Hey, everyone!
Hope you’re having an awesome day! Because it’s awesome out there! If you can get off a little early, it’d be an amazing day for anything you’d want to do! Go for a walk by the lake, hit some golf balls, eat some peanut butter, sing your special song, fly around...
“Huh?”
Oh. Sorry. Those last three suggestions were for these birds we’ve been feeding for the last few months! They love these squares of peanut buttery bird stuff we get at Home Depot! They’re made by the fine folks at C&D Suets of Fort Dodge, Iowa and come in a bunch of flavors! The ads say, “Ingredients vary from peanuts to papaya, hot pepper to almond, berry to cherry, and raisin to insect...Start with a suet that is most appealing to you!”
We figured if we were going to pick a “flavor most appealing to us”, “peanut butter” beats “insect” almost every time!
And they go crazy for it!
It’s an extra trip to HD and it costs a little, but I’m finding out I love those feathery, fluttery friends! The more we take care of them, the more I care about them!
We get little downy woodpeckers (or the picoides pubescens) They are awesome! They have black and white striped backs but their wings are checkered! Their heads have a big white stripe with a red dot! “They know how to drink sap from holes made by Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers!”
Wow!
We have Carolina chickadees, too! You might know them as Poecile carolinensis. “...black cap, black bib, and white cheeks...” Can’t miss ‘em! They stay paired up for years (that’s sweet!) and they can remember where they hid thousands of things they wanna eat weeks later!
White-throated sparrows love peanut butter too! They’re gonna leave in mid-May. Headin’ back to Alaska. And I’m gonna miss them! They’re kinda chubby right now ‘cause they have 40% more feathers on their bodies in winter (2500, mas o menos) than in summer (‘bout 1500 each)!
The website tnwatchablewildlife.org says their song is two loud tweets followed by triplet notes. They say it sounds like “Oh sweet Canada Canada Canada” or “Old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody”. That’s a pretty random interpretation to me. I listened to it and it sounded more like “I looove tooo waaatch Teeee Veeee” or “four threeee threeee threeeee twooo threeeee.”
Anyway, I’m loving our birds! I’m not sure but I think it’s because I’m starting to care for them. It makes me care about them! We’ve never had “suet” of the grocery list ‘til now. But I need to make sure my friends are gonna be OK! Where would they be...without me?
Sometimes I’ve wondered if I’m a pest or a bother to my Lord! I always need stuff! I need Him to help me all the time! I churp and cheep at Him all day! But I’m learning from birds that He loves to care for me!
And I know He loves my song!! It’s a long cheep and five short churpy notes, It goes like this...”pleeeease help me thru my daaaay...pleeease help me thru my daaaay...” He Himself told us, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them!” He even feeds them peanut butter stuff! And He adds, “Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6)
And I’m learning this. The more you care for someone, the more you care about them! The more we care for chickadees and sparrows, the more I care about them! He couldn’t love us any more than He already does! He can’t love you more than He does, ‘cause He already loves you infinitely! But as you chirp for your Father’s help, if He could...He would!
“Oh sweet Canada Canada Canada...”
Sorry, folks! Gotta go!
A Note From Tom: February 10th, 2012
Hey, Everyone!
Hang on a sec....uhh...
...Sorry...I need to finish something....let’s see..
“...so we pray for you everyday! We hope you have a heart full of happiness today! You are precious to Jesus and we love you!
Blessings!
Tom and Tina”
Let’s see...hit “Send”!...
There!!
Done!!
Sorry, folks! I was in the middle of writing to our Compassion International child in Uganda when I started my email! And I realized I needed to finish it before I started something else or I’d never get it done!
Our Compassion child we sponsor every month, Doreen Akello is the cutest thing in the world! (Not sure what Compassion International is? Check it! compassion.com) She’s growing strong in Jesus and tells us all about it! We sent a little extra for Christmas and she wrote to thank us and tell us she used it to buy some shoes, some meat for her family (know any kids who buy meat with extra Christmas money?) and she made a Christmas offering to her church!
When you sign up to sponsor a Compassion International child, you send a little money a month...like $38...and you make it possible for a ministry of people who love Jesus who are working in an underdeveloped country to provide food, schooling, health care, and spiritual nourishment for that child! And the kids know that someone somewhere who loves Jesus, also loves and cares about them! It gives a child a heartful of hope in a hopeless world! Not bad for a few bucks a month!
And you write to them! They write you back! You become an important person to a child who is learning he or she is special to God because, among other things...well...because of you!
I don’t know what I could ever do to change the oppressive poverty and despair of Uganda. But a child in Uganda has the food and medicine a growing child needs, she goes to school, and she knows Jesus loves her. And she knows that other people she’s never met love her, too.
And that’s not a little thing.
Sometimes on Sundays, I worry that maybe I said something in church that I shouldn’t have. And sometimes I wonder if I didn’t say something the way I meant to. A few weeks ago, I was worried about both. I had a heaviness in my heart because I had read that much...or maybe most...of the chocolate we consume in the U.S. is made from cocoa harvested by children in the Ivory Coast who work as slaves. They are stolen from, or sold by, their families and live a life of oppression and bondage. Some chocolate companies are trying to change this horrible situation. Some don’t seem to care. I didn’t know whether it was good to speak of it, but I couldn’t help it. I said that it is estimated that as many as 315 children work and live in slavery so we can have chocolate to eat, though they’ll never taste chocolate their whole brief, miserable life.
As I was driving away, I thought, “Should I have spoken of that? And did I say 315 kids?”
I called Tina.
“Did I say 315 kids live in slavery in the Ivory Coast?”
“Yes. 315.”
“Oh no! I wasn’t sure if I should speak of it. But 315 isn’t what I meant. It’s 315,000.”
315,000 kids.
315,000 boys and girls live in slavery in the Ivory Coast. So the world can enjoy it’s chocolate.
What can I do? How can I change a world gone bad? Maybe there are things I can do for the kids of Africa! There are certain brands of chocolate I haven’t touched since then! And I know I want to care about this!
But I thought, “What if it WERE only 315? That is STILL too many! 315 lives lived in misery and pain. What if there were only one?
I can’t change everything. Maybe I can change more than I think if I care more than I do. I know Jesus is coming and children won’t be slaves then! Isaiah says “little children will lead us!”
