Blog Archives

HEAVEN KNOWS!

2/28/2019

An article in the news this week, "30-Million-Page Archive of Humanity's Achievements Headed to the Moon" by Christopher Carbone and James Rogers, states that Israel has now compiled a massive record of human activity and achievements for deposit on the moon.

The massive archive documenting humanity’s achievements is actually tucked away inside Israel’s "Beresheet" Lunar Lander, currently on its way to the moon. It consists of a huge collection of images, texts, and symbols; and is designed to be only the first part of a far greater project to build a “Lunar Library” which will serve as a space-based archive of Planet Earth and her inhabitants.

The Arch Mission Foundation (AMF) states that the library contains 30 million pages of human history that covers a wide range of subjects, languages and time periods, all stored on a DVD-sized archive made of 25 nickel discs that are each only 40 microns thick. AMF has also provided an 84-page document to "Gizmodo" that shows subject categories included in the space time capsule - including such diverse topics as aerospace, mathematics, women's studies, humor, and even criminology.

According to AMF, the first four layers contain over 60,000 analog images of pages of books, photos, illustrations and documents, and will eventually include a copy of The World Factbook.

"Gizmodo" inquired as to why the full list of contents was not being released. AMF responded by saying: "We’re only announcing some of the content in the library right now because of the various partnerships we have. Much more content will be revealed... Rather than rely on problematic curations of material, we want to include the full breadth and diversity of recorded human knowledge and culture and a record of the life and civilization of planet Earth."

Accordingly, there will be many more discs sent to the Moon in the coming years, starting with a partnership with "Astrobotic" in 2020.

The article notes that the "Beresheet" lander was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and could reach the Moon by April 11. The plans are for the lander and its time capsule to remain on the Moon indefinitely. Israel’s lander, however, is only one among a number of other countries’ space programs. Earlier this year (January 2, 2019), China became the first country to successfully land a probe on the far side of the moon when their "Chang’e 4" lander reached its relatively unexplored back side.

As I sat reading this article, I could not help but think of another heavenly record of the activities of all mankind. In the New Testament Book of Revelation (chapter 20, verses 12-15) we read:

11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

By contrast, chapters 20 and 21 go on to describe a wonderful place called "Heaven" prepared for all those "whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life" (Chapter 21, verse 27). The point of all of this is that a record of all you and I and every other person who has ever lived has ever done is recorded up above. And when the day of this Great White Thorne judgment comes, this record of every thought, every word, and every deed we have each undertaken will be revealed.

The Bible here asserts that those whose names are not written in the "Lamb’s Book of Life" will be judged according to this record of sinful activity and punished in a lake of fire, elsewhere in the Bible termed "Hell". However, those whose names have been recorded in the "Lamb’s Book of Life" will not be judged by their sinful lives. The reason for this is that their sinful record has been blotted out by the blood of Jesus Christ, who gave His life on the cross as an atonement for the sins of any person who chooses to look to Him for redemption.

As a fellow human being, I am not proud of all I have ever thought, said, and done in life. I would hate to know that I would face the consequences of my sinful life in the coming world. But I do not worry about that eventuality; for I know that I have been forgiven by the grace of God made possible in Jesus Christ as a result of my profession of faith in Him as my personal Lord and Savior.

For this reason, my record up in Heaven now simply reads "Forgiven"! And there awaits me life eternal and life abundant in a perfect place called Heaven!

What does your own "Heavenly Record" state? Now would be a good time to check that record; and make any changes that might need making!

ARTICLE SOURCE:
https://www.foxnews.com/science/30-million-page-archive-of-humanitys-achievements-headed-to-the-moon. The principal author, Christopher Carbone, covers technology and science for Fox News Digital; and can be reached at: christopher.carbone@foxnews.com; and/or followed at: @christocarbone.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/20.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/21.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/22.htm.

A TOUGH SPOT!

2/25/2019

Every so often, I like to post a little humor. I thought I would do so today. I hope you enjoy this one! It seems that…

A certain woman called the local Baptist church and asked for the Pastor. When he came on the line, she asked him if he would be willing to preach a funeral for her dog “Spot”, which had just died.

