Where Is God In All This?

I’m pretty much an unromantic humbug when it comes to celebrations and holidays. I really have a problem with the emphasis of most such occasions focused on, “What am I going to get out of this?” So I find it hard to put “into” the festive time for fear of unsatisfying the expectations of others. It’s sad that people allow the commerce game of competition to command their spirit of giving during the “Holiday Season”. A well advertized limited edition product run of the “Air Jordan” basketball shoe by Nike nearly cost some people their life. It doesn’t matter I don’t get the shoes in my size; I’m never going to wear them. The shoes are an “investment”! Yeh! Profit! And some people are willing to kill for a pair of shoes. Our selfish ideals will be our doom.
Remember what “Christmas” is all about? It’s a time of celebrating the birth of our Savior, a gift from God. So, who’s the better, Jesus or Santa Claus? Santa lives at the North Pole… Jesus is everywhere. Santa fills your stocking with goodies once a year… Jesus supplies you every need, daily. You have to wait in line to see Santa… Jesus is as close as the mention of his name. Santa lets you sit on his lap… Jesus let’s you rest in his arms. Santa doesn’t know your name. All he can say is, “Hi! What’s your name?”… Jesus knew our name before we did. Not only does he know our name, he knows our address too. He knows our history, our future and he even knows how many hairs are on our head. Santa has a belly, like a bowl full of jelly… Jesus has a heart full of love. All Santa can offer is, “Ho, Ho, Ho!”… Jesus offers health, help and hope. Santa says, “You better not cry”… Jesus says, “Cast all your cares on me and I’ll wipe away your tears.” Santa’s little helpers make toys… Jesus makes life anew, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions. Santa may make you chuckle but… Jesus gives you joy that is your strength. While Santa puts gifts under your tree… Jesus became our gift and died on a tree. It’s obvious there is no comparison. We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about. Don’t become politically correct with your spiritual well-being. We desperately need to put Christ back into Christmas because Jesus is still the reason for the season.
[Jesus} Whatever the question… He is the Answer (John 14:6). Whatever the problem… He is the Solution (Matthew 11:28-29). Whatever the hurt… He is the Healer (Luke4:18). Whatever the bondage… He is the Liberator (John 8:32). Whatever the burden… He is the Overcomer (John 16:33). Whatever the need… He is the Supplier (Matthew 7:7-8). Whatever the sin… He is the Forgiver (Hebrews 10:12-17). We honor our God throughout the year with celebrations in, remembrance of Jesus’ birth and death; Pentecost, the beginning of the church; Thanksgiving, giving thanks to the Lord for supplying our everyday needs; and so on. Our celebrations have become a mislabeled box of assorted chocolates. What I’m picking to celebrate is not turning out to be what I expected. The season of thanks has become, I need and expect more for less. The season of giving has become a season of taking and getting. What has happened to God in all this? Even worship has become a competitive commodity to gain the favor of the “believers” and become the number one church. The format for the number one church is found in God’s Word. There is one message, one God, one Savior, one Spirit; without competition. Is God happy with your God-ly celebrations?

My Only Sonshine

A man is at the dentist’s office for a routine appointment and voices a complaint to the dentist about a terrible taste coming from his plate. The dentist says to the patient, “I notice your plate is severely corroded causing the foul taste. Have you had a change in your diet recently?” The man replies, “Why yes. About six months ago my wife introduced me to eggs Benedict. I fell in love with the hollandaise sauce and now I put it on everything.” “That’s it!” exclaimed the dentist. “The hollandaise sauce contains lemon juice which is very acidic. That explains the corrosion of your plate. I can replace your plate, but I’ll have to make it out of chrome.” “Why chrome?” asked the patient. With an inquisitive look the dentist said, “Why, I thought everyone knew; There’s no plate like chrome for the hollandaise.”
Like any good mother, when Karen found out another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, preparer for a new sibling. The baby was going to be a girl and Michael loved to sing to his sister in his mommy’s tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her. The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen. In time the labor pains came, but serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in labor for hours. After a long struggle Michael’s little sister was born, but she was in very serious condition. She was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee. The days inched by and the baby’s condition worsened. The doctors held very little hope and the parents were told to prepare for the worst. Michael, however, kept begging his parents to let him see his sister. “I want to sing to her”, he kept saying. Children weren’t allowed in the intensive care unit, but Karen decided to take Michael whether the staff liked it or not. A confrontation with the head nurse ended with Karen, “He’s not leaving until he sings to his sister!” Then Karen towed Michael to his sister’s bedside. He gazed at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. In the pure-hearted voice of a three-year-old, Michael began to sing, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray”. Instantly the baby responded! Pulse rate and breathing calmed and became steady. “Keep singing”, encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. “You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don’t take my sunshine away.” Michael continued, “The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms.” The bossy head nurse, with tears rolling over her cheeks, was amazed at the immediate improvement of the infant’s vitals. Karen glowed as Michael finished his song, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, please don’t take my sunshine away.” Michael’s little sister relaxed and healing rest seemed to sweep over her. The very next day, the little girl went home.
[John 3: 16-21] The celebration of the birth of the Christ child produces more opposition every year. The Christ in Christmas is fading and the baby is in serious condition. Fewer children of each generation are being given the opportunity to sing a love song to Jesus, making it possible to bring Him home to live as a sibling. Parents are not preparing children for life, with the truth and support of God’s Word, which they can use throughout their life. Our baby’s are dying from lack of truthful love and Jesus is dying from human ignorance. “Please, don’t take my only Sonshine away.”

Time's Running Out

It’s hard to believe 2011 is coming to a close. It seems like yesterday we couldn’t wait for our new WalMart to open. It felt like it was taking forever, but low and behold it even opened as scheduled. I always thought it ridiculous to hear my elders confirm over and over again, “The older you get, the faster time passes”. When I think about it I’m reminded of another wise edict introduced to my life in about the sixth grade. In one of my classes, the teacher had posted a sign next to the clock on the wall. It read, “Time will pass; Will you?” It seems the older we get the more we find to fill our time and before we know it one day runs into another, into another, into another. If we’re not careful, we wake up and can’t even think of what day it is without consulting some sort of electronic device. Every once in a while I set back and evaluate my sleep deprivation trying to determine if it’s all worth it. I often realign my daily schedule, but then it doesn’t take long before I find something more to fill the newly allocated free time. And like most people I don’t fill the time with the purposes I was seeking more time for. It’s definitely a rat race this thing we call life and living, but the only thing I’m really worried about is, am I going to pass. I think we too often fail to realize that we all carry a great responsibility to ourselves and to our existence after time runs out.
My wife and I celebrate our anniversary this month and that’s one of those dates a man ought not to forget and needs to schedule time for at least a dinner date. I’m not a romantic and do not express my feelings well, but I’m also the guy you here about all the time who confesses that, “I would be nothing today without my wife standing beside me”. It’s true. My wife quietly encourages me with a look of confidence and nonchalantly, often times, puts me on notice that it’s time to shut my mouth and act the person she knows I am. My character is weak; our character has strength.
A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the ceremony his cousin asked him, “How many women can a man marry?” “Sixteen”, the boy responded. “How do you know that?” the cousin asked. “Easy”, said the boy. “All you have to do is add it up. Like the preacher said, four better, four worse, four richer and four poorer.”
Overheard at a wedding, one said, “Boy is he in big trouble!” Another asked why he said that. He replied, “The preacher asked the bride if she took this man to be her husband and she said ‘I do’. Then the preacher asked the groom if he took this woman to be his bride, and she said, ‘He does!’”
[Ecclesiastes 3] Along with the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes is worth reading over and over again. This book’s authorship is given to Solomon, although never stated, and the general theme relates to the significances of human life. In verse 17 the author states, “I thought in my heart, ‘God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed.’” In Philippians 2:12, Paul commended the church at Philippi as they continue to obey God’s Word without having to be reminded to do so and to “…continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” How different this world would be if we all first looked to please our Father in heaven in all we do and think. I fear God in a healthy way, for I do not want to be punished for my selfish foolish ways when my time is finished. I am striving to pass the tests of time in this life with the help of God.

Judas Asparagus

Sometimes we have to wonder if we take for granted that children understand what we are teaching. A seven-year-old was asked to write a book report on the entire Bible.
“In the beginning, near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness and some gas. The Bible says, “The Lord thy God is one’, but I think he must be older than that. Anyway, God said, ‘Give me a light!’ then God made the world. He split the Adam and made Eve. They were naked, but they weren’t embarrassed because mirrors hadn’t been invented yet. They disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. I don’t know how. They didn’t have a car. Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel. Pretty soon all the early people died off, except for Methuselah who lived to be a million I think. One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He invited some other folks to join him, but they said they would take a rain-check. After Noah came Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a very loud sports coat. Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name is Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues to Pharaoh’s people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels and no cable. God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them his Top Ten Commandments. These include: don’t lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor’s stuff and humor thy father and mother. After Joshua came David who got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn’t sound very wise to me. After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One was Jonah, who was swallowed by a whale and got barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don’t have to worry about them. After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of the New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn so when my mom says, ‘Close the door. Were you born in a barn?’ I could say, ‘Yes!’) During his life, Jesus had many arguments with the Pharisees and the Democrats. Jesus had twelve opossums. The worst of them was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil they named a terrible vegetable after him. Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the pilot. Pilot didn’t stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead. Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, and then came back to life again. He went up to heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.”
[1 Corinthians 13:11-13 & 2 Peter 3] I’m glad that as we mature mentally, and in the faith, we can come to a fuller understanding of the will of God for our life and our salvation. I pray I will never be too old to want to discover a deeper understanding of God’s Word. One can only do this through study of God’s Word on a level of thirsting for it. The Day of the Lord will be no laughing matter if you’re ignorant of His love.

