Blog Archives

HEADING HOME

1/29/2018

Pastors very often grieve right along with those very individuals to whom they are called to minister. Such was my lot over the past few days, as our church family paid their final respects to a fine gentleman named Derek Williams. Much too soon, he departed this life, at age 51. He had struggled with ALS for the last four years; and the Lord gave him victory over that terrible disease by calling him home to Heaven for his eternal reward this past week.

Derek was a fine husband and father, as a well as a much loved member of this community. And he was also a first class churchman, pouring his heart into serving his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ throughout most of his earthly life. As one fellow minister remarked, “You build churches on men like Derek Williams!”

He will be missed by one and all. And those of us who knew and love him look forward to seeing him again one day in a place where God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and where no evil thing, including both disease and death, shall ever harm the children of God again!

I was reminded of a story that Jon Redmond tells in his book, What Happens at the Moment of Death:

When we die, we’re not just going to be leaving our bodies and departing from this world. We’re going somewhere! We’re going to the place Jesus has prepared for us. We’re going to Heaven. We’re going home.

At a funeral I spoke at recently, I was explaining to the congregation how the person who had died, because of his faith in Jesus Christ, was now in the presence of God in Heaven. I compared the person’s physical death to a bird being released from a cage. The person had been sick for a long time. He had actually become a prisoner in his own body. He had been trapped in a body that had worn down. When he died, he was mercifully released form that body.

I talked about sometimes at a graveside service there is a dove release ceremony. The doves are released from their cages as a picture of a person being released from the pains and difficulties of life. I explained how the person we had come to honor had been released from his body … just like the dove is released from a cage.

Using the dove imagery, I painted a clear word picture of what the death experience is like for a Christian. The people in attendance got the point, and I felt good about my sermon.

After the service was over, a good friend of mine said to me, “Jon, that was a nice service. But you left out the best part of the dove release illustration.” I asked, “What do you mean?” He said, “Well, you’ve done enough graveside services to know what kind of birds are actually being released from those cages, haven’t you?” I replied, “Sure I have. They’re not really doves at all. They’re homing pigeons.” He said, “Exactly. And why are they called homing pigeons?” I said, “Because when they are released from those cages they instinctively and immediately fly to their home.”

With a smile on his face, my friend said to me, “And that’s the part of the illustration you left out. The next time you talk about those birds being released from their cages, be sure to stress to the people that at the moment of death we are not just released from our bodies. We, just like those homing pigeons, instinctively and immediately go home … to our home … in Heaven with God.”

I wanted to reassemble the congregation and re-preach my sermon. But it was too late for that. The service was over, and the people were gone. But I have used that illustration several times since then, and I wanted to include it here. My friend was right. When our bodies die, it’s not just that our souls are released form them. It is much greater than that. At the moment a Christian dies, he goes immediately home … escorted by the angels … safe in the arms of Jesus. At the moment of death, Heaven will indeed become our new home. And I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Well said, Jon! Derek has now been released from his worn out earthly body; and he has flown straight to be with Jesus in that wonderful place called Heaven, which will be his eternal home! May God be praised!

SOURCE: Jon Redmond, What Happens at the Moment of Death (Pasadena, Texas: First Baptist Church Publications, no date), pp. 22-24.

Jon is Assistant Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Pasadena, Texas. He has a number of publications available through the church. Among them: How to Be A Happy Christian, Riding Out the Storms of Life, Finding Freedom Through Forgiveness, Never Alone, How to Make Heaven Your Home, When God Says, “Wait”, How to Have A Peaceful Heart, In the Twinkling of an Eye, Angels Among Us, Discovering God’s Will, The Lord Is My Shepherd, Prayer and fasting, and The Bible Reading Plan.

Cf: www.fbp.org.

