Keep God In Mind

      Well, it’s time to forget about all those things you promised yourself to accomplish in 2012 and get ready for lucky 13. If you’re superstitious I have good news for you. You’ve already experienced the thirteenth year of this century, so you have no excuses of being unlucky this new year. In recent conversation, my grandson said, “I can’t believe a whole year has gone by already.” Where have I heard that before? He’s 21 years-old and life is just now gearing up for him. I replied with the typical grand-parent answer, “The older you get the faster the years will fly by. Make the most of them while you’re young.” Where have I heard that one before. Here I am, old enough to pass on echoes of generational wisdom with experience and authority to back it up.


      Have you noticed that stairs are getting steeper, groceries are heavier, and, everything is farther away? I walked to the corner the other day and I was dumbfounded to discover how long our street had become. You know, people are less considerate now days, especially the young ones. They speak in whispers all the time. If you ask them to speak-up they just keep repeating themselves, endlessly mouthing the same silent message until they’re red in the face. What do they think I am, a lip reader? I also think they’re much younger than I was at the same age. On the other hand, people my age are much older than I am. I ran into an old friend the other day and she has aged so much she didn’t even recognize me. I got to thinking about the poor dear while I was combing my hair this morning and looking at my own reflection I discovered mirrors aren’t made like they used to be. Another thing; people drive so fast these days. They must wear out their brakes awfully fast the way I see them screeching and swerving in my rearview mirror. Clothing manufacturers are less civilized these days. Why else would they be labeling my small shirts as large and my thirty inch pant waist, thirty-eight. Bathroom scale manufacturers are pulling the same prank. I just don’t believe the digital number on the display, because I would never let myself weigh that much. I can’t even call someone in authority to complain about all this, because even the telephone company is in on the conspiracy; printing the phonebook in such small lettering no one could ever find a number in it. I never saw this unconscionable attack coming and unless something drastic happens, pretty soon everyone will have to suffer these awful indignities. I thought you aught to know.

      [Genesis 1] God made the heavens and the earth and all that are in them, including you and me. “…God saw all he had made, and it was very good” (V.31). As we promise ourselves to once again strive to live a more righteous life only to become discouraged when once again we discover life doesn’t always go as planned, remember these three great truths. 1. God has a purpose for your life: God said, “…If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you” (Exodus 15:26). 2. God wants to provide for you: Jesus said, “…But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:25-34). 3. God is lovingly ever present in your life: “…because God said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5). Fulfill your 2013 plans with God in mind.

Babies In The Manger

      As I write it is December 22, 2012. I woke up on the same side of the dirt I went to sleep on and the sun is still rising in the eastern sky. I, personally, would have been pleased to experience the end of the world and exit this retched sinful place. But alas, once again, cooler, calmer, sensible heads prevailed. Sure enough, the ancient Mayan astrologists were correct in their assessment of the movement of the heavens and as one cycle ends a repeat performance started without the slightest hic-up. Man looks to the heavenly bodies for guidance and security, but is repeatedly disappointed to find the product is nothing but a powerless hoax. I refuse to sit at the table of cosmic roulette wagering on the possibilities of doom and destruction, then waste my time on planning how I’m going to survive the next calamity. As fragile as life is, without warning, I could be dead in the next hour. The two greatest dangers in my life are myself and my fellow man, not the stars. Negotiating the highways and buy-ways of life every day is enough of a diversion to make me forget that everything is under control and the One who writes the rules is still in charge. It’s amazing to see how low we have stooped when one compares the Proverb of Solomon (15:1) “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” to the statement made the other day, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Hang up all the anti-gun signs in our schools you want to, they mean nothing to the unstable mind. Dust off and re-hang the Ten Commandment signs and resume teaching morality, responsibility and the sanctity of life. Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.


