Saturday, December 25, 2010

2011 Resolute

I got called an “Old Timer” the other day and I almost took offence to it, but then a funny thing happened – wisdom kicked in. Hey, an old timer is one who remembers when people aimed to get to heaven instead of the moon. In the old days, when I was growing up, the dirtiest four-letter word I ever heard was - WORK. I’m not there yet, but I’ve been told the difference between the old and the young – The old forget and the young don’t know. Well, I’m not burnt out yet and I’m not about to give up my old timey ways for the sake of being politically correct or socially tolerant. In fact I’m going to work harder at pleasing God in 2011 and becoming wiser for the future.
We are blessed to have reached this point in life. Having survived another year we need to concentrate on making the most of the one before us. * Live for the day and those yet to come. Like Paul, “…forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Too much of life is wasted looking back, regretting failures, mistakes and lost opportunities. Such accomplishes nothing and it robs us of the time and energy to be productive in the days we do have. * Resolve to set your house in order, beginning today. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life. Make the most of it you can. From now on, put first things first (Matthew 6:33). * Remember your Creator (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). Demonstrate that love by seeking His will for your life. Search the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11) and make every effort to obey them to the best of your abilities (Matthew 7:21). * If you have not already, commit your life to Christ. Enlist in His sacred cause. Proudly take the name Christian and make His church a vital part of your daily life. Give it precedence over social clubs, sports and recreation. While these may have some merit, none compare with Christ’s church. When the time come to leave earth’s realm it is to the church you will look to close the final chapter of your life and commend your soul to God. * Do all the good you can to all the folks you can. At best we have only a few years left. Resolve to use every day to serve your fellow man. Jesus said “…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). Good, done in the name of Christ, is treasure laid up in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). * Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), thanking God for the blessings you have enjoyed and must have to survive even one day. * Tell everyone you know about the marvelous Savior who has so enriched your life. Share the joy you have found in Christ. Urge them to, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him” (Psalm 34:8). * Live in peace with God and man, relishing every hour, joyfully awaiting the day when He will call you home (2 Peter 11-14). Life boils down to this: “…Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. "For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 24:37-40). When it comes to serving each other physically and spiritually, “All we have to give - is - all we have to give.” Are you willing to give up your selfish social status for the comforts of heavenly wisdom?

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Peace

It’s that time of the year when emotions can run amok triggered by all the things one would like to accomplish with perfection in mind. Holiday decorating, gift buying, meal preparations and arranging accommodations for visiting out-of-town guests is enough to weigh anybody down to a point of short circuiting and blowing a fuse. I’ve seen it happen more than once in my life only to realize that no matter how perfect one thinks things are going, somebody gets their feelings hurt because your perfection doesn’t fit their mold. All I can say is, do it your way. If things don’t work out find a way to get the biggest complainer to do all the work next year, that’ll learn ‘em. In all seriousness, I hope your plans are all coming together for this holiday season and you enjoy a very merry Christmas and the beginning of a great new year. And as I always try to remind the world, don’t forget the reason for the season. The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, bringing the message of peace and saving grace from our Father in heaven. Jesus is the name above all names. He is peace.
A beautiful young girl walked up to the counter in a department store. “I want to buy this fabric for a new dress I’m making as a gift to a friend. How much will it cost?” “Only one kiss per yard” replied the smirking young clerk. “That’s fine” said the girl. “I’ll take ten yards.” With expectation and anticipation all over his face the clerk quickly measured out and cut the cloth. As he held out the package to the girl expecting payment, the girl snapped up the package and pointed to a little old man standing near her and said to the clerk, “Grandpa is paying the bill today.”
In a Christian school, the teacher of a second grade class was attempting to get the students to memorize the names of the twelve sons of Jacob before Christmas break. Bobby came to the front of the room to recite his memory, “Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin… Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.”
A burglar broke into a house to steal Christmas. He shined his flashlight around looking for valuables. Then a voice in the dark said, “Jesus knows you’re here.” He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his light off and froze. He heard nothing so continued. As he pulled out the stereo to disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, “Jesus is watching you.” Freaking out he shined his light around looking for the source of the voice. The light rested on a parrot in the corner of the room. “Did you say that?” he hissed at the parrot. “Yup” said he parrot. “I’m just trying to warn you, Jesus is watching you.” The burglar relaxed. “Warn me huh? Who do you think you are?” “Moses”, said the parrot. “Moses” laughed the burglar. “Who names a parrot Moses?” The parrot smugly replied, “The same people that named their Rottweiler, Jesus.”
[Matthew 1: 18-25] Have you ever thought about the tongue wagging that went on concerning Joseph? The Bible says he was a righteous man and Mary was pledged to be married to him. Joseph was most likely planning for marriage, saving some money, having dinner at her parent’s house and getting to know his future wife as they visited and talked about the future. To his surprise, and everyone else’s, Mary is with child. An angel explained everything to Joseph, which he accepted, and took Mary into his home as his wife. As obedient to the Lord as Joseph was, still, think of the ridicule he endured about his first born. Life isn’t always as we dreamed, but God is always peace.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Twenty-five Years

As I have recently written about time seeming to sprout wings as life progresses, I discover twenty-five years has passed since my wife, Paula, and I said, “I does”. I had been dragging my feet for over a year and marriage really wasn’t on the top of my to-do list. One day she approached me with the idea and after washing my hands and combing my hair, she made me change my shirt too, we went to the courthouse where a judge pronounced us husband and wife. A lot of water has gone under, and over, the bridge since then and as a lot of men can attest to about a loving, faithful wife, without her in my life I probably wouldn’t be worth spitting on. I didn’t make it easy for her to domesticate me, she almost gave up once, but I think she’s done a pretty good job of bringing me to my senses and raising me up out of the pig slop. I don’t know if we have another twenty-five years in us, but I do pray we will share life until death do we part. We were two ships passing in the storm who just can’t navigate alone anymore.
After a few years of wedded bliss you get to know your spouse fairly well. An old story has been told about Jake who drove over to the next county to buy a bull for the farm. It cost more than expected and he was left with only one dollar. Since he needed to let his wife know she could come and get the bull with the truck and telegrams cost a dollar a word, he thought for a while then said, “Go ahead and make it just this one word – comfortable.” “How’s that going to get your point across?” asked the clerk. “Don’t worry”, said Jake. “She’s not the greatest reader. She’ll say it real slow.”
A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Their domestic tranquility had long been the talk of the town. A local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage. “Well, it dates back to our honeymoon”, explained the man. “We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom of the canyon by pack mule. We hadn’t gone too far when my wife’s mule stumbled. She quietly said, “That’s once”. We proceeded a little farther when the mule stumbled again. Once more my wife quietly said, “That’s twice”. We hadn’t gone a half a mile when the mule stumbled a third time. My wife promptly removed a revolver from her purse and shot the mule dead. I started to protest over her treatment of the mule when she looked at me and quietly said, “That’s once”’.
Bill: “Where you going on vacation?” Bob: “Yellowstone National Park.” Bill: “Don’t forget Old Faithful.” Bob: “Oh, I wouldn’t leave home without her.”
[Proverbs 18: 22] “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” Troubles in marriage often start when a man gets so busy earning his salt he forgets his sugar… Too many couples marry for better or worse, but not for good… When a man marries woman, they become one. The trouble starts when they try to decide which one! Remember, just because many couples “harp at each other” doesn’t mean that their marriage is made in heaven. (House to House / Heart to Heart) “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22) “A foolish son is a father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping. Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 19: 13-14) My wife is a gift from the Lord I do not deserve, no doubt. The Spirit has written of her and countless like her. (Proverbs 31: 10-31) Praise God!

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Taking Out The Trash

I grew up in a small town in Yankee-land where we had all the services of treated water, sewage and garbage pick-up. But I can also remember visiting some friends and grandparents who lived in the country where things were very different. Well water varied from place to place. Some tasted good, some bad; some kind of red, some kind of black and some just plain stunk so bad you just didn’t want to use it at all. Sewage, of course, was always a septic system, not always in the best of condition. Then there was the household trash pit. As a young boy taking the trash to the pit was an adventure. Everything under the sun had been thrown in a pile for years allowing Mother Nature to tend to the recycling process at her own rate of speed and time. Tin cans by the hundreds, bottles of every shape and size, furniture and bed springs, old appliances, an ash pit for the coal burning house furnace, worn out bicycles, tires, a rusted out car or two and sometimes a wrecked vehicle which came with a story on how it got in that shape. We purchase, use, then throw it away without giving it a second thought. We are consumers and that’s what we do best, consume things. It’s still a chore that has to be done regularly, putting out the trash. It all gets hauled off to a trash pit somewhere out of sight, out of mind. Mother Nature still does her thing.
The Sunday school teacher asked Jimmie why he was late. “I was gonna go fishing, but daddy wouldn’t let me”, Jimmie replied “You have a wise father”, said the teacher. “Did he explain why you shouldn’t go fishing today?” “Sure” said Jimmie. “My dad said there wasn’t enough bait for both of us to go fishing.”
A man took his three-year-old daughter to the home improvement store. She quickly became tired of walking, so he let her ride on his shoulders. Soon after he began carrying her she started pulling on his hair. Although he asked her kindly, several times, to cease pulling his hair, she kept on. Getting annoyed, he began to severely scold her. “But daddy” she whimpered, “I’m trying to get my bubblegum back!”
[Ephesians 4: 17-32; Colossians 3: 1-9; James 1: 19-21; 1 Peter 2: 1] A consumer is generally considered to be the “end user”. Of course this involves a lot more than eating a bologna sandwich and drinking a soda. Our stomach is probably the least to receive what we consume. Our eyes and ears consume the most of what we use in this life, and unfortunately, that can tend to make our brain a sizeable trash pit. It’s the end of the year and most everyone is examining their life, making a note on the things they would like to change, making resolutions (promises) to ones self. May I suggest it’s time to take out the trash? Paul, James and Peter have made some great statements on what you must do to clean up your trash pit. Jesus teaches about taking out the trash. (Luke 11: 24-26) The trouble is, if you don’t put something back in its place you may end up with a bigger trash pit than before. So, the wisdom of the Spirit has also led the Apostles to tell us what we must replace our trash with. (Ephesians 5: 1-21; Colossians 3: 10-17; James 1: 22-25; 2 Peter 1: 3-8) Can you clean up your trash pit? Yes you can, with God’s help. Trust in the Lord to make all things right and it will happen. Don’t like some of the things in your life? Pray about them and work on change. God loves you, so much he gave us his one and only Son, sacrificed for the atonement of the sins of the world. God is willing to work on your trash pit with you today. Pray about it.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

