My Ongoing Thoughts

HEAVYWEIGHT?!

10/15/2024

As a boy, I so looked up to my Uncle Roy. Although the youngest of three siblings (my aunt, my father, and him), he wound up being a much bigger man physically than either my father or my grandfather. To this day, I can still recall the stories I marveled at when told of his upbringing.

Like the time I was told about when he was a teenager at home doing his homework, and two local bullies showed up out in the front yard to taunt him. He tolerated it for a little while before finally telling his mother (my grandmother) that she would just have to forgive him, as he got up from the table, stomped out the front door, and proceeded to whip the ever-loving tar out of the two of them!

And now you see why, to a boy of age seven as I was, his six foot, one inch height and two hundred pound chiseled frame was an impressive thing to behold. His massive arms appeared to me like oak trees attached to a mountain-sized torso. Oh, how I longed to grow up and be like him!

Well, the day eventually came when I did grow up, and even came within an inch of his height. But no worry, as I finally made up for it by far surpassing him in weight! (Laughing emoji here!)

Maybe all of this is why I have always been enamored by heavyweights. Whether they be “wrastlin’” (television wrestling) champs like “Dusty Rhodes”, or “boxin’” champs like Joe Frazier or George Foreman, or football champs like the Falcons’ “Tommy Nobis” of the Steelers’ “Mean Joe Green”, I always pulled for the heavyweight to be the ultimate champ!

And maybe this is why I have also become enamored these days with such recurring fall classics as the annual “World’s Heaviest Pumpkin Contest”, which was won this year by a entry weighing in at a whopping 2,471 pounds; and the annual “Fat Bear Contest” held up in Alaska, which was won this year by an enormous mama bear who actually beat out a male bear which had fatally attacked one of her cubs earlier this summer. She weighed in at an impressive weight of well over 1200 pounds!

As I have reflected on all of this, I have come to see that each of us, regardless of our respective physical traits, is in fact heavyweights in one area or another. Think about it. They say that you become what you eat. In this sense, all of us are overloaded in one given area or another.

I have known people who were so obsessed with this, that, or the other that they ultimately became so full of whatever it was that they were consuming that they inevitably became little more than a general manifestation of what all it was that they had consumed.

And so, my friend, “In what way or ways are you a heavyweight?” Please note that I did not ask: “Are you a heavyweight?” As we are all a heavyweight in one way or another, I ask again, “In what way or ways are you a heavyweight?”

In other words, what have you so consumed (Or rather, what has so consumed you?) that you have become obsessed with it? That is to say, what has become all-consuming and all-consumptive in your life? In other words… just what are you consuming, and has that just begun to consume you?!

All of this is to say that, nowadays, I have come to conclude that it is best to beware the status of “heavyweight”. In some circumstances, by comparison, it might well be much better to be perceived as being a “lightweight”.

In the Old Testament Book of Proverbs (chapter 6, verse 27), we read: “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?” The point here is that what goes into the body has consequences in what is the manifest in the outcome!

In light of this, my friend, beware of what all you take into your own bosom. It may well show up one day in your external persona. For after all, each one of us is little more than precisely what we eat!

SOURCES:

https://www.newser.com/story/357828/oh-my-gourd-this-pumpkin-weighs-in-at-nearly-25k-pounds.html;

https://www.newser.com/story/357534/shes-the-first-working-mom-to-win-fat-bear-week.html.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/6-27.htm.

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT…

10/10/2024

Part of my mission in life at this point is to help my grandsons to become men. One of the ways I do this is by introducing them to things guys do. We shoot BB guns, we catch crawdads, we play ball, and we even made “spears” out of sticks, covered them with feathers, and chunked them out in the yard this past week.

When the sun goes down, especially when they get to spend the night, is to watch movies. So far, all the ones I have introduced them to all have an obvious moral, with clearly defined good guys and bad guys. And many of them have monsters which the heroes have to come up against and defeat. I particularly like old Ray Harryhausen movies; which I loved as a little boy myself.

But as they age, they are discovering their own movie heroes. Recently, almost out of nowhere, they discovered the Star Wars franchise. They know Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo are the good guys who have to struggle with and overcome the evil Darth Vader and Stormtroopers. Accordingly, they regularly arm themselves with light sabers and blasters as they imagine themselves as Jedi Knights engaged in the struggle to overthrow the Empire and restore the Republic.

