Hospitals Ain’t For Sissys

Retired people usually stay fairly busy. Some retires say that they are busier in retirement than when working full time. We do manage to over plan or commit, but usually missing a men’s breakfast or a ladies tea is not something that will stop the world from turning. There is one appointment, however,  that retired women will never break. Don’t mess with a woman’s hair appointment. Don’t even suggest that to a lady. If you do she will show you a side of herself that’s not so lady like. Other than that most things we plan can be done later.

Thursday morning when I woke I didn’t have a lot on my schedule. But I quickly discovered that I might have to do something I had not planned on doing. I was having severe chest pains. I took some aspirin and ate breakfast. After two hours I decided that it might be a good idea to go to the emergency room. Sherri was not at home, and I knew I shouldn’t drive so I called 919. I immediately got a message, “This is not a working number.” “Maybe I dialed it wrong”, I thought so I tried again. “919”. Same message. I was in terrible pain, and I was wondering if I was going to die because 919 was not working. I decided I had better call Sherri, quick! I told her what happened. She said, “John Paul! It’s Not 919, It’s 911!”...short pause... “Oh, that’s right.” She ended our conversation by telling  me she was on the way.

Well, I went ahead and dialed 911. Would you believe, it worked! By the time Sherri got home I had been placed on a cot and was about to be loaded into the ambulance. I was taken to the Heart Care Center in Raleigh. The doctor advised that I needed to stay overnight? I went through several tests that involved putting sticky pads all over my hairy chest. I will note here that those doing the sticking were all women. Some even seemed to find pleasure in ripping off some of those sticky pads that they thought were in their  way for the test they were about to administer. Seems like unnecessary torture to me. I had a stress test Friday morning. I passed with flying colors. Around three in the afternoon I was told that my heart was in great shape, and that I could go home. Still, in some pain, I got home figuring that I had gone through enough unpleasant experiences to last a lifetime.

I was worn out. I hadn’t even taken a shower. I hadn’t gotten any sleep. Nurses and aids were coming in all night checking my vitals, giving me pills for what, I have no idea and twice they took blood. The worst thing was that whoever was in the room next door was very sick. The commode was flushing constantly it seemed, and it was loud. Anyone who has to go as much as that person had to be extremely ill!

When Sherri came in Friday morning she ask me, “ How did you sleep?” I told her about my miserable night. I said, “Some poor soul next door was very sick last night. Whoever is in that room was going to the bathroom all night long.” She pointed toward the room, “Are you talking about that room?” I nodded that it was. She started laughing, “That’s not a patient's room. It a public restroom!” I don’t think I’ll ever go back to another hospital. No space for that in my plan book.

A Childlike Spirit

The spirit of a little child is so refreshing. A small child has not been defiled by the harshness of a sinful world. Their innocent minds have not been twisted by hate. Little children are always loving and accepting.  A child gives honest responses, perhaps more honest than their moms and dads would like. Oh if we could somehow see through the eyes of a child, to love and trust the way they do.

Jesus loved little children. It is clear that his desire for those who would follow him was and is to have that childlike spirit. In fact Jesus said,“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 We cannot demonstrate the proper love for Jesus unless we approach him, and accept him with the trusting spirit of a child. We need to be like children in our relationship with Jesus.

Two Daughters, A Mother, And A Dog Named Roscoe

There has been no dog in our house for almost five years. Our last dog was Pogo, a little Maltese. He was the sweetest dog we ever had. We had him fourteen years and having to have him put down was the hardest thing Sherri and I ever had to do. We didn’t want to go through anything like that again, thus no more dogs for us. I have really missed Pogo, and I have missed not having a dog. But Sherri has been the strong “no voice” anytime the subject of getting a dog comes up.

Our daughters, Susan and Leigh, have opposed their mother on her determination to keep our house dog free, except when we dog sit our grand dog, Bruiser. Together these girl of ours have conspired to bring a dog back to our house despite their mother’s “I will not budge” stance. Our daughters have experience when it comes to going behind their mother's back to acquire a pet. When Susan was eleven and Leigh seven they managed to sneak a kitten into the car after Sherri told them they couldn’t have it. When the kitten was discovered Sherri was pulling into our drive. She said, “Your dad will not let you keep this cat!”

When they brought that cute little kitten up to me, and I saw the excitement in their eyes I could not tell them no. We had Hot Shot, the big Texas tom cat, for ten years. Now our daughters are in their early forties and  history has repeated itself. Susan learned that a friend in Covington Kentucky had a three year old Yorkie that she couldn’t keep. She arranged, along with Leigh’s help, to get Roscoe for me. Leigh and her family drove from Oldham County to Covington to get little Roscoe a few weeks ago. He has been neutered, groomed and will be delivered to our house on April 5 when Leigh, Kaelin and Rob come down to visit us here in Wake Forest.

Roscoe was going to be a surprise gift. I don’t know what happened, but we found out soon after Leigh got him. I think it is a good thing. Sherri might not have taken such a surprise very well. Now that she has had time to get used to the idea she has actually gotten kind of excited about meeting Roscoe and having another little dog in our house. We can’t wait until Roscoe makes his move to North Carolina.

Tell Them Before It’s Too Late

Remember the song, “Thank You for Giving to the Lord”? The song is about a man who died and went to Heaven.  One by one people came up to him, and thanked him because he was the person who had pointed them to Jesus. He had been the reason they accepted Jesus as their Savior. One line that I like is, “Sacrifices made unnoticed on earth in Heaven now proclaimed”.

