Blog Archives

NO STOMACH FOR THIS!

4/29/2019

A recent national news article written by Nicole Darrah tells the sad story of a dolphin that was discovered stranded on a Florida beach last week.

The rare specimen of a deep-water species known as a “rough-tooth dolphin” was first found on Tuesday of last week beached near Fort Myers. The poor creature was still alive, but was emaciated and in obvious ill health. For these reasons, according to the Fort Myers News-Press, authorities decided to euthanize it on site.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, rough-tooth dolphins, whose normal diet consists of squid and fish, live throughout the world in tropical climates. Here in the United States, at least, they are protected under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

While no one yet knows the age of this particular specimen, it is believed that, under optimal circumstances, individual rough-tooth dolphins can live for more than 36 years in the wild.

What is known about this individual specimen is that biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission disclosed on Facebook that they had found two plastic bags full of trash along with a shredded piece of a balloon in its stomach!

Researchers stated that the presence of the garbage inside of the dolphin's stomach was "a significant finding”. They also shared that, at the very least, this trash "highlights the need to reduce single use plastic and to not release balloons into the environment."

But scientists also pointed out that “there are many additional factors to consider, such as underlying illness, disease and maternal separation, before a final cause of stranding and death for the dolphin can be determined."

Florida Fish and Wildlife added that those who come across stranded marine mammals should resist the normal impulse to assist the animal by pushing it back into the water, "as it can delay examination and treatment and often results in the animal re-stranding in worse condition."

According to the article, anyone happening upon any such stranded marine mammal(s) should contact Wildlife Alert at 888-404-3922 instead.

Like most any human being with compassion reading this article, I could not help but feel pity for this poor creature. I know it was in the animal’s best interest to euthanize it; but I still would rather that it had never suffered to begin with.

I do not know whether the dolphin first ate the trash and then became sick; or whether it was already sick and then ate the trash as an easy meal, as it were.

But this much I do know: eating trash under any circumstances is not healthy! Clearly, doing so will inevitably only serve to make one sick, to complicate whatever illness one already has, and/or most likely hasten one’s demise in the process.

For these reasons, I like to think that I myself would never deliberately consume trash. I hope you would not either. Nonetheless, the simple truth is that men and women consume trash all day long!

Now, I’m not necessarily talking here about physical trash. (Albeit, with my own eyes, I once saw a man in Grand Central Station in New York City retrieve a half-eaten hot dog, recently discarded by someone else, from a trash can and eat it!)

I am talking about the trash that people willfully consume through their eyes and ears all throughout the day and night. Simply put, a significant portion of what is paraded before us each and every day by the media, whether in print, electronic, or digital form, could best be described as trash! As such, it is full of filth, stench, and harmful pathogens, especially to our souls!

As a child, we used to sing the little ditty that goes like this:

O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above
He is looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see!

O be careful little ears what you hear
O be careful little ears what you hear
For the Father up above
He is looking down in love
So, be careful little ears what you hear!

As the master of temptation, Satan knows full well what looks good to our eyes and what sounds good to our ears and what tastes good to our palate! But as Shakespeare said, “not all that glitters is gold”, and not everything that purports to be good is actually good for us!

Little wonder then that Jesus included the following in the Lords’ Prayer (in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verse 13 at the beginning of His ministry): “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Little wonder as well that He also told His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane (in the same New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26, verse 41 near the end of His ministry) to: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

For these reasons, I offer this admonishment. Be careful, little eye, what entices you! Be careful, little mouth, what you bite! Be careful, little throat, what you swallow! Be careful, little Christian, what you consume! You may not have the stomach for it in the end!

SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/science/dolphin-stranded-florida-beach-trash-belly, published April 28, 2019.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-13.htm and https://biblehub.com/matthew/26-41.htm.

SEE ALSO: http://childbiblesongs.com/song-12-be-careful-little-eyes.shtml; as well as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_that_glitters_is_not_gold.

DANGER AHEAD

4/22/2019

A recent documentary piqued my interest. It was about the world’s most dangerous road, properly referred to as the “Yungas” Road. Though now closed to all but bicycles, the road earned its original Spanish name, “El Camino de la Muerte” ("the road of death") the old fashioned way – it produced results!