Of course, I was around when the first Star Wars movie, “Episode Four: A New Hope”, sprang onto movie screens nationwide in 1977. By the time the first trilogy had been produced, like so many of my generation, I knew every character, every scene, and every outcome in all three movies. But as the sequel trilogy, and then the prequel trilogy each came out, I had moved on in life, becoming an adult and focusing on other responsibilities.

As much as I am an expert on the first three films of my generation, so am I ignorant of the last six films, and especially of the succession of stand-alone story films generated by the franchise. I will leave it to my grandsons in their generation to be experts on the films of theirs. Yet, as my grandsons have begun insisting on watching these movies with their granddaddy, I have gladly engaged.

Still, I watch them with a different eye. Or more properly, with one eye; as I am typically using the other eye to search the internet and read about the production of the various movies. As a result, I now know lots of things about the movies that I did not know when I first viewed them as a sixteen year old.

For instance, in the very first film, a largely unknown director named George Lucas somehow talked such acclaimed actors as Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones, and David Prowse to accept roles in his weird new space opera science fiction film. But accept they did. And the rest, as they say, is history.

One particular detail I uncovered is the point of my blog today. Most of the actors were understandably unsure of the movie’s reception and resultant success or failure. So, when Alec Guinness accepted the role of Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, the Jedi Knight Master who helps inspire and train the hero, Luke Skywalker, before being killed off later in the film, chose not to take a salary, but to negotiate instead for 2.25 percent of the film’s profits.

By comparison, James Earl Jones, whose deep voice, described as a "stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas", was dubbed in for the voice of Darth Vader over the physical acting of the 6’6” tall British bodybuilder, David Browse, was advised by his agents to “just take the money and run”. He therefore settled for a mere $6500 for his work on the film.

By comparison, when all was said and done, and the film that has cost $11 million to produce had earned an impressive $775 million, Alec Guinness had earned $3.3 million. What is more, by the time he died in the year 2000, he had earned about $85 million, which was more than he made from 40 of his other films combined, including such classics as Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and A Passage to India.

While both men went on amass impressive fortunes in their lifetime, Guinness far surpassed Jones, due for the most part, to the deal each man negotiated on this one film.

A lot can be concluded from this. To be sure, Guinness’ career was slowing down. Born in 1914, he was already 63 when Sat wars came out. He was a well-established actor with a world-wide reputation. The money he made, as a result, allowed him to spend his final years focusing only on what acting projects he truly wanted to pursue.

Seventeen years his junior, James Earl Jones, born in 1931, was only 46, and although an established stage performer, was just getting started in the movie business with only a couple of acting roles to his credit. So his career was just revving up by comparison.

Arguably, therefore, the former could afford to take a risk on salary, while the latter may have valued the cash up front. We all understand how life works.

In the end, of course, Guinness died with a net worth of some $60 million; while Jones died with a net worth of some $40 million. As former Atlanta braves broadcaster once put it, “After a player can command a salary of several million dollars, what’s another million or two? Yet players always seem to want to hold out for more, more, more. Most of us would have to totally revamp our lifestyles in order to spend that kind of money!” So, it seems as if $40 million should have been sufficient.

Still, one cannot help but to wonder what might have happened if James Earl Jones had not listened to his agents and instead had negotiated a percentage of the profits from Star Wars like Alec Guinness did. His net worth at the end of the trail might very well have far surpassed that of Guinness.

For my part, as I look back over my life, I know full well that there were times when I chose to play it safe. Some of those decisions were appropriate. Others were not. For there were many times when I now wish that I had chosen not to play it safe, but to take the risk instead. Here me well - I am not just talking about financial decisions here. For this principle applies to a great many of life’s pursuits.

Conversely, I am increasingly thankful for all those times in life when I chose to take the risk. I did so when I ask my beautiful wife to marry me. I did so when I applied for college. I did so when I applied for my first job. I did so when I made my first investment. I did so when I wrote my first novel.

What about you, my friend? Does the same hold true for you? If you spend a little time thinking about it, you may realize that you too have a similar testimony.

Some three thousand years ago, King Solomon (in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs, chapter 11, verse 1, NET Bible Translation) admonished us in this manner: “Send your grain overseas, for after many days you will get a return.”

He is simply telling us here to take the risk. A ship loaded with grain could easily be lost at sea, attacked by pirates, or suffer any number of other similar fates. But if it made it through to its intended port, and then returned laden with other goods, the return on the investment could be truly enormous.

In other words, Solomon encouraged us to take the risk! Forget the measly $6500; go for the chance at $3.3 million instead! Think long term, not short term! For in the end, the reward will very likely well be worth it!

