Lemons to Lemonade.

We have all heard the saying, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Recently I have had some lemons sent my way and realized I really like lemonade. While drinking the lemonade, NOT KOOLAID, I talked to my Band of Brothers, a pastor, three special friends and two couples. All of us were in a state of unbelief but that was due to there being no communicated reason for the action. But when there is unbelief it becomes time to pray for answers. Not just for me but all involved. I have seen prayer work before in strong ways and subtle ways, but the thing is prayer WORKS.

My prayer was not for things to go back but for an understanding and an ability to move forward, plus vision into what I was missing. Communication was never a problem, at least on my side, but now that I look back I understand that it was on the other side. Also in a message heard from a new church I visited a statement was made. "When you are filled with the Holy Spirit you exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in giving to others unselfishly. God protects us from being walked all over. I thought that I was giving of myself and I believe it was as God was having me to do. I was not looking for anything in return other than friendship, honesty, and openness it grew into what I perceived as a love but now realize it was a one way love. God had his way of protecting me even through pain.

Understanding that things were difficult for the other I was willing to overlook many actions and red flags that appeared because we had "communication". Usually when decisions were made prayer was always a part of it. Not necessarily together, but we would discuss things and our talk would include advising we would, and I did, pray about items that came into our lives. so as I was hearing the break up I was expecting to hear, "I have prayed about this and God has shown me......" But what I heard instead was, "I have talked to three of my friends" (not completely sure of their Christian stance but I know they are not as strong as others that could have been consulted.), and "I have this 'feeling' that you are just not the one." Then finally "I have had time to think". Not once was the word prayer, or God used. I really find this interesting. My prayer at this time is that I am wrong in my thinking and that prayer was part of the decision. With my reflection I have noticed other red flags that I was blinded to but they are not important in the present other than I open my eyes sooner in any other relationship I may attempt in the future.

So on to my lemonade. The first taste was a bit bitter but as I continue to drink it gets better. I have some awesome friends that have shared a taste of it with me. Plus I go on to think about another saying, God has something better in mind for you." I believed for three happy years that I had one fantastic person, so if God has something better for me then look out. I am going to be one happy person.

Wow.. it has been a long time since I have written anything. Life has been pretty interesting for me as of late and I have had many thoughts come to mind. I am going to share a few quotes that I have posed in other social media. Hope that they give you something to think about.

April 8, 2013
In all we do we act properly and respectfully so that we are not discredited. Life moves forward, all is good or great and though we try not to wait or look for the roadblock, detour, or hardship you inevitably know it may come your way. All of us have been hit with physical and emotional hardships and have bruised our way through them. Heath issues too numerous to mention and emotional difficulties in relationships with family and friends that are so complicated we believe no one can help us through. We are warriors armed with weapons and have a band of brothers or sisters by our side with a Leader who has never lost a battle. Though at times we have been beaten and pushed hard upon, we will strive to move forward to win the battle. The war will be won and we will not be rich in wealth but our possessions will be great. - David A. Wisniewski inspired by 2 Corinthians 6: 3-10

April 13, 2013
When life happens you may not think it is a good thing but it is always a learning experience. Knowing that we are not really in control puts it into perspective and our eyes become open to what has really been happening.- David A. Wisniewski

April 13, 2013
In all things be who and what you are, not keeping things in secret. To deny your true identity to protect your identity is a lie. Does it mean you change what you are doing? Maybe, but the real change is to be an open book with who you are as it is too much of a conflict within ourselves to remain in the secret.- David A. Wisniewski

Old Fashioned Preachers vs New Technology

I have spent this week listening to some good old fashioned preaching. This combined with two old fashioned Gospel Quartets was inspirational and refreshing. It is good sometimes to hear the preaching and singing I grew up with. After all, this is what led me to my belief and salvation. Yes, you are waiting for the “but”, and of course I would not be writing this if there were not one.