I preached many funerals during my forty years in the pastorate. In those times I heard many stories about the deceased; stories about what he or she had meant to the one telling the story. I've often wondered if these people ever told their departed friend face to face how they much they meant to them. There are many people who have sacrificed for me, and I’m sorry to say I never expressed to some of them how important they were to me. Just as others help us and encourage us, we can let them know the impact they made in our lives even if it was something they might not even remember. Most of the time it is the little things that make the biggest difference to someone. A call, a card, or better yet a visit to that special person who made a positive difference to you is the best gift you can give.

To proclaim to others in Heaven our thankfulness sounds good. But when we get to heaven what someone thought about us on earth, good or bad, won’t matter a bit.  There will be no apologies or I’m so sorrys in heaven. When we get to Heaven all of our thoughts and our accolades are going to be for Jesus. These reunions with family and friends that we anticipate when we get to heaven will be put on hold because all of our focus will be on Jesus, the One who loved us so much that he died so that we could have eternal life. Maybe you ought to show your appreciation to others now while they are alive, and while you are still living. I'm sure it would mean a lot to them. Who has done something that made a difference in your life, or encouraged you to not give up? Let them know how much you appreciate them before it’s too late.

Just a note: If the first person you want to see when you get to heaven is mom or dad or some other person you loved on earth you might want to consider your first Love, the Reason for your entrance in heaven. Jesus must be the first person you want to see when it is your time to leave this world: get your priorities straight before you check out.

Nose Blind

The thing about bad odors is that they speak loudly. They shout,  “Notice me!” They are not easily hidden. It is very difficult to cover them up. There is nothing sweet or pleasant about an offensive odor. The stinker causes a very unpleasant social situation, and is not even aware of the problem. People become so familiar with their unpleasant odors that they become nose blind.

What if our sins emitted an offensive odor? What if each sin had its own funky stench that identified what the sin was. “Well George, my nose tells me you have been watching porn again.” “Sally, Sally, Sally, you are wearing that gossip fragrance, aren't you?” Imagine what our church services would be like if we could not keep our sins from being identified by how we smelled. Having no way to keep our sins hidden from others would create some serious difficulties for us.

Our sins, even the little ones, are offensive. But more than anything our sins are very offensive to God. Our unconfessed hidden sins reek to high heavens and God can smell them. If we can send up pleasing aromas to God through obedience, worship  and praise, can we not offer up some very offensive odors to Him as well? We cannot hide our sins from God. God is not nose blind. How we smell before our Holy Father is more important than how we present ourselves to others. We were not created to be stinkers.

2 Corinthians 2:15 ESV “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,”

Kiss The Girl

There were around sixty students in my graduating class. I’m guessing there were less than two hundred and forty students in our high school, the majority of which grew up on farms. Our school, Lewisburg High, was in rural area, located in a town of five hundred people and surrounded by farms and tiny communities in every direction for miles and miles. The largest town in our county, Russellville, Kentucky, which had a population of only six thousand, was eleven or twelve miles south, and Nashville, Tennessee was about sixty miles south of Russellville.

Young men and young ladies in the 1950’s and 1960’s, living in the middle of nowhere, sometimes had a hard time getting together, especially if the young man didn’t have a car, or even more so if that young man wasn’t old enough to get a drivers license. And I include the fourteen and fifteen aged boys because they wanted what every teenage boy wanted. They wanted to “kiss the girl”. I can’t speak for teenage girls, but I’m pretty sure many of them wanted to kiss the boy. Those of us who grew up in that time period probably remember how we were able to managed to get together with the boy or girl we wanted to kiss, or even perhaps a girl who was yet to be determined.

We had a lot of parties; there were parties at a friends house, in the summer parties at someone’s cabin on Lake Malone, church parties which sometimes were occasions like hayrides, wiener roasts, Christmas caroling, or what back then we called socials On those church sponsored events the boy might not get a chance to kiss the girl, but he could usually hold her hand. We went on double dates, usually to a movie in Russellville or to the drive-in. Basketball and baseball games and other school activities sometimes gave us opportunities to kiss the girl. Usually going on a date was the only sure fire way that the boy got to kiss the girl.

I didn’t date a lot in high school. I was pretty shy and I got very nervous when it came to asking a girl to go with me on a date. However, I did get a chance to kiss a few girls. My first opportunity was at age fifteen when I was a sophomore. I really liked some of the girls in the senior class. On two occasions that year I kissed two of those girls, one at a party, and the other one at a baseball game. A better way of explaining this is that they kissed me. During my high school days there was really only one girl that I dated for any length of time and that was only for maybe three months. A night or so after that ended, in the summer after I had graduated,  I met the most beautiful girl at a party and began a courtship that lasted for almost six years. Actually it has lasted for a little over fifty four years, the better part of six years dating and 48 years married. In all that time this boy has kissed the girl, my wife Sherri, more times than I can count. And I still enjoy kissing that girl!

Where the Sun Always Shines

Flying at 34,000 feet, being above the clouds, provides one with a perspective unlike any that can be seen from a ground level vantage point. Up above those clouds the sun is alway shining even if there is darkness and rain underneath the clouds. There are days when thousands of fluffy white cumulus clouds are casting their shadows on the ground below. When looking out the window of the plan at the clouds the visual perspective to me is like being in a gigantic cloud factory watching the cloud Creator produce all sizes and shapes of amazing beauty. Those on the ground.are not able to see the continuous parade of beautiful clouds that will eventually pass overhead of the people below.  They walk in the cloud’s shadow look up at the cloud and say, “The sun has gone behind the cloud.” Flying above the cloud we can tell that is not what has happened. It is the cloud that has moved to a point so that the sun has been blotted out from that particular point on the earth, therefore, causing the shadow.

