my thoughts

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I Was Offended … Or Was I?

I can’t put a finger on the last time I was offended, but I’m sure it had to be in the last day or two. I’m sure of it because I don’t like what some people say about certain things.

I was Offended

People get offended all the time, and I know they get offended because they say so. There is not a day that goes by in the news that someone is not offended by something. 

One online dictionary definition of the word “offended” is “resentful or annoyed, typically as a result of a perceived insult.”

… I should be offended every time CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme tells me what Canada is thinking or feeling. She’s usually wrong when it comes to me, and that insults me that she would clump me in with every other Canadian. 

I have my own thoughts, thank you.  

Truthfully, even if I don’t like what some people say, I don’t take offence because I know they are stating an opinion. 

Opinions are just their own thoughts – that might be wrong, or only partially right. It’s not offensive because it’s JUST … THEIR … OPINION.

Maybe our skin needs to be a little thicker. We need to hear a speech we don’t agree with and not be so hurt or insulted … it’s just an opinion.

The other day on Hockey Night In Canada’s Coach’s Corner, Don Cherry (a hockey analyst) made some comments about Remembrance Day and poppies not being worn. 

Some people have jumped all over his comments as insulting and offensive to newer Canadians. … Probably most of them were not watching hockey that night, but news writers and broadcasters have made sure that everyone in Canada got a fair shot at hearing what they considered offensive.

But if they were not personally insulted by the comments, how could they be offended? 

The thing is, Don Cherry may have made some remarks that were not positive and uplifting to people who are new to Canada, but they were just his opinion.  

He may be completely wrong in his thinking, but let’s not act like we are all about 95 years old with skin so thin that it tears by just bumping into a door or something! 

I think it’s fine for people to point out that Don Cherry might be wrong in what he said. (It probably would be hard to actually prove him either wrong or right.) But they could have the opinion that he is wrong and offensive in what he said. 

But giving their opinion that way really should be offensive to Don Cherry. They certainly insulted him in their remarks.

That begs the question: Is it alright to offend someone who has already offended others? Is it correct to offend one person but not correct to offend a group of people?

What it comes down to is not whether individuals were offended or not, but rather that they didn’t like what was said and they didn’t agree with it. 

That is called “opinion” and we should all be able to have one, whether our opinion is right or wrong. 

And if you don’t agree with me, I’m offended. Hey, I think I may have just been offended today.

Here’s the thing: God says that there is one way to get into heaven and to escape hell, and that is to place your faith in Jesus Christ. Some people may not like to hear this; they may say it offends them. It offends them because they don’t want to agree with it or adhere to it. God is not offended; it is only their opinion. It will also not change their outcome. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to have thicker skin about? Leave your comments and questions below.

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We Made It Just In Time

We’ve all experienced that sigh of relief when something happened just in time. 

just in time

… Like when you made it into the house just before a downpour of rain. You chuckle to yourself – no, you laugh at the rain – as if to say, “You missed me; I’m safe. Better luck next time.”

I remember playing hide’n seek when I was a kid and one time the person who was “it” was close to me, but I thought I could outrun him. I took a chance and, when he was looking the other way, I took off. 

I ran as fast as I could but I underestimated the speed of the kid who was chasing me. 

He was gaining fast as we approached home base. But just before he caught me, I touched the post and was safe. 

I was so out of breath, but that couldn’t deter the smile on my face that went from ear to ear. 

We looked each other in the eyes and both knew that if there had have been another couple of feet I would probably have been “it” the next round.

… That didn’t stop me from singing that little tune that gets under every loser’s skin: “Nananananana”.

There is a distinct and joyous satisfaction when you make it in the nick of time. Whether it is escaping a downpour of rain, beating a red light, or getting past the door of a store just before the manager closes it for the night. 

Whew, we made it.

Well, that’s maybe how SNC-Lavalin felt the other night when the Canadian election results came in. 

The Conservatives had made it clear that they would open up an investigation into corruption if they got into power.  

The company executives also knew that if the Liberals won the election they would be safe from any repercussion over past corrupt business dealings. 

You could almost see the executives chewing their fingernails to the bone as the night went on, wondering who would win.

