Love…Words vs Actions

January 21, 2016 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

DSC06998 publish

It is one thing to say the following words about Love but it is a whole other level of Love to live them in your daily life with others…

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

(This photo was taken by my wife in South Dakota and that is our son standing on a level above her to project his shadow in the image of the cross)

Faith…It’s Not About You

January 9, 2016 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Philippians 2:1-4

It is not about you…

March 1, 2015 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It’s not about you…I have seen and read this message many times while reading a devotional or some other faith based writing. When I was reading this morning it struck me differently…it spoke to me about sowing a seed with the hope of changing a life. It made me think…how have I been blessed and how can I share that with others? I know that God created me…I know that God has given me certain gifts. My job is to discover my gifts and use them to help others…and it is the same for you.

Today as I was reading from a daily devotional written by John C Maxwell the words that struck me hard and fast were these…a quote from entertainer Danny Thomas…”All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don’t discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.”

It doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it to be in our heads…start today…start focusing on your gifts and start using them to help others. If you are unsure of what your gifts are then ask God in prayer to help you identify those gifts so you can begin to sow seeds in your daily life.

It’s not about you…it’s about how you have been blessed and how you can use those blessings to help others.

Peace be with you.

Uncomfortable Places

November 8, 2014 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The places one can have experiences of growth and pure joy are the places that start out as the most uncomfortable. Often times to get to an uncomfortable place you have to step outside of “The Status Quo” of life in this world. Routines and doing things the same way with the same people every day can quickly turn into ruts. At first, the routine becomes comfortable we may experience contentment…however, if that continues for an extended period of time it can turn into a rut that we feel stuck in.

Society has many certain paths that are seen as normal or “the way you should do things” sticking only to these paths is typically the path of least resistance and the simplest to follow. These often are also the least challenging for your God given potential and if you spend time with God consistently you will learn that he is always with you even in the uncomfortable moments. As with everything in life you must have a balance of challenging, uncomfortable paths and being a contributing member of society. The uncomfortable places I am referring to involve issues of charity vs justice for the hungry and homeless…or choosing a role of work that is serving others instead of trying to climb the corporate ladder for personal wealth. Society tends to look away from the hungry and homeless and working to become a Director, VP or Executive is seen as ambitious. If we pursued justice for those who need a hand in life with that same determination we could impact so many more lives.

The bible teaches that we should be working to be living sacrifices…

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:2

Challenge yourself…look for that uncomfortable place that is in your community. Pray about it and stretch out of the status quo…you may find a new path that transforms your life and the lives of many others in ways you never imagined.

Peace be with you.

It Matters – Mission Trip “Serve Wherever You Are”

July 24, 2014 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It is Thursday of Mission trip week and we are living full throttle for Christ! The message for today can be summed up quite simply…do whatever you can, whenever you can, wherever you are. Your act of service or kindness does matter, even if you don’t have direct interaction with the receiver of your action. We should strive to include acts of service and kindness in our lives daily. If you don’t feel like this is part of your life right now, start small. Change one thing in your routine that is not about you. Start out once a week or whatever you can do.

My service group spent 4 hours today loading a 53′ semi trailer full of medical supplies including beds for transit that will be sent overseas for people with little or no medical facilities so they can get the medical attention they need. The organization that coordinates this effort is run by 20 full-time staff and 15,000 volunteers. The vast majority of the volunteers will never encounter the individuals who benefit from the supplies being available but that doesn’t lessen the impact of their work…it is still necessary. This activity was not on our schedule this week originally but we were asked to do this instead of our planned event after a different group was unable to make it and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of the week.

Whatever you are able to do for others is important and it does make a difference…believe it and do something whenever you can…wherever you are.

Peace.

“Come, Follow Me”

November 21, 2013 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It is written, Jesus said “Come, Follow Me”…and Levi got up and followed him. Just like that…nothing further is written about this encounter specifically. The message that can come out of such a simple interaction is strong. Another interaction written in the bible…A rich young man ran up to Jesus and asked “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus instructed him to “sell all of your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” There it is again…

It is simply three words; come, follow me. As they say, that is easier said than done! Everything around us in the world is telling us to do this and get here and do that…very few times do we get the opportunity to sit and think about what it would mean to follow him. Here is what I have learned…the bible has all the instructions. It is clear about how God wants us to choose to live. Both of the above interactions are written about in the Gospel of Mark. The Levi encounter is in Mark 2 and the rich young man encounter is in Mark 10. Then in Mark 12 there is writing about The Greatest Commandment…

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no greater commandment than these.”

Mark 12:30-31

Thus we have the instructions…Love God and Love your neighbor. Do not do things just to serve you. Pray daily to grow in your relationship with God. Be humble and try to live with an attitude of gratitude. Next week is the Thanksgiving holiday…start thinking now how you can show the important people in your life how much you appreciate them, maybe give food or clothing or whatever you can to the needy…whatever that looks like is up to you and God.