Miles  and Miles of Clouds

The sun and the airplane are higher than the clouds. Those in the airplane can see what those on the ground cannot see. They see thousands of clouds facilitating shadows on the ground. They can even see the movement of the clouds, and see where the shadow is headed, the area that will soon be in that shadow. The people who are down below cannot tell what is going to happen. They cannot know for sure where the cloud is going or who the shadow will cover.

God is higher than the earth, the clouds and the sun. The Bible says, “The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the one who sits enthroned high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth.” Psalm 113. God is higher than the nations and the heavens. He knows our days perfectly, the days that the sun will shine on us, and the days when dark shadows will overcome us. There is nothing he does not know or cannot handle. Regardless of our bright times or our dark times God’s love for us remains the same. We can always trust him to blow those dark clouds away to remove the shadows from our lives.

Thoughts On Psalms 119:9-14

To fear God is to be eternally bathed in everlasting purity. God’s word, His guiding voice, is always unchallenged, steadfast, and true. Wherever he leads us will become a path of righteousness which provides us with wealth of which the world's greatest riches can never compare. There is nothing more pleasant, more satisfying, nor more precious than the guidance of our Father’s hand. He directs us away from danger, and protects us from harm. We are rewarded handsomely when we obey the perfect will of the One who designed the pattern which outlined who each of us will become. The outline created in His mind, and His everlasting love for us, always pointing to holiness, never toward the rule of sin.

The God fearing soul travels the pure path.

Those who remain true to the word of God will humbly say of themselves, “Then I will be blameless; innocent of great transgressions.” The desire of the seeker of righteousness is, “May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.”

Read Psalm 19: 9-14

Around The World In 80 Countries

God has given me an ability and a desire to write. For many years God allowed me to preach, and I loved the opportunity to stand before fifty to eighty people every Sunday and talk about Jesus. Now in my retirement years I don’t ever get to preach, so I write about Jesus. Every day I just write and put my posts on my blog. I have to leave it up to God to provide my audience. I can do nothing to make others want to read what I write. I have a potential audience on Facebook from 1600 plus friends. But only a few of those friends choose to read my posts about Jesus. So my audience does not come from Facebook. When I post a silly story I have a lot of FB readers. My blog gives me the total number of readers for each post and where they are from. So I always know from which country my audience comes.

I do have a much larger audience than on Facebook who are interested in reading about Jesus. This audience is from over 70 countries around the world. Today for instance the are 56 people from the Ukraine who have viewed my post. There are a large number from Russia who read what I write. A few weeks ago there were over 100 each day from Russia, Siberia and Georgia. There are always readers from what is called Unknown Regions. I have readers from places like Hong Kong, Romania, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Brunei where the religion is predominantly Muslim. I have followers who are preachers in countries that I didn’t know existed. I really believe that God has called me to post what I write so that possibly some who have never heard the Gospel might hear and find Jesus.

To my audience around the world I want you to know that Jesus loves you and so do I. I wish that I could meet you. I would love to know who you are, where you live, and also if you know Jesus as your Savior. I hope that you would take a little time and add a brief comment on my blog page. Thank you for reading what God has given me to write. May our Heavenly Father bless you as you serve him, and may he keep you safe.

Just a Note: The neat thing about a blog is that all of the posts are easily accessed. A person can go to my blog any time and pick a piece I have written and read it. As I look back on the posts from three to four weeks ago I see that any where from 400 to 1200 people have read most of my posts and some have over 2000 readers. The majority of those readers, by far, are from other countries. I am turning my focus fully on my blog because of the greater number of readers from these 70 to 80 countries. I have left Facebook because I waste too much time on it, but I have found a way to still post on Facebook although I am no longer active. I will not be able to see any comments, nor will I be able to respond to them. I’m glad that I can post to Facebook from my blog site because I have about 15 people who do read my faith oriented posts. I am considering writing another book with nothing but my silly, funny stories.

Let’s Go Fishing

Simon Peter came up empty from fishing all night long, no fish for he, and his tired fishing friends. Early that morning Jesus happens by, a large crowd soon gather to hear this man teach and maybe see him do a miracle or two.  Simon and his crew were mending their nets, wanting nothing more than to go home for some much needed sleep. But Jesus needs a pulpit away from this pressing flock. Simon is singled out, not James nor John, “I need your boat, I hope you don’t mind.” Simon agrees, “My boat is all yours. Hop in, I’ll take you out, just tell me where you want me to stop.” From Simon’s boat Jesus spoke to all that were there that day. He told of God’s great love for them no matter who they were. He was trying to show  them that he cared .

After his sermon Jesus said to Simon still at the helm, “Let’s go out further to deeper waters my friend, so you can let down your net. I’ve a lesson for you, one you must learn. “No way, Master”, Simon exclaimed. “We fished all night, and the fish are simply not here. Take it from me. I’ve done this in these waters all my life. Yet, because you say to cast our nets we will obey.” Out into the sea the nets flew and down in the water they sunk. This time, however, to everyone’s amazement more fish were found than the seasoned fishermen had ever seen. The nets were breaking as they pulled in the haul, and other boats were needed for the catch filled them all. The boats were almost sinking at  the weight of those fish. And when Simon realized what had happened that day he dropped to his knees and to Jesus he did say, “Depart from me my Lord for I am a sinful man.” This revelation pierced his heart.

From that same boat, perhaps, Simon learned other lessons from his Lord. We know he learned briefly how to walk on water. He learned to not be frightened when storms rage with fierce winds and angry waves. Simon learned how to trust the One who told him that one day he would become a fisher of men. And a bit over three years later what Jesus said came true.  At Pentecost Simon Peter stood, filled with the Holy Spirit, and preached his first sermon. On that day Peter’s boat was filled once again, but this time not with fish, but with men and women giving their lives to Jesus, over three thousand strong. And thus the church was born.