Someone Needs You

Of all the schisms in the world, me-ism has to be the most selfish, arrogant, godless, self-centered, one person cult there is. Black Friday has been conjured up by big business as the day they will attempt to make enough sales through sheer volume to bring their bottom line into the black before the end of the year. This year competition among the top retailers has broadened the 24 hour dollar feeding frenzy to 36 and 48 hours with each retailer attempting to start their sales first, thus getting customers into their establishment first. Black Friday has, in actuality, brought out the deepest darkest side of some consumers - greed! This year the serious gluttons came prepared to fight for what they felt was theirs. People introduced knives and guns and body guards as persuasive tools against formidable foes in the electronics aisle. A person would think they were fighting over the last loaf of bread on the planet. I waited two days to buy a new TV and got a better deal than if I had gone to fight the crowds on Black Friday.
Several years ago, Charles “Chuck” Swindoll had this to say about “Attitude”. “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, then failures, than successes than, what other people think, or say, or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company …a church …a home. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past …we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it. And so it is with you …we are in charge of our attitudes.”
[Luke 5: 27-32] It was a crisp, sunny afternoon in early December when a family had gone to the Christmas tree farm in hopes of finding a suitable tree for their home. It was an outing they relished, with family members combing the entire farm for the perfect tree. It had to be just right, not too tall, not too thin, just the right shape, and of course, a straight trunk. While searching through the pines, they came upon another family they knew and stopped to visit. They commented, “This place is filled with beautiful trees. It’s going to be hard to pick one”. Their friends replied, “Not for us. We never look for perfect trees! We’re looking for a tree that needs us! Then we’ll make it beautiful!” When it comes to picking disciples, God operates on the same principle. He can take Peter, an impulsive, erratic fisherman and make him into a powerful spokesman. He can take John, a fiery hothead and turn him into the apostle of love. God doesn’t look for perfection in deciding who can carry out his work. I’m glad of this, because that means even an unlikely type like me has possibilities in his hands. Instead of perfection, he’s looking for folks who need him! He’s looking for someone whose heart can be broken! When we realize this, then God can make something beautiful of our lives. Paul wrote to Timothy about ones attitude among people who do not know God and it’s good advise to all who profess to be of God. (2 Timothy 2: 14-26) Read it. To be of God, I must show that God is with me and that I’m willing to share my joy of life. There is someone you know who needs you. Beautify them with God.

Wise Foolishness

Haaaa,ha,ha,ha! :-) In this day and age of people screaming at the top of their lungs, begging for smarter decisions from representatives in state and federal governments, the very people we love to hate, make another irrational binding decision that has everyone shaking their head wondering, what in the world are they thinking. Our legislators are very concerned with the welfare of our children and are well aware of the obesity problem creeping into the lives of our 21st century couch potatoes. (About the only well developed muscle in their body is located in the thumb area.) Well, our concerned lawmakers once again scrutinized what was being served our children at lunchtime in our schools. Nutritionists would like to have pizza day removed from the menu because the ingredients in pizza are super fattening and should be replaced with a more suitable meal. In their infinite wisdom, our lawmakers made another politically correct decision avoiding controversy from any source. Pizza was examined and it was determined that the two tablespoons of tomato paste on the pizza as its base product of toppings was enough to reclassify pizza as a vegetable, thus keeping it on school lunch program as a nutritional meal. Late night show host Jimmy Kimmel said, “That’s like calling elastic waistbands weight control devices”. Another smart decision out of D.C.
I think we need to reduce the population and a good start would be not allowing women to have children after 35. I know this is a controversial statement, but I stand by it. Women should not have children after 35! Some say, “Of course women can have children after 35!” They don’t know what they’re talking about and I can guarantee they have had very little experience in the matter. I don’t care what the doctors say. I don’t care what your friends say. I don’t even care what the preacher has to say. Women should not have children after 35! You can quote me on this. I don’t advise it, I vehemently recommend against it, and loudly, and even at times rudely tell people, “don’t even consider it!” “Women should not have children after 35!” Some will send rude emails proclaiming the freedom of the womb, but I still stand by what I said. You may disagree with me, that’s your right. I stand firm on the issue. With most things I keep an open mind, but not on this issue. If I find an exception to this rule, then I will be open for change, but for now, it is firmly closed because I have never seen an exception. Women should not have children after 35. Thirty-five children are enough!
[1 Corinthians 1: 18-31] Paul was writing to the church in Corinth about divisions in the church. New Christians were holding on to old ideals and there didn’t seem to be any unity in their baptism in Christ. Man had been separated from God since his disobedience in the Garden of Eden. Disobedience is sin and sin brought about spiritual death in mankind for the spirit was no longer being led by God. Man has a mind of his own and unfortunately he uses it way too often without consulting God. From the very beginning, God knew of this arising problem and had a plan to reconcile himself with man again. It is through Jesus that we are forgiven of our sins and it is through Jesus that we receive the Holy Spirit of God to help us and comfort us through this life. When man submits his will to God and accepts God’s will to regulate his life, hope springs forth and life is worth living. It’s all foolishness, until the wise and the selfish set aside their self-centeredness and boast in the Lord, sharing His love with concern.

Peddlers

It’s become a sad state of affairs when a body is afraid to leave his own home not knowing if it will be in the same condition when he returns. Nowadays we have to lock everything up and turn on an alarm to deter theft and wanton destruction. What’s even worse, we feel we have to purchase some back-up Smith & Wesson tactical force to feel comfortable when we are at home. In the cold country where I grew up all the utilities entered the home via the basement due to freezing and other inclement weather conditions. Once a month a complete stranger would enter your home and read the meters. A knock on the door, “Meter reader” and you let the guy in, showed him the basement door and he did his business. If it was snowless, he would enter through an exterior door directly into the basement and unless you saw him you wouldn’t even know he had been there. Not anymore! In light of the news reports, especially over the past twenty years, it seems it’s getting to a point a body can’t trust anyone anymore. Not only that, but our children and our seniors are in danger of abuse and outright theft. We’re living in the world of “me” and “I” with the attitude of, if “I” want it “I’ll” do whatever it takes to get it. How much worse can it get? Standby, hide and watch.
I saw some folks going from door to door the other day in an attempt to sell a cleaning product following a rather dramatic demonstration in the home. I’ve been there before and it’s amazing to me that the product the salesperson gives you at the time of purchase never does work as good as the stuff that was in their bottle they demonstrated with. The “peddler”, one who sells door to door, has been around a long, long time. Early America, and especially early Western America, relied and depended on the peddler for much of the household goods needed to have a more comfortable life. But some peddlers had a reputation for cheating and misrepresentation in order to secure some benefit for himself. Sincerity was not high on the hucksters list. He was prepared to say anything to make a sale. For example, there is the story of the oft-fooled bald-headed man who asked the peddler, “Can you prove this is a good hair restorer?” To which the peddler replied, “One lady customer took the cork out of the bottle with her teeth and twenty-four hours later she had a full mustache!” Some folks will say almost anything if it works to their advantage. Have we been taught such behavior? Consider collegiate debate teams. They argue subjects, even nonsensical, just to practice arguing a subject (essential training for lawyers and politicians). The rub for me is that one day students argue “for” the subject at hand and the next day they argue “against” the same subject. I’m afraid that’s where some of the insensitivity of our leaders is coming from. They don’t care which side of the fence they’re on, just so long as they end up on the winning team. Can “me” ever become “we” and mean it?
[2 Corinthians 2: 12 - 3: 18] In verse 17, Paul says, “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary; in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.” Let’s face it. There are still “peddlers” of God’s word today. They preach to benefit themselves, although they say it’s to glorify God. Religion is being watered down, diluted to the point of being a social club. There are no absolutes of right or wrong, reward or punishment being taught our children today. I believe; therefore I speak. God’s will is written and it is mine. (2 Corinthians 4:13-18)

Who Do You Trust?