But I can help one child.
We do. She lives in Uganda. Her name is Doreen. We write to her and we tell her she is precious to Jesus. And we tell her she is precious to us.
Both of those things are true.
Have you written your Compassion child in a while? You can do it online now! It’s super easy! Just go to compassion.com!
They’re waiting to hear from you!
A Note From Tom: February 4th, 2012
Hey everyone!
Wow! I got tons of stuff to do today! So, I was thinking of what to do for my Friday email...I trrryyyy to come up with something that will be a spiritual “snack”, nourishing and encouraging during your week. But today I felt like the disciples when they didn’t have anything to eat for all the people who came to hear Jesus. “Help, Lord!” All the sudden, I got a link thing from our own Bill Raezer’s post-y thing to our church bloggy thing (I still don’t have the computer vocab down), reblogging one of our emails from this summer. It’s a rerun but I was sitting in the exact same spot where the story happened, so I thought, “Thanks, Lord! On a busy day, I’m going with this...
“Hey, everyone!
Hope you’re having a blessed, joy-filled day! That’s what Freddy Smith always wishes us at the end of his shift of bluegrass music from six to nine in the morning on 89.9 WDVX…He plays about three Gospel songs (“…to kindly tune up your heartstrings”) but right before, he always signs off with, “Have a blessed day!”
I’d bet it’s safe to say that pretty much everyday is more blessed (or is it “blessed-ier”?) than we realize! And our days are full of moments that matter more than we ever knew.
Once a mom packed a lunch for her little boy ‘cause he was going on an outing with some friends and would be gone for the day in the country. “As fast as he’s growing, he’ll be starving by eleven!” she thought. She probably didn’t think about it again. But a dude named Andrew somehow got the kid to give up his lunch to Jesus (maybe he promised him that Jesus would autograph his brown paper lunch bag!) and Jesus blessed the few fish and pitas, and miraculously, exponentially, multiplied them, and more than 5000 folks were invited to an unexpected picnic!
Like moms across the globe, a mom packed her boy some sandwiches. Happened to be fish sandwiches. It was thoughtful. And she probably never thought about it again. We’ve been reading about that lunch for twenty centuries!
You never know how many unforgettably meaningful “meaningless moments” are packed into to your ordinary day!
Here’s one…one morning, Lee, Pottsie, Bill Reazer and I were sitting down at Panera bread, talking about the Book of Romans and other intense stuff. Next to us, this older dude in an open-buttoned shirt (Tom Jones-style) and a big gold chain was chowing down and reading, totally ignoring us. Then, seemingly done, he got up…and left. Not only that but, he left…a big, untouched hunk of that awesome French bread they sell done there.
“Seems a shame to leave that,” Bill said. He looked at me (always hungry). “If I snag it off his plate, will you eat it?”
WITHOUT HESITATION, I answered, “You know it!”
Bill looked this way…then that way…and sloooooowwwwwly leeeaaaned over and just as he reached out to grab that bread with my name all over it….
“Wow! You get up for a second and folks are stealing your food!”
It was him!
“Oops!” said Bill.
“Oops!” said I.
“Ha!” said Pottsie
“Uh…we…uh…thought that you were…um…maybe…uh…gone…”
“Well, my son’s a manager here! I’m calling him over!”
I immediately realized that I didn’t know anything about how that whole posting bail thing worked. Just then, his son came over.
“These boys are so hungry, they’re having to steal food. Could you bring them a whole loaf of that French bread?”
“Sure, dad. No problem.”
As the son threw it down before our unbelieving eyes, the dad looked at us and said, as he was leaving, “All you have to do is ask.”
Y’know I was thinking about that story this week because Bill, now Young Life area director for Cape Girardeau, Missouri and one of the amazing missionaries we support, is giving the “talks” for the first time at a Young Life camp in Minnesota. He is boldly sharing the message of Jesus with hundreds of high schoolers from all over the nation, who have never heard it before. And when he gets to the part about all that Jesus did to make us His own…and what anyone who wants it, has to do to get the Gift…he tells the Panera story.
And he says, “All you have to do is ask.”
Your days are full of moments that mean more than you know.
A Note From Tom: January 27th, 2012
Hey, everyone!
Hope you’re having an awesome and beautiful day! In fact, I hope your day is as amazing as the incredible weather we’ve had the last two days! And I hear we’re gonna have today! I’m predicting bright, crisp, brilliantly and breath-takingly blue skies…just like yesterday and Wednesday! And we can expect gorgeous, sunny skies for the next 24 hours!
“What?! Yesterday was sloppy rainy all dang day!”
Well, I guess. But if you were flying out of McGee-Tyson, headed anywhere, as soon as you hit about 28,000 feet above Big Orange Country, you saw above the clouds, what a glorious, sunshiny day we were really having! It’s just a matter of perspective! If you’re just a “both-feet-firmly-planted-on-the-dirt” kinda dude, you see one thing. But if you see things from an elevated perspective, everything changes! For the sunnier!
“Whatever. And what’s the deal about ‘sunny skies for the next 24 hours’? It’ll be dark by 6:45 tonight!”
Not everywhere! Not in New Zealand and China! While you’re snoozing, they’ll strollin’ or sippin’ tea and chattin’ under sunny rays! So, it’ll be sunny at 28,000 feet-plus somewhere in the world, the whole day! If you had a weather balloon, an oxygen mask, and a heavy jacket, hat, and gloves, and could follow the sun on it’s daily global circuit, you’d know what I’m telling you is true! Bright and sunny for the next twenty four!
Maybe not here, but somewhere!
It’s all about perspective!
And what about the rain that comes? We really need it! Our daffodils are starting to push out of the mulch and they’re gonna look awesome! Thanks to all those drops from heaven! “God has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven!” (Acts 14)
Thanks, Lord! We need it!
And the darkness that comes at the end of the day? What a blessing!
When you’ve had just a cruddy day and nothing is going right and you wish you could just hit reset and start over? You can! That day won’t last forever! In just a few, the sun will set (on it’s way to shine over Australia at 28,000’!), and you get to snuggle in, close your eyes, and wake up to a new morning! A new chance! A fresh day! As it says at the beginning of the Book, “And it was evening and morning…”
Sunshine and rain, light and dark…we need whatever God sends!