Words That Destroy

There have been occasions when someone has said something to you  that just ripped out your heart. The words they spoke were perhaps hidden behind the pretense of helpful concern, but you understood  the person’s real intent. Your reaction may have been a forced smile and a quick retreat to a place of solitude where your could scream, cry or do whatever you do when you need to lick your wounds. Yes, ill spoken words produce wounds that are real. Like poison arrows they pierce our souls often destroying our desire to continue the journey that we have been traveling. 

Sometimes people speak without understanding our situation, sometimes on purpose, sometimes in anger, or hate. Sometimes they hurt us just because they are simply ignorant. They mean well, but what they say is completely the worst thing they could possibly add to what we are experiencing..

Maybe all of us are guilty of speaking out of turn regardless of our intent. Here is a little verse that you might find helpful. It might prevent you from having that ugly taste left in your mouth after you have, knowingly or unknowingly, put your foot there.

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, and keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3

Two Trees

What does the Cross and a tree have in common? Here’s another question? Why did Jesus die on the Cross? You are absolutely correct! Jesus died on the Cross to take away our sins. Peter said, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” It was on the Cross that Jesus bore our sins. When we are saved we die to sin and live our lives in righteousness.

I think of another tree when I hear that Jesus died on a tree to save us from sin. Another question, what was it that first got us in trouble with God? Did it have anything to do with a tree? You are right again. The tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden produced a fruit that God told Adam and Eve not to eat. What kind of fruit  was it? It wasn’t an apple, or a pear, or a fig, nor was it any fruit that we might buy at a fruit stand. It was forbidden fruit. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit we are all under the curse of sin. How did that forbidden fruit get us in trouble? We didn’t eat it. How could we? Forbidden doesn’t exist today, you might protest.

Oh but does exist, and man eats it everyday. We inherited the sin nature from Adam which makes us crave that fruit. Our carnal hearts desire the things of this world. We are prone to discredit the word of God. Man twisted the truths of scripture to accommodate their fancy. And every time we disobey God we take a big bite out of the Forbidden Fruit. That lovely tree bearing the forbidden fruit in the Garden was used by Satan to twist God’s word, to discredit him, and make him out to be a killjoy. Jesus, however, suffered and died on that cruel tree, the one on Calvary,  to offer God’s grace and his forgiveness to us so that we might be saved from death and given eternal life. I thank God that he gave us that second tree.

The County Fair

The county fair had opened, and for a little fellow like me it was about the most wonderful thing I had ever seen. My mother was excited too. Thinking back, I guess everybody in Logan County was there. I don’t remember, but I’m sure that my dad was along also because my mother who was a new driver wouldn’t have driven in such a congested area. I enjoyed the rides so much; I didn’t know such things existed. This was the most fascinating experience of my young life. The merry-go-round with the horses spinning round and round, the neat music playing was absolutely more than anything my little mind could have ever imagined. And that Ferris wheel, so tall reaching high into the sky above everything else, was the first thing I saw. My mother, assuring me that she would hold onto me, insisted that we give it a try. I was a little bit afraid at first, but once we began climbing higher and higher I loved it. Stopping at the top I could see forever, far beyond any place I had ever been.

There were other amazing things to see. I saw people playing games, some winning the most wonderful prizes. As we walked around the fairgrounds I saw tents with funny pictures, strange looking animals and people painted on them, men standing on platforms yelling out to whoever would stop to listen, and pretty, scantily clad women dancing as a crowd of men stood watching. My mother hurried me by that tent. We went into a large, strange shaped building where we looked at all sorts of items with different color ribbons attached to them. There were clothing items, pies and cakes, large watermelons and pumpkins, jars with jams, vegetables, so many homemade items that went on and on. We saw a brand new, bright shiny car that my mother said was going to be given away. I hoped they would give it to my daddy, but they didn’t.

We stopped by a place to get a drink and something to eat. My mother knew some of the people standing there. A lady and her little girl had also walked up adding to the crowd. My mother was talking to her while paying for our food. At the end of their conversation she began walking away while holding the little girl’s hand. Right away I knew something wasn’t right. Why did she walk off with that girl and leave me? I did what any little boy would do, I started crying and yelling for my mommy. The lady looked down, saw me and noticed that I had replaced her daughter. She bent down, called my name and told me she would take me to my mother. She took me by the hand and we walked over to some tables where my mother and the little girl were waiting. That girl didn’t seem as upset as I was. My mother and the other lady were laughing. My mother hugged me, told me she was sorry and apologized to the lady for mistakenly walking off with her daughter.

I had never been lost before. It was a scary thing. I’m sure no one likes to be lost. Being lost even for a couple of minutes is terrible. But what if a person is lost forever? Being lost spiritually is worse even though most people in the world don’t know or care. They are going through life with Satan holding their hand. He is leading them through this world to a place with no hope, showing them marvelous evil  things that are like a puff of smoke, dangerous things, that are going to destroy them. But Jesus is near desiring to save them. He is calling them by their name. He wants to take everyone by the hand, and put them on the road of righteousness that leads to eternal life in heaven.

The Country Store

I had a conversation with a lady who had grown up in a rural area of North Carolina. We were talking about some of our experiences living in the country as children and teens. After our time of sharing I realized that country life in our two states was very much the same. I was reminded how important the country store was to country folks. Obviously the grocery items like tobacco, chicken feed, fly swatters, gas, kerosene, work gloves, nails of all sizes and many items hidden away on a shelf somewhere that only the owner knew where to find, the basic necessities were important to meet the needs of those living in the area.