Not wanting to come across as uncaring, yet clearly too busy to be bothered with what he saw as such a frivolous undertaking, he decided to have a little fun at a fellow Minister’s expense. So he responded by inquiring as to when she would like for the funeral to be held.

Once she had given him two or three options, he replied by saying: "In checking my schedule, ma’am, I see that I am already committed elsewhere on each of those particular dates and times. I’m sorry, therefore, that I will be unable to conduct the service for your deceased dog Spot."

Snickering to himself under his breath, he continued: "But why don't you try the Methodist Pastor across the street? I’m quite sure he will be willing to assist you."

"That’s okay," she said, "I understand. And I do thank you for your assistance. Before we hang up, can you please give me one bit of advice? Could you please tell me how much I should expect to pay the Methodist Pastor for holding the service? Would five hundred dollars be an appropriate figure?"

To which the Pastor immediately replied: "Oh! I’m so sorry, ma’am, I did not realize that Ol’ Spot was Baptist!"

SOURCE: This oldie but goodie is available widely in various versions on the internet. It has been told on various Pastors from various Denominations down through the years. See, for instance: https://www.jokelabs.com/2008/02/1353-funeral-service-for-a-dog.html.

POW’R IN THE BLOOD

2/22/2019

A friend of mine, who is also an ordained Minister of the Gospel, recently had major surgery to repair a shoulder he had injured earlier in life. While his prospects for a full recovery are very good, his time recuperating is nonetheless aggravated by the fact that he is left-handed; and it was his left shoulder that was repaired.

While I was visiting with him earlier this week, he shared something that was, for me at least, amazing. It seems that as he was being prepped for surgery, a technician came in and drew an extensive amount of blood. Not wanting to appear uncooperative, yet at the same time, overcome with curiosity, my friend inquired as to why so much blood was being drawn.

The technician responded by telling him that the doctor had ordered the blood drawn so that it could be put through a separation process. Thereafter, certain components of this blood (from him as the patient) would then be prepared in a solution that would later be applied to his incisions after the surgery. These components would then greatly aid in the healing of his own surgically induced wounds.

Ever curious, I could not wait to find time to research this matter. And while I am no authority on the subject, an internet search seemed to indicate that something known as “Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy” is indeed a method of healing that is often applied to promote cellular growth after surgery, producing faster recovery and reducing scarring from incisions.

Of course, the preacher in both my friend and me could not help but see the parallels to the healing power of the blood of Jesus Christ! Like many of you, my readers, we both grew up singing these powerful lyrics as penned by the hymn-writer Lewis E. Jones:

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the blood of the Lamb.
There is power, power, wonder-working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary's tide;
There's wonderful power in the blood.[Chorus]

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood;
Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow;
There's wonderful power in the blood.[Chorus]

Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There's power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you live daily His praises to sing?
There's wonderful power in the blood.[Chorus]

I praise the Lord that we live in a day and age when medicine has advanced to the point that we can extract from our own blood those components that effect our healing and work to make us whole. And yet, I know that no matter how advanced our technology becomes, we will never be able to affect a cure for that which constitutes our greatest affliction – the tainting of our souls with what the Bible calls sin.

The cure for that affliction – indeed the only cure – is not found in the shedding of our own blood, or in the shedding of the blood of some sacrificial animal, but rather in the shedding of Divine blood. For this reason, therefore, Jesus Christ came into this world: to give His life as a redemptive sacrifice for our sins, cleansing us and making us whole in the process.

As the Bible says (in the Apostle Paul’s New Testament Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 3-8):

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

In love 5he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us.

How right Lewis Jones was! How right the Apostle Paul was! For indeed there is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God given for the redemption of the world!

HYMN LYRICS SOURCE:
https://hymnary.org/text/would_you_be_free_from_the_burden_jones.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/niv/ephesians/1.htm.

NOTE: A simple internet search for “Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy” will help provide more information on the process whereby autologous conditioned plasma, also known as Platelet-rich plasma (or PRP), for the purpose of expediting wound healing through the process of centrifugation in order to remove red blood cells, is produced.