Maybe that’s why Philippians 2 14 says, “Do everything without complaining…”
The original Greek for “everything” means… “EVERYTHING!!”
Never complain! About anything! Ever!
“Well, hold on! I’m not perfect!”
Totally! Nobody’s perfect! He’s not asking for perfection! He’s just asking us to never complain! In fact, not being perfect is just the reason I should never complain! I mess up everyday, but my Heavenly Dad NEVER stops loving and caring for me! What do I have to complain about!?
“Well, I’m only human.”
Actually, that ISN’T true! When you know Jesus, you’re more than just human! You have powers from God, Who now lives inside you! You’re different from who you were! You’re different from what others without Him, are! You have super-powers from God!
Early yesterday, I was reading (I remember it was a bright, sunny morning…28,000 ‘ above Nova Scotia…) in 1 Corinthians 3. Those dudes were arguing and bickering. And probably complaining tons! And Paul wrote to tell them to knock it off! “When you do that, you’re acting like plain ol’ humans!” (1 Cor 3.4)
You’re not “plain ol’ humans”!
You’re more!
You have super powers! You have the power to never complain! You have the power to praise by the Holy Spirit!
Because of Jesus, you’re “Praise Boy!” Or “Praise Girl!”
By the way, if you’ve already had a messed up day, that started with complaining and grumping, good news! It’ll be dark soon! And you get to start over in the morning!
By the way, forecast for tomorrow?
Bright and sunny!
Somewhere!
A Note From Tom: January 20th, 2012
Hey, everyone!
Hope you’re having an awesome week! In fact a verse from the Gospel of Luke I just read and an email I got recently both told me that you may be having a better week than you could even imagine!
What verse? Well, it’s kinda different but it says, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (Luke 16.9)
It means, among other things, use your money to help people get in the kingdom so in heaven, you’ll have friends that are glad to meet you and happy you’re there!
I’ve been thinking about this more these days because of the New Year… time passing…another year closer to the “Return of the King”…every day closer, feeling my heart turn towards Home…
I know some don’t EVER think about being ready ‘til the two minute warning (even tho’ the Mayans apparently have some folks freaked out!)…. Reminded me of the two ladies who were talking in their lifeboat after the Titanic hit the iceberg and one of them said, "If I'd known this was going to happen, I'd have had the chocolate pecan pie!"
If you know something about what's ahead, it helps with choices you need to make.
Seriously, one of the people they pulled out of the water when the Titanic sank, was John Jacob Astor. He was frozen and so were his gold watch, his gold and diamond cuff links, his diamond ring with three stones, his $2440 in frozen bills, the £5 in gold, his ten franc pieces, and his gold pencil. If he knew what was coming, he might have made different choices!
We can’t really be sure about whether or not Jesus is coming sooner rather than later, but y’all at Triple C are helping us make wise choices in the light of what’s ahead!
As we were figuring out the budget for CCC for the next year (which we’ll share with y’all this Sunday in Community group time), we calculated that our church has been able to give away 24% of our budget last year to missionaries we support! Your giving helped you make some friends you’ve never even met…but when you get to heaven, they’ll be glad you’re there!
Oh, the email I got? I almost forgot!
It was from Paul and Karen Davis! They are sharing Jesus in a town in southeast France. They’ve been in France forever doing this and they’ve started a new thing in this town where folks have never had the opportunity to hear about the One Who “makes all things new” in a world where some things are really getting old! Before the most recent email, they were talking in the one from November about all that had happened in this last year.
Check it…
“November 29, 2011 -- This week marks our one-year anniversary in Pontcharra. …
* Last year we were the new arrivals in the neighborhood. Now we are involved in multiple community activities and feel at home!
* Last year we hardly new anyone in Pontcharra. Now we have lots of contacts and people know why we are here!
* Last year a few believers in Pontcharra were meeting together irregularly. Now we have two home groups meeting regularly for Bible study and prayer!
* Last year the believers in Pontcharra expressed their desire to have worship services in their city. Now we have monthly worship services in Pontcharra!...”
Then after Christmas, we got this…
“Our family of believers in Pontcharra got together on December 17 for a special Christmas worship service . We reviewed the scene in Bethlehem with the sad news that their was no room for Joseph & Mary in the Inn. We asked, "Is there room for Jesus in our hearts today?" We are so thankful for our spiritual family in Pontcharra!...”
If that just blew by you, take a sec to reflect…
A town where almost no one knows Jesus.
Almost everyone is without God.
Lost.
Dead in the heart.
Yuck.
Add…
Two people.
Plus one year.
Plus God working invisibly.
Result?
People worshipping Jesus! Folks reading the Holy Scriptures! Men and women and kids asking themselves, “Am I that inn keeper? Why don’t I have room for Him? Maybe I can!”
Sacre Bleu! It’s amazing!
Next monthly worship time for the folks in Pontcharra, France who love Jesus, together with those who are learning more about Him?
Tomorrow!
Seeing how it’s budget time, I just wanted to say…Thank you so much for giving to all God is doing at Triple C! God is soooo faithful! Through your generous hearts, He met all of our needs at Christ Community in 2011 and your giving was to Him was “like a sweet-smelling sacrifice…filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus!” (Philippians 4. 18-21)
And whether you know it or not…or better, whether you know them or not…around the world…in Spain, Kenya, Italy, Morocco, India, Missouri, Chicago, Anderson Co., TN, and in Pontcharra, France… you and your generosity have made new friends who’ve come into the kingdom! What could possibly be better…or wiser…than that!?
Won’t it be awesome when we get finally Home with Him and those you’ve never met call out your name?
“Hey! There you are!!!”
A Note From Tom: January 13th, 2012
Hey, everyone!
How ‘about this SNOW DAY!? Well, it’s not really much of one, but it’s a start! And here’s the forecast for the weekend…
“Snow flurries early this morning, otherwise decreasing clouds becoming mostly sunny, breezy and staying cold with highs only in the middle 30s… Lows Friday night dip into the middle to upper teens… Saturday night there could be a few flurries with that system, but no problems anticipated…”
Actually, a lot of people have anticipated more problems today than they really will have…
You know, Friday the 13th and all…
The National Geographic estimated that $900,000,000 will be lost today in business because some won’t fly, travel, or go to work because of the date. They suffer from “paraskevidekatriaphobia” (fear of Friday 13th). Nobody knows where it came from, but it’s the most widely believed superstition in America!
