Can You See It Yet?

“Wouldn’t you hate to wear glasses all the time?” asked Billy of his friend. “Noooo,” his friend answered. “Not if I had the kind grandma wears. She sees how to fix a lot of things, and she sees a lot of nice thing to do on a rainy day, and she sees when folks are tired and sad and what will make them feel better, and she always sees what you meant to do even if you didn’t get things just right. I asked her one day how she could see that way all the time and she said it was the way she learned to look at things as she grew older. So it must be her glasses.” It is said that the majority of the world’s population, age 37 years and younger, have very little knowledge of true world history, nor true history of the country they live in. Philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist, George Santayana, born December 16, 1863 in Madrid, Spain, died September 26, 1952 in Rome, Italy, is the author of an often misquoted statement: “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. (and the most misquoted part of this statement)  Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” This famous statement has produced many paraphrases and variants: * Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. * Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes. * Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it. * Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them. * Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them. There is a similar quote by Edmund Burke (in Revolution in France) that often leads to misattribution: "People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors." (Wikiquote.org) I was very angered to hear Senator Bernie Sanders say of Russell Vought, nominee to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, because of Vought’s Christian beliefs, “...is really not someone who is what this country is suppose to be about.” I guess we need more representatives from the socialist group masquerading as a better religion so all our rights as a free society will be stripped from our constitution. What’s happening in Washington today happened in Berlin in the 1930’s. Are you seriously ready to repeat history in your own back yard?

[Jeremiah 18:1-10] God still works us and molds us as a potter does clay. In verses 7-10, God lets it be known his governing of the kingdoms of the world other than Israel. “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or a kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” People throughout the world are standing up, screaming for the right to practice every wicked way of life that has been condemned and called sinful by our Creator God. I honestly believe the world is one generation away from total apostasy. And my friend when that happens, God is going to pull the plug – Game Over! Christians in this country are fixing to find out what it means to be persecuted for their faith, and many are going to deny their Savior. Your “testimonies” of faith are quickly becoming “hate speech” against many “minorities”.

Faithful Fathers

A three-year-old went with her daddy to see a litter of kittens. Back home she breathlessly informed her mother, “There were two boy kittens and three girl kittens.” Her mother asked how she knew this. “Daddy picked them up and looked underneath”, she told her, and added, “I know I can’t read yet, but I think it’s printed on the bottom.”

When a father noticed a thunderstorm forming in the mid-afternoon sky, he worried about his seven-year-old son who would be walking the three blocks from the baseball field to home. Before he could get in the car to go meet him, the father first saw his son  walking nonchalantly along, stopping to look up whenever lightning flashed. Seeing his father the son gleefully ran to him, ball in hand and bat firmly on his shoulder. The father asked, “Are you afraid of the lightning? I saw you stop and look up every time it flashed.” “No”, replied the son, “I think God is so proud of me, He’s taking my picture.”

[Proverbs 20:5-7] “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out. Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find? The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.” Faithful Fathers by Edd Sterchi, BulletindDigest.com. “It has been said that Father's Day is just like Mother's Day except you spend less on the gift! All humor aside, society has sadly downplayed the importance of a father in the home. Too many children are being raised without their fathers in their lives. And too many fathers who are still in the same home with their children are not active enough in their families’ lives. Fathers are to be the providers of the family (Genesis 3:17-19; 1 Timothy 5:8). This is an awesome task. Proverbs 20:6 states, "Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?” We could easily paraphrase that to "who can find a faithful father?" What must a faithful father provide for his family? * A faithful father provides for the physical needs of the family (2 Corinthians 12:14; Matthew 7:9-10). By the way, besides the obvious (food, clothing, shelter, etc.), our children need our time as well. The greatest physical thing we can give our children is ourselves. * A faithful father provides for the spiritual direction of the family (Ephesians 6:4; Isaiah 38:19). Fathers, we need to take the spiritual lead and guide our families toward heaven. They also need to see in us people who are serious about honoring and serving God properly. * A faithful father provides for the proper discipline of the family (Hebrews 12:7, 11; Proverbs 13:24). There are many effective forms of discipline, and a faithful father knows that proper and timely discipline will yield the fruit of righteousness. * A faithful father provides sympathetic understanding to all the members of the family (Colossians 3:21). We need to express our love, communicate with, and show compassion to our children. They need to see our "ears" and our "tears" from time to time. * While fathers upon the earth may fail in these areas from time to time, we need to remember that God, our heavenly Father, is perfect (Matthew 5:48). And as such, He provides for His children perfectly. * He provides for our physical needs (Matthew 7:11), * He provides for our spiritual direction (Psalm 73:24), * He provides for us proper discipline (Hebrews 12:5-6, 8-10), and * He provides sympathetic love and compassion (Psalm 86:15; 103:13). This Father's Day, express your appreciation to your earthly father. But every day, express your appreciation to your Heavenly Father who provides us with all we need.” Have a Great Dad’s Day!