It was decades ago that the “Inter-American Development Bank” first declared the Yungas Road to be the "world's most dangerous road”. And little wonder, as it is a dirt and rock road located in the South American country of Bolivia that descends steeply for 38 miles from La Paz, located at an elevation of over 12,000 feet, down to the beautiful rain forest town of Coroico located on the basin of the Amazon River. With one considers that the road drops nearly two miles in the process, one soon realizes why it got its name.

Statistics indicate that an average of 26 vehicles fell off this road annually. In the process, an estimated 200 to 300 people lost their lives there each year. The numerous cliffs and vertical drop-offs, most with no guardrails at all, served as virtual deathtraps, especially given that the roadway very often had room for only one vehicle at a time to pass.

Added to this is the weather. Rain and fog abound, often producing slippery surfaces. Furthermore, the heavy rains often loosen dirt and produce mud and rockslides in the process.

On one particularly infamous day, July 24, 1983, over 100 passengers were killed when a bus veered over the edge and crashed into a canyon far below.

Ironically, the very danger the road presents has now served to turn it into a popular tourist attraction. As first reported in the Associated Press back in 2002, ever since the early 1990s, when word first began to spread to the outside world, adventure-seekers have flocked in increasing numbers to “the world’s most dangerous road”.

As I viewed this documentary, and then researched the road itself, I could not help but think of the words of Jesus Christ in His famed “Sermon on the Mount” as recorded in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew (chapter 7, verses 13-14):

“13Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

The world at large may view its most dangerous road as the steep and treacherous two mile drop from the top of the Andes Mountains to the Amazon River basin. But, ironically, Jesus tells us that the road that is truly the most dangerous is actually the one that is broad and most easily travelled!

For as counterintuitive as it may seem, it is actually the easy road that leads to our destruction; and the difficult one that leads to our salvation. The former, easily trodden, leads straight to Hell and eternal death; whereas the latter leads to Heaven and eternal life!

Of course, all of this begs the question: “Which of these two roads are you and I on today?” I can only answer for myself, as I have chosen to travel the straight and narrow path laid down by Jesus Christ. How you answer is entirely up to you.

But as you decide which of the two roads to travel, broad and easy or narrow and difficult, please consider where each one ultimately leads. For the steps you take today will inevitably determine where you wind up tomorrow!

SOURCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bHID7eNgD8.

Graham Gori, "Thrills on the Highway of Death," Associated Press (November 24, 2002).

https://www.travelforumboard.com/south-america/el-camino-de-la-muerte-road-of-death-bolivian-yungas/.

SEE ALSO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lMYPXiFQbY.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:

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

SEE ALSO:

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/14-12.htm.

“THERE THEY CRUCIFIED HIM…”

4/19/2019

“There they crucified him….” Such are the words contained in the New Testament Gospel of John (chapter 19, verse 18). But just how much do we appreciate these most significant of words? Alas, probably not as much as we should. Today is “Good Friday”, the Friday of “Holy Week”, preceding “Easter Sunday”, on which some 2.2 billion Christians worldwide commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Last year, on Good Friday, I posted a blog titled “LOVED TO DEATH!” In it, I referenced two printed articles on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The first was the short piece by C. Truman Davis, MD, in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume Eight: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

The second and far more extensive article was titled “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ” by William D. Edwards, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Department of Pathology and Floyd E Hosmer, MS, AMI, of the Mayo Clinic Department of Medical Graphics, Rochester, Minn. and the Homestead United Methodist Church, Rochester, Minn., and Pastor Wesley J. Gabel, MDiv, of the West Bethel United Methodist Church in Bethel, Minn., first printed in JAMA - The Journal of the American Medical Association, March 21, 1986, Volume 256.

Since its publication, this latter article has more or less been considered the definitive medical work on the physical crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But I have now discovered another insightful medical article on the crucifixion – this one written up in JRSM - The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2006 Apr; 99(4): pp. 185–188. Written by Drs. Matthew W. Maslen and Piers D. Mitchell, both of the Faculty of Medicine of the Imperial College, London, England, the article is titled “Medical Theories on the Cause of Death in Crucifixion”, and is available here.

