Scrambled Eggs & Corn Flakes

Before I start to talk, the title does not denote that I feel God gives everybody other than me grace. God gives me a whole lot more grace than I have ever deserved. That's not the point of today's discussion. Rather I am discussing about the grace that we give others. Grace has been defined as "the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it". It is a spontaneous gift from God which is free and mostly unexpected and totally undeserved. From the Latin "gratia" which means kindness, favor, esteem. I look at it as undeserved kindness, not because of something the other party has done. Grace is given without conditions. We do that for other people. Give them grace. Not the godly kind, we are incapable of that. But, we give other people grace. We treat others with kindness, not because they did anything for us nor do we expect the same treatment back. It is hard for us to do that. Giving...

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer" Romans 12:12 "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" Hebrews 11:1 Hope is defined as the belief or expectation that something wished for can or will happen. Or, also as the virtuous desire for future good. We all have hopes. Throughout our lives, there are things we hope for. Some are immediate and some can be for many years down the line. We hope for the future, ourselves, and for others. We hope our basketball team will win the championship. We can hope we do well on exams and tests. We hope that our children will do well. We even hope we make some place on time. Then, there are the times we hope that its not bad news. We hope someone will pull through, that we will have more time with them. Hopefully, the medical tests will return and all will be well. Even, in our darkest moments, we may still hold out a sliver of hope. There is definitely a fine lin...

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Good names. I know several people with those names. Pretty good people too. Writers of the four gospels in the New Testament. Very similar narratives with some different perspectives. Focused on the life and ministry of Jesus. The teachings. The healings. Death and Resurrection. His promises to us. All of these are contained in these four books. The word gospel has been translated "good news". This was the point of the books. To spread the good news of Jesus, what He represents, and what He did and continues to do for us. The stories told within apply then, today, and into the future. Jesus speaks to and on many things within these pages. He deals with issues that are relevant today as they were back when Jesus walked on the Earth. They apply equally to each person. We all experience the good news of Jesus in our lives. We write our own stories based on what we have gone through. The highs and the lows. The good times and the bad. In our time...

Didn't you used to have talent to become famous around here? When did people start becoming famous without doing anything? Or, become famous and cash in for the most meaningless of things? And, still remain famous. Also, why all this obsession with celebrities? What they're wearing, who they are dating, and where they are hanging out? How many selfies did they take today? How does knowing all these intimate details affect your life? Take your time, I will wait. We live in a society consumed with celebrity. Two different ways. We place emphasis on a celebrity's opinions on matters and follow what they do and say. Then, sometimes, we get upset with a celebrity's opinions on something like we expect them to be an expert. When, really, their opinion is no more or less valid than our own on any subject. The other way is our desire to become famous for any reason so as to feel important. Using social media, we might feel the need to share every minor detail in our lives. ...