Still Alive

I apologize for being so long in posting. The holidays have been a little hectic and I am not one for missing a good Christmas party. I will try to do better.

I find the act of celebrating Christmas most exciting. I love the time with the family and friends. I usually enjoy the caroling and singing that comes with working in a Christian atmosphere. The world is a much nicer place with the season of Christ around us.

Now, for the skeptics among us, yes the season is probably more appropriate during the springtime, but none of us can really say when Christ was born. All we know is that He was, and we are better off for it.

I think Christmas is better celebrated during the winter. If we celebrated it during the spring, we would interfere with Easter. I don't wish an Christmas Cantata on any Music Minister at the same time they are preparing the the Easter program. Nor do I want a pastor to have to prepare a Sunrise service the weekend after the Christmas play.

Perhaps we Christians borrowed a date from another religion. We didn't borrow our Savior. He was certainly born. He certainly came to this world through natural means. He must have had a birthday.

The fact we celebrate His birthday should be special no matter what the date. The fact He came to earth and gave us such wonderful gifts is so fantastic I can't see a reason not to sing for joy.

till next time....

Ring the Bells

I was approached by a couple over the weekend about a unique gift they were giving their friends. Instead of buying some trinket to be lost or forgotten, the couple was making donations to our church's benevolent fund in the name of all of their friends. This touched me deeply.

I can't say how many people have been helped by our fund, but I can tell you the world is a better place when people such as this couple strive to help others less fortunate.

The world outside of my warm, cozy house is frightening when you see people dying of hunger and poor medical treatment. I have to confess that it is easier to hide away in my house and pretend the world went away than to actually do something.

I thank God there are people in the world like these.

till then...

Smoking For Christ!

I've often wondered if God made tobacco so that churches would have a greeting committee. When you look out at any church, you will find a member or a dozen standing out front smoking a cigarette. As the people drift in, the smokers will nod and say Hi!, and patiently await the next opportunity to greet someone, gently puffing away.

God certainly had a plan for tobacco. It seems logical to me that the cigarette industry has been blessed over the years. I am certain I can make the case for promoting cigarette smoking if for nothing else than to make sure the people attending the church are greeted each Sunday.

At one church I attended, they bought several umbrellas so that the "Greeters" could walk people from their cars to the church without getting wet. I am pretty sure is wasn't me who said, "They are out there anyway."

As a consequence of being a smoker, you get to know all the people who attend church. You know who came this Sunday and who stayed home to watch the college football wrap up on television. You get to know the visitors faster, as well. The best part is that you know who brought what for the pot luck after church. If you are lucky, they will ask you to taste some of the fare as it passes by.

If we make everyone smoke, causing them to stand out in front of the church on Sunday, the rest of us will be blessed with all those extras usually saved for the smoking crowd.

I suggest, as the season of giving approaches, you find a nice carton of cigarettes for those Christians on your Christmas list this year. It will enhance their church-going experience and add to the friendly atmosphere at their church.

(This message brought to you by our new sponsor, Joe the Camel)

Until next time...

Got Too Much, Already

I can't be sure, but I believe I already have too much. I have a mother and father who live near me. I work in a family business. I get along well with my step-mother. My sister and i still call each other when we are not visiting. I have a wife and son who love me. I have friends that often come and visit.

Who, and I ask this respectfully, can be any richer than this?

We are given life on earth. We can run, jump, and play. God sees to our needs and offers us more than we could ask for. So why don't we consider ourselves rich?

Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly." So is what I mentioned above the abundance? Well, yes and no.

Living an abundant life means filling your life with those things that matter and bring great joy to your life. Not every aspect of this is pleasant, but every aspect of an abundant life is rewarding. Just as childbirth is a straining and unpleasant part of becoming a family, it also ushers in a new enrichment that becomes part of the abundant life.

Finding what God has for your life fills the gaps of the abundant life. Learning to communicate with your spouse becomes part of a life filled to excess. Helping someone find hope in a desperate situation is a self rewarding essence of a rich life.

In all things, God prepares places for us to grow in spirit and love. These growths lay the foundation for expanding our lives and filling our hearts with those things that make life worth living.

Each of you who come here to hear me rant have made a special part of my life fulfilling and enjoyable. To each of you. I offer my sincere thanks for helping God make my life more abundant.

until something else pops in my brain...

What a Web We Weave

I never thought you could build a large group of nudists into any groups, much less weave them into a Christian world. But as most of you can see, we have many people who have found their way into the internet and discovered there are other Christian nudists lurking in the corners of the world. I think this is an example of God taking something that can be both good and bad and using it for good.

I began my Christian travels as an adult some twenty years ago. For most of you, I am a newbie. but what I found out is that I had a lot to learn and I wanted to know it all as fast as I could learn. Now, as most have figured out, I achieved this. I am a know-it-all of the first class. Just ask me.

