Power to Change » united states

Passport Please

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 09:00:48 +0000

Searching for meaning to existence? We want to pray for you.

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:9-10).

A few years ago I put on a new identity by becoming a Canadian citizen. To qualify I was required to account for my whereabouts since moving to Canada, produce a birth certificate proving my United States origin, study a booklet about Canadian history, culture, and geography, take and pass a test, and stand before a judge to promise to be the best Canadian I could be. Soon I held official papers indicating my new status as a Canuck.

But in my other pocket, I still held a U.S. passport. That’s right. U.S. law allows its citizens to hold multiple citizenships. But it wasn’t always this way. For several decades Americans were required to revoke their U.S. citizenship if they became a citizen of any other country. During that era I chose not to become Canadian because I valued my American roots too much to let them go.

I kind of liked it that old way.

The old way required one to commit, to engage, to embrace. It required you to declare if you were one or the other, American or Canadian, and to put your legal identity where your heart was. The old way didn’t allow you to waffle, to play one identity today, and the other tomorrow. By contrast, the new law allows you to flip flop. Today, when border crossing into the U.S., I can show my U.S. passport. Upon returning I can flash my Canadian one. Just who am I really?

While the parallel isn’t exact, the similarity to our identity as humans is unavoidable. We all begin with the baseline identity of being made in God’s image (imago dei) yet we are still in desperate need for renewal because of sin. The Good News is that when we recognize our failures, welcome God’s forgiveness, and embrace a new identity in Christ, we begin to shrug off the old self and take on the new. I like how Paul says it in Colossians as he explains why we should speak truthfully. Why? Because “you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Paul understands that this shifting and shaping of identity is a journey; we are being renewed. It’s a process. Knowing we are in a new relationship with God is a sure thing, yet growing in a new relationship with God requires us to commit, engage, and embrace his ways, study his book, stand strong when tested, and act on God’s promise of new life.

You will never find a lost passport and wonder whose it is. Their name is right there on the first page. The question is, where is that person on their journey? Are they embracing and acting on their new identity, or are they clinging to the old one?

TAKE THE NEXT STEP: Who does God say you are?

Questions: Have you welcomed God’s forgiveness in your life to enjoy new identity in him? If so, where are you now on your journey?

About the Author Bill Strom

I Am – The Way, The Truth, The Life

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:00:08 +0000

Are you facing deep crises today? We have mentors to help you.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

In the early 1800’s a path was cut from the eastern United States through the wilderness to the American west. Covered wagons, families and settlements quickly followed. Life flourishes today in Western states because two courageous men led an expedition into the wilderness.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark ignored danger and pioneered a trail by canoe and horseback from St Louis, Missouri to Oregon. They opened a new world. Leaving the safety of home they rowed down perilous rivers, fought wild animals and befriended Indians. Traversing untamed frontiers they finally reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean, only to fight their way back home to loved ones after three arduous, lonely years of exploration.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, is mankind’s pioneer. He left His throne in Heaven, where He shares equal power and authority with God the Father, to be The Way for us. He came to earth and by His sinless life and death on the cross cut a path through sin’s wilderness for us. He died and rose again to open the way to Heaven for all who’ll believe. If we’ll follow Him He promises to lead us safely home to eternal life, restoring us to Father’s love.

Jesus claims, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Do you struggle to believe He is the only way to the Father? Ask Him to prove He is God. He can and will – if He is Truth.

Jesus “teaches the humble His way. All the paths of the Lord are loving-kindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies” (Psalm 25:9,10). Are we humble and teachable?

What ‘way’ are you pursuing? Fame? Riches? Power? “There are many ways that seem right to a man and appear straight before him, but in the end that way is death” (Proverb 14:12).

Jesus calls us to leave the crowd and enter the narrow way. The wide path leads to destruction. Narrow ways have narrow gates. What baggage must we lay aside to squeeze through this tight door? Control? Fear? Unforgiveness? Unbelief?

Our world is in deep crisis today. Deeper than anything most of us have experienced. Many things have been stripped away that we never expected to lose. We can allow fear to control us or we can seek the only One who is in control, The Way Maker. Leave the broad way. Seek eternal answers.

Cry out “help” to God. Speak to Him as you would speak to a friend. Ask Him, as you walk life’s uncertain paths, where the right, eternal way is. Expect God to answer. He is Father and we are child. It is His responsibility to show us The Way, to counsel and instruct us.

Your eternal Father loves you. When you cry, “help”, Jesus the Way, the Truth and the Life enters your personal wilderness. He makes a way for your soul and spirit to flourish and find Peace.

Questions: Do you struggle to believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father? What baggage do you need to lay aside in order to follow Christ’s teachings?

About the Author Petey Prater

Daily audio podcast: Hear today’s daily devotional, I Am – The Way, the Truth, the Life, read aloud on the Men’s Devotional Blog

This Week on TheLife.com (July 3 2009)

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:30:59 +0000

Welcome to TheLife.com Weekly Wrap-up Newsletter! Our weekly newsletter highlights new content that was posted on our site this week.