The first evening message was on our being a “help” to the church. A very good image was presented that I would love to share but want to use it some other time. I will share that it presented two different ways people tend to be in the church and how we can be used in our church. The second night was about our song and that we as “Christians” are able to sing with Jesus as He did at the end of the Passover meal with His disciples before heading off to the Mount of Olives. An interesting statement was said that we Christians don’t sing because we can, but because we have a song inside of us. There are times when our song is silenced due to circumstances but we never lose our song. The important thing is that we are able to have our song renewed. The third evening was our knowing that we know that we know we are God’s. He has us and keeps us and we will always be His once we have accepted Him. Through whatever times we are going through He has a plan for us and the promises He has made to us are better than anything we can ever come up with ourselves. Finally the fourth service was on life with or without the Lord. There is devastation due to the Spirit of the Lord leaving us. Discovery when we realize that He is not with us and we have to go back to where we left Him. Then delight when we remember and worship Him for who He is. All the more we need to remember that Satan will step up when we start to serve and worship the Lord so we need to step up to a higher level in our service.

Now that I have shared the highlights of the messages there was one thing that jumped out at me from this old fashioned preaching. Why do these preachers downplay or preach against the new forms of technology? Yes, I understand that there can be a negative to many things, but it does not make it all bad. One of the preachers brought up “Facebook” with a negative connotation and it brought out a chorus of “amen”. I had to sit there and just shake my head. Yes, at times people put way too much on “Facebook” and it is used in ways that are very negative and destructive. I have many “friends” on my list that use it in such positive ways that it is and can be refreshing. Some of my “friends” are pastors, missionaries, wives of both, workers in churches, counselors, or they are just like me, saved servants of a risen Savior, who want to share some of the things we have learned in our lifetime. I am sure that back in the 1950’s when television was starting to hit its stride it was preached against, and it actually still is. I heard the other day that a preacher said "you're basically going to hell if you listen to contemporary Christian music". Does that mean only those from a different era are able to write and preform music? I guess these old fashioned preachers are the only ones that can preach the Word of God.

There comes a time when it is necessary to embrace the new media that is before us and show how it can be used in ways that are uplifting. After all there is live streaming of services to those that are unable to attend a service for some reason or another. My current church posts links to the message on “heaven forbid” Facebook. I look at how many times I have been unable to attend a Sunday service and listen to the sermons there. I attend a Journey Group that uses messages from a church web site for our lesson. We use songs that are posted on YouTube.

My posting this is not to speak badly of “old fashioned preachers” because as you can see they have much to share, but what I want to say is that we have so much before us that can be used to further God that we should embrace what He has allowed to be created. All things can and have been used negatively but at the same time we have an opportunity to use them in the correct way. The use by this pastor negatively concerning Facebook caused me to forget the points he was trying to get across. I actually had to call a friend and ask what he preached about. Let’s get with the program as we are all in this together with the same goal. That is to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Old fashioned singing and preaching combined with contemporary songs and messages are there to bring us all to a saving knowledge of Christ. Using the many different forms of communication in the proper way will help us to spread the message to a larger audience as long as we do things in the correct manner.

Trying to figure out why I have an "attitude".

Trying to figure out why I have an “attitude”.

Hey! It has been some time since I have stated my thoughts but I really have not had a bunch on my mind. Well, that is until this week. The past few days I have been agitated by statements that have caused me to become moody. Believe it or not I had a friend ask me if it was my time of the month. (Sure would like to see what happens when he asks his girlfriend that.) 

Anyways, let’s get to what is bothering me. For the life of me I have been trying to figure why my mood turned the way it did. My relationships are going great; my finances are in order, and other than the usual pains, health wise, everything is going well. So what was it that set off my “attitude”? The one thing that I can point to is a phone conversation I had the other day. I looked back at other times these feelings have come over me and it seems that it revolves around talking to this one person. Now just to clarify the person is not local to me nor do I see or speak to them often, but I do not want to mention them by name because they may read this.

What am I trying to say by this? I guess there are a few things that I am learning. As I cannot stop talking to this person I need to prepare myself for the negativity that always comes up when we do chat. I try to steer the conversation in other directions but at times I am unable to do so. Then I feel that the best thing for me to do is to focus my thoughts off the negative and on the positive of our conversation so that I do not direct my “attitude” towards others.  I tried to explain my “attitude” to a friend that I had directed my “attitude” towards, but that is when I got the “time of the month” statement. I hope that I am more attentive if I see someone having a difficult time. More important is that I want to be able to control my “attitude” so that I do not come across too negative as well. I have not been one to be negative or depressed often and I want to keep it that way.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Getting into the Christmas Spirit.

