Blog Posts

A LIVING DEATH?

12/9/2019

Yet another intriguing item has been in the news this week. According to a December 3, 2019 article on Fox News.com written by Harvey Sullivan and titled “When You Die ‘You Know You’re Dead Because Your Brain Keeps Working’, Scientist Claims”, haunting new research suggests that once we die, we know we are dead because our brains keep working to make us aware of what is happening around us.

Decades of claims of near death experiences have now been reported, assimilated, and analyzed, wherein anecdotal evidence of bright lights and flashes have been described by people who have supposedly come back to life after having died. Needless to say, this has caused much debate.

But now, a new study has been published that suggests our consciousness does indeed carry on functioning after our hearts stop beating and our body movements have ceased. The implication is that, if only for a short time, we are nonetheless essentially ‘trapped’ inside our dead body with our brain still working.

According to the article, survivors of cardiac arrest were studied and it was concluded that they were aware of what was going on around them while they were ‘dead’ and before they were ‘brought back to life’. Even more disturbing, there appears to be evidence to suggest that deceased persons may even have heard themselves being pronounced dead by doctors.

The research is being conducted by Dr. Sam Parnia, who is examining cardiac arrest cases in Europe and the US as he studies consciousness after death. His conclusion so far is that persons in the first phase of death may very well still experience some form of consciousness.

He offers as proof the many people who have survived cardiac arrest and later accurately described what was happening around them after their hearts stopped beating. According to Dr. Parnia: “They'll describe watching doctors and nurses working; they'll describe having awareness of full conversations, of visual things that were going on, that would otherwise not be known to them.”

He further explains that when a patient is officially declared dead, “It's all based on the moment when the heart stops. Technically speaking, that's how you get the time of death.”

Thus, his study is examining what happens to the brain after a person goes into cardiac arrest - and whether or not consciousness continues after death; and if so, for how long. His purpose in part is to find ways to improve the quality of resuscitation and prevent brain injuries while restarting the heart.

For those of you who are familiar with the plot of the movie, Flatliners, according to Dr. Parnia, whenever a person is resuscitated, he or she does not necessarily return with any sort of “magical enhancement” of memory.

Dr. Parnia’s entire point is that, even though someone’s heart may have stopped beating, and he or she has been legally declared dead, nonetheless, his or her brain and other senses may well continue functioning thereafter.

All of this brings me to my point in this blog post…

Long before Dr. Parnia and others like him began to take seriously the notion that some part of us survives after physical death, the Bible affirmed that such a state exists! In the Old Testament Book of Job (chapter 14, verse 14), the title character famously asked the question: “If someone dies, will they live again?”

Time and gain, the Bible affirms that the answer to that question is a resounding “Yes”! To begin with, we have multiple accounts of people who have died being brought back to life. According to J. L. Meredith, the Bible contains 10 such accounts:

1. Elijah raised the son of the Zarephath widow from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-22).
2. Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman from the dead (2 Kings 4:32-35).
3. A man was raised from the dead when his body touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20, 21).
4. Many saints rose from the dead at the resurrection of Jesus (Matt. 27:50-53).
5. Jesus rose from the dead (Matt. 28:5-8; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:5, 6).
6. Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead (Luke 7:11-15).
7. Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead (Luke 8:41, 42, 49-55).
8. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44).
9. Peter raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-41).
10. Eutychus was raised from the dead by Paul (Acts 20:9, 10).

Of course, the key here is number 5. Because Jesus Himself was raised from the dead, you and I too, even though we may die, can live again. As Jesus told the grieving sisters of Lazarus in the New Testament gospel of John, chapter 11, verse 25: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”

Thereafter, the Bible gives significant numbers of accounts of people who were quite conscious and aware of their circumstances after physical death. One such example is the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 5, verses 39-47. Here we read that Abraham was alive and well in a place of blessedness, while the so-called “rich man” was alive and not very well in a place of torment. The assertion in both cases is clearly that we are all very much alive after we leave this world!

For these reasons, I myself do not necessarily fear death - for I am convinced that when I do depart this world, I will simply be alive and well in another world. I know this to be the case because I have placed my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the
(eternal) life-giver!

