The Dreamer of Fortune Cookies

One of the best parts of eating in a Chinese restaurant is not having all the wonderful dishes at the buffet table, but rather at the end of the meal when we receive the fortune cookies. 

About a month ago,  I got my fortune cookie after the meal and quickly ripped it in half.  Laying the cookie aside, I went right for the fortune.  The small strip of paper had these encouraging words, “You will have a long and healthy life.”  That’s a good one.  Come to think of it, I never have opened a fortune cookie that told me something bad, although I have heard there are some cookies in special packages that are downright mean predictions. 

So I did a little research to see how this all got started.

To my amazement, the fortune cookie, like chop suey, is not Chinese but the results of a U.S. dreamer and inventor.   Fortune cookies actually originated in Los Angeles, where Canton-native David Jung, a baker and restaurateur, began making cookies with thin slips of paper inside sometime around 1920.  His purpose was to give people good feelings about themselves, even during troublesome times. Jung founded the Hong Kong Noodle Company, which was producing more than 3,000 cookies an hour in the 1920s.

In some ways, the Bible is like a fortune cookie.  It has words of encouragement, love, forgiveness, and hope that are perfect for everyone today.  Everywhere we study the Scripture we find direction for our lives. 

But reading and studying Scripture should never be as casual as eating a fortune cookie, yet how often do we do just that.  We open it up, take out the words we want to read and toss the rest aside. 

Instead God’s Word is just giving us a smile but we need to take the time to build a relationship with the One who gives us a fortune each day.  It is the thrilling fortune (message) along with blessings seen and not seen in which demonstrates that the Creator of the universe is in love with us. 

Meditating on the words and making them live in our hearts will give us more wonderful fortunes than the 3,000 cookies baked in an hour back in the 1920s.

1 John 2:14   I write to you, my children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong; the word of God lives in you, and you have defeated the Evil One.

Blame Game - It's Not My Fault

Recently, it was announced on TV that a man who smoked all his life is suing a tobacco company for an enormous amount of money.  His legal claim is that although he had developed terminal cancer from smoking, he was not responsible for getting lung cancer.  It was someone else’s fault.  Today a lady, who was texting while walking in a mall, fell into the center fountain.  She is suing the mall for not have rails to block her.  It wasn't her fault.  My bride said that if someone ran into her texting, she would be suing them too.

 You see this scenario played over and over again in today’s society.  People who break many laws are claiming in court that it was not their fault.  A terrorist claims he was tricked into killing 277 people and it is not his fault.  People blame environment, society, other people, and corporations.  This stand has resulted in lengthy court cases and sometimes in financial awards and some with no consequences whatsoever.  What is this world coming to? 

Strange, but this approach is not new.

 God created us with the ability to make choices.  While there are circumstances that focus our lives toward acts of sin and crime, we must look at the director of sin.

 Satan wants us to believe that there are no consequences to our actions.  Adam and Eve were told this lie and they believed it.  They even repeated the lie back to God.  And Adam even blamed God for the sin. 

 When you get a moment, read Genesis 3:1-24.  

As you read the entire story, Satan goes head to head against God’s word.  At the end of this chapter, you see the grave consequences to Adam and Eve for lying and blaming someone or something else.

Today, our society believes Satan’s lies and we hear people say, “Influences beyond our control made us steal, kill, or cause damage to our own bodies”.  We take no responsibility for our actions.   Yet God’s laws say that there are still consequences to sin.

Going through the process of suffering consequences does not mean the end of your life, but can be a growth time in your life that the Lord can use for His glory.  Jesus Christ wipes the slate clean of our sins when we give our lives to Him.  So you do not need Satan’s lies and deceit.   You can use your past to make a difference in a person’s present, so they can be assured of a wonderful future in Heaven. 

 It’s time to take responsibility for our actions, ask forgiveness, and tell Satan that it is his fault and not other people, plus we know Satan’s future.  Be different!  Be true to yourself!

Genesis 3: 12-13   Then the man said to God, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate.”  And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”  The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”

Crying Out for Help - Not a Dream

It was the fall of 1988 and I thought my life was breaking apart.  I worked in a Christian corporation and events beyond my control had forced me to take some steps I did not want to take.  After several weeks of keeping my thoughts inside, I went to the woods to be alone.  In a small clearing in the center of the woods, I screamed out to God at the top of my lungs, “Why?  Why?  Why are you allowing this to happen?” 

I was hurting, and angry with God for not doing something about the situation.  For the next few minutes I began to tell God what I thought He should be doing and told Him how much I had done for Him in the Christian corporation. 

When I stopped crying out in pain and tears, I waited for the Lord’s reply.  No booming voice from the sky.  No rumble of thunder.  Just a couple of blue birds singing and a gentle breeze.  At that time I slumped to the ground and leaned up next to a tree.  After the tears subsided, I noticed an anthill to my right.  Unknowingly, I had kicked their mound and tore up their nest.  Instead of getting angry or crying out, they just began working that much harder to rebuild their nest.  It was then that the Lord spoke through my thoughts to rebuild my life.  I realized that I had built my life on those accomplishments for the Lord and the world while not focusing on my relationship with the Lord.

