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This Watch Really Has Changed Everything

You know how you can get something new and think to yourself, “Hey, this changes everything”?

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Well, maybe you haven’t ever thought that, but Apple thought of it. In a recent advertising campaign, that was the slogan they used: “This changes everything”.

Well, about five months ago as a gift, I got an Apple watch. Since then it really has changed everything. Besides the fact that it will do everything short of cooking my breakfast in the morning, it really has changed my life.

It’s changed how I think through my day. I used to go through my day without a thought for my body. Then I got a step counter and I consciously considered how many steps I take in a day.

But that’s nothing! Since I got my watch, I’m thinking of how many calories I’m burning in a day, how often I’m standing during the day, and how much exercise I’m getting each day.

I used to feel good if I played hockey a couple of times a week. Now I’m trying to get thirty minutes of exercise in each day.

It would be nice, however, if the watch could shut my mouth in the evenings to liquorice or chocolate. But I’m figuring out that there’s a part that I have to play that’s more than just wearing the watch on my wrist.

Some people would call it deficiency; I call it first generation Apple watch … they’ll figure that out in future editions.

My watch has also changed how I use the stuff in my pockets. I don’t haul out my wallet or phone nearly as much anymore.

I answer texts by speaking into my watch (like I’m an FBI agent speaking into his hand). I get my points for purchases right from my watch; no more swiping a card. I even answer my phone like Dick Tracy used to do in the cartoons when I was a kid.

My watch has got me to be conscious of how much water I drink in a day. Now I know when I need to take a sip. As a result, there have been a few times where I’ve had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

They say we are 96% water … I may be approaching 97% on those nights. I think I’m a little waterlogged!

This watch has even changed how I play hockey. The other day I was on the ice, playing defence. The puck was at the other end of the rink when I suddenly remembered I wasn’t recording my on-ice exercise.

I took off my glove to set it, but as I looked down at my watch, I saw the puck go through my legs and heard some heavy breathing. I fumbled with my stick and dropped it. I had to control the puck with my feet, move it to a corner and then kick it over to a teammate.

I wasn’t that successful, but they didn’t score. When the puck cleared again, I hit the start button on my watch and everything was good.

Here’s the thing: Christ changed everything over 2000 years ago when He died on the cross for our sins. What we need to consider now is how have we changed our lives because of Him? He changed everything, but it really only changes everything for us when we accept the changes and implement them in our lives. Give yourself completely to Christ’s change.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When you look at your life, how has Christ changed everything for you? Leave  your comment below.

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Watch Out! The Hype Can Disappoint

When the hype doesn’t match the experience, you are doubly disappointed. And I have to say, that’s how I felt after my lunch yesterday.

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It was Sunday after church and Lily was in the mood to eat out. When that happens, you always jump at it! Normally she is the voice of reason, the voice of saving, the voice of “there are leftovers at home we can heat up”.

So when she threw out the suggestion, I jumped at it. I said “sure”, even before she had second thoughts and blurted out, “though we will be spending money eating out later this week”.

It was too late, however; I had already agreed to going out for lunch.

Now it was just a matter of deciding where to eat.

Lily wanted to eat at one of those places that is only open until about three in the afternoon. You know, the ones that specialize in serving breakfast to people who get up late and want to keep that sleepy feeling that it’s still morning.

It was against my better judgement to eat there but I said, “Sure, let’s go.” When we arrived there weren’t many spots in the parking lot and the line up to get in was almost out the door.

… It has got to be a great spot when people are waiting just to get breakfast food, which usually comes with very little or no meat at all.

This place was popular because it was close to 1:30 pm and it was still jammed to capacity. The good thing was that, by that time, many people were finishing up so the wait was not too long.

The atmosphere was cheery in the bright open restaurant. Its colours of yellow, green and orange gave the impression of a beautiful sunny morning.

As we took our seats, it felt like a great day to be alive. And with the sounds of happy people talking all around, I’m sure most everyone felt the same way.

The menu was filled with pictures of the food you could order. It all looked so good, and even half healthy – not like some restaurants where even the pictures of the food make you feel like it would sit in your gut like a lump till dinner time.