PUSH

Well, here we are, nearing the end of another year. And if anyone in the generations behind me want to know if the rumor about the years whizzing by the older you get is true or not, I’ll witness to that, and affirm the rumor is true. The problem with the years slipping by faster and faster is how I critique my time. I used to look at my day to warrant success or disappointment in how I spent my time. That slipped into weeks, then months, then seasons and now years. Life seems to get so busy and we fill every waking hour causing the days to rush by in a blur. I think my best days, weeks, months, seasons and or years is when I’m learning and applying something new. Maybe that’s why time sort of runs slow when you’re young, there’s so much to learn. Well, I’ve got to confess this past year has flown by like a jet, which apparently indicates that I’m in a rut. Illness has sort of finished off this year on a sour note and as I think about it, maybe it’s my lackluster that’s brought about some of it. Oh well, onward and upward.
A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that he was to push against the rock with all his might. So, this the man did, day after day. For many years the man toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin, tired and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan), decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind of the man. “You’ve been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn’t moved.” Thus he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man. Satan said, “Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, give just a minimal effort and that will be good enough.” That’s what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord”, he started, “I’ve labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time I have not budged that rock. What is wrong? Why am I failing?” The Lord responded, “My friend, when I asked you to serve me, and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention I expected you to move it. Now you come to me, strength spent, thinking you have failed. Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back is strong, your hands are callused, and your legs are massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven’t moved the rock, but your calling was to be obedient, and to push, and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. That, you have done. Now, I, my friend, will move the rock.”
[James 5: 13-20] When everything seems to go wrong; when the job gets you down; when others don’t react the way you think they should; when there’s too much month at the end of the money; when people just don’t understand you; PUSH!! – Pray Until Something Happens! Be obedient in all things, and God will remove the mountains.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Future Leaders

I’ll certainly be happy when all this doctor stuff is over with. Have you ever had a period in your life you wish would just go away? I bet you have and although I’ve had them before I’ve never experienced a period of numerous physical problems all at one time. Well, it looks as though things are coming to a crescendo with appointments abound to deliver (prayerfully) favorable results of all the testing I’ve been going through. One result has already made me more comfortable with the biopsies of my vocal cords clear of any cancer. Healing is progressing and only time will tell how much voice I’ll regain this go around. While I’ve been set back on my heels and humbled by age, I’ve naturally been reviewing my life and looking to the future as to what I would like the rest of my life to produce. I’ve been here before and will probably visit these thoughts again, but I think it’s good for the health of the soul.
I read an article recently about the future by Bob Harrison and I would like to share it with you.
[Isaiah 11: 1-9] “…and a little child will lead them.” (v.6) Abraham Lincoln has been considered by many to be one of our best presidents. One of the reasons I like Lincoln so much is because he is a brother in Christ who was baptized by one of the restoration leaders before he was elected as president. Also, his humor and wit still inspires people today, as he also inspired the nation at its worse during the Civil War. The following is a quote of Abraham Lincoln that we ought to seriously think about: “A child is a person who is going to carry on what you have started. He is going to sit where you are sitting, and when you are gone, attend to those things which you think are important. You may adopt all the policies you please, but how they are carried out depends on him. He will assume control of your cities, states and nations. He is going to move in and take over your churches, schools, universities and corporations. All your books are going to be judged, praised, or condemned by him. The fate of humanity is in his hands.” Isaiah was prophesying about the coming of Christ in the flesh and that His kingdom would bring peace and knowledge of the Lord. When the Lord came, it would be like a little child leading them, something that would seem out of place in the mind of worldly leaders and thinkers. When the Lord came the world would experience what it had never experienced before and “…the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (v.9) As Abraham Lincoln was saying, a child will carry on what we have started. The next generation takes its cue from us. What are they seeing in us? What is our life about? What is important to us? Are we following the footsteps of the Lord who came down from heaven to leave us an example? (1 Peter 2:21) Where are we leading the children who are watching us? When Jesus came, He blessed the little children, praying for them, and said this is what the kingdom of heaven should look like. (Matt. 19:13-15) Jesus said we are to humble ourselves as a child if we want to be great in His kingdom. (Matt. 18:2-4) Where are we leading the children? Are we leading them to Jesus? Are we eager, like children, to follow Jesus? Do we realize how much our lives depend on Jesus like a child depends on a parent? Remember, a child will take your place one day and be like you and do what you have done. What future are we leaving our children? Teach by example.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Unpleasant Goodness

Sometimes we have to endure unpleasant things to reap good benefits. If I got you started you could probably think of a million ways to apply this thought. For example, to enjoy a good meal, one has to shop for its properties and then prepare them for consumption in a way that tastes wonderfully good and is healthy for the body. YUM! How about painting a house or mowing the lawn or even putting out the trash? All are somewhat unpleasant things to do, but the rewards outweigh the discomfort of having to get it done. Probably the “biggy” of all uncomfortable things to do is to submit the body to surgery, hoping to reap good benefits from it. It’s one of those things we entrust to someone else and have no control over during the procedure. I’d love to help to ensure that it got done right, but surgeons are funny about that, in that they don’t need my input, so they put me to sleep. It’s probably best for both of us. I do, however, spend much time in prayer before I enter into uncontrollable situations in my life, and that includes every morning before I enter the world another day. My most sincere prayer is for God to grant me the ability to accept the outcome of those uncontrollable situations. If I were to come out of surgery no longer able to speak, or never able to sing again, will I still praise God? God didn’t change nor did His love for me change. I pray that my love and need for God will grow in His strength when I am weak. I also praise my God and give thanks for His love and strength, not only for the things He does for me, but all the good things He will do for me the rest of my life. Today I praise God for answered prayer. No cancer found in my vocal cords this go-around. The surgery has left me uncomfortable, but this will pass with healing. I still have a voice! Thank-You for your prayers and continue to pray I will remain in God’s love.
A college student challenged a senior citizen, saying it was impossible for their generation to understand his. “You grew up in a different world”, the student said. “Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear energy, computers…” Taking advantage of a pause in the student’s litany, the old geezer said, “You’re right. We didn’t have those things when we were young, so we invented them! Just what is it that you are doing to better the lives of the next generation?”
It’s bedtime and a little girl is saying her prayers: “God bless Mommy and Daddy and me. And please make Madrid the capital of Australia.” Her mother who was with her asks why she wants Madrid to be the capital of Australia. The little girl replied, “Because that’s what I put for an answer on my geography test today.”
[Job, Chapters 1&2] It seems everyone’s advice for anyone who is suffering in life is to read the book of Job. Their thought is, if you read about the troubles of Job, which will over shadow any problem you might have, you’ll feel better. It never worked for me. But, if one were to read about Job to discover how God really cares for his children, now that’s comforting. God is still in control no matter what is happening in my life. God is always watching over me and will never allow anything to enter my life that I can’t handle, with his help. My faith grows knowing that without God there would be nothing, but with God, all things are possible. When I have troubles, God is not punishing me, my faith is being tested. As Job says: I came with nothing; I’ll leave with nothing. The lord gives; The Lord takes away. Praise the name of our Lord.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Is It Too Much To Ask?

