My Ongoing Thoughts

GOD COMPLEX!

11/14/2019

According to an Associated Press article earlier today, after a lengthy three-year legal battle over the custom engraving of a state automobile license plate, a United States Federal Court is now going to allow a Kentucky man to personalize a license plate with the phrase "IM GOD".

Court documents now show that a self-identified atheist first set out to get the Kentucky plate back in 2016. But his request was then denied by the Kentucky State Transportation Department on the basis that it violated anti-discrimination guidelines.

Because news outlets reported that similar plates had been approved before, including "TRYGOD" and "NOGOD", Kentucky’s ACLU and the ever litigious FFRF quickly joined forces and got involved to help the man challenge the decision.

In an opinion given this week, on Wednesday, November 13, 2019, by a U.S. District Court in Frankfort, the judge ruled that “vanity plates” are private speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Because of this, the court ruled that the state of Kentucky had violated the man’s rights by denying him the personalized license plate he requested.

Now, I do not know where the case will go from here. Who knows? It may well go all the way to the United States Supreme Court. We will see. But I do know this: this case is intriguing on several levels.

To begin with, I find it interesting that a man who does not believe in God somehow still asserts that he himself is God! Now, I admit that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. But I’m still not quite able to follow the logic here.

Philosophically, how does a man claim to be God when he simultaneously asserts that there is no God? If a man claims to be God, and there is no God, then how does he even exist? In truth, he has denied his own existence. Yet, if this man who claims to be God does not in fact exist, how then can he conceivably apply for an automobile license plate?*

Theologically, of course, I am also intrigued by any human being who asserts that he or she is God. To begin with, in Psalm 100, verse 3, the Bible affirms that we should: "Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…"

I am reminded of the time-honored story of God and the Scientist…

It seems that God was sitting in Heaven one day when a scientist said to Him, “God, we don’t need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing – in other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning.”

“Oh, is that so? Please explain…” replies God. “Well,” says the scientist, “we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man.”

“Well, that’s very interesting… show Me.”

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil into the shape of a man. “No, no, no…” interrupts God, “First, you must make your own dirt!”

Beyond this, I am intrigued to know that God is now readily identifiable, and thus both approachable and accountable. Can I therefore now assume that all the prayers of the majority of the world’s population who do in fact believe in God can now be addressed to the Almighty Who dwells in the state of Kentucky?! If so, the two of us have lots of matters to discuss!

Equally as important, can I also assume that any future “Acts of God” which insurance companies refuse to cover can now be brought directly to the attention (and accountability) of the Almighty Who dwells there in the state of Kentucky?! **

You see, with the title comes the responsibility! It is neither easy nor advisable to assume the identity of God! Just ask Herod!*** But given that He has infinite resources, I assume the man in Kentucky who now claims to be God can more than handle the liabilities. (I assume also that, if you are so led, then you can feel free to deluge Him with all your concerns!)

If I sound a little skeptical; it's because I am. You see, I’ve been to Kentucky. It is indeed a beautiful place. But neither Louisville nor Lexington nor any other of its other fine cities has gates of pearl, nor are any of their streets paved with streets of gold, nor are their walls made of jasper. And let’s just be honest here, there is no Heavenly throne there either!

The reality is that Heaven infinitely exceeds anything Kentucky has to offer. Its glory and splendor could never be confined to any U. S. state, even one as beautiful as Kentucky. And neither can an infinite and almighty God be so limited in His nature as to be contained within the identity of any one resident of that beautiful state – especially one who illogically denies there is a God, and thus denies his own existence.

And so, my friends, I myself will not live to see it. But if future generations of human beings are around and reading this blog post a thousand years from now, and if those individuals can verify that someone who claims to be God has been alive and well for a thousand years in Kentucky (or whatever it is called at that time), then please accept my humble apologies!

But I am confident that long before then, anyone claiming to be God will have done the one thing Almighty God Himself will never do – along with me, he or she will have long ago died and been forgotten by this world!