I had a hard time deciding if I should go with a crepe filled with fresh fruit and cream or choose a traditional egg meal.

I decided on eggs Benedict. I felt good about my decision, even when it arrived at the table. It looked great; I had high hopes. But one bite in and I was disappointed. The hollandaise sauce was bland; no taste. The very thing that makes the eggs Benedict was blah.

We could have gone home after all. Lil can make eggs Benedict astronomically better!

Here’s the thing: When you spend time with God, put aside the flashy, popular devotional guides and books that tell you what to think. It’s far better to let God shape your thoughts and responses. Grab your Bible and turn to just a verse or two. Read the verse over a couple of times, maybe even write it out. Then ask yourself a few questions like: What’s the instruction here for me? What should I praise God for in this verse? What do I need to confess to God here? What do I need to do? There will be no hype to get in the way of really hearing from God.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you found to be the most nourishing devotional method? Leave your comment below.

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I Don’t Want To Be The Backdrop To Your Stage

For some people, every environment is nothing more than a backdrop to their personal stage. They are the centre of attention wherever they go.

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That’s all fine and good; let them be the focus everywhere they go. What I don’t appreciate is being sucked in to their audience.

A perfect example was at the hockey game last night. My wife, Lily, and I took our seats just before the preliminaries, ceremonial puck drop, and singing of the national anthem.

Right away I noticed that there was some chatter behind us. There were two women having a conversation.

I thought maybe they had arrived separately and were just catching up with each other.

I had some different thoughts once the game started. About 45 seconds into the game, one of the women stopped talking long enough to ask, “Has the game started?”

The puck and players were down in the far corner of the rink – it was pretty obvious that the game was on! Somehow she missed the face-off at center ice with all the players lined up.

I honestly thought the woman’s eyesight was impaired and she needed help following the action.

No, that wasn’t the case. She was a non-stop talker and had been busy telling a story about a relationship issue she had with another women, I believe who worked in the same office she did.

… If you’re think that you didn’t need to know that information, that’s how I felt as I watched the game on the ice and got a play-by-play of office politics.

These two women took the stage like pros, barely breathing between sentences, speaking trivial dribble like it was sensitive information that would later be reported on the 11 o’clock news.

I didn’t look back, but I am sure that thermal imprint my brain took of the scene behind me was of these two women in their thirties, turned slightly towards each other in their seats, with not an eye turned to what was happening on the ice.

It was brutal to say the least! Lily couldn’t stand it; she wanted to sit somewhere else. She immediately stood up when the horn went to end the period; she had to get away from the two performers behind us.

These women had no interest in the game. It was all just a backdrop to their conversation, which they were sure everyone around them wanted to get in on.

And sure, why wouldn’t I go to a hockey game to hear about why a guy ignored a woman in the office after she had apologized for the thing she had said in the presence of several other coworkers?

I don’t think he was being fair either. Except for the fact that, if I was that guy, I wouldn’t just ignore the woman, I would be asking my boss for a transfer, looking for another job, or doing pretty much anything else, just so I didn’t have to listen to her anymore!

Here’s the thing: Sometimes when we pray, we use that as a backdrop to our own stage, where we do all the talking, and never stop asking. When our prayer is done, it’s like the curtain closes, the lights dim and the audience leaves. Prayer is not a backdrop for our performance. It is a conversation that should involve more listening than talking. When we pray we should be sure we are allowing room on the stage for God to speak into our lives.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you manage your prayer time to give room for God to speak to you? Leave your comment below.

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You Should Act On Your Impulses

Last weekend I did a little shopping on impulse. It’s not what you think; I didn’t come home with some frivolous purchase that will end up in a corner of the garage behind a stack of tarps.

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I didn’t come home with anything.

What I did was more like shopping research than actual shopping. The research involved a little bit of price comparison, but my investigation mainly centred around product features.

The impulse was the idea I got in my head that it was time to get some smart home devices. Right now those items are mostly lights you can turn on and off and thermostats that can be controlled from anywhere in the world with a swipe across the screen of an iPhone.

I’m not really sure what brought on the impulse, but I sure jumped into action. The brainwave hit me when I was in a store and so I moseyed over to the right department, but they didn’t have what I was looking for.

