G Notes

Exactly who is Santa Claus? Few topics are as confrontational and divisive as attempting to "out" the true identity of Santa. Nothing has resulted in more wars, family feuds, or denominational splits than the attempt to unmask Santa Claus. The time has come for humanity to band together and usher in a new era of hope and peace. To do so we must honestly confront the single most important question before the human race: who is Santa Claus? Years of oral tradition have blended truthful accounts with that which is myth and fable. Add to that countless claymation specials and what we are left with is a plethora of nonsensical sentiments about who Santa Claus is. The purpose of this blog is not to ascertain exactly who Santa is. That is a riddle far greater than this blog post can address. But perhaps we can begin to shed light and start to alleviate some of the confusion. It is the writer's belief that clues have arisen that can help point us in the right direction. 1) ...

It's Monday morning and you need to get to work. Here are your options : 1) bum a ride, 2) borrow a car, 3) rent a car, 3) lease a car, or 4) buy a car. With each of those options, you will have varying degrees of care and concern about the car. If you're bumming a ride, you don't care much about the car. You just hope it gets you to your job safely and on time. If you're borrowing, you care a little more about the car but only because you don't want to have to pay for any damages caused while you're using it. In that case, your concern is not about the car but yourself. If you rent a car, you care very little about the car because the rental insurance will cover damages. There's a little bit of personal skin in the game because you're paying for the rental and insurance but you don't personally care about the car itself. You know that your relationship with that car is going to be very short in duration. If you lease, you care about the car a li...

Doesn't it often feel as if life isn't much more than constant preparation? This is how my day began: 1) Prayed (prepared my heart for the day); 2) Read Scripture (prepared my thoughts for the day); 3) Ate breakfast (prepared my body for the day); 4) Drank coffee (prepared my energy for the day); and 5) Made my to-do list (prepared my plan for the day). That's lots of preparation. Now consider that my preparation required preparation. Before praying, I had to know where I was going to pray and go to that place in the house. Before reading Scripture, I had to get my Bible out and know what I was going to read. Before eating breakfast, I had to scoop protein shake mix into the glass, add milk, and blend. Before drinking coffee, I had to grind the beans, put water in the coffee maker, insert the filter, add the grounds, and push the "on" button. Before I made my to-do list, I had to get out my schedule and paper and pen. That's a lot of preparation just ...