Christmas 2008

Christmas is an amazing time. I was in charge of gift giving, etc. this year. I worked out no gift giving with anybody but the grandchildren. I was blessed by the total absence of pressure. We went to our son's home for Christmas Day after presents were opened. The focus was on the people that are most important and not on stuff. I loved it.

I got a real lesson in technology this Christmas. My son, Charlie, introduced me to "Facebook." I have had the most wonderful time writing my profile and adding photo albums. It has made me think about what is really important. The only thing I want people to know about me is what is important to me; family and Jesus.

There was a time when I would have populated my Facebook with professional accomplishments, etc. Not now. My Lord and my family, that's it.

Reflection on the Election

I could not watch the news last evening November 4, 2008. I am on political overload. I awoke at about 2:00 AM November 5 and turned on the news to learn of our new President. Admittedly, I was sad and it took a few moments to realize that God is in control. He did not fall off His throne, but has brought us to just such a time as this. I immediately went into prayer for U.S. President-elect Barack H. Obama. I pray that the Lord will protect him physically and guide him with Godly wisdom in the days ahead.

I watched the speeches of both Barack Obama and John McCain. John McCain is such a class act. He may not have run the best campaign in the world, but he is a true man of character. During the speeches I watched as the cameras panned the audiences. Obama's audience was filled with young enthusiastic people of all colors. McCain’s audience looked like me, older and very white.

I could not understand why people did not understand Obama's Marxist views until I saw those crowds. The majority of his supporters have no real life memories of communism or socialism. Karl Marx is an obscure historic figure. The Soviet Union, the Cold War, The Peoples Republic of China, and Mao Tse-tung are only distant historic footnotes. Most were not alive or were very young when Ronald Reagan demanded, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

Obama has appealed to a populace that either is too young or too ill-informed to really understand what his socialist political philosophy really means. They have no knowledge of or experience of communism, socialism or the terrible conditions these political philosophies foster in any populace. It might be helpful if we got a good look into Cuba now after 49 years of communist rule under Fidel Castro. The current conditions in Cuba are Marxism at its very best.

If ever there was the possibility of the "Perfect Storm" Barack Obama discovered it; a young multi-racial populace that was very unhappy with the current President and the state of affairs in the U.S. I commend Senator Obama for understanding his constituency and speaking their language. He is a shrewd politician. Now let's pray that he has the stuff to back it up.

I can't help but wonder if John McCain didn't get up this morning and say, "Thank you Lord that I'm not President."

God Moments

This morning I took my wife to the orthopaedic surgeon to schedule arthroscopic surgery for her knee. We then went to McDonald's for soda and a time of talking and devotions. I asked Paula's input about what I should preach about in several weeks. We talked about it, Old Testament, New Testament, etc. All the while there was a precious older woman sitting at the neighboring booth quietly eating her breakfast. Occasionally she would say something about breakfast or McDonald's verses Cracker Barrel.

Then it happened. She revealed that her husband had recently died. Paula politely asked, "I'm so sorry, when did this happen?" Her reply, "Yesterday at 5:00 a.m."

We went into instant ministry mode. We learned that he had been sick for some time and that his death was not totally unexpected. Her daughter was with her when he died. Her family was now gathered at her home and she escaped to get her hair done and then quietly slipped into the McDonald's booth across from us to have her Egg McMuffin.

We had a wonderful time of prayer with her standing between the two booths and then she was off to her very busy day.

Here we were immersed in our own issues when along came someone with needs that made ours pale by comparison. Thank you Lord that we did not miss this important ministry moment.

Orthodoxy Verses Tolerance

Tolerance is the acceptance of the thoughts, reasonings, and actions of another as equally valid as your own. The ever watchful and highly critical "politically correct" culture today misinterprets this understanding by insisting that we must tolerate the thoughts, reasonings, and actions of others as equally valid as our own. This insistance extends to things that are clearly illegal, immoral, and or sinful. Failure to "tolerate" brands one as "intolerant" and therefore unAmerican and unacceptable.

Followers of Jesus Christ must be willing to tolerate the thoughts, reasonings, and actions of others as far as they do not violate the clear teachings of the Bible as derived through careful orthodox theological reasoning. Followers of Jesus Christ cannot accept as good thoughts, reasonings, and actions that clearly God clearly calls sin.

The Holy Spirit acts directly or through others to reveal that which is contrary to God's word. Repentance is the turning away from falsehood and/or sin as an individual or group when such has been clearly revealed. Many insist that their own reasonong is superior to the Bible and others and therfore insist that others agree with them. If others do not agree they are branded as "intolerant."

God's purpose is to continually refine followers until their holiness is like that of Jesus Christ. When Christ followers accept or tolerate from other Christ followers that which God calls sin we thwart the work of the Holy Spirit in illiciting repentance and increased holiness.

To Live is Christ

Do you remember your first “crush”? Think about the first time you fell in love. Do you remember the exhilaration, the joy, the pleasure? Your thoughts were consumed with that certain someone. You thought about that person day and night. You wanted to be with that person all the time. It was difficult to go to work or to class. You laid awake at night thinking about them. Do you remember doodling their name? Do you remember linking it with your own? Sit back right now and remember.

There is a time in most people’s lives when they make the move from thinking about self only to thinking about self coupled with that special other person. It is a subtle transition, but you begin to consider their needs and wants and adjust your thinking to accommodate them. This is normal human maturing process. There comes a time when we link ourselves to the other permanently through marriage. Everything changes. You now live for another. It is exciting and terrifying all at the same time. Very often this leads to the addition of children and your thinking broadens still further.