My next stop was a nearby big box hardware store where I was introduced to a couple of products I’d not seen before. Both looked pretty good; I was leaning towards one in particular.

That’s when a store employee came by and I asked him all kinds of questions. He had some answers, even owned one of the products, and was pretty enthusiastic about it.

But he said one thing that kept me searching. He said another store sold products that would work alongside theirs. … I had to see that.

This took me to another box store where I didn’t find any compatible items to the previous store’s offering, but I did come across some new products that did similar things.

I also ran into a salesperson who owned one of the products and was again very eager to tell me all about it and how it worked.

I picked up a little more information there, but left with more questions, not about the products but about how they interacted with the smart phone technology.

I started to search the web for more information on where these smart home devices are going, and since I was close to another big hardware store, I thought I would check it out.

There I found some repeats and a few news products. I also had a salesperson, who knew absolutely nothing about the products, try to answer some of my questions.

By the time I had finished my tour of the stores, and my brief internet discoveries, I concluded that it might be too soon to jump in and get my home all smart.

There are new products in the works that will be far less limited than the ones that are available right now.

I’m waiting for when I can get my home to prepare my meals for me. Oh wait, no, that’s called a retirement home . . . I’m definitely not ready for that.

Here’s the thing: I was thinking about how I, on impulse, did some research into a product that just popped into my head, and was thinking we should do the same with the Bible. When you read the scriptures you are confronted with things that cause you to question. How often do we just keep reading and never do anything to satisfy our curiosity? Ask questions, get a commentary, read a book on something in the Bible that causes you to think. Don’t just pass up on that impulse.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you become curious about in the Bible?  Leave your comments below.

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A Banking Mishap Has Made Me More Protective

The other day, I had a banking mishap that I’m sure many people have also had over the last couple of months: having to pay for using an ATM or an ABM (they should just stick with one acronym).

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Personally, I’m not a fan of paying for my banking. I think I’ve written about this before, but my feeling is that the banks should feel privileged to use our money to invest and make lots more for themselves.

Somehow banks have reversed that mindset, thinking their customers should feel privileged to give them our money for safekeeping.

Anyway, I was on my way to getting a haircut, which for me is a cash transaction. I didn’t have any so I first went next door to the Mac’s store to get a few shekels from the bank machine.

Up until a month ago, that machine was associated with my bank … I’ve used it many times over the past fifteen years.

But to my surprise, when I got into the store, the ATM was gone. I quickly glanced around and then spied something that looked like an automated teller machine, just in a different colour.

The markings read, “Manulife Bank”, but there was a spot for my debit card to go in, so I inserted it.

I got a message immediately informing me that the transaction I wanted to do would cost me $3. I quickly gave my head a shake because I thought I’d been transported to one of those cheque cashing places, like Cash Money, home of the $300 for $20.

I knew my bank would also charge me for using a machine that is not part of their network, so I had to think for a minute: “Do I really want to spend $5 to take my money out of my bank?”

I must have paused until the machine almost timed out, but I figured, “I need the cash right now, and I will not be doing this again”.

I’ve noticed these Manulife Bank machines are replacing my bank’s machines in a number of places. So now I have to plan a little more carefully when I want to withdraw money from my account.

I guess I could take out an account with Manulife, but frankly I’ve never seen a branch of theirs before. I looked on their website and found that they have five branches spread across Canada – the closest one to me is three hours away!

I don’t think I’ll be banking with them any time soon.

I know that many people don’t think twice about paying the fees for using convenient cash machines, but these banks already have my money for basically nothing. Why should I be gouged so that their president can take home a salary of $3 million a year plus bonuses?

No, I’d rather pick my ATM more carefully so that I’m not giving Manulife Bank executives a Starbucks coffee every time I use their machine.

Here’s the thing: There will always be something that comes along that will seek to take advantage of your money or your time. These things will be convenient and practical. You will feel pressured to part with your time or money. But you have to be your own protector of what is yours. Spiritually speaking, make sure that the things that seek to take advantage of you don’t take from your time with God or your stewardship of His resources.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What seeks to take advantage of your money or your time? Leave your comment below.

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Are You As Well Rested As You Should Be?