The country store also served as a kind of social club where everyone in the community was welcomed. It was a pace for some to loaf and shoot the breeze (talk). A place to quickly grab a coke and a pack of nabs from that big Lance jar. If someone forgot to pay, those items would be added to their credit account which they would pay whenever they sold their tobacco crop. In the winter when the farmers were not as busy with farming chores the country store accommodated those who dropped by to play cards or checkers. Card tables were set up near the fireplace or the potbelly stove and many hours were enjoyed by those who played games like Rook and those who only came to watch and talk. The country store was just a good place to quell the boredom of a long cold winter.

The country store was a place for country folks to spin their yarns, tell stories, some true, some partly true and most likely greatly embellished, but always enjoyed by the everyone. As a very young  boy sitting on somebody’s knee until I was too old, I enjoyed listening to the tales told by the farmers, many who unknowingly influenced my life in some way. There was nothing pretentious found in these gatherings. Farmers having a good time, smoking, chewing tobacco, occasionally spitting in the fireplace, their work  boots always with a little cow manure on them, some wearing tattered felt hats or an old cap they got at a feed store, most of them poor men with families to feed, hard working men enjoying a few hours with their neighbors. Back in those days if bad luck came to a farmer’s home everybody came to lend a helping hand.

My experience growing up in a country store and as I got older working alongside these men and their sons in the fields, provided me with an education better than I ever got from the many college and seminary hours I acquired. God blessed me with a life that I’m afraid is hard to come by today. Only a few country stores remain and the old days of farming has disappeared as well. That is why those of us who remember should tell the old stories of how it was in the days of the country store.

The Best Trade Ever Made

When I was a boy I collected baseball cards. My favorite Major League Baseball team was the New York Giants. In 1958 the Giants moved to San Francisco. My goal was to acquire the baseball card of every player on the Giants team. Every chance I got I would buy a pack of baseball cards, but those purchasing chances didn’t materialize very often. I had to depend on my mother for that. No one ever knew which major league player’s cards were inside those packages. The delicious bubblegum inside the package was an added bonus. For weeks the cards smelled just like the bundle gum. The gum was important. Every little leader needed a big  chaw of bubblegum to pooch out their cheeks when they were playing baseball.

How were we able to get all of the baseball player’s cards for our favorite team? We traded for them. The problem was that to get all the Giants player’s cards I had to let go of some of the good players from other teams. No one would trade a Hank Aaron, a Mickey Mantle or players of that caliber. But very often in order to trade for the Giants player’s cards I needed I would have to give up some valuable players from other teams, teams that I kind of liked. We knew which baseball player’s cards were the best. Giving up one of those even for one of the less known Giants players was very hard to do. Those sacrifices weren’t easy, but sometimes they were necessary. Very often I reluctantly gave up a more valuable, more prestigious card for one of lesser value to get the one I needed.

Over the years I made some good trades, but the best trade I ever made had nothing to do with baseball cards. There is a man who traded the most valuable thing for something I had that he thought was valuable and precious. His name is Jesus. He wanted me, my life, so much that he was willing to trade his life, his righteousness for my sin. Why did he do that? Because he loved me. He viewed me as being valuable and precious. What did I give up? I gave up my sin, all of it, so that I would no longer belong to Satan. What did I gain? I got the righteousness of Jesus. I got His Holy Spirit. I got adoption papers into God’s family. I got eternal like.

I made some very good trades for baseball cards, but none of those trades even came close to the trade I made with Jesus.

Mortality

There are eight friends on my prayer list who have cancer. Five of them are members of our church choir. One is our pastor’s wife. This morning I found out that another friend has been diagnosed with (ALS). He has helped many people in his service to God. Last year I had three good friends who died. All three of them had been in the same morning prayer group. Every one of these men and women, who are still alive, are wonderful people who love God and have tirelessly served him and continue to serve him.

In case you haven’t noticed, good people, Christian people, experience terrible diseases and at some point die. Eventually all of us will die. It doesn’t matter if you are holy or if you are evil you will die. Why is it that good people, the best people, the people that we count on die? Why do young people die? Children, babies, why do they die? Why are people we love tragically killed in accidents? Together we stand in our grief and our question is, “Why did this have to happen?”

Long, long ago God told the couple he created to never eat the fruit on a beautiful tree in the center of a beautiful garden. He said, “If you disobey me and eat this fruit you will surely die. As long as you obey me and leave the fruit alone you will live.” One day these two were tempted by the evil one and they ate the fruit. Because they disobeyed God they eventually died. What they did was called sin. We know that all have sinned. Therefore all of us will die.

We get upset when we hear that someone we love has died or has a disease that may kill them. We may break down and cry, become angry, or withdraw and want to be left alone. Our reaction may be to place blame on something or someone. Sometimes there may be another person to blame for the particular timing of one’s death. We can play the blame game if we wish, but the reason all of us are born with mortality staring us in the face is that we are all sinners. Yet all are given a chance to accept the Loving Father’s saving Grace through Jesus Christ his Son.

A Little Bit Of Faith

The disciples had tried to heal a demon possessed boy and had failed. “Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17

The plant referred to here is generally considered to be a black mustard, a large annual plant up to 9 feet tall, but growing from a very small seed. Jesus was saying to the disciple they could accomplish gigantic things if they had just a little bit of faith.

A tiny bit of faith in God can produce more than we ever thought. David killing the giant, Goliath, is an example. A little boy took some little stones and with a little sling, believing what his big God could do through him, did what the whole Israel army was not able to do.  

