Thing of this world

As you read in my disclaimer, I will no longer be a man of the world but a man of God. There is so much junk going on in the world right now, and we as Americans live our cushy self centered lives and don’t even have a clue about what’s really going on in our world. I was definitely in need of some r and r, and a vacation was exactly what I needed. Wow, Las Vegas, what an incredible distraction for a Christian trying to live a Godly life. It was hard to keep my faith in the forefront of my mind in Las Vegas, I would even go as far as to say that I took a few steps backward in while in Las Vegas. I missed a Sunday of church, I missed a whole week worth of faith based, uplifting, and encouraging podcasts, and didn’t listen to any Christian music. I did however manage to spend an hour each morning with the Lord, with the exception on once. To be honest, Las Vegas did not impress me, sure there was a lot to do, but the best part of Las Vegas was the food hands down. Jane and I went on Vacation with 2 other couples. My favorite part of the whole trip was not the trip itself, but being able to share my experiences with my best friends. It’s like the master card commercial, Trip to Las Vegas, $1500, food, $500, Extra hidden fees, $200, sharing the trip with my best friends, priceless. And for the record, those figures are not accurate, but you understand my point? We spent two of our afternoons in Vegas, actually outside of Vegas, we spent an afternoon at Red Rock National Park, and we spent an afternoon in Mt Charleston National Park. Both were beautiful. You can see pictures at TheBoxethFamily.com. The beauty of the mountains are an inspirational example, of Gods Glory. We also spent a morning at the Grand Canyon. In a word, “wow.” The Grand Canyon was a great place to thank God for all of His beautiful creations. The last thing that we did on our trip was visit the Heart Attack Grill. The whole reason for this trip was to end up at the Heart Attack Grill. This is where I indulged in gluttony, by eating a 6,000 calorie burger called a triple bypass (it was the best burger I’d ever had). This vacation was planned before I made the decision to change my life. It was also pre paid, so I had to go, and of corse I wanted to go. It was just that much more challenging keep the Faith if you will. While walking around Vegas, people are everywhere, taking pictures and videos with there fancy cameras, people are throwing money around left and right, and in the midst of it all there were homeless people digging through the garbage cans for food. The people in Vegas of corse were 100% completely oblivious to these homeless persons. Because I believe and do my best to live by Matthew 25, I did buy a few bagels with cream cheese, for some of these homeless men. I don’t say that because I want credit or acknowledgment for what I did, but because, I am a Christian, and as a Christian, we need to love others just as the bible commands. Matthew 22:36-40. While doing my random acts of kindness, I was witnessed by others. They may not have thought much of it, but I made them turn there heads, and that’s a start. These homeless persons, are only a small percentage of the homeless throughout the world, there are people of this world who starve daily, who are sick, and can’t get medical, persons are being killed for there beliefs or color of there skin, and the list goes on. But we don’t think about them, we don’t think about or brothers and sisters around the world, we live in houses, and drive cars to work, and buy all of the latest and the greatest, living in complete selfishness, not ever even stopping to think about the people in this world less fortunate than us. Here is a statistic. If you live in a house, and drive a car to a job, you are in the top 5% of the people in the world. Think about that next you miss that great sale at JC Pennies, or when you are angry because your mortgage is going up $25 a month, or you have to cut out McDonalds from your budget for the next few weeks because of an unexpected car repair. Now before you start calling me a hypocrite, I am just a guilty as any other American out there. But, I am aware, and I am making a conscience effort to change the way I think, act, and feel. I may not be able to change the world, but if I can make a difference in on persons life, than it will have all been worth it. I have a challenge for you. You have heard of random acts of kindness? I want you to do something nice for someone less fortunate this week, without expecting anything in return. Bring a meal to that homeless person that you pass by every day on your way to work. The next time you see a buy one get one free, buy the one, and give the free on to someone who could never afford it. And if you really want to change a life, sponsor a child in another country, there are plenty of legitimate programs out there. I always here, why would you sponsor a child in another country when there are plenty of children who need help here in America. I have two responses to that. One, what are “YOU” doing to help any of the children in America, let alone a child in another country. And two, we have programs in America to help children, but there is no place to go for children in other countries. In closing, I hope that I have challenged you to as least consider what is really happening in this world, it’s not about you, and remember, that from dust you were created and to dust you shall return. Genesis 3:19.