USA & Canada: What’s the Difference?
Some quick math: Dividing the population of Canada by the total area (in square miles) gives us a ratio of nearly 10:1 … so if the land in Canada were divided evenly, each person in Canada would have 10 square miles to themselves! Americans celebrate independence day on July 4, while Canadians celebrate their country’s birthday on July 1. Americans: How do you plan to celebrate your country this year? Canadians: How did you celebrate? Read more

Take action: Are you finding it difficult to celebrate right now? Are you ready to experience more joy in your life? Explore our Living with Significance online interactive life lesson!

You said it: This week, jackie commented on Michael Jackson, “King of Pop”, dead at age 50, saying “Sometimes I think people with such genius & creativity are “cursed” – cursed by their perfectionism, eccentricity and need to be push the limits. I’m sad that such giftedness also comes at a price: a life of alienation and personal tragedy.” Read the rest of the comment, and check out the post to add your own thoughts: Read more

Article: What’s God got to do with it?
What does your soul crave? Remember this, what can settle your mind will not settle your soul. It will stir it up. Read more

Blog: Becoming a Citizen
Arnold Schwarzenegger was once asked about being an immigrant and in his response he said, “I have been received.” That’s such a perfect statement of what it means to become a citizen by means other than birth. Read more

Coming up next week: One of the topics of our upcoming online chats is “Overcoming Feelings of Loneliness” Join us in the chat room July 7th 2009 @ 4:00pm EST for this chat or see also our full chat calendar for other upcoming topics.

USA & Canada: What’s the difference, eh?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:00:51 +0000

Although the two countries have nearly identical land area, the population of the USA is nearly 10 times that of Canada.

Some quick math: Dividing the population of Canada by the total area (in square miles) gives us a ratio of nearly 10:1 … so if the land in Canada were divided evenly, each person in Canada would have 10 square miles to themselves! As comedians Will & Ian Ferguson remark in their popular book “How to be Canadian“:

As noted, Canada has a very low population-to-area ratio. So low, in fact, that you might be wondering how you will ever meet any actual Canadians. … But fortunately, Canadians tend to clump themselves together in places known, for lack of a better word, as “cities”. … In the province of Manitoba alone, for example, more than half the population lives in one large mega-city: Winnipeg. And they all hang out at the mall.

Americans celebrate independence day on July 4, while Canadians celebrate their country’s birthday on July 1. How do you plan to celebrate your country this year? And how do you see the USA & Canada being similar, or differing?

Image credit: derpunk

Don’t Let Anyone Steal Your Identity

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:00:20 +0000

As you listen to the daily news does that make you feel depressed? We would love to talk with you.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30am EST.

“Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:22-23).

Identity theft is a major and growing problem and as the economy deteriorates and people get more desperate, they are turning to electronic thievery. Identity theft is one of the most serious crimes in the United States – one that can take hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars for victims to clean up. According to the Federal Trade Commission, as many as 9 million Americans have their identity stolen each year, including 400,000 children. A person’s identity is valuable to them and to a thief. We should all take care to protect our identity from getting into the wrong hands.

But, as Christians, there is another identity that is more important and more valuable and that is our Christian identity. When we are saved, we are set apart. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20) That is my spiritual identity and far more valuable than any other identity a thief could take from me.

Much like “dumpster divers” who sort through trash to find a receipt, check or anything else that would reveal our financial identity, Satan dives into our heart with his intention to steal our spiritual identity, our moral purity and he does it subtly by using a morally corrupt secular world to do his bidding for him to lure us into compromising our spiritual identity.

If you ever wonder about the kind of world we live in just look around and look at the news. Here are just a sample of headlines from my local paper over the past few days: “Judge Charged in Stripper Inquiry,” “Former State Official Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography,” “Most Floridians Okay With Gays and Lesbians Adopting.” The incoming Secretary of the Treasury, the top financial post in the federal government admits that it was an oversight that he did not pay his taxes over a number of years, notwithstanding repeated notices from the IRS and now he going to be in charge of the IRS.

The most dangerous word for Christians is the “C”, word “compromise.” I can handle it. It’s okay to watch an “R” rated movie. After all the story line is great, the acting superb and I can overlook the profanity and close my eyes during the morally impure scenes. It’s okay for me to regularly go to lunch with my secretary. I can make sure that nothing gets out of hand. And, the list could go on and on.

We are twice born creatures trying to live in but stay apart from a once born world. There are traps everywhere we look and the bait is so tantalizing. We live in a world of moral arrogance and it is spiritual adultery to pursue the pleasing values of this world while pledging our love for God.

That which we observe, we soon focus our lives around and then we accept as acceptable behavior and then embrace it and ultimately participate in it. That is the normal progression for moral degeneration and don’t think for a minute that Christians are immune from Satan’s temptations. I am not and neither are you.

So how shall we then live? The wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure (James 3:17), not the wisdom of the world. If we surrender our lives to God and resist the devil, he will run from us. (James 4:7) James best sums it up, saying that we aren’t faithful to God and are in love with the world then we are God’s enemies. (James 4:4)

The writer of Hebrews summed it up pretty well saying “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:22-23).