I had one of the best Thanksgivings this year and am looking forward to a very very good Christmas as well. The thing is over the past five or six years I have not really decorated for Christmas. Yes, I have helped others to decorate their homes and even enjoyed sharing in Christmas with others as well. Last year I even had an early Christmas with my kids and that was a special time for us all. What has happened is I have not gotten into the Christmas Spirit for myself or through my own doing but through that of others.

This year I went to a store with a friend and we were looking at all the Christmas decorations and ideas that are out. We discussed the idea of decorating my apartment for Christmas. I was like, why? I am not going to have any parties or have many guests over so why should I do that? Then it hit me, I really need to do this for me. I sit around in my apartment and I do not have anything to remind me of the season other than the stupid commercials on television. No they are not all stupid but there are a few that really irritate me. (I could blog on this alone so I will stop now.)

What I did next was figure out a budget for decorating my apartment. I am having to start with nothing and living on a fixed income I did not want to put out more than I could afford. Also not wanting to commercialize my living area I decided to start simple and keep it simple.

For me Christmas is about the birth of Jesus though I do enjoy much of the standard Christmas shows out there. My favorites are “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, It's a Wonderful Life”, 2 of the many versions of “A Christmas Carol” (The ones with George C. Scott and Patrick Stewart as Scrooge}, and of course “Rudolf”.

So here is what I decided to do. I found a prelit Christmas tree that was on sale and would fit in my apartment. Next I wanted to put something on my dining room table so I found some place mats that went with my room decor and for a center piece a friend had a decoration that fit perfect for just that. I was able to pick up a wreath for my front porch area and already having a stocking I brought it out and placed it very strategically, A very simple door mat to splash a bit of red and I was done. Now you may see my picture of the tree and ask why did I not decorate it. Two reasons for that. I am on a budget and not wanting to blow my budget on just the tree I decided to go with just the lighted tree. I could have gotten a few things to put on the tree but as my friend and I discussed, I should either go all out on the tree or keep it simple. Next year I will concentrate on the tree.

Now back to the Spirit of Christmas. As I said earlier that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, how has this decorating gotten me into the “Spirit”? After being thankful for so much over the past few years I have been able to concentrate on what Jesus birth means to me. His birth was simple in that he was born in a manger with just his mother and earthly father there. It was celebrated by angels proclaiming to the shepherds and to the kings (wise men) from distant lands. A star was placed brightly in the sky for them to follow in order to see the Savior. My little bit of decorating is a reminder of that time when Jesus first came to the earth as man. He did this not only for me but for all of mankind. Living a perfect life as an example for me. Having taken all Sin, carrying it to the cross, dieing in my place and yours, then raising back to life, being then transformed just as we are able to be when we accept this, freely and simply. He then left to prepare a place for us leaving us the Holy Spirit as a guide through our life. Here is that Spirit of Christmas that I really want to have in and with me.

The Spirit of Christmas is with in all of us by what was done for us over 2000 years ago. Living a life as an example to others, helping and being there for others, and even allowing others to help and be there for you. Not being selfish but just giving to others in what ever way you are possibly able. Merry Christmas to all and lets have a great New Year being all that we can. 

A Life Well Wasted.

Now do I consider my life wasted, NO!! Are there areas in it where I believe I had wasted time and effort, YES!!! There are times in all our lives where we have done foolish things. Looking at Samson in Judges 14 through 16 he was seen having accomplished at least five foolish things in his life. An engagement, a riddle, his temper, his ego and finally his ending were pointed out as being these five foolishness items. As a Nazarite there were three areas that he was supposed to stay away from. He could not take part of anything fermented, having to do with grapes or wine. Then he was not supposed to touch any thing dead and the third was he could not cut his hair. So what did he do that violated these. He entered a vineyard, duh, grapes, killed a lion, and after having killed it went back and found honey in it. Can we say touching the dead? Then what do we remember most, he allowed Delilah to know the secret of his strength (what he thought was) and thus had a razor put to his hair.