I hope you share that testimony today. If not, I hope you soon will. For the Bible’s answer to Job’s piercing question is a resounding “Yes! We will indeed live again!” The only real question is where we will live! Will that be in an eternity of torment separated from Almighty God? Or will that be in eternal bliss in God's presence forever and ever?!

Of course, the answer to that question is to be found in the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 16-18:

16For 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. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

In light of this, I can only hope that your own living death, like mine, will be a glorious one!

NEWS ARTICLE SOURCE:

https://www.foxnews.com/science/when-you-die-you-know-youre-dead-because-your-brain-keeps-working-scientist-claims. According to this particular article, the story originally appeared in The Sun Newspaper back on April 17, 2019.

SEE ALSO:

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

BOOK SOURCE:

J. L. Meredith, Meredith’s Big Book of Bible Lists, (New York: Inspirational Press,1980), p. 115.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/job/14-14.htm;
https://biblehub.com/bsb/john/11.htm;
https://biblehub.com/bsb/luke/16.htm; and
https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm.

WHO’S THAT KNOCKING?

12/5/2019

After all the pre-season posturing and game day striving, this Saturday is the long awaited day when most all the various NCAA Football conferences will finally see their respective divisional champions compete in order to crown their individual conference champions. While bragging rights are important in any conference, the teams of the Power Five Conferences in particular have a lot riding on this weekend’s results.

The Power Five Athletic Conferences are those whose members are part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I, which is the highest level of collegiate football in the United States. These conferences are the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Big Ten Conference, the Big 12 Conference, the Pac-12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), respectively.

As a native Georgian, I myself plan to be ensconced in front of the television Saturday afternoon at 4pm, pulling for my beloved SEC Eastern Division Champion University of Georgia Bulldogs, and against the SEC Western Division Champion Louisiana State University Tigers. A lot is at stake, as the winner will progress to the NCAA Playoff; while the loser might easily be excluded by the selection committee.

Of course, it takes a lot to be a champion. Among other things, it requires raw talent, technical skill, a thorough knowledge of the game, and an enormous amount of personal discipline. But mostly, it just requires passion! Passion to give it one’s all; and then to give it one’s all again, and then again, and again, and yet again…

Famed Christian communicator Paul W. Powell once described this sort of passion when he told the following story. It seems that...

An old experienced coach was trying to train a young coach in recruiting. As he rehearsed the procedure, he emphasized the kind of players he wanted at his school. He said, “Bill, you know there are different kinds of players. And, some of them, we don’t want at our school.”

Then he said, “There are some players, who get knocked down, and when they are down, they stay down.” The young coach, eager to impress his boss with his understanding, said, “Yes, coach, and we don’t want those kinds of players at our school, do we?” The coach said, “That’s right!”

Then he said, “There are some players who, when they get knocked down, get up. And, when they get knocked down a second time, they stay down.” The young coach said, “Yes, coach, and we don’t want those kinds of players at our school, do we?” The coach said, “That’s right.”

Then he said, “There are some players, who when they get knocked down, get up again. And when they are knocked down a second time, they get up again. And, every time you knock them down they get right back up again.” And the young coach said, “Yes, coach, and that’s the kind of player we want at our school, isn’t it?”

The old coach said, “No, we want the guy who just keeps coming back and knocking all those other guys down!”

That old coach was pretty wise! He was looking for whoever the one was that was doing all the knocking! In other words, he was wanting to know: “Who’s that knocking?!”

Passion, of course, is a powerful thing. It can drive a man to play football with all his might. It can also drive a Fortune 500 company, or a political movement, or a scientific revolution, or a quest for discovery, or any one of a million other things. It can also drive one’s work for God!

Ferdinand Foch is once reported to have said that the most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire! The Apostle Paul seems to have had something similar in mind as he penned several of his New Testament letters. For instance, in chapter 10, verse 31 of his First Letter to the Corinthians, he writes “So … whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Later, in chapter 3, verse 23 of this Letter to the Colossians, he states: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…”

This weekend, hundreds of collegiate athletes will give their all for an earthly victory, a metal trophy, and the acclaim that accompanies such things. In spite of this, before long, all that they have done will soon be forgotten. For invariably, next year, yet another champion will be crowned to supplant them.

