Contagious Faithfullness

Do you recall the last person that was faithful to you? In today’s society, those kinds of people seem to be rare. At the beginning of my business career in a large corporation, I experienced betrayal first hand. A couple of junior executives had become friends and one man confidentially related some personal issues that were taking place in his life and the struggles to work through them. Then one day a job promotion became available for which both men were qualified. The one candidate told the hiring manager all the details of the personal issues of the other candidate and of this man’s weakness for the job.

He broke every confidence that the one man had placed in him in order to try and get the job. Neither man was offered the position, and when co-workers found out about the incident, they were outraged at the one man’s betrayal of private conversations.

The man justified his actions by saying that no one should ever put their faith in anyone but themselves. It was their own fault. As sad as it may be, don’t we all do that today? We put our faith in our friends and they fail us.

We put our faith in marriage and many fail.  We put our faith in our job and it fails to satisfy us. We then become hardened to never trust or put our faith in anyone but ourselves. 

Wrong thing to do! 

Let’s take a look at the book of Ruth. Naomi experienced many disappointments including the death of her husband, a famine, and the death of her sons. Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws had moved away from their homeland to survive for a period of time. When times became good again in Judah, Naomi released her daughters-in-law to go back to their homeland and find happiness. Orpah was sad but went back to her people and to their gods, but Ruth was different. The famous words written in Ruth Chapter 1 verse 16 and 17 demonstrates her faithfulness to God and Ruth.

The Lord wants that kind of faithfulness from us because no matter how we treat Him he is faithful to us in every instance. When we are hurt or experiencing troubled times, He is faithful to love us and take care of us.

Realize that people are going to fail us. The key is to “love them where they are today” and remain faithful to them. No matter whether a loved one is sick and going through rough times, be faithful.

Be faithful to someone near you.

It’s contagious!

Getting on the Bandwagon

Slang terms and sayings we use so often today are from years ago and are passed from generation to generation. Many times they lose or have changed their meanings. Such is the term, “Get on the Bandwagon”. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English explains it from the 1930’s as: The bandwagon, full of musicians playing loud, catchy tunes, was used in the circus parade before the show to attract crowds to the circus ground, and was adopted for political parades.

People would follow or jump onto the wagon to the circus or to the political candidate’s headquarters. It became an American Colloquial cliche. To climb, jump, or get on the bandwagon was to join the popular party, support its candidate(s) or proposals, and be on the winning side. Wow, haven’t we all seen a lot of bandwagon jumping recently.

In these changing times of our world, we see one popular belief pick up steam into the thoughts and terms being thrown around daily. One term that we never heard in public three or four years ago but is pronounced by everyone today is “God Bless America”. Since the beginning of President Bush’s first speech we would hear him close his messages with those words. Anyone that knows the beliefs of this man know he chooses his words carefully and means each one.

At first reporters made fun of him and others said that he couldn’t say those words because it crossed the line between church and state. Yet he continued to use them. Then this week, we see nearly every announcer in radio, pasted on billboards, flowing on business signs, pronounced by television show personalities, and those in the press saying those three words. They have gotten on the bandwagon but had no substance to what they are saying.   I continue to pray that they get to know the One whom they are asking to bless this great country.

They can verbalize the first part of Psalms 67:1 (take a minute and look it up) but need to finish the rest of verse two. It should not be for selfish reasons that we ask God to bless our nation. It should be that we can show the world that salvation comes through our strength in believing in Him.

Each one of us should be proud to request for God to Bless America. We need to do it so we can help people in other nations around the world realize it goes farther than just might and power in tanks and weapons, but in the saving grace of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit that is with us.

When we realize why we want God to bless our great nation, then we will all want to be on that bandwagon for the rest of our lives!

Simple words from a Granddaughter

I hope each one of you had a great day yesterday in Easter praise, worship, and spending time with family and friends.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our daily work loads and activities around us that it takes the simple words from a granddaughter to bring things back into place.