      [Hebrews 13:1-8] In a large orphanage of about 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of an unstable Russian government program, two volunteer western teachers relate this story …It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for the orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room to stay the couple went to a stable where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the story the children and the orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edge of their stool trying to grasp every word. Completing the story the children received materials to fashion a crude manger, a yellow napkin to tear for straw in their manger, small squares of flannel for a baby’s blanket and a doll-like baby was cut from a piece of tan felt. While inspecting the progress of the children’s work, one teacher stopped at the table where little Misha sat. In the little boy’s manger were not one but two babies. Misha was asked about the babies. Crossing his arms in front of him the child repeated the story. Then he said Jesus asked him if he had a place to stay. “I told Jesus I have no papa, no mama, so I didn’t have a place to stay. He said I could stay with him. I told him I couldn’t, because I had no gift to give him like every one else. Then I asked Jesus, ‘If I keep you warm, would that be a good enough gift?’ He said that would be the best gift anyone ever gave me. So I got in the manger and Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him …always.” There’s an old Indian Proverb that says: “What you’re full of will spill out when you’re bumped.” What used to come out of me has been diluted by the love of God. Since I became like a child and crawled into the manger of my Lord, I am warm and safe and loved, forever.

Crazy or Lacking Love?

      Artist, Billy Currington, wrote a song titled, “People Are Crazy” and the first verse reminds me of days past. “This old man and me, were at a bar and we, were having us some beers and swappin’ ‘I don’t cares’; Talking politics, blonde and redhead chicks; Old dogs and new tricks, and habits we ain’t kicked. We talked about God’s grace, and all the hell we raised. Then I heard the old man say, ‘God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy.’” A few years back NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip used a twist on the song when asked what he thought about before races, especially at the Daytona and Talladega tracks, knowing there will be a big wreck sometime during those races. He said the best possible way he could avoid being involved in what has come to be known as, “the big one”, is to remember, “God is great, Fear is good, and Drivers are crazy.” The more I watch video clips of some of the things people do, “just for kicks”, the more I’m convinced some people are “crazy”. I know very little about twenty-year-old Adam Lanza, but I suspect I’ll learn a lot more in the coming week. My thoughts at the moment are, “…let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:7-12). If death and destruction continue to be the educator of right and wrong, more of these tragedies will occur. God is great, Fear His wrath, Love, as He loves us.


      [Luke 1:26-38 & Romans 12:1-2] The more I learn of God, the healthier my fear of disappointing Him becomes, which moves me to forgive and serve others in love, the same love God shows me every day. “…Greetings, you (Mary) who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” If an angel of God showed up and spoke to me I’d probably jump right out of my skin. I have to tell you though, I often find it hard to contain my emotions when reading and learning of God, for I’m not deserving of His love, or His promises. Knowing the life changing experiences of ridicule and shame she would be facing, Mary said to the angel, “I am the Lord’s servant …May it be to me as you have said.” I’m not perfect, never will be, and I’m a long ways away from being the innocent naïve young teenager I once was. Not that I haven’t always feared God and His impending wrath for my sins and disobedience, it wasn’t until I resigned my life to become a servant of God, was the Lord able to start changing me from the inside out. Some say, “Well, that’s your job!” It’s not my job. It’s my duty, as it is for every human being on the face of this planet that has received life from God. Mary was willing to sacrifice her all to give birth to “…the Son of the Most High”, because God asked her to do it for him. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28:16-20). He commands those who are serving the Lord, to teach and give birth to new babes in Christ, that they also will serve God, and their fellow man, in forgiveness and love, following in the footprints of Jesus. I don’t know why Adam Lanza did what he did, but I do know it was pure evil that visited Sandy Hook Elementary School, not God. There was no love in what he did and it will take a lot of love and forgiveness to soothe the pain. Pray for Newtown, and the souls seeking God.

Handling Firestorms

   My voice has not been the best of late and I didn’t really look forward to my ENT appointment last week. Looking at and doctoring ones vocal cords is not like nursing a boo-boo on the skin, or sore muscles, or a headache. Until appointment time when a camera gets stuck down my throat do I get to see what’s going on and why my voice is fading, again. My biggest problem is myself and the overusing and stress I put on my voice, which I’m going to have to control from now on. I’m also not using my voice box correctly, which has my speech therapist all in a huff, so I’m on self therapy to break the habit of using my throat to speak instead of my vocal cords. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? Of course, the good news about any doctor’s appointment, I was given another appointment for three months from now, so things can’t be all that bad, right?