In light of this, the real question is: “What all will you and I give for an eternal victory – one that will never be either supplanted or forgotten?!”

SOURCES:

POWELL STORY: https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php?id=146507.

FOCH QUOTE: https://leadershipnow.com/passionquotes.html.

SCRIPTURE QUOTES: https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/10-31.htm; and
https://biblehub.com/colossians/3-23.htm.

DEAD WRONG!

12/2/2019

In May of 1897, America’s beloved humorist, novelist and social critic, Mark Twain, was in London on one of many stops of an around-the-world speaking tour he had embarked on two years earlier.

While he was in London, someone started a rumor that he was gravely ill. This was followed by another rumor that he had in fact died. According to a widely-repeated story, a certain major American newspaper actually printed his obituary.

When Twain himself was told about this by a reporter, he famously quipped: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

Ironically, a similar story has unfolded yet again in England. According to a November 13, 2019 article written by Nicole Darrah, an English newspaper has now apologized for publishing an obituary about someone who, to their surprise, is still quite alive.

A news outlet based in Northeast England titled The Northern Echo reported that a man named Charlie Donaghy, which it described as a “lifelong fan of grassroots sports” in the region, had passed away. The obituary detailed Donaghy's “tireless devotion to a range of sports clubs, associations and charities,” explaining that he had spent much of his life teaching geography and physical education.

According to the paper’s staff, they apparently “checked with three independent sources” to confirm the man’s death.

They soon learned, however, that nothing could have been further form the truth! They were, therefore, dead wrong! In short order, the paper issued an apology, wherein it stated “We are pleased to be able to report that Mr. Donaghy is alive and well. We removed the story from our website and social media channels as soon as we were made aware that it was incorrect.”

The Echo's staff added further that they wished to “apologize unreservedly for our mistake, and for any understandable distress and devastation that was caused to Mr. Donaghy, his family and friends.”

They likely did so in response to family members of Donaghy's, who went straight to Facebook to right the wrong, posting: “Today the Echo ran a beautiful tribute & obituary about my Dad. But...Dad’s NOT dead! To everyone offering condolences about my Dad...Charlie! He’s NOT dead! This is NOT true... God knows where it’s come from but he’s alive & well.”

Alongside their apology, the paper at fault also published a statement from Donaghy's family that read, “We are devastated by the inaccuracy of this report. This has caused immeasurable distress for my sister, as well to many of Dad’s friends and supporters over the years. To allow this to be released onto the Internet without checking with our family is unforgivable. Please ensure this never happens to anyone else again as you cannot unhear or unread that your father is dead.”

For my part, I’m glad to know that Mr. Donaghy is alive and well. May he live a long and full life for many more years to come - even as Mark Twain himself earlier did, having gone on to live another thirteen years beyond his own purported death.

As I read this story, I was reminded of yet another individual that the world once assumed was dead and gone. His name was Jesus Christ. He was put to death by crucifixion on a Friday. His execution was witnessed by a significant number of people. He was then taken down from the cross and place in a tomb. From the world’s perspective, he was dead and gone. But they too, were dead wrong!

For three days later, He came back to life! He literally arose from the grave! And thereafter, according to the Apostle Paul’s First New Testament Letter to the Corinthians (chapter 11, verse 6), upwards of five hundred people testified that they personally saw Him; and that He was quite alive and well!

What is more, untold billions of people have added to that their own personal testimony of having come to know and experience the risen Jesus.

Perhaps the hymn writer, Alfred H. Ackley (1887 – 1960), put it best when he penned these memorable lyrics…

I serve a risen Saviour; He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, And just the time I need Him He's always near.

He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives! He lives! Salvation to impart! You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

His last stanza is particularly insightful…

In all the world around me I see His loving care, And though my heart grows weary I never will despair. I know that He is leading, thro' all the stormy blast; The day of His appearing will come at last.

