Blog Posts

ORDER UP!

2/5/2023

By now, perhaps, many of my readers will have heard about what happened up in Michigan when 6-year-old Mason Stonehouse was playing on his dad's phone before bedtime and used his father’s Grubhub account to order $1,000 in food from local eateries, all while generously applying tips of 25% per order.

It seems that the food started arriving at the Chesterfield Township family's home near Detroit around 9 pm. Thenceforward, a virtual parade of pizzas, chili cheese fries, and chicken pita wraps continued on into the night.

First came some shrimp from Happy’s as an appetizer, then a few chicken sandwiches from Shawarma Yes, and to top it off, ice cream from Leo’s (which just happened to be his dad’s favorite). To this initial selection, he added a slew of other delicacies including jumbo shrimp, salads, shawarma, sandwiches, and other foods.

Imagine the dad’s surprise when his Ring camera footage suddenly caught delivery after delivery coming to his front door. As he told the local new affiliate: “I’m picking up more food, and it happens again and again... Cars are coming in the driveway, while cars are leaving the driveway.”

At first Mason's dad, Keith, was bewildered. But he soon figured out what had happened. “I looked at my phone, and it said ‘Chase fraud alert: $439 for pizzas’.” Keith said. Once he figured out what had happened, he immediately tried calling the various restaurants involved to stop the orders; but they told him he would need to contact Grubhub.

Mason’s mom, Kristin, said her husband had just used the Grubhub app on his phone to order dinner before she left; and probably just left the app open. Thereupon, her son took the phone, hid in the basement and proceeded to order his feast.

Fortunately, things did not turn out all that badly. It seems that, following the ordeal, Grubhub reached out to the Stonehouse family and offered them a $1,000 gift card.

As I read this story, I was reminded of what it means to have a father who has the ability to provide above and beyond our needs. Psalm 50, verse 10 tells us our Heavenly Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills!

Little wonder then that the apostle Paul reminds us of what God is capable of when he writes (in Ephesians chapter three, verses 20-21): “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

And yet, how many of us fail to avail ourselves of what all our Heavenly Father is capable of and willing to provide for us? The Apostle James reminds us (in chapter four, verse 2 of his New Testament Letter) that, all too often, we do not have what we desire simply because we do not ask God.

This is not to say that God is like some cosmic genie Who is available at our every beck and call merely to satisfy our every whim. After all, the Bible records numerous instances where God did not give individuals what they wanted. But wants are one thing and needs are quite another.

Thus, after affirming that God has met all his needs and more, and that he was generously supplied, the Apostle Paul affirms to the Philippian Christians (chapter 4, verses 18-19), and thereby to us, that “This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

I suppose a 6-year old kid can be forgiven for presumptuously ordering a thousand dollars’ worth of food, and providing a generous 25% tip to boot, all at his father’s expense. As a child of God, I have no desire to take advantage of my Heavenly Father’s goodness or generosity. And yet, I fully recognize, and appreciate His ability to provide all I will ever need and more - exceedingly, abundantly more than I could ever hope or even dream!

And so, when it comes to having my needs met, I’ll gladly just keep ordering up and up!

STORY SOURCE: https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/michigan-6-year-old-uses-dads-grubhub-to-order-1000-in-food-tips-25-per-order. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/psalms/50-10.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/ephesians/3.htm;

https://biblehub.com/james/4-2.htm;

https://biblehub.com/nlt/philippians/4.htm.

WONDERFUL THINGS!

2/1/2023

Each month of the year has its special days on the calendar. January, of course, provides us with New Year’s Day, the NCAA Football CFP National Championship Title Game (Won this year, for the second straight time, I might add, by my beloved Georgia Bulldogs!), and Dr. Martin Luther King Day, to name but a few.

February too has its share of holidays. President’s Day comes to mind, as does Groundhog Day. But perhaps chief among this coming month’s emphases is Valentine’s Day. And this year, I am especially aware of this due to my precious wife.

She surprised me by giving me a special present Valentine’s Day present as the month of February prepared to unfold. She gave me the complete “THE WONDER YEARS” television program on DVD, and we began watching these together in chronological order last night. Suffice it to say that she made me very happy!