I truly hope you took time to vote in the general election this year. As a wise man told me a long time ago, “You’ve got no right to complain if you don’t take the time to exercise your right to vote.” If a citizen isn’t involved in the process of electing those who represent them and their interests in government, then they have no room to squawk. And, in my opinion, the reason we have selfish representation in our state and federal governments is the total lack of election poll attendance. Complain all you want, but the only way to change the status-quo is through you, and your vote.
Wouldn’t it have been nice if we could have voted on the “Congressional Reform Act of 2010”? You haven’t heard of it? Let me brief you. (Tongue in cheek) (1) Term Limits: 12 years only, for any one person. For example: A. Two six year Senate terms. B. Six two year House terms. C. One six year Senate term and three two tear House terms. Twelve years total, and you’re out for life! (2) No Tenure/No Pension… A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when out of office. (3) Congress (past, present and future) shall participate in the Social Security Program or Congressmen can purchase their own retirement plan, just like all Americans do. (4)Congress will no longer have the power to vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional raises will reflect cost of living raises the same as all other government recipients’. (5) Congress must participate in the same health care system as the American public. (6) Congress will equally abide in all laws they have and will impose on the American people they represent. Is this too much to ask for? I don’t think so.
[Colossians 3: 1 - 4: 1] Is God asking too much of the Christian for righteous living? If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two, if he came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do. Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honored guest; that serving Him in your home would be joy beyond compare! But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door, with your arm outstretched in welcome to your Heavenly Visitor? Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in, or hide some magazines and place the Bible where they’d been? Would you turn off the radio and hoped He hadn’t heard and wished you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, hasty word? Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out? Could you let Jesus right in, or would you rush about? And I wonder, if the Savior spent a day or two with you, would you go right on doing the things you always do? Would you keep right on saying the things you always say, would life for you continue as it does from day to day? Would your family conversations keep up there usual pace? Would you find hard each meal to say a table grace? Would you sing the songs you always sing or read the books you always read, and let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed? Would you take Jesus every place you had planned to go, or would you maybe change your plans for just a day or so? Would you be glad for Him to meet your very closest friends, or would you hope they’d stayed away until His visit ends? Would you be glad for Him to stay forever on and on, or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone? It would be interesting to know the things you would do, if Jesus came in person to spend the holidays with you. (Luke 19: 1-10) Are you like Zacchaeus, wanting to see Jesus? He repented his worldly ways for salvation.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Babel

I’m never sick except for an occasional chest cold, maybe once a year, so to be as ill as I was is a new experience for me. The phrase for “I totally don’t get it” is generally considered to be, “It’s all Greek to me”, but when it comes to medical nomenclature I’ve got to stick with, “It’s all Latin to me”. The named diagnosis, the procedures to get to the diagnosis and the medicine to treat the unpronounceable illness can have one scratching his head wishing someone would simply write it down in plain English to be understood. Like other professionals, the medical field has its buck and a quarter words that only they use, but in the end what matters is that their work brought about a healing of which I’m grateful. I do have to say, everyone I encountered, be it at our little hospital or at the medical institute, had a compassionate attitude and went out of their way to be of service to all their patients. I can’t say I would want to repeat the experience right away, but my attitude toward the profession is more trusting today.
When it comes to words and language, I don’t guess there’s any more confusing than English. In the publication, “Hints on Pronunciation for Foreigners” by T.S.W., there appears this little poem: I take it you already know of tough and bough and cough and dough. Others may stumble, but not you, on hiccough, thorough, lough, and through. Well done! And now you wish, perhaps, to learn of less familiar traps? Beware of heard, a dreadful word that looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead: it’s said like bed, not bead – for goodness sake don’t call it “deed”! Watch out for meat and great and threat. (They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.) A moth is not a moth in mother; Nor both in bother, or broth in brother. And hear is not a match for there nor dear and fear for bear and pear. And then there’s dose and rose and lose – just look them up – and goose and choose. And cork and card and ward, and font and word and sword, and do and go and thwart and cart. Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start! A dreadful language? Man alive! I’d mastered it when I was five. (I’m still working on it)
An old man was having a discussion with his new doctor. “I’ve sure gotten old! I’ve had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, and new knees; fought prostrate cancer and diabetes. I’m half blind, can’t hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take forty different medications that make me dizzy, winded and subject to blackouts. I have bouts with dementia, have poor circulation and can hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. I can’t remember if I’m 85 or 92 and I’ve lost all my friends. But, I’m thankful for one thing – I’ve still got my drivers license.”
[Genesis 11: 1-9] Mankind has almost come full circle. A universal language is permeating business and commerce throughout the world and it must be learned to compete. Man is seeking total reliance on himself thus attempting to build a world without God. Mankind is forever seeking self gratification, to make a name for his-self, not acknowledging the Creator, without whom we would have nothing. Science is the discovery of the wonders of our great and awesome God, yet man strives to put God in a box and prove he is smarter than God. Ain’t gonna happen! Search for the edge of the universe and look for the smallest particle all you want, you’re not going to find it. God will continue to baffle man, attempting to reconcile a broken relationship. Those who seek God first find love and a less competitive world in any language. Understandable?

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Feeling Better or Bitter?

“Gloom, despair and agony on me; Deep dark depression, excessive misery; If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all; Gloom, despair and agony on me!” HeeHaw! I haven’t been much good for anything the past month with illness keeping me sitting on the porch feeling sorry for myself. The high-powered medicine I had taken to cure one disability opened the door for another type of bacteria to attack my body, which sent me into a tailspin for another week. It’s terrible to not have the energy to get out of bed when a person like me is used to running nearly eighteen hours a day. Today I’m very much on the road to recovery and hope to be up to full speed by the beginning of the new work week. Oh, by the way, as if I don’t have enough on my plate already, I had my regular vocal cord check-up the other day and it looks like more surgery. The right cord is showing some potential bad cell growth again and to stay on top of things another biopsy and surface cleaning is needed. The voice I keep trying to preserve is slowly being whittled away, but then again I always did talk too much, generally saying the wrong things at the right time. November 2nd is the date.
You know you are getting “Marvelously Mature” when… You try to straighten a wrinkle in your sock only to discover you’re not wearing socks; At breakfast you snap, crackle and pop but you’re not eating cereal; It takes two tries to get up from the couch; When you’re memory is shorter and you’re complaining lasts longer; It takes twice as long to look half as good; People think you have more patience, but it’s actually that you just don’t care anymore; You find you finally gotten your head together and your body starts falling apart; You wonder how you can be over the hill when you can’t remember be on top of it; You wake up looking like your driver’s license; and, All you want for your birthday is to not be reminded of how old you are.
Illness and disabilities which limit the movement of a person, as I’ve rediscovered lately, has a humbling effect on the soul, and/or a rattling effect on the mind. Case in point, the recent rescue of the miners in Chile. The youngest miner at age 18 was very disturbed and at times unruly while trapped underground. I can’t imagine the mind bending thoughts that ran through those men, but cooler heads prevailed and all but one survived. On the other end, the oldest miner, I don’t recall his age, stepped out of the rescue “cage”, and fell to his knees in a prayer of thanksgiving to God. Just an observation I made and the thought that the trials of life are humbling to the soul.
[Hebrews 3: 7-19] An old and wise preacher used to say, “Trials will do one of two things in your life: they will either make you better or they will make you bitter!” Two men, famous in English literature, were both lame. Lord Byron was embittered by his handicap. He brooded on it and allowed it to drive him to anger against God and rebellion against society. Sir Walter Scott, on the other hand, never complained or spoke a bitter word about his disability. His writings are touched with optimism and a largeness of soul which were a reflection of the man. In the circumstances, it is not surprising that Byron had written a letter to Scott in which he said, “I would give my fame to have your happiness”. During my short illness Satan has injected doubt and bitterness and a little “why me?” challenging my faith and beliefs. Life is fragile unto death and the spirit is forever. Where do I want to spend eternity? With my creator.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Twinkies and Root Beer

Every time I’m called on to do something for someone else I can’t help getting the feeling, “I don’t have time for this right now”. Yet it seems when I get past that selfish feeling, helping someone else in their time of need always works out for the best with plenty of time to spare. The older I get the more time I find for others and the happier I seem to be with my everyday schedule of things. If you’re feeling down and lost as what to do in life, try helping someone else. I don’t mean dictate to and change someone else’s life according to your thinking, because that will only produce another messed-up you. No, just simply help someone successfully negotiate their day on their terms. It’s amazing what a body can learn by living someone else’s life for a few hours.
"The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all." Leo Rosten
More than half a century ago, a Johns Hopkins professor gave a group of graduate students an assignment. They were to go to the slums and find 200 boys, aged 12 to 16, investigate their background and environment, and predict their chances for the future. After their interviews, the researchers concluded that 90 percent would spend time in jail. Twenty-five years later, another group of graduate students went back to test the prediction. They found that some of the boys, now men, were still there. A few had died and some had moved away, but the researchers were able to locate 180 of the original 200. They found that only four had ever been in jail! Why? The answer came: “Well, there was this teacher…” In three-fourths of the cases, it was the same woman. The researchers found her in a home for retired teachers and asked her how she had exerted such remarkable influence over a group of slum children. Her only answer was, “I loved those boys.”
[Luke 10: 25-34] A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and started his journey. When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park feeding some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie. The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at the boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon, eating and smiling, but never saying a word. As the shadows grew long the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave. Before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man and gave him a big hug. The man gave him the biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door to his house, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?” He replied, “I had lunch with God.” Before his mother could respond he added, “Ya know what? God’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!” Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and asked, “Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?” He replied, “I ate Twinkies with God in the park. You know, he’s a lot younger than I expected.” Peace.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Are You A Good Coach?