I hope that you to have come to know Jesus Christ. For He is indeed alive and well. And one day, He will come again. When He does, those who know Him will be overjoyed to see Him face to face.

But those who do not know Him will not be so jubilant. For He has already forewarned us that His response to those who meet Him then for the first time will be: “Depart from me, for I never knew you.”

STORY SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/world/england-newspaper-obituary-still-alive. Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com. She can be followed on Twitter at @nicoledarrah.

SEE ALSO: http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2010/06/reports-of-my-death-are-greatly.html.

HYMN LYRICS: https://www.greatchristianhymns.com/he-lives.html.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: https://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/15-6.htm; and
https://biblehub.com/matthew/7-23.htm.

IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS!

11/27/2019

As I pen this blog post, it is the night before Thanksgiving. Given that it is a Wednesday evening, and that I have had a rare night out of the pulpit, I decided to watch a movie I had on my “to view” list - the 2018 American Biblical drama movie titled “Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ”.

Starring James Faulkner as the Apostle Paul and Jim Caviezel (who famously portrayed Jesus in the 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ”) as Luke, the author of the eponymous New Testament Gospel, it recounts the sufferings of Paul as he endured imprisonment in Rome prior to this execution under the Roman Emperor Nero.

I will not divulge the particulars, and thereby spoil the plot. But I will tell you that it has a rather surprising ending. If you have not seen it, please take the time to watch it.

That being said, I want to reference a remarkable statement once made by the Apostle Paul in one of his New Testament epistles. In his First Letter to the Thessalonians (chapter 5, verses 16-18), he makes the following statements:

“16Rejoice always, 17pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

How can a man who is facing his own death in a Roman prison make such a statement as “give thanks in all circumstances”? Perhaps a story by Corrie ten Boom in her book, The Hiding Place, gives us a clue.

In it, she relates an incident that taught her always to be thankful. She and her sister, Betsy, had just been transferred to the worst German prison camp they had seen yet, Ravensbruck. On entering the barracks, they found them extremely over-crowded and flea infested.

That morning, their Scripture reading in 1 Thessalonians had reminded them to rejoice always, pray constantly, and give thanks in all circumstances. Betsy told Corrie to stop and thank the Lord for every detail of their new living quarters.

At first, Corrie flatly refused to give thanks for the fleas. But Betsy persisted; and Corrie finally succumbed to her pleadings. During the months spent at the camp, they were surprised to find how openly they could hold Bible study and prayer meetings without guard interference.

It was not until several months later that they learned the reason the guards would not enter the barracks was because of the fleas!

And there you have it - proof positive that, while we may not always understand the ways of God, we must learn to accept them, and then to give Him thanks in all of our circumstances.

For, as the Prophet Isaiah affirms (in chapter 55, verse 8):

8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

In light of this, no matter what your present circumstances, I hope you take time tomorrow to give God thanks! And I wish you a happy Thanksgiving as you do!

SOURCES:

MOVIE:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7388562/; and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul,_Apostle_of_Christ.

SCRIPTURES:

https://biblehub.com/niv/1_thessalonians/5.htm; and

https://biblehub.com/isaiah/55-8.htm.

BOOK:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hiding_Place_(biography); and

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

SEE ALSO:

http://ep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/monkeynote/pmHidingPlaceSample.pdf.

NOTE: The Hiding Place was later made into a movie. Cf.: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073109/.

THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

11/25/2019

My title today comes from a phrase once popularized by Robert Schuller. My story, however, comes from a different source.

Walter B. Knight tells about the sinking of the Scottish trawler named the HMT “Theresa Boyle” which was attacked by Nazi bombers in the North Sea during World War II on February 10, 1940. The trawler was bombed and sunk in the North Sea 115 nautical miles (213 km) east by north of Aberdeen by one or more Heinkel He 111 aircraft of KG26, Luftwaffe.

The ship went down so quickly that the small crew barely escaped with their lives. It was a bitterly cold day; and, because of the cold and exhaustion, one by one the crew members fell back exhausted, unable to help with the rowing of their lifeboat.