The first struggle I came across was Genesis, where Adam and Eve were told not to eat of the trees. We all know how that worked and Adam and Eve found themselves wandering around in a world with briers and weeds. The question I had was if God had not given them the knowledge of right and wrong, how did He expect the two of them to know better than to eat from the tree.

I think the flaw in my thinking was there was considering right and wrong to be the same as good and evil. Although they sound close, they are really light-years apart. One is a decision based on black and white, perfect scenario decisions and the other is about the whole situation surrounding the decision.

To better illustrate this, let's look at an example.

Suppose you tell your child to not touch the stove. Your child is seven-years-old and is obviously capable of understanding the order and obeying it. The child touches the stove and is burned. She was disobedient and caused herself pain.

Now, suppose your daughter is twenty-five years old and she is a chef at the local restaurant. You tell her not to touch the stove and go into the living room to find your glasses. While you are away, the kitchen towel you left on the stove catches afire. The your daughter leans over the stove, grabs the towel and throws the burning rag in the sink, extinguishing the flames.

Was the daughter disobedient?

The knowledge imparted to Adam and Eve was the knowledge of things that could be both good and evil. It was a knowledge that needed experience and training to work properly.

Many aspects of our lives also include those decisions based on situations that can be both good and evil. In the quiet moments of our lives, we all must admit that nudism can be both good and evil. The internet is both a good resource of information and communication, but it can be a nightmare if we let ourselves wander into places we should avoid.

Everyday, we forage through this world avoiding the traps and pitfalls that can befall any of us. Avoiding them can be a difficult decision. Not all the cases are as black and white as the example above.

Suppose, instead of a daughter, we substitute a husband. Instead of not touching the stove, we substitute a prohibition on talking to a female neighbor. If the neighbor's stove was broken, would it still be forbidden for the husband to help out a neighbor in distress? Or what if the female neighbor needed a ride? Or how about substituting wife for husband and Cuban pool boy for stove?

There are other sides to this coin. Some things can be both good and bad at the same time. Sex is one primary glue in holding a marriage together. Sex is good! But sex has led to more marriages being destroyed than any other cause.

The best we can do is to remember that once we were imparted with this knowledge, we became responsible for our actions. Our world got larger, just as Adam and Eve's world got larger, and our responsibilities got bigger.

till next time...

catching up

It has been a while since I updated you on the church. Things are going well for a small congregation. It is a pleasure to work in an area where the people attending are willing to jump out and be active in the work. Most churches have 20% of the people doing 80% of the work. At the Chapel, everyone has a function and all are doing well.

I am thrilled with the support and commitment of the people. I only wish I had attended a textile church that worked like this.

Among the other things that have been coming around, my original book, Nudist Among Us has been combined with my second book and been re-released as one book, with a new cover and some better editing and layout. If you have a heart for humor and a wish to spend some money in this economy, you might take a look to the column on the left and give the picture a click.

My family is doing well. My son was with us at the park this weekend to make a video get well card for a friend and church member going off to have an operation.

Till next time when I have worth while to say... God bless.

Second Reformation

In the last group of comments, someone asked about the second reformation. So here goes.

The Reformation was a revamping of Christian ideals, and a changing of how our lives meld into the world around us. Before this change, ordinary people were not trusted to read the scriptures. They were not supposed to interpret the scriptures or to speculate on Christian daily activities. These things were left to the church fathers. The Reformation opened the scriptures to the ordinary person, birthing an explosion of the different denominations and beliefs in the Church. (big C, not little c). It was an awakening of ideas and beliefs that has transformed the way we worship God and has opened up the world to a closer one on one relationship with our Savior.

This was great. But with separation came descent. The separation in beliefs began the distancing of each other. We became fragmented.

In the same light of fixing a wrong, but not for the same wrongs, there is a new awakening falling down on us. Our knowledge of Christ is expanding. Our worship is growing. And some of the ideas we once held as absolute truth are now being exposed for what they are. Some to the good. Others, not so much.

The second reformation is preparing us for the coming of our Lord by trying to unite us all under one God. The reformation is reforming the Church by expanding our knowledge of what God wants from us and by bringing people together. It is trying to accomplish what Jesus longed or years ago, the Church being as one.

Jesus can't return until all the world has been exposed to Him. We are now working our way into those corners of the world we never thought we would find. In urban areas where children grow up and spend more time searching for food than for a god. In deep forests where civilization hasn't found them. In small bible study groups that gather in homes all across the country.

In these places, we are finding the Word being proclaimed at an alarming rate.

The word is even filtering into the places the mainstream church is not going, to nudist parks, to gambling joints, to pipe smokers conventions, to biker bars, and to jails. With this, we are experiencing a renewing of our mind. We are claiming, as our brothers, those people we once considered lepers and scoundrels.

Jesus said he would gather up his remnant scattered by the four winds, and He is doing it now. Bringing in the new people is bringing in a new wave of people to love and be loved by.

There is some great reading on this scattered across the internet. They say it much better than me. I urge you to begin to read and join this new celebration.