Physical and Spiritual

I have gotten tired of starting to write a blog and then not finishing them. We'll see how this works.

Book Review: The Noticer by Andrew Williams

I love books, I hate spending money.  Thomas Nelson publishers have provided a great solution for me.  They have allowed me to review one of the books that is being released today for free as long as I write about it.  So here it goes.

The book is The Noticer by Andy Andrews.  You may be familiar with him from his other book, The Traveler's Gift.

Now, it is worth noting that I am not a fan of reading fiction.  I don't have a lot of time to read, so I want to make sure that I can gain the greatest amount of new information in the shortest time, which is usually done through non-fiction.  But the book was such a fast read that I didn't mind at all.

I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it to be a  a compelling story being used to set up a variety of great quotes and life truths for people in a variety of situations.

Also, being a lover of history, the author uses so many historical and biographical references to drive home his ideas that almost every page had something useful for personal development or for basic knowledge growth.  He even describes historical biographies as "adventure books!"  I love that.

The story basically follows a man name Jones, not Mr. Jones (but as a lover of Counting Crows, I couldn't get the song out of my head anyway).  Jones is some type of drifter/sage who is full of what he calls "perspective".  He helps various people see how they can grow and improve their unique life situations if they just look at them a little differently.

The book deals with topics such as poverty, old age, ambition, integrity, marriage, dating and others.

It is a great "catch all" book that is filled with wit, wisdom, knowledge and it is short enough you can finish it very quickly.

Here are three quotes that I connected with:
  1) "Ask yourself this question every day: 'What is it about me that other people would change if they could?" (pg. 15)
  2) "Most folks figure a true friend is someone who accepts them as they are.  But that's dangerous garbage to believe" (pg. 30)
  3) "I think more people would want to go to heaven, if they weren't afraid it'd be like church when they got there!" (pg. 96)

Some thoughts about worship feedback

So . . . Sunday was interesting. 

I wanted so bad to give a deeply inspiring and positive message about the freedom that is found in Christ when we get over ourselves and start to truly walk out of the slavery that we find ourselves in, especially the slavery of dark secrets. 

I failed miserably (I'm not writing for sympathy or hoping you will disagree with me, I know what I did). 

As I told Jeff Bush after the first service, "I'm sorry.  I was flying the plane, I saw the mountain, I just couldn't pull up."

I drove that message into such a dark place that even I was depressed at the end of it.  Here I am trying to share the good news of Jesus Christ and I made it depressing.

A few weeks ago someone asked me if I was going to be preaching for Easter Sunday.  I told them, "No.  Easter needs to be a positive and happy message so Brian Henry will be preaching.  I don't really do positive and happy that well, he does."

How true, how true.

Then, because I wasn't being depressing enough, I went off on my rant about the general atmosphere of worship in our church.

Since then, I have had a few people tell me how much they appreciated the rant, and others tell me how disappointed they were in the way that I shared it.

So, wherever you stand on it, let me share this.  I stand by what I did.

I came across as smug and condescending.  It came out as arrogant and rude.  I did not mean for that and would not share it the same way if (or when) I need to do that again.

But, it needed to be said.  I know that there were individuals in church on Easter who had real struggles and deep pain walking into church.  Others were fully engaged and caught up in the truth of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  I get that, my rant was not for you.  The sentiment that I shared was for the others.

It was for the ones who would rather sit and complain about volume (either too loud or too soft), song selection (not enough hymns, too many hymns, what's a hymn), musical style (drums are too pounding and the bass was rumbling, I need more snare drum and I wish I could feel the bass guitar more), and for the people who are more concerned with getting through the service so that they can at least say they were in church on Easter.  It was for those who sit there and critique the atmosphere but choose not to participate which would go a long way for improving the atmosphere.  It was for those who are distracted by trivial events and miss the fact that Jesus, who was dead, has risen from the grave to destroy the works of the Devil and set the world right once more.

It was for those who have chosen to be very religious and completely miss out on the relationship that you are called to.  Because in a religion there is no reason to be excited, you are just trying to get through and get to heaven.  In a relationship you are overwhelmed with what God has done, is doing and is going to do and there is nothing that will keep you from expressing that joy.  The same way that you can be in a wonderful and engaging conversation with a friend and completely ignore everything that is going on around you.

Am I sorry for the way that I shared my opinion (and know that it was only my opinion and not those of the church leadership)?  A little.  I do not want to polarize people on such a topic.