After they had been in the cold water for more than fifty hours, they had all but given up hope of being rescued. Suddenly, however, they heard droning airplane engines in the near distance. A plane approached and made a low pass over the lifeboat before heading off fifteen miles away to guide two minesweepers, HMT “Almandine” and HMT “Brabant”, back to the lifeboat.

The airplane then continued circling above the boat until the entire crew had been rescued. Thereafter, seeing its work was done, it flew away. The plane had gone about two miles when one of the rescue ships signaled for the plane to return. The pilot asked if anything was wrong, to which the minesweeper signaled that everything was all right, but that the survivors simply wanted to say, “Thank you!”

As was the case in my previous blog titled “NO THANKS?” from last Thursday, 11/21/2019, I read this story and was reminded of the account of the ten lepers as found in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 17, verses 11-17. Ten lepers were healed; but only one returned to say thanks. In other words, nine out of ten failed to show their appreciation.

Conversely, to their credit, all of the sailors on board the “Theresa Boyle” wanted to say thanks. Once again, therefore, you and I are reminded that we have choices to make with regard to our sense of gratitude. Primarily, as to whether we will or will not express our gratitude. But also as to whom all we might owe gratitude. Surely there are many.

But there is One in particular to Whom we should faithful to express our gratitude. For, as the Bible tells us in the New Testament Letter of James (chapter 1, verse 7): “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…”

And for this, surely, we can find time to stop and say thank you!

ILLUSTRATION SOURCE: Walter B. Knight, Knight’s Master Book of New Illustrations (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990). Knight was a master communicator of a generation ago. He is noted today for the tens of thousands of illustrations he collected up and published for those who communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ. See my earlier blogs titled FINDING OUR WAY from 09/10/2012 and TELL ME A STORY from 7/12/2018.

SEE ALSO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shipwrecks_in_February_1940.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/james/1-17.htm.

NO THANKS?

11/21/2019

In the New Testament Gospel of Luke (chapter 17, verses 11-17), we are told of the following event in the life of Jesus Christ:

11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

17Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Commentating on this passage, Katherine J. Kehler states:

“I have often thought about how exciting it will be when we get to heaven. Our eyes will be opened to all the miracles God did for us — most of which we were unaware of while on earth. We will also come to realize how many times we rationalized away many of the miracles, like the nine lepers who were healed.”

She then shares several suggestions as to how and why nine of the ten lepers may have rationalized away the miracle of cleansing they had received from Jesus, and thus never returned to give Him thanks.

Perhaps their rationalizations include such assertions as:

That of one man who waited to see if the cure was real.
That of one who waited to see if it would last.
That of one who said he would see Jesus later.
That of one who decided that he had never really had leprosy.
That of one who said he would have gotten well anyway.
That of one who gave the glory to the priests.
That of one who said, “Oh, well, Jesus didn’t really do anything.”
That of one who said, “Any rabbi could have done it.”
That of one who said, “I was already much improved.”

Kehler further observes that all of this raises questions for you and me today. Such questions include whether or not we are faithfully thanking God for all He has done and is doing for us. And also whether we, like the nine lepers, may be guilty of rationalizing away the many, many miracles God has done for us!

With the Thanksgiving holiday on the horizon, surely now is a good time for each of us to pause and ponder the significance of these questions for ourselves.

Granted, along with me, few, if any of you reading this blog post may have suffered from and then been healed of leprosy. But how many other things have we suffered and then been delivered from? How many other ways has God come through for us when no one else either would or could?

My strong suspicion is that a little time spent in inventory in the “needs” and “needs met” departments will soon reveal that we too have much to be thankful for!

In light of this, “No thanks!” is simply not an option!

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/niv/luke/17.htm.

ILLUSTRATION SOURCE: This illustration is available widely on the internet. See, for instance: https://bible.org/illustration/why-didn%E2%80%99t-nine-lepers-return.

My immediate source is: https://thelife.com/the-nine-ungrateful-lepers. Apparently, the list cited originally occurred in a June, 1990 newsletter by Charles L. Brown, Content The Newsletter, p. 3.