Oh, and one other thing. Like me, he or she will have also stepped off into eternity and met the one true God - the very God he or she both denied the existence of and yet still claimed to be!

And In the process, he or she will have given an account of their logic, as well as their rejection of His Word (which boldly proclaimed that (1) there was a God and that (2) they themselves were not that God). And ultimately, therefore, they will have had to give an account of their arrogant, self-serving assertions!

All I can say is: "God help them!"

STORY SOURCE: https://apnews.com/b508ac7343734476ab6d67344eabdc8d.

SEE ALSO:  https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/us-court-rules-kentucky-man-can-get-im-god-license-plate#.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/nasb/psalms/100.htm.

JOKE SOURCE: https://www.funnyandjokes.com/god-vs-the-scientist.html.

NOTES:

*This could come in handy if he ever has a wreck. He could conceivably claim that his car did not even exist!

**In shades of a famous climactic scene from a 1947 Christmas movie, I can only imagine that the U. S. Post Office will be pleased to know that they will now likely have billions, if not trillions, of prayers to deliver to Kentucky! Soon, no doubt, they will finally and forever be operating in the black!

***According to the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 12, verses 12-24: "21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24But the word of God continued to spread and flourish."

Cf.: https://biblehub.com/niv/acts/12.htm.

HEART TO HEART!

11/11/2019

I was travelling down the road today when I noticed that a pick-up truck in front of me in the next lane had a “Purple Heart” tag on it. So I rolled down my window as I pulled alongside and held up a laminated sign I keep in my truck for just such occasions. It says simply:

“THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY!”

The elderly man who was driving the truck looked up and saw the sign. When he did, a huge smile came to his face. In the process, two hearts were warmed – both his brave one and my grateful one!

As I drove on down the road, I was reminded of the now classic editorial by Anthony Barton Hinkle that first appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch back on Nov 11, 2005:

WHAT IS A VETERAN?

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.

Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.

You can't tell a vet just by looking.

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb of the Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say “Thank You”. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot: “THANK YOU”.

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.”

EDITORIAL SOURCE: http://www.forcerecon.com/veteran.htm.

“PEANUTS! GET YOUR PEANUTS!”

11/7/2019

About twice a month, my wife and I are obliged to make a trip to the grocery store. Thankfully, as empty-nesters, we don’t have to make nearly as many trips as we did when we were raising three kids – two of which were teenage boys complete with proverbial bottomless pits!

I guess I made the mistake this evening of going on an empty stomach myself. I should know by now that the checkout bill will always be a little more whenever I do this. And it was!

But I did splurge a little. I bought a few extras that we do not customarily get. (I rationalized this by convincing myself that any of my grandchildren might come by at any time and need a snack or two.)

Accordingly, when we passed down the snack aisle, I picked up a can of dry-roasted peanuts and put it in the buggy. As I did, however, I got tickled. For some reason, a classic old preacher story came to mind.

Given that everyone could use an occasional laugh or two, I thought I would share it with my readers today.

It seems that a preacher went by to visit an elderly woman from his congregation. As he was sitting there on her couch, he noticed a bowl of peanuts on the nearby table. Although it was not his custom to do such a thing, because he was hungry he asked, “Sister Sarah, do you mind if I have a few of these peanuts?”

“No not at all,” Sister Sarah replied, “help yourself!” They then chatted for about thirty minutes or so. Afterward, as the preacher stood up to leave, he realized to his chagrin that instead of eating just a few peanuts, he had emptied almost the entire bowl.

“Goodness! I’m very sorry for eating all your peanuts,” he said somewhat embarrassed, “I just meant to eat a few.”

“Oh, that’s all right, Preacher,” Sister Sarah said, “Ever since I lost my teeth, all I can do is suck the chocolate off of them anyway!”

Needless to say, I passed on all the cans of chocolate-covered peanuts for sale!