For the most part, we are good at talking about getting rest and needing rest, but we are not that good at actually getting the rest we need.

We starve ourselves of rest in two ways: We don’t sleep enough and we don’t rest from our work like we should.

Some say they need eight hours of sleep a night; others say they don’t need to sleep more than a few hours a night.

But all sleep is not rest. Many people turn sleep into a serious workout. Some snore like thunder. Some stop breathing as if they keep dipping below the surface of the water.

Those people have to wear a splint or put on a breathing machine. From what I understand, if you didn’t sleep all that well before, your quality of rest plummets even more with those apparatuses. The only good thing is that you will be sure to keep breathing.

But maybe breathing is over-rated.

When we brought our daughter home from the hospital for the first time, we had her sleeping in a bassinet beside our bed. I’m usually a sound sleeper but Karlie breathed so erratically that first night, I kept waking up to see if she was ok.

In the morning, I said to Lily, “She’s got to learn to breathe on her own. She’ll either figure it out or not, but she’s got to do it in her own bedroom, because I can’t sleep with her here!”

That was 26 plus years ago … Karlie figured it out.

But that’s only part of the rest we need. We need rest from our regular work. The Bible says we should take a Sabbath each week: one in seven.

However, with work, activities in the evenings, and shopping available seven days a week, it’s hard to take that rest. There is always some work to do, always somewhere to be, always something we need to obtain.

We say we take a day off but the truth comes out when we are exhausted at the end of the weekend, when we don’t have the energy we need to do all that we want to do, or when we find ourselves too tired to be as productive as we should be.

I’m a pastor. I should be a promoter of this rest, since it’s God’s idea and He actually made it one of His commands to us. But sadly, I end up working on my day off like most other people.

The key to this rest we need is not to do nothing. Rather, we are to do something we enjoy, something that we look forward to, something that invigorates us.

For me that might be a day of playing sports, watching some professional sports and chowing down on some hot wings with a glass of Dr. Pepper to wash them all down.

For someone else it might be completely different. But the end result should be that I feel rested and ready to get back to work the next day, that I’ve acknowledged God and given Him thanks.

This coming Monday, I’m going to get serious about taking a Sabbath.

Here’s the thing: It seems like the easiest one of God’s commands to ignore or excuse. In the course of a week it can slide by without any harmful side effects. But an unattended Sabbath can lead to serious health and relational complications. Don’t cheat yourself or God on your Sabbath; get serious about taking it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What makes taking a Sabbath difficult for you? Leave your comment below.

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The Secret Behind Staying Disciplined

There are people who are highly disciplined and then there are those who aren’t. Disciplined people seem to be able to set their minds or wills to something and follow through time after time.

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But there are times when even disciplined people find they don’t have the discipline to keep to their normal routine.

It’s like their discipline has vanished.

Now I’m no expert on discipline, and I am certainly not a highly disciplined person, but I am able to discipline myself to regularly follow certain rules, habits, and plans that I have set for myself.

For instance, I know that in the early morning I am the most alert, creative, productive, and focussed. So I get up at 6 am every day, and during those early hours I spend time with God; I study, I read and I write.

I do not vary from that routine, and I am able to discipline myself to work at these things daily. I don’t take appointments in the morning, and I avoid getting involved in other activities in the morning.

There are other things that I can discipline myself to do, but sometimes I just don’t have it within me to keep to them. It seems that I’ve lost my discipline and have no will power at times in the eating and exercise departments.

I need to stay away from junk food and fast food, and I need to exercise thirty minutes a day. Just reading that last sentence over, I should easily be able to do that!

But even though I have all the equipment at home to ensure I do thirty minutes of exercise,  lately I’ve not been all that consistent.

I don’t have the will to do it … or something.

Even though I know I’ve gained a few pounds, and even though I know that for my health’s sake I should be on this, the discipline to do it is not there.

The little thing in us called our will is key to turning this around. I believe our discipline is built on our will. If our will is set on something, then discipline is easy.

So getting your will to want something, like a healthy body, is the key to being able to discipline yourself to eat right and exercise.

Your will is based on your wants and desires, and if you want something bad enough, you will be able to discipline yourself to do what it takes to get it.