If you are unfamiliar with the (Emmy and Peabody among other) award winning show, which originally aired from January 31, 1988 until May 12, 1993, here’s the premise. Kevin Arnold, a teenager growing up in a suburban middle class family in the late 1960s and early 1970s, faces the ups and downs of life, including the daily challenges of home life, school life, social life, and love life while getting through, first, Junior High, and then, High School.

While I grew up on a rural Georgia farm and not in a suburban California subdivision where the show is set, I find I can completely relate to virtually every situation that the lead character, Kevin Arnold, faced as a child of the 60s and 70s. In this sense, every single episode is a trip down memory lane!

Outside of immediate family, the primary relationship young Kevin struggles with and through is the one involving the love of his life, Winnie Cooper. They get together, go steady, break up, and then make up and get back together in a never-ending roller coaster ride of adolescent love!

As we have watched the program together, I have been reminded of many a girlfriend I had back in the day during my formative years. But every time the show includes a slow-motion montage wherein Kevin sees Winnie and is swept off his feet yet again, I have also been reminded of the day I walked into a tenth grade Sunday School class and first laid eyes on the young lady who was destined to become my beautiful wife!

Spoiler alert! The highly praised series finale (which I first saw years ago) reveals that, in the end, Kevin and Winnie did not ultimately get together. Alas! He married a different girl. But I praise God that I did not suffer the same fate.

Rather, I had the blessing of winning and marrying the genuine love of my life. That girl I fell instantly in love with in the tenth grade later consented to marry me, to bear me three children, and then to stick it out with me through thick and thin.

I love “The Wonder Years”. But more than this, I love the woman who has given me forty plus years of wonder!

In the Old Testament Book of Proverbs (chapter 18, verse 22), the Bible tells us that “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing.” I praise God that, in His perfect timing, He allowed me to find my precious and beautiful wife. As I tell her every opportunity I can that apart from the day I received Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, she is the best thing that has ever happened to me in this world!

I wonder at that. Just as I do at all the years and blessings God has given the two of us together!

SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonder_Years;

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094582/.

SCRIPTURE:

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/18-22.htm.

BRIGHTEN UP!

1/27/2023

It is a great mystery that I will admit that I cannot completely figure out. Nevertheless, I am here to attest to the validity of it all. Inextricably, my toothbrush is getting darker by the day while my teeth are getting whiter in the process!

It all happened this way. I decided I would seek to whiten my teeth. While my dentist and his oral hygienist recently gave me a clean bill of health, I was not satisfied with the color of my teeth. So, I set about to whiten them.

As I perused the toothpaste aisle and its myriad selection of products at the local supercenter, I eventually settled on a given brand – not so much because of the package as much as because of the sheer frustration I felt in the face of so many options.

Imagine my surprise when I got home and squeezed out my first brush full of paste only to discover that it was black! Yes, black! I freaked! What was this?! I turned over the tube and quickly found the answer. It said that it was the one whitening toothpaste with the key ingredient of... you guessed it - charcoal! I had honestly purchased it unaware that it touted the inclusion of this miraculous key ingredient!

But, having plopped down over four dollars for the tube, I decided that I simply had too much invested to back out now! Nervously, I squeezed the tube and applied the black blob to my toothbrush. Thereafter, I was taken aback when a large mass of black foam accumulated in my mouth. I was further mortified when I spit it out and the sink was filled with utter blackness, the likes of which had not been seen since Dante described the inner linings of Purgatory itself!

And yet, surprisingly, when I had finished rinsing, the black mass was gone from my mouth in general, and from my teeth in particular, none of which were the worse for the experience. So I kept on using the stuff.

And now, a week later, my teeth are honestly whiter. Much whiter! Whatever else charcoal does, I can attest that it definitely whitens teeth.

But caveat emptor! ("Let the buyer beware!") For I have discovered that it does one other thing as well. It darkens one’s toothbrush! Not that the toothbrush itself turns totally black. It doesn’t. But there on the head, where the bristles are attached, down in those incredibly small holes, one can clearly see the blackness growing with each application of charcoal toothpaste.

At first, I was quite alarmed at this unforeseen side effect. I thought it must be mold or something. But I soon realized that in the process of applying the charcoal to my teeth, I was also applying it to my toothbrush. Somehow, in the process, my teeth were getting whiter, but my brush was getting darker.