But if I had chosen not to share, I could not say that I truly love this church family.  I love this church family too much to allow some of those within it to remain unconnected with the joy and the power of a resurrected savior.  I worry for some that they are very religious, but have a small relationship.

If you were offended by the way that I shared it, I am sorry.  If you were offended by what I shared, it may be time for a self evaluation.

Lent Adventure - Day 15

It finally happened.  I failed.  The worst part is that it wasn't really my fault.  Here is how it all went down.

My wife saw a recipe on Rachael Ray for this chicken gumbo that also included a special type of sausage.  I was not concerned about the meal, because it was supposed to be chicken based and most sausage of that type is pork based.  I ate two plates, then packed some up for lunch the next day.

The next morning I was getting ready to leave and saw the package that the sausage came in.  There it was, about 5 ingredients in; "beef".  So there was not a lot of beef, but there was still red meat in there. 

Now, at this point I have two choices.  Eat the stuff for lunch as well and give up on the whole red meat thing, or start again.  I started again.  I gave JR (the student minister) my gumbo and he gave me some left over chicken dish.  For the meal at church that night they had beef stew.  I had salad (even the bologna has some beef in it).

There are going to be times in our life when we will fail God, either intentionally or unintentionally.  Leviticus tells us that we are guilty whether we know it or not (this will be the theme of Sunday's message).  The issue is not our failure, but our response to our failure.  Do we give up, or start fresh knowing that God's mercies are new every morning. 

If you have failed or fallen short of you Lent goals, start over. Don't let yourself off the hood that easily.  Apologize to God and get going again.

Lent Adventure - Day 10

Last night the family and I went to Trader Joe's in Northbrook and my wife wanted me to try this amazing Jewish deli named Max and Benny's.  The place was unbelievable, but there was one major problem.  When I go to a Jewish deli, there is only one thing I want to order; the Reuben.  I had been told that it was out of this world there, and was all set to order it when I remembered that the main ingredient was corned BEEF.  (This red meat thing is begining to be more of a challenge than I had originally thought.)  I had not considered that at all while planning to order since it was a Reuben sandwich, not a corned beef sandwich.

Often those things that trip us up in our journey are not labeled, "sin".  There is the old phrase, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."  It is shockingly true for many of us. 

What are those sins that seem to show up in your life over and over?  What are the ones that seem to just sneak up on you without paying attention, or the ones that you try to justify away?

I almost asked my wife for a bite of her sadwich thinking that it would only be one bite, even if it was beef, because we would not be able to come back for quite a while.  That is when it dawned on me, that is the point.  Sacrifice that does not require sacrifice is not much of a sacrifice.

Continue to keep watch and pray, not just for those items you are trying to give up for Lent, but for all of your sins and those things that keep you from being fully engaged with God.

Lent Adventure- Day 7

One week down, only 33 days to go. 

Sometimes people get the false notion that when we make sacrifices and offerings to God that our life will go easier and God will give us more in return.  There are times when that holds true, but there are other times when the exact opposite happens.  Sometimes we find that our sacrifices are returned with requests for even more. 

Perhaps that you have found God asking more from you than you had planned to give.  Perhaps you have found that in the darkness of Lent, things have gotten darker.

If that is what you have found, remember John the Baptist who spent his whole life telling people to get right with God and follow the one to come after him; Jesus.  Then he ends up in a Roman prison questioning his own teachings by sending some of his followers to ask Jesus if he really was the Messiah.

Soon after, John was beheaded even after all he gave.

A question that is worth asking yourself sometimes is whether or not you would serve God even if the rest of you life was filled with darkness or do you just follow and serve Him when He sends you sunshine and rainbows.

Lent Adventure - Day 6

A few days ago I mentioned that the issue of red meat was not proving to be that great of a challenge throughout this process.  I was wrong.

On Saturday Misty, the kids and I were going to get some lunch together using the multiple free meal coupons we had recently received.  One was for a free sandwich from Arby's, one was for a free sandwich from Quiznos and one was for a free personal pizza from Pizza Hut.

I passed on the Arby's without even thinking about the fact that it had to be a roast BEEF sandwich, and opted for the Quiznos sub instead.  Being in a hurry, I told my wife to order me the prime rib cheese steak sanwich as I took Elijah over to Pizza Hut to order our pizza there.

When Misty arrived it was with a different sandwich because the coupon was not good on the prime rib.  I was disappointed at first, until I realized that the prime rib would have been beef.

On Monday I started getting my lunch ready to bring to church and was disappointed when I could not find the ground beef to go in my taco.  My wife, knowing I was not supposed to have it, kindly put it in the freezer the night before.