We are always at risk. The lines between the other and self get cloudy and even disappear. This is normal. Yet it does present the opportunity for problems. Few of us are always good at sharing our lives, our desires and our wishes. We tend to self-interests and if our partners are not good at sharing we feel taken advantage at times. Relationships are messy. We don’t always play well with others nor do they with us. Yet, the rewards of a shared relationship with another are so rich that it is worth the risk. We keep at it, trying to find that perfect balance.

Have you ever spent time with someone or with a couple that have been married more than 50 years? They are so calm and peaceful. They even tend toward the giddy at times. It is a real pleasure just being around them. They have worked out this dance we call relationship and have found a balance. Self-identity is almost impossible without the other. Often when one dies, the partner follows soon thereafter simply because they cannot conceive of life nor perceive self without the other.

There are no mysteries here. God is a relational being. His self identity is the Trinity. God by His very identity is relational. He made human beings in His own image. He made us relational. Remember when He said, “it is not good for the man to be alone…” (Genesis 2:18) He then made a woman for the man, the perfect picture of the “image of God,” relationship.

Jesus came in the flesh to reveal God to us in terms we could understand. He lived His earthly life not in marital relationship with a woman, but in relationship with His heavenly Father. Marital relationship is great, but it is only a picture of something much better. The apostle Paul found the real truth. Rather than marriage, he discovered that a relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was far superior. “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: it is good for them to stay unmarried as I am…” (1 Corinthians 7:8) I am not dismissing the great blessing of marriage. It is the normal human relationship and I love being married.

Jesus taught this. "Don't you know me… even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…” (John 14:9-11)

Jesus often spent the entire night praying to the Father. He had done so the night before he chose the twelve disciples and designated them apostles. He did not act on His own, but He did what the Father instructed. This teaches us a great truth. A life lived in relationship with God through Jesus is one of total fulfillment. Marriage is the greatest of all human relationships, but it is only a picture of a relationship with Jesus. That is why He identifies Himself as the bridegroom and the church as His bride.

My goal is to live every moment in the awareness of the presence of Jesus Christ. In reality He is with us in the person of Holy Spirit. My task is to live in conscious awareness of His presence every moment. I talk with Him and listen to Him. I share my thoughts and my fears. I share my joys and my sorrows, my dreams and my disappointments. My goal is to surrender my self-consciousness to Him and only pick up His will. I want to disappear in Him that He only is visible. I want to be so much in Him that when my physical body dies there is no transition for me consciously. I want to so live in Him in this life that the spirit life is no different.

I have officiated at many funerals during my career as a minister of Jesus Christ. As I grow older and more mature in Jesus Christ I have often found myself feeling a bit envious of those deceased saints that have graduated to heaven. They have made it into the presence of the King. I am stuck here in this life. I no longer feel that way. I believe that we can attain the presence of the King right here in this life. The apostle Paul said it best, “…to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) I ask you to join me in the Holy pursuit, To Live is Christ.

I Love Football!

I love football. I played in little league, Junior High School, High School and College. I remember that first football season after I graduated from college. I did not know what to do with myself. It is now so many years later that I can hardly remember what it felt like during those playing years. Yet, I’m still a fan, particularly of professional football. The excitement of this play-off season has ignited my imagination like few others. Now, I am a died-in-the-wool Philadelphia Eagles fan and those years when they are in the play-offs are wonderful. This year is really special. Bret Favre of the Green Bay Packers is having a career year at the age of 38 and the New England patriots are doing things that any football fan would have thought impossible until this season.

I think that my enthusiasm has less to do with the football and more to do with politics. I am sick to death of the Presidential election campaign. I believe that our electoral system is broken. I am interested to know who has the best character and ideas for the job. I am not interested in who can dig up the most dirt on the others. I’m not interested in who can confront the others with the greatest zeal and attacks. I’m not interested in race or gender. I am interested in ideas and core principles.

I think the electorate has forgotten or does not know the function of government. The primary job of government is to protect and maintain our constitutional freedoms. The government’s job is to maintain a standing military for protection of the citizens of our country from foreign incursion and to provide support for the weak around the world. Government is responsible to make and enforce laws that protect the populace. Therefore in addition to a military the government must also maintain police and fire protection.

How did the idea of entitlement creep into our national ethos? The government is not responsible to provide entitlements to anyone. In fact the government is incapable of providing anything to the populace in and of itself. The government cannot generate revenue in and of itself. It can only collect taxes to accomplish the tasks we assign to it. Remember, it is our money. It is not the government’s money. Entitlements do not come from a faceless non-personal entity, they come from us. We pay for the military, the police, the operation of government, fire protection, welfare, healthcare, etc. One candidate said that they would take the profits from oil corporations and create a national energy plan. Does that candidate not know that it is not their money? The money belongs to the stock holders. Who is that candidate to take another’s money and give it away? This is insanity and the public seems to be buying it. How sad.

I love football right now because it provides an alternative to politics. I think when football season ends I’ll need to become a basketball fan, and then of course baseball spring training is right around the corner. Please, anything other than political campaigning and commentary. Do you know who you want to vote for? I do. Here is a neat little website that can help you cut through all the rhetoric and make an informed decision; http://www.votehelp.org/, enjoy. Go Eagles!