The great irony is that the exact opposite of this had been true before the process began. Somehow, along the way, my pearly white toothbrush was getting darker; yet all the while, my stained teeth were getting whiter! It was as if each one took on the characteristics of the other. The result was a transfer of properties in that each one took on the properties of the other.

As I have reflected on this, I have been reminded of what the Bible has to say in the Apostle Paul’s Second Letter to the Christians at Corinth (chapter 5, verse 21): “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The Amplified Bible translates this verse this way: “He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].”

In this one single verse, we clearly see the Divine transfer of properties between the holy and righteous and unblemished Son of God and you and I, the imperfect human beings originally created in His image but now plagued by the discoloring stain of sin!

He took upon us the qualities and results of our darkness in order that our crimson souls might become white as snow, and that our sin-stained souls might be made clean and unblemished in His sight!

The result, as planned all along by God, is that the He Who was without sin, Jesus Christ, became sin in order that we who were without righteousness might become the righteousness demanded by God!

I, for one, will gladly embrace a stained toothbrush if it will give me whiter teeth. More to the point, I will gladly embrace the Only Begotten Son of God because He alone has taken upon Him my sin and given me eternal life in exchange!

What about you? Do you desire whiter teeth? As paradoxical as it sounds, I highly recommend charcoal black toothpaste. It really does clean one’s stained teeth.

Do you desire a soul that is whiter than snow? Then I highly recommend the Only Begotten Son of God. He really does deliver on His promise to cleanse any soul which is stained!

SCRIPTURE SOURCES: https://biblehub.com/2_corinthians/5-21.htm.

GITTIN ‘R DONE!

1/23/2023

I love the old story about a little guy who was sitting in a tavern, nursing his favorite beverage and minding his own business, when all of a sudden this great big dude comes in and - WHACK!! – proceeds to knock him off the bar stool and down onto the floor. The big dude says, “That was a Karate chop from Korea.”

The little guy thinks “Whoa!” But he gets back up on the stool and resumes his business. All of a sudden - WHACK!! - the big dude knocks him down again, and says, "That was a Judo chop from Japan."

Obviously, the little guy has now had enough of this. So he gets up, brushes himself off, and quietly departs the scene. He is gone for an hour or so when he returns, and without saying a word, he walks up behind the big dude and - WHAM!!!" – proceeds to whack the big dude off his stool, knocking him to the floor and completely out cold! The little guy then looks at the bartender and says, “When he gets up, tell him that's a Crowbar from Sears and Roebuck!”

On a more serious note, I suppose that about the only thing worse than a bragging dad is a bragging granddad. Nevertheless, I intend to be both of these right here and now! I will brag, first, on my daughter and her husband, because they have clearly demonstrated that they intend to raise their children to engage proactively in life.

By this I mean that they are attempting to provide their three sons (all of whom are under the age of six) every opportunity to get involved and participate in the myriad array of activities life affords. Such things include trips to the zoo, playing T-Ball, taking swimming lessons, going to the Trampoline Park, etc., etc…

And yet, the latest undertaking tops them all. For they have now enrolled their sons in Jiu-Jitsu! And after only a few weeks of participation, each of their sons is now not only learning, but excelling. So much so that each has now been promoted in rank!

If I may be honest, I will simply state that I love it! Not because I want my grandsons to grow up and beat up other people. But rather because I want them to be able to defend themselves against those who would do such a thing to them.

And in this sense, I will now brag on my grandsons. Because, given the opportunities provided them to engage and excel at such endeavors, they are choosing to do just that. And this matters!

Let’s face it... Far too many people choose to go through life failing to embrace, failing to engage, and thereby failing to accomplish much as a result. By contrast, those who do choose to embrace life, and all it has to offer, soon discover that life proves more often than not simply to be what you make of it!

The Bible presents us with numerous pictures of individuals who both chose to embrace and not to embrace the opportunities presented by life. While many such examples exist, perhaps the best is to be found in Jesus’ famed “Parable of the Talents”, as recorded in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 14-30.

Here, we see two individuals who fortuitously jumped at the opportunity to improve themselves and those they care for. Sadly, we also see a third individual who chose not to engage, but rather to to play it safe, and to let a opportunity pass him by in the process.

