Saturday, May 30, 2009

Salt Of The Earth

The recent rains have been a welcomed relief to the dry dusty conditions of the past eight months. My poor yard grass has suffered terribly. One big patch of my side yard has died out completely. The soil there is lacking and it seems all the tap water in the world does it no good. But give it a little nitrogen enriched rain water and what looked totally dead begins growing again. Of course the first thing to sprout is unwanted weeds so it’s dig them, pull them or mow them until the grass gets going again. The lawn mower is a good weed killer and, I’ve been told, it also promotes grass growth. All I know is, the only way to have a nice lawn in South Texas, that doesn’t cost a bundle of money every month, it has to have rain and be properly groomed regularly. One without the other and a yard lawn can look pretty ratty in no time. Anyway, I’m thankful for the rain and continue to pray for more. Getting some exercise pushing the mower is good to.
A recently widowed woman, who never had to pay monthly bills before, was astonished when the banker called and told her she was overdrawn on her account. “How can that be?, she asked. “I still have lots of checks!”
Trial witness: “Well, I think...” Questioning lawyer: “Don’t think! In this courtroom you are to tell what you know, not what you think!” Witness: “Well, I’m not a lawyer, I can’t talk without thinking.”
Growing up I was a very poor student when it came to book learning, and still am in many ways. But, show it to me, put it in my hands, let me do it and I’ll never forget it. Well, needless-to-say, I’m in left field looking at the flowers when it comes to the subject of chemistry. Say, Periodic Table, and I know what that is, but to keep from mixing a lethal cocktail of elements together, I’m not the guy you want around. I know there are some really bad elements out there, one being sodium, Na on the periodic table (I looked it up) and another is chlorine, Cl on the table (I knew that one). Their numbers are 11 & 17 respectively, in case you wanted to know. Anyway, take sodium, in its pure form, drop it in water and you’ve got an explosion. Sodium is always found naturally linked to another element, I guess to keep from blowing up my lawn every time it rains. Chlorine, on the other hand, is a yellow-green stinky gas. Yeh, bleach odor. Chlorine was used in WWI as a weapon. You don’t want to mess with either one of them alone. But, put them together and you have sodium-chloride, ...table salt. Two dangerous and potentially deadly elements, combined, sustain life as we know it. Without salt, foods cannot be preserved, and without salt in our bodies, we cannot survive. It’s beyond me.
[Ephesians 4: 15] “...speaking the truth in love.” The apostle Paul exhorts Christians to speak the truth in love. You see, love and truth can be like sodium and chlorine. Both elements, when separated, can be dangerous. Love without truth has a way of attaching itself to various doctrines, whatever suits it best at the moment. Love without truth compromises where God says: “stand firm”. Love without truth ignores sin and does not confront it. On the other hand, truth without love can be offensive. It can turn people away from the gospel. Truth without love is cold, hard, and often legalistic. Truth without love has very little influence for good. We need to have both truth and love combined to really have something that’s helpful and valuable. Be the salt of the earth.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

You Could hear A Pin Drop

At a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked if the plans of the U.S for Iraq were just an example of “empire building” by the United States. He answered by saying, “Over the years the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those who could not go back home to enjoy what they gave their life for.” At that point you could have heard a pin drop.
There was a conference where a number of international engineers were taking part. During a break, one of the engineers came back into the conference room saying, “Have you heard the latest dumb stunt the American’s have done? They’ve sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What do they intend to do, bomb them?” A Boeing engineer stood up and quietly replied, “Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people at one time. They are nuclear powered and capable of supplying electricity to emergency shore facilities. They have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day. They can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting injured victims to and from their flight deck. We maintain eleven such ships. How many does your country have, and are you willing to send one to Indonesia?” At that point you could have heard a pin drop.
At a large international Naval conference, Admirals from around the globe were attending a cocktail party. A well known U.S. Naval Admiral found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from many countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks when a French Admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, “Why is it that we always have to speak in English at these conferences rather than speaking perhaps, French?” Without hesitation, the U.S. Admiral replied, “Maybe it’s because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans arranged it so you didn’t have to learn to speak German.” At that point you could have heard a pin drop.
[Matthew 25: 31-46] Eternity! Men have attempted to capture the essence of eternity, but their attempts are weak at best and completely inadequate. How long would it take an ant to wear a ten foot deep groove in a steal ball the size of planet Earth? That might be one second in eternity. We’re all going there like it or not, but will you like it, or not? The Bible tells us there is heavenly bliss or eternal torment awaiting us after this life. So, will you for just a moment, image standing before the judgment throne of God as you hear the sentence pronounced, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” At that point, you’ll probably be able to hear a pin drop. Jaws will drop open in unbelief. Then you will understand what Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7: 21-23) Then will you see that your “good deeds” were done with bad intentions of self gratification. Are you studying God’s Word or simply believing what you’re taught by someone. It could mean the difference where you spend eternity.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

