Your Beautiful Interior

I got tied up in a mood of reminiscent thought the other day which I’m beginning to think just naturally comes with age as one reflects on life’s accomplishments and failures. I often count my blessings of today and remember that even in the struggles of the past I’ve always felt blessed with what I have. While still in the service to our country, and not making much money at all, I and my roommates used to buy canned goods that were a little beat up and had lost there labels. Of course the contents of such cans were totally unknown but at five and ten cents a can who cared? Opening a can was always full of fun and always a surprise. Inside could be corn, cranberry sauce, spinach, green beans and on occasion, dog or cat food - Yuk! It was unlikely two cans of the same thing were opened at one time and I learned early on the peas and carrots go together good in the same pot.

It is told that in 2015, a certain Mrs. Barton of Newport, Oregon, was selling her house. To the passer-by and prospective buyer it was a rather unassuming house with white aluminum siding, a two car garage and a small lawn in the front; a pretty average, boring house. But it’s a house with hidden secrets. When one steps inside they are greeted to a splendid interior filled with Renaissance furniture imported from Europe, drapery worth more than $10,000 dressing stained-glass windows and painted murals on the ceilings. The stained-glass windows came from English church buildings. Some of the ceilings are supported with gilded beams. On your computer type in the search phrase, “Oregon suburban house hides Renaissance interior” and link to the article in The Daily Mail (dailymail.co.uk) where you can see pictures of the house and it’s interior. Mrs. Barton’s house isn’t much to behold from the outside but is a breathtaking abode of beauty inside.

[1 Samuel 16: 1-13] In this reading of scripture, Samuel is about to anoint for God, a new king to replace Saul. God sends Samuel to a man named Jesse to anoint one of his sons.  Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”, but to his amazement, God rejects him. The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” One would never believe what the common-looking house of Mrs. Barton holds in store for the visitor who took the time to examine the interior. In the same way, the story of Samuel anointing the little shepherd boy, David, is a reminder that God sees much more in us than perhaps other people see. We should not be too quick to judge others, but instead ask, “What does God see in that person?” If God can see potential, beauty, strength and faith, then I should honor that person for the “work of art” he or she is in the eye of God. When counting our blessings we ought to remember the wonder that God looks beyond our faults and weaknesses to love us anyway. God sees us as diamonds in the rough with our hopes and dreams, our potential, our skills and gifts, which can bring glory to His name. Let us live as though God has anointed us to honor and bring praise to him, just as Mrs. Barton’s house brings amazement to its visitors, yet remains a humble, unassuming house with hidden secrets. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom ...with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:16-17). Beautify your inside.

Watch What You're Publishing

I’ll be the first to admit – a social butterfly, not am I. The 21^st Century is constantly pushing the envelop with technological advances that benefit mankind in so many ways, including the big fields of medicine, transportation and communication, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with it all. I got to chuckling to myself the other night while scrolling through Facebook. My first great advancement in social media was back in the 70’s when I installed a CB radio in my ‘63 Chevy pick-up. One had to have a unique “handle” (phantom name) to identify with, thus building an incognito circle of friends. On the highway everybody outside your circle was your “good buddy” with helpful information and directions, sometimes. Then there were those who were plain nasty on the air and to have a decent conversation around the big cities one had to escape to a clear channel. The best thing I did for myself was take the CB out of my vehicles. Then I bought a computer and a smart phone. Email, texting and Facebook – Enough - No more!

[Ecclesiastes 8:1] “Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a mans face and changes his hard appearance” A Bulletin Digest article (Feb‘17) Heart to Heart, Face to Facebook by Kerry Duke, in part, has this to say about our present 21st Century social communication: “What about the example you set before others on the internet? Does your Christian light shine on Facebook? Do you use wisdom about what you post or share? There is no question that this avenue of communication is used for good. Family, friends, and church members stay in touch. We learn about good works and good news in other congregations. We hear about needs and tragedies that cause us to pray more. We enjoy clean humor and read encouraging words. This modem marvel is even used to teach the Bible. While it can never replace face-to-face conversation, social media allows Christians to influence others for the Lord. Any form of communication can be abused. Anywhere people gather there will be good and bad. We expect the world to talk about bad things, but it is awful when Christians act like the world. Sometimes Christians post things on Facebook they shouldn’t: Bad language. There is no excuse for this. The Bible says, ‘Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen’ (Ephesians 4:29). It doesn’t matter if the story is funny. It doesn’t matter if the statement makes a good point about politics and the condition of our country. There is a right and wrong way to talk about things. You should never attach your name to cussing and profanity. Indecent photos ...Unscriptural talk. There are all kinds of sayings circulating on the internet that might sound good on the surface but are not biblical. Someone will post a statement that says we are to love people, not judge them. But that depends on what kind of judging is under consideration. If a person is talking about hypocritical judging - condemning others while doing worse -  then that is what Jesus meant when He said ‘Judge not’ (Matthew 7:1-5) ...We are commanded to ‘judge righteous judgment’ (John 7:24), and it is our duty to expose sin (Ephesians 5:11). Christians need to consider what they are saying and whom they are quoting. ...We could add to this list, things like gossiping and childish complaining. Facebook is a public arena. Let your light shine. People are watching. More importantly, God is watching.” “...They say, ‘How can God know?...” (Psalm 73) God sees and hears.