STORY TIME

1/25/2018

In my last post, I talked a little about the various places communicators can find illustrations. In the process, I divulged the rather humiliating fact that people seem to remember my own stories much longer than they do the actual points my sermons contain (no matter how fancy or cute I might attempt to make my outlines via alliteration, rhyming, or other such devices).

But that is perfectly fine because illustrations have always been one of the most effective ways to convey truth. For thousands of years, successful communicators have understood this and employed the use of illustrations in their teaching.

For instance, in ancient Greece, a humble slave known as Aesop was a master at communicating through stories. His famed Aesop’s Fables are actually a collection of very short stories that he told, each concluding with a moral, or “point”. A classic example is that of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”, a tale so familiar to most of us that it needs no recounting here. The moral, of course, is not to tell lies.

Another ancient Greek famous for his use of illustrations was the philosopher Plato, who often taught with illustrations. One of his more famous examples was known as "the allegory of the cave", related in his preeminent work, The Republic. Wikipedia.com gives a reasonable summary:

Plato has (the character) Socrates describe a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality. Socrates explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not reality at all, for he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the manufactured reality that is the shadows seen by the prisoners.

The ancient Greeks were not alone in the use of storytelling as a means of communicating. The ancient Romans did the same, as did the Egyptians, the Persians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Indians, and all the kingdoms and cultures of the Far East. And so did the ancient Israelites.

In the Old Testament, we read the account where the Prophet Nathan is called upon by God to confront King David over his adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uzziah the Hittite, whom David had later slain to cover up his immorality. In Second Samuel, chapter 12, verse 1-7, we read:

1The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!

Needless to say, the story Nathan told both made its point and had its desired effect! David was clearly guilty; and his response to Nathan’s story proves it conclusively!

When we come to the New Testament, we are introduced to the Greatest Teacher who ever existed. And the One Who related the greatest illustrations ever employed by any teacher. I am speaking, of course, of Jesus Christ. And over the life of His ministry, He shared at least forty different parables.

Webster’s dictionary defines a parable as “a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle”. And Jesus was a Master at utilizing them.

Perhaps no finer example of His art is to be found than that recorded in the New Testament Gospel of Luke. In chapter 10, verses 25-37, in response to a man’s question about what he must do to obtain eternal life, Jesus reminds him of the requirements of the Old Testament law - to love the lord with all one’s heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself. The man, not satisfied, pressed Jesus as to just who his neighbor was. In response, Jesus delivers the renowned parable of “The Good Samaritan”.

Later, in Luke chapter 15, Jesus recounts three successive parables illustrating the spiritual lostness of men and women, and the passionate desire of God to find, redeem, and recover them. These include the stories of “the lost sheep”, “the lost coin”, and ultimately, “the lost son”. The latter is universally referred to as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. (The links below recount each of these.)

Given that great communicators throughout history have always effectively employed stories to teach truth; and given that chief among them in this art was the very Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ, it therefore behooves me to make the most of stories as I myself teach, preach, and write.

And if you also are called upon to communicate truth, then I trust you will see the relevance and do the same!

As a child, I was taught not to tell “stories”, a euphemism for “lies”. I have faithfully tried to live by that dictum. But, as an adult, and as a teacher, I now realize that I cannot possibly hope to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” without employing stories to illustrate the very points I desire to communicate.

And that, my friend, is the story of my life! And I’m sticking to it!

SOURCES:

https://fablesofaesop.com/the-boy-who-cried-wolf.html.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_Cave.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

http://biblehub.com/niv/2_samuel/12.htm.
http://biblehub.com/niv/luke/10.htm.
http://biblehub.com/niv/luke/15.htm.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: Over half a century ago, Gilbert Highet, a classical scholar educated at Oxford University, and who later taught at Columbia University for forty years, published a wonderful work titled The Art of Teaching (New York: Alfred A. Knopf Publishing, 1950). In this influential work, he discusses in detail the methods of all great teachers throughout history, including those employed by Jesus Christ.