As much as I dislike going to doctors, I guess it’s time I admit if I’m going to live any longer I need to put my trust in a good general practitioner. It happened to me again last week, that denial that something is going wrong in the body and it needs an attentive hand before it gets out of hand. But no, I can ride this thing out without a doctor. Wrong!! It’s amazing how a microscopic bug can take over the body, cause an infection and essentially shut down the whole digestive process. The body is a team effort and when one player goes down it’s time for the coach to make a decision. As a coach I haven’t been making very good decisions lately nor paying the attention I ought to my players. Life and health is a fragile thing, and old age ain’t for sissy’s, so I guess it’s about time I admit I need help with my general health and stop being so macho about the whole thing. Needless to say, I was very ill last week and recovering this week with some high-powered medicine. For best results, engage brain and use.
Before he was terminated by the Dallas Cowboys football team, Coach Barry Switzer was seeking advice all around the NFL on what ingredient makes for a winning football team. He eventually sought out Steve Mariucci of the San Francisco Forty-Niners, who told him the MOST important thing to having a winning football team was to have a quarterback who was extremely smart. As proof he took him over to quarterback, Steve Young, and asked Steve this question: “Who is you father’s brother’s nephew?” Steve Young, without hesitating a moment answered, “I am”. When Switzer returned to the Cowboys practice facilities, he went over to Troy Aikman and asked him the same question: “Who is your father’s brother’s nephew?” Troy thought about it for a moment and told the coach he needed some more time to come up with the right answer. Then, Troy went to Deion Sanders and asked him the question. Deion immediately replied, “Why, I am”. So Troy Aikman went back to Coach Switzer and said, “I have the answer. It’s Deion Sanders”. Switzer giggled and said, “No, No, you’re wrong. It’s Steve Young.” Not much has changed, has it.
A customer service representative for a national pager company received an unusual complaint on the phone one day. It seems a man keeps getting paged by a “Lucille”, somebody he doesn’t know and doesn’t want his wife to see. The rep instructed the man to simply call her and ask her to stop paging him. “She don’t never leave no number, so I can’t call her back”, replied the irritated customer. The rep asked how he knew it was Lucille if she didn’t leave a number. “She leaves her name”, was the reply. After establishing that the customer had a numeric-only pager the rep asked the customer to spell her name for him. Very slowly and methodically the customer said, “L-O-W-C-E-L-L.”
[Ephesians 6: 10-18] We use everything from vitamins to antibiotics to fend off unwanted germs and viruses harmful to our body, but what about our spirit? Paul talks about our war with spiritual forces always trying to invade our nature of love and kindness and goodness. When we let them in, we become like the world, and lose the image of God, of which we are made. Paul says, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Beware!

Saturday, September 11, 2010

All I Hear Is Buzzing

I wonder if the insect world gets as annoyed with buzzing cicadas as we sometimes do with barking dogs. There’s nothing worse than flip flopping in bed because of a barking dog in the neighbor’s backyard, which happens to be right under your bedroom window. The prehistoric urge to kill boils up in thought, but a simple “shut up – go lay down” generally quiets the pup and a word with the neighbor solves the problem. I wonder what a spider does when a cicada moves in next door for a week or two. All that buzzing would drive me crazy. Cicadas live underground for up to fifteen years, supposedly, living on tree root fluids. The mature cicada digs its way to the surface to date and mate for two weeks, and then dies. By the way, the male cicada is the one making all the noise trying to attract a female’s attention. My bunkmate took up making strange noises in her sleep a few years ago, I probably do the same, but it was enough to wake me often in the night. Earplugs have solved the problem, but now I don’t hear the alarm clock. Going to sleep at night and waking in the morning is getting complicated with age. I’m still getting up on my own, that’s a plus for sure.
Diet and exercise seems to be the buzz everywhere today. A secretary engaged in such a conversation said, “I’ve started a new exercise program. I do 20 sit-ups each morning.” The others in the group didn’t seem impressed. She continued, “That may not sound like a lot, but you can only hit the snooze button so many times.”
Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey, but I’d bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away in about 1.7 seconds, still half asleep, eyes closed, the first time and every time after that. Amazing!
[2 Chronicles 7:14] “…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and will heal their land.” This is what the Lord said to Solomon about the use of the temple. “…But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot you from my land.” “…When people ask why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple; People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers; …and have embraced other gods worshipping and serving them, that is why he has brought all this disaster on them’” (v. 19-22) 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” Which case do you think God will recognize as a genuine plead for the healing of our land? 1 – Become a raving fool calling for the burning of a certain group of believer’s book of rites, in the name of God or, 2 - Become a humble dedicated believer in the power of prayer and know that God will do the heavy work. All our complaining and bickering and scheming, trying to solve our political problems is nothing but buzzing in the ear of God. Do you love our land enough to pray for it? If we don’t start petitioning God, the foundation of this country, according to his will not ours, God will uproot us rather than heal us. Put your gods aside for one minute and pray to God for healing peace.

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Wicked and Lazy

I’m certainly glad that’s over with! August I mean. The month of August has a way of bringing the laziness out in me, big time. I think I remember something about the dog days of summer and if they’re in August, I guess that’s why this dog doesn’t hunt in the heat. When the thermometer grows to 90 degrees I start slowing down and when it tops 100 degrees you’ll find me under the porch taking a nap with Rover. The problem with taking the month of August off is that the housework suffers severely. I took inventory the other day and discovered I had tree limbs on the ground, grass growing tall and the house air conditioner giving up under the pressure. As Charlie Brown would say, “AWK”! I’ll soon have to get up off my lazy side and get back to my domestic chores as it’s rumored a cold-front and a little rain is headed our way.
A new attorney in town had just opened up his office. He was concerned about building a clientele and as he heard someone at the door, then saw it opening, he grabbed up the phone receiver thinking that he must impress this prospective client that he was busy. Pretending he had someone on the phone he said, “Well, I’m very sorry, but it will be at least two weeks, due to my present case load, before I could possibly take your case.” He put down the receiver and asked the man now standing in front of his desk, “Yes sir, and what can I do for you?” The man grinned and said, “I’m here to hook up your phone.”
A man left work one Friday afternoon, but instead of going home he stayed out the whole weekend playing golf with the boys and spending his entire paycheck. Sunday night, when he finally appeared at home, he was confronted by his very angry wife who barraged him for nearly two hours with a tirade for his actions. Finally his wife stopped the nagging and simply said to him, “How would you like it if you didn’t see me for two or three days?” To which the husband replied, “That would be fine with me.” Monday went by and he didn’t see his wife. Tuesday went by and he didn’t see his wife. Wednesday brought the same results. Then on Thursday the swelling went down enough he could see her just a little out of the corner of one eye.
After the sermon, a gentleman came up to the preacher and said, “My wife said I should come apologize to you. I guess I was rude. I talked all the way through your sermon. But I really didn’t mean to. It’s just that sometimes I talk in my sleep.”
[Matthew 25: 14-30] “…And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We have all been given talents and blessings that God expects us to work with to bring about a return in his name. Most people don’t give it a second thought to use their talents and blessings in the name of our Lord to teach the truth of God. Instead they use them only to their own benefit not thinking of the welfare of others along the way. Is it okay to gain from your talents and blessings? You bet. God has nothing against gain, but he does have a problem when we forget where it came from and we call it “mine”. Are you a Christian, a child of God? Are you using your talents and blessings to rescue others from this sinful world? Do you hide your talents and blessings for fear of making an embarrassing mistake or losing part of what “belongs” to you? The master said to that person, “You wicked, lazy servant!” I’d rather make mistakes and lose it all, than be called wicked and lazy.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Back To School

It’s that time of the year when it seems most families have shifted gears and roared off into a totally different daily routine. This is especially prevalent in families with school children. The summer out of school daily activities verses the in school, is totally different, yet sometimes still just as hair pulling. Getting back into a ridged time schedule of going to bed at night and rising on time in the morning has been known to heighten the emotions of both parent and child to a point of screaming and crying. I think most families renew their evening meal gathering which may have unraveled during the summer months. It’s a good time to talk about the next days schedule and whose suppose to be where and when. There is so much activity in school nowadays I don’t know how some families keep up. Whatever a “normal” school year routine is for your family, good luck, and don’t get too hyper with each other, it’s not healthy.
A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather’s computer keyboard producing an array of letters and numbers on the monitor screen. When questioned what she was doing, she said she was writing a story. “What’s it about?’ asked the grandfather. “Oh, I don’t know”, she replied. He then asked, “How come?” She stopped what she was doing, sighed and answered, “Because I can’t read, Grandpa!”
A little boy was spending the weekend with his grandmother after a particularly trying week in kindergarten. His grandmother decided to take him to the park. It was the fall of the year and everything was beautiful. His grandmother remarked, “Doesn’t it look like an artist painted the scenery? Do you know God painted this for you?” The little boy said “Yes, God did it and he did it left handed.” Grandma inquired, “What makes you say God did this with his left hand?” With great assurance the little boy said, “Well, in Sunday school we learned that Jesus sits on God’s right hand.”
[Hosea 4: 1-6] I know that relaxed schedules and disciplines can also bring about the skipping of worship during the summer. Spiritual education is as important as mental schooling. Our country is suffering due to the lack of faithfulness, and love, and no acknowledgement of God in the land. This is a good time to return to worship as a family. A preacher made a house-call to a long time member who suddenly stopped coming to worship. The preacher waited patiently at the door after knocking. The member opened the door and without a sound returned to his rocking chair in front of the fireplace. The preacher also sat in a chair next to the fireplace for quite some time without a word ever being said. Then the preacher got up, took the tongs, and picking up a glowing ember he placed it on the hearth where both could see it. The preacher sat back down without saying a word and the silence continued between the two men. The ember glowed for a while, but then started to lose its brilliance and heat. When the ember was just about out, the preacher silently stood up, took the tongs and returned the ember to the fire where it once again glowed brilliantly. After a few more moments watching the fire, the preacher turned to leave. The man got up out of his chair and as he walked him to the door he said, “Thanks for the fiery sermon. I’ll see you Sunday.” Without God, we as a people, living in a land of milk and honey, will be destroyed because of our lack of knowledge about God’s will for our lives. Our country is being plundered and paganized by anti-Christ’s. One day, God will turn his back on America.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Do You Ignore Instructions?

