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"Helping Others Communicate"

WHO NEEDS A VACATION?!

5/30/2013

 
“I NEED A VACATION!!!”  So goes the famous phrase popularized by Hollywood in several recent movies.  I know the feeling.  Recently, I came across the following humorous piece on the internet, titled “You May Need A Vacation If…”  Perhaps you can relate.
 
YOU MAY NEED A VACATION IF… 
 
The last time you took a vacation to the Grand Canyon, it was a shallow ditch with a creek running through it.

The radiation from your monitor has burnt your shadow onto the wall.

You wake up hoping that the pain in your gut is appendicitis so you can have abdominal surgery and can miss work.

You answer your home phone using the company's name.

You dial "9" from your home phone to get an outside line.

Your accumulated vacation hours would allow you to retire 10 years early.

The vending machine asks, "Want the usual?"

You wake up in a hotel room on a business trip and have no idea where you are or why.

You don't steer your car while driving to the office because it knows the way itself.

Your computer has been upgraded twice since you took your last vacation.

You find yourself shouting, "Honey, I'm home!" when you arrive at your cubicle in the morning.

Your children put your picture on milk cartons.

You dream about your job.

You run your ID badge through the mail slot in your front door and wonder why the door doesn't open.

Antacid tablets are your primary source of nutrition.

Your cubicle is better decorated than your home.

The janitor vacuums you in the evenings.

You attempt to log in to your microwave oven.

The last message in your "Out of Office" reply says you will return on a date that occurred three years ago.*

Who needs a vacation?  The short answer is: “All of us do!” I realize that there are those who may differ with me on this. For instance, I once knew a minister who used to delight in the fact that he never took a vacation.  He was fond of justifying his stance by saying that the Devil never takes a vacation.  Sadly, sometime later, I watched him go through a terrible ordeal.  In essence, he went through what might rightfully be called “burnout”.  And burning out often leads to crashing!

On a fairly regular basis, when working on my laptop, a notification will pop up indicating that my machine has gotten dangerously low on power, and instructing me that that I need to plug into an external power source immediately, so as not to lose my work.  I have decided that much the same is true for how human beings operate.  From time to time, we all need a little recharging.

So, no, the Devil may not take a vacation.  But the Word of God is replete with examples of Godly individuals who did.  These men and women took time out to get away and refresh themselves - to charge their batteries.  In the Old Testament, Moses met God while alone in the wilderness.  In I Kings 17, Elijah went off into the wilderness to Kerith Brook for an extended period of time.  Between his time there and then at Zarephath, he was gone from his ministry for three and a half years. He did this specifically at the bidding of God, who told him to go there and be refreshed.

The same is true in the New Testament.  Holy men like John the Baptist often went into the wilderness to be alone with God.  Galatians 1:17 tells us that the Apostle Paul too went apart into Arabia for three years.  Even our Lord Himself went into the wilderness for forty days and nights.  More than this, He regularly went apart by Himself for time alone with God.  That He clearly did this in order to recharge His mental, physical, and spiritual batteries is evident by the Biblical picture of angels ministering to Him in His needs.
 
For my part, I am not advocating three year long vacations. But I have enjoyed being a way for a few days. Along with our kids, my wife and I were able to see a part of the world we had never seen, to spend some at the beach, to visit an amusement park, and to enjoy a meal or two out at a nice restaurant.  Along the way, we also managed to increase our tribe by welcoming a new daughter-in-law into the family.  (At last count, that now makes us the “Jackson 7”.) 

More importantly, I was able to clear my mind of the daily and weekly commitments, which so often are comprised of little more than “the little foxes that spoil the vine”.  By getting away from the repetitive tedium of my daily routine, I was able to spend a little quality time alone with the Lord. Having now done so, I can testify to how amazing this is for the refreshment of one’s spirit.
 
So, while I look forward to returning to the office and to the pulpit, I know I am better off for having had a short vacation.  And I know the same will be true for you as well. If you have not yet had a little time away for yourself, I hope you get it soon. I assure you that you will be better off for it. For the answer to the question of who needs a vacation is really that we all do!
 
*SOURCE:  
http://www.allowe.com/laughs/book/You%20May
%20Need%20A%20Vacation.htm
.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MICAH AND JORDAN!

5/28/2013

 
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RELATIONSHIP UPGRADE

5/20/2013

 
As many of you know, our son Micah is getting married later this week.  My wife and I are excited for him as he undertakes this significant step in his life.  We also look forward to welcoming our  new daughter-in-law, Jordan, into the family. 
 
No doubt in anticipation of Micah and Jordan's upcoming nuptials, our daughter, Andrea, sent out the following piece by e-mail this past week to the whole family.  I thought I would post it here in honor of Micah and Jordan.  Enjoy.

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0.  I soon noticed a distinct slowdown in my overall system performance, particularly in the “flower and jewelry applications”, which had previously operated so flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.  
 

