Black Friday Freebie!

By Brenda Black

No doubt, the only reason most stopped to read this column today had to do with the headline. While you were surfing on line for ads and door-busting bargains, your eyes automatically focused on “Black Friday Freebie!” So here you are, two lines into this lead paragraph and wondering when is this writer going to get to the point and tell you what you have coming that will cost you nothing.

Still reading? Then I feel compelled to offer you something worth your time and effort. In a world crammed full of stuff, I have some free advice: SIMPLIFY!

Here are some tips to get you started to a life with less in order to enjoy it more.

*Subtract the excess to add quality and contentment. “Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right...He does not oppress anyone but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man. He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Ezekiel 18:5, 7-9)

*Clear the clutter. That means the stuff around us and the stuff inside of us. “Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.” (Ez. 18:30b-31) You are going to feel so much lighter!

*Refuse to get caught in the trap of overspending, overcommitting, and overworking. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:...a time to search and time to give up, a time to keep and time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend...” (Ecclesiastes 3:6-7a) Pray before you say yes or no to anything.

*A simpler life has time for people more than things. When we spend more time on relationships and less expense and worry on nicknacks, we're more likely to enjoy a meaningful life. A young disciple named Titus learned the value of investing himself into people and having people pour love back on him. Paul writes a thank you letter to the church at Corinth describing this young man's joy. “In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me.” (2 Corinthians 7:13b-14a) Travel lightly and connect lovingly.

*Prioritize to Simplify. “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” (Hebrews 13:5) We can get by with far less when we understand the difference between needs and wants.

*Living Simply leaves room to celebrate God's creation and see God even in the small stuff of yourself. “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.” (1 Peter 3:3-4)

Living with less in no way short changes us. We are all the more rich when we fill our lives with things eternal. Keep that in mind when the world screams at you “MORE! MORE! MORE!”

The Cycle of Sin

By Brenda Black

Lance Armstrong -- the very name elicits images of strength and athletic heroics. It used to, that is. Now the famous cyclist's name is mud and it's being dragged through the media with a vengeance.

The final verdict from the powers that be in the professional cycling world condemns Armstrong of “masterminding a doping strategy that involved prohibited drugs, blood transfusions and elaborate schemes to fool testing authorities,” writes reporter Martin Rogers.

The iconic athlete was stripped of each of his seven Tour de France titles. His reputation now morphs from stellar to stupid, while million-dollar endorsements disappear into the dust. The saddest indictments are how self-deceived this man and how many suffer because of his sin.

With any fallen hero, a fan base comprised of young and old, trusting and loyal people, is left in the wake. The winners that should have been, instead had their moment of glory and fame stolen selfishly and deceitfully from them, never to be regained. In fact the history books will just declare no winner at all for those seven prestigious titles. Shameful, costly, and so disappointing.

Is it pride, greed, selfishness, or arrogance that leads a man to believe he is above accountability? Does he think he is more deserving or afraid that he is not? How can he lie for so long that he believes the lies to be truth?

As long as sin is given rein to go unbridled and as long as others will turn the other way or empower such destructive choices, the sinner certainly loses more than he ever gains. And every life he impacts loses as well.

Most of us will never compete for world titles and our faces won't grace giant billboards or cereal boxes. We may never dream of experimenting with drugs and wouldn't dare consider cheating. Still, we are sinners just the same. I don't say that to excuse Armstrong's gargantuan assault on athletic integrity. It's just the truth.

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

From blatant hypocrisy to subtle deceit, we sin. We lie, we gossip, we offend without cause and live far from holy lives, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” (Rom. 3:23)

Amazingly, that holy God will forgive in an instant if we just repent. IF we repent.

“...this [Armstrong] story is close to having run its course,” writes Rogers. “a defining step at the end of a tale that has unraveled to expose extraordinary details of wrongdoing behind what was once considered an extraordinary tale of human achievement.

“All that is left is for Armstrong now is to reveal all, to tell the world what, how and why he fooled so many for so long. But for an athlete for whom denial and deceit has seemingly become second nature, such a reversal must be considered unlikely.”

courtesy of http://www.nydailynews.com/

The death trap is set. Either he can come clean and confess and seek forgiveness or he stands to lose more than just a few worldly titles. He risks heaven itself. The Apostle Paul once wrote to the Church in Rome warning them of the deadly consequences of sin compared to the life-giving results of righteousness. “...do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:12-14)

The real battle for Armstrong, and for each of us, is not a competition for our reputation in and of itself. It is a race for grace. God waits with open arms. He wipes our record clean, not of trophies undeserved, but of sin unchecked. He replaces the exposed crimes with His mercy and sees us as winners again. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Rom. 3:22) In this perfect cycle, God takes our ruination and makes us right again.

We can't undo history or unhurt people injured by our own selfish sins. But we can live differently each day ahead when we count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.