you’re right there on the field.

God doesn’t want you to have a black and white, grainy view of the most important story ever told. History is HIS story and God wants you to experience it in full-color, high definition clarity. And no matter what you background is with the Bible, God is telling us that there is more, much more to see.

For those of you who saw the SuperBowl, perhaps you had your 3-D glasses for the commercials after the second quarter, where the images jumped off the screen right into your living room. God wants that for you, where the Bible is not just words on a page, but eternal truth that leaps off the page into your life, applying itself to the very struggles you face today.

The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active.”

God bless you as you experience God’s living-and-active word in High Definition.

Happy belated New Year! I pray everyone is having a blessed start to 2009. New Years time is usually when people think about new beginnings, setting resolutions making promises to yourself.

“This is going to be the year I…..”

“After finally putting it off, I’m going to …..”

“In the new year I want to be more of a (fill in the blank) person.”

As years go by, when December comes and we’re no different, we get discouraged. As we get older, we get convinced that we’re never going to change, that who we are is who we are and we might as well get used to it.

The message I wanted to give in this blog is this: It is never too late to become the person you always wanted to be. Your life isn’t about where you are. It is about what direction you are heading. It is never too late to change your course.

Do you yearn to start over, back when you were younger, or when that event or circumstance that affected your life took place? Do you wish you were a more loving person? Generous person? Fun person? Less judgmental? More devoted? Committed? Prepared? Knowledgable? Free? It is never too late to become the person you always wanted to be! It is all about the direction of your life.

“But which way do I go? Please show me the way!”

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” All roads lead to Jesus. When you pursue Christ’s will for your life, you will become all these things you wish for, as long as they are a part of God’s will.

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Break free from the lie of the evil one, the great accuser which would tell you, “This is who you are. You’ll never change. Give up trying.”

Listen to the one who would say to you, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:17)

It’s never too late to become the person you always wanted to be. Happy New Year!

Well, it’s been over a month since my last posting (sounds like I’m in a confessional). Basically, I was having trouble with the website software. I either would lose all my blog before I would save it or I would save it half way through and the website would not allow me to edit and add more material. Bottom line, it got too hard so I quit for a while.

Thankfully, a friend helped me realize there was a way to beat the system, and write my blogs in Word first and then paste them in (thanks Linda). But the sad part is that I stopped doing what is probably an important posting for millions and millions of people (give or take), simply because it got too hard. And it’s probably not the first time this has happened to me, where I stopped something because it was too hard.

How true that can be with kingdom work. I’ll do it until it gets too hard. I really wanted to serve the Lord, but not like this. It’s just getting too hard. That argument actually sounds good until I imagine saying it to Jesus one day. “Why didn’t you follow through on the ministry I gave you, Cal?”  “Ummm. It was too hard?”

If Jesus was the kind of person to roll his eyes, I can just imagine him rolling them up in his head as he recounted his time on earth and how “hard” that was. I’m not trying to minimize the fact that ministry is hard, whether that ministry is pastoring a church or parenting a child. I just think that when we give God our conditional best (I’ll serve you until it’s too hard) than we will almost always reach that threshold of what we feel we can give.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Jimmy Dugan in the movie “A League of Their Own” when one of his players told him she was quitting because “it just got too hard”. Jimmy Responded with “It’s supposed to be hard. The hard is what makes it great. If it wasn’t hard, everybody would do it.”

Galatians 6:9 says – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

And as was the case with me and my blog, the answer to our problem might present itself if we just open up to others about our struggles. God bless you as you continue to serve, even in (especially in) the hard times.

Well, it is the day after the election, and I feel like I should post a blog for the 10 of you who check out my postiings. First of all, if we look at the popular voting, five of you are happy right now and the other five are not. (I hope that all 10 of you voted).

I actually should have posted this before the election, because it's message doesn't hinge on who won or who lost. What I want to remind you of is who really sits in the first chair. God is still on the throne and he does not seek reelection and cannot be forced out by term limits. He is and always has been and always will be the King of Kings. He has worked through King David and King Nebuchadnezzaar. He has worked through King Solomon and Pharaoh. He has worked through Ronald Regan and Bill Clinton. And He is still on the throne, and he is STILL working.

This election has not changed who God is or what he expects from us. God wants you to live for him in such a way that your neighbors notice. God want's you to live for him in such a way that your boss, your classmates, your friends, your spouse, your kids, your parents and even your enemies notice. Each day we seek to know Him better and love Him more. We are STILL to be wholly devoted to God, irrationally committed to each other (Even when things don't go our way. ESPECIALLY when things go our way.) and relentlessly reaching people with the message of Christ. That has been and will continue to be our campaign strategy.

God Bless you and God Bless America!