Charles Schultz, the originator of the “Peanuts” comic strip and special television shows, had a talent of humorously zeroing in on the human personality. Charlie Brown’s friend, Lucy summed up his personality with, “You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.”

It is unfortunate that in our day and age “heroes” are not extolled or admired for their goodness but rather are noted for their “badness”. In the early history of the United States, men and women were looked up to for their goodness. Children were taught to emulate such leaders as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, Davy Crocket, Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony, Jonathan Edwards, and William Booth. Those who helped others were honored – not those who served themselves or expected everyone to serve them – not the greedy, “ganstas”, or the “glamorous”.

Recently, while having dinner with our son and his family, our 4 year old grandson, Noah, turned to my wife and said, “Grandma, you’ll never be lost because God is always with you!” Perhaps he had experienced being lost or learned a new truth.

Have you ever been lost? If you know and trust God, you’ll never be lost because God is always with you. Like Noah, you can experience God’s promises. “For he hath said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5). “And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).

Have you ever felt brain dead, burned out, stressed out, or just plain worn out? If not, stop reading, this article is not for you. But if you have experienced any of the aforementioned symptoms – you deserve a break today. A fast food restaurant tells you that “You deserve a break today!” But you need more than a quick and easy break. You need a regular, deep, quality break. You need a time of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation.

Many Hispanic countries have wisely incorporated a daily break into their very culture. In hot climates, people take a siesta to rest and rejuvenate during the hottest time of the day.

Many people set goals for the New Year. As believers we should prayerfully set spiritual goals. To have powerful and effective goals one should know the heart and mind of the Lord. Before his ascension back to heaven, Jesus revealed his purpose and power for his followers – the church. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Jesus taught that it is imperative that every believer be a witness. He sent the Holy Spirit to fill and empower every believer. Ask yourself this New Year, “Am I a witness? What kind of witness am I?” Let’s consider how we can be a more effective witness.

Bart was desperate. He was flunking fourth grade. His reputation, his career, his life would be ruined. When he flunked his book report on Treasure Island because he only knew what was on the cover was the last straw. Bart’s teachers, parents, and school psychiatrist decided that Bart should repeat the fourth grade.

Bart pleaded. “Look at my eyes,” he said, “See the sincerity? See the conviction? See the fear? I swear I’ll so better!”

Bart came up with a plan. He made a deal with Martin the Brain. He’d teach Martin how to be cool if Martin would help his pass his history exam. If he passed, Bart would be allowed to graduate.

Joshua waited with anticipation for his father to escort him downstairs to the birthday party planned in his honor. The big white house was full of happy guests and friends invited by his father. Laughter filled the house and the joyful noise of the celebration drifted upstairs to his room where Joshua waited to be escorted downstairs to the party at the appointed time.

Finally, with delight, he descended the long spiral staircase with his father. Then together they entered the vast living room. His beaming expression soon turned to one of shock, confusion, and dismay. All of the guests seemed to ignore his presence. His father tried to get their attention with his booming voice. But very few would listen or even look his way.

I was incredulous as I saw the intense contestant miss such easy answers. How could he not know that the capital of South Dakota is Sioux Falls, or that the all time home-run hitter was not Mark McQuire, but Mickey Mantle, that Moses built and floated the ark, or that Abraham Lincoln was the seventeenth President, elected in 1776. Just think of the money that I could have won had I been the contestant!

The popularity of the game show, “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” took the television producers by surprise. The program, along with other such game show genre such as Greed, draws millions of viewers each week. Many like to second-guess the contestants, knowing that they could do a much better job if only they were in the hot seat.

Who is Jesus to you? To some, Jesus is only a myth, or a mystical mantra to give them peace, or a magic wand to satisfy their wants. To some, Jesus was a good teacher or a prophet. Some refer to Him as “The Man Upstairs.” Sadly, to many, he is only a curse word. But who is Jesus to you?

The essence of Christianity is summed up in one mind-boggling sentence: Jesus Christ is God. (John 10:30) C.S. Lewis put it bluntly: “For Christ to have talked as He talked, lived as He lived, died as He died, He was either God or a raving lunatic.”