Isn’t that crazy?
People just expecting the worst for no reason at all!!
Sometimes I think that this is a big difference that Jesus makes in the heart! Because of Him...because He reigns over all as King of kings and Lord of our hearts, we can expect good things to come to us, instead of seeing the bad in things all the time! And always expecting the worst!
Check this out from Psalm 31…
“How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you!”
Good things, stored and on the way!
Even if we have to go thru hard times, He is doing something amazing in and thru them that couldn’t happen any other way!
Just think of the good things you can expect to happen to you this week!
Let’s make a list!
1) Today, all things will work together for good for us who love God (Romans 8.28)
2) And with the snow, it’s good to remember that He has made our sins “white as snow!” (Isaiah 1.18)
3) And He’s in control of everything that happens! Even the “snow, clouds and winds do His bidding!” (Psalm 148.8)
4) On Sunday, we’ll meet together and sing praises to Him! And our hearts will be filled with love for Him for the week ahead! That’s a beautiful thing to look forward to!
5) And also we ……just like I was hoping it would! See? God has good things for us! Expect ‘em!
A Note From Tom: January 5th, 2012
Hey, everyone!
Happy First Weekly CCC E-news of 2012! (Are we gonna get to call this year “ ’12”? Or do we have to say “2012”?)
If you have any resolutions to keep…how’s it going so far? I just found out that January 1 wasn’t the official “New Years Day” until 1752. Before that it was March 1. It’s kind of a bummer because if the year started on Jan 1 and New Years wasn’t until March 1, it gave you three months to practice on your resolutions and get the flops out of your system before you had to seriously do them. If you had to lose weight, it gave you three months to go ahead and get your weight up to an even number before you had to start losing it!
Anyway, one of the keys to keeping your resolutions is to make some you can keep. Let me give you a few suggestions if it’s not too late to add a few…
Sing more in ‘12! (or in 2012!) It’s easy! It’s cheap! It’s fun! And it’s so good for you! Studies have proven that singing helps strengthen the diaphram, helps fight asthma, and even make your snoring get better! German research proves that it helps you fight diseases! They compared two groups- singers on a stage and their audience. The singers had elevated levels of antibodies to fight off disease and infection, while those who listened to the singing had elevated levels of stress hormone! (Maybe it was the high notes!) So join in with JT when “Carolina On My Mind” comes up on your playlist! Or sing along with the Ol’ Possum (“...he stopped loving heeeerrrrrr today...”) You probably know more Rodgers and Hammerstein than you think! (“You’ll never walk aloooone!”) You’ll sneeze less, and even tho’ your singing may stress your friends more, your snoring will stress your mate less!
Laugh everyday in ’12! Laughing is also very good for you! It’s good for your heart. A study at the University of Maryland found that people with heart disease are 40% less likely to laugh at funny things that other people. One report said that “ Laughter can be a great workout for your diaphragm, abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles. It massages abdominal organs, tones intestinal functioning, and strengthens the muscles that hold the abdominal organs in place. “
Good to know.
Pre-school kids laugh 400 times a day while adults only laugh 17 times!
What happened?
“A mom told her son, ‘Billy, eat your broccoli! It’ll put color in your cheeks!’
‘Who wants green cheeks?!’”
Think that funny? Well, kids do! See the point? (Maybe the point is that kids think stupid jokes are funny and you lose that somewhere along the way)
Let’s see…
Sing more.
Laugh daily.
And…
Join a Community Group and attend it every week! On Sundays, we have what we like to call “Community Groups” during the 9:30 to 10:30 hour. They are sort of like small groups that you would attend during the week, expect they are on Sundays at church (where you’re already planning to be…we’re trying to make it as easy as possible!). Community groups are a super time to be with other people who love Jesus and become better friends. It’s a time to be in the Word and also get to know other people in your church family better! It’s a time to share and encourage!!
And Community Groups are good for your health! They could even save your life! Harvard researchers studied 7000 people over nine years and found that people with terrible health habits like unhealthy eating and smoking but with good friends live a lot longer than people with good habits and no/few friends. “If you belong to no support groups and then join one, you cut your risk of dying over the next year IN HALF!”
The Journal of the American Medical Association found that people with strong emotional connections were four times less likely to get colds, were less susceptible to virus and had significantly less mucous than isolated subjects, proving that “…unfriendly people are literally snottier than friendly people.”
If you don’t come to a community group, why not start in 12”? Other people need you! Your friendship and your encouragement! And it will be good for your health! And you’ll get fewer colds!
If you decide to not come to one, I’ll go ahead and say it. Gesundheit!!
A Note From Tom: December 29th, 2012
Hey, everyone!
We’ve almost made it to the end of 2011!
It takes all of us 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, and 9.54 seconds to do the loop! One lap ‘round the sun was almost 600 million miles! No wonder you’re feeling a little tired ‘bout now!
Almost everybody is agreed…2011 was a tough one! Economically, meteorologically, UTVolFootball-ly, inalmosteveryotherway-ly, 2011 isn’t getting great reviews. 2½ stars by some. One dude on the radio interviewed this other guy and asked, “If a Martian landed from Mars (where else?) and wanted to know how the situation here on earth was going in ‘11, how would you answer?” The other guy said, “I’d ask him, ‘Can that spaceship take you back up to Mars…’cause you might want to climb back up in there!”
But yesterday, I read the most beautifully hopeful verse…almost tripped over it without noticing it…in the Gospel of Mark. Here it is…”After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God” (Mark 1. 14)
One version puts it like this…”Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God…”
The ol’ King James puts it…”Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God…”
Notice the diff? The King’s guys put some extra words in there (“…of the kingdom of…”) to make it make more sense.
But less is more!
The King James says Jesus was telling everyone about the good news of “the kingdom of God”…which is awesome news! God reigns! And the kingdom is coming!
But what Mark wrote was that Jesus told everyone about “the good news about God”!!
“I have Good news! Here it is!...God!!