If you are not sure where to start sit down for a quiet moment and ask him…he is waiting to hear from you. Then watch carefully for his guidance.

Peace to you and yours.

Spiritual Growth

November 2, 2013 / mcalcagno / 1 Comment

Often times people put little value on the things that they can do to help another, yet others believe it is the simplest gesture that can make the biggest difference in their day. This is something I was reminded of earlier this year while on a mission trip with senior high youth…

Do whatever you can

For whoever can

Whenever you can

Wherever you are

Because whatever you can do it will be something that someone else needs and never forget your actions DO make a difference in this world.

“Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

Ephesians 5:15-17

Even those who lived during the time of Jesus’s life on earth had doubts about Faith in life…one of his disciples was walking on water towards Jesus and once the wind kicked up he doubted he could really do it so he began to sink and Jesus was standing right there. We all will have moments of doubt and that is Ok, just don’t quit trying.

Even the easiest thing like holding a door open for someone can contribute to the spiritual growth of you and the other person. But do not do things expecting the “proper” reaction from another…we must remember we can’t control what another person thinks, says or does. Our spiritual growth will come from doing what God is asking us to do, not from what the world thinks we should do or how the world reacts to the things we do.

In short, we are blessed to be a blessing…we all have been given something to share…don’t immediately think about money. There are far greater things in life than financial riches…ask God to help you find what you can share with others and…

Do whatever you can

For whoever can

Whenever you can

Wherever you are…

Peace.

Mission Trip Day 8 – The Challenge Is To Take It With You

July 27, 2013 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

This is our last night together. Our group has bonded very well this week. We have laughed together, sang songs of worship, served the homeless in shelters and out on the street directly. We have cried together, shared stories of our encounters with people in need. We have been silly together and have genuinely been shown kindness from several people along the way.

When you make a commitment to step away from your daily grind and focus only on where you are and what you can do to help others it gives you an opportunity to learn so much about yourself and what gifts God has given to you. This Mission trip experience is unique and wonderful and the best way to honor what we have done together is to make the next commitment to use what we have learned in our home community.

This is one of the biggest challenges of faith and one of the many reasons I started this blog in the first place.

The youth in our church are so amazing. They are so much better than me and my friends were at that age. They are kind, generous, enthusiastic and totally filled with the Holy Spirit. I am so impressed with their ability to step up to challenges of faith. I hope we all take this time together and truly change the way we live our lives when we return. It is too easy to slip back into our old habits and fill our schedules with busy time and forget we need to leave time for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you lift up this week we have had together as a reminder to us that we need to continue what you have shown us. I ask that you give us the courage to make a change in how we live our lives. Lord, thank you for the blessings you have placed in us and around us, please guide us to the next challenge of our faith and strengthen us to do your will…I pray all of this in Jesus name, Amen.

Mission Trip Day 7 – Meet A Need

July 26, 2013 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

If you read about or see people working in ministry in some way and wonder “what can I do?”…there are several different types of organizations all over the world that work to help others. Every city has multiple organizations that work towards helping the hungry or homeless or those with addictions or tutoring for students, etc. The key to figuring out what to do is ask God to help you identify or guide you to the gifts/talents he has blessed you with.

We can never forget that God created each and everyone of us with certian gifts and if we are paying attention we can learn what those gifts are and use them to help others in some way. Even if you have never done anything before or you think “well I don’t have anything to offer.” It is just not true because God did provide you gifts to use in this world that will help others and the only way to know exactly what those are is to try new things and see how they fit who you are.

So go ahead…think about the things you enjoying doing and look for an organization that needs volunteers in that speciality.

The most important lessoned I have learned this week is this…..I have been blessed by God and all he needs me to do is go out and try to Meet A Need in our world based on the gifts he gave me!

How great is our God?!

Mission Trip Day 6 – ‘I’ Can Only Help One But ‘We’ Can Help Many

July 25, 2013 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

As we have continued serving this week we have been exploring several themes and bible verses related to our work. Today I find myself thinking about Luke 10 verse 2 in my original MT post that states…

“He told them, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

When an individual works to help another that is good and both the giver and the receiver feel good about things. When more than one person gets involved in helping others the increase in value is exponential. The world can be a difficult place and many people have to get involved in serving others in order for long term or sustainable change to occur. This is not to say that one to one ministry is not good it is good and often needed but in order to move from charity which is good and helpful for the short term to justice which is investing in long term change many “workers” are needed.

I know we have made a difference in the lives of many people both directly and indirectly and I hope and pray that we can bring this momentum back to our home city and find a way to invest in long term help for people in our community…after all that is exactly what our Heavenly Father has asked us to do.

Peace.