Since the end of the big war, WWII, the war to end all wars, the world view of success in life is earning more money next year. Because of this philosophy the U.S. has watched its steel manufacturing, copper and other mining industries, automobile manufacturing, oil production and even farming, leave this country boycotting the ever rising cost of employment and demanded benefits by employees. The U.S. now imports more goods than it exports and the countries that now hold American jobs are thriving as we did pre the big war. The problem the world has today is the same it’s always had, except there’s more people involved and the current economic system is collapsing under the strain. There are four classes of people in the world; The Greedy, The Conscientious Worker, The Lazy and The Physically Impaired, and I don’t know as it will ever change. The world debt is fixin’ to bring the curtain down on a poorly written play of tragedy and the rewrites, in an attempt to keep the play running, are even sadder. People are fed-up with the greed. A well known bank tried to milk more money from its customers by levying more nickel and dime fees on their services only to find out that their customers have been pushed far enough as they started pulling their money out of the bank and depositing with strictly regulated credit unions. Is it going to take an "Olly olly oxen free!” to save the world economy? Greece, the once world center of great thinkers and philosophers, looks to be the first to collapse economically and that could bring about four more countries down with it. No company or country can survive gross mismanagement and misappropriation of funds on a regular basis. It appears to me that the “new math” isn’t working so well.
A man approached his local banker seeking a $500 loan. When asked what he wanted the money for the man explained it was to pay for a trip to a distant city where he would sell some jewelry he had made. The banker wasn’t too sure about this so asked the man what sort of collateral he had. The man asked, “What’s collateral?” “It’s something of value that can cover the cost of the loan in case you’re unable to pay it back”, replied the banker. In conversation the banker found out the man only owned a 1949 Chevy pick-up, an old two bedroom house and a toothless horse. Reluctantly the banker approved the loan. Several weeks later the man entered the bank with a fist full of money to pay his loan. The banker noticed the man had a rather large sum of money still in his hand and asked, “What are you going to do with the rest of your money?” “Put it in my pocket”, replied the man. “Why don’t you deposit it in our bank?” asked the banker. After explaining what it meant to deposit his money in the bank, the man looked suspiciously at the banker and asked, “What do you have for collateral?”
[Leviticus 25] I don’t think I want to go so far as calling God a socialist, but if the world had adopted the thinking of God we probably wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in today. Because life is not all about worldly gain, God had in place a time of forgiveness and freedom from monetary problems. Every fifty years was a Year of Jubilee, (v10) “…each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan.” The chapter reveals a lot more in detail, but the idea was to go back to the basics of what was given them by God when they entered the Promised Land and be thankful for what God has done. People don’t trust and rely on God. Greed is king.

Pay Your Taxes

Can you believe it’s almost the end of another year? Reality seems to set in when we find our tax bill in the mailbox. The tax statement is a funny thing. For two weeks everyone you meet asks, “Have you gotten your taxes yet?” When you answer, “No”, the inquirer adds, “I wonder what’s taking those people so long to get them in the mail?” In reality, the tax bill is never mailed out until the last full week of October and when it arrives, that same person who couldn’t wait to get their taxes in the mail confronts with, “Have you gotten your taxes yet? Those people are crazy! What do they do with all that money? They’re probably going to give themselves another raise! I think we need to vote them all out and start over!” Ninety-nine chances out of one hundred says that person doesn’t even know who “those people” are, let alone ever find the time to go vote on election day. This is also a great time of the year for procrastinators. The season has begun which involves so many activities it’s easy to set aside what needs to be accomplished to do what we want to do. This is the beginning of the season when it’s so easy to over indulge in self and forget to tend to obligations such as paying the utilities and the rent. The slogan for a repo company featured on TV is, “It ain’t no joke, if you don’t pay that note”. Don’t be like the politicians. If you’ve entered into an agreement to pay for services rendered, don’t spend that money somewhere else. The bill is still going to come due and you’re still going to have to pay
A couple of “good ol’ boys” decided to go on a REAL fishing trip. They rented all the equipment; the reels, the rods, the wading suits, the rowboat, the car and even a cabin in the woods next to a fishing stream. They spent a fortune! The first day out, they didn’t catch anything. The same thing happened on the second day and on the third. It continued like that until, finally, on their last day of vacation, one of them caught a fish. As they were driving home, they were really depressed. One guy turned to the other and said, “Do you realize that this one lousy fish cost us fifteen hundred dollars?” The other guy said, “Wow! It’s a good thing we didn’t catch any more!”
At the weekly meeting of a weight loss class, the instructor held up an apple and a candy bar. “What are the attributes of this apple” she asked, “and how do they relate to our diet?” “Low calories” and “Lots of fiber” were among the answers. She then detailed what was wrong with eating the candy and concluded, “Apples are not only more healthful but also less expensive. Do you know I paid seventy-five cents for this candy bar?” The group stared at the forbidden treat as she held it aloft. From the back of the room a small voice could be heard saying, “I’ll give you a dollar for it.”
[Romans 13] It seems there are times in life when we just keep hitting the snooze button on things we need to be doing but just don’t want to get started doing them. God’s Word teaches us to pay our debts. (v7) “…Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” God’s Word also teaches us that we need to stop procrastinating about the things we know we need to start doing. (v11) “…The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” Stop worrying about the living comforts of the world or gratifying the sinful nature (v14) “…Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”. Start today.

That'e My King

The Libyan civil war seems to be winding down with the capture and assignation of Muammar Gaddafi this past week. The guns will be laid aside and the pen will be taken up as the battle to form a government of the people begins. I imagine the world will be looking on throughout the process, watching to see which worldly government format the Libyan’s will imitate or adapt. Power and greed are hard to overcome in this world and I hope the new leaders of Libya have learned if you live by the sword you will most likely die by the sword just as their former dictator has experienced.
[Isaiah 45] If only the world would adopt the Creator of the universe as their King. The following is only part of a sermon by the late Dr. S.M. Lockeridge in 1976.
“My King was born King. The Bible says he’s a Seven Way King. He’s the King of the Jews; that’s an Ethnic King. He’s the King of Israel; that’s a National King. He’s the King of righteousness, the King of the ages, the King of Heaven, the King of glory, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. That’s my King. Do you know my King? David said the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. My King is the only one of whom there are no means of measure that can define his limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of the shore of his supplies. No barriers can hinder him from pouring out his blessings. He’s enduringly strong, entirely sincere, eternally steadfast, immortally graceful, imperially powerful ands impartially merciful. That’s my King. He’s God’s Son, the sinner’s Savior and the centerpiece of civilization. He stands alone in himself. He’s honest, unique, unparalleled and unprecedented. He’s supreme, pre-eminent, the grandest idea in literature, the highest personality in philosophy and the supreme problem in higher criticism. He’s the fundamental doctrine of historic theology and the carnal necessity of spiritual religion. That’s my King. He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the superlative of everything good that you chose to call him. He’s the only one able to supply all our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak, he’s available for the tempted and the tried, he sympathizes and saves. He’s the Almighty God who guides and keeps all his people. He heals the sick, cleanses the leapers, forgives sinners, delivers the captives, defends the feeble, blesses the young, serves the unfortunate, regards the aged, rewards the diligent and beautifies the meek. That’s my King. My King is the King of knowledge, the wellspring of wisdom, the doorway of deliverance and the pathway of peace. He’s the roadway of righteousness, the highway of holiness and the gateway of glory. He’s the master of the mighty, the captain of conquers, the head of heroes, the leader of legislatures, the overseer of over comers, the governor of governors, the prince of princes, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. That’s my King. I wish I could describe him to you. His goodness is limitless, his mercy limitless, his love never changes and his word is enough. His grace is sufficient, his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He’s incomprehensible, invincible and irresistible. Heaven can’t contain him and man can’t explain him. You can’t get him out of your mind, get him off your hands, outlive him or live without him. He always has been and always will be. He has no predecessor and he’ll have no successor. You can’t impeach him and he’ll never resign. That’s my King. That’s my King!” Amen!

Resistance Is Futile

Resistance is almost futile when it comes to wanting to climb aboard at least one of the bandwagons traveling around this country. One has a wide choice of politics or religion, environment or energy, drilling verses wind and solar, flu shot or no flu shot each of which have their radicals for and against, all with convincing arguments. Four years ago the American public listened to want-to-be president politicians promise change and unfortunately that’s what we got. Following our last presidential election things definitely went from bad to worse with nobody accepting responsibility and more heartbreaking, nobody seems to have a solution short of profiteering. We can’t even get a football or basketball game started in this country anymore without arguing over how many million dollars it’s going to take to blow the whistle. Well, it looks as though this presidential election is going to be controlled by the people. This go around the people are not looking for change, they are demanding change and I think the politicians are going to be very surprised at the outcome. 2012 is going to be radical.
Blessed are those that can give without remembering, and take without forgetting. One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, “I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.” The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'Thank You' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door. Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, “I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.” The cop was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there were a 'Thank You' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door. Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, “I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.” The Congressman was very happy and left the shop. The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut. And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.
By the way, think about this: 10 years ago we had Steve Jobs, Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Today we have no Jobs, no Hope, and no Cash. (Thx Elaine)
[Psalm 145] “There is one body and one Spirit; …one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4: 4-6) To the dismay of a great many people, we don’t get to campaign and elect a new God every now and again and I for one am happy about that. The laws of the universe are in the firm grip of a dictator and there is no one greater to overthrow my God. He has no cabinet, no advisors nor any mistakes to correct. He cannot be reasoned with nor can he be lobbied to influence a change of mind. God has made the universe and in the fullness of time he will destroy it. Mankind is to serve God and one another in love. “Do unto others before they do unto you” is not what God had in mind. The message from God through Jesus is simple. We are selfish and rebellious against God and lost in our sins. Without hearing, believing, repenting, being baptized and living as instructed by God’s Word, we will not see God, period! God’s grace awaits those who love Him.