Better than that, I imagined those SNC-Lavalin executives running with all their might down a street as the police chased them in hot pursuit. They were panting, exhausted, but running for their very lives, sweat dripping off their brows, in their suits, their ties flapping in the wind behind their shoulders.

And then it was declared: the Liberals won a minority government. 

That was it. They ducked into the building to their right and locked the glass doors behind them.

The police had no authority or access to enter. 

The executives, hunched over and exhausted, wiped their foreheads of sweat and looked out the glass doors at the police. 

They chuckled and quietly, looked at each other, then back at the police, and said, “Nananananana”.

Oh, that feeling they must have had to know the possible nightmare threat would not materialize. 

It must have felt good. 

But not as good as the next day – October 22, 2019 – when SNC-Lavalin stocks took a major leap in the stock market from $2.24 – $19.92!

Here’s the thing: In life we can go from close call to close call, each time rejoicing that we made it by the skin of our teeth. But all those just-in-time games we play are short term for this life. You might get into heaven by a slim margin ( 1Corinthians 3:15 ) but there will be no rejoicing in your good fortune. Don’t play hide and seek with your relationship with God. Don’t find yourself running to get in on time. Secure your relationship now and grow it. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to stop running from? Leave your comments and questions below.

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A Good Excuse Is Not Hard To Find

Every once in a while we just need a good excuse to attend a conference.

good excuse

This past week I attended a two-day conference on leadership. It’s an annual conference that I usually try to get to. 

The logistics that needed to be in place to attend included finding someone in advance to speak for me in church on the Sunday that followed. I also had to make sure my schedule was free from appointments and meetings.

None of that is too hard to do. I only have to want to make those arrangements, and then set them up weeks, or sometimes months, in advance.  

Probably the most common reason people give for not attending a conference is that they are too busy. However, the real reasons might be that they don’t see the value in attending, may not like the disruption in their schedule, or are deterred by the cost.

It’s just simpler to say, “I’m busy”. 

Years ago when a girl didn’t want to go on a date with a guy she would sometimes say, “I’m washing my hair tonight.” Her response gave the impression that turning down his invitation had nothing to do with him.

But even the dumbest guy could figure out that there was something more behind that excuse.

“Too busy” is an easy defence. Everyone knows what busy is all about. We are all busy; life is busy. Everyone I know from the retired guy to the public school kid is busy. I don’t know anyone who talks about having all the time in the world. 

You can’t argue with that excuse. We love to use it; it’s at least partly true.

Have you ever been asked to do or attend something and felt a little cornered to say “yes”? But then you checked your calendar and saw that you already had an appointment on that date. You almost had to control your joy and excitement as you adjusted your face to look disappointed before saying, “Oh, unfortunately I’m busy on that day.”

The “I’m too busy” excuse is one of the great excuses we use for getting out of things we don’t want to do. We use it even for something that’s good for us. 

For instance, the conference I attended this past week was world class. The speakers are always top notch, but this year the numbers were down. 

Instead of an excuse not to attend, people need a good excuse to attend. 

And one of the greatest excuses for attending something that is going to cost you money and cause you to rearrange your schedule is … it breaks your routine. It gets you out of your daily rut; it changes things up. 

And that is good for you. It’s healthy for you. It’s a break from everyday sameness. It adds spice to your life. 

And along with that great excuse is that you learn new things that you benefit from. 

So set up a budget, save up, and sign up for a conference this year to put a little spice in your life. 

It’s a good excuse.

Here’s the thing: The easiest things to do in life are the same things we are doing, even if they are wrong, harmful, or good for us. God longs to bring the best to your life, which will mean breaking from the same thing to do something that’s best. Don’t fall back on your regular excuses. Come up with a good excuse to do what God wants.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What would add some spice to your life that you need a good excuse for? Leave your comments and questions below.

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What Marks The Seasons Of Your Life?

The change in the seasons is marked in various ways. 

What marks the seasons

For some it is a date on the calendar that moves us from one season to another. For others the weather is a popular, telltale sign that we have entered into a new season.

Some people mark the seasonal changes by events. There are so many of them: the start of NHL hockey, baseball playoffs, and you definitely know fall is right around the corner when the NFL football season starts. 

For me, I take my cues regarding the changing of seasons from all the above. The date, the weather and events all play a part in my sensing that the new fall season has just begun. 

