Closure (Tim Smith)

It occurred to me the other day that I do not know the name of this item. In fact, I do not know if it really has a name at all. All my life, I have been removing these from bread bags and immediately tossing them into the trash where they belong, and I do not know its'/their name.

They're unnecessary, of course. Everyone born with a y chromosome knows that to properly close a bread bag, you hold it up by the empty part at the open end of the bag, give it a mid-air twist, and fold the twisted part under the bag while setting it down on the counter. Problem solved. Fresh bread for all. No unnecessary, let alone unidentifiable, tiny plastic widgets.

But this anonymous little bit of plastic might in fact be a whole market unto itself. At least one company is attempting to make it's name and money by promoting an eco-friendly version. (www.ecoclip.com) To think I have been shamefully adding these to our landfills when I could have been saving the environment the overwhelming burden of an extra ounce of plastic each year!

Stands to reason that if someone is selling these, someone must be buying them. And there you have a whole other job connected with this item--"Hi, I'm Danny Finklestein, Chief Bread-bag Closure Buyer for Wonderbread, Central Region. ...Oh, you heard about the big Ecoclip deal? Yeah, well, I don't want to brag, but that was me."

I just think that if there is going to be a whole industry built around it, it should have a better name than 'bread bag closure.' So I am hereby commissioning the Bread Bag Closure Renaming Contest. I will give the grand prize of $1.00 to the person who contacts me with the best suggestion for a new name for this item. Use of the word 'sphincter' in your suggestion is prohibited. Good luck.

To delight in the Lord (Kyle)

What does this mean? A child will delight in the smallest and most innocent of things, such as a piece of candy or a trip to the park. Do we delight in anything anymore? To delight in the Lord – do we have the same youthful excitement at the gentlest of God’s touch? Do we ask and plead for it? Do we whine when we don’t get it? Do we jump for joy when God shows us something new? Do we even notice when he does reveal himself to us? I've discovered that we can find God in more than just those times that we are having our devotional. I have learned to see God and his fingerprints in creation. All of creation worships him because the universe operates according to the way that God has set it up. A good example is geese.

One day last summer, I witnessed something that I call majestic. I was sitting/praying alone down at the American River. The sun was going down. Everything was silent as I pressed into God and opened my ears and heart to hear his whisper. Silence. But then, 50 or so geese flew overhead. I wouldn't have noticed except for the sound that they created. It was not any kind of chirping, or calling, or honking or whatever it is that geese do, but it was the sound of their bodies and wings swiftly moving through the air, like the sound of someone softly moving between two bedsheets. As I experienced this, I immediately felt the closeness of God, and I was filled with joy the more I thought about it.

Geese know exactly when to embark on that long journey to fly south when it gets cold. How do they know south is the right way to go? How do they know they are even going south? I know they don’t have road signs, compasses, or built-in GPS units. But they still always end up where they need to go. God directs them and they bring Him glory by going south to enjoy the warm climate. It is their act of worship. The glory of a bird is for it to fly, and In this, I delight.

Maybe God was not speaking to me in that moment that the geese flew by, but for some reason, I found delight in these simple birds and their instinctive act of worship to their creator by doing exactly what he made them to do.

New Year’s Resolutions (Karla Estrada)

This is about the time I reflect back and see what I need to change for the next year. It usually includes: do more exercise, eat healthier, call my old friend (and the list goes on)… just to forget about them two months later and if I’m lucky, I’ll remember them in the fall and make another attempt to accomplish them.
This week I was reminded of a passage I have read time and time again this past year but some how this time it carried another meaning. In Philippians 3, Paul talks about not having confidence in the flesh and pressing on towards the goal. Now, I don’t know about you, but if anyone is going to boast about where they come from, who they are and how much they know is Paul the man himself who has all the rights to do this. Yet, he doesn’t. He evens considers all he has and all he knows as “rubbish”. As I read verses 12-14, I get a glimpse of what Paul was trying to say. The man who by far did more for God was telling me that he is not perfect and he doesn’t have it all together (most of the time I think he does!). Not only that; but to forget what is behind! He can’t mean everything! YES! To forget my failures and victories, all the things I have achieved, all that I have learned so I can have both hands free to take hold of what Christ has call me to. I stopped to think of the work this will take just to read his next choice of word: “straining”. If you have done any physical labor or sports you know very well the meaning of this word: “discipline” and “hard work”. Paul is very clear on this when he talks with Timothy (2 Tim. 2:3-6). I then realized that this has become a foreign term for most us who live in this “information at your fingertips”, “get it now”, “super speed” & “comfortable” world. Paul didn’t make any mistakes in saying this. He knew very well that discipline and letting go of the past is what would press him forward to reach for the goal to which God called Him to.
So, as you think about your New Year’s resolution, I pray that you let go of all that is “behind” you, what ever your successes and failures have been. Let go of the things you think you know or don’t know and step into this New Year with “two free hands” and “strain forward towards the goal” (this means that sometimes it takes work!) so you can take hold of all the new promises God has for you. As for me, my resolution will be to put into practice what Paul was talking about in Phil. 3:12-14.

Remedy (Kyle)

Kyle is listening to:


The cd is great. There are still a few songs that are a little silly and "poppy," but this should be expected - it's David Crowder. The album is called Remedy, which is appropriate because I could use a good remedy right now, as I have come down with a head cold over the last few days. So, as of right now, I am on Sudafed, Dayquil, Airborn, multi-vitamins, vitamin C, and Good Earth tea. I will take anything and everything that will make me feel better. I'm sure you can relate. Got any other ideas?