God is good! God is awesome! And no matter what happens, He reigns! And He loooooovvvveeeeesssss yyyyoooouuuuu! And in love and in 2012, He rules over all that will happen to me and to thee!
In nice and bad, happy and sad, God is good…all the time…no matter what!
That’s Good News!
Here’s something else I almost missed yesterday…
I was chattin’ it up with an older gentleman, and he said, “Well, have a Happy New Year!”
Did you get that!?
He didn’t say, “Happy New Year!”…as in, “I wish for you a Happy New Year!”
He said, “HAVE a Happy New Year!”
In 2012, you can have a happy one or a less-than-happy-one. So…HAVE a happy one! Make your decision! Decide to have a happy one! Have one! The choice is up to you!”
If God is good and loves me and is working out an awesome plan, in and thru all that happens to me in the coming year (that’s the good news about God!), than it just makes sense that I should, could, and can be happy all day…every day!
Here’s how two of my favorites put it…
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (Habakkuk 3)
How ‘bout making THAT your verse for 2012?
And then there’s this...
“Habakkuk teaches us that joy is not dependent on circumstances but can be embraced at all times. Happiness doesn’t happen; it involves an act of the will…Happiness is a choice.
….While suffering in inevitable, misery is optional. Pain can’t be avoided, but joy can. If you don’t believe in the power of choice, you won’t experience it…
It would be cruel to expect anyone to be always happy apart from God. But in the Lord-why not? Who wouldn’t be overjoyed with a God who ‘has given us everything we need for life and godliness’ (2 Peter 1)?
In the words of a Christmas carol, ‘Why on earth should men be so sad, since our Redeemer has made us glad?” (Mike Mason)
So, I’m not just gonna wish y’all a “Happy New Year!”
I guess I’m encouraging you and me to decide…
…no matter what happens, good or bad, nice or sad…
…because no matter what the news or the new year brings, the Good News that trumps all other news is…well,…God! He’s always good! All the time!...
…and because the choice to have joy in Jesus, no matter what, is yours and mine!…
…I’m gonna encourage you…as far as Happy New Years are concerned…
…TO HAVE ONE!!
A Note From Tom: December 15th, 2011
Hey, everyone!
Hope you’re having an awesome, praise-filled, peace-filled week before Christmas!
I was reading this article that said that if Santa’s reindeer where going to hit every home in the world in one night (calculating for all the time zones changes) they would still have to travel at 650 mile per second! But if anyone could do it, they could! Reindeer can outrun humans when they’re only one day old!
And I say, let ‘em do it!
I remember one Christmas eve, worried about the disparity of piles around the Christmas tree, I was dashing to West Town at 3:45 in the afternoon…of Christmas Eve!.
And I started to scream!
Was it at the traffic? At the pressure? Out of fright because of an unexpected visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past? I never found out. I just decided, “Wow, dude. You’re losing it…”
You know that song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”? It’s really kinda true! In some ways, Christmas-wise, the littler, the merrier!
I don’t even remember what I was speeding to K-town to get! Somehow it was worth risking my life for at the time, but I can’t even remember what it was! As a matter of fact, one in three Americans can’t remember ONE THING they got for Christmas last year!
I do know Someone Who will never forget some Christmas presents, tho!
I’ve been hearing a lot this year, “Why all the shopping for everyone? Why all the wish-lists? It’s not your birthday!” I guess that’s a good point.
Christmas is to remember the birth of our Lord! In lots of carols we sing about bringing Him gifts at His birth.
“What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
I will give my heart.
Or how ‘bout…
“I have no gift to bring. Pa rum pum pum pum
I’ll play my drum for Him. Pa rum Pum Pum pum…”
But when it gets down to it, how do you buy something for Him?
What do you get for the One Who truly has everything?!
In Matthew 25, our Lord, said, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink...Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
When you give to those who have little…or all they have is trouble…you give to Him! Jonathan Edwards believed that God has left poor people in the world to be His “receivers”. Giving to them is giving to Him! They accept presents and for our Lord, Christmas is merrier! You can almost hear Him say, “Just what I always wanted!”
This Christmas soooooooo many of y’all gave Christmas gifts to Him by giving gifts for India! 35 orphan kids will go to school this year because of you! 350 widows will have new clothes this Christmas because of you!
Victor wrote to me this week…
“My dear brother Tom,
I am so thrilled to hear this news from you and I thank the Lord so
much for giving such a friend like you and the church who loves the
Lord and especially the love that they have for me and the ministry in
India….
When I saw your letter I am so happy and my eyes with tears to see the love you all have for me and the ministry here in India. Thanks so much once again.
Please convey our heartfelt thanks and wishes to all the members at triple C.
Affectionately yours in His ministry,
Victor”
Wow!
How thankful I am to have the honor of working at a place like C3! To walk through this life with folks like you all! With hearts sooooo big and love sooooo deep for Jesus and His “least of these”, so dear to Him!
And He will never forget what He received for Christmas from you!!
Check this Christmas verse…
“God will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them!” (Hebrews 6.10)
In your heart you can almost hear Him say, “Gifts for My orphans! And for My widows! Just what I always wanted!”
Merry Christmas, everyone!
A Note From Tom: December 9th, 2011
Hey, everybody!
Ever notice that your Christmastime heart is always filled with names and faces that you maybe haven’t thought about since last year? It’s like you put their memory away in the attic of your mind and bring them out like your old, familiar favorite Christmas tree ornaments, and you think, “There you are! So glad to see you again!”
I’m not talking about Santa or the wisemen. I mean those less-than-protagonist characters who have their moments on stage in the Christmas play that takes place in your heart each year. Folks like…Bing Crosby (don’t you love where he whistles a harmony part near the end?)…Boris Karloff (“Huh? Wasn’t he the original Frankenstein?” Sure, but he also narrates the Grinch TV special!)…George Bailey’s wife, Donna Reed (Have you thought about her ONCE this year? See?)…along with Ernie and Bert, the cop and taxi driver of Bedford Falls (Did you know that they named the Sesame Street Ernie and Bert the same thing and it was a complete coincidence?)…Nat King Cole (“…Altho’ it’s been said many times, many ways…”)…Bob Crachit…Speaking of Bobs, Bob Newhart, Will Ferrill’s adoptive dad in “Elf”…then there’s Hermie, the elf who wants to be a dentist…
Wow! The list is longer than the one I used to give Santa!
