There’s a reason why Jesus took such a tough stand on marriage vows. Keeping them, even when life is hard - pays huge dividends. Breaking them or ignoring them, carries an ongoing price tag you may never pay off. Marriage vows are very serious. Really know who you’re making your promises to. Know yourself and decide if you can pay for it - and then make plans to do that. This is never based on how you feel when you’re 'in love’ - cuz trust me, you’re on love drugs! Keeping all the promises you make will take thoughtfulness, the power of God, and the best you can give… but the returns are amazing! It will be the best gift you give to yourself, your spouse, and the legacy you leave behind.

Here’s the question we all have to ask ourselves: Based on your track record, would YOU trust you? If your promise was a plane, would you fly in it? We trust that the airline industry will do all the things necessary to get us safely where we need to go. But there are times, as Jesus made clear, when we make promises and then spend our lives looking for loopholes when it gets inconvenient.

If there is no God, if we all just climbed off a pond and out-lived the other germs, if there is no center line down the highway and morality is "enlightened self-interest", then promises and vows don’t really matter, right? After all, we're just making it up as we go, aren't we?

I think we would all acknowledge that the last couple of years have been a unique experience for most of us. COVID has up-ended the world and an unknown future is creating all kinds of fears, suspicions and disagreements. It's hard for anyone not to be swayed by the all the negative rhetoric we've been exposed to. It's more contagious than COVID.

Most of us, on the day after Christmas, have a MESS to clean up. (Some of us just ignore it and go shopping—Hey, it’s BOXING DAY! And after Christmas, we all need more stuff, right?!) Truth is, the messes after Christmas vary in size and shape. For some it’s just wrapping paper and leftovers; involves bills we need to pay for the presents we gave. For others—it’s emotional; there’s a build-up to Christmas—and then a let-down.

Merry Christmas!

My wife, Lori, has an idea for a book—and has been gathering material and thinking about it—planning it—for a long time. It’s about all the pieces—sometimes broken pieces—that make up our lives. And they just look like a shattered glass—or the junkpile from a pottery factory—until you connect the dots. Most of us never find all the dots—but we begin to see a pattern. And that pattern says that God has been creating a magnificent story—drawing a breathtaking picture—with all the dots that make up our lives.

It’s surprising, in the Christmas story, that there are no flashy entrances. Only ordinary people living unspectacular lives—who choose greatness by choosing to serve. Some of the leading roles are played by people you’d never expect, and some of the most spectacular, bigger-than-life people play almost invisible roles. Only God could gather a cast like this!  And that gives HOPE to unspectacular people like me and you!

In most great stories, hope has been totally extinguished—when something flickers in the corner...a tiny candle of hope appears.  In the great story of God—of which we are a part, the problem was, quite literally NIGHT.  Darkness.  Life and light was being crushed out of existence by the weight of evil, sadness, pain, injustice—and the arrogance and over-confidence of the perpetrators.  And then….a pregnancy…the entrance of HOPE into the darkest story ever!

Toward the end of His mission here—and right before His death, Jesus' disciples—they ones who had laid their lives on the line to follow Him—were still hoping for the kind of greatness held by Herod, Caesar Augustus—and all the other kings and conquerors who have ever lived. Jesus’ shocking revelation was, “That’s your plan—not mine”. Now, which path to greatness are we taking? Our path of our own grand plan, or Jesus’?