But there is another thing that clearly indicates that we have moved into fall, and that is when my wife, Lily, brings home the gourds.  

I’m not talking about a family with three children all with the name “Gord” – like the two Darryls in the Newhart TV show back in the 80’s.

I’m talking about gourds like pumpkin, zucchini and squash.

For some reason these are the symbol of fall in our home. I’m not sure if it’s because they all ripen at this time or they have a more earthy, dull sky, rainy look to them. 

I’m not saying I don’t like having these gourds around the house. I’m perfectly fine having them displayed in the centre of our kitchen table, just as long as one of them doesn’t go missing for a few hours and end up on my dinner plate for me to eat. 

Gourd food is nasty. Squash is nasty tasting, and I don’t care if you put butter and brown sugar on it to mask the flavour. 

You have to remember that this was a food the pilgrims ate when they first settled in North America. Sure they were thankful for it all then … they were starving at the time! 

If I didn’t have any food to eat for a week, I could probably force down a little squash to keep me alive. 

But listen, those days of being thankful for squash are long gone. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for squash – I’m just thankful that when I see it displayed on the table that I don’t have to eat it. 

Well, the other day after Lily came home from the grocery store, I noticed four gourds proudly displayed on our kitchen table.

I know one is a pumpkin – it’s miniature in size, far too small to make a jack-o-lantern out of. Then there is a yellow gourd and two green gourds … certainly not the colours of spring or summer. 

So now it’s definitely fall. Every possible sign known to man has declared it. We just have to face it. 

We’ll be okay.

And you can be sure I’ll be counting those gourds at every meal and checking my potatoes to see if she mixed some squash in there.

Here’s the thing: Here is an exercise for us as we face a new season. What are the signs that Christ is involved in your life? How many signs of Christ’s involvement in your life can you identify? Does Christ show up every morning in your devotions? Is He around when you have decisions to make? Does Christ show up in your conversations? Take some time and list the signs. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What will it take for you to be fully engaged with Christ? Leave your comments and questions below.

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The Media Is Driving Me Crazy

I feel that taking a break from all media sources might help calm my mind and my emotions. 

Media Is Driving Me Crazy

In order for me to do that, I need to turn off the radio in my car, my television set at home, and all social media feeds on my computer, tablet and cell phone. 

That would be extreme living for me … and all in a bad way.

I’ve heard of people living off the grid, moving to some remote place where they have to hike in on foot, and setting up a yurt after they cut down a bunch of trees in the middle of a pine forest. 

They live on vegetables that they grow and fish that they catch. Every month or so they treat themselves to a trip to a city to really experience life.

You know I’m just kidding. 

For all my off-the-grid readers, how do you even get this blog? 

At least the off-the-gridders can be selective with the media they are exposed to. In the last couple of days I’ve been so frustrated with what I’ve heard in the media that I’m ready do something, but don’t what to do or whom to do it to. 

All the impeachment talk concerning President Trump has me itching to impeach the media …Could someone actually do that?

I’m not saying for one moment that Trump didn’t do something wrong, but let’s not jump to the conclusion before we have the whole story.

The conclusion is where everyone is. Even the NDP candidate running for the PM of Canada is calling for Donald Trump to be impeached. 

It’s all emotion based on information provided from someone we don’t know … information that still has yet to be verified as all true and accurate.

For all I know, what we are being told is true, but most likely it’s partially true or mostly true. 

Remember the prince in the Princess Bride who was only mostly dead? I think what we are being fed fits somewhere in that category of not being completely true or false, just mostly one or the other. 

But the media is talking about it as if it has all been proven true. They even interpret some of Trump’s words from the phone recording in ways that exaggerate what was said. 

It stirs people’s emotions and builds a hype that creates a unified voice that judges and condemns before any real investigation or trial has done its job. 

What the media is doing is building strong support for something that is based mostly on opinion at this point … their opinion! 

And when that opinion catches wind, they stir the embers and fan their opinion flame into a bonfire, maybe even a wild fire that can’t be stopped. 

Opinion is not truth. It might be true, but it’s not true until it is proven. When opinion becomes truth before it is proven, that’s what you call North American news. 