In my opinion, this seminal book has not been surpassed, and should be required reading for all who still desire to change the world though the art of teaching even today, be that through higher education, public school, Sunday school, or even Vacation Bible school. The only book even coming close is The Seven Laws of Teaching (http://canonpress.com/content/AG-003.pdf) by John Milton Gregory.

(Speaking of storytellers, Gilbert Highet was married to one of my favorite novelists: Helen MacInnes. A prolific author, her 22 novels on World War Two and its aftermath, including the cold war, are quite suspenseful. My personal favorite is The Salzburg Connection [published in 1968 and later made into a film of the same name], about the discovery and retrieval of a chest from the bottom of an Austrian mountain lake (a "See") which contains the identities of Nazi war criminals and collaborators. Suffice it to say that she was a master of suspense!

ILLUSTRATIONS UNLIMITED

1/22/2018

As a Pastor, I learned a long time ago that most people soon forget my sermons, but not my stories. To this day, it is not uncommon for someone to remind me of a story I told a dozen or more years ago from the pulpit. It has also been said that an effective illustration can make or break a sermon. I tend to agree.

As one who communicates the Gospel on a regular basis, I am sometimes asked where I come up with the illustrations I use. My answer, given tongue in cheek, is that I “beg, borrow, and steal them” from anywhere I can.

As a young man, right out of seminary, staring at as many as three sermons a week for the next thirty to forty years, I used to think: “What will I say in all that time?” After all, that’s a lot of pulpit time to fill!

Concerned over this, I initially invested substantially in books full of illustrations. (Yes, there really are such books available - a great many of them, to be honest. Back in the day, the Pastor’s section of the old Baptist Bookstores, now Lifeway, was full of such books.) I literally bought dozens of them.

Nowadays, things have changed a little. I often find myself thinking: “When will I say all that I need to say in the time I have left in the pulpit?” I also rely less and less on books full of illustrations. For one thing, the world has gone digital. These days, websites have replaced books. Elsewhere on my website, I have referenced organizations that provide digital illustrations for those who communicate.

But something else has changed as well. I have personally gotten a little older, and hopefully a little wiser along the way. And as I have lived my life, I have come to see that the best illustrations are simply the ones taken from life itself.

For instance, this past Sunday, in discussing the subject of spiritual gifts in my message, I made reference to how, as a child, I grew up playing with Hasbro G. I. Joes. All G. I. Joes were created equal, as it were. They literally came off an assembly line. Each and every one was endowed with the same basic set of gear.

But beyond this, G. I. Joe Adventure Team sets were available. These allowed each G. I. Joe to specialize in some particular capacity. There could thus be a Pilot G. I. Joe, a Scuba Diver G. I. Joe, an Astronaut G. I. Joe, a Skydiving G. I. Joe, a Tank Driving G. I. Joe, etc…

I hope you see the point. God creates each and every one of us in His image. And before the cross of Christ, we are all equal. But He then endows each of us with a unique combination of spiritual gifts that allows us to pursue some specific ministry within the church at large, all for His glory and honor.

Another good source of illustrations is the daily news. For instance, it was reported by numerous news organizations last week that the world famous annual Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas suddenly found itself without power. For two hours, no electricity at all was available at the event. In this time, all prospective clients could do was stumble around in the darkness while vendors pleaded with utility providers to get them back on the grid.

Now obviously, electronics cannot function without power. And for me, as a Pastor, the illustration is obvious. Neither can Christians properly function without the uninterrupted infusion of divine power in their lives by the Holy Spirit. Apart from the power supplied by the Holy Spirit, we are helpless in our efforts to affect God’s will. It is important, therefore, that we do nothing to hinder the Spirit or His work in our lives.

Similarly, in a story from the previous month, a squirrel chewed through a power line in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and caused $300,000 worth of damage to a community center, set to open in June.

The Bible warns us of the little foxes that spoil the vine. For this reason, we must be vigilant as believers and not allow the little things, so often seen as innocuous, to cause great damage in our lives by not giving them needed attention.

