Suitcase Is Not Needed

Did you know that all airlines now charge for baggage? It’s true. Well, except WestJet. Some charge more than others.  We have taken notice that Frontier actually doubles the cost of baggage at each contact point. If you book a flight with them, there is a set price for baggage. If you don’t purchase it then at booking and decide that you want to take a baggage after all, they double the cost, even if it’s 2 seconds after booking. Then, if you discover you need a checked bag and you get to the airport, they triple the price. What’s with that? The saying is again true, buyer beware.

I’ve finally have it figured out how to get beyond this. It’s only taken me over 10 years to figu

Did you know that all airlines now charge for baggage? It’s true. Well, except WestJet. Some charge more than others.  We have taken notice that Frontier actually doubles the cost of baggage at each contact point. If you book a flight with them, there is a set price for baggage. If you don’t purchase it then at booking and decide that you want to take a baggage after all, they double the cost, even if it’s 2 seconds after booking. Then, if you discover you need a checked bag and you get to the airport, they triple the price. What’s with that? The saying is again true, buyer beware.

I’ve finally have it figured out how to get beyond this. It’s only taken me over 10 years to figure this out. At times I’m a slow learner.  This comes from my good friend Craig who travels a lot to Texas. He said, don’t take anything with you that you can’t buy there. Even tooth paste. Honest, he did. Well I’m going to take it one step further, don’t take anything at all but what you can carry on without a charge. Buy what you need when you get to where you’re going. Why not? Every time you go somewhere, you get the vacation or business trip and you can include a shopping spree at the same time. Then you go to a second hand shop or garage sale and buy a suitcase or carry on case and your set. That is if you remembered to purchase that baggage option at booking.

This way, you have saved money and are well dressed in up to date attire.  Here is the application. If we are Christ followers, we know we are going on one amazing trip one day. We will be traveling home. Jesus said He is going to prepare a place for us. I take that to mean the place He has for us is fully furnished. We won’t need to take anything with us. There are no extra fees or luggage to carry. We will just one day find ourselves at heaven’s door. What an amazing moment when we see how Christ alone has that place for us and every detail is taken care of right down to a tube of toothpaste.

Something to think about.

Rob

re this out. At times I’m a slow learner.  This comes from my good friend Craig who travels a lot to Texas. He said, don’t take anything with you that you can’t buy there. Even tooth paste. Honest, he did. Well I’m going to take it one step further, don’t take anything at all but what you can carry on without a charge. Buy what you need when you get to where you’re going. Why not? Every time you go somewhere, you get the vacation or business trip and you can include a shopping spree at the same time. Then you go to a second hand shop or garage sale and buy a suitcase or carry on case and your set. That is if you remembered to purchase that baggage option at booking.

This way, you have saved money and are well dressed in up to date attire.  Here is the application. If we are Christ followers, we know we are going on one amazing trip one day. We will be traveling home. Jesus said He is going to prepare a place for us. I take that to mean the place He has for us is fully furnished. We won’t need to take anything with us. There are no extra fees or luggage to carry. We will just one day find ourselves at heaven’s door. What an amazing moment when we see how Christ alone has that place for us and every detail is taken care of right down to a tube of toothpaste.

Something to think about.

Rob

Moral Compass

I have found that many people who live above Lake Ontario in say, Toronto, become confused about where north is when they drive to Hamilton or beyond. Their frame of reference is the lake. When they find themselves driving down the QEW they look to their left as they go by Grimsby and think that they are looking south out onto the lake when in fact, they are looking north.

This doesn’t happen as often with those people who live below the lake. Don’t know why that is but I can imagine it might have something to do with these individuals having Lake Erie to their south. Go ahead and think that through.

I noticed that in England where large lakes like ours don’t exist, they do it different again. Frame of reference is what this is called. In fact, when I was there for a visit, and asking directions, they didn’t tell me, ‘drive south two miles and turn right’. They told me, ‘drive to the Esso gas station and turn right’. This for me seemed so unusual.

But do you see the point? We all have points of reference that show us which way to go and to even tell us where we are at any given time.

It’s the same in our spiritual lives. We have points of reference there as well. As Christ followers we have the ultimate reference in Christ himself. We also have the bible and all its teaching. We have the disciples and the prophets and the spiritual leaders. They all point us to the one true God. But they also show us were we are in relation to where God is. 

Sometimes I might get confused about my moral compass when I look at the world and what it tries to tell me. But when I look towards God, I discover something very profound. I discover just like the people in Jerusalem, that looked to the light coming from the temple, we find our way to Him. We call our moral compass, a Christian Worldview. Do you know where you are and which direction you are headed?

Something to think about

Rob

When We All Get To Heaven

Have you ever want to sing what Frank Sinatra sang, "I did it my way"?  I believe we really want to say is we want to do it God's way.  But when I reflect back to how I arrived where I am today I have just a few people to thank for getting me here besides God. Beyond them I spent time talking to God and listening to what He had to say. He always told me to never give up and never take a back seat in my life. Then He called me.

Sometimes things we deal with every day are difficult. At other times, almost impossible. But impossible has seldom been part of my vocabularly. It might have seemed like a road block, but just as my GPS finds another route, so did God find it for me.

Early on in my faith journey and my journey thought life I seemed to always have a song to sing when things seemed beyond me. Almost every time I with my friend Val and he works on what to me seems impossible watch repair, he whistles. I guess his song it from Disney and Snow White, 'Whistle While You Work'. Mine just happens to be "Nothing Is Impossible", because it is that faith I have in God that drives me forward.

We don't get where we get to in life if we don't make it happen. I remember my first sermon and cringe at what it must have sounded like. Today, I learned from the first one and the second and the 5000 sermon. They are all steps in getting to where we will end up, and even now some are not great.

Like Billy Graham, when I get to heaven, I won't be preaching any more. And I can't be in the choir like Bev Shea, because I can't sing.  But what I would love to do for Jesus when I get to heaven is go around and welcome all those new arrivals who have loved Christ in their life. I would then invite them to come in and worship the King and hear what He has to say. What are your plans?

Something to think about

Rob

I Didn't Know That

There are many mysteries in life. How the universe works and stays in perfect balance is one. Not too many planets seem to get out of their orbit.  At least that is what we have observed for a very long time. I would have to say, that the shepherds that looked up into the night sky when Jesus was born probably saw the same heaven we see when we look up into the night sky tonight. All are in perfect harmony.

Closer to home, we ask ourselves, why were we born & what is my purpose in life? We are not the first to ask that question. Rick Warren in his book, ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ looked at that same question and he wasn’t the first.  We can also go back 469 years to the Westminster Shorter Catechism and discover that people were wrestling with these self-same questions and at times, were able to figure it out in many ways that helped them understand an unfathomable reality.

The Westminster Dialog answered the question of what is the chief end of man. They answered, ‘Glorify God and enjoy Him forever’.  Really? That’s all it is? Interestingly they discovered more than just that. And just like those learned men, we to can find out what our chief end is. In all cases, it comes out of the same conclusion but the journey to discovery is always the highlight of finding real truth.

Recently I listened to Steve Brown and he said something that is so moving. He mention someone else realizing that as you get older, the best thing you can do is be the person you needed when you were younger. I have discovered the millennials will listen to old people. They are looking for someone to show them the way. The best thing we can show them is the Jesus we follow. And maybe that is the answer for that particular mystery.

Something to think about.

Rob