Back on 12/06/13, Esther Inglis-Arkell published a piece summarizing this latter journal article, which she titled “This Is the Horrible Way that Crucifixion Actually Kills You”. I re-post it here to remind each and every one of us just what our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, endured on our behalf. Ms. Inglis-Arkell writes:

Crucifixion remains a familiar idea, even though it's a punishment from the distant past. It's so familiar that we no longer consider of the physical realities of it. Those realities are some of the most gruesome ever known. Here's how crucifixion actually kills people.

Crucifixion stopped being a regular practice long before anyone cared how it killed people. This was good news for all of humanity, but it did leave scientists speculating. The method of crucifixion is brutal, but in terms of wounds and exposure people have survived worse. How did crucified people die?

The Method of Crucifixion

To understand how people died, we have to look at the many methods of crucifixion. Today we have a very limited idea of crucifixion. There was no official, regularly-practiced method. Historical records say that people were not just nailed in the pose we see on religious crucifixes, but were "caught to the crosses in different postures by way of jest." People were crucified upside down, or with their hands together.

Even when people were crucified in the way we imagine the process today few victims were crucified with nails through their hands. Putting a person's whole weight on a relatively delicate piece of flesh would tear the hand enough that the person could pull the nail through the whole hand and free their upper bodies. People were crucified through the wrists, which were harder to tear loose.

Nailing a person's feet to the upright section of the cross wasn't an afterthought. Precisely how the lower body was treated could affect how long a person lived. Most victims simply had their feet nailed into the wood so that their knees were bent at forty-five degree angles. Some had their legs broken. Whether this was an act of cruelty or mercy depends on one's perspective.

Hanging from the arms for any considerable length of time is painful. Once the muscles give out it is excruciating. Shoulders separate from the sockets and the overall arm can lengthen by inches. Most people would try to support themselves by putting pressure on their injured feet, but with their legs bent and their feet nailed through it was only a matter of time before their leg strength gave way as well. Breaking their legs was horrible, but on the other hand, allowing them to support themselves prolonged their suffering.

The Medical Side of Crucifixion

What part of their suffering lead to death is debatable. Through the centuries doctors have looked into it, and come to different conclusions. Some say that crucifixion alone wasn't enough to kill a person, and so the victims probably died of exposure or thirst after days on a cross. One doctor believed that crucified people, after much torment, died via a "voluntary surrender of life."

Some think that the wounds elsewhere in the body sent a blood clot to the heart. One expert in forensic medicine, Frederick Zugibe, actually tied himself and volunteers to a cross to monitor what physically takes place during a crucifixion. He concluded that victims died from "hypovolemic shock." This condition sets in when a body has lost so much blood and fluid that the heart can't continue to function.

If any of these are the case, it's the injuries and exposure that determined the cause of death by crucifixion, not the position of the person on the cross. Most experts agree, though, that what ultimately kills a crucified person is suffocation. Either the body loses so much oxygen that the person smothers, or the carbon dioxide level in the body goes up so much that the body tissues turn acidic and destroy their own cells. How fast it happens depends on a lot of factors.

One common form of crucifixion didn't involve a cross. A person was crucified with their hands over their head. This made it so difficult to breathe (once their strength had given out) that they were dead within an hour. Being crucified with arms outstretched was comparatively much worse. After a person's arms had come out of their sockets the chest would sag downwards, stretching out to its full extent.

If you strenuously stretch out your arms, even while seated, you'll recognize the difficulty. It's easy to inhale with arms fully outstretched, but difficult to exhale again. The body needs to work its muscles to breathe in and out, and it is used to doing so with little resistance. Once the chest is fully expanded, it's impossible to breathe in anything more than sips of air. The victim slowly suffocates, unable to get enough oxygen, over the course of a day.

There are probably more painful, and horrible ways to die. Let's not look for them.

Well said, Esther! May we never forget the horrible death Jesus Christ undertook on behalf of men and women. The Old Testament Prophet, Isaiah (52:13-53:12), prophesied what all He would endure.

The New Testament writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all testify to the fact that He did! And articles such as the ones referenced above help us to contemplate just what all that involved. May we never forget just how much Jesus Christ, God’s One and Only Son, endured for each and every one of us!

MAIN ARTICLE:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1420788/.

SUMMARY ARTICLE:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/this-is-the-horrible-way-that-crucifixion-actually-kill-1477804826.

AS WELL AS:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014107680609900416.

PREVIOUS BLOG:
https://www.cleoejacksoniii.com/my-ongoing-thoughts/loved-to-death.