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (OF TOMORROW)

11/19/2019

A couple of weeks back (on October 30, 2019), the news contained a story titled “Man Receives Postcard He Sent Nearly 30 Years Ago”.

According to the article, a decorator in England was left stunned after he received a postcard he himself had sent to his parents while on holiday (vacation) in Spain - 28 years ago! Jim Green, who now lives in his parents' former home, was rifling through his mail earlier this month when he discovered a postcard from Benidorm dated September 1991.

Baffled, Jim, who is now 66, took a closer look and soon realized that it was a postcard sent from his former 39-year-old self to his parents letting them know he had arrived safely on his holiday.

The post card, dated September 12, 1991, read: “To Mum and Dad. Had a good flight over. Everything's ok. Good hotel, weather etc. Weather has been very hot. Hope cats are ok. Must close now, love Jim.”

The postcard arrived on Thursday morning, October 17, 2019. Jim, who now lives at the family home in Braintree, Essex, England, where he had addressed the post card so long ago, said his first thought as he picked up the card was: “Who is in Benidorm?” Then he looked at the date, and amazingly, realized it was 28 years late!

He says he soon recalled that he had written it to tell his parents that he had arrived in Benidorm safely. He further asserts that he can't really remember writing it; but knows that he would have sent it fairly early on in the holiday because they all got sick from the water and were incapacitated for a few days thereafter.

According to the article, generations of Jim's family have lived in the Essex neighborhood of Finchingfield since the mid-1800s. Jim lived with his parents before taking over the tenancy of the family house after his mother died five years ago. His father, Christopher, died in 1997. According to Jim, “My dad would have just said: ‘Well that's just the post for you!”

Although the surprise delivery certainly put a smile on Jim's face, he remains none the wiser as to why it appeared on his doormat so late. He added: “I don't know why it arrived after this length of time. Whether it got lost over there or whether it got lost over here, I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out why the delay was that long. I don't think we'll ever know what really happened. I think it would be pretty hard to trace it back.”

One particular statement made by Jim in the article was particularly intriguing to me. Speaking of his parents, he said, “They never really went abroad on holiday. They used to go to the seaside at Clacton or Maldon or go on coach trips. I think at the time there weren't many people that went away for holidays. I suppose it gave them an idea of what Benidorm looked like.” (Underlining emphasis mine.)

As a lover of history in general (and a sentimentalist at heart), I will admit that such stories have always interested me. I love to go back and read through old cards and letters from my own family’s past. They literally capture “moments in time”. And this is all the more true when you stumble upon a letter or postcard from the past that you yourself actually wrote!

But for my purposes in this blog post, please allow me to place a twist on this notion. If it is intriguing to get a letter, postcard, or note that you yourself wrote in the past, how much more so would it be to get a letter that you yourself might write in the future?! Just imagine getting a postcard from the edge of tomorrow and getting a glimpse of what the future looks like!

As I referenced in an earlier blog post on 09/17/20128 titled “NOTE TO SELF”, several years ago, my son, Micah, and I had lunch. At the time, he was 24 years old and gainfully employed in the financial services industry. But he was unhappy. The reason is that he really wanted to do something different with his life. He wanted to be a certified public accountant.

He then told me that if the 24 year old Micah could go back in time and gain the ear of the 18 year old Micah, he would tell him to stay true to his calling, to what he knew in his heart that he really wanted to do with his life. Thereafter, even though he had earlier graduated from college with a degree in Business Administration, he took control of his circumstances and went back to school and took the relevant accounting courses he needed before taking and ultimately passing his state accounting certification exams. And now, all these years later, he is indeed a gainfully employed and very successful certified public accountant.

All of this raises a significant question. If you (or I) could go back and communicate with your (or my) former self, either in person or in writing, what would you (or I) challenge yourself (or myself) to do differently? My suspicion is that, if we knew in advance where the path we were now on would ultimately lead, most all of us would likely make some change or changes in the current course of our lives!

Given this, why not even now begin to think (and act) like that person we would like to be in the future?! If we do, we might well find that the day comes when we look back at our former self and say, “Good job! Stay the course! You’ll be so glad you did!”

