A Winsome Response to Opposing Philosophies

In thinking about yesterdays sermon ("Stand Alone Click here for podcast)I was reminded of a time in  my life when my faith was challenged by the concept of "Separation of Church and State".  I was in my twilight tour in the Navy Serving the the capacity of  a division chief for the Firecontrol Rate Group at a Navy teaching facility.  I had about a dozen guys working for me.

One day I was accused by a young man of giving preferential treatment for people who attended my church (truth being only one person in my group attended my church).  As a result there was an investigation into Chief Beckett's behavior and leadership to determine the validity of this charge.  Long story made short - I was absolved of any wrongdoing but the word was that there would have to be an end to religious discussion in my rate group.  When I heard this, I was infuriated.  I was told that our AOIC (assistant officer in charge) had determined that this would be a case of separation of church and state and that I would no longer be able to speak about my faith at work.  I was all prepared to go to war about this.  The phase "Who shall I obey men or God?" was rolling around in my head.

But on the day the word came to me officially through the chain of command, the Holy Spirit stepped in and saved the day.  My immediate supervisor, a Master Chief, came to talk to me and the conversation went something like this.
"Chief Beckett" he began, "you are going to have to stop these religious discussions in you rate group as we feel this violates that mandates of "Separation of Church and State".
For some reason the response I had been rehearsing in my head for days failed to come out my mouth.  I instead I said the following, "Masterchief, I have a problem with this.  I know that in your office that you all like to talk about fishing.  Why is is that you can talk about what you want to talk about but we cannot talk about what we want to talk about?"
He looked at me, tilted his head and said, "Never mind."
That was that last I heard of it.  No one challenged the idea that we had religious discussions in my place of work ever again.

For me, this relates so much with how Pastor Ronnie shared the passage from Daniel chapter 1.  So often we want to either bow down to or attack the opposing view.  Daniel chapter one gives us a more Jesus like response to dealing with people of the world.  To me, it is sad that Christians are more often remembered for what they are against than what they stand for.  I am reminded of a article I read in Charisma magazine 10 or 15 years ago.  In the article the person writing the article went to the burning man celebration in southern California.  The overwhelming story was that many of these people attending the pagan festival were people who have been rough handled by Christians (or people professing to be Christians).  Too often in our zeal to promote our values or to defend God (who doesn't need our defense) we push others away from Him.

I pray that as I continue to walk with my Savior that I learn more and more how to demonstrate a winsome and attractive faith which is known for its love and mercy instead of a faith that takes a hard line and repels those who might other wise come to know God.  May they come to know the reality of my faith through the example of the mature fruit of the spirit evident in me; which no one can easily refuse.

Sincerely
Preacher Al

What is Love?

I see lots of posts on Facebook about love; some are sappy and some are hard.  I am left with a number of questions. But I don't just want to rant here. I want to hear/read your responses to the following questions.

1.  If love means never having to say you are sorry, do we have the right to never apologize to our loved ones?
2.  If tough love means saying "no" to demonstrate our love, when is saying yes not loving someone?
3.  Is it truly love if the person we love doesn't feel loved?
4.  If love is a decision, what value are our feelings?
5.  What is the motivation that validates love?
6.  Can we truly love someone if we don't feel loving?
7.  I have heard it said, "You cannot love others without first loving yourself." But doesn't self love lead to "me first" thinking which prevents us from loving others effectively?
8.  Can you commit an unloving act and still validly say that you love someone?
9.  How do you love someone who constantly stands in the way of, ignores or belittles your hopes, dreams, desires and/or needs?
10. How do you love your enemies?

I would love to read your responses to these questions. I have some thoughts on these questions but first I would like to read your responses. Please explain your reasoning in your responses.

I will add to this post as we go along.

Looking forward to hearing from you

Preacher Al

Fighting the Good Fight

This morning for some reason I found my self thinking about an incident in my past; a time where God broke into the situation and profoundly got my attention (well at least for the moment).  I cannot retell this story without breaking into tears because to me it speaks so loudly of God's love for me.

Background

My wife and I were married fairly young by today's standards.  I had just turned 20 and my wife was 18.  I am not sure how many people were routing for us but, I suspect that there were a lot of people thinking... that won't last.  My idea of marriage was to be the bread winner; work as much as it takes to keep food on the table and a roof over our head.  My wife married me in part to get out from under her parents roof but also because she was smitten by me.

We both had baggage and it didn't take long before our baggage started causing us problems.  We fought, in fact we fought like cats and dogs, not in public, but if you were our neighbor you would know that we had anger issues.  It rarely came to physical blows, but there was a lot of yelling, especially on my wife's part.  I hated yelling and would always hold off until I couldn't stand it any more.

One thing we had going for us though was we never badmouthed the other in front of others.  I didn't blame her and she didn't blame me.  We both recount this time when friends invited us to a picnic at the beach with some of their friends. It was a nice day at Cliff-side park just south of Santa Cruz, CA; one of our favorite places to go in youth.  The food was good and is often the case we broke up into the men's group and the women's group.  Afterwards my wife and I were both shocked by how much time these folks whined and complained about their spouses.  I don't know why but AnnMarie and I had decided mutually without ever saying it out loud, to never complain about the other in front of friends.  This may have made us look like the perfect couple to our friends, but we still fought regularly.

Our New Life in Christ

When when we have been married close to 15 years we both came to the Lord.  Read My Testimony if you want to know a bit more about that.  But coming to Christ, did not instantly fix all our problems.  We still fought like cats and dogs.  And of course now that I was studying the Bible I could tell my wife what was unbiblical with her behavior, which at times was like adding gasoline to the fire. But one day I had a "God encounter" that profoundly shook my world.

So it was another of those days when we were at odds and arguing.   There was yelling and recriminations flying back and forth.  And somehow in the middle of this I had a vision from God.  In the vision I was sitting on the floor, and like a child having a tantrum I was thrumming my heals and my fists on the floor in my frustration.  Then suddenly in the vision Jesus appeared.  He was standing over me with his hand out and he said "Alan, whenever you're ready we can move on."  I was stopped in my tracks.  My anger bled away and was just left feeling a bit sheepish.  I shared it with my wife, but for the life of me I cannot remember her response to it.  But I was profoundly affected.  It did not stop our fighting, but after that all I had to do was think of that moment and I would stop fighting.

Today

So as I was thinking about this event this morning, and no we were not arguing.  We haven't had a fight like that for four of five years. It occurred to me that so often we fight for the wrong things in our life.  When I was young, I fought for my pride, I fought to get my way, I fought to prevent things from changing and I fought to be in control.  I think my wife most often fought to get my attention, to be heard and to try to get what she thought was right of us.  But in all that fighting I cannot say that I really ever fought for us.  I never fought for unity, I didn't fight to defend our relationship from all the things that were trying their best to pull us apart.   