It only takes surviving a hurricane, a fierce gale of wind at sea, a destructive tornado, or an earthquake to make one a believer in the power of mother nature. The disciples of Jesus knew what it was to face a fierce gale of wind and monster waves while trying to row a small boat at sea. On two separate occasions they encountered a storm at sea. In Matthew 14:24 the gospel tells us that “the boat was already many stadia away from land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary”. The disciples were straining at the oars.

I didn’t have an alarm clock – I didn’t really need one. Regularly at daybreak the rooster crowed awakening me from slumber. When I was just a little boy my grandmother would send me to the hen house to collect eggs. It was a dangerous assignment. In the chicken yard was a big old rooster who didn’t like me. It would constantly sneak up on me and attack me, jumping up and aiming its deadly spurs at me. One day in the hen house he came after me. I knew that if I could beat him to the door, I could slam it shut and be safe.

What do Eilin, Trang, Juan, and Peter have in common? They all have recently become citizens of the United States of America. With proud and radiant smiles they swore allegiance to the USA. Some people like to “slam” the US and point out its faults. But it’s interesting that millions of people want to come to America and very few want to leave America.

What makes America so great?

First – THE FOUNDING “FATHERS” were great men and women of faith. The early pilgrims and political leaders had courage, foresight, and a sense of God’s guiding providence.

The Lionel train raced around the track puffing smoke with its bright headlight beaming through the darkness. I can still smell the smoke belching from the engine’s smoke stack some 40 years later. What is the greatest or most memorable gift you remember receiving for Christmas? Perhaps it was a care package or letter from home while serving in the Armed Forces at a lonely outpost far from home.

Christmas is giving. The very spirit of Christmas is giving. It’s not in material or monetary gifts but it is about the love that motivates the giver.

How are you welcoming Christmas this year? Some people would identify with the movie “The Grinch who Stole Christmas”, others perhaps with Ebenezer Scrooge of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. Storekeepers anticipate the money Christmas generates. Party givers look forward to the merriment of the season. Many enjoy the music. Children revel in the sense of mystery and magic. Believers rejoice in the miracle and mercy of Christmas. Magnitudes of art, music, literature, movies, and kind, noble deeds have been inspired by Christmas. Yet, secular humanists and many others do not always welcome Christmas.

It is the most life altering walk of history. Hollywood has its “Walk of the Stars” – the walk of the rich and the famous. The one who walked the road of the “Via Dolorosa” (The Way of Suffering) walked a lonely road. Over 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ walked the gauntlet of reproach, rejection, and suffering, carrying his cross up Golgotha’s hill to be crucified outside the city of Jerusalem.

Because Christ’s Passion was accomplished in a specific geographic and historic place, thousands of pilgrims have journeyed to the Holy Land to follow the steps of the Savior that he walked that day up the “Via Dolorosa”.

On a wonderful fall morning I sat on our backyard swing wondering where all the beautiful birds were. On the ground below our birdfeeders was a flock of sparrows joyously feeding in the grass. I’ve honestly never been too excited about sparrows. They seem so common, colorless, and, you know – ordinary. This particular morning God began to speak to me about the sparrows.

Jesus drew the attention of his disciples to the sparrows. “’Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father knowing. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

“Everyone loves Thanksgiving except the turkey,” reads the marquis at a local real estate business. The first Thanksgiving in America was a simple but joyful celebration. After the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, the first winter the colony was decimated by exposure, sickness, and starvation. In the spring some friendly Native Americans taught them how to plant crops in the New World. In the fall they had an abundant harvest and decided to have a feast of thanksgiving to God. They invited their friends to celebrate with them. Tradition says that turkey was part of the thanksgiving feast.

In 1776, America’s founders gathered in Philadelphia to draft the Declaration of Independence. A new nation was born – free and independent – the United States of America. In 1787, after the American patriots had won our independence on the bloody battlefields, representatives met to draft the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution has been amended over the years, but its broad language is illuminated by the Declaration of Independence where the founding fathers outlined their moral vision and the government it implied. The opening lines are perhaps the most important: “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” What were the moral truths? “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

A few years ago one of the funniest and exciting comedies was released entitled “The Princess Bride”. Westley, a poor stable boy, searches for TRUE LOVE. Blonde haired Buttercup was kidnapped and taken by evil Prince Humperdinck to be his Princess Bride. But through many perilous hardships Westley finds and save his true love.