EYE IN THE SKY

2/18/2019

It all happened with less than a dozen laps to go Sunday evening in the 61st running of the Daytona 500. In a period of 6 short seconds, 19 (of the original 40) racing cars locked up in a spectacular multi-car crash. Given that the cars in question had been zipping around the track all afternoon at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, the truly amazing thing is that every single driver walked away relatively unscathed!

This crash was then followed by yet another one with only four laps left in which another seven cars were crunched up pretty bad! That crash, in turn, was followed by yet a third multi-car crash involving eight more vehicles with just two laps remaining!

Amazingly, all of this had come after two earlier crashes with less than twenty laps to go in the race. As one announcer put it, after five crashes and two red flags stopping the race, it was beginning to look as if the one car with the best chance of winning was the pace car itself!

Of course, NASCAR works hard to keep the sport of auto racing as safe as possible. Layer upon layer of safety precautions have been put into place over the years, helping as much as possible to insure the safety of the drivers, crews, media, and spectators. Just a look inside the vehicles shows how much safety gear has been introduced.

Moreover, all drivers involved in the crash are now required to have an immediate checkup in the medical area. Unlike what happened in 1979 when the final lap crash resulted not in immediate medical checkups, but rather a fist fight between drivers! In any event, kudos to NASCAR for all their efforts in this regard! Needless to say, safety has greatly improved since the days of “Fireball” Roberts.

Of course, these days, mini cameras showing the perspectives of each of the drivers have also been installed within the race cars. This allows for live streaming as well as instant replays of the action as it unfolds in real time.

As I sat watching these various replays from the interior of each of the cars involved in the two crashes, I could not help but notice one other thing working in the drivers’ favor even as the crashes were unfolding. Each driver has a built-in headset inside his or her helmet. This allows for constant communication with a spotter up above. According to Wikipedia:

A spotter in auto racing is a trained team member whose job is to relay information to their driver, keeping them alert of what is occurring on the track. They are typically positioned higher, atop one of the grandstands or other support buildings, to see the entire track. Spotters keep in constant contact with their drivers via two-way radio communication. Spotters are considered the drivers' "eyes" and are one of the more notable yet simple, safety measures adopted by professional auto racing in the past two decades.

Even as the crashes were unfolding, each driver on the track was in constant communication with his respective spotter up above, who was in turn giving him a constant supply of instructions as to which way was best to proceed, what particular path was open, how best to navigate the carnage all around them, etc…

And in this simple process one can see the illustration of a Biblical principle. As we navigate the roads of life, we sometimes find ourselves in tight spots and/or difficult straights. When these times come, with our own perspective so limited, we also find ourselves in dire need of direction from up above. Whenever this happens, true to His Word, our God (Who faithfully watches over us from above) speaks to us and gives us the guidance we so desperately need.

In Psalm 32, verse 8, the Lord gives us this promise: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

The reason I know the promise He has made here is true is because I have experienced the gentle nudging of God in my own life in just such times of trouble. So have many of the people I know. One and all, their testimony and mine is that we have each acknowledged the Lord, and He has faithfully directed our path! He will do the same for you. That is His promise.

SOURCES:

NEWS ARTICLES:
https://amp.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article226406580.html;
https://jalopnik.com/massive-daytona-500-crash-takes-out-half-of-the-field-1832690471/amp.

SPOTTER ARTICLE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotter_(auto_racing).

SCRIPTURE PASSAGES:
https://biblehub.com/psalms/32-8.htm;
https://biblehub.com/context/proverbs/3-5.htm.

CROSS PURPOSES

2/15/2019

Given that I am a pastor, it should come as no surprise when I tell you that the following headline caught my attention: “Giant Wooden Cross that Washed up on Florida Beach Draws Crowds”. The article, which appeared on FoxNews.com on February 06, 2019, was written by Caleb Parke, Associate Editor at FoxNews.com.

What happened was that beachgoers walking along Fort Lauderdale’s coast were surprised to discover a giant wooden cross that had mysteriously washed ashore on Saturday afternoon, February 2nd.

It did not take long for the cross to draw a crowd, from whom it evoked many varying responses. For some, it was seen as an answer to prayer; to others some sort of a “sign”; and to still others “divine timing”.