Stop The Downward Trend

Did you ever dream you would see the “Wall” come down, or the “Towers” come down? The confidence level of the American people in their government, nationally and locally, throughout the country, is at an all time low. Did you ever dream you would see the day that the American public would demonstrate against corporate America, fed up with their greed and dishonesty? The world economy is coming down, slowly being crushed under the weight of its own paperwork. You wanted change? I’ll tell you right now, change is a comin’. The U.S. dollar used to be used as an honest exchange between parties for honorable means of gain. Today it seems there is less and less honor in the exchange as people are trying their best to accumulate all the dollars they can by hook or by crook. Is it possible corporate business is coming down a notch or two? Wall Street has made a lot of people very, very rich, but I see a weaning.
Maybe we should have listened to our country’s forefathers a little more closely. Maybe we should review what they had to say about preserving the Republic they established. For example, do you know who Benjamin Rush is? He is a signer of the “Declaration of Independence” from Pennsylvania. His biography is interesting and among his life’s accomplishments, he was a great physician. The following is one of his ideals. “Under this head, I must be excused in not agreeing with those modern writers who have opposed the use of the Bible as a schoolbook. The only objection I know to it is its division into chapters and verses and its improper punctuation which render it a more difficult book to read well than many others, but these defects may easily be corrected, and the disadvantages of them are not to be mentioned with the immense advantages of making children early and intimately acquainted with the means of acquiring happiness both here and hereafter. How great is the difference between making young people acquainted with the interesting and entertaining truths contained in the Bible, and the fables of Moore and Croxall, or the doubtful histories of antiquity! I maintain that there is no book of its size in the whole world that contains half so much useful knowledge for the government of states or the direction of the affairs of individuals as the Bible.” (Reference; www.schoolchoices.org/roo/rush.htm)
[Psalm 34] Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders and personally that scares me. Now I know my father probably thought the same thing as did his father and his father before him, but I believe it to be a legitimate fear when it comes to the welfare of our country and the world. Why are our children turning away? Why are they turning away from responsible, honest, moral and spiritual living? Quit simply, as parents we are trying to mold our children in our image after God has sent them to us molded in his own image. God has plans for our children and whatever gifts they display we need to encourage that gift and display life as God would have us all to live (Ephesians 5 & 6). God is being evicted from the lives of our children by those who hate righteousness and by parents who allow the world to rule their life. Without God, the world will always be getting the best of us only to tell us our best isn’t good enough. How sad it is we live this way. Everyone asks, “So, where is God?” You find God the same way you find money, you seek it (Luke 12:22-34). Our children are a mess. Our country is a mess. The world is a mess. God wants to help clean up the mess. Invite Him in to help.

Can You "Like" God?

Why hasn’t social networking been declared an epidemic pandemic natural disaster yet? A TV commercial of late shows a young woman in disgust with her baby-boomer parents thinking they are social hermits because they won’t get on line and hook up with some “friends”. While she’s expressing her disappointment in her parents the commercial scene shows her parents actually enjoying their social life with some other couples in the outdoors embracing nature and exercise. The scene returns to the young woman where she is using her laptop. She sarcastically states that her parents have gained five online friends and boasts that she has four hundred some odd. Then, while staring at the laptop screen, she exclaims, “This is living!” I think, NOT!
UK author Rob Clymo wrote this column entitled, “Is Technology Killing Us?” which appeared on MaximumSoftware.com. “We all love our gadgets and gizmos, but increasingly, it seems that research is suggesting that the electronic devices we use every day could actually be putting us at greater risk than we initially thought. For example, the world Health Organization has just placed mobile phones in the category ‘2B – possible carcinogenic to humans’, which means your beloved headset now sits along side pickled vegetables, printer ink and coffee when it comes to possible threats to your wellbeing. However, much of this is based around how much you use your phone. Certainly, the worrying headlines about contracting brain cancer might help to sell newspapers, but sensible use of a phone is, it seems, no riskier than enjoying your daily mug of caffeine. But that’s the thing with everything we do – ‘moderation in all things’ as they say. That’s not to say that technology does not have a debilitating effect on us, even if we’re using it in a sensible fashion. Let’s face it; we all spend hours in front of screens now, be they workstations, home computers, laptops, netbooks, tablets and smart phones – all are putting an increasing strain on our peepers.” Recent surveys have suggested that people are spending more time looking at screens than sleeping, and over sixty percent admitted they get withdrawal symptoms if they’re separated from their device for a period of time. An additional forty percent say they look for their mobile phone before doing anything else after waking up. A quarter said they did it within three minutes of rising from their slumber. Also, today’s children spend around half as much time looking at screens as they do being taught in school. And, with so many irresistible gadgets around us, the temptation to stare at a screen all day is becoming even stronger. The desire to own the latest gadget on the market is bringing people to do crazy things like spending their last dollar and selling body parts.
[1 Corinthians 6: 12 & 10: 23] Paul writes twice in the same letter; “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” and “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive”. Alcohol, drugs, sex and “rock-n-roll” evidently weren’t mind controlling enough for the evil one. Satan is using the electronic age to turn billions of people away from God. Gossip, “the sharing of information”, is ruining lives. God has no web page nor is he on Facebook. You can’t “Like” him or have him as an electronic “friend”. You must seek God and study his Word. God loves you and has rewards waiting, in your name.

Thank God For The Rain

Well, one day last week Mother Nature changed up her routine from hot and dry to cool and wet, for a few hours. Yes, that was rain! Though it turned out to be just a tease of a couple of inches of precipitation, lawns, trees and flower gardens greedily drank it up and within 24 hours began to show their glory in living color once again. Amazing what a little rain water can do for foliage and attitude alike. If you’re like me, I get tired of the same weather day after day and especially when it’s hot and dry what seems like forever. This “Diablo Summer”, as one local weatherman has called it, has and continues to cause a lot of problems across the countryside. Farming and ranching has suffered greatly and the end is no where in sight. Fires have consumed the vegetation on thousands of acres of land and cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to homes and other property. Dry, shifting, settling earth, is causing building foundation problems and is evident on the front page of our local newspaper this past week. It seems the weather has affected our 127 year-old county courthouse. A big ole crack on the outside and some noticeable problems on the inside of one corner of the building have brought about an evacuation of a portion of the courthouse until a high powered engineering firm can determine what’s going wrong and what to do about it. Originally built to standards that would enable it stand forever, I guess the warranty just ran out. I suppose a few million dollars down the road we’ll get a new warranty.
One night a wife found her husband standing over their baby’s crib. Silently, she watched him for a few minutes. As he stood looking down at the sleeping infant, she saw on his face a mixture of emotions. Touched by his unusual display, she slipped her arms around her husband, “A penny for your thoughts,” she whispered. “It’s amazing,” he replied. “I just can’t see how anybody can make a crib like this for only $64.95.
[Isaiah 51: 4-8] I am encouraged when I pull my local newspaper from the mailbox and read at the top of the front page, “Thank God for the rain”. There are some, and in increasing numbers I might add, that say it’s all in the cycle of nature that we do or don’t get rain and eventually it has to start raining again. The God of the Bible is a powerful God and if he sees it a fit time to cut off the rain from the country, that’s what’s gong to happen. If the lack of rain, or an abundance of tornadoes, or numerous floods, or earthquakes is what it takes to bring us to our knees in prayer and repentance then so be it. Look at it this way. If you continually crash automobiles, will your insurance company continue replacing them? If you constantly fail courses of learning will you graduate from high school or college? No! In fact somebody is going to come down hard on you for your actions and deny you the benefits you seek. If we continually sin and disobey the Creator, if we constantly insist on having our own way, how can we expect to reap the benefits promised by God? No foundation on this earth is strong enough to withstand time. All earthly things will crumble and disappear in time so why invest your life totally in earthly pleasures? I’m convinced of life after death and for my need to get to know God and obey him and his righteous ways. Jesus, the bedrock of truth and righteousness, is everlasting and the only foundation worthy for building an everlasting life upon. No matter what happens in this life I am already devoted to the next life, eternal life with my God who loves me and chastises me.