It is interesting to note that Jesus chose to conclude His parable by applauding the ones who took advantage of their God-given opportunities, while condemning the one did not. Maybe, just maybe, He is telling us something here about the importance of embracing life and any and all of the opportunities it provides.

What's more, it is little wonder that, in his New Testament Epistle to the Colossians (chapter 4, verse 5), the Apostle Paul admonishes us to “make the most of every (God-given) opportunity”.

I’m proud of my grandsons for doing just this. More to the point, I am both convicted and inspired by them. May I never, ever reach the point that I fail to embrace any and every opportunity life affords me. For in so doing, I may well be spurning the God who makes such opportunities possible to begin with!

Given all this, when it comes to the opportunities life presents me, I think I’ll just do my best to make certain that I’m “Gittin ‘R Done!”

JOKE SOURCE:

Available widely in various forms on the internet. See, for instance:

https://www.ebaumsworld.com/jokes/crowbar/80692344/.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/25.htm;

https://biblehub.com/colossians/4-5.htm.

JUST WALK ON BY?

1/19/2023

It is often said that, in the modern world, we have to be bombarded with a given message an average of seventeen times before we even begin to take notice of it. Well, I don’t know exactly how many times I had passed a certain sign that had been erected not far from where my wife and I live here in east Tennessee emphasizing the importance of keeping littering under control; but it eventually caught my attention, and actually held it long enough to get me to thinking.

While I myself do not make it a practice to litter, I find that I am still amazed at how much litter I pass by with little or no observance. And so, I conducted an experiment. My daily walk consists of about a five mile loop down to the lake and back. I decided to take a litter census on one such stroll, and was amazed to discover that I counted no less than 378 pieces of man-made trash alongside of the roadway over the course of my walk.

The vast majority of these were aluminum drink cans, plastic drink bottles, fast food wrappings, and the like. What is more, while many of them were apparently relatively newly discarded, others were faded and in various degrees of decay, indicating they had been there for quite some time.

And herein lays the trouble for me. The fact that they had obviously been there for quite some time means that it is equally as obvious that I had walked by them dozens of times without ever having once taken notice of their presence. I was convicted by this latter realization. How is it that I, who would never intentionally litter, have nevertheless been walking right on by the results of someone else’s litter completely oblivious to the mess they left behind?

As I have reflected on these things, I have been reminded of a story that Jesus once told, as recorded in the New Testament Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 25-37:

One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’c and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down the same road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So too, when a Levite came to that spot and saw him, he passed by on the other side.

But when a Samaritan on a journey came upon him, he looked at him and had compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The next day he took out two denariie and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he said, ‘and on my return I will repay you for any additional expense.’ Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” “The one who showed him mercy,” replied the expert in the law. Then Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

In Jesus’ story, the chief offenders were, of course, the robbers. They destroyed a life that resulted in the mess left on the side of the road. Neither the priest nor the Levite would have ever undertaken any such behavior. And yet, they too shared in the culpability, for having come upon the mess, they chose just to walk on by!

Since the events related above, I have been spending a little time while out walking picking up some of the trash I encounter alongside the road. As I have, I have asked the Lord to open my eyes to other equally tragic but far more disturbing messes that others have left behind.

For it is one thing for me to go blissfully upon life’s way without seeing the residue of discarded human debris; but it is quite another for me to do so without ever taking note of discarded human beings! May the Lord increase my sensitivity to the plight of others in need and convict me when I might otherwise just walk on by!

SCRIPTURE SOURCE: https://biblehub.com/bsb/luke/10.htm.

SIGN SOURCE: https://www.greenecoservices.com/taxpayer-cost-of-litter-in-tennessee-over-14-8-million-year/.

MINE AND THINE!

1/14/2023

A January 9, 2023 Fox News headline declared “Ex-NBA Player Jared Jeffries Wins Prize on ‘The Price is Right’.

That player was Jared Jeffries, a 41-year-old Bloomington, Indiana native who had a stellar career as an Indiana Hoosier, culminating in his being named the 2002 Big Ten Conference Player of the Year just before becoming the Number 11 pick of the 2002 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards. He then went on to put together a solid 11-year career among multiple professional teams.