Speaking of minor players in Christmas stories…Did anyone think of Anna, the Christmas prophet? Maybe she’s been closer to your heart than you realize this Christmas…
Remember how in Luke, chapter two, after the Holy Couple found a barn…and after the Holy Babe was wrapped in swaddling clothes…and after the angels’ surprise appearance to the shepherds…and after the shepherds’ surprise appearance to Mary and Joseph and the Baby...in fact, a week after…
…the Holy Family went to the city of Jerusalem, four miles or so down the road, to dedicate our Lord in the temple. It was time for Him to receive His Name. And there were plenty of people there, as always. But there was one person who was always there. Had been for YEARS! It was an old prophet named Anna. Her life had been very sad, but it says she was a prophet and she must have known that her day was about to get…wonderful!
She had been married for seven years. Then her husband died. If she was married at the normal age of thirteen, she was left a widow at twenty. She remained a widow for…eighty four years! So she was 104! The widow’s life was usually very tough in those days. They couldn’t seek a profession or career options back then. They had to trust God for everything, everyday. That’s why she “never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying…” (Luke 2.37) She came around the corner at the very moment the young parents did, and she saw… the Infant King!
Another older person named Simeon had asked to hold the Child, and he did.
I’m not sure if Anna asked, “May I have a turn as well?”
(“Uh…I don’t think so. You’re like, 100…and we don’t really know you.”)
But after all those years of widowhood, she saw in the arms of a young couple, the One Who loved her most!
Luke says that “…she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem…”
Last week, you heard about widows in India. Many of them become widows at a very early age. With children to care for, and no way to support their families, so many who have heard the “glad tidings of great joy!” from Victor Nandigam and his faithful, courageous friends, have opened their hearts to Him, turning from harsh, heartless, fearful beliefs, to Jesus and His love! Victor tries to care for them all he can. He prays that God will allow him to provide one sari, the native dress, for each widow every Christmas. It will be their whole wardrobe. So…
We put dozens of envelopes on a Christmas tree! Five saris for $50! Along with 35 envelopes for 35 orphans...72 bucks per orphans for a year of school. That tree was covered with envelopes! Until that night! By sunset, the envelopes were ALL GONE! WOW!!! Psalm 65.4 says “the streams of God are filled with water!” And the hearts of Triple C are filled with Christmas love!! How could we thank you enough for caring and loving orphans and widows in India?! And loving an Indian brother who has so little and cares for so many!! This is the greatest Christmas EVER!!
…because along with children with no parents except a Heavenly Father…
widows will have a day when they see Jesus! In the hearts and gifts of those far away who love Him and them! And in India, they will “give thanks to God and speak about the Child to all who are looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem…”
And India!
Wow! Thanks for making this the Merriest Christmas ever!
A Note From Tom: December 1st, 2011
Hey, everyone!
Wow! Can you believe it!? Just three and a half more weeks ‘til it’s CHRISTMAS! Man! How did it get here so fast?! That’s not a lot of time for all you Santas out there! But it IS a long time for all you Christmas trees! Hate to tell you this but, I read that real, cut Christmas trees really aren’t supposed to go past a little over four weeks in your house. If yours is already up, promise you won’t keep it past Christmas ‘til New Years, PLEASE!
Jeremiah apparently wasn’t a huge fan of the whole Christmas tree thing. I don’t mean to be all Scrooge-y, but check this verse out…
““Do not learn the ways of the nations…they cut a tree out of the forest…They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter…they can do no harm nor can they do any good.” (Jer. 10)
I’m not sure what that’s all about, but maybe he would have felt different about a fake tree.
The biggest issue is letting your tree get too dried out. Christmas trees cause 250 fires and do $13.8 million in damages every year! The New York City fire commissioner has a fake one. "I just didn't feel comfortable with a real tree in my house," he said.
So you have to keep it fresh and green as long as possible! The NYC fire department offers these suggestions…
1. Run yer hand over the branches. If too many needles fall off, fagetaboutit
2.Keep da bucket fulla water.
3. Sing Christmas carols around your tree.
Actually, that suggestion comes from me! It’s not actually going to help your tree, but Christmas singing and praising … not the “Frosty, “Rudolphy” ones but the solid carols, like “Good Christian Men Rejoice!”…Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!”…”God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen!” (or is it, “…Ye Merry, Gentlemen”…where does that comma go?)…O Come, All Ye Faithful!”,,,those awesome, praise-filled carols…will keep YOU from drying out and wilting during the holidays!
In Psalm 92, it says…
It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,
proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night… I sing for joy at what your hands have done…(Ps. 92.1-4)
And here’s what singing does for you…
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon…will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green… (Ps 92.12-14)
So, to stay “fresh and green” all Christmas long, keep Christmas songs and praises in your heart!
And water in your bucket!
A Note From Tom: Novemeber 23rd, 2011
Hey, everyone!
Wow! I’ve been running around today like a turkey trying to get away from that dude with the hachet! But I want to stop for a sec between getting last things done and hitting the grocery store one last time before we put on the brakes for a day in the year that I really love…to say to you, “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!”
Ever wonder what it means?
“Thanks”, I mean.
It’s from an old Saxon word (“thancon”…or “thankoz”) which meant “”thought”. That word comes from an older Saxon word (“tong”) which meant “to think”. “Thanks” means, “Just think! …About all God has done for you…about how amazing He is…about how He loves you like you’ve never been loved before…just think!”
If you stop and think…you’ll thank!
In Italian, the word for “thanks” is “grazie!” It’s like our Spanish friends say…”Gracias!” It’s where we get our word “gratitude” and “grateful”. IT comes from the Latin word “gratia” which means “a free favor from the goodwill of someone’s heart… something free, given to you!” It’s where the word, “grace” (as in “Let’s bow and say grace”) comes from! God’s gift freely given to me!
When you say, “grace” at the table tomorrow, it means that you are saying that all you see…all you smell…mmmm…all you taste…all the flavors…all the joy and love around your table and in the home… is grace! Over it all, you say, “Grace! These are gifts! From the heart of God…given to me!” Over all on this table, I say, “This is grace!”