Think about the times you experience the most pain in your life.  It may be your finances, your home, relationships with others, your job, loss of a loved one, or your spouse and crying out to God will be a healing part of the situation.  He understands.  He loves you.  He wants to care for you. 

Look around you and ask the Lord to show you His plan for your life.  It may be a lifestyle change.  It may just be an attitude change.  Or it could be just a heart change to realize that you have done it on your own for such a long time that you need to really depend of the Lord for your daily strength and guidance.

From personal experience, the Lord WILL deliver you out of your troubles.  As I look back at 1988, I realize that if I had not experienced the situations, then I would have missed the best relationship possible with the Lord and then with other people.  Don’t be angry with God for the situation that may have your life turned upside down.  Talk to Him.  Listen to Him.  Then discover what great things He has in store for you. 2011 is going to be a GREAT Year!

 Psalms 34:17 - When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Getting Rid of My Big But

Yes, it's confession time, I have a big But.  It's hard to say when it comes to buts yet here it goes.  In fact I have several Big Buts.  There are times when I make excuses for  not doing something.  I know I need to read the Bible, "but I need to do Farmville, but I don't have time, but I need to Tweet before I forget it, but its boring, but I can't get motivated, but that's somebody else's fault".  The list could go on and you get the idea of how big my but is.  And that's just on one book.

Here a But, there a but, everywhere a but but.

So it is the beginning of the year (or at least its close) and like many New Year's resolutions I am determined to get rid of my Big But.  Ugly as it is, I have to get rid of saying, "But I don't have time today".  Managing time is tough for a Dreamer and realizing that a determined discipline is the only way to take away the big But.

I don't want to get too personal, except what about your Big Buts?   For me I don't have to go to the gym every day or stand in front of a mirror shaking my head.  I now can see my buts when they come flying out of my mouth.

And at the beginning of this blog you though I was going somewhere else.  Or that I had really bad spelling.  this is what a Dreamer thinks about.   Hmmm . . . .

The "Wait " from my Prayers

Have you ever prayed and thought your prayers never made it above the ceiling?  God are you deaf today, are you off helping someone else, or just testing me to see if I am persistent?  

I love the prayers where I get the quick "Yes"  that bring instant  praise to the Father.  I also accept the "No" prayers because He knows what is best for me.  It's the "Wait" responses that drive me up a wall.  Being who I am, it is rough to wait.  Psalms 130:5 -  "I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope" says it best in that I have learned to reach for the Word of the Lord to give me direction during my waiting period.

One area I still struggle with is when is the answer "No" and when is it "Wait"?  

Maybe I am the only one in this arena but when we lead anything or any group or organization, decisions must be made and be decisive.  In college we had experiments with the Yarsini Pestis water maze where we put a rat at the beginning of a "Y" maze.  Food would be on a platform at one end of the "Y" and a shock at the other end.  If the rat got shocked on one end it would retreat and get food on the other side.  We had random rotation of the shock and food so there was no clear cut path.  After about 40 times in completing the maze by the rat, that rat would go to the split of the "Y" and freeze.  For two days it would never take a chance for a food reward because of it's fear of the shock.  Our professor said that the rat would drown before taking a chance to get food.

In our lives many of us never take a chance because of the pain that may be at the other end.   We get to the point of freezing our lives in a comfortable space only to not experiences the riches that the Lord has waiting for us.   So in my waiting for the Lord, I study more and spend more time in prayer.  Yet I refuse to sit at the division of the "Y" and do nothing.  

Do you feel in a frozen state in your life?  In your troubling world and economy, do you hold tight and wait and see what "just happens by"?  Or have you ever thought about talking to the Lord without the need for a Yes, No, or Wait  response?

When you continue seeking the Lord you will see Him giving you blessings and answering requests where you did not even know that there was a request.  I have found that He does a much better job at leading me when I am the follower.  

Some of my big requests are still "Wait" but I realize that He heard me the first time I asked  Him to answer a prayer need and am confident that He will bless beyond my wildest imagination, in His time frame. 

We have to just keep moving forward and looking up, which is hard for many of us because we are afraid of the fall.  Humm. . .  Walk by Faith--- such a concept!

Good Ole Days

I’m not sure if it is the times in which we live, my age, escaping from the issues of today, or just the memories of the past, but I spend more time now thinking about the “Good Ole Days”.   I have an XM radio with over two hundred channels of radio and no long commercials. When I first got it as a Christmas present my first presets included the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, Gospel, and folk music stations. Singing along with the old familiar tunes brought back memories of being carefree and just being a kid.

