Are You Ready?

I35 Bridge Collapse, 3/26/2015

     Some time ago, I began writing a book. Actually, I started on two books. Through a technical glitch, I lost what would have been about three-quarters of one of those books, and this sent me into a major writer's block. Since then, I have slowly been catching up and writing more on the other book I had started. I wish I had been more diligent in my efforts at the time, because what I was writing about back then is now happening right before our eyes! I was at the very place shown in this picture only one week ago!

     The following is an excerpt from the Forward of that book, which will be entitled "Duct Tape for Wobbly Knees." The topic is of utmost importance, so I hope that you will take the time to read it through and digest it's words and meaning. And so it goes ...

        Do you believe in eternity?  If so, where do you think you will spend it? Do you believe that Jesus is coming back for His bride … us, the church?  Do you believe that it will be soon? If you lay claim to being a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, doesn’t it bother you that some of your brothers and sisters in Christ are unsure of their eternal destination?  Doesn’t it trouble you that some will be “spewed out of God’s mouth” because they are “luke-warm?” The older I get, the stronger the urgency seems to be.

      One night I turned on the History Channel.  They had a program on called, “The Crumbling of America.”  This was a two-hour show about how weak the American infrastructure system has become.  The narrator explained that all great nations, the United States of America included, became so through and because of their magnificent and complex infrastructure systems.  He went on to say that the majority of the bridges in this country are, or soon will be, forty to fifty years old.  Most are deteriorating rapidly, and tragedy is imminent.  We have neglected maintenance, overlooked normal wear and tear, and ignored the fact that our bridges and road systems are carrying loads that they were never meant to carry.  What is beyond our immediate range of sight has been basically disregarded.  All this is causing our infrastructure to crumble … slowly, but ever so surely.  

As I watched this program, I began to think about the deterioration of our infrastructure system in terms of the deterioration of our spiritual lives and the corrosion of our values and morals. I know that things have been deteriorating ever since the Garden of Eden. But in my lifetime, once we eliminated prayer from school, everything seemed to go downhill from there.  When I was young, you got detention for chewing gum in school.  My second grade teacher once smacked me on the hand with a ruler for carrying a paper plate on my head.  Back then, the only thing to fear was the punishment that was meted out for misbehaving.  Now, school grounds are places for some very appalling, not to mention frightful, activities.  Some large-city schools actually have metal detectors at their entrances so that youth can no longer bring guns and knives inside!  Rapes and beatings in school lavatories are not unheard of any more. Hazing has actually become popular! Massacres have occurred on college campuses, movie theaters, elementary schools, and in other public places.          And why not?  What else can we expect?  What else should we expect?  Children see violence, sexual encounters, drugs, drunkenness, murders, and the use of obscene language right in their own living rooms on TV every day!  Some stations show these things explicitly and without boundaries, even during prime-time. Some children grow up with it in their neighborhoods, apartment houses, and even in their own dwelling! It’s “hard-wired” into the very fibers of their being from a very early age.  

Our country had more than just its great infrastructure system to make it powerful.  Before that system was developed, we had another great cornerstone to our foundation … our country was founded on Christian, Biblical principles.  Now we have taken prayer out of school, the Ten Commandments out of public buildings, Christ out of Christmas, and in recent years, public outcry has even been against putting up a nativity scene on your own private property!  We have spent great effort on trying to take “in God we trust” off our money, and Christian programs off the air waves.  Separation of church and state is now legal.  It’s a concept I just can’t wrap my mind around … how do you separate a part of who you are from another part? 
 Corruption and greed are evident in almost every walk of life, including Christianity.  Anger is obvious.  I don’t know whether it’s worse that “road rage” exists, or that it’s actually so predominant that we have a name for it! Abuse … sexual, physical, mental and emotional … is carried out routinely against children, women, and now even men.  Honor and respect for one another has faded into the background, or deteriorated altogether … along with truth.  Little white lies and vulgar language are commonplace.  Trust is not.  Hatred, jealousy, and revenge are three of the main motivating factors behind the rising crime rate.  Respect for authority is dwindling.  In our quest not to offend, we have gone to the opposite end of the spectrum and have gotten lethargic and lazy in our battle against evil and wrongdoing.

I could go on and on.  But having said even that much, why in the world do we wonder where God is when tragedy strikes?  How can we question His existence through and after horrendous, destructive weather patterns?  During wars and rumors of wars?  After all, it is we who have eliminated Him from all we hold dear in the first place!  Do we actually believe that we can remove Him from our lives, but then expect His mighty hand to protect us when tragedy is looming? Do we expect that He is a magic genie who will appear on command when we need Him, and remain in the shadows at all other times?  Are we actually embarrassed to say that we know Him?  The narrator on the History Channel program went on to say, “America’s roads are headed for a crash.”  How much more so are we, if we don’t get our values, morals, and especially our spiritual identities out of the gutter.