On Friday my son was off work as the Good Friday holiday and he was spending the time at home with his family.  You see my son has some traits in him that are like me.  He normally puts in long hours each week and so having dedicated time with the family makes it tough to arrange. I am so proud of him because he does a fantastic job at every level of spending time with his family.

At the end of the day when it was time for his daughters to go to bed he tells them a story and is with them for their prayers.  On Friday night he told the story of why we have Good Friday and for the real story of Easter in a simple story.

The best I can recall the conversation, he told his oldest they give him time off work for remembering what Jesus did for each one of us.  My Granddaughter immediately went to her knees and said, "Thank you Jesus for Easter and my daddy having the time off".  My son then said, "It is because of Jesus birth that I get Christmas off".  Without breaking stride my granddaughter said, "Thank you Jesus for Christmas too."

That is one of the more interesting things for a child to thank Jesus for, but her mind knew that it was in these celebrations that her Daddy got some rest and was able to spend time with her.  We all should have that much passion for each other to be concerned and connect time together with Thanking the Lord.

For each one of us, Jesus is saying, "I gave my life so you could have freedom and joy in your life".  All He wants in return is for you to say, "Thank You for thinking of me and what I did to have that relationship with you".

When all is said and done can you be like my granddaughter and just say "Thank you Jesus for Easter"?

Or are you too busy to get that personal with Him?

Hurt by Our Children

It has taken me years of soul searching and observation to believe that I had raised my children in the ways of the Lord.

There was one incident in my son’s teen years that gave me reason to think that my efforts might be futile. Our family was raised to love and respect the Lord by living His truths and to know that living for ourselves would reap consequences.

My son was 16 with a job, a car, and plenty of friends. One Saturday nights, he worked until 11:00 p.m. and then he would go to a friend’s house for the evening. One Sunday morning I was up early and saw that he had some mud on his car. I thought I’d give him a gift of washing his car before I went to church. After cleaning the outside of the car, I opened the car door to vacuum the mats. The smell about knocked me over.

In the back seat were numerous bottles of alcohol. How stupid could he have been? He could have been hurt, hurt others, or have been arrested. I was extremely angry, and then hurt. Upon opening the trunk lid I found a nearly empty 24 pack of beer. This only added to my pain as I quietly laid each item on the steps of the back porch. I just sat down and cried.

How could I have failed? I wanted to shake, yell, and motivate my son like I did when he was a younger child. All I could do, because of my obligations, was go early to church and pray for him. When he awoke and saw the evidence, he quickly got ready and went to church as he did each week.

Arriving, he asked my close friend if I was mad at him. The response was, “No, just really hurt”. Later that night we sat and talked and through his teenage tears he apologized for his actions.

From that time forward I noticed positive changes in his level of responsibility to himself and others.

I believe that God has some of those same feelings when we fail Him. He could get angry and punish us for making stupid mistakes in our lives. Instead, He loves us.

Maybe we should talk to the Lord on a one to one basis and tell Him our failures. Through His grace, we can show others the changes that will make the Lord proud of us as His children. Each time I talk to my son, I feel great pride to know that Proverbs 22:6 is true. 

"Raise a child in the ways of the Lord and when they grow old they will follow that training. "

Experience a Special Sunrise

John 20:1 "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance."

Remember Easter as a child? Was your best memory the Easter baskets with candy, eggs, and that funny grass? Or was it the new clothes you wore to church that morning?

I remember not particularly caring for the new clothes. The shirt buttoned tightly around my neck and the tie made me feel like I was going to choke. Our family never missed an Easter sunrise service. For me, getting up at 4:30 in the morning was no treat.

The Easter baskets were still empty and we had to rush to get ready and be in the car by 6:00 am. We then had to put on our smiles and be in good spirits even though we wanted to go back to sleep before the fifteen-minute ride to church was over.