Simple Warnings

What a great spring we’ve had with some abundant rains, of course never enough for farmers and ranchers, and moderate temperatures, which we haven’t experienced for several years. But, one can feel summer coming on because the afternoon temps are beginning to creep up into the 90’s, which really isn’t bad, unless the humidity decides to get jealous and rise up into the 80% range, then it gets tough working out-of-doors. The air-conditioners at home and at work are starting to get a workout, a sure warning sign the next electric bill will definitely be higher. This is the time of year when we receive lots of warnings and see evidences of warning signs: Warning! Teeny-tiny little yellow flowers in your yard turn into grass burrs that find their way into your house and under bare feet at two in the morning, stopping even the biggest meanest macho dude dead in his tracks. Warning! Don’t be kicking at or running the lawn mower over one of those big mounds of dirt out in the middle of the yard. Fire ants are carnivorous and travel in packs of five hundred to one thousand, it seems, looking to devour something. Disrupt their den and you’ll find out. Snakes are everywhere! It’s mosquito season. Zika virus is out there. You may think it’s something new - I think (my opinion) it’s been around for some time. Not to lighten the warning in any way, but we’ve often heard of people coming down with a “summer cold” that resembled the flu and were quite sick. So control your mosquitoes and protect the children from them, and the sun, two real important things to do. I’ve had about all I can take with these snails, how about you? Crunch – mush. Yuck!

[John 16:1-4] Argentinean race driver Juan Manuel Fangio was only a lap through the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix. As he approached a dangerous bend for the second time, Fangio noticed that something was wrong. The faces of the spectators, which he usually saw as a whitish blur as he drove by, were all turned and looking at something ahead of him. "If they are not looking at me," Fangio thought, "they must be looking at something more interesting around the corner." So he braked hard and carefully as he rounded the bend. There he saw that his split-second assessment had been accurate. Ahead of him was a massive pileup that he would have smashed into had he not heeded the warning signs. Sometimes warnings are subtle and take a trained eye to see, as in Fangio's case. Other times the warnings are so blatantly stated that it's hard to miss. Scripture utters many warnings, but one particular one continues to be a warning people either miss or ignore. Paul stated the warning in this way, "Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good character“‘ (1 Corinthians 15:33). Time and time again this warning is not heeded. Paul even said, "Do not be deceived..." meaning that if we aren't careful, we will deceive ourselves into thinking this isn't true. And yet, so many of us seem to think we are the exception to the rule. We seem to think they won't influence us. We seem to think we are stronger than others. And like so many have found before us, our bad friends drag us into things that corrupt our morals. The bottom line is this, either our friends are pulling us towards heaven, or they are pulling us towards hell. Even a "neutral" friend is dead weight on our desperate climb towards the Lord. Let's heed Paul's warning and choose our friends carefully. Let's not deceive ourselves into thinking we are the exception to the rule. The more righteous people we surround ourselves with, the greater chance we have of keeping our eyes on Jesus. ...”Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees...” (Mark 8:15)

Harsh Winds - They Do Blow

Well, I hope you got some rain over the past week. I know across the country some folks wish the rain and bad weather would just go away and I don’t blame them for that. But here in South Texas we watch the weather radar closely when storms are developing because, like Forest Gump’s mama says, “It’s like a box of chocolates...” we never know what we’re going to get. Wind, hail, tornadoes, heavy rain and most often as not – nothing at all, can be on the menu of a storm headed toward my humble abode. Last week one day a storm was headed right for my house. I got my bag of bug killer out, filled the spreader and ran over the lawn right quick expecting the rain to come along and water it in. ‘Bout the time I finished, the sky was darkening and thunder was rollin’ and the wind was beginning to blow – but nothing happened! I checked the radar again and the storm took a slight drift to the east and missed me! People less than a mile away got nearly an inch of rain. I didn’t have to wait very long for another rainstorm to come my way. A couple of days later it rained so hard, two afternoons in a row, it probably washed all my lawn medicine down the street. Oh well, one thing we don’t do around here is complain about the rain because we’ve seen it stop for several years in a row and that’s not good for anybody. My poor little Bella simply hates the wind and the thunder. She’ll get the Chihuahua shakes and then start breathing hard. Her little tongue will be hanging out of her mouth and she’s huntin’ a place to hide. I generally have to hold her to calm her down because my wife thinks she’s going to have a heart attack. When the storm passes she gets all excited and wanting me to go outside with her to play in the water laying in the yard. Forget it dog! I love ya, but I’m going to sit this one out and stay on the porch.

One of the toughest things of life to except is being informed of the death of a friend or loved one. I’ve come to learn that the impact on the persons closest to the deceased has a heartbreaking effect like something has been ripped from their very being. And all the circumstances surrounding their loss don’t change that feeling. Death may have come unexpectedly and immediate; it may be delayed and come from injuries; and what I’ve witness more of as I age, the deterioration of the body and/or mind due to cancers or the mystery of Alzheimer’s disease. I’ve been expecting a phone-call the past few days that would inform me of the passing of our preacher’s wife. I received that call this morning. Lloyd and Gail Mansfield came to Floresville in late 2012. In less than a year Gail was diagnosed with a form of brain disease that would most likely lead to Alzheimer’s and eventually death. It wasn’t long before she was unable to function in daily life and a hard decision of 24 hour care was made, the best option being a local nursing facility. Lloyd continued to preach and do the Lord’s work, and two or more times every day visited his wife, whom he very much missed in his life. Sometimes, even though we know the pain of separation is coming, we pray God end the suffering when there is no quality of life to be further shared. Thank-you Jesus for answered prayer and all the blessings of this life.

[2 Samuel 12:1-23] David’s sin was forgiven, but the wrath of God was swift in coming as illness struck David’s son and in seven days he died. David’s servants were astonished that he would quickly clean up and get on with life. David said he fasted and wept in hopes God would allow the child to live. “But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” Amen.