Everyone does dumb things from time to time. There are moments of genius in our lives that make us look amazing but those temporary flashes of pure genius will often be followed by times of sheer stupidity. It seems to be engrained on our human nature. Even the Apostle Paul said that the things he wanted to do he did not do, but instead did the ‘dumb’ things over and over again!

But people have been doing painfully dumb things since the beginning of time.

One of the things that actually authenticates Biblical stories is that they are real people acting real. When people did dumb things they didn’t try to cover it up. The Bible is full of moments that often leave us shaking our heads in disbelief. Think Adam & Eve eating the forbidden fruit. Remember Lot’s wife looking back at Sodom & Gomorrah and turning into a pillar of salt. And what about Noah getting drunk after all that grueling and exclusive time with his family on the ark. I think he just had an old-fashioned meltdown!

Everyone has the right to be dumb but some people abuse the privilege. Remember good ol’ John Wayne? He had a great one-liner that people still remember to this day: “Life is hard; it’s harder if you’re stupid.”

If you search through your Bible you will not find the word dumb or stupid although it’s filled with dumb actions and examples of people being stupid. The word that is most used to describe dumb things people do is foolish. Proverbs 18:2 tells us, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” One translation tells us: “Fools care nothing for thoughtful discourse; all they do is run off at the mouth.”

Solomon wrote this thought-worthy verse in Proverbs 17: “Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.” Why was Solomon so dramatic when it came to foolishness? Probably because his family was plagued with dumb choices. Just think about who Solomon’s parents were for a moment. His father was David and his mother was Bathsheba – two people from one of the dumbest mistakes in all of scripture.

Solomon no doubt watched the aftermath of his half sister being raped, his half brother killing another half brother and his brother Absolom attempting to overthrow David as King of Israel. Solomon also had to kill another of his half brothers because of insurrection The family definitely did not have a great track record for wise choices!

One day a golfer was hanging out at the local golf course when the club pro brought another man out for a lesson. The pro watched the fellow swing several times before making several suggestions for improvement, but each time the man interrupted with

his own version of what was wrong and how he could correct it. After a few minutes of this interference, the pro began nodding his head in agreement. At the end of the lesson, the student paid the pro, congratulated him on his expertise as a teacher and left.

The observer was so astonished by all this that he asked, “Why did you go along with him?” “Son,” the old pro said with a grin, “I learned a long time ago that it’s a waste of time to sell answers to a man who wants to only buy echoes.”

Proverbs 18 gives us keen insight here – “Those who answer before they listen are foolish.” But some dumb decisions can carry a hefty price tag with probably the biggest price tag being where you spend eternity. Psalm 14:1 reminds us that “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” We can deny God’s existence but guess what?! He’s still here!

Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at DPCitychurch.org

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So news flash! If you haven’t watched the news recently, President Trump gave ‘the finger’ to a heckler during a tour at a Ford plant in Michigan. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to USA Today, “A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response.” I’m not too sure how appropriate his response was and I’m thinking Melania, no doubt, may have had some calmer advice for her man that evening at home!

So, when and where did our finger-signaling start? It seems that giving someone ‘the finger’ dates back over 2500 years. The first written record of the insult occurred in ancient Greece where the playwright Aristophanes made a crude joke using this gesture. When the Romans imported the art, music, and culture of the Greeks, ‘the finger’ came along too.

‘The finger’ eventually crossed the Atlantic and landed in the good ol’ USA. Even in early 20th century America, ‘the finger’ was the one symbol every man, woman, and child understood, and with the invention of the automobile, it could be delivered from behind the safety of glass & steel and at great speeds. Now farmers did it, hippies did it, and even our President has joined the act. Today is appears in films, school yards, and network television. I have come to the conclusion that this particular gesture is probably here to stay.

But that said – is this the only ‘finger’ gesture that’s available to us? After all – we have ten fingers! What about the other finger gesture? The one using our index finger and pointing straight up to heaven? Pointing the index finger up symbolizes a connection to the Divine. For Christ-followers, it points to heaven and reflects belief in one God.

Christian art often depicts saints & prophets raising their index finger toward heaven. Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” in the Sistine Chapel, famously shows God extending His own index finger to give life to Adam in the Garden of Eden. God’s index finger sent a powerful message of Divine life to mankind.

In 1962, when working for Reuters, Frederick Forsyth was posted in East Berlin where he nearly started WWIII. Returning home late one night, he found his path blocked by Soviet armored divisions – tanks, rocket-launchers, motorized infantry – all rumbling along in the deep dead of night. As soon as he reached his telex, he filed a story that a Russian assault on West Berlin was imminent. Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the British prime minister at the time, and President Lyndon Johnson had to be woken up.

NATO was also put on red alert. Then a wise old hand at Reuters in London suggested that Frederick check to see if perhaps this was a rehearsal for the upcoming May Day Parade. Oops – yes, it was!

Simply by sending a wrong message, Frederick almost blew up the world. People don’t need to agree with your political message in order to be saved. Not everyone will like the way you maneuver your trolley but they can still be forgiven and loved by God. Honesty – everyday, we are sending out some kind of message!

Without doubt, there will still be those who drive & gesture and rant & gesture, but as Christ-followers, we can use a different finger and deliver a very different message! Maybe the next time someone gives you ‘the finger’ you can give them a big ol’ smile and give them ‘the other finger.‘ Selah!

Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at DPCitychurch.org

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This actually isn’t far for the truth as counterfeiters take to the world market to make their bucks! In fact, a major investigation recently revealed that Amazon has listed “thousands of banned, unsafe, or mislabeled products.” Everything from children’s products to electronics.