I often times have worked to serve my wife (on my terms).  But I cannot say that I have fought for her.  I love her, and am very glad she is in my life.  I cannot think of another person who works so hard to support me and encourage me so long as I am pursuing God and his purposes in my life.  But I would like that to change starting today.  I am challenging myself (and you my readers) to fight for your marriage/relationship and to die to the need for control and put myself first.  Lord, thank you for another revelation, may your Love, Hope and Faith lead me in all righteousness.  May I ever seek to keep our marriage one that puts God first, unity second and self last.

Amen

.

So who am I called to be?

With all the chatter about gay marriage and those for and against it, I thought it was time I stated my purpose as a child of God and how I might address such issues.

For me first and foremost I am a "Disciple of Jesus Christ" who is called to be a "Minister of Reconciliation." To that end I take the words of Jesus to heart which says that He did not come into the world to condemn it.  He came to seek and save the lost, to heal the sick, to free the captive, to bind up the brokenhearted and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.  His life on earth demonstrated God's love for sinners.  Granted He didn't say continue sinning, but Christ came sharing about the Kingdom of God to those who the religious leaders had rejected.  These leaders had turned faith in to a laborious task in keeping all the minutia of The Law.  These men demanded things of people that God had not intended.  Jesus hung out with tax collectors drunkards, the unclean and even prostitutes.  He didn't do it to say they should stay that way, but he came to call them back to God.  The people who didn't like Christ were the super religious who thought they had the answer to all the world's ills and didn't approve of Jesus methods.

Yes I know that Jesus, like John before him, preached "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand."  I think that this is meant for all those who knew they were sinning and just needed a push to admit it and turn from it.  But others are trapped in their sin.  They may be deceived into thinking what they are doing is not all that wrong; that is really isn't sin. Or they believe that they cannot give up their way of life, for reasons such as addiction, brokenness or fear of a life without their sin.

Jesus hung out with sinners, isn't that what I should do?  Not to take up their habits, but to show them that God still loves them.  To demonstrate that they are not hopeless, but if fact it is God's desire to forgive them, heal them and bring them into the Kingdom of God/Heaven.  I am further encouraged by the words of the Apostle Paul who said that he became all things to all men that he might save a few.  I don't think he meant he should enter into the sin of those he was reaching out to, but he worked to understand the culture that they came from and found common ground to talk about the things of God.  So if I am going to speak to people, like Republicans, Democrats, Tea Party members, conservatives, liberals and moderates, then I have to work to find some common ground; to find out where they are coming from.  I don't agree with all the positions of any of these people, but I am willing to talk to them about God's love for them.  I will even talk to atheists and homosexuals - not to beat them over the head with my rhetoric, but to demonstrate the reality of God's love that is at work in me.

When the Apostle Paul talked on Mars Hill he didn't attack the Greeks for their obvious idolatry and sexual sins (temple prostitutes and such), rather he found common ground to talk about his love for the God of the Universe.  Not everyone agreed with him, but that was okay, he made inroads into the culture.  Like Paul we need to find ways to talk to (not down to) materialists, liberals, conservatives, tattooed and pierced folks in such a way that shows that God is alive and at work in us.  They don't need our finger waving in their faces.  I believe there is a place for correction, but I believe it should be mainly confined to the church, but even still done out of love and not out of anger, hatred or self-righteousness.

When I received my call to serve God it was from 2 Timothy 4 staring in the 2nd verse.  Part of the calling deals with correcting, rebuking and encouraging people with careful instruction because the time is coming (and I believe it is already here) when people will not listen to sound doctrine but will gather around them people who tell them what they want to hear.  They are not interested in the truth, they only want to hear that they are right.  So I am cautious to try to not just tell people what they want to hear, but I really try to exercise my gifts tempered by God's love (1 Cor. 13).  My temperament is such that I work hard to give the other person the benefit of the doubt where possible.  I know the human heart is darkened by all kinds of wrong desires, like the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.  Some people are not easily dissuaded from their chosen paths.  They know what they want and they are just so sure of themselves.  Sometimes you just have to shake off the dust and move on.  But I believe God has given me this outlet here in my blog to touch peoples heart with bit of God's love.

I am a realist and I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but I am also pragmatic in that I am willing to enter into a conversation with anyone who is willing to share and willing to listen.  I know what I believe and I don't see myself giving up what I know to be true.  But I am willing to enter into a discussion with someone who may not agree with me.  Some people just want to label me as a religious nut or a homophobe, but really do you think I will listen to you and give you any credit if all you do is attack my belief system.  I have already done the "I don't trust religious people or God" thing.  I think I might actually understand some of your reasons for being an atheist, agnostic doubter.

I see my job as someone who encourages Christians to work on their relationship with God, to cultivate fruit of the Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control NRSV) and to demonstrate the tangible love of God - in other words become a good disciple of Christ.  I realize that the body calls for all kinds of gifts and talents so some of you may not have the same approach as me.  I take the words of Jesus to heart where is says "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God."  I am here to help reconcile people to God. and God has not given me a big stick to do so but rather a merciful temperament.   I see my self reaching out to both Christians and those who don't like Christians working to bring peace, reconciliation and love.

So regardless of which side of the fence you are on, I will continue to both reach out and to share my insights.  I have a calling to answer to so I will not always say what you want to hear, but I will say what I believe that the Spirit of God is revealing to me.

Blessings,
Preacher Al

Homophobia, Liberals and Hate

The other day a friend on Facebook posted a photo with an actor stating more or less that a better name for homophobes is a__holes.  I think this same quote was also ascribed to a homosexual Star Trek actor.  I cannot speak to the veracity of either claim as to who said it, but to me it is just another form of bullying.  I think it is true for both many conservatives and liberals that when they encounter someone with opposing views on life, they try to disenfranchise or dis-empower them by labeling them.

By labeling people we say "I am not going to deal with you, I am just going to pigeonhole you and degrade you"  So in my book if you say "God hates fags" or label people as "homophobes or a__holes" you are one more of those in the world causing pain.  You disagree with them (Because you think you are right) and then you attack them with labels in attempt to degrade them.  I support neither of the camps mentioned above.  I don't believe "God hates fags" is a godly response to sin.  I do believe that homosexuality is a sin as are many of the current popular attitudes to sex and money.  But as a Christian, my response to these kinds of people is to be loving.  Now loving them doesn't mean I approve of their choices, it just means I value the person because they were created in the image of God.

I hate sin of all kinds.  I especially hate the sin that creeps into my life in the form of pride or justification of my wrong attitudes, motives and actions.  I hate the effect sin has on people but I am bound by Christ to love sinners.  Some sin tastes sweet in the beginning, but it's life long effects is often devastating.  Other kinds of sin are obviously wrong.  Often times sin in our lives is obvious to those around us, but we want to be comfortable with it; we want others to accept it.  Other times we know it is sin, and work very hard to hide it.  But sin won't remain hidden.  Sin finds a way out and then we are discovered in it.  Sometimes the discovery seems like a relief.  But the relief should never be confused with the idea that the sin is okay.

