Bullwinkle

My wife and I have a frequent visitor to our yard.  Bullwinkle is a yearling buck that insists on browsing on my daylillies.  Although I am reluctant to call him a "pest", it is rather nerve racking whenever he shows up because our dog, Josie, goes nuts whenever he wanders into the yard.  She can't tolerate any intruders.  She refuses to allow any other animals into her "space" because she owns it and covets it to the point where she loses it in barking and huffing and puffing when Bullwinkle visits.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was at times overwhelmed with crowds gathering into His space.  Ironically, He usually welcomed this.  His disciples often tried to protect Him from people crowding in on Him.  One story tells us about a crowd one day and a woman, so desperate to touch the hem of His robe just to be healed.  (Please read Mark 5:24-35)  

We as Christians so often are reluctant to allow people into our "space".  The only problem is that if we don't, we can't, like Jesus, heal anyone or comfort them.  How much do you covet your space?  Do you pick and choose who "gets in"?  

Josie is the most beautiful little dog I have ever owned and she is so sweet.  But, like the rest of us, she has a space problem!  Let others in.....let them touch the hem of your garment and be healed today.

"Bullwinkle"

Danny and Perseverance

     A dentist, two Methodist Pastors, an ex-prisoner, a retired businessman and another businessman entered Lincoln County jail yesterday to speak, sing, pray and show Gospel comfort.  

     Danny, the ex-prisoner, matched all the male inmates we encountered.  He had visible scars, including lewd tattoos everywhere on his neck and arms.  He was partially blind from a meth lab that blew up in his face several years back, and walked slightly skewed from three near-fatal automobile wrecks.  And, oh, by the way, he prayed as fervently as anyone I have ever heard.  Danny led us in prayer before we left the parking lot to go in, he prayed in front of every group we saw, and he prayed in the parking lot before we left....for county sheriff deputies getting ready to get off work.  The dentist, Gregg, had told us that Danny could give his testimony in thirty minutes....and Perry, the other businessman piped in with, "He could spend longer though if you let him."  (He had heard the long version!)  I had heard the short version over lunch.  Danny hardly had time to eat for all the speaking he did telling us of a most tragic life style in and out of jail, in and out of prescription and home-made drug addiction, in and out of hospitals from car wrecks, in and out of marriage, in and out of and now back into spiritual renewal  He seemed to live to tell of his salvation, about how Jesus had saved him, and about how now that he could not work a normal job, he could spend all his time "witnessin' ".  

     Some of the prisoners, including females we visited, Danny knew by name.  He has been going to the jail for several years now doing this and it was clear he knew what he was doing.  

     The Pastor there read from James and gave a brief sermon to the inmates.  He read and spoke from the book of James. "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."  (James 1:12)  He spoke of how even we who are outside the prison are under trial and how all people must learn perseverance.  The inmate's faces all reflected broken spirit, fear, uncertainty, determination, surrender, anger, vengeance....you name it.  Some cared that we were there, some were curious as to why we would be there, some didn't care....all wanted to be in another place.  Some didn't understand the word perseverance.

     By the time we left, I felt comfortable and strangely contented.  We had Danny with us.

Remember the Sabbath?

       Sometimes, conversations about other people, loved ones to be exact, can bring out inspirations from the Lord that simply would otherwise not be mentioned.  I was talking the other day about how some of us work so much that we don't seem to ever take a day off or take time to smell the roses.  It brought a new thought into my head which seemed to ask the question, "Why did God COMMAND us to remember the sabbath?"  

The NASB version shows it like this:

⁸ “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

       One of God's most blessed commandments, we break all the time with no thought that we are breaking it.  Even on "our day off" we stay on call, or we work part time to earn a few extra bucks, or we work to satisfy what we think is a loyal and noble cause.  Why do we break this important commandment from God? We would never, ever, think of breaking others of the ten commandments such as "Do Not Steal", or "Do Not Murder".  What makes this one such that we can ignore it?

        God gave this commandment I think to protect us.  I know several people that died from work-related stress.  I know of people that ended up divorced and lonely because they refused to take a day off with their families.  Did you hear that?  WITH THEIR FAMILIES!  Not only that, but God meant also for us to be able to worship him freely, with no distractions; worship Him only.....not the dollar or the pride we sometimes get from being a martyr.  

        Check out verse 11 again.  ".....therfore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy."  If the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy, why would we not want to relish it?  No matter what day of the week you choose, remember the Sabbath.  It is holy.  It is for your good and for God's good!

What's In a Biscuit?

Papa Jack's County Kitchen gave us a pretty good deal on sausage biscuits.  For a planned community outreach, we purchased 150 sausage biscuits from Papa Jack's and set up two stations at stop signs in front of the church.  On Monday, November 26th (the Monday after Thanksgiving holidays), we gave out the breakfast biscuits to folks as they were headed out to work in the morning.  We started at 7:00 AM and were done giving them away at 8:00 AM.  No charge, just love........