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal  Attention 6.5; after which it then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1.  
 

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs; and any attempt to run House Cleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system outright. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

 
Signed,
Desperate


Dear Desperate,

First, keep in mind that Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package while Husband 1.0 is an operating  system.  Please enter the command: “I thought you loved me.html”; then download Tears 6.2; and be sure to install the latest Guilt 3.0 update. 

If these applications work as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5 as Boyfriend 5.0 did.

However, please remember that overuse of the above applications can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or even worse, Beer 6.1.  Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download numerous other attachments, such as the Snoring Loudly Beta.  

Whatever you do, DO NOT, under any circumstances, install Mother-In-Law 1.0.  (It runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.) In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program.  This is an unsupported application and will invariably crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program; but it does have limited memory, and cannot learn new applications quickly.  You might consider buying additional software to improve its memory and performance.  We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Signed, 
Tech Support

THE VALUE OF SENIOR ADULTS

5/16/2013

 
James Warkentin runs a website titled The Occasional  Joke:  A Short, Humorous Break.  It is a wonderful site with page after page of clean, wholesome, humorous material.  I recently came across the following story he had posted:

During a visit to the retirement home, I asked the director, “How do you determine whether or not a person should be institutionalized?”

“Well,” said the Director, “We fill up a bathtub, and then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.”

“Oh, I understand,” I said.  “A normal person would use the bucket because it’s bigger than the spoon or the teacup.” “No,” said the Director. “A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?”*
 
This Sunday, we will celebrate Senior Adult Day.  I am reminded more and more with each passing day that I am fast becoming a Senior Adult myself.  After all, I am a lot closer to age 65 than I am to age 21.  (Sadly, I might add, the confirmation of this is increasingly and painfully evident every time I look into a mirror.)
 
Add to that the disconcerting fact that my daughter recently told me to mind my manners toward her, as she, being the eldest child, would be the one to pick my nursing home one day!  Ouch!!
 
All jokes aside, Senior Adults do have value.  Let me illustrate this for you.  My sister runs a home decorating store where she sells furniture - both new and used.  Whenever she shops estate sales, etc..., she is particularly interested in any used furniture that has not been refinished.  Why?  Because she knows that used furniture is often  considered more valuable if it has plainly visible signs of stress. 

You see, whereas, at one time, people used to refinish old furniture, now they typically do not.  These days, used furniture is valued more in accordance with its signs of wear and tear than what it would have looked like when it was brand new.  This is because the stressing evident on a given piece of furniture is what gives that  piece its own unique character.  

Perhaps the same can be said for each of us as individuals. Maybe the stress of life is what makes each of us the beautiful person God intends us to be.  I believe that the Book of Proverbs (20:29) affirms this when it says, “The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.” 

Most senior adults that I know are reasonably proud of their gray hair, as each and every one they have represents some kernel of wisdom they have garnered along the road of life. And that is why I so love this particular Bible verse.  For me, it illustrates just how much the various generations need one another. 
  
Think about it.  Each generation has its respective part to play.  Young people are usually very strong, but they often need guidance in how to apply that strength.  Conversely, most Senior Adults are not quite as strong physically as they once were, but they do have lots of  wisdom.  In this sense, both groups have value.

And where does wisdom come from?  Very often from experience.  Perhaps you have heard the old adage: “Employing good judgment comes from experience, which itself often comes from having employed bad judgment!” The point is that the more of life one has lived, the more wisdom he or she has likely accumulated.  
 
So, be thankful for those Senior Adults whom God has chosen to  place in your path.  Be sensitive to them, and learn from them. The wisdom they have to offer may well save you a little stress, not to mention a scar or two of your own.
 
*SOURCE:  
http://occasional-joke.com/.

THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY

5/13/2013

 
May is always an extremely busy month in the life most church families.  As our busy worship service yesterday attests, we celebrate together so many of what might rightfully be called mile markers on the road of life. 

The calendar includes Mother’s Day, Baby Dedications, Graduate Recognitions (for  Children’s Ministry programming as well as for High School and College), Senior Adult Day, and, of course, Memorial Day.  
 
Add to this the unfolding of June with Father’s Day, Bible School, and so many wedding anniversaries, and one can see just how much the family is emphasized during this particular season.  

This is why I chose to emphasize the importance of loving one another in my Mother’s Day message yesterday.  For if there is one underlying theme to all of these various emphases, then surely it is the bond of love. 
 
The one story I shared that seems to have resonated the most with our church family was from an article to "Dear Abby" from back in November of 2002, as printed in the Eugene, Oregon Newspaper, the Register-Guard.  It speaks volumes about why expressing our love to one another is so important.  
  