Don’t risk losing your spiritual identity for it is the most valuable thing any Christian has, more valuable than anything in this world.
(a thought on life from John Grant)

Questions: How can we keep ourselves pure? Do you spend time watching “R” rated movies or are you indifferent to news articles that oppose the principles set out in the Bible?

About the Author John Grant

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Joy and Gladness, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

When satire goes too far?

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:34:12 +0000

A late-night Fox News TV broadcast recently caused controversy when its panelists mocked Canada:

Defense Minister Peter MacKay is demanding an apology from Fox News after a panel on of one of its late-night programs made “disgusting” comments about the Canadian military.

In the four-minute segment, Gutfeld asked the other three members of his panel: “The Canadian military wants to take a breather to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants. … Isn’t this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country? They have no army!” (CTV News)

On Friday, four more Canadian peacekeepers were killed in Afghanistan, bringing the total Canadians killed during the country’s service in that country to 116. Popular Canadian political satirist Rick Mercer commented that “If you’re going to do satire, three of the most important rules are you have to tell the truth, you can’t be a bully and don’t be [a jerk]. Being a bully is not satire.” (Globe & Mail)

The full video of the four minute segment from Fox News’ 3am “Red Eye” program has been posted on YouTube.

What do you think of this segment? Is an apology necessary? Can some leniency be given due to the fact this late night talk show features comedians and other philistines?

Photo credit: CPL Andrew Saunders

In the Midst of the Mess

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:00:04 +0000

Is your life a mess right now? Are you discouraged? Would you like someone to pray for you?

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness… For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith…” (2 Peter 1:3 and 5).

A popular television program in the United States centers around a family being awarded a new house. The choice of the family for this coveted prize is often determined by their sacrificial contribution to the needs of others while foregoing personal comfort, or perhaps because a debilitating physical handicap of one of its members has caused extreme hardship.

After the joy of selection and hearing of their coming good fortune, the family is whisked away for a much deserved holiday at a resort or similar vacation spot. They are told that upon their return, a new and wonderful home will be ready.

If you have survived a house renovation, you most likely did not go away on vacation during the process. You lived in the midst of the mess. Plastic sheeting was hung to prevent the spread of plaster dust, but amazing amounts of the white film still landed on floors and tabletops. A kitchen re-make often finds us cooking meals on the gas or charcoal grill and washing dishes in the bathtub because promised appliances have not been delivered on schedule.

God is in the business of life renovation. Although our position with Him is complete because of the sacrificial work of Christ on the cross, He continues the re-making process on a daily basis. Often we—and those observing us—would describe the process as messy. But the God who first created order out of chaos in the formation of our world has the same goal in mind for us.

Lord, I admit to preferring ultimate order without the mess. Help me be patient as you work your good work in my life.

Questions: What part of the “renovation process” has been going on in your life recently? What progress have you seen?

About the Author Marilyn J. Ehle

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Fellowship: Formed for God’s Family, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

How would you spend $800 billion?

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:00:40 +0000

It sounds as though the much ballyhooed United States stimulus deal will soon be passed, to the tune of somewhere between $819 billion and $838 billion. (Give or take a few billion.)

It’s hard for me to even mentally grasp that amount of money. For the sake of comparison, $800 billion would be enough to build approximately 12 million Habitat for Humanity homes.

What would use you such an incomprehensible amount of money to do?

The intent of the stimulus is to fix the economy. But right now what the average citizen needs most is the assurance of hope. The President has “warned that the nation’s economic crisis could become a “catastrophe” if the government does not act quickly on a plan to create jobs and revive the economy.” What if the stimulus fails? Where will our hope be?

A story of hope, “Facing AIDS with Hope“, was written some time ago about relief work in South Africa. Its message may be worth considering during difficult times of our own.

Canada votes but turnout lacking

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:00:53 +0000

The polls have closed, the votes have been counted and Canada’s minority government, headed by Stephen Harper, remains largely the same. In comparison to the length of the US election, Canada seems to complete the process almost overnight.

Long or short, change or no change, expensive or even more expensive, an important point to make is that voter turnout dropped to a record low this year, according to CBC.

The turnout figure of 59.1% was slightly below the previous lowest turnout figure of 60.9%. That happened when Paul Martin’s Liberals won a minority government in 2004.

The highest voter turnout in Canadian electoral history occurred in 1958, when 79.4% of registered voters took part in the election that saw John Diefenbaker return to power with a majority government. (cbc.ca)

In the coming days many will take a guess at why voter turnout is so low in a country where voting in an election doesn’t require voters to take their lives into their own hands. While Afghan women in burkas risk possible death to take part in an election, Canadians are passing on their privilege. Perhaps we don’t feel our vote will make a difference, or perhaps like many other liberties, freedoms and privileges we take choosing our leaders for granted.

Maybe life is so good north of the our neighbor with the financial crisis and home forclosures that we’ve decided it will stay this was on autopilot.

Why do you think voter turnout is so low in Canada (and the United States)? Do you think it would be higher if we knew what it was like to lose this right? Do you think that could happen in this generation?

Image credit to Stephania Zamparelli