Sunday, April 26, 2009

Too Far Removed?

I’ve always said that Washington is so far distanced from the real world that our leaders don’t have any idea what it’s really like to labor day after day. I, for one, am happy to see the sleeping giant (the silent majority) hosting “tea parties” all around the country, reminding our elected officials they work for us, not the other way around. I’m happy to see that common sense, honesty and integrity still reign, and have the power to expose corruption. Will we ever learn that the one with the most, is not the winner?
A rancher named Bud was overseeing his herd on a remote hillside pasture in Texas when suddenly a brand-new BMW coming down the road, with a large rolling cloud of dust trailing, stopped at where Bud was standing. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the rancher, “If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?” Bud looks at the man, an obvious yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, “Sure, why not?” The young man gets out of his car, whips out his Dell Notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone and surfs to a NASA page on the internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location, which he feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry, and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report, on his hi-tech miniaturized HP LaserJet printer. He turns to the rancher and says’ “You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.” “That’s right!, says Bud. “Well, I guess you can take one of my calves”. He watches the young man select one of the animals, and looks on with amusement as he stuffs the poor thing in the trunk of his car. Then Bud says to the young man, “Hey! If I can tell you exactly what your line of business is, will you give me back my calf?” The young man thinks about it for a moment, then says, “Sure, why not?” “You’re a Congressman for the U.S. Government”, says Bud with confidence. “WOW!”, says the yuppie, “But how did you guess that?” “No guessing required”, answered Bud. “You showed up here uninvited, wanting to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are, and don’t know a thing about cows. This is a herd of sheep! Now give me back my dog!!
[Proverbs 10:27-11:31] Has the “me” syndrome distanced you so far from God you’ve forgotten that one day you’ll stand before Him? I believe there isn’t a person alive that doesn’t believe in a supreme being, a creator. If there is, I want to see their reaction in a life or death situation. Anyway, most folks want to serve God, but only as advisors, unfortunately. I wish I could say the right things to convince people that God’s way of love, is the only way. Is it wrong to have things? No! Is it wrong to be greedy? Yes! Is it wrong to ignore the needs of others? YES!! Love doesn’t do these things! (1 Cor. 13: 4-8a) Love provokes pleasure in most people. Well, God is love. (1 John 4: 7-21)

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Not Without Help

It takes a very special sort of person to plant seed in the midst of a drought. However, over the past few weeks that’s exactly what a lot of farmers and ranchers in South Texas have done, not knowing if rain was on its way or not. For the past few days we’ve had a couple of drizzles, nothing to write home about, but this morning we awoke to thunder and pouring down rain. It’s been a long time since that’s happened and as it is a faith builder, it’s by no means a drought breaker. Most are praying right now that this is the beginning of a good thing, and the rains, that have eluded our part of the country for nearly two years, will return, blessing the land once again with life and prosperity.
In a Bible class of three-year-olds, the teacher asked, “And who was Matthew?” There was no answer. She then asked, “Well then, who was John? Certainly you remember him.” Still no answer. “Now children, you’re letting me down”, prodded the teacher, “surely someone knows who Peter was. Don’t be shy, speak up.” A soft quivering voice came from the rear of the room, “I fink he wuz a wabbit.”
The following is a poem by Ruby Leonard, a member of our congregation. It is entitled, Beautiful Feet. Beautiful are the feet, that carry God’s word; A message more precious, than this world ever heard. None of the greatest monuments, of any mans’ endeavor; Can compare with the word of God, whose message will last forever. The seeds that we are planting, deep in the hearts of men; Will yield the greatest treasure, when told and told again. The fields are white for reaping, so gather while we can; Keep working while the sun shines bright, across this fertile land. With joy we continue our labor, our feet happy as we go; Praising God with songs and hymns, He protects from the strongest foe. Let’s take the message everywhere, wherever we may roam; Until our work on earth is finished, and Jesus calls us home. Thank-You, Ruby.
[1 Corinthians 3: 1-17] A well-known author displays a photograph in his office so he can see it daily. The framed picture is quite simple. It is of a turtle sitting atop a fencepost. Although not be obvious to most, the author valued the photo because it reminded him of a lesson he learned long ago: “If you see a turtle on a fencepost, you know he had some help.” A turtle simply does not have the physical ability to scale a fencepost, coming to rest atop it, all by himself. It is equally impossible for man to get into heaven without help. It took men like Peter and Paul, Timothy and Titus, along with the rest of those chosen by Jesus, to travel about the known world of the first century planting the seed, the Word of God (Luke 8:11), into the hearts of men. Today, it still takes a very special sort of person to continually plant that seed and nurture it, not knowing if it will ever grow. But, with God’s help, it does. Any farmer will tell you, preparing the ground and planting the seed doesn’t produce a crop. The seed must be watered and protected from damaging weeds and bugs. Yet the farmer will readily admit, it is God who produces the growth. So it is with the Word of God. Preachers, teachers and evangelists are constantly planting and watering, but without God there can be no growth. Eternal life can only come through the Word of God, Jesus. (John 1: 1-14) I can have the seed planted in my heart and have others teach me of God, but if I do not live God’s will, my spirit will not grow to maturity. I thank God for men like Vurel Vick.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Who Will Take The Son?