But he did something on Monday, January 9th that few, if any, other NBA players can claim to have done. He became a winner on “The Price is Right” television game show.

After getting on stage, he played the “One Away” game on the show, where he simply had to form the correct price of the car in order to win the prize. He soon found himself needing a red 7 to pop up in the remaining slot for him to win a brand new car.

As host Drew Carey had the slide removed from the board, the car’s correct price was revealed; and Jeffries was indeed the winner. Online video clips show him then running around the stage as if he had hit the game-winning shot in a crucial matchup. He had just won himself a Toyota Corolla LE.

Of course, given that the car was a compact, the obvious and immediate question was whether or not there would be enough room for the 6-foot-11 former standout to even get inside! Still, Jeffries later wrote on Twitter that it was a “lifelong dream” to be a contestant on the show he had watched since his childhood.

Oh, and the fate of the car? Not to worry, as he plans to give it to his daughter!

As I read the article, I thought about how blessed this man had been. I’m not just talking here about the fact that he was a gifted athlete who played a long time and made millions. I’m even more talking about the fact that he obviously has a wonderful and loving family! Video clips posted online show his family out in the audience going completely bonkers with joy when he won the car!

But what really impresses me is how this man, who has been so blessed, apparently believes in blessing others as well. He has chosen to give the car to another person. Granted, that person is his own daughter. But still, in a day and age where so many do not even care for their own, he has decided to bless another individual out of his own abundance.

Any way you look at it, that is commendable! In fact, Jesus Himself commended just such an approach to life. In his farewell remarks to the Ephesian Christians (recorded in the New Testament Book of Acts, chapter 20, verse 35), the Apostle Paul states: “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Jesus had even more than this to say on the subject. In the Gospel of Luke (chapter 6, verse 38), we read these words (likely from His famed Sermon on the Mount): “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

And in Mark’s Gospel (chapter 4, verse 24), we read a similar admonition from the Lord: “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.”

It seems clear, then, that Jesus knew there was a far greater blessing to be had in giving than in merely receiving. The Apostle Paul also knew this. Apparently, so does Jared Jeffries. In fact, it seems as if the only remaining question is whether or not you and I know this as well!

For my part, I’m learning to become a giver. I pray the Lord increase this desire within me! Out of the abundance with which I have been blessed, may I learn to bless others more and more. For ironically, when my blessings become blessings for others, I then find myself all the more blessed as a result!

And that, I have discovered, makes the price of sharing those blessings just right!

STORY SOURCE:

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ex-nba-player-jared-jeffries-wins-prize-price-right.

The reporter, Ryan Gaydos, is the Sports Editor for Fox News Digital.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/acts/20-35.htm;

https://biblehub.com/luke/6-38.htm;

https://biblehub.com/mark/4-24.htm.

UNSUPPORTED

1/10/2023

A January 7th, 2023 story written by Bob Cronin and posted on Newser.com bears this title: “'Emotional Support' Snake Doesn't Fly: Airline Doesn't Allow Woman to Carry on A 4-Foot Boa Constrictor”.

It seems the TRA (Transportation Security Administration) is reporting that it headed off a real-life sequel of the fictional Snakes on a Plane movie when it found a snake on its way to board a plane.

Agents at Tampa International Airport found a 4-foot boa constrictor in a carry-on bag last month when it showed up on a checkpoint X-ray. When questioned by authorities, the passenger responsible told the agents that “Bartholomew” was her emotional support animal. Thereafter, she found herself in need of a little such support, as the airline she was flying, when informed by the TSA, refused to allow the snake aboard.

While authentic service animals are allowed on flights, the Department of Transportation says that means only dogs that are legitimately trained to help a passenger with a disability. The department also decreed in 2020 that airlines can prohibit animals intended to provide emotional support in the cabin, while permitting them to travel in the cargo hold. Even here, however, certain conditions apply.

Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokesperson, tweeted the X-ray image of the boa constrictor. She then added the rather logical suggestion that passengers unsure of the rules should check with the TSA's official website or else utilize “AskTSA” on Twitter or Facebook.

As I read the story, I was reminded that appealing to a snake for emotional support is nothing new. It has actually been going on for as long as men and women have inhabited the world. In Genesis chapter 3, we read about the fall of mankind. Having disobeyed God and then been called to account for their actions by their Creator, the first humans did much the same.