I hope this demonstrates that, after thirty years communicating the Gospel, spotting illustrations has almost become second nature to me. And I do not say this in any way to sound braggadocios. I say it rather to remind all who communicate that the best way to get better at finding illustrations is simply to attempt to do so on a regular basis.

After all, practice makes perfect. Whether we are shooting a basketball, or baking a cake, or riding a skateboard, or whatever else we undertake to do, the simple truth is: the more we do it, the better we get at it.

And so, my friend, if you are a communicator, whether as a teacher, a writer, a preacher, a speechwriter, or any of a hundred other such professions, be encouraged.

You too can find all the illustrations you need just by opening your eyes and taking a look around. The world is full of them; and if you learn to live your life observantly, you will soon surely discover more of them than you can ever hope to use.

SOURCES:

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/01/10/power-outage-hits-ces-social-media-mocks-electronics-show.html.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/11/squirrel-caused-300g-in-damages-at-indiana-community-center-officials-say.html.

Also, check out this neat poster I bought online, showing the various manifestations of G. I. Joe...

SHATTERING MISCONCEPTIONS

1/19/2018

This past week, beautiful east Tennessee has been blanketed with snow and ice from two successive snow storms. That is to be expected, of course, as it is now January. The previous year (2015), we had snow as early as November. But this past year (2016), the cold weather came a little late. Low temperatures did not really set in until the week after Christmas.

As is my custom, I was out walking one day around the first of the year, and as I headed off down the frontage road near our residence, I was enjoying the unusual greenery for this time of the year.

As I turned a corner, however, I was disheartened to see, first that someone had evidently thrown their trash out of their car window, and secondly, that someone else, no doubt getting up leaves, had apparently run their lawnmower right over the paper, shredding it into a hundred pieces and littering both sides of the road for quite some distance.

I must admit that I brooded over this as I walked the neighborhood. I was disappointed to say the least, for now, in all likelihood, we all had to look at this particular mess for some time to come. As I made my return walk, however, I could not help but notice that there was something a bit odd about the continuous stretch of shredded paper. Each piece had a remarkably similar look to it.

Intrigued, I decided to stop and take a closer look. I am glad I did, for I soon made a crucial discovery. What I had earlier assumed was paper shredded by a lawnmower blade was in fact frozen ice, somehow formed when the dew surrounding individual blades of grass within localized clumps had frozen.

To verify that this was indeed what I was seeing, I took my shoe and stomped on one or two of the ice crystals. To my surprise, they crumbled immediately.

As I walked away, I quickly released that what I had thought was something that was going to be fairly difficult to address was in fact something quite easily dispensed with. What I had thought was something fairly permanent was in fact something quite temporary at best. More to the point, I realized that something seen as fairly ugly was in fact something quite beautiful to behold.

Sadly, I was about to miss all of that beauty by misinterpreting what I was seeing. In and of itself, this was bad enough. But what is truly sad is that, in the process of finding fault with my fellow man over what I assumed had been a blatant disregard for others, I failed to realize the problem was really not a problem at all. It only existed in my own heart.

As I have reflected on this, I have come to be reminded of how many times in my life I have fretted and worried over something that, in the end, turned out not to be an issue after all. What is more, many of the things I considered as issues were only issues because I myself had made them any such.

Some time ago, while out rummaging in an estate sale, my sister came across an old cross-stitched pillow that says: “TODAY IS THE TOMORROW YOU WORRIED ABOUT YESTERDAY… AND ALL IS WELL!” I have never forgotten the day she showed it to me. And I doubt I ever will.

Given all these things, I have decided to spend the coming year fretting a bit less as I walk through this world. After all, few things ever are as bad as we initially make them out to be. And I myself have no business making something out of nothing! Most people already have enough issues in their lives. They certainly don’t need me creating new ones for them.