JOKE SOURCE: Available widely on the internet in various forms. See, for instance: https://www.jokes2u.com/bowl-full-of-peanuts/.

“GEAR UP!”

11/4/2019

Two articles in the news as of late have to do with advancements in military battle gear soon to be issued to U.S. service personnel.

“Army Builds New Body Armor 14-Times Stronger In The Face Of Enemy Fire”, September 26, 2019 https://www.foxnews.com/tech/army-builds-new-body-armor-14-times-stronger

“Army Sets Sights On Lasers For Infantry Troops”, August 22, 2019 https://www.foxnews.com/tech/army-sets-sights-on-lasers-for-infantry-troops

A third article addresses the same sorts of advancements hopefully being made available to civilians.

“Revolutionary 'Robo Suit' Developed To Boost Walking And Running”, August 15, 2019 https://www.foxnews.com/tech/robo-suit-boost-walking-running

These articles all followed similar earlier ones which have appeared over the last year or so.

“Army Sets Sights On Bigger, Bolder, Harder Hitting Bullets”, November 01, 2018 https://www.foxnews.com/tech/new-army-bullets-bigger-bolder-and-harder-hitting

“Army's New Machine Gun Will Blast Like Battle Tanks”, July 19, 2018 https://www.foxnews.com/tech/armys-new-machine-gun-will-blast-like-battle-tanks

“Army Prototypes New Self-Powering 'Iron Man' Soldier Suits”, June 06, 2018 https://www.foxnews.com/tech/army-prototypes-new-self-powering-iron-man-soldier-suits

“Army Sets Sights On New Sniper Rifle”, March 08, 2018 https://www.foxnews.com/tech/army-sets-sights-on-new-sniper-rifle

I will not recount the contents of each of these articles here. The titles themselves are sufficient to bespeak their subject matter. I have, however, included the links in the hope that you will click on them and read more.

What the articles remind us of is that we live in times of great advancements in science and technology. Indisputably, the soldiers of today are far better equipped than those of yesterday. Likewise, those of tomorrow will inevitably be equipped with gear that far exceeds what those of today have.

Indeed, it seems as if we are getting closer and closer to that world described by Robert Heinlein in his 1959 classic science fiction novel titled Starship Troopers. (See my earlier post of 03/24/2014 titled “DRESSED FOR SUCCESS” [https://www.cleoejacksoniii.com/my-ongoing-thoughts/dressedfor-success] wherein I summarized Heinlein’s vision of the future equipment worn and employed by soldiers on the battlefield.)

As I have read each of these articles in turn, I cannot help but be reminded of what the Apostle Paul had to say in his New Testament Letter to the Ephesians (chapter 6, verses 13-18):

13Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.

14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.

16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

The Apostle penned these words while in prison for his faith. In all likelihood, as he studied the soldiers who guarded him, the Lord showed him how all those who follow Jesus Christ are also equipped to be soldiers, only not in Caesar’s Legions, but in God’s army.

Just as the modern soldier is increasingly equipped with gear that better enables him or her to engage in physical combat, so the Lord used the Apostle Paul to remind us that He has equipped us as His followers with gear that better enablers us to engage in spiritual warfare.

Whether we like it or not, we are in fact engaged in spiritual warfare. The Apostle Paul tells us so in the verses immediately preceding those above in Ephesians 6 (verses 10-12):

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

He further references this spiritual warfare in his Second New Testament Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 20, verses 3-6):

3For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. 4The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We tear down arguments, and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

If we are thus engaged in spiritual warfare, then surely it behooves us to avail ourselves of the best gear available with which to defeat the enemy, accomplish our mission, and fulfill our objectives.

With this in mind, I urge you to “gear up”! After all, we who serve in the Lord’s army follow a Commander Who is Himself supremely triumphant! Let us also be victorious as we do!

HAVE MERCY!

10/31/2019

A recent story reported in the Baptist Press provides us with a wonderful example of mercy and redemption. The October 9, 2019 article, written by Tobin Perry and titled "Man baptized at church he vandalized 6 months earlier", tells the story of 23 year-old Brenton Winn of Conway, Arkansas.