SOURCES:

https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/much-cast-original-star-wars-movie-make/.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/parallel/ecclesiastes/11-1.htm.

A’ GIVIN’ and A’ GETTIN’

10/5/2024

My blog post this day is a tad late, but with good reason. You see, a loved one dear to my wife and I wound up with an unexpected hospitalization. The good news is that this individual is now home and recuperating; but the experience of support meant that my wife and I had to set our personal agendas aside.

As I sat in the hospital emergency room, I thought about a sermon I once read by Herb Hodges titled "The Lost Beatitude". In it, he explores the words of Jesus in Acts 20:35 in which the Master said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

As a way of illustrating our Lord’s point, Rev. Hodges employs the following illustration:

You may remember the story of the magic vest. It was a wonderful garment. All one had to do was to put it on and make a wish to have the wish come true. But there was one disadvantage — every time the wearer made a selfish wish the vest drew up a bit and became a little more binding and uncomfortable.

But the wearer of the magic garment refused to be warned. He kept on wishing for things only for himself until by and by he was choked to death, choked by the deadly tragedy — getting without giving.

Getters build no churches — but givers do. Getters launch no crusades for righteousness — but givers do. Getters build no hospitals, establish no orphanages, endow no colleges, set up on foundations — but givers do. It is giving that transforms our receiving into a blessing.

Let’s be honest. The Emergency Room waiting area can be a stressful place. Many are there waiting to be seen by a doctor. Others are there waiting to hear about the latest status of their loved ones. In such circumstances, the norm is for people to focus only on themselves at the expense of others.

Yet, over the ensuing two days, I witnessed countless doctors, nurses, assistants, technicians, administrators, clerks, and additional personnel give of themselves "above and beyond" in order to minister to those in need. Many of them had worked long, hard, and full shifts, and had every right to be irritable or non-responsive as a result. Instead, they went out of their way to show compassion.

What is more, those with the jobs viewed by the world as least desirable seemed to express the greatest level of care. Those "merely" delivering meals from the kitchen, cleaning the bathrooms, gathering the trash, and/or changing the linens seemed to go out of their way to be helpful and encouraging.

Later in the above-referenced sermon, Rev. Hodges adds these thoughts:

Did you ever call out loudly in a place where there was a loud echo? You can get any reply you want in a place like that. If you speak kindly, you will receive a kind answer. If you speak harshly, you will receive a harsh answer. Life is like that. Life is an echo.

Generally speaking, we get just what we give. If you say bitterly, “This is a cruel world — nobody ever did me a kindness,” that is another way of saying, “I have lived in a needy world and have never done a kindness to any human soul.”

Generally speaking, if we give the world the best we have, the best will come back to us. Jesus was speaking quite literally when He said, "It makes one happier to give than to get."

My wife and I have been inspired by this whole experience to think less of ourselves and more of others. That is to say, we have been reminded that it is indeed "more blessed to give than to receive".

Perhaps you should ponder this same principle.

SOURCE:

https://herbhodges.com/written-material/. Search for “Acts 20 35 The Lost Beatitude”.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/acts/20-35.htm.

PICKY EATERS?!

9/29/2024

It is the latest trend to take over social media. It is called “Fridgescaping”; and it consists of decorating your refrigerator in appealing and often romantic ways using decorative objects and appealing displays of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

Proponents say it has lots of benefits. In addition to emotional and psychological appeal by giving your refrigerator more aesthetic appeal, it can help you be more aware of not wasting food. It can also help you put together your meals more easily. It can even help keep your fridge clean and more organized.

But health experts are quick to offer a rebuttal. It seems that the risks of “Fridgescaping” far outweigh the benefits. For instance, it can create a risk for contamination and foodborne illness. It can put you at risk for exposure to harmful microorganisms. It can also make it more difficult for your refrigerator to do its job of keeping your food cool and safe. There is also a risk of chemical contamination when you place foods in containers that are not designed to be food-safe.

According to an article at Healthline.com…

Dr. Maria Knobel, the Medical Director of Medical Cert UK, says the main problem is the risk of contamination. “When you place decorative elements inside your fridge, especially if they are not food-safe or are difficult to clean, you could inadvertently introduce contaminants,” she explained. “For example, decorative items might harbor bacteria or mold, which can then come into contact with food items,” said Knobel.