SEE ALSO:
https://www.learnreligions.com/christianity-statistics-700533.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/john/19-18.htm.

FOUL MOUTH!

4/16/2019

For some inexplicable reason, a cartoon in MAD Magazine that I read way back in Junior High School (sometimes in the early to mid-1970’s) has never left me. Two hippies were sitting opposite one another at a table and the first one asked the second one what sort of soup he wanted for lunch.

He actually gave his compatriot a choice of two types of leftover soup. After the second man made his choice, the first man then grabbed a corner of his own beard and squeezed it, draining the contents into a bowl! The implication was obvious! Somebody needed a good bath!

Now, in a clear case of life imitating art, on Monday of this week (April 15, 2019), the New York Post carried a story about a new Swiss study asserting that men’s beards actually harbor more harmful germs than does dog fur.

The article, written by Hannah Sparks and titled “Men’s beards carry more harmful germs than dog fur: study”, went on to state that the study sampled men’s beards and found more harmful bacteria in human whiskers than in dog fur. According to Professor Andreas Gutzeit of Switzerland’s Hirslanden Clinic: “The researchers found a significantly higher bacterial load in specimens taken from the men’s beards compared with the dogs’ fur.”

The study was originally intended for another purpose: whether humans could contract dog-borne diseases from a MRI scanner shared by veterinarians. Accordingly, swabs from the scruff of 18 men and the necks of 30 canines of various breeds were taken.

The results showed that all 18 of the bearded men, who were aged 18 to 76, had high microbial counts, while only 23 of the 30 dogs showed similarly high microbial presence. What is more, seven of the men tested positive for microbes that actually posed a threat to human health.

The inquisitive scientists also decided to wipe down the MRI scanner after examining the dogs. Surprisingly, they found a “significantly” lower bacteria count than levels recorded after human use.

Based on these findings, Professor Gutzeit stated the obvious: “On the basis of these findings, dogs can be considered as clean compared with bearded men.” Of course, bearded and mustachioed men may well beg to differ. Obviously, some persons maintain better hygiene than others.

Keith Flett, founder of the Beard Liberation Front (Yes, you read that right!), clearly holds this perspective. He states: “I think it’s possible to find all sorts of unpleasant things if you took swabs from people’s hair and hands and then tested them. I don’t believe that beards in themselves are unhygienic.”

Clearly weary of unfair judgments, he went on to add: “There seems to be a constant stream of negative stories about beards that suggest it’s more about pogonophobia than anything else.” If you don’t know what the word pogonophobia means, don’t feel bad. Neither did it until I looked it up. It is just a big fancy word for the inordinate fear of bearded individuals.)

Now, I do not necessarily know whether or not facial hair is by nature necessarily filthy. I do know, however, that it is near the mouth. And multiple studies have revealed that (surprising as it may sound) the human mouth is arguably one of the filthiest parts of the human body. One Stanford study found no less than 37 different types of bacteria in the human mouth. While yet another asserts that the human mouth is actually filthier than the average toilet!

Jesus Himself had something to say about the filth that so often comes from our mouths. Only He was not so much referring to physical filth as much as He was to spiritual filth. In the New Testament Gospel of Matthew (chapter 15, verses 10-20), we read:

10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” 12Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

15Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.” 16“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

What is apparent here is that the true measure of the filthiness of one’s mouth is reflected more in what it dispenses from within than in what it consumes form without!

One other memory I carry from my pre-teen years is the day my mom washed my mouth out with soap. She did so, not because of any physical filth my mouth necessarily contained, but because of the filth it had dispensed in her presence in the form of profanity. The latter, of course, reflected a far deeper state of uncleanliness.

And while she meant well, that uncleanness could ultimately only be cleansed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For, as the Apostle John puts it (in his First New Testament Letter, chapter 1, verse 9): “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

A modern chewing gum advertisement campaign portrays various incidents in which people say things they should not say, followed by this tagline: "Dirty mouth? Clean it up!" Thereafter, the gum being advertised is offered as way to bring cleanliness to an otherwise filthy mouth.

These days, thankfully, I don’t feel the need to cleanse my mouth with gum. Or even to wash my mouth out with soap as my mom once did. For, like many people, I do make it a habit to brush and floss and use mouthwash regularly. I do so because I like the feeling of being clean.