It didn't seem like that big of an outreach to begin with, however.  We know we need to get out into the community more and be good Christians but something always seems to keep us pinned up within the confines of the church. So, instead of going door to door, we stopped folks from neighborhoods around the church as they were heading out to work after having a four day holiday.  We gave them a free breakfast biscuit with our church web address and "Have a blessed day!" sticker on the wrappers. 

Peoples' reactions to our good will offering were great!  One guy came back by after running some errands and forced us to take a monetary donation for the church.  Another person came back, parked in the church parking lot, crossed the street and chatted with the pastor about what we were doing.  We saw many grins and smiles and received genuine thank-you's for what we were doing.  We got looks of amazement for our braving the cold weather.  We were ignored by some who were in too much of a hurry to roll down their window.  And when the biscuits ran low, we got a little sad to see it all end.  It was that good....it was the kind of feeling one gets when the bitter-sweet end to a mission trip comes.  Often, you find yourself feeling more blessed than the ones you were sent to help and yet, without fail, you feel you blessed them.  God made it that way.  It was Jesus' plan.

He said, "Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, body and soul and love each other."  It's what's in a biscuit.

 

Was Paul a Brown-Noser?

Several years during my career, I found myself in the position of being thought of as the boss' "favorite".  In fact, those years saw me winning top awards for performance, not only in extravagant trips but in pay bonuses as well.

I used to examine myself quite seriously and ask whether or not I was "kissing up" to my boss and I grew extremely depressed whenever I would overhear co-worker comments that alluded to it.  The fact was I was only trying to do a good job and earn a good day's pay.  I found myself, upon occasion, actually avoiding my boss to make sure that nobody thought of me as a brown-noser.  Some days, I even let my efforts grow lax because of the dilema I faced.  It wasn't easy for me.

I have come to the conclusion that what I misunderstood many times was the position that a boss holds.  If you are the boss, who will you choose to do special projects?  One whom you can trust and whom you know will succeed and complete the project on time? Or, will it be one whom you know will whine, complain and mess things up? 

Certain things these days have made me think of God and the choices of people He made to do certain great things.  It wasn't because those people were great or because they had any "super powers".  God chose his people very carefully knowing that He could trust them and that they would hold true to His purposes.  From Job to Moses, from Peter to Abraham, from Noah to Joseph, we see individuals who were unwavering in their faith and loyalty even in their faults.  Was the Apostle Paul a brown-noser?

Before we go "blaming" a person for being the boss' favorite, before we go blaming the boss for "playing favorites", I think we should take a very long, hard look at ourselves.  What are our motives and what are our intentions?  How loyal are we to our company and how much do we want to see it succeed?  Does our boss see this or know it?  How much do we know about our boss and how worthy is our boss of our efforts?  Is our co-worker and boss, whom we are criticising, actually selfish people only looking out for themselves or are they truly just trying to help the company succeed?

Pray about it.  The answers will come.

For the Birds

My pastor is a bird freak!  He is constantly talking about his love of birds and posting beautiful photos of his latest conquests.  He goes to great lengths to find places where he can get photographic opportunities on any bird he can see. 

His motives for this obsession are pure and intricate.  He says that birds show us a usually ignored part of God's creation, one that is taken for granted.  He feels like birds are a way to stop and enjoy a readily available gift from our Father.  Following is a quote from his blog: 

"Birds are a beautiful part of life. Their songs inspire us—their appearence entertains us. But really there is a whole world going on around us that we fail to stop and notice in this hustle-bustle life we live. Through pictures, I like to encourage others to notice that world and to gain from it."

I had begun feeding birds before meeting my pastor and even purchased Peterson's Field Guide to help me identify them.  Now, I enjoy discovering every new bird that shows up and look forward to sharing my discoveries. 

You know, winter proves to me that God takes care of His creatures.  Even when my feeders go empty a couple days, all the birds show back up when I fill them again.  I know they can survive without me but I like to help.  Blessings to you all.  <><

(Enjoy my pastor's blog at http://devoblog.posterous.com/pages/bird-photography )

Seeing is Believing

Mary is losing her eyesight.  She is up in age now and slowly but surely, her sight is fading.  The other day, while visiting, when I asked her if she wanted me and my Pastor to pray with her, she said yes.  She wanted us to ask God to allow her to keep just a very small part of her sight.  She said she didn't need a whole lot, just a little bit....just enough to be able to see how to get around in her little trailer.  And suddenly, there it was again.....Grace.  It keeps popping up, doesn't it?

I think in reality, Mary may also be afraid.  She lives alone and doesn't have a 24/7 caregiver.  Her daughter and son-in-law are busy working and only can attend to her in the evenings with spare time. 

We were heart stricken deeply by Mary's humbleness.  I mean, if I'm gonna ask God for something, would I not ask for 20-20 vision?  It made me realize once again how selfish I can be in my petitions to our Father.

That night when I prayed my daily visit with the Lord, I prayed to God to allow Mary to continue seeing for the rest of her days.  I prayed for Him to comfort her and always let her know He is by her side.  Before too much longer, Mary will see like a hawk.