Contamination is a problem because it increases your risk for foodborne illnesses. It also increases the risk that foods will spoil. Another potential concern is temperature regulation. “Fridgescaping might involve placing non-food items in the refrigerator, which can disrupt air circulation,” said Knobel. Without proper air circulation, your refrigerator may not be able to maintain temperatures that prevent bacterial growth and spoilage, allowing disease-causing organisms like Salmonella and E. coli to flourish. Knobel additionally pointed out the potential for chemical exposure.

“Some decorative items may be made from materials that are not intended for use in food storage environments,” she explained. “If these items degrade or release chemicals, there is a risk of these substances coming into contact with your food.” This could be especially risky for pregnant people and children, Knobel added.

Given all these considerations, I don’t think I’ll be engaging in “Fridgescaping” anytime soon. After all, the purpose of my refrigerator is to keep the foods that I consume safe, fresh, and edible. Clearly, anything that contaminates them has no place in the fridge.

As I thought about this, however, I was reminded that all of us consume more than just mere physical sustenance. By this I mean that we feed not just our stomachs, but also our minds. And just as we should take prudent steps to ensure that our physical sustenance is not contaminated, so should we do with our mental sustenance. Be careful that you do not pollute the things that your mind consumes.

More to the point, we also feed our souls! And if it is easy to contaminate what we take in physically and mentally, how much more so is it to contaminate what we take in spiritually?! The evil one knows this, of course. And he avails himself of every opportunity to taint whatever we feed our souls!

In the first chapter of the Old Testament Book of Daniel, we read about four young men - Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah - who all made a deliberate choice not to contaminate themselves by consuming worldly sustenance, no matter how attractive and desirable it was packaged and presented to them (verse 16 calls it “Choice food”). In other words, they chose to be “picky eaters”!

The result? Their unwillingness to “defile” themselves (as verse 8 puts it) was blessed by the Lord; and they prospered greatly.

And so, my friends, along with periodically cleaning out your refrigerator, take the time also to clean up what all you read and watch and search out online. Your mind will be better off if you do. And above all, be careful what you take into your spiritual kitchen as well. Become a picky eater spiritually! You’ll be glad you did. After all, it's only the health and well-being of your eternal soul that is at stake!

SOURCES:

https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/viral-trend-fridgescaping-could-dangerous-health-experts;

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/fridgescaping-health-risks-benefits.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/niv/daniel/1.htm.

Gotcha!

9/24/2024

Ruth Bell Graham was once asked in an interview if she had ever in her 63 years of marriage to Billy Graham considered divorce. She replied by saying: “I’ve never considered divorce. Murder, yes, but not divorce.” What married person cannot appreciate the humor underlying that remark? And yet, the sad truth is that, statistically, most homicides in America are committed by loved ones!

Want proof? Just watch most any rerun of “Forensic Files”! Like a great many others, my wife and I have seen just about every episode of this long-running show. As a result, we lovingly joke with one another that we are both fairly safe, given that modern investigative techniques pretty much assures that neither of us would survive forensic scrutiny should we deal nefariously with each other.

I’m just joking! As did Billy and Ruth Bell Graham, we love one another far too much for any such shenanigans.

Still, given these things, a news story by Arden Dier posted on www.Newser.com earlier today caught my attention. Titled “Suitcase with Woman's Body Stayed Hidden for 16 Years: Maintenance Worker Make Gruesome Find in South Korea Building; Cops Suspect Old Boyfriend”, the article reads:

The body of a woman who disappeared in South Korea some 16 years ago was discovered by chance last month during maintenance work on an apartment building, leading authorities to her alleged killer. The man in his 50s, identified as Mr. A, told police he'd been living with his girlfriend in a studio apartment in Geoje for five years before killing her during an argument in October 2008, the BBC reports. The man said he hit her in the head with a blunt object, put her body in a suitcase, then concealed the suitcase in cement on his third-floor balcony. No one inspected the concrete until last month when a maintenance worker drilled into it.

The body of the woman, identified as B, was discovered partially preserved inside the suitcase and identified through fingerprint analysis, per the Korea Times. She was in her 30s when she died. Family members had reported her missing in 2011 after they went to find her in Geoje and were told she'd split with Mr. A and left the city. Mr. A left the studio apartment in 2017, per the Times. It was never occupied again, but instead used by the building owner's as a storage space, the BBC reports.

The owner had called in workers to repair a leak on the balcony when the discovery was made. "The concrete structure was located on a balcony separate from the rooftop room, making it difficult to notice from inside the room," a police officer is quoted as saying, per the Independent. Mr. A was suspected in the woman's disappearance early on. Given the new evidence, he was arrested Thursday in the city of Yangsan. He confessed to the killing and to throwing the murder weapon and his girlfriend's phone into the sea, per the Times.

