Just Chillin'

I'm taking a few days away from work to rest, recharge, and get a few things done around the house.

Over the weekend we saw Johnny Mathis in concert with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. (That makes me sound old, doesn't it? Well remember, I am a grampy now.)
We also went to the zoo with all of the family, in-laws and boyfriends included. I really enjoyed my little granddaughter, Olivia, on Saturday at the zoo. She's getting to that age where she is a lot of fun and very active. It's really awesome to watch her grow and develop and discover new things. I wondered what she was thinking occasionally as she looked at the zebras and giraffes and elephants.

All in all, life is good.

What Bible Says That?

In her Earth day proclamation the other day, the Speaker of the US House said these words, "The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, 'To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us.'

Maybe I'm just ignorant of the Scriptures (although I don't think that's the case.) The fact is, that's not in the Scriptures. Not in the Old Testament as she claimed. Nor in the New Testament. It's not even a close paraphrase of anything in the Bible.

Beware when politicians begin spouting "Scriptures" to further their agendas. This whole conservation/global warming/going green movement has seemingly become a religion unto itself. Now apparently, they have their own Bible.

Our Compassionate Savior

Ninety four times the word 'compassion' is found in the Scriptures. More than just a few times Jesus is described as having "compassion on the multitudes."

Today I ran across this definition of compassion: "Your pain in my heart."
Can you feel that? To me, that's real compassion. The kind of real compassion I believe Jesus had for people.

"Why, Lord?"

Our pastor asked one of those probing questions last evening that demands some introspection and self examination. "Are you content?"

I think I am. Much more than I used to be anyhow. Maybe it comes with age and experience. Or maybe I've just come to understand that, whatever comes my way, my life is in His hands. (I really hope that's the case.)
Whatever the reason, I think I can honestly say today, "Yeah. I'm content."

My struggle these days seems to be a bit different. I'm wrestling with "Why, Lord?"
Typically, 'why, Lord' has a negative connotation. As in, "Why me, Lord? Why am I going through this? Why this trial? This tribulation? This temptation?"
But that's not the case with my 'Why, Lord?'

Mine is all about, "Why is my life so blessed?" Really. I can't figure it out. I know I don't deserve it. I realize every day how much He has given to me, and I just keep wondering, "Why me?"
Content? I'd be embarrassed not to be. When I see so many around me struggling - struggling with kids who are in trouble and won't listen, or struggling with finances, or marital issues, or bad health, or any of a host of other issues - it almost seems unfair. This life He's given me is so rich and full.

Content? Absolutely. Even more, I'm thankful.

One Happy Grampy

I've heard for years from those a little further along in life that there is nothing like having a grandchild. But nobody has adequately captured in words the sheer joy this little girl has brought to our lives.

Just Say It ..."Christian"

I was listening to the local news radio station this morning when a reporter was asked about President Bush's scheduled meeting today with the Pope. The question was asked, "What will the President and the Pope be discussing in their one-on-one meeting today?"
The reporter seemed to really struggle with how to answer. He stuttered and stammered, and finally replied, "They'll probably be discussing ... um ... God." (Brilliant insight there, huh? Any more bright remarks, Einstein?) Then he said, "The president, as you may know, is ... um ... a ... a person of ... um ... some faith."

Would it be so torturous for the media to say simply of our president, "He is a Christian"?

Isn't That Just Like Sin?

Over the past few weeks, we've been cleaning up a long-neglected portion of our back yard. It's Sharon's idea. If it was left up to me, we'd probably leave it alone and not look too closely. But this particular corner had become seriously overgrown and in need of our attention. We didn't mean for it to get that way. We just haven't paid much attention to it. The times we have noticed it over the past few years it's either been too hot, or too cold, or we've just been too busy (or maybe too lazy) to deal with it. So with the beginning of Spring, we've trimmed and chopped and pruned and cut, and created piles of limbs and brush to be hauled away.

The hardest part of this ongoing endeavor has been dealing with a weed. I think it's just one weed, but its not just any weed. This thing is like the Godzilla of the weed world. It is a vine that has grown up among the plants and trees and has completely entangled itself in everything. We yanked and pulled and cut out enough of this stuff to fill a dump truck. It had climbed up so high in the surrounding trees that I had to climb on top of our garden shed and cut away the surrounding tree limbs to get it down. I've noticed it's nearly killed one of the large trees it had wrapped itseld up into.

As I was cutting away at it trying to get it down out of the trees the other day, Sharon made a great observation. She said, "That's just like sin."
She's right. And I haven't been able to quit thinking about it. It is just like sin.
It's like sin in the way that it entangles itself in everything else around it. It's like sin in the way it chokes the life out of everything it gets close to. It's ugly like sin. It's like sin in the way it grows and grows, taking over more and more. And it's like sin in the way it got there, too. Through neglect. Laziness. We just didn't want to deal with it and found all kinds of excuses not to.

I keep thinking that it wouldn't be such a big problem to deal with if I hadn't neglected that area for so long. If I would have simply caught it when it first began to grow I could have gotten rid of it before it caused any damage. Why didn't I do something about it when we first noticed it rather than making excuses and procrastinating? A little work on my part a few years ago would have saved us a lot of back-breaking labor and aggravation later on.
I can tell you this: It won't happen again. I've learned my lesson. From now on I'll be ready with the weed killer. At the first sign of that stuff beginning to grow I'll be there to chop and hack and dig until I'm sure I've killed it.
That's my plan for the back yard. It's my plan for those little sprouts of sin in my life, too.

