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When the Lights Come Down December 31, 2001

My son Chuck is now sixteen years old. He’s six feet tall and he’s starting to get muscles. The other night he was doing his evening push-ups. I usually watch and watching makes me tired. He said; “Join me Dad, I’ll match you two for one.” He did. I did twenty-five sloppy half push-ups and he did fifty swift and perfect.
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Be Not Deceived

Since it is the truth that sets us free, we need to realize that it is error that makes us slaves to sin. It is untruth that binds us. We will not fall victim to the sin of gluttony or any other sin until we believe a lie, or a half-lie, or a series of lies. Usually we tell ourselves these lies until we believe them and act on them. That is why the Scriptures so frequently warn us not to deceive ourselves. These warnings are usually in the context of temptation to sin. Satan can deceive us, others can deceive us, and we can and often do deceive ourselves.
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The Truth that Set Me Free from Gluttony December 28, 2001

Obesity and the failure to exercise discipline in my eating have burdened my life for years. I have been a Christian for years and I am a pastor. I often prayed for the self-control that is one of the fruits of the Spirit. I longed to help other people with their problems but in my heart I always wondered if they believed the things I said because it was obvious that I had this major failure in my own life. I often thought of Paul’s chilling words in I Corinthians 9:27; “…I keep under my body and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
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AJ’s (Christmas) December 23, 2001

We were all enjoying a day at a family fun park together. I was standing at a counter. A wad of tickets lay on the counter in front of me. I asked the young woman on the other side of the counter, and employee of the park, if she knew who the tickets belonged to. She was impatient and impolite. I said; “Excuse me, can you tell me who’s these tickets are?” She jabbed her finger toward a young boy playing a video game and said without looking at me; “Yea, they belong to that kid over there.”
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The Bancroft Paper (A Christmas Story)

During the four years that Carole had studied at Cornell her childhood faith had eroded away almost completely. It was at Christmas time she hated that the most. She wistfully remembered her naive childhood when she excepted the stories of Jesus birth without dark doubts clouding her mind. But every year at Cornell seemed to take her further away from the simple faith of her childhood. The social sciences made religious ideas look impractical in modern life. Science classes made creation stories seem like ancient myths held by primitive and ignorant people. Her understanding of history characterized Christian people as flawed at best, usually downright sick.
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On Getting in For Christmas December 17, 2001

There is something about this mystical, wonderful time of the year that makes you want to make your way home to be with people you love. I remember the Christmas Dad came home from South Vietnam. I was just a little boy and my tiny heart so longed for my Dad. We were all so eager to be together again. And years later there was a bus ride home for Christmas from Chicago to Greenville, Ohio. I had just completed my first semester of study at Moody Bible Institute. It was my first experience away from home.
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Hug the Boy December 13, 2001

I’m not sure who said this but I believe there is truth in it; “Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tide and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”
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The Hazards of Christmas Shopping December 10, 2001

Buying Christmas gifts is not as easy as it looks on TV. Christmas shopping can actually be dangerous. Just getting a parking space at Wal-Mart can be a life-threatening experience. You circle the lot over and over and watch the shoppers leaving the store so you can get their parking space when they leave. Just as the car pulls out and you start to pull in a big rusty van darts into the space ahead of you. You think about expressing a cheerful holiday sentiment to him until he gets out and he has tattoos and chains and black leather clothing. The next customer whose space you covet doesn’t leave he just slumps over the wheel from exhaustion.
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I Brake for Christmas

December days are whizzing by like a run-away sled.

Did you ever find yourself going lots faster than you felt comfortable …right on the edge of being out of control? My first skiing experience was like that. I courageously pushed-off and concentrating on keeping my balance overlooked the importance of keeping my speed under control. At 200 pounds plus (and I do mean plus), it’s important to keep zig-zagging back and forth to keep your speed under control. Three quarters of the way down the slope it occurred to me that no one had ever taught me how to stop gracefully.
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Hope Is Alive.  (Christmas)

“Daddy, are all these people Christians?” Holly was Oooing and Aaahing at all the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. “No, honey, I’m sure they’re not.”
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