What does all this prove? That you can run, but you cannot hide? Most likely so. For, in the modern world, with the advent of modern forensics, people are fooling themselves if they think they can get away with murder. Chances are, they simply cannot.

But more to the point, if we cannot get away with things in this world, how likely are we to get away with them in the world to come?

After all, (in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, chapter 32, verse 23) the Bible says, “… behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

All throughout history, men and women have done wrong and attempted to cover up their transgression, only to have it then uncovered by the Lord. Whether it was Cain in his murder of Abel, or David in his adultery with Bathsheba, or Ananias and Sapphira in their deceptive self-promotion, the Lord has always had a way of fulfilling His promise: “What you have done in secret… I will (now) do … in the open for everyone … to see.”

And so, my friend, be careful! Remember the words of Jesus (in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verse 17), when He said: “For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.”

In other words, you can run; but you cannot hide. For your sins, most assuredly, will eventually find you out!

STORY SOURCES:

https://billygrahamlibrary.org/remembering-ruth-bell-graham-2/;

https://www.newser.com/story/356787/building-maintenance-work-reveals-16-year-old-murder.html.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/numbers/32-23.htm;

https://biblehub.com/2_samuel/12-12.htm;

https://biblehub.com/luke/8-17.htm.

A SOLID FOUNDATION!

9/19/2024

I'm not sure if you saw it, but www.Newser.com carried an article this week titled “Teen With Largest Feet, Hands: 'It's OK to Stand Out': Michigan's Eric Kilburn, 16, Makes Guinness With 13.5-Inch-Long Feet, Hands That Are 9 Inches Plus”.

According to Jenn Gidman, Newser Staff Writer:

When Eric Kilburn was in kindergarten, he noticed he was much bigger than the other kids. By the time he was in fifth grade, he couldn't shop for shoes in regular stores, and finding gloves his size also became a challenge. The Michigan 16-year-old now claims feet that are 13.5 inches long (he wears a size 23 shoe; the average for US men is around a size 8 1/2 or 9) and hands that stretch 9.13 inches—both of which have earned him a place in the Guinness World Records rankings, reports the Guardian.

In a 2023 interview with USA Today, Eric's mom, Rebecca Kilburn (who's 6'2" herself; her husband is 6'5"), noted that her son didn't have any endocrine issues or other conditions that are tied to such growth. Per Guinness, once she had to start buying him expensive custom-made shoes in middle school that cost more than $1,500 a pair, she began wondering if her son might be world-record material - which in turn might lead to companies making some more shoes for him. Eric applied to Guinness when he was 14, when he already stood 6 feet, 10 inches tall (he's grown an inch or so since), and sure enough, Puma and Under Armour came forward with offers of new shoes and boots.

It turns out one person in particular may have been prescient about Eric's future Guinness feat: the obstetrician who delivered him. Eric tells Guinness that, when he was born, the elderly doctor told his mom and dad that the newborn's feet and hands were the largest he'd ever seen on a just-born baby. Today, Eric, who loves gaming and looks up to basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal, is proud of his oversize appendages, and he wants others who may feel different from the pack to take pride in themselves.

"It's OK to stand out," he says, per Guinness. "Don't let negativity distract you from your goals." More here on Eric's journey, including the joint pain he suffers and on his correspondence with O'Neal, who helped him through some of what Rebecca Kilburn calls the "darkness."

This story resonated with me. And it’s not because either my feet or my hands are anywhere near the size of this young man’s. I’m average height and size.

But my youngest grandson (affectionately known as “the caboose”)… now, that’s an entirely different story! While just three years old, he is tall for his age. More to the point, he has feet that are nearly as large as those of his eight year old cousin! In short, as the obstetrician referenced in the above story, he has been given a rather large foundation upon which he will invariably one-day build a frame.

I can only trust that the Lord will let me live to see this young man reach maturity; because he’s gonna be a Hoss (as in Cartwright)!

As I have reflected on this, I have been reminded that we all need a proper foundation for growth. This is true with regard to physical bodies and physical structures. And it is also true with regard to the spiritual realm.

In is New Testament Letter to the Ephesians (chapter 2, verses 19-22), the Apostle Paul writes the following:

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

In this, Paul is reflecting the words of the Prophet Isaiah, the Apostle Peter, and Jesus Himself. Thank God that, in Jesus Christ, we have been given the one true foundation upon which to build our lives. He alone is rock solid! And He alone will serve to support us all throughout our lives!