Repentance Intervention

I took a few days off last week, joining my siblings and other family members for a little reunion. My elder sister organized it and for a change we got to enjoy one another in a different way than in the past ten years or so, as no one was sick nor were we about to bury a loved one. It seems my sister was always tending to logistics of the situation that brought us together and never had the time to relax and just be her self. Well, in a round-about way she suggested we leave our problems at home and come to enjoy a walk down memory lane as a family and friends. She had inherited all the stuff our parents had held dear to them, mostly photos, and as we went through them we even discovered things about the family we never knew. It was a great four days together and I enjoyed myself, except for one thing. You’d think at my age I would at least know to watch where I’m going, especially in a strange environment. While spending the afternoon at my nephew’s house, I was walking one way and looking another, and when I decided it was time to check my bearings, I turned to look and, WHAM! I walked straight into a spiral stairway bustin’ my head open. I did as good a job as any ten-year-old could and panic spread throughout the house like a wildfire. I had no intentions of sitting for hours in a Houston hospital ER waiting for stitches so talked my brother, a retired Navy Corpsman and civilian PA, into closing and patching the wound the best he could. Yeh, leave it up to me to liven up the party.
Leaving home was a little nerve racking as we’ve been experiencing a rash of burglaries in the area, but I left the homestead in the hands of the Lord, which worked out just fine. Everything was just as we left it, still no rain and the politicians are still out for themselves. One more of my predictions came to fruition. America’s Got Talent contestant, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. won the top prize and well deserved it. “Silhouettes” came in second, but “iLuminated”, third place, was a much better presentation for me. Nevertheless, the show is nutty, goofy and great, just what the typical American family needs to be watching as an alternative to deceit, violence and spit in the Lord’s eye shows. I personally refuse to watch most of what’s on the four major networks. Pay TV was laughable in the ‘60’s, but soul saving in this present day.
[James 4: 13 - 5: 6] In the book, “Once Blind - The Life of John Newton” by Kay Marshall Storm, John perceived slave trading a sin and feared God’s wrath upon England because of it. His fight to abolish slave trading, standing on his own foundation of repentance and belief in God’s Word, John Newton had this warning for the Parliament of his day: “It is righteousness that exalts a nation, and wickedness is the present reproach, and will, sooner or later, unless repentance intervene, prove the ruin of any people.” We need to push the ACLU and like organizations attempting to abolish Christianity in this country aside, and instead of covering up references to God and Country in Washington and other capitals, we ought to be polishing them so they gleam in the eyes of our elected officials reminding them of how this country was born and who is truly maintaining her presence in the world. If no intervening of repentance is forthcoming, our grandchildren will not enjoy our freedoms. Our situation is not hopeless if put in the hands of God. “God saved me so that people would look at me and say, ‘If God could save John Newton, (your name?) He can save anyone.” Amen.

I Believe

I'm taking a little vacation and havent written anything this week. Here's something I'd like to share with you. Get some tissues and find a quiet place to enjoy the next 5 minutes. www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html (Copy and Paste Link to your browser)

Clutter

When I attended school, the year never started until the day after Labor Day. The week prior was devoted to at least one day at the New York State Fair and attending the modified stockcar race on Labor Day. The same evening was spent at a different racetrack for another big race, capping off another summer. Today I have no desire to travel on holiday weekends. There are just too many people trying to get somewhere as fast as they can and then return home in the same manner. I’m still totally amazed at our abilities as human beings when it comes to how we function in the chaos we call driving. When you seriously think about it, nearly all operators of powered vehicles are quit skilled at performing the act of transporting themselves from one place to another, without incident, numerous times a day, day after day. Accidents occur but seldom due to equipment malfunction. The root cause of accidents is operator error, mainly due to distraction, or the brain has been artificially enhanced with a substance foreign to the body, which impairs judgment and the ability to make quick decisions. Unfortunately, people are making poor decisions as they rocket around in their personal entertainment center on wheels. What ever happened to plain vanilla basic $5000 transportation?
It might be a good thing that NASA has to stand down for a period. It seems, according to Slate.com, the space junk whizzing around the earth in low orbit is posing a traffic problem. Tracking all this junk is really getting to be a problem. On February 10, 2009 the first accident in space was recorded. A derelict Russian communications satellite, Cosmos 2251, ran into a working American one, owned by the company Iridium. The collision totaled both satellites adding 2,000 more trackable pieces of space junk to the already 19,000 plus pieces being tracked in an attempt to avoid such collisions. A warning to Iridium by the US Air Force that the satellites were about to pass in close proximity was ignored and; crash! Well, here’s an entrepreneur’s dream in the making, Space Junk Collection and Disposal. This is a rather serious situation. Ground controllers are very concerned that one day a chain reaction of collisions will send thousands of pieces of junk out of control crashing into good satellites, destroying our entertainment and ruining our day. Decisions, decisions; oh what to do, what to do.
[John 4: 20-24] The “religious world” today is much cluttered with different practices and ideals which can cause ripples of mixed feelings about how God should be worshipped. I grew up, and participated, in a “Christian” denomination embroidered with pomp and circumstance, including a copy-cat European cathedral type building to the personal identifying costume worn by worship leaders. I don’t remember learning much about souls being saved or a personal relationship with God himself, but I did come away with a reverence for the One who created the universe. I believe. I want it to be perfectly clear; I’m not looking to collide with anyone. When I was introduced to the simple concept of worshipping God in spirit and truth, supported by His Word only, I breathed a sigh of relief and felt I had arrived home. Are you making a personal decision of returning to, or starting, to worship God? Do you think the best entertainment or a well known preacher is the best place for you? Worship is not a commodity. Don’t look for the place that will give you the biggest bang for your buck. Religion is all about getting to know God and his will for you. It’s quiet and serene.

Are You Stormy?

Texans invited Irene to dinner, but she obviously declined preferring the East Coast instead. A couple of tropical storms born in the Gulf of Mexico turned us down also. I guess we need to work on our tourism advertizing. You don’t think our border control is a little too tight turning the storms away, do you? Not! We came oh so close to enjoying a rain shower the other day, but it just wouldn’t happen. Looking to the north and seeing those black clouds coming toward us lifted the spirits of the whole city. A nice cool breeze started blowing and the smell of rain was in the air, but after a few teasing sprinkles of rain, the clouds blew on by. What a let down. Well, if nothing else, we were blessed with a less than 100 + degree afternoon and evening, giving our air conditioners an overnight much deserved rest. The drought is serious enough that people are really concerned about the health of the trees and other plant-life in the area. The threat of fire is increasing every day and the sad appearance of wilting tree leaves, and the demise of some trees, is very apparent as one looks into the undeveloped roadside fields and woodlands, proof that the lack of rain is truly beginning to take its toll on the environment. I don’t like to water, but it’s gotten to a point where I’m trying to help my yard trees survive more than worrying about grass growth. One of my pecan trees has already begun to abort its fall crop of nuts. The tree has made no apology nor issued an excuse for its behavior, but I guess it’s because the tree is simply unable to nourish them to maturity. Looking on the bright side of the current situation, we’re one day closer to the next rain and enjoying the blessings that will grow out of it.
An older gentleman was on the operating table awaiting surgery. He insisted that his son, a renowned surgeon, perform the operation. As he was about to get the anesthesia he asked to speak to his son. “Yes dad, what is it”, asked the son. “Don’t be nervous, son”, began the father, “do your best and just remember, if it doesn’t go well, if something happens to me, your mother is going to come and live with you.”
[Acts 9: 1-31; Chaps. 21-28] At times the storms of life have a tendency to sneak up on us totally by surprise, but at other times we know they’re coming but do little to prepare for their arrive. The storms of life, no matter how big or how small, change our outlook on life and how we live. The Bible is full of storms and stormy people; hence, the Bible is a great learning tool in dealing with life and living. The Old Testament is a teacher of faith and Jesus is the perfecter of faith. The Apostle Paul (Saul) was a storm producing at times fear, uncertainty and great joy in the lives that he blew through. He was known as one who was willing to defeat the Way (Christianity) using any means to do it. Then he encountered the great storm, Jesus, on the road to Damascus. Jesus completely changed Paul’s life. From the time of his conversion until his death, Paul was a hurricane for Christ. In the Book of Acts, Paul testifies to his conversion to common people and kings alike convincing many, almost convincing some and was totally rejected by others. The Bible is warning of an impending storm that each and every one of us will have to go through and how to prepare for it that we might survive (1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 5:24). You are a storm in someone’s life whether they like it or not. You can be destructive or you can patiently nurture them with love and kindness to the understanding of God’s truth. How many souls will your faith bring to Christ?

Accepting The Culture

I got to tell you, I wasn’t born and raised Southern, but I have to admit, Uncle Sam did me a big favor by moving me out of snow country to Texas in 1969. Growing up in a rural town in Upstate New York sort of set me up to blend into the Texan culture without too much trouble because some things I already knew and lived, but some others I had to learn in order to be accepted in rural Texas. So, to help out some of the newcomers to rural Texas, and their ill-fitting teens who are trying to change the culture but still can’t fit in the why they want, with tongue-in-cheek, I offer you ten adjustments you might consider that could bring you peace and gain respect from true Southerners. 1. Pull your droopy draws up. You look like an idiot! 2. While you’re at it, put your hat on straight, unless your head is truly that crooked. 3. Cattle are live steaks and they smell funny because they don’t shower too often. But, they smell like money to a cattleman, so get over it or hit the road back to where you come from. 4. People wave when they meet you on the road. It’s called being friendly. Try to understand the concept. 5. Yeah, rural Texans still eat meat, taters, beans, biscuits, homemade peach cobbler and wash it down with ice cold sweet tea. If you want sushi and caviar, you might try the bait shop. 6. By the way, turn down that blasted car stereo. That tumpity-thump stuff you call music ain’t music anyway. People don’t want to hear it anymore than they want to see your boxers hangin’ outside your droopy drawers. 7. If you’re invited to someone’s house and bring some coke with ya, it better be brown, wet and served over ice. 8. And, if you bring Mary Jane with ya, she better be cute, have long blond hair, know how to drive a truck and shoot a rifle. 9. August to November, or there bout’s, Friday night and Saturday afternoon is football outdoors. August thru February, or there bouts, Sunday afternoon is football indoors. If you’re bringing the bar-b-que and drinks, you’re welcome (Leave your kids and dogs at home). 10. A ten inch rain followed by a small flood is just a healthy cleansing of the land. Don’t panic and raid the grocery store. Worse case, you might have to actually stay home from work or miss going to Wal-Mart one day. It’s still a little laid back in rural Texas, so throttle back your turbo lifestyle before you blow a gasket.
[Romans 6] I think I’d rather take a whippin’ out back of the woodshed than have to move. Moving can be as simple as across town to complicated as moving to a foreign country and some people do it with ease. And after settling into your new crib, culture shock can, and most likely will, change your lifestyle. To live in harmony in a new culture one is not familiar with, you must give up parts of your former lifestyle and adopt the lifestyle of the culture you now live in. It’s like getting married to that perfect person whom you discover isn’t and compromise sets in. I think Paul’s message to the Romans is somewhat along these lines. God’s pardonable grace is a wonderful thing and, as a baptized member of the church, knowing my sins are forgiven is comforting indeed, but I cannot keep living the lifestyle of a wanton sinner expecting God to continue forgiving me. That’s not the culture of the church. My obedience to the oracles of God produces grace, so I must give up the things of my former lifestyle that are contrary to God’s will for me. But, I must always remember, no matter how righteous I may become, I am still a sinner in need of grace, the free gift given by God.