My best memories of our sunrise services were not the great music or inspiring message, but the smell of breakfast cooking downstairs. The fresh donuts after the service made the early wake-up call worthwhile. As a freshman in college, I experienced a special Easter sunrise service held high on a hill next to the school. About fifteen students, including myself, hiked up the hill early in the morning while it was still dark. Then we sat on the new spring grass facing toward the east.

It was there that we talked about Mary Magdalene and what she might have thought as she approached the tomb. We talked about her having lost such a dear friend and of her duty to come and pay respects with spices for the body. Then we talked of her deep sorrow.

As the sun rose in the valley, we imagined what Mary and the other women must have experienced when they looked into the empty tomb. First is disbelief, then investigation of the facts, and finally a personal meeting with Jesus. They found joy in that glorious sunrise.

Sometimes we can allow a busy Easter morning to rob us from taking a deep breath, watching the sunrise, and experiencing the joy of a risen Savior? Why don't we take fifteen minutes this Sunday and celebrate Jesus again? Find out when sunrise occurs and enjoy how God starts a new day.

Cherish the moment with our risen Lord!

Seeing His Power

On a recent trip to California, Lynnette and I decided to take a walk on the beach in Del Mar.  In order to get to the beach from the hotel, we had to cross a railroad track and then head down a steep cliff.  The flowers in people’s yards were bright and cheery like the picture above.  The plants along the cliff also showed off the beautiful yellow, blue and purple blooms that allowed us to be amazed at God’s creation.

But as a commuter train rushed by I looked back at the railroad tracks.  There, through the rail bed of gravel, was a new plant that would become blooming yellow daisies. 

How could that be?  The ground was so hard and full of large rocks, yet not only had the plant made its way through the ground, it was pushing toward the sky and would bring joy to any observer.

When thinking about God’s power in our lives, we should realize that it begins with faith.  Our lives get turned inside out on a daily basis, and we often lose the desire to seek God or the determination to make the best of each day.  So, having a strong faith in the Lord allows the Holy Spirit to show us God’s power. 

The new plant in the railroad track allows us to see the power and determination of nature to grow and flourish.  Through our struggles in life, we can know the power of God as He corrects, teaches, and delivers. Then, like the plant rising out of the gravel, we can experience the miracle of God’s power in our daily lives.

If the Lord places the will power in a plant to push through such hardships, can you just imagine what he has placed inside you? 

Perfect Attendance

Do you recall the days when you received perfect attendance awards at work or for not missing church on Sunday? Growing up, I made sure that I earned every pin for perfect attendance. I still have my seventeen years worth of perfect attendance pins.

I was quick at the scripture hunt on Sunday night youth group. I had all the answers for the Bible questions. I thought that I was close to the perfect Bible student. Then I went to college. A Christian liberal arts Bible college.

My first class was in Old Testament history. Professor Phillips came into the room for the first class and hopped up on his desk. Standing above a class of thirty students, he proceeded to tell us that Moses had been struck by lightning and that was why he, as the writer of Genesis, had all those crazy ideas about how the earth was made and the creation of Adam and Eve.

His speech lasted for about ten minutes as he raged on about the myth of creation. “How could he say such things in a Bible College?”, I asked myself. I became angry that he had attacked the facts and truths I had learned as a child. Then he got down from the desk and said, “Now, prove me wrong!”

For the next four years, I learned of the faith, trust, and grace of God from this wise professor. For the first time in my life I had to get personal with the Lord. I learned that seventeen years of perfect attendance was good for learning the law of God. But I had missed the redeeming love of Jesus. I had missed His grace.

Where are you in the journey to understanding the power that comes from God’s grace? His Son was sent to give us hope, peace, love, and forgiving grace.  More importantly I found the love of the Jesus in giving his life rather than the law that kept the hammer over my head to bop me on the head to get back in line when I did things wrong.  That was the law portion of the Old Testament.

Is your relationship with the Lord including a daily time thanking Him for His grace? If not, perhaps it should.   It is in building a person relationship and not a religion that you become a Christ Follower and not just a Christian as a religious name.