My grandson has clearly been given a solid foundation upon which to grow his physical body. I trust he will one day build upon it to an impressive level. But more importantly, like all of us, he has also been given a solid foundation upon which to build a vibrant spiritual life. In time, I pray he will do just that!

For my part, I have chosen to do just that. Have you?

STORY SOURCE:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/18/guinness-record-eric-kilburn;

https://www.newser.com/story/356467/teen-sets-world-record-for-biggest-feet-hands.html.

SCRIPTURES:

https://biblehub.com/niv/ephesians/2.htm;

https://biblehub.com/isaiah/28-16.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/1_peter/2.htm;

https://biblehub.com/matthew/16-18.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/7.htm.

LIGHTS ON!

9/12/2024

Several of my grandsons are playing what is termed “Fall Ball”. If you don’t know what that means; I’ll tell you. It means Little League Baseball in the fall as well as the spring. Two to three evening games a week.

But, ultimately, I’m okay with that. I’d much rather my grandsons be involved in organized sports and learning life skills that will serve them well than to be sitting at home mindlessly watching television or playing video games.

But what is troublesome is that daylight is growing noticeably shorter. And that means I find myself driving home in the dark. All of this now brings me to my point.

Earlier this week, after watching a game that began at 6:00 pm and ended at 7:30 pm, my wife got on the road around 7:45 pm, and then headed home. In the twenty to twenty-five minutes it took to get home, daylight gave way to dusk and them to darkness. And in that brief time, we encountered no less than three automobiles on the road being driven with no lights on!

As I pulled into my driveway, I thanked the Good Lord for getting us home safely. And I wondered if the poor people driving without their headlights on made it home safely.

You see, it often matters whether or not you let your light shine! Whenever your light should be shining and it doesn’t, it can have serious consequences – both for you and for the ones who need to see your light shining forth in the darkness!

What is true in the physical realm is also true in the spiritual realm. Jesus told all of us who purport to be His followers that we should let our light shine. His exact words are found in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew (chapter 5, verse 16): “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The world is a dark place. Not just during the nighttime, when the sun does not shine in the sky. But also spiritually, when the Son of God and His radiance have been covered over by the forces of darkness. In such a context, the world needs light. Lots of it!

Jesus, Himself, claimed to be the Light of the world (in the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 8, verse 12), when He said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Given this, those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ clearly have an obligation to let our light shine forth in the midst of dark world. To do otherwise is not only to fail to meet eh expectation of our Lord and Savior, but also to fail to identify ourselves and our presence as one of His followers.

Even worse, to do otherwise is to fail to light the way for others! And Heaven help any follower of Jesus Christ who is given the opportunity to light the way for a non-believer, but chooses not to do so! To have the light and not to share it is, at best selfish, and at worst, malicious!

And so, my friend, if you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, then by all means, please, please turn your lights on!

SCRIPTURES:

https://biblehub.com/matthew/5-16.htm;

https://biblehub.com/john/8-12.htm.

ANY LUCK?

9/7/2024

I once heard a story about Napoleon Bonaparte. Whether it is true or not, I do not know. In any event, he was supposedly looking for a new general to replace one that had faltered. A certain individual was highly recommended to him for the position. After hearing out the glowing recommendation, Napoleon responded to the recommender by saying, “I know the man is a good general; but is he lucky?”

After a day like today, I do not know if I am lucky or not!

It all started out early this morning when I went out on my daily walk, only to have a black cat run across the road right in front of me. I immediately realized that it was the 7th of September, the beginning of a week leading up to Friday, the 13th. What is more, summer has now come and gone; and I have not found one single four-leaf clover all season!

To make matters worse, I have not seen my rabbit’s foot for at least a decade or more, let alone carried it with me in my pocket! And then it hit me. I’ve never even won the lottery! Talk about a steak of bad luck! It looks like I'm the living embodiment of bad luck!

Of course, this could be due to certain facts. To begin with, I don’t buy lottery tickets (which I must confess that I consider a voluntary tax on stupid people). If I don't buy them, how can i expect to win? Moreover, I have not bothered to look for my lost rabbit’s foot in decades, let alone carry it. How can it then possibly help me? Nor have I looked for a four-leaf clover in years.

Statistically, Friday the 13th rolls around about twice a year; and it has never really bothered me all that much when it has done so before.