They hold up their right to inform the people, but they are really only forming the people to their opinion. 

Here’s the thing: Some people’s belief systems are based on opinion. Their opinion of God seems to be truth to them, even though they have never taken the time to prove their opinion one way or the other. All of us should question how we have let our opinion of God rule our relationship with Him, rather than seeking proof of God in our relationship with Him. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What opinion of God do you have that needs to be challenged? Leave your comments and questions below.

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People Are Tougher Than God

In some ways people are tougher than God. The Canadian election campaign has  recently highlighted that fact for me.

people

To a lot of people, God is tough. They view Him as the all-seeing kill joy, just waiting to pounce on someone who does wrong. 

Some people equate God with punishment – a punishment that is swift and harsh.

However, a careful look at the Bible will see a rather different God – one who is patient … so patient that the reader can get a little impatient with God’s patience with people.

As for punishment, rather than being punitive, the Bible shows that most of God’s punishment is for the purpose of correction and restoration. 

I was reading in the news today about all the candidates that have had to pull out of the election campaign, or were asked to step down by their party leaders because of comments they made through social media. 

The interesting thing is that most of these offences happened years ago. In some cases, the comments were made decades ago.

It seems, however, that a comment made – no matter what decade it was made in – still truly represents a person. 

Even when people apologize for comments made in their past, there is still a cloud of mistrust that hangs over them. There remains a question mark in the minds of the voters regarding whether this person can be trusted now, or ever again.

There is not a person alive, or a person who has ever lived, who has not said something in their past that they would regret if it were made known years and years later. 

There is not one person who has ever lived who has not said something, only to find out later through new information that they were wrong, or to be convicted later about some attitude they once held but no longer do. 

But in this political campaign, watch out because you will pay dearly for those comments if they get out. It will not be a quiet matter either; it will be made public for millions to know. You will face shame, and there is a good chance you will lose your ability to serve publicly.

The reason for all this? Two things, or the lack of them: forgiving and forgetting.

Especially because of social media, forgetting won’t happen. 

But people also have a hard time forgetting. Our minds are like high-end computers that can spit out data on demand, no matter how long that data has been stored there.

Then there is the forgiving.

We all want to be forgiven but we don’t like to forgive. We like to hang on to our hurts and hold others accountable for what they say and do. 

People are just like what they think God is like. They are hard, shaming, guilt-producing, angry, condemning, self-righteous and self-appointed gods.

… You only have to watch the commercials that are aired on television from now to the end of the election to see that this is true.

Here’s the thing: It’s awesome that God is not at all like that. Why? Two things: forgiving and forgetting. God is a forgiving God who willingly and lovingly forgives those who want to be forgiven. He is the God of the second chance … and third and fourth, for that matter. And God is forgetting. Rather than remembering what He has forgiven, in case He wanted to use it against us, God chooses to forget. It can never come back to haunt us.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you been guilty of not forgiving and forgetting? Leave your comments and questions below.

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It’s Back-To-School Week

This was back-to-school week, but really what it was back to was the people, not the institution.

back to school

Going back to school would be nothing much if it wasn’t for the people. 

Suppose this week all the kids went back to school after two or four months, but what they went back to was online courses. There wouldn’t be all the excitement and all the nerves. There would also be very little to look forward to.

You see, it’s not really about getting back to school; it’s about getting back to your friends.

Earlier this summer, a friend who lives in Red Deer came back to Ontario for his yearly visit. My old high school friends and I use that occasion to get together over a meal. 

Some of the guys see each other throughout the year, but many of us haven’t seen each other in a long time. One guy who showed up this year I hadn’t seen since high school – that’s 43 years ago! 

But getting together wasn’t about dinner. It was about seeing each other, recalling old times, telling the same old jokes, and ribbing each other about stuff we did back in the day.

It was just like getting back to school, only we didn’t have the annoyance of classrooms and teachers … not that they were all bad.

This week students everywhere got reacquainted. They told stories of their summer months, and picked back up with each other like it was spring time again. 

This week I also had a bit of a back-to-school week, minus the school. I met up with the boys on the Kingston Frontenacs hockey team for the first time since they left the rink back in March.