The Devil's Workshop

Growing up, my grandmother often gave me words of wisdom. She would quote these “tidbits” to me when she desired to keep me from doing something wrong. So the phrase, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop” was impressed into my brain quite often. 

Living on a farm meant chores from early morning until late evening. So I thought there was not a lot of time for my mind to be idle. Nevertheless, when I wanted to relax and do nothing there was always someone like my grandmother to give me a reminder of not being idle.

They believed that if you were not doing something constructive you were inviting Satan into you life. Years later, I realized that it was not continual work that kept Satan away but the grace of God through His son Jesus. Being an “ADHD” personality, I keep moving most of the time, and my mind does not take many breaks.

Even when I am still and take time to meditate on the Word of God, my mind wanders into what I need to be doing in the next five minutes, next five hours, or the next five days.  It is though blogs like this that I can focus on my relationship with the Lord more than I ever have before.

Therefore, I have learned to force myself to spend time incorporating Philippians 4:8 through nature. Being outside and listening for the Lord helps me to grow and look to the future with faith and hope.  For me, everything that the Lord created brings this verse into focus. So to sit and watch the cloud formations,  the squirrels playing in the trees, the new blooms of spring, or to observe a snowfall in the mountains, always brings this verse to the forefront of my life.  Psalms 46:10 says it best when I am seeking the Lord, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

In the Disney movie, “Hook” do you recall what it was that made Jack fly? It wasn’t a feather like Dumbo thought, or pixie dust. It was happy thoughts.

Today try and focus on the “happy” thoughts of life. Focus on what is pure, lovely, and good. You do not have to go far.

Just set your mind on things that are worthy of giving the Lord praise.

Then give Him the praise!

Getting Things in Focus

Galatians 3 :1   You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it's obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the Cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.

(The Message)

Picking up my glasses off the night stand each morning, I was reminded that it is time to get replacement lenses.  The scratches on the lenses seem to get worse with every cleaning.  It was getting so bad that I sometimes had trouble focusing on a distant object unless I move the glasses around on my nose.

The doctor noted that I have an acute astigmatism which gives me distortion or blurring of images at all distances, headache and fatigue, and squinting along with eye discomfort or irritation.  When I forget to pick up my glasses, I sometimes have trouble focusing on objects.

Some of my friends who have had lasik or cataract surgery performed say they are amazed with the results.   Most everyone gets immediate results and can see clearly.  It just took some correction steps.

Maybe it has been years since you have focused on what Jesus did for each one of us and the rush of our lives has pushed us to look only at today’s wants and not focus on the One who supplies our needs. 

When we focus on Christ’s death and resurrection, we realize why we celebrate Christmas and Easter.  Without Christ rising from the dead, we have no reason to focus on anything but ourselves.  Any society who has adopted that attitude are now only historic societies.   You can study history and see when the Lord has taken his hand off them and they are not blessed.

In life today you need to build a faith in the impossible.  As you open the Bible and read, it is filled with impossibilities.  Yet we think that it happened thousands of years ago and does not happen today.  Wrong!  

Stop looking at what is right in front of your nose as it may be that your "gimme, gimme"  approach to life just isn't working out. 

When you step back from yourself, you will see life change,  attitude changes, heart changes, marriages restored, emotional repair, physical healing, and so much more.  But without getting your life into focus it is all a blur.   

Maybe your emotional glasses are scratched and you need to look at the rebirth of spring to really focus on what is important and to build your faith for the impossible for your life.  The Lord is waiting for you to ask for the impossible so he can do the impossible in your life.

Are you ready to getting things into focus?

Spiritual Exercise

Corinthians 2  4:16 “Do not lose heart.  Even though our outward person is perishing, the inward person is being renewed day by day.”