Now some of my brothers and sisters seem to think that morals or morality is the solution; just keep the rules and everything will be alright.  But I see morality as the outcome of our relationship with our Savior-Redeemer.  As we grow close in relationship to our Creator - Savior God, we don't want anything interfering with that divine relationship.  That is why God hates sin; it damages the relationship between Creator and his creation.

I hope you don't get stuck on the issue (one side or the other) of homosexuality.  In our current culture it is a very provocative topic but to me its is just one of the many forms of sin that entangle us.  I try not to make it any greater than greed, lying, hate, fornication, infidelity or sloth.  We are all sinners needing the redeeming power of The Cross of Jesus.  We all need to come to a place that says, you know, I am blowing it and I need to start afresh.

Calling people fags or homophobes isn't going to change them.  It is just going to cause anger or rebellion rise up in them.  Shaming people is rarely effective in getting them to change their minds.   It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict people of sin and righteousness.  Our job as Christians is to demonstrate the reality of the Love of God in how we treat one another and how we treat our neighbors.

There are so  many labels that people use to pigeonhole other people.  Sometimes this used it to attack someone's race using words like nigger, spic, chink, gook, or even honky.  Sometimes we use labels to attack someone faith - bible-thumper, holy roller, frozen chosen  heretics or fanatic.  We use words like liberal or conservative as if they were curses.  We have words that we use to denigrate people of the other sex and different personality 'make ups.  Personally I believe that all these labels do nothing more than demean the divinity of humans.

I firmly believe that we are all created in God's image but we live in a broken world.  As God's children, our job is to bring God's love to bare in every corner.  Not in rhetoric or with mere words, but with actions.  Mother Teresa got it and there are others I know who are getting it.  God is love and as his children we are called to love the unlovable and to even love those we don't like.

The apostle James said that it is not right that we both curse humans (made in the image of God) and praise God from the same mouth.  So, let us put off this need to label and attack others and instead glorify God our Creator and look for ways to see the divine in and love our sinful neighbors.

Blessings,
Alan

Some thoughts about atheism

It is interesting that I found myself thinking about writing something about atheists and then this morning I got a link to a YouTube commentary to a Fox News video titled "Dumbest anti atheist question of the month?"  I am convinced that many believers are really not prepared to talk to atheists.  Part of this is due to pseudo-christian tendency to become defensive and hostile to people who say they don't believe.  Now I have to admit that some atheists are especially caustic and obnoxious, but hey that's their choice... or is it.

When I think of atheists, I don't think of them as enlighten people who some how have been set free of the burden of believing that they and the universe they live in were some how made on purpose.  I don't see them as enemies of God or of people of faith necessarily.  I have personally placed them in one of a few categories that I will list below.

1.  They were either the children of atheists or they were influenced by other atheists to believe that people of faith are not rational.  I find this often times in the intelligentsia.  These people are convinced that they are smarter than the average bear and like to look down upon us poor uninformed people who actually believe that there is more than just order to the universe, that there is in fact purpose and One who is responsible for both the order and the purpose we find in the universe.

These kinds of people are so convinced of their intelligence and rightness that they will not allow themselves to be drawn into an discussion about the possibility of a deity of any kind.  Personally I think that anyone who dismisses an argument out of hand is just hiding their fear of being found out as a fraud.  Arrogance is often just a cover for fear.  Such people are afraid of being proven wrong.  Better to just pray for them and trust that one day the right circumstances will put them in a place to be open to listen.

2.  Those who have been abused, hurt or disappointed by those claiming to know God.  I think these people can be reached by authentic compassionate Christians.  These people are upset with God because human beings have failed them.  They are not true atheists, but rather hurting people who blame God for the wrongs done by those who claim to be followers of Jesus.  Even Gandhi rejected Christianity because Christians in South Africa supported Apartheid. These people don't need caustic retorts from supposed believers.  Many of them know that the Bible says that Christians will be known by their love, so they are looking for it.  They have rejected Christianity, its followers and their God because they are not seeing the love Christ promised in the Bible.

3.  Some people are mad at God.  They prayed the prayer of faith and their loved one still died.  These people wanted to believe, and they took the Bible at face value which says that whatever we pray in Jesus name will be granted us.  Obviously (to me) we cannot take this Bible passage out of the context of the whole Bible.  There will be unanswered prayers.  There will be those who die of cancer and other things where it seems wrong and unfair; a child left without a parent; a child taken by unkind circumstances, a faithful loved one killed senselessly.  Any of these situations can cause a person to turn their back on God and say that there is no god.  In fact they may be very hostile to the thought of believing in God.  But again these people just need some love and compassion to see the reality of our faith.

4. Some are atheists because they look at the disunity and the wrong done in the name of Jesus.  They look at all the things wrong in the Church and say, "There cannot be a God which they serve if they act this way."  I admit after studying church history, I was left with a sick feeling in my heart.  I have an answer to that which I will address here some day soon.  But back to the main point... these are hurting, wounded or disillusioned people who just want to see some authentic love.  Just one authentic Christian who would listen to them, have compassion for them and demonstrate true Christian charity (love) could be all it takes to reach people like this.

I would like to end with this.  Atheist are not the enemy.  They are people who have rejected the notion of a God for any one of several reasons.  Our true enemy is not of this world.  He preys on people's fears and hurt feelings.  He encourages hating people for their being different. Now there are the few apologist who might be able to provide a sensible reason for faith, but it is Christian love that is the real lodestone.  If people don't see we Christians loving sinners and demonstrating the kind of love that can only come from God, then there will always be an abundance of atheists.  Atheists don't need our hate mongering and caustic remarks; that only makes us like any fool walking in the flesh.  The Christian response is love for hate and blessing for cursing.  The only way to live that way is to die to our selfish fleshly urges and submit ourselves to God.

It is interesting to note that the only people who Jesus had harsh words for were the religious people, who should have know better than to try to turn faith into nothing more than keeping a bunch of arbitrarily mandated rules.  The whole of the Law, The Prophets and the writings boil down to loving both God and our neighbors.  Anything else is just human foolishness.  I am also reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul, who said that he did not come with persuasive words, but with a demonstration of power.  What could be more powerful that the love of God pouring out through our lives.

So the next time you go to bad mouth an atheist, ask yourself, "What have I done to demonstrate the love of God to this person?"