The owner of the Ocean Manor Resort Hotel, Frank Talerico, was quoted as saying that the 20-foot cross that washed ashore was intended as a sign of protection for the community. It was reported that his sister had been praying at the property earlier that day after having a bad dream. And then, voilà, a giant cross appeared!

Mr. Talerico told the news media that he was glad the cross showed up when and where it did. He wanted everyone to know he was content for it to stay where it was; and that any and every one was welcome to come and take pictures if they so desired.

One family from Michigan, which was staying in his hotel, saw it as a holy symbol meant specifically for them to see. “We stood there and just stared at it and each other for quite a few minutes in awe. We had noticed all the barnacles and knew it had been in the ocean for quite a while, so why would the sea finally cough it up at just that moment if it wasn’t meant for us to find it?”

Another visitor from Michigan, Mary Ann Smolinski, called the cross “very spiritual.” She was quoted in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, as saying: “We were just lying on the beach and we saw a crowd of people around and I just got up to see what was going on. It was a cross that was laying right in the water.”

At this time, the origin of the cross is still unknown. Given that it is encrusted with barnacles, it is likely to have been at sea for some time. Most have concluded that it came from Puerto Rico or some other island, possibly as a result of a hurricane.

A late night discussion between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus is recorded in the New Testament Gospel of John (chapter 3, verses 1-21). This passage, of course, contains the world’s best known Bible verse, John 3:16, wherein Jesus says: “For 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.”

The context of that verse is Jesus telling Nicodemus about the importance of being born again on order to experience life in the Kingdom of God. As a part of this discussion, Jesus also alluded to His own impending crucifixion by referencing the pole upon which Moses had placed the serpent and lifted it up in order for the children of Israel to be healed from being bitten by poisonous snakes. (This incident is recorded in the Old Testament Book of Numbers, chapter 21, verses 4-9.)

At this point, Jesus makes this significant statement (in verses 14 and 15): “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” Later on, in the same gospel (chapter 12, verse 32), Jesus said “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”

And there we have the essence of the Gospel. At God’s direction, Moses lifted up a bronze snake impaled upon a pole so that those who were drawn to it and looked up at it would be saved. Likewise, God allowed Jesus to be affixed to a cross and lifted up from the earth, so that all who were drawn to Him there and considered His purpose on that very cross would be saved!

I’m glad to know that a barnacle encrusted cross washing ashore on the Florida coast still draws a crowd. I’m even more joyful to know that the old rugged cross upon which Jesus gave His life as an atonement for the sins of all people still beckons people to come to it and consider its significance.

I myself was drawn to that cross. And I myself found salvation at the foot of it. I hope you too have been to the foot of the cross. And that you have found what God has for you there. If not, I hope you will go there at the first opportunity! Then, perhaps you too will share the testimony penned by the hymnwriter of old:

“At the cross, at the cross,
Where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away -
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day.”

STORY SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/us/giant-wooden-cross-washes-up-on-florida-beach. The writer, Caleb Parke, is an associate editor for FoxNews.com. One can follow him on Twitter @calebpark3.

NOTE: In a similar story, a herd of cattle was recently found assembled in the form of a cross out in a pasture. A neighbor was drawn to the phenomenon, and took a picture that has since gone viral. Cf.: https://www.foxnews.com/us/holy-cow-cattle-form-the-sign-of-the-cross.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/3.htm;
https://biblehub.com/john/12-32.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/numbers/21.htm.

HYMN LYRICS SOURCE: https://www.greatchristianhymns.com/at-the-cross.html.

WORK ETHIC

2/11/2019

A great big thank you is in order for all those who reached out to me and helped me finally solve the mystery. I had shared a story in my message this past Sunday morning that my Grandfather Jackson used to tell me when I was a little boy. The story, no doubt designed to underscore for me the importance of doing my chores, goes as follows…

A farmer once told his son that he was going into town for the day to tend to some business. The boy was then told by his father that he was to spend the day harvesting the corn out of the field. Alas, however, as boys are so often apt to do, the young lad got distracted by other matters, and did not do what he was supposed to.

That afternoon, the sun came out; and it got so hot that all the unharvested corn out in the field began to pop. It popped so much that, soon, the whole field was knee-deep in popcorn. Thereafter, the mule, looking out from the stable in the barn, saw all the popcorn and thought it was snow. As a result, the poor animal froze to death!