GOING THE DISTANCE

1/16/2018

One of my favorite movies is the original Rocky movie, released way back in 1976. The plot centers around a hitherto unknown boxer from Philadelphia named Rocky Balboa (played by actor Sylvester Stallone) who gets an unheard of shot at the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship when the reigning champion, Apollo Creed (played by actor Carl Weathers), gives him a shot at the title.

In my favorite scene, Rocky (aka the "Italian Stallion") rises early at four o’clock in the morning on the first day of his training to prepare for the coming fight. He fumbles into his kitchenette, cracks open several eggs into a glass, and promptly drinks them down raw.

(Prior to this, all he had been seen consuming in the movie was beer and cigarettes. He has obviously committed to make some changes.) Thereafter, he dresses in his sweats and then heads out into the dark to go running.

As he steps outside of his little apartment, he first stretches in the cold weather, then trots down the lonely street into the dimly lit city. As his run unfolds, his initial reticence is overcome by a sense of enthusiasm for the task ahead. Soon enough, he is jogging passionately all through downtown Philadelphia.

As his run continues, however, the reality of what he is attempting to accomplish begins to set in. And by the time he reaches the iconic steps leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rocky has slowed down once again to a trot as he holds his side in pain.

He struggles on to the top, where he bends over in pain, gasping for air. He then limps down the steps and struggles back home, holding his aching side with every step he takes.

One cannot help but feel for Rocky at this point. The journey before him is daunting. And his first few steps have not gone well.

But what is great about the movie is that Rocky simply does not quit. As painful as it is, he doggedly persists in his training; and as the movie unfolds, he becomes stronger and stronger with each passing day. Before long, we see his workout transitioning from merely jogging up these same steps to sprinting up them.

What he accomplishes in running is paralleled by similar triumphs in other areas of this training – push-ups, sit-ups, chin-ups, etc…The result is that when the day of the fight finally arrives, Apollo Creed is simply not prepared for an opponent as fit and as determined as Rocky Balboa. What was supposed to be a three round bout turns into a fifteen round slugfest – an outcome no one expected.

And while Rocky loses the fight on a split decision, the movie ends with the crowd chanting for the underdog, Rocky, and the embarrassed champion, Creed, clearly confronting the reality that this no-name from no-where named Rocky Balboa is destined to have at least one more shot at him – which we see in the sequel, Rocky II.

And my point in all of this? I have spent several recent blog posts encouraging my readers to make resolutions for improving their lives, as is appropriate at this time of the year. I trust you have done so. I myself have as well.

Be advised, however, that these changes, once enumerated, will require dogged persistence on our part. After all, change of any sort is always difficult.

Have you declared some New Year’s Resolutions? Great! Have you actually begun to undertake the necessary steps to implement them? Wonderful! But what will you do when the proverbial alarm clock goes at four a.m. on a bitterly cold day?

What will you do when the morning’s nourishment consists of no more than raw eggs? What will you do when your side begins to ache and then to cramp?

Rocky Balboa, as we all know, went on to defeat Apollo Creed, and to win the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship in the sequel, Rocky II. But he did not win that fight in the ring alone. He won it when he kept on crawling out of bed on cold winter mornings, and when he kept on consuming raw eggs for breakfast, and when he kept on doing push-ups, and sit-ups, and chin-ups.

Likewise, you and I will have victory in our own chosen endeavors when we, too, doggedly persist in getting up, getting going, and getting done, each and every day, what we know we must do to reach our desired goals! It really is just that simple.

Pray for me as I myself pursue my chosen goals for the coming year. And I will pray for you in turn as you first commit to and then pursue the goals that God has given to you! And then, hopefully, we will each celebrate the crown of victory God has for us in the future.

I leave you with this statement of the Apostle Paul in his New Testament Letter to the Philippian Christians (chapter 3, verses 13 and 14):

13Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Amen!

ROCKY’S INITIAL RUN CAN BE VIEWED ON YOUTUBE AT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2TpAlCpWN8.