In His Love,
Alan J. Beckett

The Law of the Jungle vs. The Law of Love

Today I was very struck by a short video I watched on FaceBook posted by a friend of mine.  The video addressed the differences between how we think wealth should be, how we think it is and how it actually is distributed in America.  I was not shocked as some of you may be.  I know that the top 1 % of the wealthy hold a huge part of the pie.  But for your edification I provide this clip to look at before I continue with my post.
Wealth Inequality in America

I guess what I wanted to say was that those in the "Liberal" part of the house that are atheist and who support the idea of evolution, this is the right and normal outcome.  With no God there is no right and wrong outside of "The Law of the Jungle"  Which is he (or she) with the most toys is the best evolutionary adapted and is deserving of that wealth.  There is no real fair and right and just outside of the "Judeu-Christian" world view.  Without there being One True God to rule over us and to hold us accountable, He or she who is strongest, fastest or meanest is bound to win.  Outside of Christianity in a world ordered by evolution and our selfish mitochondria there is really no such thing as fairness or right and wrong.

In the eye of evolution the bully is just a well adapted person who is rightly exerting their dominance over another weaker individual.  Without Judeo-Christian fairness and justice, there is no such thing as rape or abuse being wrong.  There is only the strong exerting their power over the weak, which in evolution's eye is apt.  The rule of Law (both The Bible and governmental) is only right and effective in a society where all the men and women recognize a higher power who punishes the criminal and blesses the law keeper; where we recognize there are absolutes in right and wrong.

Evolution doesn't teach love your neighbor, it approves of your taking advantage of your neighbor.  He or she is just someone to be dominated or feared.  Your neighbor is either a threat or a potential source of material to increase your own wealth.  Evolution doesn't encourage an ordered society apart from the strong ruling over the weak.  Evolution doesn't distinguish between popularity, intellectual power and brutality; whatever works is the rule of thumb in evolution.

Consider the problem of inner-city gang violence; it is just a symptom of a society which has put greed, acquisition of wealth and popularity as the ear marks of a successful life.  And really the video linked above is just proof of the law of the jungle at work.  Maybe those who hold the majority of the wealth are more stylish in the acquisition of material wealth than the inner city gang leader, but the result is the same - gaining wealth and power at someone else's expense.  Evolution says this is normal, Judeu-Christian values say this is unjust.

So how do we get out of this mess?  Well, first we who are Christians can begin to live as Christ did, and stop judging our success based upon wealth, comfort and fame - in other words actually living like The Golden Rule really is a true measure of our faith. Second we can work to share the Good News in every avenue of our life.  If we really do believe and we really are going to let Christ reign as our Lord and Savior, then his values must become our values.  He died on the cross so that every man, women and child, could have opportunity to come to the saving knowledge of God.  We Christians must learn to live the kind of life based upon God's love that will demonstrate the reality of The Law of Love; therefore we must reject standards of behavior and success which are not in line with Christ's love and life.

Then we will have to police ourselves to ensure that God's love is the dominant theme at work in our lives.  That love puts relationship above wealth, notoriety and personal power. We should live such lives that demonstrate the reality of God's love at work in our hearts.  We cannot do this in and of ourselves, because like all those around us, there is a broken, selfish, greedy person living inside each of us.  We have to choose which part of us we are going to feed.  Whichever we feed, it is that part of us that will dominate our lives.

Until Christ returns there will always be those who reject him and chase after all these things that are bringing ruin on our world, but the more of us that are pursuing God and rejecting these values then the better things will be.  We can't just hunker down and wait for "The Rapture" hoping to make it till He comes back.  We are called to be salt and light in the world.  We can and must make a difference in the world.  It doesn't mean we will fix everything, but if we learn to love our neighbors as ourselves, I cannot but think that life will be much better.

Blessings,
Preacher Al

Rethinking things

Hey friends, I have been working in another direction as of late.  If you don't know I have been teaching for a Ministerial School started by our new home church.  Right now I am in the process of teaching "The Biblical Theology of Missions" for the second time, while trying to come up with more info on "The Human Condition"  I am trying to decide if an Online classroom is more my style.  I am not the best English student and so sometimes my ideas get a bit muddled in the process of tying to put them into a blog.

So if you are interested I have started an account with WizIQ.com.  You can check on one of my courses at the following link New Life Bible Study Introduction. It is something I have taught before, but never finished, but I hope to have all dozen or so classes online and available in the next few months before I visit Ukraine again.  I hope this will give me the kind of experience I will need to continue teaching this way.

Blessings
Preacher Al

The 5 Modes of the Human Condition

 I am realizing that this topic may be a bit big for just a blog.  So instead I am providing the following table to give you the short version of what I am in the process of writing.  I may have to look into electronic publishing for this topic.  But for those of you interested here is my perspective on the 5 modes of humanness.

The Human Condition

	The Human Animal	The Human Collector	The Human Intellectual	The Person of Faith	The Human Transcendent
Who am I	I am what I want or need	I am what I have or do	I am what I know	I am what believe	I am more than I can imagine
How others are seen	An end to meeting my desires	Someone I must compete with	Someone I must convince I am right	Someone who must believe as I do	Someone to invite on the journey
How possessions are viewed	Bring comfort	A sign of success	Only as valuable as they teach me new things	Temporal or a sign of God’s favor	Only have the value that we ascribe to them
How the future is viewed	Where is my next meal or fix	Something to prepare for	Something to plan for	Something predetermined	Something to embrace
Knowledge	Only as valuable as it helps me meet my needs	Helps me to collect more things and to be more successful in my work	The key to everything	Viewed suspiciously	A step towards wisdom
Right and wrong	Vague ideas – what is best for me is right	Culturally established norms	Something to be renegotiated as   more knowledge is gained	Firmly established moral values	From the greater good
How one feels alive	When the most comfortable	Striving/acquiring	Learning	Worshiping	Communing
How one feels about popular things/people	They are cool	Something to compete for	Something that validates	Viewed with suspicion	Popularity is neither good nor bad in and of itself
How threats are viewed	A threat is anything that makes me uncomfortable	A threat is anything that can take away my accomplishments	A threat is any idea that opposes what I know	A threat is any idea that opposes my faith	Something to rise above
Acts of kindness	Actively seeks them	God helps those who help themselves	Be Good for goodness sake	Something done to show God’s love or a required behavior to earn God’s grace	A way of life
Fear	Fear of the loss of comfort or Fear excites	Fear of the loss of material wealth or status	Fear of contradictory ideas	Fear of the power of sin and evil	Transcends fear
Feelings	Need to feel comfortable	Need to feel secure and/or accepted	Need to feel superior	Need to feel loved	Feelings only tell us how we feel
Control	Need to control others for safety or comfort’s sake	Need to control circumstances or   others for the sake of their goals	The need to control who knows what or has access to what knowledge	The need to control other’s behavior for holiness’ sake	Self-control is the only realistic control
Love	They may profess love for another, but that love is only there as much as that person gives them comfort and pleasure	Love is what you demand of others because you loved them through your gifts and actions	Love is a word found in the dictionary to approximates liking strongly	Love is the greatest commandment	Love is a way of life

Progress

Well so far I think I am on track with my number of blog posts; I have posted 10 thus far between my various blogs , but I have yet to seriously start work on a course yet. I was hoping the School of Ministry that I am teaching at would help provoke me.  I guess I will have to set some goals for which courses I want to write.  I have however started the ground work for a book on "Walking in the Ways of God".  Not sure that I am tied to the title, but I do have and outline and have found a friend to help review some of my writing.