"... let us also lay aside every encumberance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our fiath, ...
~ Hebrews 12:1

Learned the Hard Way

"You are not obligated to attend every argument you are invited to."
~ Unknown

It's taken me a long time to learn this simple truth.

Growing Old Together (Literally)

April 11. Happy Anniversary to my bride of 27 years. You're still the hottest babe I've ever seen. I cannot imagine my life without you.

Thank you for every single day.

Dig Another Well

What do you do when there's a famine in the land? Leave? Stay? Run away? Tough it out? Find someplace where things are better?

That's the dilemma Isaac faced in Genesis 26. I feel sure his first thought was "I'm outta here!" But the Bible says the Lord appeared to him and said, "Do not go to Egypt. Stay in the land." Stay where it's hard. Stay right there, in the midst of a bad situation. Hang in there in spite of the famine.
That's not what most of us want to hear when faced with difficult times, is it?

Isaac did as the Lord told him to do. He stayed. That in itself is commendable. How often do we find ourselves compounding the difficulties we face simply because we won't obey? We go when He says stay.

But Isaac did more that just stay. He got busy. Verse 12 tells us he sowed in the land. Remember, it was a land in the midst of famine. He sowed anyhow. And the Bible says, "... he reaped in the same year a hundred fold. And the Lord blessed him." (I know what you're thinking. Sowing. Reaping. Hundredfold. You've heard this stuff before, right? Burger's gone over to the prosperity gospel crowd. Hang on.)

Look what else he did. Five times in Genesis 26 the Bible says 'he dug a well.'

First, the Philistines stopped up the wells his father Abraham had dug. Enemies will do that kind of thing. So he re-dug those wells.
Then the Bible says his servants dug in the valley, "... and found a well of flowing water." This was the good stuff. But his neighbors quarreled with him over the water. No problem. They dug another well. But there was contention over that one, too. (You see, it's usually easier to argue with someone else than it is to dig your own well.)
Finally, they moved on a little ways and dug yet another well. Now that's a lot of work in a hot, dry desert in the midst of a famine. That's a lot of well-digging going on.

But even then Isaac wasn't through.
He moved on just a little ways to Beersheba. The Bible says, "He built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well."

I've been thinking: Maybe God wants us to stay in the land when things get tough. Stay in spite of the famine. Maybe it's time we stop looking for a way out. Stop thinking about Egypt.
Instead, dig a well. Find God's provision in the midst of the famine. I think you'll see His hand of blessing. There may even be some contention along the way. Someone nearby may see your well and grow envious. That's okay. Keep digging. Proverbs 10:22 says: "It is the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich, and He adds no sorrow with it."

Build an altar. Pitch your tent. And dig a well. I like that. Sounds like something a chaplain would tell an inmate. Don't think about Egypt. Don't run away. Just build an altar. Pitch your tent. And dig a well.

When There's a Famine in Your Land

"Now there was a famine in the land ..."
~ Genesis 26:1

"And the Lord appeared to him (Isaac) and said, 'Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land which I shall tell you.'
~ Genesis 26:2

"So he (Isaac) built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well."
~ Genesis 26:25

Three things Isaac did (in order) in a land where there was a famine, but a land God told him to stay in nonetheless:

1. Built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord (Worship)
2. Pitched his tent (Obedience)
3. Dug a well (Seeking God's Provision)

This is what I've been stewing on for a few days. More to come ...

Did You Know?

• Did you know there are now 2.4 million people incarcerated in prisons and jails in the US?
• Did you know that is a net increase of over 100,000 people just since the beginning of 2007?
• Did you know there is now one prisoner for every ninety-nine adults in the general population of the US?
• Did you know that the cost of incarceration in the US has now reached $49 billion? That's $49,000,000,000!

"Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them ..." ~Hebrews 13:3

Olivia's Big News

In case you can't quite read Olivia's shirt, it says:

"I'm the Big Sister"


Olivia would like for everyone to know that she will have a new brother or sister around Thanksgiving!

The Semi-Good Samaritan

An Inconvenient God

I saw an article in a local newspaper yesterday about a church in the area that has begun holding services on Saturdays at 5:21pm. They advertised this particular service like this:

"Late enough that you can enjoy a full day of activites, but still early enough that you can catch dinner and a movie afterwards."

The church is even nice enough to offer a concierge service in the lobby following the service that will happily make your dinner reservation or check the show times for movies you may want to see.

The article went on to say the church wants to "reach out to people of all ages who are immersed in a busy culture." One of the pastors said, "5:21 is our attempt to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone who is not accustomed to going to church of Sunday or for whatever reason finds Sunday inconvenient."

I guess all of this is okay. I'm just wondering what happens when these people who are so immersed in a busy culture that worship needs to be made convenient find out that Chrisitanity according to Jesus comes with a cost.
He never offered convenience. He offered a cross for each of those who would follow Him to carry.

Should we really be promulgating the idea that God can be jammed in between "a full day of activites" and our plans for "dinner and a movie?"