I don’t believe there is a diet I haven’t tried or an exercise that has not made me sore.  It was a month before my 30^th birthday and I felt as if life was over.  During the year I had, what I thought, were real physical problems.  Torn tendons and ligaments in my right ankle kept me from playing softball.  I had played the game fervently since I was 15 and enjoyed the relaxation it brought three nights a week. 

Before the injury, warming up before a game and running onto the field to catch fly balls was easy.  I had exercised hard by working on the farm and then in college had built up my strength through Judo.  Staying in shape was no effort. Now all of a sudden, I couldn’t play the game I loved.  So, I chose surgery to repair the damage knowing it meant that the season was lost.  Thoughts like, “Half my life is over”, “I’m really old!”, and “Just think about what you have not done with your life”, all flooded my mind.  Funny how today at twice the age, I quit figuring what percentage is over or how many years are ahead.  Just thrilled that the Lord has given me another day of living.

Have you ever found yourself looking into a mirror and saying, “I’m getting old or my life is over because of a situation, injury, or any reason you can experience?   Good health and exercise are important parts of our lives and should never be glossed over.  Yet the reality of life is the first part of today’s scripture, “the outward body is perishing. . .”  But that does not mean we should ever give up!  The rest of the scripture should become our target, “. . .the inward person is being renewed day by day.”

Spending time with the Lord each day is vital to the renewal of our inward person.  Daily devotions are helpful to motivate you to seek the Lord’s face.  If you don’t take the time to get close to the Lord, you are missing out on the best health of your life. Your spiritual health. Read, pray, and talk to the Lord EVERY day.  Ask Him for wisdom and he will give it to you.  Exercise the spiritual man or woman within you.  You will be amazed how easily you can handle anything the world throws at you!

We all need to improve our health by exercising our spiritual minds. For me, physical exercise does not help the fact that the muscular chest I once had has now moved to my waist line.  The problem for me is that I don’t care much for the truth of the first part of the scripture.   

But I really enjoy the second half of the verse.

What We Don't See

Isaiah 61:11 “For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, So the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations.” 

Spring is one of the most exciting times of the year. All the bare trees bud into beautiful colors that only God can paint from His canvas of this world. 

I've noticed that times have really changed, even in the way people plant crops in the spring.  Recently I watched as a large field, that still had the broken stubble of the previous year’s soybeans, experience the transformation into a field of freshly planted corn.

First a machine came into the field and spread a chemical that was designed to kill any new weeds. The next morning an enormous machine drove into the field pulling a cylinder of liquid. This all-in-one machine began moving through the field at an extremely fast pace. Upon closer examination, I noticed that as it passed through the field the soil was tilled, the fertilizer injected into the dirt, the seeds planted, and the ground was covered over the top.  Even though the land looks terrible today, I know that in just a few short weeks, a new crop will emerge.

When in college, a group of us got a real brainstorm for a weekend activity. In early February we went to a local garden store and bought a bag of ammonia nitrate, which is a fast growing fertilizer (before it was illegal to purchase over the counter).   Then late one night we got a coffee can and punched small holes in the bottom of the can. On a farmer’s hillside at the edge of town, late into the night, we carefully spread the fertilizer to spell out words in the field. For months no one could tell that anything had been done to the soil.

Spring came and the grass began to turn from brown to green, the letters sprang out of the ground to spell the name of our college. So as everyone drove down the highway they could see “Milligan College” above the rest of the grass in the field. Some thought it was a mystery and others thought it might be a miracle or sign from God. Still others had no idea how that could happen.

As we train our children, it is often frustrating to think that they hear very little of what we say or pay no attention to our training. They say we are just “out of touch” with their generation. They even believe that parents are the “dumbest” people in the world. Yet God wants us to keep teaching by example, words, actions, and prayer. We never need to give up and just be passive, because years later what we have taught will be brought to light and applied by our children to their lives.  Particularly when our children go through life’s struggles they will recall your words and the principles where you were consistent .

Each year that my children get older they rediscover that Dad did know some things about life. The “fertilizer” planted years before now has reaped a bountiful cropin how they are investing in their children. 