The only problem with that is we are geared for immediate gratification over delayed, long-term gratification. So wants and desires that I can achieve right now are more powerful than wants and desires I have to wait for over the long-term.

For me to be able to see my long-term wants as most important, more desirable, I need to be able to look forward to something immediately after I keep to my discipline.

… Last night it was pizza after I had worked out on the bike and rower for thirty minutes.

Here’s the thing: Spiritually speaking, when we find it hard to stay disciplined, when our immediate wants and desires (temptations) seem so powerful, we have additional help. We have God who will provide what we need to stay disciplined. You might not know what He can do to help you, but all you have to do is ask. Call out to Him, “Lord I need your help right now”, and let Him work on your will, your desires and wants.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to keep disciplined? Leave your comment below.

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Real Time Adjustments Keep Life Enjoyable

I’ve been thinking lately about my body, and how it has changed since I started taking medication. It’s been three and a half years of swallowing foreign substances and I figure that will continue the rest of my life.

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I realize that I need to take the concoction of pills I down every morning. They are helping my body – at least they better be helping!

I never took medication until I was 56. I used to like filling out medical forms and checking “no” beside all the questions. I very rarely took even an aspirin.

But the other day at the dentist’s office, the hygienist was updating my file. She asked if I was taking any medications; my response was, “Oh ya; I sure am”.

Compared to many people, I don’t take that much, but to me, I feel like I’m taking a ton. It’s four pills a day, but I like to call it 3 1/2 because I got my doctor to reduce one pill in half.

For all the good these little formed chemicals do for me, there are a few drawbacks. One of them is with my muscles.

When I play sports – especially hockey – I feel that the circulation in my legs and feet is restricted. It was really bad at first. I couldn’t skate for more than a minute without feeling like I needed to sit down and allow the blood to flow through my veins again.

When I mentioned it to my doctor, he looked at me like I was making it all up, but told me to take a break from one of the pills for a week and see what happened.

That week I had no symptoms at all; it was great. I concluded from that experiment that it was my cholesterol pill that was creating the problem.

When I went back on that pill the symptoms didn’t return as strongly as before. I began to notice that how tight my equipment or my skates were made a real difference to how I felt on the ice.

So I didn’t tie my skates as tight, and I was gentler when it came to wrapping shin guard tape around my pads. It made a significant difference.

But this year my feet are in great pain when I come off the ice. I can’t sit down they hurt so much. But I noticed that about halfway through the game my feet stop hurting.

I’m realizing my skates naturally give a little the longer I am in them. Possibly what’s happening is that my skates get looser.

So, for the next outing, I won’t tie my skates as tight and see how that feels.

It’s little adjustments that I find I have to make to keep me doing the same things I’ve been doing and not give up on some of the things I like in life.

Here’s the thing: As natural as it is for us to have to make adjustments for our bodies as time goes on, in order to keep doing things that are meaningful to us, we also have to make adjustments to our time with God as life stages and circumstances change. These adjustments are necessary to keep us having a meaningful time with God. Don’t give up or hope to get back to God later. Make adjustments now and keep your relationship with Him fresh and enjoyable.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What adjustments to your quiet time with God have you made in the past year? Leave your comment below.

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Strong Beliefs Bring Out Strong Emotions

Whatever we believe strongly in creates waves. It doesn’t matter if it’s politics or sports or religion, topics like these bring out emotion in people.

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I just have to say, “I’m a Toronto Maple Leafs fan”, and that will elicit feelings in some people. Right now, some are considering making this the last sentence they read!

… They may not have even finished the sentence … emotions are so strong, they could stop people in mid-sentence.

In my office I have paraphernalia from the Toronto Blue Jays and the Leafs hanging on one wall, and I get two very different reactions. The general consensus is the Toronto Blue Jays are okay; we are all on the same band wagon. But not so much with the Leafs.

Strong support for something brings out a reaction in us that we can’t back down from, that causes us to raise our voice or take a stand.

The most easygoing person turns into a stubborn, obnoxious, hammerhead when he is pricked by something he strongly believes in.

It’s just how we are; it’s in our nature. We can try to control ourselves when our emotions have been summoned to attention, but for the most part, they are sent into battle before we can call them back.