And as far as the black cat goes; it belongs to my neighbor. I see it often out on my walks either in or near the road. For whatever reason, it darted across the road in front of me today. But it is likely that if I startle it again tomorrow, it will do much the same.

Am I unlucky? Who knows!

Now, fast forward two hours. After my walk, I rushed in and changed clothes before my wife and I headed off to our grandson’s fall baseball game. Not sure which of the five fields he was playing on, I decided to park in the east parking lot. Turns out, I should have parked in the west lot!

As we were trudging our way past two empty ball fields to the field where he was playing, I was continuing to bemoan my streak of bad luck in having chosen the wrong parking lot; when lo and behold, I looked down and there was a twenty dollar bill!

As not another human being was within two hundred yards, I snatched it up, put it in my wallet, and totally reexamined my string of misfortune! It turns out that “Ol’ Lady Luck” wasn’t necessarily frowning on me after all.

Am I lucky? Who knows!

But this much I do know. About twenty minutes after the cat ran across the road in front of me, my phone rang. It was a retired pastor who is a dear friend of mine, but whom I had not talked to in about a year. He was just calling to catch up on things.

We chatted for about twenty minutes before concluding that we were both very blessed to have been given what all we had been given by God. After all, we had both been given our lives, our health, our salvation, our wives, our children, our grandchildren, and our various places, our various churches, and our various people to serve.

As I hung up the phone, I realized that Napoleon may have considered it more important to be lucky than to be good; but for my part, I consider it far more important to see one’s self as blessed than to think of one’s self as either good or lucky!

At the conclusion of the resounding U.S. victory at the World War Two Battle of Midway, Admiral Chester Nimitz asked a subordinate officer, “Were we better than the Japanese, or just luckier?”

There are those who would like to think of themselves as somehow better. There are those who would like to think of themselves as somehow luckier. I’ll settle for being one of those who chooses to see themselves simply as blessed by a loving God!

I leave you with the words of the Psalmist of old, who penned these words in the 103rd Psalm (verse 1-5) millennia ago:

"Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things."

Am I blessed? Absolutely!

And like the Psalmist, I will be careful to testify to this fact at each and every opportunity!

SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/nlt/psalms/103.htm.

WHAT’S IN YOUR STOMACH?!

9/2/2024

You cannot make this stuff up. My son called us on the phone to tell us about the latest exploits of his family’s pet cat. But first, a little background…

“S.J.” (the name of his cat) has not necessarily led a charmed life. In his short time on earth, he has fallen off the porch rail and broken his right hip. That required extensive surgery, including a pin in his hip.

It took forever for him to heal, having to learn to walk on three legs before on four all over again. Thereafter, he got caught in someone’s “Have A Heart” trap some distance from their house. He was gone for about a week before he got out of that one.

After this, he got outfitted with an Apple Air Tag on his collar. In short order, he disappeared again. The Air Tag showed him in a given location; but he was nowhere to be seen. Later, he showed back up at the house minus a collar and his Air Tag.

And now, for the kicker… Earlier today, he threw up on their front porch. And what did he disgorge? You guessed it. His chewed up collar! He has now been refitted with yet another, stronger collar and yet another Air Tag. It remains to be seen what the future holds for either. Or for that matter, for poor ol’ “S.J.” himself!

Now, don’t get me wrong. I wish the poor creature no ill will. But, it won’t surprise me if the next phone call I get form my son contains the eloquent quote from Cousin Eddy in Christmas Vacation, “If that cat had nine lives, he just spent ‘em all!”

After a hearty laugh at my son’s latest update in the saga of the ongoing adventures of “S.J.”, I found myself thinking about the spiritual truth that underlies this most recent episode.

If you think about it, cats are not the only ones to swallow things unfit for consumption! People do it all the time!

Seriously, I’ve known people who have hungered for and strived for any one of a thousand “must haves”. Yet, once they have gotten themselves a belly full of clothes, jewellery, cash, cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, boats, jet skis, lake lots, beach houses, season tickets, and the like, they have quickly discovered that it left them with a rather sour stomach.

In the opening chapters of the Bible, we read about the very first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Though all their needs were supplied by God in the Garden of Eden, it wasn’t enough for them. They just had to have more. Thus, they chose to go after, acquire, and consume that one thing which they did not have, and which was not meant for them to consume – fruit from the forbidden tree.