We need to make sure to spread fertilizer of God’s love each day for the people we influence. Someday we will see a great return for the time we invested in other lives.

Spring is here and it is time to start planting.

Life of A Rescurer

I just got back from a great week long conference (NAPO) and reignited a friendship with many people I have known for the past four years.  One of the themes was about CARING.  Whether it is for the elderly, movers, seniors, or any other social group, a Professional Organizer has a career in caring and helping people improve their lives.

For me, I have lived a life as a Rescuer.  I love to help anywhere I can so others can either solve a problem, head in a different direction, step up to the next level, or to pull someone up from the mud they are currently sinking in.  

I have been criticized many times for having the heart of a rescuer as there are times I am taken advantage of for someone elses gain.  It hurts emotionally when I know that I have been used, but my passion for caring and helping drives me to a song that was written in 1869 but is just as important today.  Fanny J Crosby was a small lady of about 4 foot 9 inches tall and was blind from a very young age of six months old - a real perceived disadvantage for most of us.  Yet her blindness never stopped her from accomplishing so much.  One such song  in which she wrote the words is ideal for us rescuers today. 

Click on the link as you can see is the calling of each Christ Follower and Rescuer today.  

Words - Rescue the Pershing

Music - Rescue the Pershing    

Be proud if you are a rescuer because it is a part of the passion that the Lord has placed on your heart to be there when things fall apart.  You can not "FIX"  everything and should not but caring about the issues makes you stronger and presents the love of Christ in every action.  The wisdom of discernment will give you the opportunity of being a blessing to someone instead of just being a doormat  for those who want to use you.

The key is loving God and loving each other!

Our Secret

”Proverbs 28:10  He who leads the upright along an evil path will fall into his own trap . .

Even nineteen years after it was discovered, I sometimes still become angry. He was a leader in the church, a police officer, publicly involved in a national religious organization, an immediate relative, and a pillar of our community. But he had a secret.

When my daughter was twelve years old she watched a program on television that prompted her to tell his secret. It all began when she was only four years old. This trusted man and his wife were my daughter’s baby sitter. He was retired and said that he enjoyed having her around their house. It started as fondling while she took a bath. Then as she got older, he went further. His words, “this is our secret”, still haunt me. When my daughter got older, she told him that it was wrong and she wanted to tell someone. He said that if she did, no one would believe her because he was a leader in the church, and highly respected in the community.

I vividly recall that Sunday after church when a youth leader called me into the pastor’s office and closed the door. There sat my thirteen year-old daughter, trembling and in tears. As she began to share the story, it is difficult to express the emotions that I felt.

There was anger, pain for what had happened to my baby, disbelief, and confusion. Questions raced across my mind. What had she done to deserve this? Was she telling the truth or just making this up? Why had I not seen it? What had I done wrong for Him to punish me like this? Looking back, I am so proud that she had the courage to expose his secret. I took action and immediately contacted the Sheriff’s office. The next day I got a telephone call from him. His only words were, “I am so sorry. I never thought I’d get caught.”

He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison at the age of 69. The investigation revealed that thirty-eight other girls in the community had been molested by him over a forty-five year span. Prior to his death three years later, he repented. My daughter’s healing took time, as well, and included the two of us crying together, hating together, being angry together, and eventually forgiving together.   More importantly is that her coming forward may have save other young girls from the same trauma.

As we read the above passage, we need to look for “little secrets” in our own lives. We may not think it will affect anyone, but it will. Remember, we are called to a higher purpose. One that includes developing a deeper relationship with Christ, and building others up. Not destroying them.

If you struggle with any secret issues, please seek trusted counsel then be honest, transparent, and open. Realize that people you love will be hurt deeply  but know that God is the Great Healer who has a wonderful plan for your life.

It took me many years to forgive the man who hurt my daughter, but God took those horrible events and used them for His good. He’ll do the same for you.