I'm Just A Passin' Through

I wonder sometimes if scientists are really accomplishing anything. Or, are they simply dreaming up new ideas and scenarios of possible doom and gloom for our planet and the welfare of man so they have a job. I know many good things come from scientific research, I don’t dispute that. What I don’t understand is why we spend billions of dollars, annually, developing and using, weapons of mass destruction, “for our own protection”, yet continue to ignore the fact that we’re burning oil and coal, commodities with an expiration date, at an unprecedented rate with their replacement energy sources on the back burner with little or no funding. I’ve been watching a TV program about the rebuilding of a small city called Greensburg, Kansas. This city was virtually wiped off the face of the earth by an F5 tornado two years ago. Early on in the planning to rebuild, it was suggested that the city be rebuilt as “green” as possible. In other words, every building would be constructed as “environmentally friendly” as possible. The power source for the city would come from wind driven turbine generators and all municipal buildings would be built to the highest standard of efficiency outlined by the Federal Government. Things like geo-thermal heating and cooling, rain water run-off storage systems, solar panels for electric power and hot water use within each building, and the construction of the buildings itself is radical compared to standard construction. Well anyway, the people of Greenburg are putting out a lot of their own money to see this happen and the progress is slow but steady. What I want to know is why a couple of billion dollars can’t be dumped into this project just to show the world we can become friendlier to the environment without sacrificing comfort. But, what do I know? Maybe it’s better we bury our heads in the sand until the fuel runs out, then get to work on alternative sources of energy, if we’ve got any money or brains to do it with.
A little girl asked her mother, “How did the human race appear?” The mother answered, “God made Adam and Eve, they had children and so all mankind was made.” Two days later, she asked the same question of her father. He told her, “Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved.” The confused girl returned to her mother and questioned, “How is it that you told me the human race was created by God and daddy says we evolved from monkeys?” “Well dear, it’s very simple”, replied the mother. “I told you about my side of the family and you father told you about his.”
[Hebrews 11: 13-16] To do all we can to help protect and take care of what we have is a very noble thing to do. After all, this world doesn’t belong to me. I’m here for just a little while and everything I have is only borrowed. I should take care of it, for one day I’m going to have to give it all back. Like the song says, “This world is not my home; I’m just a passin’ through”. Even so, it seems more and more people are concerned with chlorofluorocarbons than the church of our Lord. Earth Day takes precedence over Sunday, pine trees over praying knees, critters over Christ and dead water over living water. Some treat heaven like Greensburg, a diluted dream or a fanciful fairytale, it can’t happen. Yet the people of Greensburg are making it happen one day at a time. A better country, a heavenly one, is waiting for those who desire living there. We’re all going to be disappointed in this life, but by faith we can enter into a life of bliss, through Christ.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's - Jewels Of Life