Some of the boys are new to the team and I’ll get to know them as the year progresses. But a bunch of them are returnees – some for their fourth year. It was great to see the guys again and some of the team staff. 

Though hockey is the centre of all the talk and activity, it is the people that we get back to – the nicknames, the stories, the jokes and the sense of being with family … not your real family, but a kind of family that shares a part of your life and experiences.  

We go through this kind of thing all the time, getting back to … it’s never the institution or the organization or the thing. 

It’s always getting back to the people. 

The only thing that will put a smile on your face when you leave your home to go to school, or a restaurant or the rink, is the people. 

That’s what makes September, the fall, getting back to school, all worth it. 

Here’s the thing:  Religion is an institution and many people who have strayed away from it or have never had anything to do with it, don’t have much motivation to become part of it, or get back to it. But Christianity is not about religion; it’s about a relationship with Jesus Christ. What Jesus is hoping for is that you will want to get back with Him this fall. As you consider all those you are getting back with this fall, consider how to get back to Jesus or get closer to Him. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you looking forward to getting back to this fall? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Listening To A Presentation Is Not That Easy

While I’m away on my study planning week, I am posting a blog article I wrote in August of 2014. I hope you enjoy this one.

As a giver of presentations, I’m not often on the listening end of them. So the other day in church, when I was listening to someone give the message, I found my mind going in lots of directions. 

presentation, listening,

It’s not easy to listen; it’s difficult to stay engaged with the speaker.

I noticed first off that the message was going to be about light. I knew that because, before the pastor got up to preach, they showed a video about Christ being the light of the world. 

The video was good and I wanted to know more about this light show that he was going to talk about. I started looking at the lights on stage and thought it was cool how they could change colour.  

But I also noticed how dark the auditorium was and thought they could throw a little more light on the platform.  

At the beginning of the message, the pastor read the passage and I noticed it was particularly long and filled with a host of possible ideas. I began to wonder how he was going to handle this length of text.  

I couldn’t help myself thinking that I would make this passage into a series and preach several sermons from it. 

The preacher was doing pretty good – people laughed when he said something funny – but I started getting concerned that he wasn’t talking about light as much as other things. 

I wanted him to come back to the light in two ways: I wanted him to step into the light – like a spotlight or something – so I could see him better, and I wanted him to tell me more about the impact of Christ being the light of the world.  

I also started to wonder if this message was something that he got on the internet and was re-preaching or if it was something he wrote himself and really believed. I spent a little time trying to tell if he really owned his message.  

My seat was at such an angle that I could see people sitting across the auditorium. I looked at them to see if they were listening, day dreaming, bored, or engaged in what he was saying. 

I saw a few nods of the head and could tell they agreed with what was being said. But there was this one guy whose nodding looked more like a guy on a hot bus is trying to stay awake after a long day at work!  

And while I was thinking about all that, I realized something similar happens to all the people who are listening to me preach every week. . . . It’s a tough job to give a presentation!

Here’s the thing: It’s easy to settle into a presentation and start thinking about all kinds of things related and unrelated to what is being said. It’s easy because you don’t have to apply it to yourself. You don’t have to think deeply and personally about the material. But the idea of a presentation is that it is for your personal benefit. It’s for you, your ministry, your work, or your personal development.  

So, though all kinds of thoughts come to distract you, to keep you from applying the message, your job as a presentation listener is to focus on how it has a bearing on you. Keep three questions running through your mind while you listen: 1. What is true here for me? 2. God, what are you saying to me? 3. What am I now going to do with this?

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you stay focussed in a presentation? You can leave your comment below.

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This Old News Had A Profound Impact On Me

From time to time I publish previously published posts. Todays post is from August 2015. Enjoy!

WHEN you hear about something can have a profound effect on how it impacts you. What I mean is, if you hear about something right when it happens, as opposed to six months after the fact, you process that information differently.

profound, impact,

Quite often when we hear about something long after it happened, we blow it off as not important or relevant any more … like if you heard that the government was going to remove all tax at the gas pumps for just one day on July 15 … and you heard the news on August 24th. 

Today’s gas prices without tax would be around 78 cents a litre! It’s a far cry from the 34 cents a gallon I paid when I got my driver’s licence, but wouldn’t 78 cents a litre be nice right now?