And any way you look at it, that is infinitely better than having to look back and say, “What were you thinking?! Why on earth did you not immediately stop what you were doing and take the necessary steps to change your (and my) future life?!”

STORY SOURCE: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/postcard-28-years-later.

GOD COMPLEX!

11/14/2019

According to an Associated Press article earlier today, after a lengthy three-year legal battle over the custom engraving of a state automobile license plate, a United States Federal Court is now going to allow a Kentucky man to personalize a license plate with the phrase "IM GOD".

Court documents now show that a self-identified atheist first set out to get the Kentucky plate back in 2016. But his request was then denied by the Kentucky State Transportation Department on the basis that it violated anti-discrimination guidelines.

Because news outlets reported that similar plates had been approved before, including "TRYGOD" and "NOGOD", Kentucky’s ACLU and the ever litigious FFRF quickly joined forces and got involved to help the man challenge the decision.

In an opinion given this week, on Wednesday, November 13, 2019, by a U.S. District Court in Frankfort, the judge ruled that “vanity plates” are private speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Because of this, the court ruled that the state of Kentucky had violated the man’s rights by denying him the personalized license plate he requested.

Now, I do not know where the case will go from here. Who knows? It may well go all the way to the United States Supreme Court. We will see. But I do know this: this case is intriguing on several levels.

To begin with, I find it interesting that a man who does not believe in God somehow still asserts that he himself is God! Now, I admit that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed. But I’m still not quite able to follow the logic here.

Philosophically, how does a man claim to be God when he simultaneously asserts that there is no God? If a man claims to be God, and there is no God, then how does he even exist? In truth, he has denied his own existence. Yet, if this man who claims to be God does not in fact exist, how then can he conceivably apply for an automobile license plate?*

Theologically, of course, I am also intrigued by any human being who asserts that he or she is God. To begin with, in Psalm 100, verse 3, the Bible affirms that we should: "Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…"

I am reminded of the time-honored story of God and the Scientist…

It seems that God was sitting in Heaven one day when a scientist said to Him, “God, we don’t need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing – in other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning.”

“Oh, is that so? Please explain…” replies God. “Well,” says the scientist, “we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man.”

“Well, that’s very interesting… show Me.”

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil into the shape of a man. “No, no, no…” interrupts God, “First, you must make your own dirt!”

Beyond this, I am intrigued to know that God is now readily identifiable, and thus both approachable and accountable. Can I therefore now assume that all the prayers of the majority of the world’s population who do in fact believe in God can now be addressed to the Almighty Who dwells in the state of Kentucky?! If so, the two of us have lots of matters to discuss!

Equally as important, can I also assume that any future “Acts of God” which insurance companies refuse to cover can now be brought directly to the attention (and accountability) of the Almighty Who dwells there in the state of Kentucky?! **

You see, with the title comes the responsibility! It is neither easy nor advisable to assume the identity of God! Just ask Herod!*** But given that He has infinite resources, I assume the man in Kentucky who now claims to be God can more than handle the liabilities. (I assume also that, if you are so led, then you can feel free to deluge Him with all your concerns!)

If I sound a little skeptical; it's because I am. You see, I’ve been to Kentucky. It is indeed a beautiful place. But neither Louisville nor Lexington nor any other of its other fine cities has gates of pearl, nor are any of their streets paved with streets of gold, nor are their walls made of jasper. And let’s just be honest here, there is no Heavenly throne there either!

The reality is that Heaven infinitely exceeds anything Kentucky has to offer. Its glory and splendor could never be confined to any U. S. state, even one as beautiful as Kentucky. And neither can an infinite and almighty God be so limited in His nature as to be contained within the identity of any one resident of that beautiful state – especially one who illogically denies there is a God, and thus denies his own existence.

And so, my friends, I myself will not live to see it. But if future generations of human beings are around and reading this blog post a thousand years from now, and if those individuals can verify that someone who claims to be God has been alive and well for a thousand years in Kentucky (or whatever it is called at that time), then please accept my humble apologies!