   It seems we’re always making dates and appointments for ourselves. Christmas is in 16 days, with New Years day following close behind in another 7 days; another year almost gone. I have a wedding anniversary in 4 days and another birthday in 65 days, which beats the alternative. School will be out for the summer in about 180 days. And most important for rednecks and competitive couch potatoes alike, the Daytona 500 is in 78 days. Of course all this could be null and void if we discover the Mayan’s were truly on to something when their calendar runs out of time in 13 days. Hide and watch.
   While tending his livestock one day, an Australian farmer spied a large plume of smoke on the horizon and feared the worse, a prairie fire. Known for their swift and inescapable all consuming fury, the farmer watched the smoke hoping to discover the direction of travel of the fire. As the smoke cloud grew taller and wider the farmer knew the fire was headed straight for his homestead. There was only one thing the farmer could do to save himself, his family and his livelihood, that was to burn his own fields before the fire reached his land. If he could burn his fields and spent the fuel needed by the prairie fire, he could stand on his porch and watch the fire pass him by. The area protecting the farmer had already been satisfied by fire and was protecting him from the firestorm. That which had been sacrificed, now protected him from death.
   [Romans 6:1-14; 13:14 & Galatians 3:26-27] We have, or will, at sometime in our life, face a firestorm or two and the greatest all consuming storm in our life is sin. When we disobey God and live life pleasing ourselves and not God, the one who gave us life, we suffer a spiritual death that we can never escape, outside of Christ. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-26). Jesus went to the cross, gave his life for you and me, in love, for the atonement of our sins. When we are baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38) and “…if we walk in the light as he is in the light” (1 John 1:5-10) or sins are forgiven daily. Our repentance of sin, baptism and continual obedience to God’s will has put us in Christ. We can compare that to the Australian farmer who is standing in the pasture already consumed by fire, it can’t burn again. Christ has shed his blood for the forgiveness of sin and has overcome death never to die again. I want to be in Christ when I face that appointment none of us likes to talk about, because the fury of God’s wrath can not reach me there. Jesus has already sacrificed himself for me so that I can be void of sin and eternal punishment.

Sinister Crowds

      Out of curiosity more than anything else, I was watching the “starless” Spurs basketball game the other night, just to see what the future roster looked like on the floor. I thought they put up a courageous front and showed some great potential. As I watched one of the Spurs players at the free-throw line, I noticed in the seats behind the basket, all the distracting white foam tubes waving in the air, combined with all the noise the fans could muster, and I had one of those childhood flash-backs. I had to be only eight or nine at the time based on the history of the people involved, which put my brother about fifteen. I don’t remember all the people involved, but my brother wanted to go to Syracuse University to watch a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition game. I had no interest in this, but I suspect our mom allowed the trip as long as I was tagged to my brother’s shirt-tail. I can’t remember the trip to Syracuse, probably because not only did my brother not want a tag-along, I probably didn’t want to go in the first place. I do remember sitting in the nose-bleed section among friends of my brother’s and seeing this player who stood head and shoulders above everyone named Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain at seven foot tall, 300 pounds. Well, at every exhibition game the home crowd, the sixth man thing, would do everything it could to distract the virtually unbeatable Globetrotters, giving an edge to the home team. Someone among the friends had brought a small cowbell to heckle the visitors, but was too timid to use it. Before I knew it, I had the bell in my hand and was being instructed to ring it as loud as possible, when told to do so. Totally ignorant of the flow of the game, basketball didn’t have wheels on it or a loud engine, and only amazed at the size of the crowd and the basketball players, I gathered no purpose of ringing this bell until I became the center of attraction in the immediate area and eventually throughout the arena. I was rather short in stature and easily hidden when the bell attracted too much attention from the floor, which became a part of the game. I soon caught on that when the ‘Trotters were at the free-throw line it was time to make noise and fun was had by all. It’s funny how memories can pop up like that and I do remember riding the last few miles home in a Greyhound bus, only because my brother woke me up, still laughing his head off.


      [Psalm 64; Matthew 27: 11-26] The psalmist writes, “Hear me, O God, as I voice my complaint; protect me from the threat of the enemy. Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the noisy crowd of evildoers. They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows.” As the psalmist continues he writes about how the righteous deal daily with the world in fear. Even though the worldly ones think they are devising “perfect plans” in secrecy, God knows and will deal with the problem. “…Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him.” Jesus had to deal with huge crowds that followed him everywhere, throughout his ministry of three and one half years. He taught; He healed the sick, the crippled, the blind, the deaf, and more; He fed them by the thousands and performed so many miracles John writes: “If they were all written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25) Yet, in God’s plan of sacrificial rite for the redemption of the sins of man the crowd traded Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and Barabbas, a worthless scoundrel. Sad!