Earlier this year, back on Feb. 28, 2019, Winn, 23, angry at God, high on meth, and unsure of what happened in the dead of night, broke into Central Baptist Church in Conway, where he proceeded to destroy $100,000 worth of church property, including laptops, cameras, and other electronics.

Six months later, however, he walked into that same church in the light of day, entered the church's baptismal pool, and publicly declared his allegiance to Jesus Christ!

"As I'm starting to understand how God works, I've realized I didn't pick the church that night. God picked me," Winn told the Baptist Press. "If it had been any other church, I think I'd be sitting in prison right now."

Don Chandler, the senior pastor of Central Baptist, appealed to the judge in Winn's case to show mercy over judgment. "You can't preach something for 50 years without practicing it, especially in front of your whole church," Chandler told the Baptist Press.

"Had we not shown some grace to him, everything we've talked about and encouraged, would have gone by the wayside. It was simply the right thing to do. This was not a hardened criminal. This was a young man who had made some mistakes...he was redeemable."

The judge agreed to Rev. Chandler’s request and gave Winn the option of facing up to 20 years of incarceration or going to Renewal Ranch, a faith-based residential recovery program connected to the church. Winn chose Renewal Ranch with its 12-month program, broken up in two phases.

As a result, he starting attending services on Wednesday evenings at Central Baptist, the very church he had earlier vandalized. It was during one of those Wednesday night Bible studies that Winn gave his life to Christ and was baptized.

"I used to think it was a coincidence [that I chose to break into the church that night], but now I call it confirmation that God is real, and He answers prayers," Winn told BP. "What was weighing on my heart was that I needed a relationship with Jesus Christ."

The article reports that once Winn finishes the program, he will likely still spend a few years on probation. Nevertheless, one thing is sure. Brenton Winn is a new man with a second chance at life.

All this because a group of Christians chose to take seriously the admonition of the Apostle Paul as found in his New Testament Letter to the Ephesians (chapter 4, verse 32): "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you!"

They chose to extend to a troubled young man the same grace they themselves had received from their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In the process, both he and they were blessed!

STORY SOURCE: http://www.bpnews.net/53730/man-baptized-at-church-he-vandalized-6-months-earlier.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/ephesians/4-32.htm.

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY...

10/28/2019

My title for today’s post is appropriated from the 1953 Oscar-winning film about events in the lives of several American soldiers leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the beginning of America’s involvement in World War Two.

The film, which won eight Academy Awards out of 13 nominations, including Best Picture, and which, later on in 2002, was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", is a star-studded Hollywood classic.

Its title comes from James Joyce’s 1951 novel, upon which it is based. Joyce took his title from a quote in Rudyard Kipling's 1892 poem titled "Gentlemen-Rankers", about soldiers of the British Empire who had "lost [their] way" and were cursed “from here to eternity".

Eternity itself is a common enough notion in our culture. We toss the term around lightly as we refer to complicated love stories as “eternal triangles”, or to coffins as “eternity boxes”. But to what exactly does eternity really refer? What does the concept involve? What, in short, is eternity all about?

In their recently published book titled The Way Back: How Christians Blew Our Credibility and How We Get It Back, Phil Cooke and Jonathan Bock share an excellent illustration about what eternity involves.

Their illustration comes from Christian author and speaker Francis Chan. During a message on eternity, he brings out a very long rope. A very, very long rope! The rope winds around and around the stage, and it eventually runs off the stage to who knows where.

However, he soon reveals that the end of the rope which he holds in his hand, which is the beginning of the whole length of rope, is actually a short, one-inch section of the rope painted red. This is visually striking as the rest of the rope is white.

As his talk unfolds, Chan goes on to explain that the short, one-inch red section of the rope represents our lives in this world; while the rest of the rope represents eternity, after our lives here are over.