When questioned by God as to why he had sinned, Adam blamed his wife Eve. She, in turn, blamed the serpent! At the end of the day, they had fallen back on the Devil, blaming him for their troubles and attempting to soothe their consciences in the process.

But God was not buying it. While the Devil had certainly done his part in tempting them to sin, Adam and Eve were each held accountable for their personal disobedience and lack of responsibility. Flip Wilson’s famous retort notwithstanding, the Devil did not make them do it!

More to the point, the old serpent had no intention of either helping or supporting them in their newfound fallen condition. He simply moved on to their offspring and set to work tripping them up as well in the very next chapter of Genesis.

What Satan did back then, he still does today. Do not buy the line that says he is your friend. He never has had and never will have your best interest at heart; which is why the Apostle Peter gives us the following sage admonition in his First New Testament Letter (chapter 5, verse 8): “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

Heeding this admonition up front will serve us better than consulting any website the government offers. For it will likely save us not only from the frustration of not finding emotional support, but also from much of the need for seeking emotional support in the first place.

STORY SOURCE:

https://www.newser.com/story/330027/tsa-stops-boa-constrictor-in-carry-on.html.

SEE ALSO:

https://www.tsa.gov/videos/travel-tips-asktsa-0.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/3.htm;

https://biblehub.com/niv/genesis/4.htm;

https://biblehub.com/1_peter/5-8.htm.

HELLO… DO YOU READ ME?

1/6/2023

J. Howard Cobble was a venerable Baptist Minister of a generation ago. Back in the day, he shared a short piece titled “THE DIARY OF A BIBLE”. Following up on my previous post about worthy New Year’s resolutions, I thought it appropriate to post it here today…

THE DIARY OF A BIBLE

JANUARY: A busy time for me. Most of the family decided to read me through this year. They kept me busy for the first two weeks, but they have forgotten me now.

FEBRUARY: Clean-up time. I was dusted yesterday and put in my place. My owner did use me for a few minutes last week. He had been in an argument and was looking up some references to prove he was right.

MARCH: Had a busy day first of the month. My owner was elected president of the PTA & used me to prepare a speech.

APRIL: Grandpa visited us this month. He kept me on his lap reading for an hour each day. He seems to think more of me than do some people in my own household.

MAY: I have a few green stains on my pages. Some spring flowers were pressed in my pages.

JUNE: I look like a scrapbook. They have stuffed me full of newspaper clippings – one of the girls was married.

JULY: They put me in a suitcase today. I guess we are off on vacation. I wish I could stay home; I know I’ll be closed up in this thing for at least two weeks.

AUGUST: Still in the suitcase.

SEPTEMBER: Back home at last and in my old familiar place. I have a lot of company. Two women’s magazines and four comic books are stacked on top of me. I wish I could be read as much as they are.

OCTOBER: They read me a little bit today. One of them is very sick. Right now I am sitting in the center of the coffee table. I think the Pastor is coming by for a visit.

NOVEMBER: Back in my old place. Somebody asked today if I were a scrapbook.

DECEMBER: The family is busy getting ready for the holidays. I guess I’ll be covered up under wrapping paper & packages again … just as I am every Christmas.

Dr. Cobble concluded this article with a single question: “Should you make a commitment to reading your Bible through this year?”
I conclude this post with a similarly piercing one: “What would the diary of your own Bible read like this coming year?”

SOURCE:

The above piece was published in Volume XXXIX, No. 52, of “The Trumpeter”, The Severns Valley Baptist Church Newsletter, dated December 31, 1992. I do not know Dr. Cobble’s original source. But variations of the above piece are available widely today on the internet. See, for instance:

http://www.grandoldbook.com/diary_of_a_bible.pdf; and

https://inhispresencedaily.com/index.php/2014/03/09/the-diary-of-a-bible/.

MORE ON DR. HOWARD COBBLE:

https://subscriber.thenewsenterprise.com/content/friends-remember-late-severns-valley-pastor-cobble.