Rejoice! God Loves You!

March is the month of transition from winter to spring, the month for planning and preparing outdoor activities. March is a pick-me-up time of year with its little surprises and gifts of nature that appear on scene, but for only a short time. Here in South Texas it’s beautiful wildflowers by the zillions that pop out of the ground working their way northward as the cold weather retreats and the ground warms up at the end of winter. Where I grew up in the northeast, although there may still be a few unyielding patches of  snow lingering around, spirits were always lifted with the perennial appearances of all but forgotten, forever faithful, multi-colored, irises and tulips, waking up in the wet warming ground to decorate the landscape and announce the advent of spring. Our wish is to keep the beauty all year long, but alas, they’re too tender to survive the heat of summer so they recoil to a dormant state, just out of sight, until conditions are right again to lift the spirit.

[Philippians 4: 4-9] You can’t have a rainbow without the rain is the old saying. But is it true? I guess it depends on where you’re at. If you’re talking about life on Earth, the saying definitely holds water. Cloudy days and storms are the norm in mankind’s life. Rich, poor, man, woman, young, old, red, yellow, black or white – no one is exempt from heartache, pain, disaster, disappointment or death. Physical conditions and resources may limit the detrimental experiences that we face, but no earthly condition in and of themselves exempts us from all the trials of life. So the idea of not being able to have a rainbow without the rain reminds us that grief is inevitable, but grief can cause us to look at the blessings of life in a brighter way by reminding us that the storms don’t last forever. Sweet tastes much sweeter after a dose of something bitter! “Rejoice in the Lord always...” Sometimes that’s a tall order. It seemed to be lot easier when I was younger, but nowadays rejoicing “always” isn’t so easy. Writer Ann Lamott reflects on this. She says, “My experience is that you don’t always get what you want – but you get what you get. As you get older, you start to work with what you’re getting instead of crossing your arms bitterly because you didn’t get what you wanted. ‘Okay, here we are. A new 24 hours is starting right now, and this is what we’ve got in our hands now.’ Age is such an incredible blessing, the softening and rounding of corners. And the sort of meat-tenderizing effects of aging, like being a stone in the river – the sanding down of sharp edges.” Rejoicing is the ability to extract gratitude from the daily happenings of life. The person who rejoices is not someone who is waiting for life to be perfect; not someone who expects that everything is going to happen just the way they want it to happen. The rejoicing person does not wait for conditions to be right for rejoicing. A grateful person rejoices. Alfred D’Souza wrote: “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.” ‘Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure...Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed...All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.’ (Job 14) Rejoice! God loves YOU!

Do You Know...?

I was somewhat taken aback the other day when I discovered that someone had attempted to force their way into a storeroom at the church building. It’s really weird how one can look at an object and know something isn’t right with what you’re looking at, but can’t immediately figure out what’s wrong. The door to the storeroom is a key entry only and as I was putting the key into the lock it appeared that the door was already ajar or had been improperly closed and locked. Upon opening the door the mystery revealed itself. The door casing was splintered and my brain quickly deduced that someone had tried to break the door down. All that’s in the room is overflow from the office - printer inks and toners along with some books, accounting records and janitorial supplies - in my mind nothing really worth stealing. I surveyed the room to discover nothing missing and again concluded that the break-in was unsuccessful. Thanks to the three inch wood screws I used when I removed the worn out typical door-knob and installed the key only deadbolt lock, the want-to-be thief was denied his booty and probably has a sore shoulder.

A number of years ago, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, “I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the ‘Man of the Century’. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the ticket of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached into his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached into his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it. The conductor said, ‘Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.’ Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, ‘Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry! I know who you are. No problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.’ Einstein looked at him and said, ‘Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I am going.’” Having said that, Billy Graham continued, “See the suit I’m wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My children, and my grandchildren are telling me I’ve gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am...I also know where I’m going.”

[1 John] “...I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (5:13). With a serious read of the entire letter John wrote to believing baptized Christians, I think one can come to the conclusion of who they are and where they are going. Is your life centered around the Christ or the antichrist? Are you a child of God or a child of the world? Do you worship Jesus or money as your savior? If you were to die right now, where will you spend eternity?