He then drives his point home quite well, asserting that far too many of us spend far too much time fretting and worrying about such a pathetically short span (represented by the one inch length of red rope); and yet we give remarkably little thought to what really counts, which is the never-ending span of rope leading off into eternity!

Kudos to Frances Chan for this wonderful illustration! And also to Phil Cooke and Jonathan Bock for bringing it to my (and perhaps your) attention. In so doing, they are all underscoring the teaching of Jesus Christ. For, in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 13 through 21, we read the following…

13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’

20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Clearly, Jesus is here cautioning against focusing only on what Frances Chan presents as the one inch section of red rope at the expense of the never-ending expanse of the rest of the rope disappearing off into the future.

In light of this, surely it behooves you and me to focus less on the first little inch and more on all that unfolds thereafter! For my part, I have done just that. I hope you have as well! If not, then the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 16-18 might be a good place for you to start…

16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

ILLUSTRATION SOURCE:

Cooke, Phil and Jonathan Bock, The Way Back: How Christians Blew Our Credibility and How We Get It Back (Franklin, TN: Worthy Publishing, 2018), page 208.

NOTE:

Multiple videos of Chan employing this illustration are available. The original presentation appears to be posted online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86dsfBbZfWs.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/niv/luke/12.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/john/3.htm.

GOING MY WAY?

10/24/2019

The news this week carried a story about a California high school student who tackled his own teammate! It seems that, in the third quarter during a game between Fairfield High School and Rodriguez High School, Antonio Bush, one of the defenders for Fairfield, picked off an interception from quarterback Jackson Troutt of Rodriguez.

Unfortunately, Bush then took off, running nearly 60 yards in the wrong direction toward the (wrong) goal line. Fortunately, for him and his team, one of his own teammates tackled him just before he reached the end zone, preventing a safety in the process.

Fairfield went on to lose the game. But given that their record is now an abysmal 0-7, Bush’s mistake was not near as grievous as it could have been. He took a little razzing; but in the end, his coach, his team, and the fans were all fairly forgiving.

This is not the first time this scenario has unfolded. The article went on to relate that 55 years earlier, on October 26, 1964, a professional player named Jim Marshall, playing for the Minnesota Vikings, recovered a fumble and raced it 66 yards in the wrong direction into his own end zone during the fourth quarter, thus giving a safety to the opposing San Francisco 49ers. (Fortunately, for Mr. Marshall, the Vikings still managed to defeat the 49ers by a score of 27-22.)

What the article did not reference was the story of “Wrong Way Riegels”. 90 year ago, on New Year’s Day, 1929, the Georgia Institute of Technology played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. During the game, a Georgia Tech running back named Jack "Stumpy" Thomason fumbled the ball.

Roy Riegels, playing what would today be called the position of nose guard, saw the ball and picked it up. Even though he was only 30 yards away from the Yellow Jackets' end zone, Riegels somehow got turned around and ran 69 yards in the wrong direction! Just before he crossed the goal line, one of his own teammates, Benny Lom, tackled him. He landed two feet shy of the goal line.

Upon discovering what he had done, Riegels summed up his feelings in one sentence: “If I could have dug a hole in that turf I would have covered my head and not appeared again!”

History records that, after the play, Riegels was so distraught that Coach Nibs Price had to talk him into returning to the game for the second half. Reportedly, Riegels said "Coach, I can't do it. I've ruined you, I've ruined myself, I've ruined the University of California. I couldn't face that crowd to save my life." To which Coach Price is reputed to have responded by saying "Roy, get up and go back out there - the game is only half over."

Riegels did return to the field of play, where sources indicate that he turned in a “stellar” second half performance, including blocking a Tech punt. Nonetheless, his team went on to lose the game by a score of 8-7.

And according to one contemporary article, there were approximately 4,500 stories totaling an estimated 250,000 column inches written about Riegels' wrong way run in newspapers across the United States in the following days and weeks.