HIS SUCCESSIVE TRAINING, AS WELL AS THE ICONIC SPRINT UP THE MUSEUM STEPS (ALL SET TO THE THEME OF “GONNA FLY NOW”) CAN BE SEEN HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSmYAdiXb5M.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/philippians/3-14.htm.

DON’T QUIT NOW!

1/11/2018

After several recent posts encouraging New Year’s resolutions, I thought it time for a little humor … if for no other reason than to help us all as we work through our flagging commitment to such resolutions, which inevitably manifest itself as January continues to unfold.

The following purports to be a diary extract from a friend of the original author (someone named Lorna) who apparently gained weight during December's festivities and now needs to work it off so as to get into her clothes. It is titled...

DIET DIARY

All those of you out there joining fitness classes and clubs as a New Year resolution should, perhaps, read this first:

Dear Diet Diary

As a Christmas present this year, my daughter, Cresley [what a thoughtful darling] bought for me a week of personal training at the local health club. Although I am still in reasonable shape since being a high school cheerleader 43 years ago, I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and give it a try.

I called the club and made my reservations with a personal trainer named Juan Antonio [ooh what a name] who identified himself as a 26-year-old aerobics instructor and model for athletic clothing and swim wear. My daughter seemed pleased with my enthusiasm to get started. The club encouraged me to keep a diary to chart my progress.

Monday

Started my day at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get out of bed, but found it was well worth it when I arrived at the health club to find Juan Antonio waiting for me. He is something: with his Greek physique, his curly hair, dancing eyes, and a dazzling white smile. Yippee!

Juan Antonio gave me a tour and showed me the machines. I enjoyed watching the skillful way in which he conducted his aerobics class after my workout today. Very inspiring! Juan Antonio [call me Tony by now] was encouraging as I did my sit-ups, although my stomach was already aching from holding it in the whole time he was around. This is going to be a FABULOUS week! My New Year resolutions will be easy.

Tuesday

I drank a whole pot of coffee, but I finally made it out of the door. Tony made me lie on my back and push a heavy iron bar into the air. Later he put weights on it. My legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made the full mile. Tony's rewarding smile made it all worthwhile. I feel GREAT! It's a whole new life for me.

Wednesday

The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the toothbrush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. I believe I have a hernia in both pectoral muscles. Driving was OK as long as I didn't try to steer or stop. Tony was impatient with me, insisting that my screams bothered other club members. His voice is a little too perky for early in the morning; and when he scolds, he gets this nasally whine that is VERY annoying. My chest hurt when I got on the treadmill, so Tony put me on the stair 'monster'. Why in the world would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by elevators? Tony told me it would help me get in shape and let me enjoy life. He said some other garbage too.

Thursday

Tony was waiting for me with his vampire-like teeth exposed as his thin, cruel lips were back in a full snarl. I couldn't help being a half an hour late; it took me that long to tie my shoes. That man then took me to work out with dumbbells. When he was not looking, I ran and hid in the restroom. He sent a skinny woman to find me. Then, as punishment, he put me on the rowing machine - which I promptly sank.

Friday

I hate that man, Toady or whatever his name is, more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. He is a stupid, skinny, anemic, anorexic little bighead. If there was a part of my body I could move without unbearable pain, I would beat him with it. Toady wanted me to work on my triceps. I don't have any triceps! And if you don't want dents in the floor, don't hand me the stinkin’ barbells or anything that weighs more than a sandwich. The treadmill flung me off and I landed on the health and nutrition teacher. Why couldn't it have been someone softer, like the drama coach or the choir director?

Saturday

That person, that Toady, left a message on my answering machine in his grating, shrilly voice wondering why I did not show up today. Just hearing him made me want to smash the machine with my planner. However, I lacked the strength even to use the TV remote and ended up catching eleven straight hours of the Weather Channel.