It’s time for that old school bell to start ringing again. Of course that’s only a call for formal classes of teaching. It seems there’s a lot of activities going on around the school yard at least a full month before classes begin. Football players are scrimmaging in the attempt to learn new plays and formations with the hope of throwing off upcoming opponents. Sports of new sorts such as volleyball and soccer, not in my yearbook, and the old standards, track and field, baseball and basketball, will be in the lineup of activities throughout the year. The band and flag corps along with the cheerleaders are practicing new routines to razzle-dazzle and excite assembled fans of interscholastic competition. I’ve got to tell you though; I don’t know how some of these teens and parents get it all done in a 24 hour period. I’m just happy there’s a learning rule in effect: No pass; No play. Learning has to be the number one priority.
Here’s a helpful hint for you busy soccer moms. Unless you deliberately set aside a little time for regular relaxation, you will not be able to efficiently care for your family. Therefore, plan to relax a minimum of an hour and a half every couple of years.
A teacher in the second grade drew a greater-than (>) and a less-than (<) sign on the chalkboard and asked, “Does anyone know what these signs mean?” A few moments passed, and then a boy confidently raising his hand said, “Fast-forward and rewind!”
Catlin’s mother was teaching her the Lord’s Prayer. For several evenings, at bedtime, she would repeat what her mother would say as she learned. One night, Catlin decided to go solo. Her mother listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word with perfection right up to the end of the prayer. “…lead us not into temptation”, she prayed, “but deliver us some e-mail…” What?!! Keep working at it mom.
During one high-school concert season, the music students were preparing for the big extravaganza. The teacher had clearly communicated every detail to the students and to the parents, on two different occasions, what was expected of the students, including the time for the mandatory rehearsal. But, on rehearsal day, one panicky mother called during practice to see what time her teenager was suppose to show up. Another called to say, “Oh, we’re taking Tommy to Grandma’s. It’s okay if he misses rehearsal, right?” When the teacher reminded the parents that this was a mandatory rehearsal and it had already begun she heard, “Why didn’t someone tell me? How was I to know?” How often are we instructed and informed, only to not listen and act?
[1 Thessalonians 4: 1-12] Just as the teacher was troubled that her clear instructions were ignored, is it possible that God is troubled by our tendency to ignore his clear instructions? Paul reminds us that his God-inspired message tells us “…how to live in order to please God…” and that those instructions come by “…the authority of the Lord Jesus.” God is not pleased, but grieved, when we ignore his instructions. (Ephesians 4:17 - 5:2) How do we keep from forgetting about God in our busy daily life? The Hebrew writer says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess…” and “…let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” How can we do this? “Let us not give up meeting together… but let us encourage one another…” (Hebrews 10: 23-25) We don’t meet together because we have nothing better to do. We meet to remember God and his love for us. Are you following instructions?

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Departing Embarassment

Life is full of challenges and most of us like to hit them head-on, giving them all we have. The down side to jumping right in a pot of hot stew is, sometimes we find out it’s a kettle of fish. Embarrassment sort of crops up every once in a while in life and being the brunt of laughter and finger pointing just seems to make matters worse. Take it to heart the next time you find yourself in an embarrassing situation; it happens to everyone now and again. Laugh at your self; it’s not the end of the world.
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, “Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it and I would turn red in the face.” She continued, “Why is it then, while standing upright, the blood doesn’t run into my feet?” A small child’s quizzical voice broke the short silence, “Because your feet aren’t empty?”
Grandpa lived most of his life in Skunk Hollow. He was a preacher there and his small congregation met in the schoolhouse. He was also a member of the small Rotary Club of the community and never left a meeting without inviting his fellow club members to Sunday worship. One Sunday three of the service club’s members walked in the door. Excited, grandpa hurriedly whispered to an usher, “Give three chairs to the Rotarians.” The usher didn’t understand and asked, “What did you say?” Grandpa whispered again, “Give three chairs to the Rotarians.” The usher stood up and yelled, “Okay, everyone, all together now. Three cheers for the Rotarians!”
A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his wife, who was looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she’d like to have for her birthday. “I’d like to be six again” she replied still looking in the mirror. On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice bowl of Lucky Charms, and then took her to Six Flags theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Rollercoaster, everything there was. Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. He took her to a McDonald’s where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a chocolate shake. Then it was off to a movie with popcorn, a soda pop and her favorite candy snack. What a fabulous adventure! Finally, she wobbled into the house with her husband and collapsed on the bed, exhausted. With a big smile, he leaned over to his wife and lovingly asked, “Well Dear, how did it feel being six again?” Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed, “I meant my dress size, you moron!”
[Matthew 7: 21-23] Jesus was teaching his disciples… “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 25: 31-46] Jesus is going to separate those who loved doing the will of God through no personal gain from those who ignored the needs of the indigent. He will separate those who daily lived in harmony with the will of God from those who devised ways to be recognized in their seemingly service to God. Is your Christian life centered on the love of God and His will for man or is it centered on self advancement and its rewards. It will be the ultimate embarrassing moment if Jesus says to you… “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Identification Please

What is the immigration issue? It has become so clouded with individual agendas that the seriousness of the problem, if there really is a problem at all, has become buried in unwarranted racial and ethnic tensions. Let’s face it; we don’t live in the same world we were accustomed to twenty-five or thirty years ago. National security needs to be in the forefront of concern when it comes to protecting our neighborhoods from international threats on our way of living. I’m not against immigration nor am I well versed in immigration law. I do feel that common sense has been locked up in a closet someplace being held hostage by the news media of this country just to sensationalize anything that can stir the racial pot to a boiling point. Look; an immigrant is a person who has recently settled in a country but was not born there. An immigrant is one who follows all the laws of immigration. An immigrant is essentially invited into their new country with open arms. An alien is much the same. An alien is a person from another country; a person of foreign birth who has not been naturalized. (Also, a being from outer space, I’ve never encountered one of them.) The simple rub is this; illegal means that an immigrant or alien has entered their new country without telling the legal authorities of that country. I dare you to enter a foreign country of this world without proper, legal identification papers, issued to you by the authorities of that country. Your passport becomes those papers of identification when it gets stamped at the port of entry. Failure to present your passport to authorities of that country at any time will land you in prison immediately, no questions asked. That’s all that is being asked of persons crossing our borders every day, proper identification. I, a born citizen of this country, have to show proper identification when asked by officials and I don’t see bigotry or racism involved in asking the same of anyone in this country. Quit listening to the media. The Gestapo is not breaking down doors. And, if you won’t go find out whom your neighbor is, who will? That’s all I’ve got to say about that.
[Ephesians 2] All good things in this life are conditional. I can drive as well as anyone, but I cannot receive a license to drive on our public highways until I prove my abilities to certain government officials. Driving is a privilege. I am invited to join others in this privilege, but I must work at being a safe driver every day. I have been invited to heaven through the grace of God, but it is conditional. Oh no, Tom. It’s a gift from God and you can’t earn it. You’re right. Now, tell me when the last time you gave a complete stranger a place to live, free of charge for the rest of his life. On the Day of Judgment it’s going to take proper identification to enter into heaven. God’s grace won’t be poured out to complete strangers. The gift of salvation is conditional my friend. We cannot disregard plain statements such as Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38 where we are taught it will take belief, repentance and baptism to be saved. In addition we must obey God; Matthew 7:21; Hebrews 5:8-9; Revelation 22:14. When preparing to visit a foreign country, one must obtain all the things necessary to legally enter that country. If you don’t fulfill all the demands of the authority of that country, you will not be allowed to enter. Think seriously about your entry into heaven. Have you fulfilled all that is being demanded by God? Will your passport of faith be enough? Will a clean criminal record be enough? Can you show proper Christian identification?