Nevertheless, Riegels took it all in stride, and did not let this one single mistake define the rest of his life.

In fact, later in life, he said the blunder of that day actually made him a better person. In an interview with the Pasadena Star, he later stated: "I gained true understanding of life from my Rose Bowl mistake. I learned you can bounce back from misfortune and view it as just something adverse that happened to you."

What is more, he spent the rest of his life encouraging others who made similar mistakes. These included writing letters to everyone from high school players who ran interceptions back the wrong way for safeties to the professional player mentioned above who did the same.

Perhaps as much for his humble spirit as for his talent, Riegels was eventually elected to both the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the University of California’s Hall of Fame.

For my part, I love the story of “Wrong Way Riegels”. This is because it reminds me that all of us can, and do, make mistakes. Given enough time, each of us will fumble the proverbial ball. More to the point, we will all eventually find ourselves headed in the wrong direction!

The good news is that such mistakes do not have to define us! The Bible is full of individuals who made such mistakes, and who wound up going the wrong way. The Old Testament Prophet Jonah literally went the wrong way when he went down to Joppa as opposed to Ninevah where God had sent him. The New Testament Apostle Peter also went the wrong way when he denied Jesus and fled the scene of the unfolding crucifixion.

In each of these cases, the men were wrong to have done so. But in each case as well, they discovered the error of their ways and repented. And when they did, God forgave them, reinstated them, and used them for His purposes.

What do we learn from this? We learn that God allows U-Turns! Just because we made a mistake and went the wrong way, we do not have to continue in that direction. Nor do we have to let that blunder define us! Both Jonah and Peter went on to experience tremendous victories, as they lived their lives thereafter on behalf of the Lord! The same can be true for you and me!

And so, my friend, if you find that you have made some terrible mistake, or that you have somehow goofed up and gotten turned around, such that you are even now headed in the wrong direction, then please remember that the God of the Bible is the God who forgives and restores!

Just as “Wrong Way Riegels” was forgiven by his coach, and then given a second half in order to redeem himself, even so our God forgives us through Jesus Christ, and then gives us second chances to do much the same! As He does, it is incumbent on us to suit up and hit the field of play once again.

God has done his part. Let us now do ours!

SOURCES:

NEWS ARTICLE: https://www.foxnews.com/sports/california-high-school-player-tackles-teammate-interception.

ROY RIEGELS STORY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Riegels.

THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE

10/21/2019

It’s a “B” movie at best. But I still searched and searched until l finally found a DVD copy of it. I did this because even though I first saw it as a teenager, it left such an impact on me that I have never forgotten it!

It is titled “Smash-Up on Interstate 5”; and it boasts a reasonable plot enacted by a fairly accomplished group of actors, including, among others, Robert Conrad, Buddy Ebsen, Vera Miles, Donna Mills, David Nelson, Harriet Nelson, and a young Tommy Lee Jones.

The 1976 made-for-television movie is loosely based on the novel, Expressway, written by Trevor Dudley-Smith. The story line chronicles the events leading up to, during, and in the aftermath of, a 39-car smash-up in California. As the film’s tagline puts it: “Day to day problems of living become insignificant in one fateful moment.”

Ominously, the film portends a real event that was to occur some 15 years later on this very California Expressway. According to an August 16, 1992 Today in the Word article, on November 30, 1991, fierce winds from a freakish dust storm triggered a massive freeway pileup along Interstate 5 near Coalinga, California. At least 14 people died and dozens more were injured as topsoil whipped by 50 mile-per-hour winds reduced visibility to virtually zero.

The afternoon holocaust left a three-mile trail of twisted and burning vehicles, some stacked on top of one another 100 yards off the side of the freeway. Unable to see their way in the darkness, dozens of motorists drove blindly ahead into danger, disaster, and in some cases, even death.

Darkness can be a terrible thing. If we advance carelessly into darkness, we can easily find ourselves in mortal danger. God’s Word speaks a lot about the dangers of dwelling in darkness – especially spiritual darkness. It does the same for spiritual blindness, for being unable to see the light, and being forced to dwell in darkness as a result.