We must remember that it is never about what we can do on our own. It is about what God can do through us if with just a little bit of faith we surrender all we have and all we are for him to use as he wants. Look what the Apostle Paul did. He was the one who said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by FAITH in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Paul considered himself dead, totally surrendered to Christ who lived in him, using him to do great things for the Kingdom. Remember it was also Paul who said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

You know, I think if all the Christians in the world had just a little bit of faith to completely relinquish their lives to Mighty God we would see Him moving a lot of mountains which are barriers to what He wants to do through us.

Super Powers

I get out of the bed each morning, barely awake, I begin the same routine that I follow day after day: go to the bathroom, make the bed, find my Bible and journal, meander to the kitchen, get a cup of coffee, sit down in my recliner and most days I look across the room into the kitchen, and I see my glasses on the bar. Everything I have done up to this point has not been easy. All I have accomplished has been done gingerly because of a stiff back and usually some body part aching, while balancing a cup of coffee and trying my best not to spill any of it. Finally relaxed, I look at my glasses just a few feet away, and I wish that I had the power like Samantha on the old Bewitched show to wiggle my nose, which is one thing that usually doesn’t hurt, so that they would fly to me saving me the painful  effort of walking black to get them.

But I don’t have the power to cause things to fly around the room at my request. God did not give us that kind of power, but he did give us a power that is better than the make believe powers of the superheroes we see in the movies. When we begin an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit is given to us. He is a person who lives in us. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to do anything God the Father wants us to do. We are instructed to ask that we receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. In every area of our lives, even the small things, we need the power that comes from the filling, the presence, the anointing  of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul said that we should pray without ceasing. It is in those never ceasing prayers that we stay connected with the Holy Spirit. Those prayers of petitioning the Holy Spirit for his filling and his power will keep us in God’s will and will make us more and more like Jesus.

End Of World Predictions

Since 1962 there have been just under 100 predictions that the world was going to end. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robinson and John Hagee are persons who were popular TV evangelist/pastors warning that the world was about to end. Others were Jim Jones, the mass murderer, Louis Farrakhan and the Jehovah Witnesses. Tim Lehaye, author of the Left Behind series, was one of many who predicted the end because of the expected Y2K crisis.

In October 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis ignited the belief that the end of the world was at our doorstep. At the turn of this century the Y2K computer bug scare convinced people all over the world that the economy world wide would collapse leading Jerry Falwell to announce the end of time. I read today that a young freshman congresswoman is predicting the end of the world in twelve years if global warming is not seriously addressed. There are young married couples who have gone on strike to protest the worlds lack of serious answers to curb global warming. They are simply refusing to bring children into this so called dangerous world situation. It’s probably a good thing that these people are not having children.

If a person happens to consider the Bible the best source concerning life from beginning to end perhaps that would be a good place to get answers about the end times. The Bible is very clear about the end of the world. Who will God consult concerning the end of time? Apparently it wasn’t Jerry Falwell, or Jim Jones, or the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The disciples asked Jesus when would the end of the age be. Jesus told them a number of things that would take place before the end of time. (Matthew 24) He said when these things happen man will know the end is near. But Jesus made sure the disciple understood one thing. He said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” There you have it, only God the Father knows when he will send Jesus back to earth to bring an end to this sinful world.

There was another extremely important thing that Jesus told the disciples.  He said, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” People will be about their business not expecting anything out of the ordinary, enjoying life, making plans for tomorrow, just another day and in a flash followers of Jesus will be gone. Only those who rejected the Son of God will be left to await his judgement. Jesus gave the disciples the most crucial advise that every man and woman should heed, “So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Be Ready! That means accept Jesus as your Savior today! Without Jesus There is no hope for anyone. Be Ready!

Sentimental Momentos

She had several photo albums, the oldest ones, filled with pictures from way before I was born. There were pictures of classy, beautiful, young women dressed in nice dresses and wearing hats and gloves. They reminded me of those old movie stars of the 1940’s. Looking through those brown tattered pages of old black and white pictures my mom was a completely different person. She was young, a girl enjoying life, being silly, daring perhaps, having fun with her crazy girlfriends, and a boy friend or two that I never knew, but mostly with the young man I knew as daddy.  But at the same time I could see that special glow in her eyes that was unmistakeable my mom.

I could tell from the way mom had placed all of her pictures, with funny little handwritten notes underneath or even sometimes on the picture that each of them was special to her. One caption underneath a picture focused on a man’s backside read, “Wallace’s butt”. Mom was always precisely descriptive, leaving out no detail, when she described anything. Her love for her friends and family was undeniably evident in every aspect of her life, but most visibly in what she saved and cherished in her albums. She saved church bulletins, newspaper clippings of obituaries, wedding announcements, special events, sporting events, things written about our family, kids from church, who at the time of her death were way beyond being kids. In her mind they were still kids that she loved, so she held onto them. She even had saved the two narrow strips of material left over from the alteration of the suit pants my dad was buried in. My mom had several boxes of these kinds of things.

For years I have tried to honor my mother’s memory by keeping her special items. However, there comes a time that we have to let go of some old things. I went through her keepsakes discarding the old unidentified pictures of people I didn’t know and other items I knew would mean nothing to my children or my brother’s children. As Sherri and I have moved into a smaller house we don’t have the storage space for things we have held onto with each of our many moves (about 15 of them). Most mom’s momentos had remained in the boxes in which they were originally packed. I think there comes a time when we have to part with sentimental items from an era beyond our time.  My mother has been in heaven, I believe since 2004. I’m sure she is not the least bit concerned about those two strips of material from my dad’s burial pants or any of those old black and white pictures from eighty years ago. My dad has been in heaven since 1972, and now my mother is with him. The greatest memory I have of my mom and my dad is the memory that they loved Jesus. That’s all that really matters. I miss my mom and my dad.