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Nervous Clock

Have you seen the TV commercial for the Greater Off-Shore Bank and Trust? It’s a scam, a totally fake set-up to see how much personal information people are willing to give a complete stranger. The bait is the promise of $500 given to every person who opens a new account. Then the “bank executive” begins helping the new customer fill out the account application with questions that should cause the applicant to suspect something is not right. Yet they continue to answer questions giving up names, phone numbers and addresses of friends and family, other bank account numbers, credit card numbers including PIN numbers, place of employment and descriptions of personal belongings. One woman was asked for a strand of hair for DNA identification and she willingly gave it. For a pot of stew, people are willing to give up their whole life. The commercial was sponsored by Internet Explorer which claims to keep you safe on the internet by filtering out such scam artists, keeping your personal information safe. Well all I can say is, be sure you know who you give information to these days. Any one who offers you something for nothing is out to take everything you have; word.
Time is of the essence and it seems today everyone has filled their 24 hours with 30 hours worth of stuff to do. And if you don’t think people are in a hurry, or even worse, simply running on cruise control while preoccupied with another task, get a lawn chair and sit at the nearest street corner that has a stop sign and witness how many drivers fail to even attempt to stop at the intersection. I recently nearly broad-sided a vehicle that simply didn’t stop at an intersection. The driver looked but never stopped. I sensed the pending doom and avoided ruining my day. I’m losing more and more trust in my fellow man and my faith suffers because of it. We’re becoming a hard, cold people.
[Matthew 28: 18-20] In his sermon titled, “How to Worry”, Donald Lee tells about the clock that had a nervous breakdown. This new clock was ticking away on the shelf, two ticks to the second like any good, self-respecting clock should tick when it began to think about how times it was going to have to tick. “Two ticks to the second means 120 ticks per minute”, it mused. “That’s 7,200 ticks per hour, 172,800 ticks per day. 1,209,600 ticks per week for 52 weeks for a total of 62,889,200 ticks per year.” Horrors!! Straightway the clock had a nervous breakdown. The clock was taken to a psychiatrist who inquired, “Clock, what’s your trouble?” “Oh doctor”, wailed the clock. “I have to tick so much. I have to tick two ticks to the second and 120 ticks per minute and 7,200 ticks per hour and….” “Hold it”, interrupted the psychiatrist. “How many ticks do you have to tick at one time?” “Oh, I just have to tick one tick at a time”, the clock replied. “Then let me make a suggestion”, said the doctor. “Go home and try ticking one tick at a time. Don’t even think about the next tick until it’s time. Just one tick at a time. That I’m confident you can do.” We become worriers by practicing worry. We can become free of worry by practicing the opposite and stronger habit of faith. Faith is ticking one tick at a time knowing that God will give us strength for the next tick. Every day of your life see yourself as living in partnership and companionship with Jesus Christ. Should you be worried or afraid? We demand too much control of our life, thus we overload our skills and worry about the outcome. God is in control and His guidance should be a comfort to us, in all that we do, every day.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Seemingly Unrelated

I hope I’m not alone here, but I’m tired of opening a door to enter a building and watching twenty or more crickets exploding into the room ahead of me. With perfect environmental conditions this year, we sure had a bumper crop of those noisy little critters. The birds have certainly benefitted from the banquet of over-abundance in the food chain along with the roaming neighborhood felines now fat and sassy. I think the hotter, drier weather has the crickets on the wane. The only thing we have to put up with now is the stench of dead crickets everywhere. This to shall pass. I wish that were the only problem we face in this world today, but a lot of other things stink in a far worse way than dead crickets. I fail to understand why big business refuses to learn from the mistakes of others. This oil well failure in the Gulf should have never happened. Call it an accident if you want, but every “accident” investigation ever conducted has reveled that two or more seemingly unrelated events had to come together causing the “accident”. Several known, ignored problems existed on that oil platform, if corrected, would have prevented the “accident” in the first place, but combined at just the right time, became explosive. All the things tried by BP to stop the flow of oil were tried in the late 70’s off the coast of Mexico with no success, yet they tried them anyway, why? With all the forked tongued double-talk about how everything is going to be okay, this “accident” still has the potential to become a huge environmental disaster. It’s still all about how much the bottom line is going to suffer.
A couple went to breakfast at a restaurant where the “seniors’ special” was two eggs, bacon, hash brown and toast for $1.99. “Sounds good”, said the woman, “but I don’t want the eggs.” “Then I’ll have to charge you $2.49 because you’re ordering a la carte”, the waitress warned her. “You mean I’d have to pay for not taking the eggs?” the woman asked incredulously. “YES!!” stated the waitress. “I’ll take the special then”, said the woman. “How would you like your eggs?” asked the waitress. “Raw and in the shell”, the woman politely replied. She took the two eggs home. To survive these days you have to think like big business, it’s all about the bottom line. Right?
Two deaf men were in a coffee shop discussing their wives. One signed to the other, “Boy was my wife angry with me last night. She went on and on and wouldn’t stop!” The other signed back, “When my wife goes off on me I just don’t listen.” The first man inquired, “How do you do that?” With a smile he signed, “I turn off the lights.”
[2 Chronicles 7: 11-22] “…If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” We know what happened to the Temple and the City of Jerusalem; they were destroyed because the people turned away from God. Look around you; look at this country founded on the principles of God and His Word. We as a people are committing spiritual suicide and in the end this great nation will be aborted by God if we don’t humble ourselves and repent our selfish ways. Pornography, abortion, gambling, cheating, lying, worship of material things, drugs, defilement of the marriage bed, disassembling of the family, etc; are all seemingly unrelated events going on in this country which will one day bring us to our knees. The bottom line is, repent, and get on your knees this very day. Pray!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Now I See

It’s been ten days since my eye surgery and two post-op check-ups later, the report is good. One might expect “eye surgery” to be a painful thing, but there was very little pain involved, in fact less than an accidental poke in the eye. I have several eye drop medicines to administer daily for the rest of the month, a small price to pay for better eyesight, whenever that might occur. The only thing I can positively say is all the “floaters” in the surgical eye are gone thanks to the fluid change. The still blurred vision has me concerned, but I have to be a patient, patient. I have seen a slight improvement every day and pray-fully, I’ll have the eye of an eagle once again.
I can’t imagine what it would be like to be without eyesight. I think I could get along without eyesight, but I couldn’t survive without insight. Insight is the ability to see and understand clearly the inner nature of things. I encountered a short sarcastic article the other day beginning with the statement, “What we are depends mainly on what we are looking for”. Then it went on from there with several insightful proverbs. “The dreams of the older generation were to pay off a mortgage. The dreams of today’s young families are to get a mortgage.” “There is no cure for birth and death, save to enjoy the interval.” “If you’re in a bad situation, don’t worry – it’ll change. If you’re in a good situation, don’t worry – it’ll change.” “Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.” “Self-control is keeping yourself from telling others how much you know.” “About the only thing you do on a shoestring these days is trip and fall.” “Always remember, the future comes one day at a time.” “If you think no one cares you’re alive, miss a couple of payments on your house.” “A roadmap contains a wealth of information, except how to fold it up again.” “Nothing needs reforming more than other people’s habits.”
Doctor: “I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” Patient: “What’s the good news?” Doctor: “The good news is they’re naming the disease after you.”
[Psalm 89: 14-18] In his book, “The One Year Walk with God”, Chris Tiegreen says this. “Worship is a learned art. It is an attitude of the heart that continually acknowledges God and values His character. It is the ultimate reflection of reality in the mind of the believer and it is the key to blessing. With natural eyes, we often see our struggles as huge obstacles and our chances of overcoming them as slim. We are easily overwhelmed. We know our limitations and God’s omnipotence seems distant. When we acclaim Him, as the Psalm says, we shed those earthbound illusions. Our worship brings us into the light of His presence and reminds us of who He really is. It radically alters our perspective. Where we once thought our struggles were real and our God might be illusionary, we realize that our God is real and our struggles are illusionary. There is profound blessing in knowing who God is and claiming His presence in your life. His greatness makes all other things – especially the hard things – seem small. It allows you to pray with confidence and faith that you, through Him, will overcome. When He fills your heart with His presence, no burden can fill your heart with its weight. Learn the art of worship, and be blessed.” “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) God is Light; God is Love; God is Life. (1 John) Amen

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Liberty

“Happy Birthday America”! Well, it’s official. The United States of America is now engaged in the longest war in it’s history. I’m sort of confused as to the country or the conquest that has given U.S. that great honor, but I assume all our military activity is being lumped under one banner, “The War on Terror”. Then again, it hasn’t been a real healthy practice lately to assume anything, expecting the truth to reveal itself or be witness to a positive conclusion of action at a later date. I’ve served my time and I’m happy I can stand in the shadow of our flag, still free to pursue my dreams of life.
I am the flag of the United States of America. My name is “Old Glory”. I fly atop the world’s tallest buildings. I stand watch in America’s halls of justice. I fly majestically over institutes of learning. I stand guard with power in the world. Look up to see me. I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice. I stand for freedom. I am confident. I am arrogant. I am proud. When I am flown with fellow banners, my head is a little higher, my colors a little truer. I bow to no one! I am recognized all over the world. I am worshipped; I am saluted; I am loved; I am revered; I am respected; and I am feared. I have fought in every battle of every war for more than 200 years. I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox. I was there at San Juan Hill and in the trenches of France. People of the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome, Normandy, Guam, Okinawa, Korea and Vietnam all know me. I was there. I led the troops. I was dirty, battle-worn and tired, but the soldiers cheered me on and I was proud to serve. I have been burned, torn and trampled on in the streets I have helped set free. It never hurt, for I am invincible. I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled on in the streets of my own country by those whom I have served in battle and that hurts, but I shall overcome for I am strong. I have slipped the bonds of Earth and flown proudly over the uncharted frontiers of space. From my vantage point on the moon I have borne silent witness to all of America’s finest hours, but my finest hour is yet to come. When I am torn into strips and used as bandages for my wounded comrades on the battlefield, when I am flown at half-mast to honor a fallen soldier, or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent at the grave of their child, then am I most proud. My name is “Old Glory”, long may I wave. Dear God in heaven, long may I wave!
[Leviticus 25:8-54; Isaiah 61; Luke 4: 16-21] The Liberty Bell is one of the great symbols of freedom for our country. It was cast in London, England in 1752 and rang when the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. Do you know what is inscribed on the bell? Leviticus 25:10; “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Liberty! What a blessing for the downtrodden! Jubilee was every fifty years when each family received its property back, debts were forgiven and slaves were set free. God reminded the people it all belongs to him and he wanted it renewed. Jubilee, was the foreshadow of the blessings which Christ would bring. Isaiah predicted it (Isaiah 61) and Jesus confirmed it (Luke 4: 16-21). No matter what is going on in the world, we need to rejoice in the Lord. Christ came to set us free! We can now be released from the bondage of our sins, and enjoy the glorious liberty of being a child of God. As we stand in the shadow of the cross, rejoice knowing the debt for sin has been paid. The battle is over! Raise up God’s Word. Ring out the news!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Rejoice!