But I am confident that long before then, anyone claiming to be God will have done the one thing Almighty God Himself will never do – along with me, he or she will have long ago died and been forgotten by this world!

Oh, and one other thing. Like me, he or she will have also stepped off into eternity and met the one true God - the very God he or she both denied the existence of and yet still claimed to be!

And In the process, he or she will have given an account of their logic, as well as their rejection of His Word (which boldly proclaimed that (1) there was a God and that (2) they themselves were not that God). And ultimately, therefore, they will have had to give an account of their arrogant, self-serving assertions!

All I can say is: "God help them!"

STORY SOURCE: https://apnews.com/b508ac7343734476ab6d67344eabdc8d.

SEE ALSO:  https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/us-court-rules-kentucky-man-can-get-im-god-license-plate#.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/nasb/psalms/100.htm.

JOKE SOURCE: https://www.funnyandjokes.com/god-vs-the-scientist.html.

NOTES:

*This could come in handy if he ever has a wreck. He could conceivably claim that his car did not even exist!

**In shades of a famous climactic scene from a 1947 Christmas movie, I can only imagine that the U. S. Post Office will be pleased to know that they will now likely have billions, if not trillions, of prayers to deliver to Kentucky! Soon, no doubt, they will finally and forever be operating in the black!

***According to the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 12, verses 12-24: "21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24But the word of God continued to spread and flourish."

Cf.: https://biblehub.com/niv/acts/12.htm.

HEART TO HEART!

11/11/2019

I was travelling down the road today when I noticed that a pick-up truck in front of me in the next lane had a “Purple Heart” tag on it. So I rolled down my window as I pulled alongside and held up a laminated sign I keep in my truck for just such occasions. It says simply:

“THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY!”

The elderly man who was driving the truck looked up and saw the sign. When he did, a huge smile came to his face. In the process, two hearts were warmed – both his brave one and my grateful one!

As I drove on down the road, I was reminded of the now classic editorial by Anthony Barton Hinkle that first appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch back on Nov 11, 2005:

WHAT IS A VETERAN?

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.

Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.

You can't tell a vet just by looking.

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb of the Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say “Thank You”. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot: “THANK YOU”.

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.”

EDITORIAL SOURCE: http://www.forcerecon.com/veteran.htm.

“PEANUTS! GET YOUR PEANUTS!”

11/7/2019

About twice a month, my wife and I are obliged to make a trip to the grocery store. Thankfully, as empty-nesters, we don’t have to make nearly as many trips as we did when we were raising three kids – two of which were teenage boys complete with proverbial bottomless pits!

I guess I made the mistake this evening of going on an empty stomach myself. I should know by now that the checkout bill will always be a little more whenever I do this. And it was!

But I did splurge a little. I bought a few extras that we do not customarily get. (I rationalized this by convincing myself that any of my grandchildren might come by at any time and need a snack or two.)

Accordingly, when we passed down the snack aisle, I picked up a can of dry-roasted peanuts and put it in the buggy. As I did, however, I got tickled. For some reason, a classic old preacher story came to mind.

Given that everyone could use an occasional laugh or two, I thought I would share it with my readers today.

It seems that a preacher went by to visit an elderly woman from his congregation. As he was sitting there on her couch, he noticed a bowl of peanuts on the nearby table. Although it was not his custom to do such a thing, because he was hungry he asked, “Sister Sarah, do you mind if I have a few of these peanuts?”

“No not at all,” Sister Sarah replied, “help yourself!” They then chatted for about thirty minutes or so. Afterward, as the preacher stood up to leave, he realized to his chagrin that instead of eating just a few peanuts, he had emptied almost the entire bowl.

“Goodness! I’m very sorry for eating all your peanuts,” he said somewhat embarrassed, “I just meant to eat a few.”

“Oh, that’s all right, Preacher,” Sister Sarah said, “Ever since I lost my teeth, all I can do is suck the chocolate off of them anyway!”

Needless to say, I passed on all the cans of chocolate-covered peanuts for sale!

JOKE SOURCE: Available widely on the internet in various forms. See, for instance: https://www.jokes2u.com/bowl-full-of-peanuts/.

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