Saturday, November 28, 2015

Do-over's

I pray everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day and got enough under their belt to carry them through till the end of December, when we can do it all over again. And speaking of do-over’s, I’ll be going into surgery again to work on my vocal cords this Tuesday, December 1st. I have a growth that keeps coming back and a different surgeon is going to load up a different laser gun to zap this sucker hoping to discourage it from coming back again. Only time will tell but we can’t wait and let it get a foothold. Hopefully everything will go as well as it normally does and retain my voice.

“The Fellowship of the Unashamed” by David Guinn. “I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight-walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame vision, mundane talking, chintzy giving and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer and labor by power. My pace is set, my gate is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the face of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear.” There’s no time for do-over’s.

[Matthew 25:31-46; Romans 12:1-3] Can Jesus pick you out of a crowd? James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States, took office on March 4, 1881. On his first Sunday in Washington following his inauguration, a member of his Cabinet insisted that a meeting must be called to discuss a matter that purportedly threatened a national crisis. The President refused, stating that he was already committed to another appointment. The cabinet member insisted, telling the President that the national matter was of grave importance and that he should break his prior engagement. Still, Mr. Garfield refused to do so. Obviously appalled, the Cabinet member remarked, “I would be interested to know with whom you have an engagement so important that it cannot be broken.” Mr. Garfield replied, “I will be as frank as you are. My engagement is with the Lord, to meet Him at His house, at His table, at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning – and I shall be there.” What an example! May we, too, be so dedicated to the worship of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we shall not forget that we have a standing “prior appointment” every Sunday morning, the first day of the week, the Lord’s day. In obedience to God’s Word we have a standing appointment to serve one another each and every day with the love of God. Missed appointments rarely come with do-over’s.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Would They Kill Him Again?

Statistically speaking, most of my life has always fallen somewhere in the “normal” range of predicable human reactions by whoever determines these things. Now these same people are the experts that continually attempt to steer the lives of the “normal” people in the direction they want them to go. I like living in the normal realm of lead, follow, or get out of the way, because it tends to give me that feeling of freedom and independence we all crave. I lack any powers or super-powers to limit getting pushed into situations of life I don’t like or disagree with, so like my fellow obedient law-abiding neighbors and citizens I have to accept some things being passed along as “for the betterment of the whole”, not necessarily in a participating manner, but more the “tolerance” mood. Don’t get me wrong here. I buck against the goads every time I get, but it’s the normal gripping and belly-aching most people do during morning coffee or watching the evening news. I generally do cave in to the establishment only because I like my “normal” life and the quiet freedoms I can afford to retain and remain faithful.

I’ve been kicking and screaming since the beginning of this so-called electronic age only learning as I go because by not participating in the flow of “progress” one tends to get left way behind on this new super-highway. Most things today are key-less and wireless leaving me clueless as to how I’m suppose to get it started. I’ve lived in the same place for near 40 years; I drive my vehicles on average of 10 years (used to begin with); I have 2 laptop computers 5 years old, but my workhorse desktops are dated 1998 & 2001. They’re like a pair of old comfortable shoes; like an easy chair with all the lumps and wrinkles that conform perfectly to your body, just right for Sunday afternoon naps. Well, the world evidently has far too many computer engineers with nothing to do except mess with good programming and trashing comfortable shoes. My two faithful workhorses have to go because everything to do with the computer age today has to ride a thoroughbred racehorse of a motherboard and micro-processor, plus, the operating system itself takes more memory than the total my ’98 computer came with (13GB). By the way, my son said I’d never fill it up - ha,ha,ha! I can no longer update these two desktops, they’re at their limit, so, to the closet they go with my worn out shoes. I’d rather take a beating out back of the woodshed than move or update computers, but I have no choice. Pray for me, and my new computer, neither gets hurt.

[Mark 3:1-4; Luke 19:45-48] There is a movement in the world today, especially in this country, to rid the landscape of any reference to the Christian faith. The leaders of Jesus’ day were afraid of him because the people believed in him and their power over the people was waning. They wanted to “rid” themselves of Jesus but were having a hard time plotting his murder, until Judas came along. If Jesus lived a physical life today the federal government wouldn’t have any trouble at all. The FDA could get him for turning water into wine without a license; the EPA could get him for killing fig trees; the AMA could arrest him for practicing medicine without a license; the National Board of Psychiatrists would arrest him for giving advise on how to live a guilt-free life, without the proper certification; the Dept. of Health would fine him big for feeding 5000 in the wilderness without a permit. Jesus wouldn’t stand a chance living in the 21st century. How tolerant do you think Jesus would be toward our liberal society?

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Just Plow Around It

The world is certainly in a mess and it seems there is a new fraternity of peoples forming every day with new ideals to constitute the perfect world society suitable for everybody. Of course some of these ideals include total annihilation of some other idealistic peoples, so the world has to have a war, or two dozen, going on at any one time just to express and hammer home new ideals. I’m convinced there are three types of people in the world: the ignorant; those educated beyond their intelligence; and those who wish to lead a quiet productive life. Unfortunately, the world powers seem to all be lead by the combined efforts of first two groups while the third group ends up feeding their ambitious endeavors. Most of us on the planet belong to the third group of people and lately if we express our opinions we get labeled “extremists” or “potential terrorists” for wanting to live in a clean, quiet neighborhood. It’s getting hard to deal with some of this ridiculous, self-centered, “disrespect” and “political correctness” bed of eggs we’re being forced to walk on. I can see a lot of broken eggs in the near future of this country and many countries of the world. I’m afraid the yoke won’t be funny.
Some grade school teachers keep journals of amusing things their students write in papers. Here are a few examples (God help us all): * Syntax is the money collected at church from sinners. * The future of “I give” is “I take”. * The parts of speech are lungs and air. * The inhabitants of Moscow are called Mosquitoes. * Define H2O and CO2. H2O is hot water and CO2 is cold water. * The general direction of the Alps is straight up. * The people who followed the Lord were called the Twelve Opossums. * The spinal column is a long bunch of bones. The head sits on the top and you sit on the bottom. * The four seasons are: salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar. * The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom. Okay!

[Psalm 11] There are times in life when we find things in our way that we cannot move. Even after persistent, fervent prayer, the cup of suffering is brought to quivering lips and we must drink of it – right down to the bitter dregs. Abraham Lincoln said, “Some troubles are like the stump an old farmer had in his field – too hard to uproot, too knotty to split, and too wet and soggy to burn.” When asked what to do in a spot like that, he replied, “Well, I’d just plow around it.” Some situations are like that stump. They are there and cannot be changed and must be accepted. We pray may God give us grace and strength to accept the inevitable and plow around the immovable.

“In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain? For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them. The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.” I know the world is going to get very ugly before the Lord returns and in judgment God will destroy what he created – that’s a promise. Until then, or I depart from this life, I will struggle to overcome evil and live a righteous life following Him.