This week we elected a new government … Emotions get pretty high when you start talking about political parties and leaders.

In the heat of this political battle, there were many emotion-raising statements made by all the parties. But there have been a few that crossed over to another strong belief in some people; yet these comments didn’t elicit the kind of emotion from people that you might think.

Justin Trudeau stated that Christians need not apply for leadership in the Liberal party, and Mulcair has said that Christians are anti-Canadian.

Some of you are thinking these statements are not that bad; they are not the emotion-seeking missiles that other comments are, that they are really nothing more than duds.

But let’s just change one word in each statement: What if Trudeau said LGBT’s need not apply for leadership in the Liberal party, and what if Mulcair said LGBT’s are anti-Canadian?

Those statements would start a war! There would be accusations of homophobia, hatred, and legal action would be set into motion.

Emotions would storm these parties and would create such a tidal wave of negativity that retractions would be made and positive concessions would have to be promised. The focus on the election would have turned squarely onto these statements.

These statements made about Christians, though being hate language and Christian-phobic in nature, passed by without the firestorm that should have accompanied them.

Maybe everyone knew these were just barbs thrown out in the heat of an election. Maybe the authors of the statements don’t really believe what they said.

OR maybe there is little or no voice in Canada that would raise enough emotion to call out discrimination when it shows itself. Have Christians become like gays in the 50’s and 60’s, where they could be abused and no one cared or did anything about it?

Here’s the thing: It’s okay to become emotional about faith. It’s not different than the emotion that rises when we talk about our sports teams or our political party. Christians must voice their emotion, and not become complacent. Don’t throw up your hands; take a stand for what you believe.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you feel about the comments made by these two political leaders? Leave your comment below.

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Is It Really Time For A Change?

Apparently it’s time for a change in our country. That’s the mantra floating through the air in Canada this last month.

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I hear it in every commercial for the Liberals and NDP. It’s either time for a change or it’s time for real change. Even the media have been telling us the voters want change.

I’ve heard people say the Conservatives have been in power too long so it’s time for a change. The government is not doing enough for some people; certainly they want a change – a new government who won’t do enough for a different group.

Sure, this election seems like it’s all about change, but is change really what the election should be about?

When I go to McDonald’s and order a Big Mac instead of a Quarter Pounder, I might say that I feel like a change. I might not even have a reason for the change; I just want something different.

But that’s called a craving; I don’t need a reason for a craving.

It’s fine for hamburgers, but is it good for an election? Let’s face it, the parties who want change, who want us to vote for a change, just want us to pick them.

For the opposition, change is good because it gets them what they want. They may try to disguise it to look like they really want what’s best for the country, but the bottom line is they just want to replace the government with themselves.

If they can get us to believe we want a change, a hankering for a new party to lead the country, that works in their favour.

But hey, it’s not like we’re all pregnant with whimsical cravings for pickles and ice cream or a minority Liberal government with an NDP opposition on top.

Choosing a government means we have to think of what’s best for the country as a whole. That also means it won’t be the best for every segment of the country. Some groups will not get what they want.

The bottom line is the government has to do what’s best for the country at large.

That’s why I question the Liberals wanting to run a 10 billion dollar deficit. Sure, the arts will get more money, as will other groups, but someone’s got to pay for it. It won’t be the richest 1% either, because they have lots of ways to reduce their income.

It will be the middle class … it’s always the middle class.

The NDP think they can spend their way to a balanced budget. They will take care of the environment, pay for daycare, fix our medical system, and give you what’s behind curtain number three (hint: the car is never behind curtain #3).

So that’s why some parties want us to believe it’s time for change. Because if we thought about what they really want to do, we wouldn’t want to change.

There isn’t a perfect party, and there is no government that will make everyone happy. But if we focus on what’s best for the whole, a stable and secure country is what we all really need.

Here’s the thing: Every day we’re tempted to do what’s wrong over what’s right, and choose bad over good. When we give in to our whims and our desires, we’ll give in to the temptation to sin. We won’t consider the consequences, or the pain it might cause, just anticipate an immediate gratification. If we think through about the temptation instead of reacting to it, we will choose not to sin more often.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How are you going to think through your decision this election? Leave your comment below.