As the Bible puts it (in the Old Testament book of Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 29): “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.”

But praise be to God, the same Bible also tells us (in the New Testament Letter to the Colossians, chapter 1, verse 13) that God “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.”

Are you stumbling about in darkness today? If so, I have good news for you. God can and will dispel your darkness. According to the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah (chapter 42, verse 16), God promises us this: “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”

I hope such a promise brightens your day. After all, life is far better lived in the light than in the darkness!

MOVIE SOURCE:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075236/.

ARTICLE SOURCE:

Available widely on the internet. See, for instance: https://www.family-times.net/illustration/Blindness/200059/.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/bsb/colossians/1.htm;

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/4-19.htm;

https://biblehub.com/isaiah/42-16.htm.

WHEEL AWAY!

10/17/2019

Those of you who frequent my blog regularly will note that I did not post the first of this week as I am accustomed to doing. The reason is that I received a phone call notifying me of the passing of an individual who had great significance in my life as a young man. The family requested that I come to Atlanta and conduct the funeral service. Accordingly, I dropped everything and made the trip to Georgia right away.

As I was in transit, I came across a most intriguing site. Along the side of the expressway was a late model pickup truck. Apparently, there had been some sort of mechanical difficulty; and the owner had left it there to go for help. Now, at this point, I can only surmise what happened thereafter. Judge for yourself. This is what I saw.

A bright new candy-apple red pickup truck sat with its left side facing traffic. The left rear wheel (and tire) was noticeable in that it was not bright and shiny like the rest of the vehicle. It looked either to be the spare from underneath the vehicle, or else, one from some other vehicle. The left front wheel was missing altogether, forcing the vehicle’s front to sit low on the ground.

Added to this was the fact that the vehicle was missing both of its right side wheels. In fact, the right side of the vehicle was resting entirely on a jack of some sort, and had been lifted inordinately high in the air as a result. The whole effect gave the impression of an airplane in flight that was banking down and hard to the left in a sharp turn and a rapid decent.

Now that is what I saw. But this is what I surmised. To me, it seemed that perhaps the vehicle had experienced some sort of trouble that forced the driver to leave it on the side of the road in order to seek assistance.

Thereafter (perhaps), someone (or ones) had come along, jacked up the left rear, removed the wheel (and tire), and replaced it with an old spare. Thereafter (perhaps), they had then jacked up the left front and removed the wheel (and tire) entirely, before letting it back down to rest on the ground.

Then (perhaps), these same individuals went around to the right side and raised the truck in the middle of the chassis, before removing both the front and rear wheels (and tires). Thereafter (perhaps), attempting to get away as soon as possible, they then departed with four new wheels (and tires), leaving the vehicle hoisted atop the expendable jack.

Granted, this scenario is entirely hypothetical. (One might suppose I had been watching too many crime dramas on television.) The unfortunate driver could have had three or four simultaneous flat tires. Or he (or she) could have had three wheel bearings go out all at once. But my own supposition is just as plausible. After all, the theft of automotive parts (and entire vehicles) is big business in today’s world.

As I have reflected on this, I could not but help but remember the story Jesus told in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 30-37:

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

31Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side.

33But when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, he looked at him and had compassion. 34He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

35The next day he took out two denariie and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my return I will repay you for any additional expense.’

36Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37“The one who showed him mercy,” replied the expert in the law.
Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Verse 30 says “They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.” Obviously, the truck I encountered may well have gotten the same treatment. I can only hope the driver did not.

Of course, the rest of Jesus’ story focuses on the response of those who passed by – as well as how they each, in turn, responded. What is clear is that, one by one, they passed on by, likely rationalizing their reasons for doing so as they did.

Now before I proceed, let me acknowledge that I myself did not stop at the truck. I chose not to do so because a bright orange sticker had been placed on the window, just beside the driver’s side rear view mirror, clearly indicating that the authorities had already been there and were well on top of the situation.