But I also know that these things are not what ultimately give me a clean mouth. My mom may have once washed out my mouth physically; but the real cleansing of my mouth, the spiritual cleansing based on the cleansing of my heart, I owe to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who cleansed me on the inside! May He forever be praised for that!

Do you have a dirty mouth today? Why not get it cleaned up? Not from without, but from within! Unlike dental hygiene, it only takes one time! For the One Who cleanses from within cleanses for all eternity!

SOURCES:
https://nypost.com/2019/04/15/mens-beards-carry-more-harmful-germs-than-dog-fur-study/#content-wrapper.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/1999/december8/mouth-128.html.
https://www.thealternativedaily.com/your-mouth-is-dirtier-than-a-toilet-seat-how-to-clean-it-up/.

SCRIPTURES:
https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/15.htm.
https://biblehub.com/1_john/1-9.htm.

UNLOCKING OUR FUTURE

4/12/2019

I got tickled when I read the following headline: “3-year-old disables dad's iPad for 25 million minutes, or nearly half a century”. The article, written by Bradford Betz and published on April 09, 2019 on Fox News' website, relates the surprise that Washington D.C. based journalist, Evan Osnos, had once he discovered that his 3-year-old son had obviously tried to use his iPad without the correct password sometime on the previous Saturday.

The result was that dear old dad had apparently been locked out of his iPad for more than 25 million minutes – or, nearly half a century! The disabled iPad recommended its owner try accessing it again in 25,536,442 minutes, which is approximately 48.5 years in the future!

Osnos sought advice and assistance from members of the Twitter world and received ample advice in reply. One person humorously observed that he ought to reboot his 3-year-old or else try “time travel.” Others, however, offered more practical advice and resources to solve the problem.

Despite the proffered assistance, as of Monday, Osnos told the New York Daily News that he was “still locked out.” Of course, the time had gone down a few hundred minutes. But according to Osnos, “It looks like we’ve still got 25 million minutes to go.”

Apple’s own guidelines advise users experiencing this problem to restore and update their settings through iTunes. Unfortunately, however, it seems that any data not backed up will be permanently lost.

As I read this article, I thought about what the Bible tells us happened to men and women in Genesis, chapter 3. Not long after God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, they disobeyed His commandments and suffered terrible consequences as a result. They were not only kicked out of the Garden, but were forced to live under the curse of sin as well.

More significantly, their relationship with their Creator had been broken. Before they sinned, they had enjoyed unimpeded access to and perfect fellowship with Almighty God. But after their transgression, they were “locked out”, as it were, of that relationship.

Most significant of all, that broken relationship was to last beyond their time in this world. It was to last for all eternity. They were, quite literally, “locked out” for all eternity. For the chief consequence of their sin was death. And there was nothing they could do to undo either their previous actions or the consequence unleashed as a result of those actions.

But God in His mercy loved them so much that He immediately took steps to do for them what they could not do for themselves. He set out to mend their broken relationship with Him, as He Himself covered their nakedness with the skin of animals. This set in motion the principle of vicarious or substitutionary death, as the sacrificial death of an animal was obviously undertaken on their behalf.

The Bible tells us that we too share in the guilt and consequences of our progenitors’ sin. We, too, have a broken relationship with our Heavenly Father. But He also loves us just as He loved them. And he does not desire to see us locked out of His presence for all eternity either. For this reason, He gave His one and only Son as a sacrifice on our behalf in order that we might be restored to a proper relationship with Him.

Thus the most famous verse in the Bible, found in chapter 3, verse 16, of the Gospel of John, 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.”

And that, my friend, is the key to overcoming being locked out of Heaven!

STORY SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/tech/writers-3-year-old-son-disables-ipad-for-half-a-century. The author, Bradford Betz, is an editor for Fox News. He can be followed on Twitter @bradford_betz.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm.

SEE ALSO THE TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL IN ROMANS, CHAPTER 5: https://biblehub.com/niv/romans/5.htm.

FOLLOW THAT DREAM!

4/9/2019

I have been away for the last couple of days at a denominational conference in the mountains of east Tennessee. This is because I have learned that it is good on occasion to get away from the routine and replenish my spirit. That much has certainly been accomplished on my trip.