Amazingly, I still remember most of the words. On Sunday, Lynnette and I sometimes listen to the old time Gospel singing on our drive to church. OK, Lynnette tolerates this music since she never grew up with this style of Christian music. Whenever 99% if the songs begin, I breakout in harmony from the words of those songs, as I recall my Mom playing piano for our Quartet. 

The “Good Ole Days” were times when we did not have the pressure of life we experience today. We didn’t work 50 plus hours every week to make a living. Our parents took care of our needs and most of the time helped us achieve our wants. We were taught both simple and complex lessons on life.

So why is it so important for us to remember those days?

I believe that for people in my age bracket, it is a way to give significance to our situation in life today. My son is getting so good at helping me in the transition from significance to value in life. When we are together now, he is the first to start talking about things that happened when he was a child and talk about events I experienced with my dad, his granddad.

Now I believe that  most of my successes are behind me so both my children give me value for the future.  I don’t need the Father’s Day ties or other presents that are only used for a short time. Instead the best gifts are the ones where I can sit and talk with my children or listen to their life experiences and cherish our grandchildren.

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They have heard the stories before, but my joy is when they ask a question about those old days. In talking with both my kids recently, I independently heard them talk about working 50 to 60 hours at their jobs which sadly I know that this  lifestyle leaves little time for their families. Even though they learned a good work ethic, I am striving to impart balance between work and their personal life, which continues to be a hard lesson for me to learn. We all have periods in our lives that we would like to forget, but we should strive to look at all our days as life lessons.

In the New Testament, the word “remember” is used sixty-seven times. Can’t you just imagine the followers of Christ recalling years after His ascension times when they laughed, cried, and saw the miracles He performed? It was many of those stories that changed others lives forever. Maybe it is time to listen more to the “Good Ole Days” stories of our family and friends. Many times we will see the impact that the Lord had on their life. 

If we understand what brought them to where they are today in life, we can experience history as relates to our life today. A telephone call to a father,  mother, brother or sister may be the best gift you can give all year. I will never regret the one on one time I was given with my parents and grandparents. Just to learn about the “Good Ole Days”.

Keepin' the Faith

Most of us Dreamers love the excitement of ideas popping into our heads.  Many times we want to share them so other people can "catch the vision" and run with the ideas.  The rough part is when you take a dream and strive to develop it into something that is either a product, a program, a presentation, or getting an idea to take hold.  Then if never goes anywhere.  Don't take it personally!  You are ahead of your time and the right person has not absorbed your "way out" concepts.

With any dream or idea you should do your homework as the idea is maturing in your head and just take a leap of faith to move forward.  It is walking by faith and not by site or reason that keeps a dreamer going.  But you have to learn that not every dream is golden.  A mentor in my first marketing job out of college told me to never lose my dreams of doing things different.  Instead he said realize that if 30% of what you suggest EVER goes anywhere in a corporation, then you will be highly successful.  If a baseball player hits 30% of what he swings at in his lifetime, then he will be in the Hall of Fame.  (300 batting average)

Years later I know that any dream will be successful if  it helps someone to improve themselves, help others, serve more, or relate an experience that lifts someone else up.  So even if you are not a dreamer, consider that the Lord made you successful because YOU have a story to tell to a hurting world which is far from a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

Keep up the faith!  You will succeed in whatever you say or do and inside yourself you will know that you are successful!  Look for it!  Count on it!   Now,  Dream On!

Scars of Our Lives

Having some medical tests completed, I laid on the table and the technician noted the scars that remain from the removal of my thyroid glands. Our conversation then turned to the reason for the removal of the glands: the result of radiation therapy as a child of 12 and the high potential for cancer.  During the quietness of the tests, I thought about the other scars I possess.  Ones like the rat bite on my hand, the one on my leg from jumping off a hay wagon, Achilles tendon tear, plus many other surgeries, each one having its own story.

Years ago my daughter was in a traffic accident and cut a gash about four inches long on the center of her forehead.  In the hospital before surgery, we could see her skull where the skin and muscle were cut.  But at that time all I saw was my daughter in pain.  Closing the wound and taking away her pain was the only thing on my mind. She was my beautiful daughter.  Years later we talk about the scar and re-live the events of that day but even with the pain gone the results of the accident live on.   

Every one of us has scars and stories to tell the world.  They may be external scars and could be considered by the world to be ugly.  They may be internal scars that we keep hidden for many years, thinking no one can see our imperfections.  Yet keeping them inside makes them get bigger and deeper inside until we take that internal pain and push it on someone else.  Sometimes emotionally and other times physically.

We must set the goal to talk about our scars because this is part of the healing process.  We need to be a “Witness to Real Life” by talking about our failures and imperfections.  It will amaze you how many others have gone through similar experiences.  In doing that we also realize how the Lord has brought us through the pain and His love frees us for eternity.

What scars can you share with others?  What witness to real life can you be today?