DEAR ABBY:

I enlisted shortly after Pearl Harbor. Thirty-six days later, I was on my way to the Philippines. En route, the Philippines fell to the Japanese, and we were routed to Australia. Eleven days after we landed, I met the most beautiful girl in the world. 

On our first date, I told her I was going to marry her. I did, 18 months later, while on a 10-day R-and-R leave from New Guinea. 

After more than 57 years of  marriage and two children, my beloved "Mary" died five days before Christmas.  Although we agreed that our ashes were to be scattered over the mountains, I found I could not part with hers. 

While Mary was alive, she would frequently say, "You don’t know how much I love you." I’d reply, "Likewise." I never said, "I love you." Now her ashes are on my dresser, where I tell her several times a day how much I love her, but it’s too late. Although I wrote poetry to her, I could not bring myself to say the three words I knew she wanted most to hear. 

As my dearest was dying and we thought she was comatose, I told her, "There aren’t enough words to tell you how much I love you." A few hours later, she whispered, "Not enough words" and died. 

The reason I’m writing is to urge men to express their feelings while their loved ones are alive. I don’t know why, but many men are reluctant to express the depth of their  feelings.

MISSING MARY IN COLORADO*


So, again I say, take time to be intentional in letting your loved ones know how you feel about them.  This especially applies to us men, for whom the simple act of saying "I love you" seems most difficult.  

Our spouses, our children, and our parents all need to hear this.  And so do we in return.  For this is the bond that holds us together.  This is true for both our physical families and our spiritual family.

Before he begins his famous oration on love in I Corinthians chapter 13, the Apostle Paul concludes chapter 12 with these words:  "And yet I will show you the most excellent way."   He then proceeds to show the supremacy of love over all other things.
 
The Apostle John likewise stresses the preeminence of love over all else.  Indeed, he mentions love 80 times in his New Testament writings, stressing it more than any other writer. 

In I John 4:7-11, he says, "
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
"

In light of this, may we learn to practice love, in both our words and our deeds!
 
*SOURCE:  http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=20021114&id=YlBWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jesDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2164,3540388

SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR MOM

5/9/2013

 
I recently read a story about three brothers who were each very successful in their respective careers... 

It seem that (these) three brothers were discussing the gifts they gave their elderly mother on Mother's day.  The first one said, "I just built a nice big house for our mother."  The second then said, "Well, I sent her a fancy new Mercedes."

The third said, "I've got you both beat. You know how Mom enjoys the Bible, and you know she can't see very well. So, I sent her a parrot that can recite the entire Bible. It took twenty monks in a monastery over twelve years to teach him. 

I had to pledge to contribute $100,000.00 a year for ten years to the monastery, but it was worth it.  Now, Mom just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot will recite it." 
 
Soon thereafter, Mom mailed a letter of thanks to each son. She wrote the first son, "Michael, the house you built is too large. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house." She wrote the second son, "Marvin, I'm nearly blind so I can't drive. I stay home all the time, so I never use the Mercedes."

"Dearest Melvin," she wrote to her third son, "You were the only son to have the good sense to know what your mother likes. T
hank you so much! That chicken was absolutely delicious!"* 

This week, as Mother's Day approaches, most everyone will be focusing on their mom.  Some will do so through fond memories; others will do so by making big plans for the weekend.  Among the latter, many, like me, will find some nice gift to share with her.  And I am sure these things will be appreciated by moms everywhere.  

At the same time, I do believe that some gifts are more valuable than others.  And I am not talking about houses, cars, or exotic pets.  Rather, I am referring to the gifts of time, of attention, and of simple communication.  The older I get, the more I see the value of such intangibles.  

Being a Pastor, and having been called to serve a state away from my home, I find myself at times a little envious of those who can simply drop in on their mother and/or father any time they desire.  If you have this privilege, do not take it lightly.
 
And whatever you have planned for Mother's Day, whatever you have prepared for your mom, whatever you my have acquired for her, make certain to include among these things a little time with her.  Often, from her perspective, your being there may just be the single best present of all. 
 
*SOURCE:  
http://www.kentcrockett.com/cgi-bin/illustratio
ns/index.cgi?topic=Mothers

GETTING TO HEAVEN

5/5/2013

 
The following story is attributed to a certain well known revival preacher named Billy Graham.  
 
It seems that there was a time, during the early years of his preaching ministry, when he was due to lead a crusade meeting in a town in South Carolina, and he needed to mail a letter. 
 
He asked a little boy in the main street how he could get to the post office.  After the boy had given him directions, Billy said, "If you come to the Central Baptist Church tonight, I'll tell you how to get to heaven." 
 

The boy replied, "No thanks, you don't even know how to get to the post office!"*

I rejoice that God has sent us a wonderful Evangelist this week here at First Baptist Church of Lenoir City.  Dr. Grant Etheridge, Senior Pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Hampton, Virginia, is with us in revival this week. 