In France, they would say, “Merci’!” Mercy! All of this is the mercy of God to me! I say over all of this, “A table filled with delicious things to eat…a house where we stay warm and dry…a home full of love and kindness…all of this is mercy from God…for me!”
Tomorrow, when we say “thanks”, we’ll be saying, “Just think!...All this is the mercy and good gift of our God to us!”
So…let’s have a Just-think!-God-has-freely-given-us-all-of-this-from-His-goodness-and-mercy!-Over-all-this-we-say-‘This-is-grace-and-mercy!’ Day!!
By the way, on this Thanksgiving Day, we thank God with all of our hearts for you!
Just think! Or as the Ol’ Saxons would say, “Just tong”!
You’re a gift of God to us all!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
A Note From Tom: Novemeber 18th, 2011
Hey, everyone!
On this Thanksgiving week, I’m just gonna go ahead and say it…I am SOOOOO THANKFUL!
For YOU!
For how much you praise!
For how much you give!
For how much you care about things that matter!
For how encouraging it is to be at Triple C!
I don’t really know how to say it! I wanted just the right words but I may never find the ones that really say how I feel! I don’t know how to say how much…
…we thank God for all His goodness!
For all His promises!
For loving each of us so wonderfully!
For washing us clean and making us His!
For giving us delicious food and a beautiful country to live in!
For filling our hearts with joy!
For giving the faith to trust Him when it gets tough!
For a life full of family and loving friends!
For something good and sweet to do for Him!
For CCC!
And at the Job house, how we thank God for you!!
Y’know, one person who was totally awesome at finding the perfect word and putting it in the perfect place, was my homeboy, Abe Lincoln! For whatever reason, I’m on a Lincoln kick right now. It comes and goes. Right now, it’s on like donkey kong! And…
…this time I’m blown away with the way a dude who didn’t do two full years of grammar school, and who had to read out loud or at least while moving his lips, (but who taught himself all he needed to know to pass the Illinois state bar exam and become one of the most brilliant lawyers in all the “Land of Lincoln” state) could throw down words!
This is from his first inaugural speech, as some states were turning our United States into Divided Ones. Check this…(try reading it really slowly!)…
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
Wow! “…to every living heart and hearthstone…” So cool!!
One time he wrote a letter to General George Meade and he was super upset! The general had defeated Robt. E. Lee at Gettysburg but he didn’t chase them over the Potomac River and the rebels got away. The President wrote to express how mad he was. He ended with this…
“…Again, my dear general, I do not believe you appreciate the magnitude of the misfortune involved in Lee's escape. He was within your easy grasp, and to have closed upon him would have ended the war. As it is, the war will be prolonged indefinitely… Your golden opportunity is gone, and I am distressed immeasurably because of it...”
Wow.
Funny thing. He never sent it. Lincoln sometimes put his feelings down on a letter and then he’d put it…and them… in a drawer and he’d leave it there.
I guess some things aren’t worth saying. That’s what is so beautiful about a Day of Thanksgiving! Thankful words are the words, instead of other words, that are always welcome! Every day!
The Apostle wrote once in a letter (that he sent!) …
“Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving!” (Ephesians 5.4)
Or as the Message puts it…
“Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect!”
“Don’t get gross! Give thanks!”
In another place, he said that complaining, whining, or cross words are never indicated. But thanks is always appropriate!
So I want to say, “Thank you!...for being you! And for all you do! And I thank God for you!”
Sometimes, at Thanksgiving, you can read the words of President Lincoln’s proclamation, establishing the first official Thanksgiving Day. Here’s some of it…
“Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come…the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. … It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also…fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln”
Only problem with that was…
Lincoln didn’t really write those words. Historians say that his Secretary of State, William Seward actually wrote that.
I could tell.
A Note From Tom: Novemeber 11th, 2011
Hey, everyone!
What perfect weather for the play-offs! Unless the game is sorta…dopey.
I’m not sure if you know, but this weekend is the play-off tournament for a new game on university campuses (is it “campi”, Latin scholars?). Across the country, 200 colleges now have official (sort of) Quidditch teams! For those who live in the Potter-free zone, Quidditch is an international game (England’s most famous teams are the Chudley Cannons and Puddlemere United) that they also play at Hogworts School in the Harry Potter series. It’s super complicated…each game has chasers, bluggers, quaffles, a snitch and a seeker…and it’s super dangerous because all the players are riding flying brooms scores of feet in the air! If they “drop you behind the line”, it’s a long way down!
Anyway, some folks who are “just wild about Harry” decided that along with normal earth-bound sports like football, baseball, soccer or volleyball, colleges needed to have Quidditch teams!
It started with two dudes at Middlebury who wanted something to do on Sundays that was a little more intense than bocce ball (I can see that…) This weekend, sixty teams will swoop into New York City (in airplanes!) for the fifth annual Qidditch World Cup.
They say it’s kind of like ultimate freesbe, only (in my most humble opinion)…lamer.
I mean…
Instead of the “golden snitch”, a tiny gold ball with wings that the seeker has to catch, there’s a cross-country guy, running around with a tennis ball velcroed to his shorts…Definitely not the same thing.
And instead of folks making diving graps or blocks at the Frisbee, in college Quidditch, you can’t! Technically, you could. But you can’t. Because you have to have a broom between your legs that you have to hang on to all the time! So you only have one hand free and you’re tripping all over yourself all the time. And whacking it into other people! The broom thing is a royal pain! Because it doesn’t fly! Because all the students are, as Hermione would say, “muggles”! “Muggles” in those books are people who don’t have magical powers…including magical broom flying skills! Running around with a broom is good if you have a lot of stuff to sweep up in a hurry. If not, it gives you nothing! If you are pretending you’re flying on it, you can’t really even walk well!
Y’know, just walking is amazing! You use 200 muscles every step! And if you walk with Jesus, He gives you all it takes to do amazing, “normal” stuff, such as being “compassionate, kind, gentle, humble and patient!” (Col 3). Normal muggles can’t do these things!
But if you spend all your time and energy trying to be someone you’re not…and do things you can’t do…that no one really could do…
It winds up being lame…
People get hurt…
And you can’t do the normal, amazing stuff…like love and kindness…well!
Flying would be cool, I guess. But as Isaiah says, “…those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint!”