        A serious lack of accountability grew out of this confusion and untruth. It's about the Bible’s inerrancy … “I’ll believe what I believe, and you believe what you believe.”  Allowing such circumstantial freedom of belief has driven us so far away from seeking truth.  Its roots are in rebellion and pride, and that’s exactly what caused God to spew Satan out of Heaven. Freedom minus responsibility equals chaos!

     Similarly, the Christian community is lacking in structure and discipline.  I once asked someone why she doesn’t go to church.  She said it’s because she knows who those people are on Monday.  Many have made similar comments.  People … we are failing in our duties as Christians!  We have become lethargic.  We have become apathetic.  We speak mainly about God’s love … and I do thank Him for it.  But have we forgotten that God is also righteous? And just?  For the Christian, self has to be removed from the throne.  This will happen … with or without our help or consent.  God will have no other gods before Him, including self. 

      We need to wake up! God is a wonderful, magnificent, all-knowing, all-loving, almighty God.  There aren’t enough adjectives known to man to describe His goodness and love.  But this book is not about that.  It’s a come-to-life cry to those of us who carry Jesus’ name and His authority … Christians.  It’s a wake-up call for a sleeping giant … Christianity.  If we don’t come to realize, believe and accept just who Jesus really is, and all He has done for us, there will be some of us left behind! 

      Thus ends the excerpt from the Foreword of "Duct Tape for Wobbly Knees."  I hope it has given you food for thought, as well as a thirst to read what follows. You see from the picture posted in this article that what was written about is already happening. How much time do we have? Are you ready?

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

 

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I Can't Get Away With Anything!

I'm tellin' ya ... I can't get away with ANYTHING! Every time I try, I get caught.

My insurance company did something today that I totally did not understand, so I called to ask them about it. What started out in the form of a question and a plea for help, turned out ... well, let's just say, it wasn't pretty. After the conversation, I set out to finish the rest of my errands. Along the way, I drove past a church with a sign out front that read, "DON'T FIGHT OVER NOTHING." Lol! NO JOKE!!! That's what it said! I guess God's not finished with me yet. He's trying to teach me how to become a warrior, but some of the fighter in me popped up instead.

Do you know the difference between a “fighter” and a “warrior?”  There is a huge difference, you know. A fighter is a very unorganized, uncontrolled brawler.  To give you a picture of what a fighter is, I’ll use an example from the old-timey western shows that we used to see on TV. You’d see two cowboys at odds with one another in the saloon. They would start punching at each other, and before you know it, everybody in the room is in a pile on the floor, each one doing his best to pound and beat the other with their fists … without even knowing why or who or what started the fight! A fighter is usually controlled by something other than him/her-self. Most often, it’s something like anger or fear or revenge. Therefore, a fighter usually has a good chance of being defeated.

A warrior, on the other hand, is a well-trained, finely-tuned "instrument" who is usually following directions or orders from his or her leader. A good example of a warrior is a soldier. A soldier is well trained, from boot camp on throughout his/her military career.  A soldier knows the who, what and why of his battle.  Anger, fear and revenge have no part in a warrior's actions; the warrior knows how to supercede his/her emotions and act on the word of the one who is in charge. Because the warrior is much more in control than the fighter, s/he has a much better chance of winning the war.

You know, God gave us spiritual armour (Ephesians 6: 11 - 17) for a reason. There's a battle on! A real war! And the last place we need to be is in the shoes of a "fighter" ... out of control and not even knowing who or what we're fighting about.  What we really need is a "warrior's" heart, discipline, self-control, obedience and knowledge of who we're fighting and why, if we're going to win this war.

Be aware of the enemy's tactics. I missed it this morning, and fell right smack dab into the enemy's trap. I fell into the old "fighter" mode, instead of standing on what the Lord is teaching me about being a "warrior." Nothing changed with the insurance company. Nothing was rectified. But driving by that church and reading that sign, "DON'T FIGHT FOR NOTHING," reminded me that I need to pick my battles. Not everything deserves my "attention." The Lord is still leading, and still the One I need to look to for my "marching instructions." He caught me in the middle of my humanity, and reminded me Who I belong to, and Who I represent. A good lesson learned.

And, a word to the wise ...

Grieving Through the Holidays

It's that time of year again. Time for joy, holiday parties, gift giving and receiving. Time to worship the One whose birth we celebrate. It's also the time you feel grief so strongly, because the one you love has passed on. Or you lost your job. Or that fire or tornado or hurricane has destroyed all your worldly goods. Or maybe you have recently been diagnosed with a deadly disease. This is the time of year when everyone's happy, right? But you're not. You're in pain.

So, what is it that you can do? How can you get through these holiday celebrations without losing your mind, or having a breakdown ... or worse yet, becoming a hermit? Well, the very first thing you need to do is suck in that next breath of air!  Force it out, and then do it all over again!

The purpose of this blog is not to go through all the causes, symptoms and stages of the grieving process. You already know those, because you're experiencing them as we speak.  The purpose of this blog is to bring encouragement and hope to you through this holiday season.  To share some information with you that could help you get past the pain, and onto healing ... despite those emotions that make you want to hide from the world.

