Posted on Feb 15, 2018 in General |
We all have heroes, want heroes. Someone to look up to, admire, follow, even model parts of our life after. Maybe you look high—the movie star, the athlete, the Forbes list magnate. Or maybe you are more of an “everyman” admiring the public servant, mom or dad, that person on the news. My favorite camp is the hip, niched hero. These typically belong to those cool people who have found someone in their line of work, or the line of work they aspire to. The hero no one else has ever heard of, but who is nonetheless, “really amazing.”
You get the point.
Here’s the problem; most of our heroes disappoint. I loved Bill Cosby growing up. He was the quintessential dad in pretty much every way. On paper he was living it out in real life too. Dead wrong. Those poor women.
Posted on Jan 4, 2018 in General |
A few of the MCC Bloggers have ideas for resolutions for the New Year. Take a moment to think about how any of these might benefit you–you only have one 2018 after all!
Resolution number one: Find Jesus! Whether you know Jesus or not, this advice holds true.
If you don’t know Jesus, seek him out. He is waiting to be found by you. The best place to start is in the 66 books that make up what Christianity calls the Bible, and probably the best books within the Bible for your search are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Ask the pastor and/or church leaders, or check the church’s website, to confirm that they consider the Bible to be their primary source of truth about Jesus. You can always find Jesus by talking to him through prayer, but without searching in those first two places, you may hear from someone other than Jesus in response to those prayers; someone who would like to be God, but who is not God. Other places to search are among friends who know him, and other books that are available. The best thing to know is that, if you are truly seeking him, he’ll know, and he will lead you to find him.
Read more…
Posted on Dec 23, 2017 in General |
One of the best ways to spend your Christmas bonus during this time of year, is to give to great causes. Below are some, certainly not all, of MCC’s favorite organizations to donate to:
1. AJSS Children’s Home. Through our connection with
Denton Freedom House, we connected to the Azad Jiwan Seva Sansthan Foundation Children’s Home, an orphanage in the Far East that protects children that are lost and begging at a local train station.
On their
website, you can view the children that are currently housed with Anirudh and Suman, and you can see where your money goes as well!
Posted on Dec 14, 2017 in General |
One of the things I look forward to the most at this Christmas-time of year, is the music. Popping in a CD of my favorite mix of Christmas tunes takes me back to Christmases long, long ago as well as the seasons most recently passed. Music is one of those common threads onto which you can latch another year of created memories.
From the 40’s and 50’s favorites such as “Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt and “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby to the more recent “All I Want For Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey, each song elicits everything from a laugh and a giggle to a smile and a tear. One of the songs that causes me the most tears, yet I still listen to it over and over, is Amy Grant’s “Grown-Up Christmas List.” On the opposite end of the spectrum is one that is not technically a Christmas song, but one that I play repeatedly because of my Texas roots longing for some snow, is Dean Martin’s “It’s a Marshmallow World in the Winter.”
Between these extremes of unselfishly longing for all the problems in the world to be resolved and selfishly longing for snow that won’t melt when it hits the ground, lies a song of personal introspection; a song that I not only listen to repeatedly, but I love to share with others. I want to see if it will prompt them to think the way it makes me think… long, hard, and deep. Read more…
Posted on Dec 6, 2017 in General |
When did stress and Christmas become so closely linked?
Few of us set out to overcrowd our schedules, spend too much, eat way too much, or see the season go by so fast that all we retain are blurred memories of no particular quality. We end up in January, vaguely let down and aware that we have somehow (again) missed the point – the joy of our Savior’s birth and its implications for Christians all over the world.
I was determined not to let that happen this year, so I am going to try a couple of things.
- Plan ahead
- Re-orient my viewpoint
The first idea is one I read about in a waiting room magazine article. Before the holiday season began (for many of us, that’s before Thanksgiving, although it’s still not too late) I sat down with my family and a calendar.
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