There’s an old country proverb that says, “Old age ain’t for sissies” and I fear there’s a lot of truth in it. I don’t know where one draws the line as to “old age”. As children our parents were old at thirty and grand-parents ancient at fifty. Personally, now that I’ve past both mile-markers, I do my best to keep from stepping over that “old age” line, simply because I don’t want to feel old. There’s a lot of merit in the “baby-boomer” proverb, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself”. Yeh, that’s a reality looking back on life. Oh well, nothing to do but press forward with a positive attitude, work at living healthier and finding doctors to assist you in fixing whatever’s fixable. Eventually everything’s going to go south no matter how hard we try, but in the meantime I’m going to do my best to keep that “line” where I can see it for as long as possible. That brings me to my next fix. I’ll be having surgery on my left eye Wednesday morning. Some, something or other, is growing inside, distorting my vision that’s got to be removed before it causes more damage. It’s an out-patient thing with very little chance of anything going hay-wire. My right eye has the same thing going for it, but not near as bad. Ah, one step at a time.
The nearsighted preacher glanced at the note given to him by an usher. The note read: “Bill Smith having gone to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety.” Failing to not the punctuation, the preacher announced, “Bill Smith, having gone to see his wife, desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety.”
A man went to his doctor complaining of neck pains, headaches and dizzy spells. “I’m afraid”, said the doctor “you only have six months to live.” The man decided to spend his last days enjoying himself. He quit his job, took all his money out of the bank, bought a new sports car, a new cashmere coat and ten new shirts. The tailor measured him as a size 16. “Just a minute”, the man protested “I’ve always worn a size 14 and that’s what I want!” “Well, alright, if you insist,” the tailor replied. “However, wearing a size 14 could cause neck pains, headaches and dizzy spells.”
[Philippians 4: 4-7] “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” I’m kind of slow when it comes to learning and applying. I’m one of those people who learn by experience. Show me and let me do it once, and I’ve got it. Book learning is not my cup of tea. I need to approach subjects from all angles to get a total perspective and understanding of it before I can comfortably reject it from, or apply it to, my life. The word of God is no different. That’s why I read every day, listen to good preaching and try my best to live as God intended me to live. I didn’t always do that in my life, but the strength and hope I find in God’s Word has changed my life. One commentary says this about verses 4-7. “If one is rejoicing, by definition, one cannot be despairing. Paul is not calling for people to rejoice because of the situation. Rather, it is the Lord, who is the source and cause of rejoicing. Faith in the Lord makes joyfulness both realistic and possible. To worry is to display a lack of confidence in God’s care and in God’s control over the situation.” This world is not my home. Everything I touch and see is slated for destruction. Why worry about any of it? There is no joy, only a little fun, in material things that will not last. Joy is in the Lord, the one who will rescue me from this sinful life. The peace of God will bring about my understanding of life.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Father's Day History

Happy Father’s Day! I never have looked into the history of Father’s Day, so, on a whim I Googled Wikipedia for some information and was very surprised at what I discovered. As an official holiday, Father’s Day is a celebration that almost never was. The day had its humble beginning in Spokane, Washington June 19, 1910 spurred on through the efforts of Sonora Smart Dodd as a complementary day to Mother’s Day. She wanted a celebration to honor fathers like her own father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran who was left to raise his family alone when his wife died giving birth to their sixth child. Sonora suggested her father’s birth date, June 5th to establish as a day to honor all fathers. In spite of great support, Father’s Day ran the risk of disappearing from the calendar. Where Mother’s Day was met with enthusiasm, Father’s Day was often met with laughter. Slowly, the holiday grew, but for the wrong reasons. It was the target of much satire, parody and derision, including jokes in local newspapers. Many people saw it as the first step in filling the calendar with mindless promotions. (Ridiculous to even think such a thing would happen!) A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced and rejected by Congress in 1913. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson, went to Spokane to speak in a Father’s Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress again resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized. (Ha!) President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of a proclamation. In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for forty years while honoring mothers, thus singling out one of two parents. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972. Father’s Day is celebrated in countries throughout the world, in many different ways, some official and some not. Commercialized? Yes, but with sincere love and honor.
One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a slight tremble in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?” The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. “I can’t dear”, she said, “I have to sleep in daddy’s room.” A long silence was broken by the boy’s shaky little voice, “The big sissy!”
A father is one who gives his daughter away to a man who is not nearly good enough, so they can give him the best grandkids there are anywhere.
It used to be that fathers dealt out a stern code of discipline to junior. Then the electric razor took away his razor strap, furnaces took away the woodshed, and tax worries took away his hair and the hairbrush. That’s why kids are running wild today. The dad’s of the world have run out of disciplinary tools.
[John 14] Jesus talks with his disciples about his departure from this world. Jesus reassures his followers that his father is also their father if they obey his commands. “If you love me you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth.” God the Father will supply our every need. “…He who loves me will be loved by my Father … (v21).

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Involved or Committed?

I’ve owned several vehicles in my life and can honestly say only one was a bad buy. Personally, I think the man I bought that vehicle from owned two identical cars, because the one I ended up with just didn’t feel like the one I test drove; just a bad deal all around. I’ve only had one showroom new car in my life. I was 19 years old, owned it only three months, until Uncle Sam relocated me with a lower paying job. Well, as you know, I replaced my van a few weeks back with one I considered a great buy. I took a little trip out of town the other day and about half way there I noticed a noise that didn’t make me real comfortable. It was one of those noises a transmission starts making just before it blows up. I’ll tell you, I was on pins and needles the rest of the trip, the noise getting more pronounced all the while. All I could think of was how much money this was going to cost me and especially if I break down far from home. With prayer and the grace of God, I made it home and discovered the noise was a worn out axle bearing. Very common on front wheel drive vehicles, which I replaced myself in less than two hours. What a relief. I thought I was going to have to beat myself up. Having doubts and fears about my decision of commitment in this vehicle every time a new rattle or roar rears its sound will eventually fade and I will hopefully come to the conclusion I made a good purchase. Time will only tell how happy I’ll be.
It is said, “Our journey across the seas of life becomes more pleasant when we scrape off the barnacles of doubt, worry and pessimism.” Thought provoking, isn’t it?
Hand written on a Father’s Day card by a teenage son: “Dad, everything I know I learned from you, except for one thing, the family car can do 110 mph!” It’s good to know our children are totally involved in our life, even though they may not be totally committed to our ideals in their lack of wisdom.
“Mama”, the little girl asked her mother, “what becomes of an automobile when it gets too old to run anymore?” “Well”, replied the mother, “somebody polishes it up and sells it as a, “good as new”, used car, to your father.”
[Revelation 2:11] “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” The preacher started his lesson with a stern reminder, “Everybody in this church is going to die!” He noticed one young man sporting a big wide grin throughout the serious message. While shaking out the members, the preacher asked the young man, “Why are you so amused?” He replied, “This is not my church, I’m just visiting my sister for the weekend.” I sense this lack of commitment in many “church-goers”. You can’t be talking to me, I don’t belong to this or that congregation. Honestly ask yourself, “Am I committed to God and his church, or am I simply involved as a social entity of a congregation?” Look at it this way. The difference between “involvement” and “commitment” is like a ham and eggs breakfast. The chicken is “involved”, but the pig is “committed”. A preacher on the radio the other day said, “There are two types of members in the church today. The pillars, who hold up the church and the caterpillars, who just crawl in and out of the church.” In the seven letters to the churches in Asia, God said, “I know you are suffering …don’t give up …overcome.” Where do you “give your all”? Commitment: to the world, death, x2; to the church, life, everlasting.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