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. Their collection included works of Picasso and Raphael. The two would often sit together and admire the great works of art. The son was called to defend the honor of his country and went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. About a month later there was a knock on the father’s door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I’m the soldier whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day. He was carrying me when a bullet struck him in the heart, killing him instantly. Your son often talked about you and your mutual love for art.” The young man held out his package, “I know this isn’t much, I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.” The father opened the package to find a portrait of his son. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. With tears in his eyes, he thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the painting. “Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me”, insisted the young man, “it’s a gift.” The father cherished the gift the rest of his life. The portrait of his son was the first painting he showed to visitors before any other of his collection. After the man’s death there was to be a great auction of his art collection. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having the opportunity to purchase one for their collection. The first painting offered was that of his son. The auctioneer ask for a bid. There was silence. Someone shouted from the back of the room, “We want to see the famous paintings! Skip this one!!” But the auctioneer persisted, “Who will start the bidding? $100; $200?” Another angry voice came forth, “We didn’t come to see this simple painting! We came to see the Van Gogh’s and the Rembrandt’s! Get on with the real auction!” The auctioneer continued, “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?” Finally a voice came from the back corner of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son, “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, that was all he could afford. “We have $10”, cried the auctioneer, “who’ll give $20?” “Give it to him for $10, let us see the masters”, came a plea from the crowd. “Won’t someone bid $20?” The crowd became angry. They wanted more worthy investments, not the son. “Going once, going twice, SOLD!, for $10.” A man in the front row said, “Now let’s get on with the auction!” “Sorry”, said the auctioneer as he laid his gavel down, “the auction is over.” “What about the paintings?” insisted the collectors. The auctioneer explained, “When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. Only the painting of the son was to be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The one who takes the son, gets everything.”
[John 3:16-21] To inherit a home in heaven, one must become a child of God. The proceedings for adoption into God’s family are: Hear The Gospel; Believe The Gospel; Repent Of Your Sinful Ways; Confess Jesus As The Son Of The Living God; Be Baptized For The Forgiveness Of Your Sins; And Continue To Live In Faith Until Death. Eternal life is found in Jesus. “The Son! The Son! Who will take the SON”?

Sunday, April 05, 2009

It's Only The Devil

Have you ever had “one of those days”? How about “one of those weeks”? I know that’s a dumb question, because unless you live under a rock, you’ve experienced having everything going wrong in life all at once. It seems, when mechanical things want to break down, they all want to break down together. When illnesses come around none of us is exempt from sharing in the misery. Nor can any of us avoid the mind-boggling exploits of a computer problem. I was so there last week. I have upgraded all my work computers to accommodate some new programs and somewhere along the line, the newest of the computers decided it didn’t like what I was doing and refused to function. I had already cataloged a lot of material using the new program when the silly thing froze up. To make a long story short, a major file on the operating program was lost and by the time the computer was functioning again, all my previous work had been lost. My overconfidence in myself failed to remember that the computer is mechanical and for the first time in a long time, I had failed to back-up my work. However, what I want to tell you is this. Even though I’ve had “one of those weeks”, I haven’t really beat myself up for my stupid mistake, nor have I gotten overly excited, ragging bull angry, about the situation. I found someone to help me with the problem and I’m back on track again, lesson learned. In fact, I feel good about my reaction to this test of life. I guess maybe I’m still not too old to learn. I gave it all to the Lord and he found a way to bail me out.
A sergeant in charge of new recruits at the firing range ordered, “Men, when I blow the whistle, I want you to shoot at will.” One of the young men jumped up and began running across the field as fast as he could. “Who is that and where is he going?”, barked the sergeant. A young recruit volunteered, “That’s my friend Will, sir!”
Scientists have long recognized that bees are intelligent creatures. Many believe that this intelligence is the product of millions of years of natural selection. But the extremely fast learning ability of the bees puts in doubt the millions of years and instead shows the hand of the Creator. Researchers at Princeton University decided to find out if bees were smart enough to find their food source if it was moved. The researchers moved the bees prime food source fifty meters farther from the hive. In less than a minute the bees found it. They moved the food source another fifty meters away and again the bees found it in less than a minute. The researchers repeated the exact fifty meter move three more times documenting the same results. But, during the next fifty meter move they found that the bees had discovered the pattern of movement and were already waiting at the new location! No matter the problem, God is there to help.
[1 Peter 5: 6-9] Lately I’ve discovered the true meaning of, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) When things seem to be going awry I’ve discovered that, no matter how far away I’ve moved from the sinful world with study of God’s word and repentance of my lifestyle, the devil always finds me and tries me again. But, that’s okay. I’m now trying my best to recognize the evil one as soon as he shows up. I tell myself and others, “It’s only the devil trying to tear things up, again.” Peter says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Resist evil, and live.