That's all for now....

A few thoughts on Baptism

(Post 9 of  100)

Like so many aspects of Christianity we too often relegate them to the natural man's perspective.  I think we are guilty of that with regard to Baptism.  The party line, as I see it is, "Baptism is and outward sign of and inward change" or maybe "A public acknowledgement of one's faith in the Lord Jesus."  Now I can see that this may be true for many, but I think this perspective fails to fully recognize the divine and supernatural aspect of this "Sacrament."

I really like to think that my faith is a supernatural thing.  By faith I have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but this it not just a personal decision, like we would like to believe.  We are told in Scripture that we did not choose Him first.  We are told that it is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin and righteousness.  We cannot relegate this to mere human choice.  It is God working in us that leads us to repentance.  Through that repentance (a change of heart and direction) we are led to faith in Jesus Christ.  When we come to this point we begin the process of transformation from the old man who is sinful and self-serving in nature to the new creature recreated in the image of almighty God.  Ephesian's 4 is a description of that process of putting off the old corrupted man and his ways and putting on a new persona made in the image of God.

But now to Baptism.  In chapter 6 of Romans, the Apostle Paul tells us that when we are baptized, we participate in Christ's death.  We are buried with Christ (v. 3).  This is the death of the old person.  It is both conscious choice (choosing to leave our old life behind - die to it) and a supernatural act where the Holy Spirit begins a transformative work by killing the old self (we are crucified with Christ v. 6-7).  It doesn't stop there however.  We are also told that in our baptism that we participate in Christ's resurrection.  We are given the opportunity, the choice and ability to walk in the newness of life (v.4).

I believe that choice plays its part in that we each can decide to cooperate with the working of the Holy Spirit or not.  We can allow our old self to perish in the baptistery and cooperate with the transformative work of the Holy Spirit or we can merely go through the motions and deny the transforming power of our participation in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I would like to add that our Salvation is not the result of some holy formula.  It is a miraculous work as we participate in the divine dance with our Creator.  For each of us this process may look a little different.  My personal experience has been that the process has been long and drawn out.  For others, I have seen such radical transformation that seems to take place in the fraction of a second.  Whatever the case or whomever it is that participates in this miraculous thing we call salvation, we must acknowledge the supernatural aspect of Baptism.  It is not just getting wet, it is not just a public confession.  Baptism is a supernatural participation the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God in peace

Passions of the heart - The Good and the Bad of it

Post 7 of 100 for 2013

A friend of mine recently posted on FB that one has to follow the passions of their heart.  I found that I was split thinking about this.  If I were sick I would want a healthcare provider who was passionate about curing my illness but I sure wouldn't want to run in to a Jihadist who was passionate about killing non-muslims.

To be passionate about things means to have a fire in your heart for them.  I think there are three shapes such passions can take.
1.  They can be God birthed and intended to bring God's greatness and his love into the world in greater measure
2.  They can be from Satan and they are fueled by hate, greed or lust.
3.  They are of our flesh and for whatever reason we have a great interest in some topic, person or activity and we are therefore willing to give as much of our time to it as possible.

I am reminded of the Apostle Paul's discussion on gifts of the spirit in the 12-14th chapters of 1 Corinthians. In the middle of his discussion, he brings about the revelation that if we do or seek anything except as motivated by agape love (the love that proceeds from the Godhead) then it is pretty much pointless.  If we are passionate about serving God or loving people then its pretty obvious that its from God.  Take Mother Teresa - she had a great passion for loving and caring for the lowest of the low in Indian culture; lepers.

I am convinced that all true God birthed passions revolve around agape love --  A love that transcends cultural dictates and human desires.   God birthed passions involve doing things that demonstrate God's love for people, our love for God and our love for others.

I think that hate based passions are pretty abhorrent to most of us in the west that have been influenced by Judeo-Christian culture.  Jesus says that anyone who hates their neighbor is guilty of murder.  Hate is a murderous mentality.  Hate desires the worst for someone else.  Hate rejoices in the downfall of our adversaries.  Hate is something that is discouraged even in the OT.  We are warned not to rejoice when our adversaries fall.  The only thing that we are really encouraged to passionately hate is sin, yet still we are called to love sinners.

Greed and lust however seem to be encouraged more and more in our society.  I have seen a news report that claimed that greed is good for America. Clearly after the crash I don't think we can argue that anymore.  Greed plaid a big part in the world economic collapse.

Pornography is one of that fastest growing items on the internet.   Some people seem neutral about it, as if there is nothing bad about it.  There are some studies that have suggested that as many as 50% of missionaries are addicted to pornography.  One of my mentors defined lust as desire out of control.  If there is anything in our lives where desire for anything is control where it becomes obsession, I think it wise to reevaluate our pursuit of it.

The third item, passions birthed in our flesh or our psyche, I think are a lot of the time-wasters in life.  On one side one's passion for aviation or RPGs or Star Wars or Star Trek, doesn't necessarily add any true value to life. Yet I know that God can even turn defeat into a blessing.  God can use our interests in sports, or automobiles or just about anything else as a way to build relationships with others.  Jesus came to give life and to give it to the full.

There is part of me tempted to say that anything that is not God focused as being worthless, but God ordains governments, He creates beauty and he gave us a brain capable of seemingly infinite capacity for creativity and reasoning. So I am not ready to throw out the baby with the bathwater.   I am a pastor and teacher by calling, but I enjoy a bit of science fiction and drama.  I especially enjoy  books, TV shows and movies which wrestle with both social and religious issues.  I believe as a pastor and teacher that I must find imaginative ways to reach people who have interests outside of mine with the truth of the Gospel.

So in the end I must conclude that all passions based in agape love are to be fully embraced, all based upon hate, greed or lust must be spurned and that we must invite God into our passions which which are neither of the previous two.   We are reminded in the NT that God causes all things to work for the good of those called by God and who love God.  May your passions be fanned into a form that will glorify God and will enable you to love others as He has loved you.

Blessings,
Alan

God Sightings Part 2

Post  6 of 100 for 2013

This is one of those blogs you start and then get sidetracked from.  I am going to try to pick-up where the last God Sightings Part 1 left off.
Context - we were on a trip to Poland (Warsaw) to get new visas.  We went by bus and marshrutka not knowing exactly how this was going to work out.