New Season - New Schedule

What’s happened to the dream? You know, the one that all American’s used to have; the one full of adventure and hope. The dream of who you could be, what you could become and how you were going to get there, just doesn’t seem to spark a fire under anyone anymore. This country is not in a recession, it’s in a deep dark depression and I don’t mean monetarily wise. I hear people saying how bad we have it in this country and seem to forget just how good we have it compared to the rest of the world. We’re spoiled brats waiting on someone to clean up our mess and powder our behinds so we can be comfortable playing in the sandbox until we need something else we’re too lazy to go get for ourselves. So, we kick and scream until somebody comes to service us. That’s not how this country was built, but I guarantee you one thing, that’s how this country is going to fall. And that’s all I’ve to say about that, for now.
Well, it’s football season again, which means it’s time to refresh your mind as to the terms of Church Football. Quarterback Sneak: Church members quietly leave during the invitation song. Halftime: The period between Bible Class and Worship when many choose to leave and others are just arriving. Backfield In Motion: Making a trip to the back during worship service. Staying In The Pocket: What happens to a lot of the money that could be given towards the Lord’s work. Two Minute Warning: The point when you realize the sermon is almost over and you begin to gather up your children and belongings. Sudden Death: What happens to the attention span of the congregation when the preacher goes “overtime”. Trap: You’re called on to lead a prayer and you’re asleep. End Run: Getting out of the building quickly. Flex Defense: The ability to allow nothing said during the sermon to affect your life in any way. Blitz: The rush to the restaurants following the closing prayer. Halfback Option: The decision of 50% of the congregation to not come back for the evening worship.
Do you need a new schedule to help you through the week, a sort of anti-depressant self-improvement, lifter-upper? Here we go: Monday-Wash Day: Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead. Tuesday-Ironing Day: Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others. Wednesday-Mending Day: Oh God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others. Thursday-Cleaning Day: Lord Jesus, help me dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart. Friday-Shopping Day: Oh God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others who need love. Saturday-Cooking Day: Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean sweet bread of human kindness. Sunday-The Lord’s Day: Oh God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life with you. Have a great week, and by the way, Sunday is the beginning of the week not the end.
[Joshua 22] An alter was built that almost caused a war. Others misunderstood the reason for building the alter. The alter was called Witness, “For”, they (builders) said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.” Being a witness for God can stir ill feelings against you by some, but Godly virtues witness to a saved soul; your own.

When Are We Better Off?

I really don’t want to get off on a rant here, but let’s review our current financial status. Let see, the debt ceiling has been raised a couple of trillion dollars which has devalued the dollar even more …oh, I guess our politicians and the liberal news media forgot to mention that didn’t they! Yeah, your dollar isn’t worth as much as it was last week because we’ve encored more debt! Our triple A financial rating, as a country, has been downgraded, something the politicians said would not happen if the debt ceiling was raised. The stock market, you know, that place where your 401K life savings is being gambled with, and the politicians said you would never lose, has nearly crashed again, deep sixing more of your retirement money just like two years ago. But according to Mr. Obama, “We’re going to pull through this”. Not if the politicians keep trying to fix it we won’t. The American public has been trying to tell Washington how to fix our financial problems for decades, but our representatives just don’t seem to want to represent the people. Rather, they are still looking for ways to make a buck for themselves. I don’t want my tax dollars building a new Afghanistan. After nine years of messing around, Osama bin Laden is dead! Pack up and come home! I think now that NASA has nothing to do except try to weasel money out of the taxpayer to find water on Mars or some other nonsensical space probe, they ought to be put to work finding affordable energy sources for the people who write their paychecks. The politicians need to get to work on balancing their budgets and finding out why a man can’t find a job, yet the oil companies are entitled to drive up the prices on everything by simply raising the price of gasoline for no apparent reason except to satisfy stockholders. If I were deemed to be “price gouging” on my retail pricing, like the oil industry, the automobile industry and other corporations, I’d probably be fined, lose my business and end up in jail. Ah, but greed is the American way now, isn’t it.
In Portland, Oregon, a seven-year-old girl’s lemonade stand was shut down by the police because she didn’t get a $120.00 business license. On the bright side, by closing her business she’s now eligible for a $108,000.00 government bailout.
[1 John 2: 1-17] A lawyer insured a box of very expensive cigars. Then he made a claim to the insurance company for, “…lose of the cigars in a series of small fires”. The insurance company paid the claim, then sued the lawyer for arson, “…intentionally setting fire to the insured property”. We seem to worry more about our physical life and what we can gain by being so wise, than we do about our spiritual life and how much wisdom is available in God’s Word. If we continue to put our faith in the world and other men, following their commands, we are going to continue to be disappointed in this life. But, if we put our faith in the Lord Jesus, following his commands, he will represent us in truth and righteousness throughout this life and the life to come. Like the lawyer, you cannot out wit God. If you try, I guarantee you will get burned in the end. Even if you feel you’re being blessed by God for the good deeds in your life, be careful, for if you’re not giving the glory to God, you’ve already received your reward in full (Matthew 6:1-4). No works, no deeds, no man, can pull you through from this life to life eternal in heaven. Only you’re obedience in the Word of God will pull you through, for salvation is found in the will and the grace of God (Ephesians 2: 1-10).

Snooze No More

Do you watch “America’s Got Talent”? It’s a show I normally wouldn’t watch, but this go around I happen to catch the end of the first show of the season and the introduction of the carwash guy, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., who sings with the voice of a 40’s crooner. You’ve got to be a baby-boomer to remember the radio playing in the kitchen and hearing Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra and others singing in crystal clear, seemingly effortless voice tones. Anyway, this carwash dude opened his mouth to sing and I had flash-backs of my childhood for an hour. I don’t watch the complete show, ever, because most of it is a totally ridiculous disappointment, but I’ve been trying my best to watch for this guy with the million dollar voice, because I believe he will win. Murphy had never auditioned or performed for a large audience before appearing on the talent show. He awed the judges as well as the full auditorium of people who witnessed the birth of a star. Landau took himself to a place of discomfort just to see if he really was any good and Howie Mandel guaranteed Landau his life was never going to be the same. Piers Morgan said, “…you are standing there crying because you didn’t know how good you were and now you do”. Murphy said he never expected to be received and loved by the audience in this way.
The kind-hearted hostess of an amateur musical spied a lonely-looking little man huddled in a corner of the room and paused to make conversation. “Tell me”, she asked, “do you play any musical instrument?” “Not away from home”, the little man replied. “How peculiar”, remarked the hostess. “What instrument do you play at home?” she inquired. The man replied, “Second fiddle.”
The young man who was to make his first public speech came to the podium and murmured: “My-mm-my f-f-friends, on the way to the banquet only God and I knew what I was going to say to you …and since I’ve misplaced my speech papers, now only God knows what it is I was going to say.”
The older preacher told the younger preacher that if he ever forgot the words of the marriage ceremony to start quoting scripture until he remembered. Sure enough, at the next wedding ceremony, the young man forgot. Sadly, the only scripture he could remember at the time was, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
[Hebrews 12: 14-29] I know it wasn’t the first time that Landau Murphy had sung before an audience, but it was the first time he laid it all on the line to experience a life changing event. He really didn’t know what he had to offer the world until he displayed it. His life will never be the same again. Are you still hitting the snooze button on your talents? Are you still hitting the snooze button when it comes to returning your talents to God? This is a rather difficult subject to subject people to. I have to tell you, I’ve never been happier in my life than when I turned my life over to Jesus and began using my talents to the glory of God. I discovered that no one in this world can offer me what heaven can. I discovered I can’t get to heaven or receive the blessings of heaven without the church and the Holy Spirit of God. Was I nervous to present myself before God and the church? Sure! How will I be received? Are my talents worthy of God and the church? I left worldly things behind and laid my life on the line, seeking forgiveness and a better lifestyle. I’ve been given it all in abundance.