Not only is that news irrelevant after the fact, but you’d feel a little annoyed just hearing about it now since you completely missed out on the greatest gas prices since about 1986. 

On the other hand, your reaction would have been hand-rubbing, night-before-Christmas-like, if you had heard this information two days before the sale.

Not all old information is irrelevant, however; sometimes old information makes you think “what if”. 

That’s what happened to me the other day. I was at my usual wing joint, picking up a pound of hot wings with Franks’ Red Hot Sauce (they’re the best), when I bumped into another customer who I knew and had played hockey with a few years back.

He told me that one of the guys we played with had recently died. I was shocked, but it hit me even harder to find out he had committed suicide. 

Now I didn’t do anything outside of hockey with him, but we were buds on the bench. We always chatted while we were playing and in the dressing room. We talked about family, health and my work. 

I probably played hockey with him about two weeks before he died. All I knew was he had to start taking pills for high blood pressure and we had compared medications. 

I didn’t hear this about Leo until six months after he passed away, but it left me deeply saddened. I began to wonder if I could have said something or should have said something that might have made a difference. 

I wondered if I had missed an opportunity to share Christ with him. I checked my calendar to see what I was doing around the time of his death.

This old news bothered me. It bothers me now.

This guy seemed content with life. He had retired just a couple of years before and seemed pretty happy and easy going. 

This was old news that has made an impact, old news that caused me to think, “what if”. But it’s old news and I can’t do anything about it. 

Here’s the thing: At some point the message of the gospel will be old news; it will be irrelevant. That day will be the day someone dies without Christ or Christ returns. Until that time in a person’s life, the gospel message is current and relevant. Who would this news – this good news – make a difference to today, or tomorrow or next week? Get the word out. Jesus is saving lives today!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Who do you need to talk to about the good news of Jesus? Leave your comment below.

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They Were The Same But Different

Things that are the same can also be very different from each other. 

sunset, same,

  I learned this early in life because my mother loved to purchase clothes for my brother and I that were the same … same in almost every way except the colour. For some reason, John’s colours were always blues and greys and my colours were always browns and greens. 

It’s a colour pattern that I never shook until I got married. With Lily’s help I pretty much got rid of all my brown clothes.

I’m not sure why I got stuck with brown and green, but it may have had something to do with the colour of our eyes. I never asked my Mom that question when she was alive.

My mom would buy us everything the same – shoes, socks, shirts, and pants. It didn’t matter what it was; they were even the same size. She just got two of everything – identical except for the colour.

I do remember one area she failed in, however. In the late sixties, corduroy pants were a big hit. Everyone was wearing them and the style at that time was really wide corduroy stripes. They were the hot new style. 

My mother found the wide corduroy pants we wanted so that we fit in with everyone else. And she got the identical pants for both of us, just in different colours, of course. 

But the one thing that was different about them was that they had wide corduroy stripes but with medium and small stripes in between. 

They ended up sort of the same, but very different if you really looked at them. 

My mom was the queen of shopping at discount stores and, for some reason, the discount clothing industry at the time was not particularly observant when it came to copying corduroy pants.

… Some things that are the same can also be very different. 

That statement is also true about the sun. Every night the sun sets in the west and, as the sun goes down, it creates a scene in the sky. 

Although this same event happens every evening, the scene in the sky is different each night. Some days it’s more orange, other days it’s more pink, or even more deep red or purple. 

If it’s green though, head for cover – there’s probably a tornado coming. 

This is why you can look at the same thing day after day and never get bored. Though it’s always the same, it’s different.

You can point to where in the sky the sun will dip below the horizon; it’s always the same place. But the scene is different today than it was yesterday.

Lily showed me a picture of the sunset she took last night, and I couldn’t say, “Oh ya, I’ve seen that before.”

Why? Because though I have watched the sun go down many times, her picture was different than it was the previous night or will be tonight.

It’s the same, but it’s different.

Here’s the thing: God is the same yesterday, today and forever. But every day you need something different from Him. Some days you may need encouragement; other days it might be comfort. There will certainly be times when you need correction. And there are a myriad of other things that you might need from God who is always the same. That is why the Bible not only tells us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever, but that He is also new every morning. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need from God today? Leave you comments below.