So... after we grabbed a taxi and it took us to the required bank we went in to make a deposit in the Ukrainian Embassy's account.  But it turned out we didn't have enough cash with us.  Their was a bank fee that we hadn't accounted for.  I thought no big deal I'll just saunter over to the nearest ATM and get some more money.  Well, there was no ATM at this bank and so they told me to go to the ATM around the corner - 20 minutes later I found the ATM. Of course, whole time I was looking for this silly ATM, my wife was waiting for me wondering where I was.  I got enough money in PLZs (Polish Zloties) to make sure we could pay the bank fee,  a taxi back to the embassy and pay for our bus trip home.  I found out later I was fortunate that put the wrong debit card into the ATM, as it would have resulted in an overdraft.

 Finally, I got back to my wife with the money, paid the fee and made the deposit to pay for our visa's.  We had released the taxi and so now we had to figure out how to get back to the embassy. We had a pass for use on all public transportation but I really had no idea where we were in respect to the embassy. My phone didn't work in Poland, so I couldn't use my Google maps function.  But the Lord had someone waiting for us.  A Ukrainian gentleman recognized us from the embassy and offered us a ride while we were trying to figure out which public transportation we would take.  When we got back to the embassy they had our visa's ready for us.  We were out the door before 11:00 am local time.  We walked back toward the central train station, stopping for lunch along the way at a KFC :).  Ordering was an interesting experience.  The girl at the register didn't speak English or Russian and I don't speak Polish, but it turned out the manager spoke English.  We took our time enjoying lunch.  Strangely the Polish KFC's had no breast meat, only legs and wings.

After lunch I took a few photos, then we took a trolley back to the central train station.  I couldn't figure out were to buy tickets for a bus back to Kyiv.  I looked around and finally found someone I could talk to.  I found out that we needed to go to the International Central Bus Station.  I'm pretty sure now, that that would have been the final destination of our bus from Lutsk'.  Well, being the guy that I am and hating to ask for directions, we started checking out all the bus stops around the train station.  Finally I saw something in Polish that seemed like it might be where we wanted to go.  Polish is a Slavic language that uses the Latin alphabet.  I saw something that looked like the anglicized version of the Russian word for international (Mezhnarodni). After a short wait our bus came along.

 One of the nice things about Polish buses (and Hungarian for that matter) is that they have a display which shows your location among all the stops which lights up for each of the stops.  We managed to make it to the International Bus Station without too much trouble (we did get out one stop too soon), at some time after 1:00 in the afternoon.  It turns out we had just missed the bus to Kyiv (Kiev spelled Kijow in Polish) and the bus to Lutsk', but there was a bus to L'viv (another major city in western Ukraine).  So I bought our tickets and we waited for our bus.  We didn't know what to expect as far as the quality of buses went.  AnnMarie was praying that we could get in one of those huge deluxe doubledecker buses that we had seen on the road instead of the rough-riding bus we rode from Lutsk' to Poland.

Well AnnMarie got her wish we got this big, gold colored doubledecker bus.  It looked beautiful, the seats were comfortable, but the a/c didn't work.  It turned out that our bus was a huge solar oven.  But as tired as we were, it didn't really matter.  I am reminded of the saying, "Be careful of what you wish for - you may get it." In addition to being hot, the bus kept breaking down;  I think it was the heat. It appeared that the engine kept suffering from vapor lock.  Things at the border (which once again was late at night) went smoothly this time with our new visa's.  And eventually we arrived in Lviv - pronounced Lveev in Russian or Lvove in Ukrainian.

We arrived at one of Lviv's 7 train stations.  When I asked around where we could find a marshroutka (minibus) back to Kyiv, we were told there were none.  I was dumb struck.  I suppose I could have tried to get a train ticket back, but for some reason I had my heart set on something with rubber wheels to get us back to Kyiv.  A taxi driver told me that we needed to go to the central bus station and he would be glad to take us there for a mere 80 Hrn (about $10).  That may not sound like much to your westerners, but to someone use to paying 2 Hrn (about 25 cents) for most transportation with in a city, it was very extravagant. I think he was trying to take advantage of our lostness and our obvious American accent.  So I did something very uncharacteristic, I followed a hunch and a group of people I saw moving towards what appeared to be a bus stop where lots of different marshroutekas were stopping.

I was concerned about asking people, because I have encountered some western Ukrainians whose attitude when it comes to language is "I am Ukrainian, I am not Russian, why would I speak Russian?"  But since my limited language skills where in Russian, I didn't have much recourse but to ask and inquire in Russian or English.  So I boldly walked to the nearest line of people and inquired in Russian if they knew which marshrouteka went to the Central Bus Station.  Someone told me the number and gestured off to his right.  I saw people moving in that direction and we followed.  This led to a parking lot where there were a couple of marshroutekas waiting but none of them were the one we needed. So we waited.

After some time of not seeing our marshrouteka come along I moved towards the road  to see what was going on there.  Shortly I saw our marshrouteka on the opposite side of the road.  For some reason I had in in my head that the marshrouteka would be on our side of the road headed the other way.  So we waited some more.  After seeing three marshroutekas headed the other way with none coming our way, I concluded I had been wrong.  We crossed the street and waited for the next one while trying to avoid being run over by the trolleys that were running on that side of the street.

We got on the next marshrouteka and squeezed in to the aisle.  I thought it would be easy to spot the bus station and we would be able to get out without problem.  It was hot, most of the windows were closed - a normal ride on Ukrainian public transportation.  The driver was not announcing stops but I was still confident I would know when to get off the marshrouteka.

Lviv reminded me of San Francisco will the hills and winding roads.  I really had no idea where we were.  The Spirit must have attuned my ears because I heard someone say "Centralni avtovokzal" so I cried out we need to get off and we pressed our way to the rear exit.  When we got out, I looked around and there was no bus station to be seen.  I said a quick prayer under my breath, spotted an alley way and said, "It must be through there."  My impression was right.  In short order I purchased our tickets and we proceeded to wait.  It was maybe 9:00 am and our bus didn't leave until after noon.  All the bus stands were clearly marked as to which city they went to.  So we station ourselves in front of the one marked Kyiv.  I left AnnMarie there and when and foraged for a bite to eat.

Finally the time of our departure approached, but the bus parked by the sign marked Kyiv was clearly marked for some other city.  Finally, a bit nervous about missing our bus I when back to the ticket office to inquire where we were to meet our bus.  The woman said something unintelligible waved her hand indicating somewhere outside.

So then I walked up and asked a driver of one of the buses waiting in front of us if the bus to Kyiv departed from there.  I am not sure what he said but he motioned for us to follow him.  He took us out into the middle of the parking lot.  He then went over inquired of a woman in a booth near the entrance to the parking lot, came back to us and said in English, that our bus hadn't come yet but we should wait for it right there in the middle of the parking lot.  It came along about 5 minutes later.