The world hungers for true love. An old song says, “Love makes the world go around”. It certainly does. But what is TRUE LOVE? The common Greek word for love is “Eros”. It is not found in the New Testament. It refers to a sexual, selfish, appetitive love. “Philos” is another Greek word for love. It refers to esteem and affection. We are familiar with Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. The Apostle Paul used a word for God’s love – Agape. Agape is a self-giving love. It involves concerned commitment.

Perhaps the experts are too prone to categorize the youth generation into a neat stereotypical box. I have never been fond of labels personally, possibly because I never seemed to fit into the prescribed order of things. In the past youth “experts” have described the “baby boomer generation”, the “busters”, “generation x”, and the “y generation” population. The new generation of youth has so many “sub-culture” types, that many youth workers realize that one blanket statement could not begin to describe this generation.

When interviewed most teens seemed to share a common sense of searching as in previous generations. Acceptance seemed to be a common desire.

Marsha confessed that she was not in the Christmas Spirit. Perhaps it was the empty nest syndrome and the fact that none of her children could make it home for Christmas. James was far from home and lonely on a tour of duty in Iraq. How could he experience the spirit of Christmas in a strange and stressful country?

What about you, are you in the Christmas Spirit? I have good news for you. Regardless of where you are and how stressful your circumstances, you can experience the Spirit of Christmas. The same spirit that brought Mary joy, wonder, and the miracle of the Christ is available to bless your life today with the Spirit of Christmas.

I must confess – as a child, I was afraid of the dark. I was especially afraid of things that go bump in the dark. A light in my bedroom would comfort me but my dad thought that it was unnecessary. At the time, we had a coal burning stove and occasionally I would have to go down the long dark path to the coal shed to fill the coal bucket in the middle of the night. I out ran the shadows and imaginary monsters in record time on my way back to the house. I still have a long scar on one arm from tripping over a hobgoblin. Surprisingly, I had no fear when my dad went with me and no monsters ever showed up.

Perhaps the most infamous character in history is Judas Iscariot. It he who betrayed Jesus Christ and sold out for thirty pieces of silver – the price of an injured or slain slave in 33 AD.

It was the prophet Zechariah who prophesied hundreds of years before the time of Christ that this betrayal would take place. “And I said to them, ‘If it is good in your sight, give me my wages, but if not never mind!’ So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as my wages. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.’ So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord” (Zechariah 11:12, 13 NASB).

I am on a quest for the perfect pillow. My philosophy is that the kind of pillow one uses determines, to a large degree, the quality of rest one has. So, I have been on a quest for the perfect pillow.

I have tried numerous pillows on my quest. I know how Goldilocks must have felt at the three bear’s home. “This one is too hard. This one is too soft! And this one is just right!” My wife likes a gigantic pillow about 18 inches thick. But it leaves me with a stiff neck. A “down” filled pillow feels good initially, but collapses in the middle before the night is done. I have tried a bone shaped pillow, a foam filled pillow, an air filled pillow, and a wedge shaped pillow. But my quest for the perfect pillow continues.

A young, single mother struggles to make ends meet. Two of her three children have severe medical problems. Nine year old, Evon is undergoing her second round of cancer treatments. Sometimes this mother feels so alone and tired, but she perseveres. What gives her the strength to carry on?

A young father grieves the death of his wife who died in the World Trade Center on the tragic day of September 11th. How can he go on without his beloved wife?

A young man runs for his life and hides in caves in the wilderness. The king has tried to kill him and has put out a “contract” on his life. How will God’s promises and plans ever be fulfilled in his life?

As a child, my friends and I would play army and other war games. Perhaps we thought that there was glory in fighting and dying. The Roman poet, Horace, expressed it this way, “Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori (Sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country).” I think Horace was wrong. I’ve stood by the graves of too many friends and family members. The dying, grief, and suffering was not glorious. I think it was General Douglas McArthur who said, “War is hell!”