Sunday

I'm having the Church bus collect me up so I can go to services today; and thank God that this week is over. I will also pray that next year my daughter Cresley [the cruel, whining little creep] will choose a gift for me that is fun: like a root canal treatment or a hysterectomy. I still say if the good Lord had wanted me to bend over, he would have sprinkled the floor with diamonds!

On a serious note, change is hardly ever easy; but it is possible. So, whatever changes you have committed to make, hang in there. Don’t give up. The first steps are always the hardest. But even a journey of a thousand miles will eventually happen if one only keeps putting one foot in front of the other!

And so, as 2018 continues to unfold, my friend, keep moving forward! Each step you take will only get you closer toward your goals!

SOURCE: Adapted from: http://www.guy-sports.com/months/new_year_reso
lutions.htm.

DAILY REFRESHMENT

1/8/2018

Several years ago, famed Lutheran Minister Walter Schoedel produced a short list of New Year’s Resolutions titled “7-UPs for the New Year”.

His list has nothing to do with the famous “un-cola” soft drink. Rather, these 7-UPs more properly fall under the heading of attitudes and actions by which to approach life.

If you are still working on your list of New Year’s Resolutions, or if you are stumped, these might be a good place to start…

7 Ups For The New Year…

The first is to WAKE UP! Begin the day with the Lord. It is His day. Rejoice in it.

The second is to DRESS-UP! Put on a smile. It improves your looks. It also says something about your attitude.

The third is to SHUT-UP! Watch your tongue. Don’t gossip. Say nice things. Learn to listen.

The fourth is to STAND-UP! Take a stand for what you believe. Resist evil. Do good.

The fifth is to LOOK-UP! Open your eyes to the Lord. After all, He is your only Savior.

The sixth is to REACH-UP! Spend time in prayer with your adorations, confessions, thanksgivings and supplications to the Lord.

And finally, LIFT-UP! Be available to help those in need by serving, supporting, and sharing.

Of course, this may not be all you or I need to do in the coming year. We may need to add other resolutions. But this is certainly as good place to start.

IMMEDIATE SOURCE: Walter Schoedel, as quoted in Cal and Rose Samra, In the Marry Month: The Best Wedding and Marriage Jokes from the Joyful Newsletter (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour Publishing, 2011).

AVAILABLE ONLINE AT:
https://books.google.com/books?id=ygvgIE28cm4C&pg=PT82&lpg=PT82&dq=
walter+schoedel+7+up&source=bl&ots=hqKWPJeiew&sig=paAkT-PNm6kS_T
WO2BUko66sRjA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_p7SVoMfYAhVGuFMKHSFgAJ0Q6AEIZjAP#v=onepage&q&f=false.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

1/4/2018

Writing in the year “MDCCCXX” (or 1820), the Reverend Thomas Pruen, in his work titled An Illustration of the Liturgy as to Its Daily Service, penned the following explanation of the origins of the month of January…

Now I am certainly not one to champion all that the ancient Romans stood for. The gods they concocted for their pantheon were in many ways immature, cruel, and extremely vindictive. And as such, they reflected much of what the ancient Romans themselves, with their drunkenness, immorality, and barbarity, so often embraced.

But in this case, at least, the Romans appear to have been on to something. The winter (or hibernal) solstice, also known as "midwinter", and marking the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year, occurred then, as now, on or about December 21. Thereafter, the days immediately ceased to grow shorter and began to grow longer.

For this reason, the Romans instinctively understood that winter was giving way to spring, and that symbolically, the old was giving way to the new. Thus, literally and metaphorically, the death of the previous year was somehow making way for the life of the new year.

And for this same reason, to this very day, we still employ the term “January” for that period of time when the old year gives way to the new, and when we can both look back at the old and look forward to the new.

As you and I stand on the threshold of a new year, I trust that we will each take a little time to reflect on the experiences and the lessons of the previous year. But I also trust that we will look forward with anticipation to what all the new year has to offer!