Peashooters

The year was 1966 that our basketball team traveled to a little town in the foothills of Cumberland County Kentucky. The opponent’s gym was like many in that day. It was very small, but it had one unusual architectural difference from any I had ever seen. There was a balcony that hung out over the sideline of the floor which preventing any high arching passes from the person inbounding the ball. But there was another function and perhaps advantage that the balcony provided for the home team. A few students from their perch above the floor brandished peashooters that they used to fire upon the visiting players when they came onto the floor. As we were warming up preparing to play we were pelted with whatever ammunition might fit into their weapons—peas of course, tiny spit balls, ball bearings and only heaven knows what. Throughout the game we would feel the occasional pea from a well hidden sniper in that balcony. On the night we played, however, the fan’s efforts were for naught as we won the game.

I thought about that night over 50 years ago as I was reading Psalm 2, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed...” The psalmist’s tells us how God reacts, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath.”

We watch those who arrogantly test God with their outrageous in your face life styles. They completely ignore God’s warnings. They make fun of those who God has called to speak the good news of his loving grace. Most don’t believe in a God who abhors their way of living. To them they are committing no sin. They don’t believe that a loving God would demonstrate his terrible wrath againt anyone. So they refuse to repent and accept his forgiveness and love through his Son Jesus Christ . 

The nation’s bring their peashooter idealism to shoot down the claims found in God’s Holy Word. Why is it that nations reject God’s perfect plan? Why do they plot I’ve vain following Satan who is leading them to eternal damnation? It is because they love their sin too much to change.

Sucking On Poison

My dad fought in World War II in Europe. Like many who have fought and witnessed the brutalities that war brings, he never mentioned anything about his experiences when he came home. My brother and I knew nothing about what our dad experienced until we read, just a few years ago, the letters he wrote to our mother. He was lonely, and was moved to tears, I believe, because of the terrible things which affected him directly. He mentioned how the Germans brutally killed of some of his men who were also close friends. In several of his letters he told how much he hated Hitler, the German soldiers, and the German people in general. He told about three of his men who were under fire, and when they knew they could not escape they surrendered only to be taken by their captors and unmercifully killed.

How do you think that would affect a young man? My dad and many other soldiers returned home with these horrible pictures firmly etched in their minds. The only sense of justice they had was that the Germans had been defeated. But on a personal level justice was never satisfied. Watching your friends killed and not being able to help them or save them left guilt, hate and bitterness, which I’m sure remained in the hearts of many of these soldiers until the day they died. It is no wonder that men and women who have fought in fierce battles are silent about sharing their war stories.

Guilt, hate and bitterness which are never dealt with become destructive forces within an individual. If this is something that you are hanging onto because someone hurt you very badly you need to deal with it immediately. I’ve been in that very situation because I was hurt badly and unfairly by a group of people a little over thirty years ago. I was overcome by bitterness. Someone described bitterness as sipping slowly on poison with the intent to destroy those who hurt you. We all know who will be destroyed. Finally I made things right with some of the people who hurt me. Only one apologized to me. I forgave him, and I forgave the others. Some of those people had already died, but still I have forgiven them.  It is only through forgiveness that can we be released from the destructive effects of that poison.

Just as God has forgiven us, we must forgive others. You may say,  “I can never forgive the person who hurt me.” You are right, you cannot truly forgive others. But you are able to forgive them by the power of God’s Spirit who is in you if you belong to Jesus. The choice is ours, either we ask Jesus to help us forgive, or we keep sucking on that poison.

People Watching

Washington Park New York City

I guess everyone of us have spent time people watching. We have sat in shopping malls, airports, and other venues where there is nothing to do but watch people. Unless there is something unusual about an individual we probably don’t give much thought about them. Some people immediately draw our attention by the way they dress, some physical characteristic such as hair, tattoos, maybe a physical disability, or any number of unusual things. For instance, a homeless guy sitting on a park bench with pigeons on his head, arms, and lap, and people sitting beside him as though his actions are normal might cause one to stop and take a picture. To an old country boy from Kentucky this scene is very unusual, but for people living in New York City who regularly stroll through Washington Park it’s no big deal.

People, there are billions of us in this world. We are all drastically different. We are motivated differently. Many are not motivated at all. Our goals are different. The things that make us happy runs the gamut. Millions of wealthy individuals that have anything they want are unhappy, angry and depressed, while other people numbering in the millions are poor, and have nothing are the happiest, most satisfied individuals in the world. I wonder why there are so many hurting, unhappy people who have not figured out that happiness, joy and peace do not depend on how much money they have or how many nice things they have? Yes, all of us are different, yet there is at least one important way that we are all the same.

What is it that we all need. There is an old song that speaks of this very thing. This song mentions the hundreds of people that pass by us, some we know and many we don’t know. Sad, empty people who are just meandering through life. They are in pain; they are afraid, and perhaps they try to hide their silent cries with laughter. But there is one person who hears those cries, and that is Jesus.

How will these billions of people find the one they need? The song says, “We are called to take his light by sharing his Life with the one who’s lost. It is through his love that our hearts will feel the pain and grief they bear. The chorus to this wonderful song says People need the Lord. People need the Lord. At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door. People need the Lord. People need the Lord. When will we realize that we must give our lives for people who need the Lord.