Having heard him preach today, two things are for certain:  (1) He knows his Bible; and (2) He knows how to use it to show people the way to Heaven!

You may or may not be near our church.  If you are, I hope you will come by to be a part of this wonderful series of meetings.  Our revival continues nightly at 6pm through Wednesday; and we would love to have you join us.   If you are not nearby, and thus unable to attend, then please pray for our speaker as he faithfully shares the message of the Gospel  each evening.
 
More importantly, you may desire to know more about this matter of going to Heaven one day yourself.  If so, then please take time to read these wonderful verses from God’s Word:

There is no one righteous, not even one.
Romans 3:10

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23

The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23a

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23b

For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Romans 10:13

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 
Romans 10:9-10
 
And that is the glorious Gospel (or good news) of Jesus Christ.  It is simple enough for even a child to understand.  Nonetheless, it remains the most profound of all truths, unable to be comprehended by even the greatest of scholars. 

I hope you have the assurance of a home in Heaven.  If not, I hope you find it this very day in Christ Jesus!

“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.” (John 3:16)
 
*SOURCE:  
http://javacasa.com/humor/sermon.htm.

A PRAYER ON BEHALF OF OUR COUNTRY

5/2/2013

 
On this first Thursday in May, officially designated each year as the National Day of Prayer, I thought I would repost the following from Phil Russell’s Facebook page.*   He writes:

If you’re like me you have probably received an email with a story about “America’s Prayer of Repentance” given in the Kansas Legislature and popularized by Paul Harvey on his syndicated radio program. The prayer was originally written by my father and offered at the Kentucky Governor’s Prayer Breakfast in 1995.

Noting that the prayer continues to be widely circulated to this very day, Phil then re-offers it as a prayer for our nation. As he does, he quotes a passage from a book written by his father, Bob Russell, and titled  
WHEN GOD ANSWER’S PRAYER (New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2010):

AMERICA’S PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

Former governor of Kentucky Brereton Jones asked me to speak at the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast during his final year in office in 1995. In my speech, I mentioned that our nation has turned away from God. We’ve lost our spiritual bearings, I said, and we need to repent. I wrote a prayer and suggested that we offer it as a nation. 
 

A few months later I printed the prayer in my weekly column of the Lookout Magazine. My friend Joe Wright, pastor at Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas, read the prayer and was moved by it. He was scheduled to deliver the opening prayer before the Kansas House of Representatives two months later. On January 23, 1996, Joe Wright stood before those legislators and prayed that prayer! You may have heard about the controversy stirred that day. The prayer infuriated several legislators; one member stormed out of the hall in protest. Several gave speeches critical of the prayer, and one even called it a “message of intolerance.” 

Joe’s staff stopped counting how many phone calls they received after the first sixty-five hundred. All but a small handful of the calls were supportive. Since then the church has been contacted by people from every state and many foreign countries asking for a copy of the prayer. I understand that the chaplain coordinator in the Nebraska legislature read the prayer the following month, stirring a debate there. Paul Harvey reported on the Kansas controversy and read the prayer on the air. He has since repeated the story, claiming it is one of the most requested readings he has ever had. The prayer has been widely circulated by e-mail. One of our elders recently sent it to me and said, “You need to read this prayer – it’s great!”   


Joe Wright and I have joked often about the publicity he received for the prayer I wrote. But it’s OK with me – I didn’t have to take all those hits! And he deserves credit for having the boldness to actually pray the prayer in front of the legislature! I’m thankful that this prayer has resonated with so many Americans. I hope we don’t just read it but really pray it and genuinely repent before God:

O God, we Know that Your Word says, “Woe to those who call evil good,” but that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of your Word 
and called it moral pluralism.

We have worshipped other gods 
and called it multiculturalism and New Age spirituality.

We have committed adultery
and called it an affair.

We have endorsed perversion
and called it an alternative lifestyle.

We have exploited the poor
and called it the lottery.

We have neglected the needy
and called it frugality.

We have rewarded laziness
and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn
and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists
and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children
and called it building self-esteem.

We have failed to execute justice swiftly as your Word commands
and called it due process.

We have incarcerated non-violent offenders
instead of demanding restitution

and called it protecting society.

We have set rapists and murderers free to prey on the innocent
a
nd called it justice.

We have failed to love our neighbor because of the color of his skin

and called it maintaining racial purity.

We have abused power
and called it political savvy.

We have coveted our neighbors’ possessions

and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography 
and called it freedom of expression. 

We have made the Lord’s day the biggest shopping
and entertainment day of the week 
and called it free enterprise.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers 
and called it enlightenment.


“Search me, O God, and know my heart: test me, and know my anxious thoughts: See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting.” Psalm 139: 23,24 NIV


*SOURCE:  
https://www.facebook.com/notes/bob-russell/
americas-prayer-of-repentance/30978017354
.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

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