Now, obviously, the whole point of this little fable is simply to stress that the loss of a field full of corn and a valued mule was all because the little boy did not do as he was told and complete his chores. And let me tell you that, in my case, it worked quite well. Having grown up on a farm and been repeatedly told this story, you can imagine how keen I was on completing my chores in a timely fashion in order that we would never lose either a valuable crop or a prized domestic animal due to my slothfulness!

From time to time over the intervening years, I have researched the origins of this little story; but have never been able to find them. Until yesterday, that is. Several older church members remembered hearing a song that had similar lyrics and informed of them. As a result, before the day was complete, I had procured the long sought source.

The story apparently came from a little jingle known as “WAY OUT WEST IN KANSAS”, which seems to have been a popular song during the time of Edison's cylinder phonographs before carrying over into the early days of radio.

Here they are in full:

The sun's so hot that eggs will hatch
Way out west in Kansas.
It popped the corn in the popcorn patch
Way out west in Kansas.
An old mule coming down the path,
Saw the corn and lost his breath.
He thought it was snow and froze to death
Way out west in Kansas.

It makes perfect sense, then, that my grandfather, a life-long farmer who was born in 1909, would have heard it and sung it over and over in his head. Later in life, seeing the opportunity to instill values within me and my cousins, he likely concocted the story he related from these very lyrics.

Of course, the Bible also offers us little reminders about the importance of remaining diligent in our everyday tasks and responsibilities. Jesus told several such stories, referred to by the term “parables”. One in particular relates to our purposes here.

14“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28“ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

It is obvious from this story told by Jesus that God expects each of us to fulfill our responsibilities and do our fair share of work. It is equally obvious that we are accountable to our Heavenly Father when we do not!

For my part, I can only hope that I never disappointed my earthly father or grandfather with my work ethic (or lack thereof). More to the point, however, I hope I never disappoint my Heavenly Father by doing less than is expected of me!

SOURCE: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=40362. Note that the discussion thread here contains numerous other verses, most all of which are equally comical to the one about the popcorn and the frozen mule. For all I know, my grandfather could have also had other fables based on them. YouTube has an Edison phonographic recording of this very song dating from the 1920s at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mfZ6xK6eRA.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/25.htm.

SEE ALSO: https://tifwe.org/five-lessons-for-our-lives-from-the-parable-of-the-talents/.

HONORING MY MOTHER (AND MY FATHER!)

2/7/2019

It’s been a full day for yours truly. I planned it that way. After I got up, I had breakfast and exercised. Then I got ready for work and wholeheartedly threw myself into it. I had determined ahead of time not to waste a single minute. I therefore set about completing as many tasks as I possibly could in the next several hours, including returning phone calls, answering e-mails, writing notes and letters, working on various other incomplete office projects, sermon planning, etc, etc...

After work, I went walking. Following this, my wife and I made the dreaded “monthly” grocery store trip – the one where we literally “stock up”, and which consumes two hours or more of our time. I am finally now back at home, and am even now returning to my list of projects, one of which is to write this blog post.

So, why am I sharing all of this? Am I somehow trying to impress you with my own personal levels of efficiency and productivity? Am I attempting to come across as braggadocios? No, not exactly. You see, I needed to be extremely busy today – busier than normal. For today, my mother, who passed away this past spring at the age of 79, would have celebrated her 80th birthday!

If the truth be known, from the time I arose this morning, even in the midst of a hundred little projects, I have thought about little else all this day. For this reason, I did take time to call my two sisters and my step-father. They too were all having a hard time dealing with today. They too were keeping busy in order to try and occupy their minds as much as possible – even if they too could not help but keep thinking about this amazing woman that we all loved so much and who touched us all so profoundly.

And yet, as I come to the end of this busy day, I have now concluded that, beyond keeping her memory alive for others, the best way I could ever hope to honor my mother is just to stay busy, to stay active, and above all, to stay productive with the life that I have been given. For other than God Himself, only three individuals were ultimately responsible for that life: my father, my mother, and me, myself.