WORTHY RESOLUTIONS

1/3/2023

Years ago, I received an email from Good Clean Funnies titled “Attainable Resolutions”. The attachment listed some 36 different endings to this statement: “This year, I resolve to…” Among them were the following…

1. Read less. It makes you think. 2. Stop Exercising. It's a waste of time. 3. Gain weight. At least 30 pounds. 4. Watch more TV. I’ve been missing some good stuff. 5. Get more toys. 6. Get further in debt. 7. Focus more on the faults of others. 8. Mope more about my own faults. 9. Wait around more for opportunity. 10. Create more loose ends. 11. Procrastinate more. 12. Get in a whole new rut.

New Year’s Resolutions, in and of themselves, are admirable. By contrast, however, as followers of Christ, it behooves us to consider such resolutions that are actually productive. For we may well laugh at the ridiculousness of these assertions; but, while they are indeed easily enough attainable, they are in no way productive, either for us, or for anyone we impact, or for the kingdom of God at large.

What, then, are some worthy resolutions that we might ought to consider as followers of Jesus Christ? A few come to mind, which I might suggest here – all of which are based on Biblical examples…

First, like Jacob, we might do well to consider making a New Year’s resolution concerning our commitment to the House of God. In Genesis 28, Jacob did just that.

Next, like David, we might do well to consider making a New Year’s resolution considering our commitment to the Word of God. David did just that in Psalm 119.

Last, like Daniel, we might do well to consider making a New Year’s resolution considering our commitment to the Call of God. Daniel did that in Daniel 1.

In each case, Jacob, David, and Daniel all resolved to commit afresh and anew to some aspect of their relationship to Almighty God. As followers of Jesus Christ, perhaps we would do well to follow their respective examples. For while their individual commitments may not be all that easy to fulfill, they are nonetheless very worthy in their intended purpose.

JOKE SOURCE:

https://gcfl.net/.

See specifically:

https://gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=721.

SCRIPTURE SOURCES:

https://biblehub.com/bsb/genesis/28.htm;

https://biblehub.com/bsb/psalms/119.htm;

https://biblehub.com/bsb/daniel/1.htm.

LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

12/31/2022

According to official sources, there are a total of three locales named “Opportunity” in the whole world; and all three of these are located right here in the good ol’ U.S.A. One is in Montana; another is in Nebraska; and yet another is in Washington.

While the Nebraska one did have a post office for several decades in the first part of the twentieth century, none of these are actual cities today. Still, they are all authentic communities; which means that, down through the years, they have also been destinations, as well as places for starting over.

I myself have never actually visited any of these places. Perhaps I will one day. But I know enough to know that I do not have to go to some spot marked on a map to find opportunity. Opportunity can be found at most any time in most any place. All one need do is to look for it!

And this brings me to the point of this short post. Today is Saturday, December 31st, 2022. Tomorrow will be Sunday, January 1st, 2023. The former represents the passing of an old year. The latter represents the dawning of a new one. As such, they are diametrically opposed to each other. And yet, they have one overarching thing in common. For each, in its own way, provides the prospect to encounter and experience some sort of new opportunity.

In this regard, they are not unique. Many a day in 2022 led me to some form of opportunity. I expect 2023 will be little different. The only real question is whether or not I will take advantage of whatever opportunities that do come my way. This is because before opportunities can ever be experienced, they must first be embraced.

I shudder to think how many opportunities I may have been presented with in times past, only to have missed out on them because I failed to embrace them. The more I have pondered this, the more I have become determined not to repeat this tragic mistake in the future.

In his New Testament Letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul gave this admonishment to all who would heed it: “As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good…” Simply put, I take this to mean that whenever I bypass or otherwise miss out on a Heaven sent opportunity, I fail to do what is good in God’s eyes.

My prayer is that, in the coming year (and every year thereafter with which I am blessed), I may not be as negligent in this regard as I have been in previous ones. For the land of opportunity is not limited to any nation or even to any place on a map. The land of opportunity is wherever I tread; and whenever I tread there.

As such, 2023 and every year thereafter will surely be the land of opportunity for me, even as 2022 and all the years prior have been. In light of this, may I faithfully and passionately seize any and every such gift sent down from Heaven to me in this uncharted time and place!

CONCEPT SOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity,_Montana;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity%2C_Nebraska;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity,_Washington.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:

https://biblehub.com/galatians/6-10.htm.

<<Previous

Forward>>