Now I am not saying that drinking wine, touching the dead or having your hair cut is wrong, I have done all of the above, but for Samson it was. Where in your life have you done foolish things? Most of us can look back and see plenty of areas where we have. Details are not important but understanding that I have done foolish things is important for me to see where I came from and where I am going. I started my life off pretty well by doing what I believed was the correct way to live but I feel it is necessary to compare my life to that of Samson concerning doing foolish things. I engaged in areas that I should have stayed away from. When it comes to riddles, I would consider this as saying things in ways that tempt others and myself in ways that would get me in trouble. A temper, yes I have one and it has caused me problems in my past. What can I say about ego? We all have one and to some of us it is a problem we have to contend with every day. Samson thought his strength was in his hair but did not realize the strength came from the Lord so he did not see that, not his strength, but the Lord had left him. Our ending, the good thing about this is that we still have a say in how that will be. Samson ended up asking the Lord for the strength to return to his body and he weakened the pillars claiming the lives of the Philistines and of course himself as well.

What have I learned from the life of Samson? I can appear to be successful in life but if I am not living out God’s given purpose for me then I am wasting the things that I am doing. Having made foolish choices in my past has consequences that are carried with me that I must still deal with today. An interesting statement that was brought up and I see as pretty eye opening is “you make choices and those choices make you”. Then finally it is how you finish your life that is more important than how you start it. I want to add to that it is not what you do in the middle either. I am not perfect and have not led a perfect life but I am striving to live out God’s purpose for my life. I want to finish my life the way God has intended for me to live it. It will be filled with trials and difficulties and I will even continue to do a few foolish things but I shall strive to do the best that I can. An interesting way to close out this is to say that “you preach your own funeral by the way you live”. If a video of who you were was used what would it say? Yes, we have all done foolish things but in the end was the climax of our life one that would show who we were supposed to be for God.

The Death Penalty

Did I get your attention with that? No, not that one, I am thinking about the threat of the death penalty for Colleges that continue to break the rules. Remember SMU, Erik Dickerson and company!!! Here is what Wikipedia says about the death penalty concerning SMU and college football.

“The harshness of the penalty nearly destroyed SMU football. The Mustangs only had one winning season over the next 20 years, and failed to make another bowl until 2009. It was also one of several factors that led to the collapse of the Southwest Conference. To this day, it is the most severe penalty ever handed down to a major (Division I) athletic program.”

Even with this being handed out major colleges continue to break the rules. I guess I should clarify this by saying alumni and supporters of colleges and their sports programs continue to break the rules. I turned on ESPN and am hearing about “The U” (The University of Miami), the one in Florida, not Ohio, Quarterback U, the one that produces all those NFL players. Very similar to the Running Back U in California, you know the one I am talking about, Reggie Bush and company, USC, another producer of NFL players. Oh, and did I mention all the money these programs bring in to the colleges, the conferences they belong to and television networks. Yes I have read where only 14 of the 106 colleges in the FBS made money in 2009 and that was down from 25 the previous year. The thing is money is being generated. It comes in, it goes out. That is how the system works. The NCAA does not want another collapse of a conference and I am sure they do not or cannot afford to allow a major program to suffer the same fate.

So what would happen if “the death penalty” were to be enforced to these major colleges? I shutter to think of the repercussions that would come from it. So what does the NCAA governing body do? Slap a wrist here, swat a butt there. Threaten with this hand while reaching out the other for the money that is collected by the colleges. This is the way I see it anyways.

Where do I stand on this? I am going to give two sides of it. The first is to bring back the “Death Penalty”. Even though the NCAA would be hurting itself, bring on the penalty. Let’s get college sports back to the amateur status that it should be. Changes need to be made to the NCAA rules though because I feel that lots of the rules are plain stupid and out dated. I could research this and give you boring statistics but we have heard it all so I will leave that up to you to discover. Second is to make college sports a farm system for the pro sports. The rules again would have to be drastically changed to make it fair for all the tiers of colleges. I am sure that a restructuring of the schools would be made. Some colleges would become AAA Farm teams as producers of more professional athletes down to an A farm teams for others. Many schools would have to do away with sports programs with this format. This is just a guess but I do feel that this could happen.

As I have given two possibilities there are other ideas out there. My thought though is to bring back the “death penalty”. No one is being held accountable. Sure, an indication of accountability is scratched at with the scholarships being taken away, probations, no TV, and not allowing them to go to bowl games or tournaments, and so forth. But it is not a deterrent. It continues to happen and from the looks of it, will continue in the future. Revamp the rules NCAA and get your house in order. Fix the problems as there are many. I do not have the answers but there are those out there that can help to fix it. Just get it done before it is too late, or is it already too late?