To say I was disappointed to hear that no representative of our newly elected executive branch of government was present at the National Day Of Prayer gathering in Washington, D.C. would be an understatement. I really don’t think it’s too much an inconvenience to take a couple of hours once a year to reflect on the great influences our belief in God as a nation has had on the most prosperous country the world has ever known. We have been a super-power in this world through the grace of God, which is waning with the lack of respect and thankfulness the leaders of our country have displayed in the past few decades. It’s sad to witness the very foundation of our existence being removed and destroyed, absolute truth by absolute truth. Once this country is standing on personal relativity for ones self, rather than personal reverence for God the Creator, it will cease to be the jewel it is in God’s plan. My heart is fearful.
It’s Mother’s Day and I pray every son and daughter will take the time to reflect on the influence their mother has had on their life. My mother has passed, but I think of her often, for I have to admit, the love of God and the fear of the Lord I possess today was planted by my mother. She was blind in one eye and could barely see out of the other, yet raised four children and, for a short time, worked outside the home to help support the family. I grew-up in the Episcopalian persuasion, my mother a very devout believer and participant. She never could drive an auto, I was too young, and I did not know at the time, but she counted on me greatly as an escort to Lenten services and other special off Sunday gatherings. We would journey the mile through the cold and the snow, or share the sights, the smells and sounds of spring, all-the-while me not knowing she was really out taking a walk with God. I know that now, because there was something different about her on those trips, quiet and serene. I have no doubt she prayed for her family and especially her children, every day, from their birth, until her departure. I’ve always believed mother’s have a special relationship with God that men will never know. They have a love that can not be broken and a never-ending flow of forgiveness, for she sees greatness in all her children. She is a jewel loved and esteemed by God.
[1 Peter 3: 1-6] Peter speaks here of the wife, but some of it fits also, the mother. The same instruction fits to the winning over of her children to God’s Word. “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” My mother was all that, even as I once tried to talk her into revenge for her sufferings. I pray always, she has received the reward she so desired, the same reward I now seek, the same reward all her children seek, and prayerfully the reward her grand-children, great-grand-children and great-great-grand-children will seek. The reward not found on earth, but waiting in heaven, for those who seek it, never wavering from it, though having to endure the trials and tribulations of this life. The will of God is for everyone to live Godly, with love and forgiveness for one another. “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” (Proverbs 31:30-31)

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Killer Virus

Well, if we didn’t have enough to worry about, now we have an out-of-season flu season to deal with. The worst part of a late flu season is, it will probably rear its ugly head in the normal cold and flu season next winter, with a vengeance. It’s not time to panic, but time to prepare. As usual, no matter how serious any situation is, someone has to make light of it. You know it was said last year before the presidential election, “Obama will get elected when pigs fly!” Didn’t I hear something about “swine flew”? Well anyway, this is a serious situation and it should be taken seriously. I think some are going a little overboard trying to prevent the spread of this illness, but then again, I’m not the one who has to take all the flack in the end if it’s determined that not enough was done to prevent the loss of life. Oh, by the way, you can kill bacteria, but not a virus. The whole reason for cleaning hands and communal surfaces is to create an environment that viruses don’t like to live on. So, now’s the time to get healthy and prepare for what we know is coming in the future. Your defensive strategy has to be correct, to work.
A young boy called the preacher of another congregation to come and pray for his mom who was very sick with the flu. The preacher asked, “Son, shouldn’t you be calling the preacher of your own congregation?” The little boy replied, “Yeah, but we didn’t want to take the chance he might catch what my mother has.”
A company, feeling it was time for a shake-up, hired a new CEO (Chief Executive Officer). This new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers. On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning on a wall. The room was full of workers and the CEO saw his chance to show everyone he meant business. He walked up to the guy and asked, “And how much money do you make a week?” The young man replied, “I average about $200 a week. Why?” The CEO retrieved $200 cash from his wallet, and handed it to the man. In a voice intended for all to hear, the CEO screamed, “Here’s a weeks pay! Now get out, and don’t come back!!” Feeling pretty good about his first firing, he looked around the room and asked, “Someone tell me what that slacker did here.” With a sheepish grin, one of the workers replied, “He’s the pizza delivery guy.”
[Hebrews 4:13] There was a man who wanted to steal some potatoes from his neighbors field. He placed his little boy standing on the hood of his pick-up truck as a lookout. “Is anyone coming from the north?”, he asked. “No”, replied his son. “From the south?” “No.” “From the east?” “No.” “From the west?” “No, daddy.” “Good. I can go ahead and take the potatoes and no one will ever know.” “But there’s one direction we forgot to look”, said the boy. “Which direction is that?”, asked the father. “UP!”, answered the boy. Up, is the direction we usually fail to look. All too often, we’re focused on a horizontal plane, considering only the earthly and immediate concerns of our existence. Spiritual death, is a real and serious thing to consider. Sin, is disobedience to God and His will for our life. The wages of sin is spiritual death. (Romans 6:23) Temptation is like a virus. If we live in an environment where sin loves to live, we will sin. But, if we keep our environment clean and healthy where sin does not like to be, it will be hard to find sin in ones life. (James 1: 12-18) We all sin and fall short, but the right defensive strategy will save us in the end. Are you preparing for the judgment day?