The Will To Live
by Pastor Troy Brewer
Maxine’s Madness
Have you seen the cartoon character Maxine? She’s the Hallmark cartoon caricature of a cranky old lady that holds a coffee cup proclaiming, “I love my bad attitude.” She suffers hot flashes and lives on Crabby Lane in a little trailer with pink flamingos. She always wears bunny slippers, a bathrobe and a pair of sunglasses.
My grandmother collects Maxine paraphernalia. Like many of her peers, Nana believes Maxine to be her personal prophet and irritable voice of one crying out in the wilderness.
Maxine answers the phone by saying things like, “I’m busy right now. Can I ignore you later?” She lays on her worn out couch as she says, "If each day is a gift, I'd like to know where to return Mondays." She has a website for you to send complaints. Its http://www.like-i-care.com/
There’s no end to Maxine’s musings and complaints. She prides herself in telling it like it is and as she sees it. Just recently I got a funny e-mail that stated Maxine’s living will. A living will is the instructions you leave in the event you are totally incapacitated. Here’s what she said….
“I, MAXINE , being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it, or lawyers/ doctors interested in simply running up the bills. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following: A Glass of wine. Chocolate. Chicken fried steak and cream gravy. Chocolate. Mexican food. French fries. Chocolate. Pizza. Chocolate. Ice cream. A cup of tea or coffee. Chocolate. Sex, and finally Chocolate. It should be presumed that I won't ever get better.When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, let the "fat lady sing” . . .and call it a day!”
Life and the Pursuit Of
Lots of people have pulled the plug on their dreams and settled down into a life of apathy.The will to live is not just about wanting to survive. There are people all around us in a healthy body who don’t have the will to live past where they are.
The Brewer herby encourages you to be a dreamer, so sip on this.
Some Christians know the story about Lots wife and how her look back got her killed. But what most people don’t realize is it is just as deadly to stay where you are as it is to look back. Life has something better to offer you. Get up and get after it.
God does not make the distinction between sacred and secular. He is the God of “better” and “all” things. In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
So it is absolutely ok with God for you to dream big dreams that don’t have anything to do with traditional church. It makes God just as happy when you accomplish a goal for your family, like an awesome vacation for instance, as it does when a guy like me builds a food bank warehouse to feed the poor.
Dream a big dream and do something cool. Move off of Crabby Lane and refuse to pull the plug on hoping for better things.
Psalms 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Pastor Troy Brewer is pastor of Open Door Ministries in Joshua, TX and author of the weekly column Fresh From The Brewer.
by Pastor Troy Brewer
Maxine’s Madness
Have you seen the cartoon character Maxine? She’s the Hallmark cartoon caricature of a cranky old lady that holds a coffee cup proclaiming, “I love my bad attitude.” She suffers hot flashes and lives on Crabby Lane in a little trailer with pink flamingos. She always wears bunny slippers, a bathrobe and a pair of sunglasses.
My grandmother collects Maxine paraphernalia. Like many of her peers, Nana believes Maxine to be her personal prophet and irritable voice of one crying out in the wilderness.
Maxine answers the phone by saying things like, “I’m busy right now. Can I ignore you later?” She lays on her worn out couch as she says, "If each day is a gift, I'd like to know where to return Mondays." She has a website for you to send complaints. Its http://www.like-i-care.com/
There’s no end to Maxine’s musings and complaints. She prides herself in telling it like it is and as she sees it. Just recently I got a funny e-mail that stated Maxine’s living will. A living will is the instructions you leave in the event you are totally incapacitated. Here’s what she said….
“I, MAXINE , being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it, or lawyers/ doctors interested in simply running up the bills. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following: A Glass of wine. Chocolate. Chicken fried steak and cream gravy. Chocolate. Mexican food. French fries. Chocolate. Pizza. Chocolate. Ice cream. A cup of tea or coffee. Chocolate. Sex, and finally Chocolate. It should be presumed that I won't ever get better.When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, let the "fat lady sing” . . .and call it a day!”
Life and the Pursuit Of
Lots of people have pulled the plug on their dreams and settled down into a life of apathy.The will to live is not just about wanting to survive. There are people all around us in a healthy body who don’t have the will to live past where they are.
The Brewer herby encourages you to be a dreamer, so sip on this.
Some Christians know the story about Lots wife and how her look back got her killed. But what most people don’t realize is it is just as deadly to stay where you are as it is to look back. Life has something better to offer you. Get up and get after it.
God does not make the distinction between sacred and secular. He is the God of “better” and “all” things. In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
So it is absolutely ok with God for you to dream big dreams that don’t have anything to do with traditional church. It makes God just as happy when you accomplish a goal for your family, like an awesome vacation for instance, as it does when a guy like me builds a food bank warehouse to feed the poor.
Dream a big dream and do something cool. Move off of Crabby Lane and refuse to pull the plug on hoping for better things.
Psalms 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Pastor Troy Brewer is pastor of Open Door Ministries in Joshua, TX and author of the weekly column Fresh From The Brewer.
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