We have had several good speakers. One of them was John Burke. He told of a time of great transition in his life. He had for years been working for a large denominational publishing house. Then, about a decade or so ago, a major restructuring took place and a new consulting firm was brought in to take over many aspects of his position. Simply put, the material he had been producing was now to be jobbed out.

What is more, all the work he had previously produced was considered proprietary; and for this reason, he was told that it belonged not to him as the author, but to the publishing house for which he had worked for so many years.

He had the option of employment with the new consulting firm. But he felt in his heart that he could not work for this new entity as he was concerned about certain of their approaches and practices. For these reasons, he submitted his resignation.

As he wrestled with what to do next, he discussed the situation with his wife. She asked what it was that he really felt in his heart that he desired to do. He told her that he wanted to become a writer, produce his own materials, and then to use them to help others grow and mature. However, not really knowing how to get started, and given that he was an ordained Minister of the Gospel, he supposed that he would seek the Lord’s will for a church to serve.

She then asked him what he would do if he did not get a call from God to serve a church. He replied that he did not know; but that again he supposed that he would try his hand at writing anyway. His wife’s response was to change his life; for she immediately said: “Then why not go ahead and start writing anyway, and let’s see what God will do with it?!”

Today, he has many works to his credit; and is a sought after consultant and speaker at church leadership conferences all across America. All because he chose to trust God and follow his dream!

Years ago, Elvis Presley starred in a movie titled “Follow That Dream”. It is about a group of homesteaders who plant themselves firmly on their new land in Florida and courageously struggle to realize their aspirations and make their dreams come true. While it may not be the best movie ever made, its plot nonetheless has its characters embrace the challenge of its title. They follow their dream and, in the end, see it come to pass.

So too did the speaker I heard this weekend. And so too should we. Do you have a dream - a vision for the future? Is it the sort of dream that will not go away? Do you find yourself dwelling more and more on it?

If so, could it be that this is because God Himself has implanted that dream within you?! And if your dream is indeed God-given, should you not be following it? Who knows? All He may be waiting on is for you to take the initiative and get started! Once you do, you might very well “see what God will do with it”!

After all, as He tells us in His Holy Word (Proverbs, chapter 29, verse 18): “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Yet, when we do step out in faith and boldly pursue our dream, God is there all along encouraging us and whispering in our ear the very same promise He gave to the Old Testament Prophet Jeremiah (chapter 29, verse 11): “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In light of this, I know of no better way to conclude than by wishing you “Sweet Dreams”!

NOTE: I have herein summarized Dr. Burke’s story with his permission. I have not referenced the specifics for obvious reasons. The firm he founded is “Rethink Ministry” and can be found here: https://rethinkministry.net/.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/29-18.htm;
https://biblehub.com/jeremiah/29-11.htm.

SEE ALSO:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Follow_That_Dream.

FOUND IT!

4/5/2019

A man I know, who lives in another state, is enjoying spending his retirement years visiting swap meets, garage sales, and the like. Every so often, he stumbles across a spectacular “flea market find”. Recently, he notified me of one such triumph.

He stumbled upon a bronze statue by a famous artist that had an asking price of $150. He quickly did the research and discovered that such pieces go for as much as $10,000. He asked the seller if they were sure this was what they were asking for the piece.

They said that was all they wanted. So, he asked again, clarifying who the artist was. They affirmed their price, which he then quickly paid. In the process, he made a small fortune, turning an incredible profit!

For my part, I picked at him and told him: “Oh well, it just goes to show that the _________s (his last name) get richer and the Jacksons (my last name) get poorer!”

On a serious note, as he shared this news with me, I could not help but think of a couple of stories told by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses 44 and 45, Jesus shares the following:

44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

My friend was blessed to have the $150 with him the day he stumbled upon this incredible treasure. But he has assured me that even if he would not have had the money to buy it, he would have quickly secured the needed funds. He simply could not, and would not pass up such a wonderful treasure! I don’t blame him; I would have done likewise.

Now, I myself have never stumbled upon a flea market treasure that offered me a rate of return over 650%! But I have happened upon a treasure of immeasurably greater value. For I have discovered the very treasure Jesus was referring to in Matthew 13 – the kingdom of Heaven!