Then today I went to Qdoba for lunch and almost ordered the steak tacos, since I couldn't order the ground beef, seeing as how ground beef was red meat.  Right before I ordered it I was reminded of where steak came from.

While this may all sound trivial, but what I see is how God, my wife and friends have helped me during this journey to keep me pure from those things that I am striving to avoid.

This holds true in life as well.  Who have you surrounded yourself with to help keep you pure?  When have you thanked God for watching out for you, when you were not watching otu for yourself?

Lent Adventure - Day 5

As a quick reminder, the reason that today is day 5 and not day 6 is because Sundays are not traditionally part of the Lent 40 days calendar.

While I have regularly talked about Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday (last week), that is not true across the board. 

For the Eastern Orthodox churches, Lent begins today and it works a little differently.  They tend to build into Easter.  It is also important to recognize that their Easter is not always the same day as ours.  I believe that their Easter will fall on the 19th of April this year, which is one week after ours. 

Lent for them actually has a lead up time of 4 weeks.  It is worth noting that Orthodox don't eat red meat, fish or dairy on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year.  But at the start of the four week lead in period they can eat anything on any day. 

The second week is a week to confess their sins to a priest or they are not allowed to have communion on Pascha (their term for Easter).

The third week is "Meatfare Sunday".  This is the last day that you can eat red meat during Lent as a way of representing the ability to resist the temptations of the flesh.

The fourth week is "Cheesefare Sunday."  This is the last day that you can eat any dairy throughout all of Lent, along with abstaining from fish, wine and olive oil. Along with this is a special worship service where everyone in the room has to forgive every other person face-to-face and they are all forgiven by the priest as a way of representing forgiveness from God.  This is usually a very powerful service.

Today begins their lent with "Clean Monday" or "Bright Monday".  All of the people will spend time completely cleaning their home as a way of purifying themselves and ridding their home of evil.  Some believe that this was part of where "spring cleaning" came from.

I share all of this with you so that you can see that everyone remembers this time a little differently, but the ultimate point is to draw near to God during this time.  Maybe there is something that you can take away from their practices that will help you draw near as well.

Lent Adventure - Sunday

I love Sundays during Lent.  Since none of the things that I am sacrificing for Lent are really all that bad in moderation, I take Sundays off from the fast.  This is traditional for much of the church as a way of recognizing that Sundays are always days of resurrection and new life, so we don't want to live in deprivation on those days. 

I did not get to have any coffee, but I did watch a little bit of the golf game (even though I missed out on Tiger Woods' rounds earlier in the week).  I was also able to have some beef tacos. 

Although I do want to share a few things I learned last year.  Even though I take Sunday's off, it is still a good idea to go with moderation.  Last year I would leave the house after the kids were napping on Sunday afternoons to get a cup of coffee.  The mistake I made was having three 20 oz. cups at Starbucks in about an hour and a half.  That's right, 60 oz. (nearly a half gallon) in 90 minutes.  That was an error in judgment.

So if you are going to enjoy the freedom of Christ on Sundays, take it from a very jittery me, go easy.

Lent - Day 4

If you have made it this far, then you may have found one of two things to be true. 

1. You may have found that at this point the item(s) that you were planning on giving up is a lot harder than you originally thought it would be. You may be amazed at how much of your day is run on auto-pilot where you just do what you do without thinking.  Then all of a sudden you run into your Lent offering and it stops you in your tracks. 

As a reminder, I am giving up 4 items.  The reason for four is not to outdo anyone, but each year that I have sacrificed something for Lent, I have added another item.  This year it is coffee, red meat, only watching TV when I am watching with my wife, and a fourth personal item. 

The TV and the personal item have been a much greater challenge that I originally planned.  I did not realize how often I turn the TV just to pass the time.  It is not like I paid that much attention to it, but I would use it as a stress reliever.  When I am about to turn it on, I am reminded that it has to stay off (even though Tiger Woods is playing for the first time this week and my wife does not want to watch golf with me).  Logically I should just know to grab the book I have to study, but instead I find myself frozen for a moment or two as I have to figure out what to do now.

If you are in that place, use that brief pause as a reminder to pray a prayer of thanks to a God who keeps the world moving, and an apology for the times when we have failed Him just because we were on auto-pilot.

2.  You may also find that the items that you gave up have not been as big of a deal as you thought it would be.  I went to Starbucks last night and had no trouble ordering a cup of tea rather than the coffee I normally would have ordered. (But I must admit that I had a headache for almost 48 hours as my body was adjusting to not having the coffee.) 

