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.

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).

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.

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.