I have found that there is no better time to talk about the love of God and the birth of Christ than during the month of December. The real truth is that the radio and TV are doing a lot of the work for us and the Holy Spirit is speaking to the human heart no matter how broken the person may be. We so often are reluctant to share the story of the gospel because we look at the outside of people and think they don’t need our help when, in fact, they are crying out on the inside.

Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious.

With all the violent protest happening regarding the Supreme Court justice and various candidates running for office, it’s easy to feel like you just want to keep your head down and your mouth quiet lest someone notice you and take out their frustration or hatred on you.  But is that the right thing to do just because others are vocal and acting like fools?  What if this is the perfect time to be vocal about what you believe in and do it with respect?

The problem with humanity is that we have a very small perspective on greatness. We get so captivated by the latest tech gear. I remember when the first iPhone came out. I was there, waiting in line for hours, something I have never done for anything else. All to buy a phone that became obsolete within a few short years.

Being honest, Father’s Day is somewhat lacking in comparison to Mother’s Day both in focus and expense. When I worked in restaurants in my early days of employment Mother’s Day was the biggest day of the year. Families would reserve spots in restaurants far in advance or they wouldn’t get a table. Father’s Day, on the other hand, was pretty much the same as any other day. If you look at stores that have things for Mother’s Day, they stock up early and do huge promotions whereas Father’s Day ….not so much.

Our world is so enamored by appearance that real value in things or people often gets overlooked at best and rejected at worst. The culture of “Advertisement” has fooled us and stolen the perception of what’s most valuable.

The cover picture for this article is from a new movie release about some men who decided to take the opportunity to do the courageous thing and challenge a terrorist on a french high-speed train. The possibilities of them dying was more than real, but the opportunity to make a difference was theirs to use or throw away.

I am always trying to discover why people do what they do. Sometimes, what appears to be a good deed with no ulterior motive turns out to be a setup to persuade others to honor someone for the good deed they have done. It’s like a story that happened last year when a man running for office claimed to be a war veteran who had received a Medal of Honor. It turned out he was lying and had not even been in the military! He was using people’s respect for people who sacrificed in order to get an advantage in the voting polls. This week there was a story of a total stranger who climbed 4 stories on the outside of a building to save a toddler. The boy fell off a 5th floor balcony and was holding on for dear life on the 4th floor.

Have you ever wondered why our leaders created holidays to celebrate in America?

As a child, a holiday usually meant being out of school, or getting special presents like during Christmas and Easter. Once we became adults, we are supposed to become mature in our thinking and reflecting. Holidays were meant to honor things we value, and the sacrifice the others have made. Unfortunately,  as kids, many of the adults in our lives failed to sit down with us and explain each holiday and why people set that day aside to reflect on.

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a “Strong Men’s Conference” at my church in Charlotte, North Carolina that was both inspiring and challenging. Men in particular need the challenge to rise above the day-to-day things of life and focus on one key question……Are they acting like men or lambs?