If I Should Die Before I Wake

The older I get the more disappointed I am with the fruits of liberalism, all of which look good on paper, but tend to develop bitter headaches once ingested into society. Outrageous awards granted by juries in frivolous lawsuits have clogged our judicial system with get-rich-quick, finger-pointing, he said, she said, lawsuits that don’t amount to a hill of beans, all because somebody’s feelings got hurt over a spilled cup of coffee. It doesn’t seem anybody wants to be responsible for anything in their own life anymore, let alone be respectful of other people’s lives. The bottom line has become top priority and it doesn’t seem to matter how you get there anymore. “Just do it.” Lying, cheating, stealing and manipulating are all a part of business as a sense of survival of the fittest. Well, this type of thinking is tearing down financial structures all around the world. They can no longer be supported by the “new math” of liberals.
Most of what we really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, we should have learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox. These are the things we were taught: Share everything; Play fair; Don’t hit people; Put things back where you found them; Clean up your own mess; Don’t take things that aren’t yours; Say your sorry when you hurt somebody; Wash your hands before you eat; Flush; Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you; Learn, and think, and draw, and paint, and sing, and dance, and play, and work some every day; Take a nap every afternoon; When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together; Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the cup of dirt. The roots grow down and the plant grows up, and nobody really knows why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the cup full of dirt …they all die; so do we. Remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything we needed to know is in that book somewhere; The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology and politics and sane living. Think of what a better world it would be if we all had cookies and milk about 2 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Just think, if we had a basic policy in our nation and nations of the world, to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes, what a different life we would be living today. And always remember, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, hold hands and stick together.
[Ecclesiastes 2] “If I should die before I wake” prayed young Billy, “If I should die before I wake …If I should die” “Go on Billy”, urged his mother, “you know the rest of the prayer.” Scrambling to his feet Billy blurted, “I’ll be right back!” He ran into the next room, but soon he was back. Dropping to his knees he finished his prayer without a bobble. Tucking him into bed, his mother gently rebuked him for interrupting his prayer and that he should be thinking about what he was saying while praying. “I was”, said the boy defensively, “that’s why I stopped. You see, I stood all of Ted’s soldiers on their heads just to see how mad he would be in the morning. If I should die before I wake, I wouldn’t want him to find them that way, so I had to go and fix them right.” We are all too worldly. In the Bible book of Mathew, chapters 5, 6 & 7, the teaching of Jesus changed the world. It’s a shame we’re slipping back into barbaric thinking.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

It'll Fit, Give It Time

I just changed vehicles the other day, the first time in nine years. I have a habit of driving my vehicles for years, because they become like a comfortable shoe, a reliable friend and a familiar trustworthy ally. I know them mechanically and know there limitations, which lends to long term relationships. To me, getting into a different vehicle is like moving into a new house. All my stuff don’t fit. Plus, it’s getting used to everything being foreign to the touch and sight. It’s like putting on someone else’s shoes. Their not new, where you can mold them to your feet, instead, they’re already molded to other feet and there’s lumps and such contrary to the shape of your feet. You know what I mean; the size is right, there are just a few lumps that need rearranging, to make it comfortable. Anyway, I traded up 5 years to a ’02 and dropped 100,000 miles in another van to assist me in the Lord’s work. It won’t be long before this van fits just as comfortably as the old one, a new old reliable. I pray this one is as good as the last.
Putting on his coat after worship, another said, “Are you Mr. Smith from Newport?” “No I’m not. Why do you ask?” the man inquired. “Well, you see, I am Mr. Smith and I believe that’s his coat you’re putting on.” (It probably didn’t fit right anyway.)
The Navy Chief noticed a new seaman and barked at him, “Get over here! What’s your name?” “Paul”, the new seaman replied. “Look, I don’t know what kind of bleeding-heart pansy junk they’re teaching sailors in boot camp these days, but I don’t call anyone by their first name”, the Chief scowled. “It breeds familiarity, and that leads to a breakdown in authority. I refer to my sailors by their last name only: Smith, Jones, Baker, got it? I am to be referred to only as Chief. Do I make myself clear?” “Aye, Chief”, answered the seaman. “Now that we’ve got that straight”, continued the Chief, “what’s your last name?” The young sailor sighed and said, “Darling. My name is Paul Darling, Chief.” “Okay Paul, this is what I want you to do…” (Didn’t fit right.)
[James 4: 8] “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Luciano Pavarotti once said, “When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song. He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my home town of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating I asked my father, ‘Shall I be a teacher or a singer?’ ‘Luciano’, my father replied, ‘if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.’ I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, writing a book – whatever we choose – we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair.” Pavarotti’s words are not only good advise in choosing a career, but good spiritual advise. Too often, the mistake we make is that we are too divided. We want to focus on the things of this world and the things of God, but it’s not possible. “If you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them.” We need to develop a more single-minded love for God. A worthy and fruitful relationship with God must be more than simply one item in an overcrowded agenda. It must be the central force and aim in our lives, the only thing that really matters. God fits comfortably. Try Him on for size.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Hit 'em Again

Well, it appears that greed has finally trumped wisdom setting off the worst man-made natural disaster ever. The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 in Prince William Sound, Alaska is literally a drop in the ocean compared to what’s happening in the Gulf of Mexico off the shore of Louisiana. Over 5000 barrels (probably a very low conservative guess) of crude oil has been leaking into the gulf waters every day since April 20th, now more than thirty days. Alaska was a long ways away in 1989, but the lessons not learned then have come home to roost in our back yard. The fishing industry in much of the gulf could come to past. Shrimp, oysters, crawfish, dolphins and whatever kind of ocean creature you can think of is going to suffer greatly, not to mention the fishermen losing their livelihood for who knows how long. The favorite vacation spots along the coast are pretty much going to lose their luster and usefulness. Oh, I’m not talking about the lose of summer vacationer revenue, no not at all. I was thinking more about the millions of birds that won’t have a place to go for the winter coming up and maybe many winters to come. Maybe Northerner’s ought to take plenty of pictures of ducks and geese to show their grandchildren. Anyone who thinks this whole mess will be cleaned up before this winter needs to crawl out from under the rock where their living. Only time will tell how many states will be effected by this spill, not only Gulf States, but also, even the possibility of some Atlantic States as the ocean currents move the oil. Think of what a hurricane might do with all this oil.
“I’ll make a suit for you”, agreed the overworked tailor, “but it won’t be ready for at least thirty days.” “Thirty days!” protested the customer. “Why it only took the good Lord six days to create the whole world.” “True”, noted the tailor, “but have you looked at it lately?”
A crumbling old church building needed remodeling, so during his sermon, the preacher made an impassioned appeal, looking directly at the richest man in town. At the end of the sermon, the rich man stood up and announced, “Preacher, I will contribute $1000.” Just then, plaster fell from the ceiling, striking the rich man on the shoulder. He promptly stood back up and shouted, “Preacher, I will increase my donation to $5000.” Before he could sit down again, more plaster fell from the weak ceiling striking him, and he virtually screamed, “Preacher, I will double my last pledge!” He sat down and a large chunk of plaster fell on his head. He stood up once more and hollered, “Preacher, I’ll give $20,000!” Excitement filled the auditorium prompting a deacon to shout, “Hit him again Lord! Hit him again!”
[Ecclesiastes 5: 8 - 6: 12] I don’t want to get off on a rant here making you think I’m dead set against capitalism and the good life. I believe my heavenly Father wants the best for me and I thank God every day for being born in the land of milk and honey. I also believe fewer and fewer people are doing so. People are not waking, thanking their God for another day and all the good things it holds in store; rather they’re waking up cursing the day because they can’t keep up with their neighbor. Lying and cheating, short-changing and short sheeting is becoming a way of life in this country and the consequences are sprouting everywhere. Remember, you reap what you sow. I’m afraid the elders seated around the throne are yelling, “Hit ‘em again Lord! Hit ‘em again!”

Saturday, May 15, 2010

The Final Exam

The month of May brings forth wild flowers, the signs of growth in newly planted crops and stretch limousines. That can only mean that summer is drawing close, High School Proms are in full bloom and school is about to wind down for another year. It’s hard to believe we have a grandson already a full year out of high school and a granddaughter starting high school next year. Makes a body wonder where the time has gone. I remember a sign on the wall next to the clock in one of my eight-grade classrooms that read, “Time Will Pass – Will You?” Unfortunately, the message never had much impact on my studies as I barely squeaked through the remainder of the basic twelve-year curriculum. Semester tests, pop-quizzes and final exams never turned me on, as preparedness never crossed my mind as a way of easing the pain of failure. I guess that’s why I’ve been enrolled in the school of hard knocks all my life. I started out a southpaw and can’t help but think how different things would have been if it weren’t for the teacher that forced me to write with my other hand. In the grand scheme of things, teachers are the greatest asset the world can boast, if only they were allowed to teach and administer discipline. In the new world order of political correctness, our teacher’s hands are tied in many aspects, unable to distribute moral thinking and plain old fashion respect for self and others. Our children need more facts, not more theories.
A group of kindergarten students were being led on a tour through a hospital, and this conversation between one of the little girls and an x-ray technician was overheard: “Have you ever broken a bone?” he asked. “Yes”, the girl replied. Did it hurt?, asked the tech. “No”, said the girl. “Really? Which bone did you break?” “My sister’s arm.”
“Well, son” asked the father as he settled down with his evening newspaper, “Are you going to need any help with you homework tonight?” “No, thanks dad”, the boy replied. Then following a sigh he added, “I might as well get it wrong all by my self”
Noticing that his son was studying while watching TV and listening to music, the father said to him, “When Abe Lincoln was your age he didn’t have all these distractions. He was studying his books by the light of the fireplace.” The boy replied, “When Mr. Lincoln was your age, he was president of the United States.”
[2 Corinthians 5: 10] “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.” Every human being will have to stand before God and give an account of one’s life. You might say that there is a final exam coming that all of us must take. We’ve all been challenged with tests at different times in our life, some we’ve passed well and others not so well, some we’ve fail at miserably, but hopefully, we’ve learned something from all of them. We’ve also experienced pop-quizzes, totally unexpected little tests that sort of challenge our sense of stability. 2 Peter 1:3-4 says “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and goodness…” and we can “…escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” In all your tests there has been a question, “Who are you going to rely on now? A. God or B. Yourself?” James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who preservers under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” God doesn’t want to see you fail. He loves you. (2 Peter 3: 9-15) Time will pass! Will you?