Light Your Candle . . .

I was lighting a candle yesterday - something I don't do very often because, well, if I burn them, then I have to pay to replace them. Yes, I know, I'm cheap, but that's not my point today!

Anyway, as I was lighting the candle, God showed me a comparison between candles and people. Most people have candles for two reasons - 1 because they are pretty and 2 because they smell good. Now, you can smell a candle up close without it being lit, but the fragrance doesn't go very far. But, when you light the candle, the perimiter of the aroma is much greater - one candle can make an entire house smell good, thus making it more effective in it's purpose.

How similar are we when we think about showing the love of Christ to others. If we truly want to share the Good News of Jesus we have to allow the light of His love to shine through us. If we keep quiet about salvation we might look pretty on the outside like an unlit candle, but the full potential of our purpose will never be realized and many people won't hear the hope of Jesus Christ.

What if the person that shared Christ with you had never "lit their candle" and kept the gospel to themselves? They'd be "heaven bound", but where would you be? The goal of the Great Commission is to get the gospel to the entire world - it's going to take a lot of lit candles to get the aroma of hope and salvation that far.

I challenge you, if your candle isn't lit, go find a lighter and light your candle. Someone needs to see and hear the Good News - you might be just the one God wants to use to reach a neighbor, a co-worker, a family memeber, or a dear friend.

President Obama - "we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation . . . "

On April 6th, President Obama, while in Turkey said about America, "is ... we have a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

Now, in theory, I think I understand what he was attempting to say . . . and that is that America is a melting pot where all kinds of people, no matter what their faith, can come together and live in peace. Now, I don't guess I should be assuming to know what the President is trying to say. What I do know is this, he basically denounced God and tromped on the values and principles this country was founded on. We may not have Christianity as the national religion - that would go against the Constitution, however, the mere fact that he had the audacity to play down the role of our heritage and where the ideals and values he spoke about came from is incomprehensible and almost unforgiveable to me.

I was reading in Psalms the next night and found these verses, "Why the big noise, nations? Why the mean plots, peoples? Earth-leaders push for position, Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks. The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers: "Let's get free of God! Cast loose from Messiah!" Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing. At first He's amused at their presumption; Then He gets good and angry. Furiously, He shuts them up: "Don't you know there's a King in Zion? A coronation banquet is spread for him on the holy summit." So, rebel-kings, use your heads; Upstart-judges, learn your lesson: Worship God in adoring embrace, Celebrate in trembling awe. Your very lives are in danger, you know; His anger is about to explode. But if you make a run for God - you won't regret it!"Psalm 2:1 - 6, 10 - 12

As a nation, I think we better do a pretty quick 180 degree turn back to God from where we are headed or we will indeed regret that!

Mr. Chet Edwards, Sir . . .

My husband, Dennis, just received a response letter from you regarding his encouragement of you to not vote for the stimulus bill. I find a few things interesting in your response. First of all, Congress and Senate is to be a voice for the people in the state in which they serve, not a platform to push through your own opinions. You wrote, "I respect those who might have honest disagreements with MY views on the economy or my votes on how to get our economy back on it's feet." Texas voted against Obama in this election 55% to 44% - you might want to pay attention to that.

Second, you discussed voting against the deregulation of Wall Street. You wrote, "If some businesses and banks are considered 'too big to fail', then they must either be far more effectively regulated or simply not allowed to become so big in the first place." It is NOT the government's job to run banks or businesses. That is the job of the private sector. If they fail, they fail. Will it be tough, ABSOLUTELY, however, I bet they learn their lesson. It's just like a kid who keeps making the same stupid mistakes over and over again. Tough love works - maybe that approach should be taken with banks and businesses.

Sir, you are gambling by borrowing against MY 3 kid's futures. It was a gamble far too risky to take. You need to listen to the voice of Texans, because most of them are not in agreement with trillions of dollars of debt. We are on a slippery slope to socialism and you are taking us there if you don't take a hands off approach to healthcare, the banking system, the car industry, etc. Free enterprise works and our founding father's would be sick at their stomachs if they could see where this country is headed. I highly recommend you rent the movie series called "John Adams". It is a painfully close resemblance of where exactly we are today. Then, think again about the philosophies you stand for.

EXTREME MAKEOVER Norris Edition

OH MY GOSH!!! That is all I could say over, and over, and over again when I came home from my Nebraska trip this past Saturday.

My husband, while I was out of town, got together with my best Friends - Kimberly and Fanette, our Pastor Janet, and a few other friends to redo our entire living room and kitchen area. The floors have been tiled and the rest has been rearranged and/or redone.

We had been talking about laying tile because of allergy issues in our home, so we thought this would be a wise move. However, the make-over part was completely and totally a surprise.

Thank you baby, for making me feel so loved!

What happened to inspiring people?

Barack Obama is my president. He is your president. If you live in America, whether or not you voted for him, he is our designated leader at this point in time.