Giving up read meat has not been that hard since Wednesday either.  The main reason that it has not been that hard to give up red meat is because my wife and friends are aware of what I am giving up and they have been very helpful in providing other options for me.

If you have found that your sacrifice has not been that hard, then there are three things you may want to do.

• Pray a prayer of thanks that God has helped you with the strength of will to handle this adjustment.
• Perhaps you should consider either add something else to your Lent sacrifice, or bump up the intensity of the challenge.  For example, if coffee has not been a big deal, then perhaps trying to go with only water.
• Keep close watch.  It is early in the 40 days and you may find that just when you think that everything is when you will fail in a big way, which will be very demoralizing. 
  

Next week, I will share with you some things to do after you fall short.  In the mean time, I will be praying for you and hope that you are in prayer for me.

Lent Adventure - Day 3

Genesis 19:23-26 "By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.  Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah - from the LORD out of the heavens.  Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities - and also the vegetation in the land.  But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."

Sometimes the hardest thing is saying goodbye.  The season of Lent is a great time to consider those vices and sins that you know hold you back from being fully committed to God.  These are the habitual sins that seem to drag you down just when you feel like you are making great progress. Sometimes it is not even a sin, but just something that you know keeps you from being the man or woman God intends you to be.

For each person it may be different.  It may be alchohol, drugs, pornography, smoking or some other addictive behavior.  For others it may be anger, resentment, or the inability to forgive.

Whatever it may be for you, use this time to say goodbye to those things that hold you back and DO NOT LOOK BACK.  When we look back at what we knew so well, it will often lend itself toward falling back into the same old habits.  Say farewell and keep looking forward.

Perhaps today is the day when you start praying a prayer like, "Father, you know how this addiction or behavior has held me in slavery and kept me from being as close to you as I could be.  Free me from the slavery that I have been in, make me a slave to you and keep me from looking back." 

Then pray that prayer every day during Lent, or perhaps just everyday, period.

Lent Adventure - Day 2

I don't know why, but this post came up empty the first time.  Let's try it again.

I made it through my first day of Lent.  What I have learned so far is that I mainly function on auto-pilot.

Wednesday started like most, by getting up, going to the gym, coming home to get cleaned up, then getting ready to go to the church. Yesterday I was getting my stuff together to go to church and headed for my coffee grinder to make a french press of Sun Dried Ethiopia Sidamo coffee.  I don't normally do that in the morning, but it sounded really good, of course forbidden fruit usually does sound good. 

Before I pulled the coffee out, I remembered that I was giving it up.  No problem, I would just have a Starbucks Iced Coffee from the cans that I keep at church . . . then I remembered that Iced Coffee is still coffee.  I gave a quick prayer of thanks and recognition before heading out.

By mid-day I already had my headache for a lack of the black nectar (by the way, today's headache started before 10am). 

I knew that dinner was going to be beef enchiladas, but Sue Freisheim loves me so she fixed one pan of cheese only since she knew I was giving up beef for Lent as well.  I went through the line with my one enchilada and came to the Mexican Salad (I don't really know if that is what it was called, but it is now for our purposes).  The serving spoon was on its way to my plate when I saw it . . . small pieceds of ground beef throughout the salad, forcing me to eat a plain salad with ranch dressing.  I don't really like ranch dressing, but my wife was kind enough to tell me how good the other salad was.

After classes, we went home where I needed to do a little work on the computer.  I reached for the remote control so that I could watch some television while on the computer (I am a multi-tasker).  But wait!  No TV for me, because my wife was in the living room and I am only watching TV when we are watching the same show together.

Here is what I learned from day one.  I am amazed how often I just go through the motions of my day without even thinking about what I am doing. And I don't think that I am alone in that.

I wonder how many pains we could avoid and how much stronger we could be spiritually if we just paid more attention to our actions, causing us to be more deliberate and have greater self control.