I was expecting an express bus to Kyiv, but this was the milk run.  It was going to stop at ever little town between Lviv and Kyiv.  The a/c didn't work on this bus either so it was going to be a long hot trip but God's grace was with us.  All the stops allowed me to get out stretch my legs and get something to drink to keep us hydrated in the heat. We finally arrived in Kyiv in evening sometime near 7:00.  The bus driver announced that we were stopping at Zhetomer metro stop.  We decided to get off, as I expected it to be quicker than waiting until we got off at either the central train station or wherever the bus's final stop was.  We were home within an hour.

It had been a long trip.  We had managed to sleep two nights on buses and had been places we had never been to before and it was great.  Through all the trials and difficulties I could not escape the sense that God's hand was on us the whole trip.  Even when we face difficulties at the boarder and sweltering temperatures on our bus rides, we had God's peace and we knew that we would make it through.  This was truly a remarkable trip for me, because  I have never been the adventurer.  I usually prefer to go with someone who knows the lay of the land and the pitfalls to be avoided.  I truly believe God taught me just how faithful He is on that trip.  He showed me that there was nothing I could not face with him.  The unknown no longer holds me at bay.  I am now more willing to follow wherever the Spirit leads.


Photo's of our Trip to Poland

Post Script:
Its 2016 and I have gone back and read this again.  I cannot but wonder what some of you think.  Maybe it doesn't seem remarkable to you, but to me, it was amazing.  I was never and adventurous soul.  When I was in the Navy I always let other people lead me to the cool spots for liberty.  May be you will just see it as me finally growing up.   But I saw it as me allow Jesus on the throne of my heart and letting him handle things the occurred.
I was a worrier, the son of a worrier.  Sometimes it wasn't obvious, but it was ever present in my life.  This makes me think maybe I should retell the story of our first trip to Hungary, because I was completely freaked out about going to somewhere I had never been to, where the people spoke a language unlike anything I had heard and about which I know absolutely nothing.
For me the "God Sightings" were in those moments when I over came my fears and let God show me the way.
Thanks for reading

Wrong Expectations (Post 5 of 100 for 2013)

I am taking a little side trip today.  I actually have more than one idea for blogs today, strangely enough.  But I was struck by how our expectations can set us up for either a fall or for blessings.  Our expectations really seem to come out of our world view.  In the West, especially the US, we seem to have this expectation that life is going to be easy for us.  Even our president seems to think that life should be safe, and all of us should be able to have affordable healthcare.  In fact some seem to think that our government's job is to prevent anything bad from happening, to make sure we have a home and that we feel good about ourselves.

My main point though is that by having expectations that we will get what we think we need or what we want, or that we should get what we want, or that we are some how deserving of these things sets us up for disappointment, delusion or possibly a sense of entitlement.  The truth is that there is no guarantee that we will get anything in this life.  Jesus did however say that we should expect difficulties in this life.

When we think somehow that we are deserving of good things, or the things we want, we set ourselves up to be disappointed and/or depressed.  The major part of the world suffers all kinds of problems; famine, brutal attacks by thugs and brigands, lives without many creature comforts at all.  These people don't necessarily enjoy such lives, but they accept that is part of their lot.  All they can do is work to make what little corner they have better.  They realize that there are many things out of their control.  They can only control those things that are in front of them.  They make the best with what they have.

But there are some in the west who get this and I think This Video really says it better than I can - Enjoy!

The Purpose of Life Part I (Blog #3 of 100)

On New Year's Day I wrote an article on making and keeping goals/resolutions.  However I think making goals and resolutions without understanding who you are and why you are here is well, a bit pointless.  It's only when we understand our purpose in life that we can begin to set goals for our selves that are purposeful or useful.  Too often we look at other people, they appear successful and we think we are missing something and if we could just set a few goals for ourselves then we too could be "successful" But even as I write these words, I realize how big of a topic I am trying to feed you.  I will likely have to break this up into a series of articles.  But as always with all of my writings, take them with a grain of salt.  Be a good Berean ; don't swallow it whole.  Chew on it a bit and compare it to scripture and pray over it.  I don't claim to be the fount of all knowledge, but I do believe I have been given insight into a variety of topics and I want to share what I have learned and what I am learning with you.

What makes us human

Even as I have being chewing on this myself and thinking what I might say and how it might be said, a number of ideas have occurred to me.  Different people have different ideas about what makes us human.  Some evolutionary psychologists see us merely as a highly "evolved" animal, but still that is what they say we are; an animal with an apposing thumb and self-awareness.  In this theory of humans we are merely slaves to needs of our self-serving mitochondria which are programmed by our DNA.  There is no mind; only the brain. Our highly "evolved" brain allows us to be very adaptable and thus set us up to be the dominant species on the planet.  I don't subscribe to such a belief but I will not cast this out completely.  We do have a very developed brain; One might even say that it is well designed.  (Note: my primary thrust it not do argue against evolution, however I do not subscribe to the idea that somehow we are all evolving into something better or more adapted from the primordial slime). I will however suggest that we as humans can live at different levels or in various aspects/forms of human existence.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs seems to identify or suggest that there are different level's of human existence.  I cannot say that I fully understand or agree with Maslow's theory, but I believe he has identified something that tells us that every person is both influenced by the world around them as well as their own basic physical, emotional and intellectual needs.  I might add that we humans who are spiritual creatures have the ability to transcend our basic human needs.  I firmly believe that, in part, understanding our purpose allows us to transcend our limited existence.  Unlike Maslow who based his observations upon the "top 1%" of humanity, I would say that my theories apply to the greater human experience.  One thing I think cripples our understanding is our limited thinking.  Most westerners tend to see things through the eyes of the west.  My experience is a bit more expansive in that I have visited countries in Asia and Africa and studied (not professionally but more as a student of human behavior - a people watcher) how people behave.  I am not a trained psychologist or sociologist  but I think I am observant enough to understand what I am seeing.


I will warn you that my premise for this series of articles will be looking at humans as created objects/organism.  In that creation the Creator had purpose.  My desire is to explore some of the possible purposes and sub-purposes humans might have been created for.  But I also want to examine what we have become.  To that end I want to explore some of the aspects/forms of human existence.

Aspects of Human Existence

I would like to suggest to you that there are at least 5 kinds of or aspects to human existence: The Human Animal; The Human Collector; The Human Intellectual; The Person of Faith and The Human Transcendent.  Each level has a different understanding of what their purpose is.  Each level experiences a certain amount of paradigm blindness, which to say that they have difficulty understanding or accepting views or understanding different from each of their own.  To help define these different aspects I will explore and suggest a number of key elements which will help define each of these aspects.

• How self is viewed
• How others are viewed
• How possessions are viewed
• How the future is viewed
• How knowledge is viewed
• How right and wrong is viewed
• How do they feel "Alive!"
• How do they view threats
• How do they view popular things

In the articles that follow I plan on exploring these aspects/forms of being human:

• The Human Animal (I am what I need or want)
• The Human Collector (I am what I have and do)
• The Human Intellectual (I am what I think or what I know)
• The Person of Faith (I am what I believe)
• The Human Transcendent (I am more that I can think or imagine)

I do not view these aspects or forms as being completely distinct for each other, rather I seem them as modes that we can move in depending upon a great variety of factors.  They are not mutually exclusive and one aspect can overlap with one or more of the others, or I should say that were we are in our life can be at a place where there is blending of these aspects.  I see it as a kind of Venn diagram and where we are in our understanding and life experience locates us with in one or more of these aspects.