But as I drove on, I had to ask myself what I would have done if there had been no such sticker, or if I had happened upon this scene on some lonesome country road as opposed to a busy interstate highway with scores of vehicles zipping by every minute. Or even worse, if there had been a person laying there by the side of the road, injured or otherwise incapacitated in some manner, and in need of assistance.

I like to think that I would have stopped. But I must confess that the irony of the moment did not escape me. Here I was, a Pastor (arguably a modern day Priest or Levite), busily making my way to an appointment in order to fulfill a religious obligation, all the while passing right on by the scene of someone’s obvious trouble.

The good news is that a day later, when I was returning from my obligation and going in the opposite direction, the truck was no longer there. Whatever the difficulty had been, it had apparently been resolved.

But the lesson has stayed with me. For I have come away from the whole experience with a heightened sensitivity to the circumstances of those whose paths I cross each day.

I pray that I will ever be sensitive to the plight of my fellow man. After all, the one individual we can all relate to in Jesus’ famed story of “The Good Samaritan” above is the poor man who fell into the hands of those who would do him harm!

For in truth, we were all waylaid and left for dead by old Satan. But praise God, when we were, God’s Son, Jesus Christ, took it upon Himself to come to our aid. As He has done for us, may we now commit to do for others in His name!

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/bsb/luke/10.htm.

INTEGRITY MATTERS

10/10/2019

In his best-selling book, Growing Deep in the Christian Life, Charles Swindoll relates the following incident:

Several years ago, in Long Beach, California, a fellow went into a fried chicken place and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The young woman at the counter inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day - a whole bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken. After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to open the meal and enjoy some chicken together. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken - over $800!

But he was unusual. He quickly put the money back in the bag. They got back into the car and drove all the way back. Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero. By then the manager was frantic. The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, "I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money. Here."

Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, "Oh, great, let me call the newspaper. I'm gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You're the most honest man I've heard of." To which they guy quickly responded, "Oh no, no, don't do that!" Then he leaned closer and whispered, "You see, the woman I'm with is not my wife... She's uh, somebody else's wife."

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “integrity” can be defined in three ways: first, in terms of incorruptibility, as a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values; second, in terms of soundness, as an unimpaired condition; and/or third, in terms of completeness, as the quality or state of being complete or undivided.

Given these, the man in Swindoll’s story fails the test of integrity on at least the first and third counts. But he is far from alone. In truth, integrity is a rare commodity in the modern world; for we all struggle with issues of integrity far more than we wish to admit.

Solomon understood this well. In the Old Testament Book of Proverbs (chapter 11, verse 3), he gives us the following admonition: “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” This simple truth is then played out in the lives of multiple individuals on the pages of Holy Scripture.

One such tragic case is that of Gehazi, the servant of the famed Old Testament Prophet Elisha. After Elisha heals the Aramean Official, Naaman, and then refuses to accept payment for being a conduit of God’s blessings in the man’s life, Gehazi secretly tries to capitalize on the situation. In the Old Testament Book of II Kings (chapter 5, verses 19-27), we read what happened:

After Naaman had traveled some distance, 20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

21So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked. 22“Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”

23“By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.

25When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” “Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered. 26But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes - or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves? 27Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous - it had become as white as snow.

As the servant of no less a Prophet than Elisha, Gehazi surely knew right from wrong. Nevertheless, he chose to compromise his integrity; and, in so doing, to use Solomon’s terms, he was destroyed by his own duplicity!

May we each learn from Gehazi’s example! As a result, may we then, to the best of our ability, practice integrity! And may we do so consistently, both for the glory of God and the benefit of all those we encounter.

STORY SOURCE:

Charles Swindoll, Growing Deep in the Christian Life: Truths for Becoming Strong in the Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1986), pp.159-60.

DICTIONARY SOURCE:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/integrity.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/11-3.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/2_kings/5.htm.

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