Lent Adventure - Day 1 - Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday.  It is the first official day of Lent.  The idea is this, multiple times throughout the Bible you find people repenting of their sins and putting ashes on their heads as a sign of their repentance.  The city of Nineveh in the book of Jonah is a good example of this. 
As a way of experiencing this sign of repentance, some churches will take the dried up leaves that they used in the previous year's Palm Sunday services (Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter when many churches reenact the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem as the people waved Palm branches).
These branches are then burned, the ashes are mixed with Holy Water or oil, although I do know of other churches who will have their people write the names of some of the sins they are repentant of on slips of paper, then burn those to make the ash paste.
The priest would then make a sign of the cross or just a marking of ashes on the forehead of a repentant person.  That person then wears those ashes all day long without washing them off, for all to see their repentance.
While I don't have ashes, I do have a dark gray sweater on today to act as a symbol of the ashes for myself.  The gray reminds me that today is a day of repentance.  It is a day to remember my sins and begin to my "fast" from those items that I am giving up for Lent. 
Take some time today and pray to God a prayer of lament and repentance when you begin to crave whatever it is you have given up.  Use this time to recognize God's power over sin and His forgiveness in the face of your failures.

The Lent Adventure begins - Fat Tuesday

Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day, Carnival, Mardi Gras, whatever you call it, it is finally here! 

As we discussed on Sunday, I began looking for a way to connect with God through Easter better a few years ago, and found myself looking more an more into this season of Lent.  I admittedly balked at the idea of Lent at first.  While I am fully aware that many Lutheran's, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Orthodox, and other protestant denominations do some form of Lent fast, most that do so retain many of their Catholic roots in practice.  Churches such as Assembly of God, Baptist, Evangelical Free, Christian Church and Community Churches rarely, if ever, explore Lent specifically because it is a Catholic creation in its formation, and because it is not a practice within the Bible.  But that does not mean that there is no value we can take away from it.

Here is my plan for this year.  Today is Fat Tuesday so I will be going with the staff to enjoy a few of the things I will be giving up this season. 

I am already on my second cup of coffee (it is 9:30). I plan to use my craving for morning and after lunch coffee as a reminder to pray to the God who created the universe and the coffee beans.

I plan to have some kind of red meat today at lunch (or I may substitute ham or bacon for the red meat).  The passing of red meat is to serve as a reminder of Jesus' words that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Television without my wife will also be passed up.  The time when I would normally be watching TV alone will be used for reading and spiritual growth.

Along with these three items, there is one thing I am giving up during this season that is just between God and myself.

It is also worth noting that I will almost always watch some TV by myself, have a cup of coffee and probably some red meat on Sundays.  I want to use these days as reminders that God has promised us that our sins are forgiven and through Him we have been set free from those things that tie us down. 

Check back regularly to see how things are going along with occasional devotional thoughts about this season.

Sunday 02-15-09 and a little of last week

What an amazing services we have had the past two weeks.  God has been doing some great stuff around here and I am so glad that He is letting me be a part of it.

• We baptized two more people this week.  Every time I see someone come up out of that water I cannot hlep but smile to see how they have chosen to die to themeselves so that God can make them a new life (according to Romans 6). 
  
• A few weeks ago someone asked me how it is that we can say what we say about immersion baptism, but then we rarely see it in our services.  The main reason is that we believe people should be baptized as soon as they are ready and not wait for the Sunday service.  But I really took the question to heart and so we have been showing videos of the baptisms during the services.  It is so powerful to see those take place and to hear the applause afterward.  If you want to see them, you can find them at our Facebook page.
• God has been bringing so many new families to our church lately and it has me both very excited and very nervous at the same time.  I am excited, obviously, that God has chosen to use us to care for and lead these people.  I am nervous because I do not want to let Him down by "playing to the crowd" or not showing them that we care deeply for them.
• I will admit some concern for where we are financially.  We are running well below our budgeted needs, which is somewhat expected in these financial times.  We have begun to make a few minor adjustments to cut costs without short-changing our ministries, but hope and pray for our giving to increase.
• Brian Henry was out of town this weekend.  I miss the guy when he is not around.  His input and feedback are so valuable and insightful.  We are all really looking forward to his return.
• I can't wait to see what God is going to do next!
  

Sunday 02-01-09 and a little Monday

I have quite a few thoughts on Sunday, but most of them have little to do with the worship service.

• I was unable to attend either one of our worship services this past Sunday because of the "Exploring Baptism and Becoming a Christian" study that I led.
• I heard great things out to the service and trust that they were true.
• We had 32 people come to the "explore" study and had some great questions come up.  I am waiting to see what the next step will be for people because it looks like God is going to do something big out of that.
• Sunday night's Super Bowl was awesome not just for the last five minutes, but also because we had all of the minister's and their families over just to be together.  I love those people.
• Monday night was the elders' meeting.  Most ministers hate those meetings because they don't really like their elders all that much or they don't trust them, or the elders act like "gatekeepers" rather than shepherding their people forward.  That is not the case with these elders.  They want to prepare the way for God to do great things here.  They hold me accountable when I need it (which is often), they push me forward regularly even if I am not comfortable with it and they pull me back when I am going too far to fast.  Sometimes (as in most of the time) they even make adjustments to compensate for me saying things from the stage that might get us in trouble.  They are true men of God.
• Next Sunday is going to be amazing.  You are not going to want to miss what is going to take place.
• Then after Valentine's Day (where we will look at St. Valentine) we move into Lent.  We will be doing a whole series from Leviticus.  I can't wait.
  