What is more, the day I discovered it, I gave up everything to possess it. This I have never regretted. For as Jesus also told us in the Gospel of Mark (chapter 10, verses 29 and 30) that whoever gives up the things of this world for His sake will be rewarded with things of far greater value – chief among them being eternal life!

And that, my friends, is much more than the find of a lifetime; that is the find of eternity!

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/13.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/mark/10.htm.

GOOD ONE!

4/1/2019

It’s been a day of much needed hilarity as yet another round of April’s Fools jokes have been unleashed around the world. Several of them have become instant classics.

For instance, in Chicago, the National Football League’s “Bears” team announced that, in conjunction with its 100th season this fall, all of the players jerseys would have a “1” placed in front of their regular number, resulting in triple digits on their uniforms.

Up in New England, quarterback Tom Brady of the National Football League’s “Patriot” team announced his retirement. The world was told by the six-time Super Bowl champion in his first ever Twitter account tweet that he was “retiring”. He quickly made it clear that he was joking, but by then, his original tweet had generated more than 20,000 retweets in just two hours after going live.

Down under, McDonalds’ Hamburgers introduced its new McPickle burger. Their clever campaign was so deceptive that it had customers actually angry after they discovered it was only a joke. Numerous individuals responded that they were actually looking forward to tasting the new burger.

Not to be outdone, the SodaStream Company announced a new product that turns burps into carbonated water. Supposedly, their new “SodaStreamMe” water bottle uses a person's burps to actually produce carbonated water. And they claimed it had been endorsed by astronaut Scott Kelly.

Perhaps the best of all was T-Mobile's Cellular Phone Company’s portable phone booth. Titled the "T-Mobile Phone BoothE Mobile EditionE," the wireless provider asserted that it would now provide customers with a portable phone booth for private phone calls that is literally "just a cardboard box with a hole in it."

Of course, there is a long tradition of classic April Fools jokes. Some of the better ones over the years have been jewels.

For instance, on April 1, 2008, a BBC broadcast contained a segment about what it said was a rare breed of penguin with the ability to fly. It went on to explain that these particular penguins don’t need to huddle together for warmth as they spend the winter in the tropical rainforests of South America rather than Antarctica.

Years before, on April 1, 1996, the Taco Bell Corporation announced in several newspapers, including the New York Times and Philadelphia Inquirer, that it was acquiring the Liberty Bell. Almost immediately, hundreds of angry taxpayers started calling National Park Service employees to protest!

A few years before this, on April 1, 1992, National Public Radio announced that, in a surprise move, Richard Nixon was running for president again. His campaign slogan was going to be: “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” Actual audio clips of Nixon delivering a campaign speech were aired. But it was later revealed that comedian Rich Little was the voice impersonating the former president.

According to the “The Museum of Hoaxes” website, an award for quick thinking should have been given to White House press secretary Mike McCurry. When he was asked about the sale, he quickly ad-libbed that the Lincoln Memorial also had been sold and that it would now be known as the “Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial”.

And of course, the granddaddy of them all – the April 1, 1957 BBC broadcast about residents in Switzerland harvesting a bumper crop of spaghetti from full to overflowing spaghetti trees. (See my previous blog post on 03/31/2016 titled "HARD TO SWALLOW!")

While not everyone appreciates a good April fool’s day joke, I personally love such pranks. It is arguable that most of us take ourselves and life far too seriously. For this reason, we need a little levity in our lives. In Proverbs, chapter 17, verse 22, the Bible says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.”

Physicians and clinicians have long pointed out the truth of this verse. Laughter is good for both the body and the soul. (The article below points out many of these.)

So, enjoy the humor this first day of April has brought. It’s been a good one. But make tomorrow a good one too. Find something to laugh about tomorrow as well. And the day after. And again the day after that. You’ll be better off for it. So will the world.

STORY SOURCES:

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/chicago-bears-pull-april-fools-day-prank-on-fans-with-debut-of-crazy-new-jerseys;

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/tom-brady-announces-hes-retiring-but-theres-a-catch;

https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/mcdonalds-april-fools-day-joke-about-new-burger-angers-australian-customers;

https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/april-fools-day-pranks-mcdonalds-tmobile-others-tricked-customers;

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/04/classic-april-fools-day-pranks-spaghetti-trees-and-flying-penguins.html.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/17-22.htm.

BENEFITS OF LAUGHTER:

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/laughter-is-the-best-medicine.htm.