On a more serious note, the concept of the cd is amazing, and I have been thinking about it since last week when I first put it on my not-so-reliable ipod (it has a tendency to erase all my music when it gets angry at me). The 10-tracks all follow this theme:

"Where there is pain, let us bring grace. Where there is suffering, bring serinity. for those afraid, let us be brave. Where there is misery, let us bring relief. Let us be the remedy."

According to wiktionary, a remedy is "something that corrects or counteracts." As a Christian, I know that Christ was the ultimate rememdy, corrects and counteracting the sin that corrupts mankind. He is my ultimate remedy. If Christ lives inside of me and I am submissive and obediant to him, then I also can be the remedy to those who live without God. I hate to use the Christian phrase "Jesus with skin on" because it honestly kinda creeps me out, but that is what I am - Sent by him to help finish his work in a world that is so void of his love and far from the way God intended it to be. The symptoms of our emptiness are clear (and I still have some of them!): parties, drinking, drugs, crime, violence, poverty, injustice, pessimism/negativity, an emotional need for relationships, trust in money or a good salary for security, ambition, pain, pride, hunger, and the list goes on...

The fact that the disease of sin and emptiness is such an epidemic in our world should not discourage us, but instead lift us up and bring us closer to God. We are the Remedy!!! Oswald Chambers wrote this, "To walk in the light means that everything in the darkness drives me closer to the light." It makes sense, right?

All of this reminds of a movie I recently saw called "I am Legend." You've heard of it...Will Smith is the last human left in New York, a city were a virus has overtaken mankind making them into violent vampire-like creatures. They live in the darkness. He spends day after day trying to find a remedy to this disease, so that he can save these creatures that want to kill him. Does he find it? Well, I won't ruin the film if you haven't seen it. But the point is that his character is bold, courageous, and selfless because of the great task he has taken upon himself to save these ex-humans. He is not their savior, but his actions are heroic and admirable.

Whose remedy do you need to be today?

And the wonder of it all...

Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope you all had as good of a time with friends and family as I have. So far, I have had a great holiday, celebrating the love of God in Jesus with those who I love. I also got to go to midnight mass at the Cathedral downtown. It is a beautiful, stained-glass and domed Catholic church in downtown Sacramento. (my family and I were in town for Christmas eve, and wide awake after the party at my cousin's house, so we thought we would check it out). I have never been to a midnight mass on Christmas eve, but it really was something that gave me a fresh perspective on Christmas, the birth of Christ, and the holiness of God. As soon as Decemeber 25th began at 12:00, we were singing various songs in latin, spanish, german, and english about the birth of our savior. I began to think about why we celebrate Christmas. It is not about the gifts we give each other, but about the gift of Christ that God gave to us before we knew Him. It is really quite incredible for me to think about.

Would Christ have felt welcomed at the Christmas parties we went to this year? They should be celebrations of him, his birth, and what he came to be - the messiah and savior of the world. I'm not sure if he would be all the time, which really bothers me. Honostly, I could do away with the gifts and the commercialism of Christmas if we could all just get back to the reality and holiness of this day we celebrate. Even though Christmas has passed, I am continuing to reflect on these things. Why Christ was born and what it meant to all people for all time.

An active faith? (Kyle Marks)

"But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
Romans 8:24-25

This verse says that we must wait patiently for the things that are to come. However, my wait must not be without action. I need to remember that I must have a faith that is revealed to others through my actions. I can't just kick back, relax, and feel good about knowing that God is working on my behalf. Actually, this habit of "non-action" might actually be the opposite of what Paul is talking about in Romans 8.

Chambers wrote, "All the great blessing of God are finshed and complete, but they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant. Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means I have no faith in Him."
Well, way to go Oswald and completely make me feel horrible about my faith. He does have a way of speaking the truth in a way that is heavy and convicting. But it is true. The writer of James wrote that "faith without deeds is dead."

So I ask myself, what is God telling me to DO today? How can my faith and hope be made alive by my actions and inter-action with other people? I do I need to do today to prepare me for what God is calling me to do tomorrow?

The things I regret in my life the most are never the things that I actually DID do, but instead, they are almost always the things that I DID NOT do. Let's keep this in mind as we enter a five-week break and the Christmas season.

-Kyle

I am what I am (Kyle Marks)

This morning I was reading My Utmost for His Highest, which is a daily devotional by Oswald Chambers. Today's reading really spoke to me. It says this:

"The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us."

I struggle with this often. Many people may think I am humble by saying that I am not good at something, when I really I know that I am good at it. But this is like a slap in the face to God, who has given me these abilities and talents to be used for His glory. It is not humility in God's eyes at all. It is dangerous for us to live in this "spirit of poverty," where all we can say is "I'm not good enough," or "I can't do it," or "that could never happen." God, on the other hand, is endless and can do anything in us and through us. So what we find is summed up in what Chambers writes at the end of the devotion:

"There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life."

This speaks of a focused life, which I have learned is the most effective, powerful, and fulfilling life anyone can live. Sometimes I feel like a "Jack of all trades," being good a many things, but great at nothing. My life-focus is too wide. When we are focused, we can do great things, but when we are not, our lives can become useless and sometimes even destructive. Remember that a flood is just a river that couldn't decide where to go. So my goal is to live a focused life, and move beyond just being good at many things and into being great at the one thing God has destined for me to do.

-Kyle