Share In Prayer

How hot and dry is it in Texas? A guy in Longview claims he killed a mosquito that was carrying a canteen. A man in Lubbock said the farmers had their chickens sitting on crushed ice to keep them from laying hard-boiled eggs. In Lake Palestine, a fellow caught a 20 lb catfish covered with ticks! Just this week, in Bryan, a fire hydrant was seen bribing a dog. It's so dry in Texas, Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling, Methodists are using wet-wipes, Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks, and the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water. It will rain again, right?
Here’s something to think about. A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many her age, she considered herself to be an enlightened liberal, very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words, redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a staunch conservative. Based on the lectures and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire, to keep what he thought should be his. One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying. Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?" She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over." Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA." The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That's a crazy idea! How would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!" The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the conservative side of the fence."
[1 Timothy 2:1-4 & Romans 13] Has the heat brought you to your knees? Has the drought brought you to your knees? Has the decadence in Washington brought you to your knees? How about the economic problems facing us all? If not, I suggest you get on your knees and pray. Do you want a better economy? Don’t wait on Washington, pray. Do you want better representatives in government? Don’t let someone else choose them. Pray for God to choose them. Are you tired of gangs and drugs and crime in your neighborhood? Pray them out of existence. It’s obvious we can’t do it right without Supreme guidance. Our forefathers knew it, now we’re learning all about it.

Corn Mileage

I don’t work the automotive scene any longer, but I do understand what the manufacture is going through trying to keep up with government regulations. Things just don’t make sense anymore. For instance, gas mileage is a must these days. Since 1970 when gas was $.20 a gallon, until now, we have seen gas guzzling mandates added to our vehicles such as EGR valves, catalytic converters, revamped A/C systems that need more horsepower (by the way, the auto A/C system is being completely revamped again and it will need even more horsepower to operate it) and if all this is wasn’t enough to hold gas mileage down we now have to put up with corn ethanol which lowers you mileage average even more. And why does gas keep going up? It costs a fortune to produce ethanol! It also produces more pollutants in production than it eliminates burning in your engine. They say we’re running out of petroleum. So why keep developing products that make us use more gas? The Environmental Protection Agency is as much out of control as the rest of our government. We should have been developing electric vehicles over thirty years ago. Today we would all be driving one.
One day while his class was in the lab, the chemistry professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, repeatedly rubbing his back and stretching as if his back was really hurting him. The Prof asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime. In the midst of his story he asked the professor a strange question, “Do you know how to catch wild pigs?” The Prof thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said it was no joke. “You catch them by finding a suitable place in the wild and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and start coming everyday to eat the free corn. Then you put a fence up along one side of the place and keep the corn coming. Then when the pigs are used to the short fence, add another side and so on until all four sides are fenced and the pigs are coming through a gate at one end of the place to eat free corn. Then, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They discover they are caught and start running around inside the fence looking for a way out. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it they have forgotten how to forage for themselves, so they accept their captivity.” The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America. I’ll let you figure out where the free corn is, and the legislative walls that are going up all around.
[Matthew 11: 28-30] I’m so glad that my God is not working on ulterior motives to frustrate me even more than life itself. I know exactly what to expect at the end of this life because through His Word, Jesus and the Bible, I can read and understand what my God expects of me in this life and how to prepare myself for the kind of life I want to experience after death. Jesus says I can learn from him and I can understand and above all I can remember what He teaches. That’s the same for everyone. The rules and qualifications for salvation are the same for everybody and they will never change over time. I don’t know how many more miles I have to travel in this life, but I do know my mileage continues to increase as I continue to clean up my life and live in His way.

America, An Object of Ridicule?

I think we all have something in our life that irritates us to no end. For some people it’s other drivers on the road. For some it’s standing in long lines that don’t seem to move very fast. Maybe what lights the fire under your pressure cooker is whining, misbehaving children sitting at the table next to yours in a restaurant. Isn’t it funny the things you think when your frustration level peaks? Malfunctioning mechanical things that I use all the time, but can’t fix, are my near breaking point. I love to fix things as to replace them, but in this modern throw-away-world it’s getting harder and harder for an honest tinkerer to find any satisfaction in his work. At the moment I’m dealing with the horizontal hold on my man cave TV. I’ve gotten tired of hitting the side of the set with my hand and have moved on to hitting the sweet spot with a chunk of petrified wood, normally used as a paper-weight. It’s getting harder to persuade the reluctant circuit board to straighten up and perform as designed by sending a mini earthquake shock through it with the paperweight. Love-taps have turned into multiple hammering on the idiot box until the picture fills the screen again. I hope I don’t do what I dream of doing before our new Wal-Mart opens. Patience will be rewarded with an upgrade.
Another thing that tends to boil my pot is the nonchalant handling of money and the miss-management of finances. Customer: “Hey! You gave me the wrong change.” Cashier: “Sir, you stepped away from the counter. There’s nothing I can do about it now.” Customer: “I just thought you might like to know you gave me twenty dollars too much, but I guess there’s nothing we can do about it now.”
Two fellows opened a butcher shop and prospered. An evangelist came through town and one of the two butchers was converted. The now obedient Christian butcher tried desperately to convert the other, but to no avail. He asked, “Why won’t you, Charlie?” The reply was... “Listen Lester, if I get religion too, who’s going to weigh the meat?”
A Sunday school teacher was teaching her class about the differences between right and wrong. “All right children, let’s take another example”, she said. “If I were to get into a man’s pocket and take his billfold with all his money without him knowing, what would I be?” With confidence, little Johnny immediately shouted, “You’d be his wife!”
[Psalm 9; Psalm 33] The exterminator called one of his clients; “I’m very sorry to tell you this, Mrs. Lee, but your check just came back, insufficient funds.” “I guess we’re even then”, she replied. “So did those ants you promised me you had driven out of my house forever.” The morals of this country are deteriorating by the generation and it’s not due to lack of resources. Our education system is failing to instill proper moral and ethic deductive reasoning into the minds of the young people who will one day own this country. The omission of the Christian religion and the teaching of God’s Word in basic education has brought US to the brink of bankruptcy and world-wide shame. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) “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 [America] from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this [Washington] I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples” (2 Chronicles 7:19-20) Is this truly the America you want your grandchildren to live in?

Don't Alter The Bible To Fit

A few years back the buzzword was change and we’ve certainly seen a lot of that over the past two years. I got to thinking about what my mother’s father would think about the world today. Unlike my father and his father, I think Grandpa Taylor would have embraced all the new gadgets and would be having fun with life. In his lifetime, he saw several wars, lived through the great depression, saw the automobile go from a luxury to a necessity along with electricity, indoor plumbing and the telephone. It’s amazing, the things we have allowed into our lives as novelties only to let them get so involved our daily activities that they have become necessities of life. Computers, cell phones, i-pads, i-pods, smart phones, apps, GPS systems and a host of other devises are all involved so deeply in our lives we can’t imagine trying to function without them. Some people seem to have the notion that the good old days were simple and romantic when in reality they were hard work. Today, the average worker probably gets ten times more work done, daily, and more efficiently, than the worker of 1900 did. Altogether, in 2011, with all our super helpers, we’re more disconnected to one another and more fatigued than our grandparents ever were. It seems we’ve become world oriented at age three.
Coming through the door one day after school, little Johnny hollers out, “Okay everyone in this house, please stand advised that I, little Johnny Elvis Smith, has made a complete fool of myself in class by repeating stories concerning storks, as told to me by certain parties residing in this house!” You can’t hide things from kids anymore.
“My wife and I were walking down the street the other day”, a man was telling his friend, “and when we came to a mud puddle I didn’t carry her across.” “What did she say to that?” asked the friend. “She said I wasn’t as gallant as I was when she was a girl. I told her she wasn’t as buoyant as she was when I was a boy.”
There was a time when we rallied around the thought of “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”. However, America grew to be the greatest nation on the planet with an unbeatable military force and we boasted, “Give Me Liberty”. Today Americans are so spoiled the consensus has become, “Give Me!” To quote Maynard G. Krebs: “WORK!?”
[Judges 2:10] “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” The current occupant of the oval office patronizes Bible believers: “Give up your worn arguments and old attitudes”. Maybe we should start with updating the Bible. “After the World War 2 generation had been gathered to their fathers, the baby boomer generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for America.” Scripture is being distorted to promote a radical, anti-family agenda, while treating those who refuse to compromise God’s word with rank condescension. Times have changed, and in the names of “progress” and “tolerance”, some want to cast the Bible aside as dated and passé. However, we will do so at our own peril. We must hold fast to God’s word. We must extoll biblical morality and respect the Bible’s moral code as essential to the well-being of our republic. Is the Bible old? Yes. Out dated? Never! Nations rise and fall, and politicians come and go, “…but the word of the Lord stands forever”. (1 Peter 1: 25)