Sunday Reflections 01-25-09

After way too many weeks of having sick people in my house, I am finally able to resume some weekly thoughts, so here they are

• I love speaking on how baptism fits into salvation and I hate speaking on how baptism fits into salvation.  I don't see how someone can honestly look at scripture for what it says and not say that baptism is one of the requirements, so I am passionate about that truth.  On the other hand I know that not everyone is as excited as I am, so I strive to be considerate without watering down the truth.  Hopefully I succeeded because it looks as though we will have three to four baptisms soon.
• Jeff has been working a lot on the sound coming out of our speakers and I believe that this Sunday was the best yet.  Derek, Bob and the band really did a great job.
• I took a few moments and listened to the teen band at the beginning of the 10:30 service and was blown away.  Those guys sounded awesome.
• Next Sunday is going to be great.  I love the opportunity to talk to people about becoming a Christian and that is what I will be doing in both the 9:00 and 10:30 service.
• God has been doing some amazing things around here lately, and this weekend He brought almost as many people to FCC as He brought on Easter last year.  I am constantly praying that we don't let Him down by not giving these people the truth and a way to connect with His family here.
  

Oprah, eat your heart out

I believe that this past Sunday was the first time in my 10+ years of ministry that I was too sick to make it to church.  I do remember showing up once about 3 minutes before I had to speak, preaching, saying "Amen" and then going home while they were singing the final song.  It was very odd to be there in bed while my wife and daughter were at church.  (My son was at home sick with me).

I basically spent the better part of 6 days lying in bed and I have learned a lot.  Last week Oprah did a series of shows on how to have your best year in a variety of topics from spirituality to sex to finances. (Funny that the name of her company is called Harpo which is a lot like harpoon. Coincidence? I think not.)

First let me assure you that I did not watch any of these shows.  But in my high-fevered state I now have found the "silver bullet" solution for how you can have your best year ever.  Here it is.  Get really, really sick with a high fever that won't break and a small but noticeable case of pneumonia.  It really will solve all of your issues categorically.  Look below for proof.

• Financially - the reason most people are in so much trouble is not just because they have way too many bills, but it is also that they spend the money that they have available in frivilous ways.  If you are too sick to leave the house, then it becomes increasingly challenging to spend your cash.  Outside of QVC and Pay-per-View movies, there is not much to purchase.  I ended the week with the same amount of cash that I had in my wallet at the beginning of the week.  I had even forgot that some of that money was in there, so it was like finding new money which gave me more to put into my savings account than I had originally planned.  Financial peace through illness.  This will be my best year ever.
• Physically - Now I realize that many would argue against an illness being a key to physical health, but I disagree.  I lost 6 pounds in 6 days.  That statement right there is enough to get a late night info-mercial.  But wait, if you call within the next 15 minutes we will through in a lingering sore throat and dead taste buds to go with that loss of appetite.  This way, all of your favorite foods will taste like chewy piles of salt and they will go done as though they are covered in sandpaper.  It is the gift that keeps on giving.  No some might ask, "but where is the cardio?"  I'm glad you asked.  I woke up every night and had to change shirts at least once because the shirt I was wearing was soked.  Here I am today and I am still occasionally sweating.  I sweat more at night than I usually do during my 3 mile runs.  So now you really can lose weight in your sleep with my new program.  You are just one illness away from your best year ever.
• Spiritually - They say communication is the key to a great relationship, and that holds true in your relationship with God as well.  An really high qualtiy illness will help your communication lines be open and clear.  When you are awake you pray for healing, you pray for sleep, you pray to breath, you pray for God to come take you now.  But that is just the beginning.  As your fever begins to approach the 104 mark you start to think that you can actually see God face to face.  True it might just be a fever induced hallucination, but when I see a picture of my grandfather I feel close to him even if it is just a picture.  I figure if it is true for my grandfather, it my be true for my heavenly father as well.  So, when you start to feel like God is just too far away, try one really high fever and you are on your way to your best spiritual year ever.

Oprah, eat your heart out.