It has well been said that the past is a great place to visit, but that one should never live there. By the same token, it is also a dangerous thing to live, as Dennis Waitley once observed, on “Someday Isle” (read as “Someday I’ll”… as in “Someday I’ll do this…” or “Someday I’ll do that…”). In truth, the future, which is ever before us and continually serves to inspire us, nonetheless demands that we live in the present, in the moment, in the “now”.

Perhaps that is what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he said (in his New Testament Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 16) that we were to “redeem the time because the days are evil”.

The word translated as “evil” in most all English versions of the Bible is the “Koine” (or “Common”) Greek word “ponērai”, meaning “evil, bad, or wicked”, which itself comes from the root word “pónos”, meaning "painful, laborious, or troublesome”.

Indeed, there is a very real sense in which the days that we live in this world, as a result of the tragic events of Genesis, chapter 3, are little more than a collection of difficulties with which we must each contend. And, if we would be completely honest, who among us has not, at times, grown weary of the daily struggles of life?

The word translated as “redeem” in the King James Version, and as “making the most of (every opportunity)” in the New International Version is the ancient Greek term “ex-agorazo-menoi”, meaning “to ransom, to buy, to redeem”. In turn, it comes from a root word that literally means “to buy up at the marketplace”.

One gets the visual image here of a sale at a department store on some such day as “Black Friday”, wherein people literally “snatch up” every single bargain that they can afford, knowing full well that they will likely not ever have such an opportunity again.

What an apt metaphor for the opportunities that come our way with each new day of life! I do not know about you, my friend; but “as for me and my house”, we intend on making the most of every new day that God gives us in the coming year.

Therefore, we pledge that we will buy up every single opportunity that we encounter. For, in truth, we know in our hearts that we simply will not pass this way again!

Surely you realize that the same choice befits you!

SOURCE: https://books.google.com/books?id=P7sPAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA117&lpg=RA1-PA117&dq=new+years+illustrations+janus&source=bl&ots=I
Q0mWencj3&sig=pYZU89oZg4CtxPSeumIPRySes0A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi608PY3b_YAhVB5CYKHTnECcgQ6AEIYzAP#v=onepage&q=new%20
years%20illustrations%20janus&f=false.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/ephesians/5-16.htm. And: http://biblehub.com/text/ephesians/5-16.htm.

SEE ALSO: Cf.: http://deniswaitley.com/.

FINALLY, HERE IS AN ANCIENT ROMAN COIN DEPICTING THEIR DIETY KNOWN AS JANUS: https//:www.britannica.com/topic/Janus-Roman-god.

DO-OVER!!!

1/1/2018

When I was a child, one of the most common phrases uttered among children playing was “Do-over!” This resulted whenever a given individual did not achieve what they had originally intended in a certain action.

So, for instance, if you were attempting to shoot a basketball and the shot went wide, you might immediately call “Do-over!” in an attempt to nullify the previous mistake and rectify the failure by repeating the action, hopefully with a better result!

I have often reflected on that little scenario and its relevance for everyday life. Of course, not all of life’s mistakes can be rectified through a simple do-over. Would that they could! But sadly, we live in a world where not everyone will allow opportunities for doing things over again with better results.

On this, the first day of 2018, I have some good news for you. The God of the Bible does not operate by the accepted rules of this world. His Word shows us time and again that He graciously allows us to start over - in every area of life!

So, my friend, if you, like me, have suffered from your fair share of failures in life, then be encouraged! Our great God definitely allows “Do-overs”! And what better time to turn to Him for grace and mercy and forgiveness and a fresh start than the dawning of a new year?!

The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah (in chapter 43, verses 18 and 19) was led to share the following words from the Lord:

18“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland!”

With such an awesome promise from a loving Heavenly Father, why not trust Him for a wonderful “Do-over!” this very day?!

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/niv/isaiah/43.htm.