The gentleman on the bench with the pigeons needs the Lord. So do the young ladies engrossed in their phones. And the men sitting on the benches in the background also focused on their phones need the Lord. Everyone in this picture needs the Lord. When will we get off our phones and stop doing whatever we are doing and notice that people really do need the Lord?

Listen to the song People Need the Lord by Keith Green on Google

Keep Your Clothes On

Sherri and I retired from teaching in 2005 and moved to northern Kentucky. I had plenty to keep me busy for three or four months with all that moving involves and trying to get grass to grow on our half an acre yard. After we had settle in I was almost climbing the walls from boredom. Before the next school year began I applied to do some substitute teaching. I got a call from one of the local school districts to come in for an interview. My interview was with a man who was not interested in hiring me to substitute, rather he wanted me to teach special education students at a middle school. I had two things going for me, I had 27 years under my belt teaching middle school of which 15 were in special education.

After going to the school and talking to the assistant principal I accepted the position. I would be doing collaborative teaching. That is co-teaching in a regular classroom where special ed. students would be integrated with non special ed. students. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. One day before school started I met the principal who told me I would be working primarily with one student who had a multitude of learning and emotional problems. It turned out that I also would be working with some students with behavior disorders. But Shawn was the one I was assigned to babysit.

Shawn had many problems. He was a downs kid, and when his other problems were under control he was very sweet. However, almost everyday he would go ballistic, and I would end up on the floor with him trying to restrain him. I got scratched, bruised and sometimes had to run through the halls to catch him. I was told before I ever met him that one major problem Shawn had was he liked to take his clothes off when he really got upset. That never happened when I was with him, but when I wasn’t I might get a distress call from one of the other teachers. I carried a walkie talkie so I could be summoned when Shaw attempted to get naked.

One morning I was told to get to the music room ASAP! When I walked into the room Shawn had no shirt on, no shoes on, no socks on, and he was in the process of removing his pants. The young first year teacher was hiding under her desk, and the students had distanced themselves as far away from Shawn as they could. I told Shawn two or three times to not take his pants off. He paused each time looking blankly at me, and I knew I wasn’t connecting with him. I had to think of something else, fast. I put my arm around him and whispered in his ear, “Shawn, do you want to go eat lunch?” That got his attention. He nodded his head, grinned and got up to go. “Well, first you will have to put your clothes back on.” Immediately Shawn pulled his pants up, put his shirt on, and his shoes and socks. Then he looked at me and said, “Let’s go!”

Shawn and I walked down to the cafeteria as though nothing had happened. I was wondering how I was going to convince the lunchroom ladies that Shawn needed lunch at nine thirty in the morning. I guess they knew about Shawn because they quickly came up with a tray of food for him.

That little music teacher will never forget that morning. I became her hero. I often wonder how long it was before she decided to find another line of work. For me, I decided that climbing the walls at home was better than trying to keep Shawn’s clothes on him and wrestling on the floor with him almost everyday. I told the principal before Christmas vacation that I wouldn’t be back because what he had me doing was not what I had signed up for. He said, “I don’t blame you. If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t do it either.”

After that God gave me a position in a large Baptist association of churches as the Christian Education Director. I served churches in various ways for my remaining time in northern Kentucky. Not once did I ever have to tell anyone to keep their clothes on. I was certainly blessed.

A Sad Conversation

I have managed to do something my daddy was never able to do. I have lived to be an old man. My dad was given only fifty-four years on this earth, a young man, too young to die. He died in 1972.  Sherri and I had been married, just a bit over a year. She was twenty two and I was twenty three. We were about to finish our first year of teaching. My brother was a freshman in college, nineteen years old. I don’t guess there is never a best time or a worse time to lose a parent, but for us it was a terrible time to have to say goodbye to our daddy. Our dad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. There was little that could be done for him, and in nine days he was dead.

Sometimes when I am depressed my dad visits my thoughts. This has never been a good visit. It is always the same, a replay of the last conversation I had with him. My mom told me that daddy wanted to talk to me. I went into his room and sat down on his bed. He was sitting in a chair directly across from me. He said, “Son, I know I am going to die.”  These were words a son never wants to hear from his father. He continued by basically handing over to me many responsibilities which I had never dreamed I would own: helping my mother with the grocery store, and supporting her, watching out for my brother, and helping him, finally he gave me information about immediate store business as well as other things later on that I would need to handle.

My response was, “We don’t know for sure you will die.” He said, “It doesn’t look good. What the doctors are going to try is a long shot. It’s never worked before.” The plan was to give him something like chemo which was very powerful. He would have almost unbearable pain from this treatment which was his only hope. Daddy said to me, “We will trust God. He will make the best decision. If he chooses to take me to be with him now, I am ready to go. All we can do is trust him.” That was the last thing I remember my dad saying to me.

I drove home that night to Kentucky from Nashville where my dad was in the hospital. I took care of the business my dad asked me to do. The next day I drove back to the hospital to check on daddy. The treatment had begun in the night, and by the time I got back my dad was semi conscious, convulsing in horrific pain. For the next two and a half days my big, strong dad had declined so much that he was barely recognizable. He wasn’t able to speak or respond in any way. We would go in and hug him and tell him we loved him. He knew we were there, but that was all. Finally, by the grace of our loving God our daddy was taken to his heavenly home on May 2 1972.

I will never forget my dad’s last words to me, “I am ready to go. All we can do is trust him.” I don’t think a young man who is beginning his adult life with a new bride, a first job, and before another year a first time dad, could ask for any better parting words from his dad. I am so thankful for that farewell talk. But in my down times, my sad times, this mental return to that afternoon when I last talked to my dad makes me even sadder. Soon there will be no more dark, sad days for me. I will go to a place where there is nothing but joy and gladness.