Things Could Be Worse

What a surprise to wake up the other morning to the sounds of thunder and falling rain. It actually felt great to feel raindrops on my head as I walked from the house to the car on my way to coffee. Most of the area reported receiving one and one half to two and one quarter inches of rain which lowers our deficit to fourteen inches for the year. But, who’s complaining. I mean, we’re not on fire nor are we under water, so compared to the rest of the country, we’re in pretty good shape, don’t you think? Come on, stop complaining and crying about no fireworks sales or displays this year for our country’s 235th birthday. And we’re not alone. Most of the State of Texas won’t be having any fireworks displays this year. There’ll be more 4th of July’s and maybe next year the show will be twice as big. I guess we’ll have to settle for watching someone else’s fireworks on the television. Once again, remember, things could be worse.
While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. “Welcome to heaven”, says Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there’s a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.” “No problem, just let me in”, says the senator. “Well, I’d like to”, says Peter, “but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one day in heaven. Then you can chose where you want to spend eternity.” And with that, Peter escorts the senator to an elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance he can see a clubhouse with all his friends and other politicians he had worked with. Everyone is happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a round of golf and have a big extravagant dinner. The devil was there, a real friendly guy who was dancing and telling funny stories. Time was up and everyone gives him a hearty farewell. The elevator goes up, up, up to heaven. There he spends a day hanging out with a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and before he knows it, time is up. Peter meets with the senator. “Well what will it be senator, heaven or hell?” The senator decided he liked hell much better, so Peter puts him in the elevator. Down, down, down he goes to hell. The doors open and he’s in a barren land covered with garbage. He sees his friends, dressed in rags, picking up trash and putting it into black bags. The devil greets him whereupon he protests about the change, “What has happened between yesterday and today?” The devil looks at him, smiles and says, “Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted.” Are you ready for campaign 2012?
[Psalm 33] “…From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth …No king is saved by the size of his army …But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those who hope on his unfailing love …” No matter how big and strong this country becomes, if our politics and politicians don’t get right with God, soon, this country is going to run out of birthdays. Don’t, for a moment, think we can ever be stronger than the God who made US, for he can also destroy US whenever he finally gets tired of our disobedience.

Obedience and Respect

I’m getting old enough to see another generation taking charge of the world and running it as they deem to be correct. I guess I see the same things my forefathers have seen before me and as they probably did, I have a tendency to reflect on the not so good job I did raising children. I wish I had been mature enough to have done this or that a little different, and if I had, maybe this world wouldn’t be in the confused state it displays today. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m proud of my children and delighted with the attitude they have in raising their children. But, way too often I see neglect on the part of the father image all children want and need. It’s a basic instinct to want and need direction and discipline as a child gropes to find his or her place in the world. There has to be that safe stable place to go to for guidance and example, which, unfortunately, is missing in so many lives of young people today. I don’t guess there’s a father out there who feels he got it totally right when he looks back on how he raised his children, but I’ll bet he and grandma have good advise on how to raise their grand-children. Oops, didn’t mean to step on any toes. Advise wisely, but don’t demand.
I think the all time greatest story about the influence of a father has to do with adolescent elephants. In an effort to save the species, researchers were proud of the fact that they had raised many African elephants from birth to adolescent age. A problem of over-crowding arose in one preserve to a point of having to move several teenage bull elephants to another location. Little did those who ordered the transfer understand what would happen. In the new area, gradually, the teen elephants became unruly. They even formed gangs, throwing large tree branches around and killing rhinoceroses. The managers of the preserve began to take pictures and keep a “rap sheet” on offenders. Because they had no correction facilities for the juvenile delinquents, many of them had to be shot and killed. Finally, those in charge decided these young bull elephants didn’t know how to behave as elephants. They needed roll models and father figures; someone who would bring them under control. Some big mature bull elephants were shipped in and immediately the youngsters learned who was in control. The teens got whipped into shape in hurry, and the killing of rhinoceroses ceased. It’s funny what a little adult supervision can do. Where have all the fathers gone?
[Proverbs 29: 15] “The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.” A man was asked what he got for Father’s Day and he replied, “The bills from Mother’s Day!” Ouch! Well, what a father really wants is obedience and respect, and the Bible teaches, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother; which is the first commandment with a promise; that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth” (Ephesians 6:1-3). The Bible also teaches, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Fathers, how do you gain obedience and respect from your children? Show obedience and respect. When faced with all the ideals of the world Joshua said, “…if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, …But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). God loves a loving father and His wisdom as the Father of all is available for fathers raising great children.

God, Help US

Most everyone I know is having some sort of trouble during this prolonged time of economic stress. Slow-downs, lay-offs and no pay raises seem to be the normal practice of most employers. No intention of blame or misconduct from me as I know employers have to shell out more and more money just to have employees, but that’s another subject all together. The price of everything is going up with little to no increase in income. It doesn’t take a PhD to see what the future holds. The buying power of the dollar is shrinking and people of low or fixed income are slipping into poverty at an alarming rate. Well, to cut to the chase, it’s time for each and every one of us to step up to the plate and pinch-hit for someone else. I was able to knock one out of the ball-park for someone this past week and I have to admit it felt good. I hadn’t worked on someone else’s car in a long time, but for a friend and brother in Christ, I couldn’t refuse. The problem with the car’s engine was easy to troubleshoot and rather inexpensive compared to most repairs these days, but very time consuming to repair. All said and done, the car still isn’t perfect, but it’s a lot more reliable and will definitely burn less gas per mile than before the fix. In the back of my mind I shuttered when I said I would look at his car. I couldn’t see where the time would come from to help him out, but low and behold, my great God was there to help all the way.
You know I love the Sunday comics. I find so much truth in them they’re about the only section of the paper I tend to fully believe. A couple of weeks back I loved the strip, Prickly City by Scott Stantis, which features a girl named Carmen and a dog named Winslow. They live in the desert and most of the scenes consist of nothing but rocks and sand and sometimes nothingness. Carmen has wild mood swings and Winslow seems to always be wanting to help Carmen feel better about herself, that is, when he’s not seeking God in some way. This particular strip illustrated that helping hand I was talking about and how good it makes the recipient feel, which a lot of us may not realize and it may be the only payment we receive for our help. With a deeply depressed look Carmen says, “I feel small; The world is in a tumble; Everything is in a flux; Nothing is certain; It makes me rudderless and diminished.” Winslow pops in and says, with a big grin, “I’ll let you get on my shoulders, Carmen. Then I can carry you for a piece.” Atop Winslow’s shoulders, a smiling Carmen says, “I feel big!”
[Job 5: 8-27] Three friends sat with Job sharing in his suffering for seven days and nights without saying a word (Job 2:11-13). Job speaks a very depressed lament (Chap. 3), to which one of his friends, Eliphaz, replies (Chaps. 4 &5). Just touching the surface of the scripture’s meaning, look at Eliphaz’s advise to Job concerning his situation. “But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted (Job 5:8-9). American’s are crying out for relief. I applaud Texas Governor Rick Perry and his call for a day of fasting and prayer to the God of this great nation this August 6th. Sean Faircloth, executive director of The Secular Coalition of America says, "The last thing our officials should do in times of national struggle is promote a divisive religious event that proposes no real solutions to our country's real-world problems." Asking God to lift US up is the first thing we should do! Let’s get on God’s shoulders.

One Honorable Statesman

Where are all the servants we continually place in office to represent our thoughts and ideals? Why are they not listening to us? Six months ago the word out of Washington was that things were getting better and by mid-year the economy would show great improvements. So, of course, the first thing to do is go crazy speculating on oil to get this new money coming down the pipe, which increases the price of fuel yet try to believe that it won’t effect the projected economic growth. And, as long as your pockets are full of money, this is true. Well, here it is June and guess what? The economy has slipped, and low and behold, our leaders think it might have something to do with the increase in the cost of petroleum products. You Think!? Nothing escapes the increase cost of petroleum. Everybody has to pay for fuel over and over again. You not only have to fill your own gas tank, but you also have to share in filling the fuel tank of every truck on the highway. Every plastic product goes up in price. Medicines go up in cost. Food goes up in cost. Everything costs more because of the increased price of a barrel of oil. Speculative greed is the culprit and the economy will continue to stumble as long as this goes on. A man named Dalton Key wrote in an editorial a description of politics. “Politics has been described as the art of taking money from the rich and votes from the poor while promising to protect each from the other. With respect to government, political matters are fast becoming partisan, self-serving and in many cases corrupt. Many of us would gladly agree to trade one-thousand questionable politicians for just one honorable statesman.” I have a feeling that description was written a long time ago because it has come to fruition.
It doesn’t seem like anybody pursues wisdom anymore. It is power over others, that’s on the mind of most people. A rookie police officer was out for his first ride in a cruiser with an experienced partner. A call came in to disperse some people who were loitering. The officers drove to the street and observed a small crowd standing on the corner. The rookie rolled down his window and said, “Let’s get off the corner people.” He received a few glances, but no-one moved. So he barked, “Let’s get off the corner…NOW!” Intimidated, the group began to leave, casting puzzled stares in his direction. Proud of his first official act, the rookie turned to his partner and asked, “Well, how did I do?” “Pretty good”, chuckled the vet, “you cleared a bus stop.”
[Mark 10: 35-45] I can’t help but believe that the founding fathers of this great nation were attempting to form a government that was truly made of servants to the people. Time has diluted their intents as God is continually pushed aside by the people and government has become a big business, not serving the people, but becoming a service to the people. The smallest forms of government are lording their power over the people because the next higher up form is lording their power over them and so on all the way to the top. Jesus said His kingdom will not be organized in that way. He said, “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Can you imagine those in power of the world governments giving their all as servants to their citizens? I bet that without power we’d have a hard time finding just one honorable statesman.