We’ve probably all seen the counterfeit products sold at open air markets and from street vendors. Everything from fake designer purses, sunglasses, pharmaceutical drugs, and Smart phones – these products are everywhere. So, it shouldn’t really surprise us when our Christmas gets counterfeited as well.

You hear things like – it’s all about the joy…or the tree…the family, the lights..or even Santa. But these are all just garnish to our holiday. Truth be told – it’s all about Jesus Christ. Thus, CHRISTmas! A big clue there!! Jesus is still the reason for the reason!

Myth #1 about counterfeited goods: “You know something is fake when the price is too good to be true.” If you go to a flea market this weekend and find a Coach purse for $15 you can bet it’s not really a Coach purse. It’s counterfeit. Christmas works in much the same way.

Decorate a tree, storm the stores in search of the perfect gift, jazz up your home for festivities — and then party-hardy! But is that it? Was that blur of activity really Christmas? Hardly. Don’t fall for that Xmas scam! The sacrifice that Christ made for us to gain salvation is beyond anything we can pay for. It cost Him His life. As they say – “Salvation is free but it wasn’t cheap!”

Myth #2 about counterfeiting is – “The worst that can happen is that you lose some money.” But fake goods can cause health & safety issues – far worse than lost cash.

Gov’t agencies have reported finding bacteria, human waste, and rodent droppings in counterfeit cosmetics. And some electrical products are so poorly designed that they pose a risk of lethal electrocution.

Again – pushing a fake Xmas works in much the same way. How many people believe they “get’ Christmas when the thought of needing a Redeemer is miles away from their thinking? The ultimate cost? Eternity lost. The ultimate myth is that Christmas is just a cheery holiday when actually it gave us the ultimate ‘gift of a lifetime’ – if said gift is accepted!

Christmas is the good news that the angels brought to the shepherds that cold night over 2000 years ago: “Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you which is Christ the Lord…” The’s the real thing!

There’s a story told of Napoleon and his soldiers who conquered an island in the Mediterranean Sea – they had fought hard to take this island. After its capture – at the price of many lives – Napoleon and his generals gathered for a celebration. As they sat around a great table, they were interrupted by a young officer. Napoleon looked

curiously at him, “What do you want?” The young man replied, “Give me this island!” The generals began to laugh – they couldn’t believe he was forward enough to ask Napoleon for this hard won island.

But then Napoleon turned to one of his aids and asked for a pen & paper. He wrote out a deed to the island, signed it, and gave it to the young man – leaving the generals stunned. “How could you do that?” one of them asked. “What made him worthy to receive this great island?” “I gave him this island,” Napoleon replied, “because he honored me by the magnitude of his request.”

Are we asking big enough this Christmas? Are we looking for nicknacks when we could be looking for our Savior? As that famous line from the Grinch goes…”What if Christmas doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?” Think he got it right?

Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information., you may contact them at DPCitychuch.org

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Not long ago there was another violent ‘club’ attack where a woman was brutally attacked, beaten and robed. Watching the news coverage, I noticed something interesting. One of the teens attacking the woman had on a T-shirt with ANTI-SOCIAL SOCIAL CLUB written in large block letters on it. Lights immediately went on inside my head. Aha – no wonder people are savaging cities, causing mayhem & violence.

They are anti-people! they are in opposition to our lawful social order. It’s not rocket science!!

Remember that old 60’s Beatles song, “All You Need is Love?” That’s true – the challenge is to love as Christ loved and to share his message of forgiveness. But the world hates that message. Many even object to Christian groups distributing food with these tidings to foreign countries because they see Christians as intolerant. They don’t like the message of Jesus that teaches there’s no other way to be saved. Telling truth can be difficult!

Yes -it’s challenging in these times to show Christian love that points to Jesus. And yes, it’s hard to love our enemies. Truth is, it’s impossible without the love of God. But as I John 4 tells us, “We love because He first loved us.” It’s as simple as that.

There’s a story told from World War II of Japanese captors who were forcing Scottish soldiers to labor on a jungle railroad, Times were miserable and the crushed Scottish soldiers had degenerated to barbarous behavior against each other. But one afternoon something profound happened: a shovel was missing.

The officer in charge became enraged and demanded he missing shovel be produced or else. When nobody in the squadron budged, the officer got his gun and threatened to kill them all on the spot. It was obvious the officer meant business.

Then one man stepped forward The officer put away his gun, picked up a shuffle and beat the man to death. When it was over, the survivors picked up the bloody corpse and carried it with them to the second tool check This time though, no shovel was missing. There had been a miscount at the first checkpoint.

Word spread like wildfire through the entire camp – an innocent man had been willing to die to save the others. The incident had a profound effect on the men. They began to treat each other like brothers. When the victorious Allies swept in, the survivors – now human skeletons – lined up in front of their captors. But instead of attacking them, they insisted: “No more hatred. No more killing. What we need now is forgiveness.”

We have many troublesome days ahead of us. Even as we talk to people we can sense uneasiness in their voices. Most people are like a ‘gun-shy animal’ – they jump

at the slightest sound, at the first words from the news media. And depending on where they live, they live in fear their family could be victims of the next tragedy.

I love the story of the church secretary who always answered the phone, “Jesus loves you, Sharon speaking. How may i help you?” One day she was super busy when the phone rang. “Sharon loves you, Jesus speaking. How may I help you?” There was a long pause before the caller replied, “Somehow I thought your voice would sound different.”

As Christ-followers that’s us! We are all Ambassadors for Christ, we represent Him, and love is our weapon! So — just a thought – new T-shirt: PRO-SOCIAL SOCIAL CLUB! Come on – we can do this!

Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet, CA. For more information, you may contact them at DPcitychurch.org

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