Together, my parents gave me life. Together, they then raised me. Along the way, they instilled a set of values within me. They gave me a work ethic and taught me to amount to something by using my God-given gifts and talents to glorify Him by trying to make a difference in this world and the world to come.

So, then, could it not be that the best way I could ever have honored my mother on what would have been her 80th birthday was by doing exactly what I did?! Which was in choosing simply to get up and get going?! And to keep on going by making the most of every single minute of this one day? I have decided that it most likely was!

But I have also concluded something else as well. I have concluded that I need to keep on honoring her, not only on just this one particular day, but on every other day that God ever gives me in this world! For both my father and my mother made the most of the days they themselves were given by God. And I know of no better way to honor them than by doing the same with the days God gives to me.

Of course, in choosing to do this, I honor not only them, my earthly parents, but God as my Heavenly Father as well – which is ultimately even more significant. For as the Apostle Paul told the Christians at Colossae (in chapter 3, verse 23 of the New Testament Letter to the Colossians), each of us should work willingly at whatever we do in life, as though we were working for the Lord rather than merely for people.

I conclude, therefore, that honoring our earthly parents is critical; but honoring our Heavenly Father is even more so!

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/colossians/3-23.htm.

QUIT FLYING BLIND!

2/3/2019

Have you ever heard the one about the pilot who was flying a plane-load of passengers to their destination when suddenly the rudder malfunctioned? He radioed the control tower in panic, and shouted, "The RUDDER has malfunctioned! What should I DO?"

The air traffic controller radioed back, "Keep calm, Captain. Just repeat after me: Wings flap... check. Velocity... check. Altitude… check." The pilot made the appropriate adjustments and the aircraft continued on course.

Not five minutes later, however, the STARBOARD ENGINE stalled. The pilot radioed the control tower and shouted, "The STARBOARD ENGINE has stalled! What should I DO?"

The air traffic controller radioed back, "Keep calm, Captain. Just repeat after me: Wings flap... check. Velocity... check. Altitude… check." The pilot made the appropriate adjustments and again the airplane continued on course.

However, not five more minutes passed when the pilot radioed the control tower a THIRD time. This time he shouted, "MAYDAY! MAYDAY! BOTH the engines have gone! What should I DO?"

The air traffic controller radioed back, "Keep calm, Captain. Just repeat after me: 'Our Father... Which art in heaven... Hallowed be Thy name...'"

I hope I never find myself in such a situation! For that matter, I hope no one ever does! But I can imagine that an air traffic controller is indeed a blessing to any pilot who finds him/herself in distress.

Years ago, back in 1988, when preaching a crusade in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Billy Graham shared a real life illustration relating to the importance of an air traffic controller in a message titled “Visibility Zero”. Dr. Graham shared:

“Last December, an 18 year student pilot named Kim was making a solo flight across country when she became lost in a storm. She couldn’t see anything out the windshield of her small plane. She didn’t know where she was or how to get out of the storm and back to safety. Something had gone wrong with one of her instruments.

So she reached for her radio and made contact with the local air traffic controller. She said, “I don’t know where I am. I need some help. Please, please, help me!” The controller located her on his radar screen and began talking her down toward a nearby airport where the weather was good. She couldn’t see a thing; but he could see her on the radar. He knew where she was, which direction she was headed, where she needed to go, and the best way to get there.

She trusted her life to man she had never seen and whose name she did not know; and he got her out of the storm and safely to ground!”

Dr. Graham concluded his message with this pointed challenge:

“Tonight, you can trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You’ve never seen Him with your naked eye. You may not know Him. But He’s there waiting for you with open arms to help you! So, I’m asking you tonight to quit flying blind! Trust yourself to Jesus Christ!”

What a powerful illustration of Who Jesus is and what He can do for us! He is truly our “Eye in the Sky”! And because of Him, even though we have lost our way, we can find the way safely home! For His Word is true and His Way is The Way!

HUMOR SOURCE:
Available widely on the internet in various versions. See, for instance: http://www.fayettevillebaptist.org/sermons/02-0203pm.htm.

BILLY GRAHAM AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER ILLUSTRATION SOURCE:
https://billygraham.org/audio-cat/sermons/page/22/.