I will pick up on this in the next article.

P.S. if you think I missed a number (2 of 100) I have other blogs I post in.  2 of 100 was posted on my Preacher Al's Paradoxes blog

My Goals for this year

I just realized that I had not posted my goals for this year hear on Blogger.  My Facebook friends will already know this.  My goal for this year, in the realm of writing, is to write 100 or more articles on my Preacher Al Blog, and some of my other blogs like Preacher Al's Paradoxes.  I want to accomplish this by Christmas of this year.  Additionally I want to write out at least 6 courses in theology or Bible studies during the same period.

For me this is a bit of a challenge as I was the student who always hated English as a course in High School.  I disliked writing.  I think it was mostly because of lack of personal discipline.  So now I am trying to discipline myself to write every day with a goal in mind.

I truly believed that God has granted me insight in to a number of Biblical, Theological and Life themes.  Actually for me all these concepts blend in my mind.  Its like a Venn Diagram; everything overlaps.  Sometimes our Greek (western) makes us think we need to keep all these things separate.  Its as if we keep all things religious separate from the rest of our lives.  This is double mindedness in my thinking.  I think we need to find a way to make all things spiritual part of our daily life.  So come with me as I explore different aspects of the life of faith.  A life that Christ has give us that we might live it to the full.

Blessings
Alan

Making Resolutions for the New Year (1 of 100)

-->
On the one hand, I am really not all about making resolutions for the next year. Why should this date of January 1 be the driving force in my life? If I see something in me that needs to be changed, then I should take steps to make the necessary change occur, regardless of the date on the calender. But even having said this, If a new year it was gives you hope for new beginnings, then go for it. But I would like to suggest a few things to help you make changes.

1. Set goals for your self. A goal is that thing you can fix your eyes or your heart on and continually strive towards. Jesus had the cross before him. He set his eyes and heart on it (not just as the cross but as the hope of our salvation) and didn't let anyone or any thing dissuade him from it. I have been taught that goals should have these qualities:

A. They should be doable. Don't set some pie in the sky goal for yourself that you can not achieve. But even so, a goal can be doable while being quite difficult. If you find value in achieving it you will be motivated to complete it.
B. It should be measurable or in other words, you should know when you have accomplished it. If you say I want to be thinner, then you should have some way of knowing you have achieved it. "I want to fit into a such and such size article of clothing."
C. Your goals should be timely. You need a time-frame to see it accomplished within. This could be a date on the calender - "... by Valentine's Day" or it could be a with in a specific time (with in the next 90 days). But whatever goals you are setting for yourself you should be thinking of a time (and place) where you want to see them accomplished
D. I would had a fourth item as a Christian. These goals should not be set merely to please yourself or to fit in better in this world. As Christians our goals should reflect our knowledge of God. They should reflect his love, his mercy, his holiness. I truly believe that our goals should bring us closer in our relationships with God and with others. Not to gain people's acceptance or even feel better about ourselves but to create an environment around us that fosters greater reflection of God at work in our lives.
E. I would also add that our goals should not be presumptive. We should be praying to know God's will in our lives. Sometimes its obvious. If we are using our bodies to do evil, then we need to stop and use them instead to glorify God. But sometimes there are things that seem right to us, but are not God's will for us. A simple way we can do this is to pray "God if it be your will, I am going to do..." At least this way there is a semblance of wanting to do God's will in our lives.

2. Keep these goals before you. It doesn't do any good to make good goals for your self which are doable, measurable and timely if you don't keep them ever present in your mind and life. I would like to suggest the following to help you do that.

A. Post your goals somewhere where you will see them; on the refrigerator, on the mirror or as a reminder that pops up on your computer, smart phone or electronic pad. There are lots of apps and software that can help you with that. I keep by goals before me by having a daily reminder go off on my phone (note: if you fail to act on the reminder it will just become an annoyance in your day - that has been my experience)
B. Break your goals down in to easier bites (sub-goals). There is a saying that goes, "How do you eat and elephant?" The answer, "One bite at a time." Even the most difficult goals can be accomplished when they are broken down in to smaller easier achievable goals. But the rule remains for these smaller goals they must be doable while somewhat challenging, measurable and timely.
C. Memorize them and regularly repeat them to yourself. This way they become part of you and your vision for the future. They are not merely something you do to achieve some end, but rather a pattern of living.
D. Periodically examine your progress on your goals. Find a time that you will remember like the first Monday of the month, that last Friday, or more frequently if you feel the need. An more helpful way is to have an accountability partner. If you have someone you know that you will have to report to you will be more inclined or motivated to make progress. If you can find a group of like minded people you can for a group whose goals will be to help each other achieve their life's goals/purpose.

3. Do not become discouraged when you fail to achieve your goals. When you are attempting something that is challenging chances are that you are going to make mistakes. Change is difficult; it can even be painful. Don't give up when it gets difficult or you fail. Human beings are creatures of habit. When you have a way of life or a pattern of thinking that is deeply ingrained in you, it is not completely unexpected that you might fall back into your old patterns. When this happens just take the following steps.

A. Admit your mistake. In John's first epistle in the first chapter we are told that anyone who thinks they are without sin (perfect) deceives themselves. This scripture doesn't say to beat yourself up or to be angry of discouraged. It merely tells us to "confess" which in this case means to agree with God that we blew it.
B. Accept God's forgiveness. God's grace is not based upon our performance, but it does expect us to return to him and after admitting our failings, to accept his forgiveness. Some say we need to forgive ourselves - if that works for you, you can try that path, but for me, if God has forgiven me through the Blood of Jesus, then how could my forgiveness exceed that?
C. Ask for God's help in faith. God' has your best in mind (not as we might perceive it). So if we are striving to live the life He has ordained for us, then we should expect his help. I have heard it said, that God does not call the equipped (the prepared, good, right), rather He equips (provides for, helps) those He calls (the ones He has foreordained to serve Him).
D. Get up and get going again. Don't let failure stop you from trying again. You may need to evaluate your efforts to see if they are getting the desired results, but then when you do the right thing in God's eyes, you may not see immediate results in your own attitudes or in the reactions of those around you. We are called the race as if to win. We have all seen those athletes who have fallen only to get up and go on to win. Failure only remains failure when you sit down and refuse to get back up. Getting back up is the only way you will achieve your goal after you have stumbled and fallen.

I pray that this year will be a year of successes for you as you strive toward the upward call of Christ in your life.

In Him,
Alan