I read a book once called "A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss," by Gerald Sitser. Mr. Sitser had experienced his own grievous trauma, and, therefore, was knowledgeable about what he wrote. On page 138, Mr. Sitser made this comment: "Sorrow itself needs the existence of God to validate it as a healthy and legitimate emotion. If there is no God, it makes no difference how we respond. It becomes entirely subjective, like individual tastes in ice cream. If sorrow is subjective, and it doesn't matter how we respond, then why not laugh at tragedy, loss and depression? How do we establish the absoluteness of good vs. bad, anyway? And where did we get the idea of "good" and "bad" in the first place? People feel pain in suffering because suffering is bad. We know this because we have knowledge of what is good. Such knowledge can only come from God."

Following Mr. Sitser's logic leads us to another point: denial of our negative emotions will only keep us in bondage to them for a longer period of time. We must acknowledge their existence. And then we must make a conscious choice to put them in their proper place.  In other words, throw those negative, painful emotions out like yesterday's trash. How? How is that possible? By making a conscious choice to acknowledge and grasp hold of the fact that even through the painful emotions, hope exists. Hope for healing. Tragedy is designed to defeat and destroy us. So, is healing possible? It depends on what you believe! And on what you do about hope! Grieve ... but never without hope.

Grief will destroy us, or it will transform us ... but it will never leave us the same. Our lives will never be the same as they were before the tragic event. But we can move on. And it can be a healthy, positive, productive, and most of all Godly, growth and change. Here are some practical suggestions that will help you overcome grief, especially as you progress through this holiday season:

1)  Prepare yourself. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 4: 23 to "guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
2) Get a moderate amount of exercise. Exercise has been known to reduce stress.
3) Pay attention to your diet. Stick to the good stuff. Cut down on refined sugar, white flour products, caffeine, nicotine and anything else that is harmful to your body.
4) Get proper rest, as well as a good amount of sleep.
5) Talk to someone. There's healing power in sharing your burdens with someone.
6) Keep a journal of your thoughts, feelings, prayers and answers to prayer. Later, you'll be able to look back and see how much progress you have made.

Make a conscious choice to grab onto the hope of healing. Then take some positive steps in that direction. And don't forget to pat yourself on the back ... because even the smallest of steps is a major accomplishment!

Is It REALLY Racial Profiling?

I don't get it. Keep in mind as you read this post, that I'm probably the least political person you know. Another thing about me ... I'm not prejudiced.  I don't like labels and putting people in "boxes."  So when you're talking about racial profiling, I'm just not on board.  I was raised in a mixed neighborhood, so I just have "people" inbred into me, not the color of their skin.  Oh, I'm well aware that the first thing you see when you meet a new person, is whether that person is male or female. And it's also quite obvious what the color of their skin is. But to me, neither their sex nor the color of their skin means much in terms of who they are as a person. It's who they are as an individual person that's important.  Now, I've known people who just could not understand that. And then I've also known people of a different skin color than mine, who totally got it. They were raised that way too!

So, I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around the problem along the United States/Mexico border. Illegal immigrants. Problems with the drug cartels. And why the big cry is racial profiling.  I mean, doesn't it make common sense that if the problem is along the Mexican/United States border, it would involve Mexican illegals? People from the Hispanic race, who are raised in Mexico, who have not obtained legal admission to the United States? You probably wouldn't find too many German illegals coming across that border. Or Africans. We don't have trouble with illegals along the United States/Canadian border, do we? Or did I miss that news story? I don't think so! But if we did, the problem would then involve Canadian illegals. What other country directly borders ours? None! So is it really racial profiling? Or is it just something else to protest about?

Now, I'm all for protesting when something is wrong.  But in this case, what is it about the word "illegal" that we are not understanding?  You know, when you're a rancher in this part of the "woods," and you see a bunch of people who don't normally belong there, hiking across your ranch carrying semi-automatic weapons ... it's time to do something! And it doesn't matter what the color of their skin is! We're hearing news stories all the time lately about people being killed along that border ... and all the protesters can worry about is racial profiling?!? That just doesn't make sense to me!

Besides the fact that I've lived in the United States all my life ... and besides the fact that I now live in Texas ... do you know what really brought this travisty "home" to me? Watching one of the news stories on television one day, I saw an interview with a woman of a different nationality who had become a citizen of our country. This woman worked very hard to achieve this most important goal.  Her reaction to all the news stories about illegal aliens, as well as the new laws recently passed in Arizona concerning how the authorities were to deal with them, was that she was offended! And not for the reasons you might think! Her statement was that she worked hard to get where she was, and she was "offended" that we would allow others to have the same rights and life styles without having to work for them like she had to. I for one, don't blame her!

It's no wonder we have problems. We allow ourselves to be side-tracked from the real issues, with some issues other than the ones that need dealing with. People are losing their lives. Somehow it seems that should be the priority! The issue of racial profiling may have substance elsewhere, but it shouldn't be the priority in dealing with the issues we are currently having along the United States/Mexico border.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?