That said, over the past month, I have been listening to him speak to the people of this great nation and all I hear is negativity. If I had a dollar for every time he said the words "catastrophe" and "crisis" this past month, I would be a wealthy woman. What ever happened to leading by example, by inspiration, and true hope. President Obama ran on "hope" and people bought into that vision of hope. Yet, when we listen to him speak now, there is no hope, it's all doom and gloom and how bad off we are.

I know Who I put my hope in. It isn't people, or policies, or projects, it is in the Lord Who created this great planet and on Whom this nation is founded.

I pray President Obama chooses to change his language and speak hope into the people of this day. I don't need the President to tell me how things are over and over and over again. State the facts and then let's move forward. Right now, he is stating the facts, but not giving vision for the future. The Bible said that without a vision people perish.

People keep comparing Obama to FDR. FDR tried to help the country out of recession/depression with the New Deal. Now, for the most part, the New Deal didn't work, but FDR was a person who spoke positively. He inspired the people of the day to look ahead, not give up, and not fear. Sadly, this president is choosing not to inspire.

President Obama, I ask you to cast vision. Speak with passion. Share the hope you promised.

The Fairness Doctrine - or should I say, the Censorship Doctrine

Here's a letter I've sent to both Senators and Congressman Chet Edwards . . .

I am hearing more and more lately about the possiblility of the Fairness Doctrine trying to be put back into place. I beg of you, not to vote in favor of anything that even remotely resembles the fairness doctrine.

This idea completely goes against free speach. All people have the same opportunity to be heard on tv, radio, or the internet - that's what is already fair. If they choose not to be heard through those outlets, that's their choice, but forcing radio, tv, or internet to have equal time on both sides truly becomes bondage and not freedom at all.

As a citizen who loves this country and the freedoms it stands for, I am asking again that if this issue comes up, you not support it in any fashion.

Thank you!
Lara Norris
College Station, TX

Leadership Excerpt from Andy Stanley

It was my turn to give the devotion before Children's Church and with all the crazy stuff going on in our country, this seemed an appropriate topic . . .

The Next Generation Leader
By Andy Stanley
(Ch. 13 paraphrased)

p. 131 “character is not essential to leadership”

- That may be a surprising statement at first, but I think this statement has been shown quite clearly this week. We have an Olympic swimmer who has “fallen from grace” with the picture of him smoking pot. We have people on Capitol Hill leading who have not paid taxes. The previous Illinois Governor has been impeached . . .and I’m sure most of us have had a boss or employer at some point who has had character flaws, yet they were still in charge.

p. 131 So, “character is not essential to leadership . . . but character is what makes you a leader worth following.”

p. 133 “Character is the will to do what’s right even when it’s hard. Character is about will because it requires a willingness to make tough decisions – decisions that sometimes run contrary to emotion, intuition, economics, current trends, and in the eyes of some, common sense. . . . As a next generation leader you must decide ahead of time what is nonnegotiable as it relates to right and wrong.”

P 134 “Character involves doing what’s right because it’s the right thing to do – regardless of the cost.”

p. 138/139 “Leading with character is not about doing right to avoid consequences. Leaders worth following do the right thing because it is the right thing. Virtue is not a means to an end. It is the end. . . . Leaders worth following acknowledge that their leadership skills and successes never give them the right to replace what God has put in place.”

p. 139 “Every leader wears two badges: one visible, one invisible. The visible badge is your position and title. (servant leader, captain, team leader, director, or pastor) The invisible badge is your moral authority. . . Your position will prompt people in your organization to lend you their hands on a temporary basis. But your moral authority will inspire them to lend you their hearts.”

- Isn’t that what we want in ministry – servant leaders who aren’t just lending a temporary hand, but are inspired to serve with their hearts?!

p. 140 “Moral authority is the credibility you earn by walking your talk. It is the relationship other people see between what you claim to be and what you really are. . . Alignment between belief and behavior makes a leader persuasive. You can manage people without moral authority, But you cannot influence them. . . John Maxwell was right when he said that people have to buy into the leader before they will buy into the vision. It is your moral authority that opens the door for the people around you to buy into your vision. You can pay people to work for you based on your position alone, but you cannot involve people in a cause or a movement without moral authority.”

When Dennis and I first became members of Covenant Family church, we had to “buy into” Pastors Danny and Janet before we bought into the vision of the church. It wasn’t until we did that, that we began to serve and help in Student Ministry. Then when we started serving in ministry, we had to buy into the people leading us before we bought into the specific ministry vision. People need to buy into you before their hearts will be inspired to buy into the vision of your area. Be that leader with influence. Don’t just have the “title badge”, wear the invisible badge of moral authority. It’s not always the easiest road, but it is an adventurous path worth taking.

As I was praying this morning, God also reminded me to make sure I am looking to Him for the perfect example of moral Authority. He will never let us down or make a mistake. People make mistakes. We have all fallen short or we wouldn't need Christ. So, don't put people on a pedestal where they don't belong. It's ok to have leaders you are following; in fact it's necessary to move forward in this life. Just remember, we are all human and Christ is the Ultimate example of a True Leader.