What did it get them? A belly full of trouble, that’s what! “S.J.” the cat could simply regurgitate that which did not agree with him. But not so for Adam and Eve. Once consumed, the forbidden fruit forever poisoned them. Not so much in body as in spirit! For it ate a hole in their souls and made them deathly sick spiritually. And ever since, men and women have had that same void within. Sadly, they have continued to attempt to fill that void with any and everything imaginable.

But only one thing will fill that void. Given that it is a spiritual hole, it must be filled with spiritual substance. And that substance is found only in He Who came to us as the Bread of Life! Only in eating of that Bread will we be truly filled, truly nurtured, and truly satisfied.

As Jesus, Himself, said in the New Testament Gospel of John (chapter 6, verse 35): “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.” Later in that same chapter (verse 51), He further states: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

And so, my friend, “What’s in your stomach?!” Better yet, what’s in your soul?! I hope it is not merely worldly provision, but is instead the true “Living Bread … from Heaven”! For this alone is the only true staff of life! All other sustenance is bound, inevitably, to make you sick, and thereafter, to leave you with “that empty feeling”!

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/3.htm;

https://biblehub.com/john/6-35.htm;

https://biblehub.com/john/6-51.htm.

JUMPING SHIP!

8/27/2024

It’s been quite a week in Major League Baseball. To begin with, a legendary piece of sports memorabilia, the jersey Babe Ruth wore during his iconic "called shot" in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs, has sold for a staggering $24.12 million at an auction in Dallas.

It was a record-breaking six long hour sale, surpassing the $12.6 million paid for Mickey Mantle's 1952 rookie card last year. The buyer has chosen to remain anonymous, according to Heritage Auctions.

Next, it has been reported that Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani both showcased their remarkable athleticism, as Judge smashed seven home runs in six games for the Yankees, lifting his season total to 51. He now aims to surpass 60 homers for the second time in three years, potentially breaking his American League record of 62 set in 2022.

Meanwhile, Ohtani joined a very elite group by hitting 40 homers and stealing 40 bases within a single season, becoming only the sixth player in MLB history to accomplish this.

Normally, these two stories would have been amazing enough in the news for one week. But something else happened for the very first time ever in Major League Baseball this week - something truly amazing.

It seems that Danny Jansen started a game playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, ended it playing for the Boston Red Sox. He became the first ever MLB player to play for two teams in one game:

An earlier game in which he was at bat for the Blue Jays was delayed by rain. While waiting for the continuation of the game, he was traded to the opposing team, the Red Sox. And when the game finally picked back up this past week, the Blue Jays had a pinch hitter finish Jansen's at-bat while the Red Sox had none other than Jansen himself behind the plate as catcher. Jansen later called the experience both called "cool" and "strange." And for what it’s worth, Toronto went on to win, 4-1.

I share this because it is not uncommon for players to switch teams. Trades happen all the time. But not mid-game!

I thought about it, however, and concluded that while switching over to the other team might be uncommon in baseball, it may well occur a little more often in life than we realize.

Have you ever known someone to suddenly “go over to the other side” with little or no notice or prompting? I have; and the consequences can be devastating. Allies sometimes do it. Bosses sometimes do it. Employees sometimes do it. Spouses, too, often do it. And yes, church members and even Christians often do it. The reasons given to justify this are often varied and vague.

We all know what it is like to have someone depart on us unexpectedly. But to have them then set up camp in some context that seems completely antithetical to where they were can be disappointing at best and devastating at worse.

Believers, especially, should avoid being wishy washy. They should also avoid being duplicitous. If we have professed faith in and made a commitment to Jesus Christ, we should remain faithful to that profession and commitment for life.

After all, as the Bible tells us, not just once, but a myriad of times, our Lord has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. That is one promise that always has and always will be kept.

And if He is faithful not to skip out on us, then surely we should be faithful not to skip out on Him in turn. Implicit in this is that we should not only remain faithful to Him, but also to all those He has called us to love and faithfully support as well.

Remember that the next time you are tempted to “jump ship” and suddenly begin playing for the opposing team!

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/31-6.htm;

https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/31-8.htm;

https://biblehub.com/joshua/1-5.htm;

https://biblehub.com/1_kings/6-13.htm;

https://biblehub.com/hebrews/13-5.htm.

NEWS STORY SOURCES:

https://www.newser.com/story/354818/he-may-make-unusual-baseball-history-next-week.html#google_vignette;

https://www.newser.com/story/355156/judge-and-ohtani-shine-in-record-breaking-week.html;

https://www.newser.com/story/355131/babe-ruths-iconic-jersey-sells-for-record-24m.html.

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