Flying’s amazing! Running’s cool! But the best is when you can just keep on walking…with Him!
Walk on, muggle in Christ!
A Note From Tom: Novemeber 4th, 2011
Hey, everyone!
Hope you’re having an awesome week after the big holiday!! Wasn’t it awesome on Monday? I thought the “Day” would never get here!
Huh?! Halloween?!
No way! I’m not talking about THAT awful holiday!! I’m talkin’ ‘bout Reformation Day! Every year! October thirty one!
I don’t mean to be all “opinion-y” but I think that a holiday when folks put freaky, creepy stuff in their yards and freaky, creepy stuff hanging out of their trees so that sweet little kids see all that freakiness and creepiness and wake up crying from freaky, creepy dreams, well, I think the whole thing is freaky! And creepy!
Why would you have a holiday where the whole point is to be scared?
Wanna know where Halloween comes from? Ready? Sure? Well, a long time ago…Oh, forget it. It’s not worth talkin’ about.
Speaking of a long time ago…
A long time ago, the normal lives of normal folks were scarier than ours is today. They thought there were goblins and spirits, ghosts and devils behind trees and rocks. They believed God was impossibly angry. Their best hope, after escaping this dangerous world in death, was to spend years and years in a dark and painful somewhere, waiting to make it to heaven when they were purified and qualified enough of all their lingering yuckiness.
They were scared every day of the year. Not just on one day.
Some took advantage of this and of them, promising less dark years between death and Heaven, if they’d donate money to this church or that cathedral.
But a young German Augustinian monk was reading…reading…reading the Bible…the New Testament…Paul’s letter to the Romans. And he discovered something that few knew. When you believe in Jesus, you’re forgiven for good and forever! When you die, you don’t stop over for centuries in any dark place! You go home!! You don’t even really die; that’s when you really start to live! The moment you believe, the God Who loved you every second all along the way, becomes your Dad! He cares for you all the time! You never have to be afraid again! You don’t have to fear today or tomorrow!
"At last, meditating day and night, by the mercy of God, I ... began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith… Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open."-Martin Luther
On October 31, 1517 “All Hollows Eve”, the day before “All Saints Day”, he nailed 95 thoughts to the big wooden door of the Wittenburg Church. “God’s righteousness is free! You can’t buy it! You just take it! And it’s yours! And it isn’t right, true, or good that someone would make money by telling you that you could try to pay for it!” (More or less that’s what he wrote)
Those thoughts “went viral” and hearts were freed of their fears, knowing Jesus was all they needed!
When he was put on trial for writing these things, he could have been afraid, but with Jesus in his heart, he wasn’t! In front of the court and the Emperor, he said…
"Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the Holy Scriptures or with open, clear, and distinct grounds of reasoning ... then I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe nor wise to act against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me! Amen."
Paul says that when you accept Jesus, you don’t have ”a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear” (Romans 8 15)
Why celebrate a holiday where the whole point is being scared?
So Happy (belated) Reformation Day, everybody! It’s the holiday for those who (praise Jesus!) aren’t scared of anything!
And if you get a chance, tell your neighbors it’s time to get that freaky, creepy stuff back in the attic! Or in the garbage!
A Note From Tom: October 26th, 2011
Hey, everyone!
Happy Holidays!
“What!? Little early with all that, ain’t it?”
Well, not really. I guess, technically, we never really left the holiday season. If you snoop around enough, you find that everyday, somewhere is a holiday.
Take today, f’r instance. Did you know that…
…Today is the birthday of Giuditta Pasta, one of the greatest Italian sopranos of the 19th century? With a last name like that, she may have been the one they had in mind when they invented the saying, “The opera ain’t over ‘til the…”)
…and today’s the birthday of C. W. Post (1854), who invented Post Toasties and Post Grape-Nuts. He was a total health food nut (a health food “grape nut”) and wanted Americans to have lots health foods to fight off all their sicknesses. (Probably a good thing he died before Post Fruitty Pebbles was born!)
…and today’s the National Anniversary of the Gun-fight at the OK Corral. Actually, it’s isn’t a national holiday. But it was a good day for Doc Holliday!
…and, in many places in the world, today, October 26, is St. Culbert of Canterbury Day!
Speaking of saints we may or may not have heard of…
Yesterday was St. Crispin’s Day.
The reason I know is that someone sent me a St. Crispin’s card. (If St. Valentine’s Day cards are called “Valentine’s”, did I get a “Crisp”?) Actually, it was a St. Crispin’s Day text. From Lee! We both love St. Crispins Day because it reminds us both of a time on a Sunday morning at Triple C, when I ridiculously quoted the famous speech (which I had never heard of!) by Henry V from Shakespeare’s “Henry V”.
Since, I’ve NEVER read “Henry V” (and don’t know hardly a thing about the Henrys, whether there were XV or LV! Or CVX!) I could have been fined for quoting Shakespeare without a license! It’s actually a speech I found quoted in a book.
And, even tho’ I was WAAAY over my head, Shakespearily speaking, the speech IS awesome!
Hank, King of England, was trying to pump up the troops against the French on the day of the battle of Agincourt in 1415. And they needed some encouragement! They were all hungry…a long way from home…lots of them were suffering from chronic diarrhea (it’s what finally got Henry “in the end”)…
As he got ready to give his super-important pre-battle speech, he remembered that it was October 25, 1415…St. Crispin’s Day! It didn’t really mean much to the troops that it was the Day of Crispin.
‘But it could!”, yelled the King!
Henry was dirty, sick, and weak. So was everyone! But the fight was before them! They needed courage their hearts didn’t yet feel. Where would it come from? Courage would come from their memories of …the future!
Listen, weary warrior!
“…This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day.
Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
…And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
(For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother)…
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day!”
Wow!
Did you get it? This is a holiday that only a few notice. October 26. St. Culbert’s Day. (“Huh? Who?”) But you and I have battles to fight today! We have to be ready to fight…
…against temptations to do stupid things we could regret to the end of our days…
…against depressions or despair, when those we love NEED us to believe for today that God is always good and wise and loving…
…against accusations of an unseen enemy who brings absurd slanderous thoughts to our minds, we who are clean and bright in the Lamb of God, and him even trying (imagine this!) to make us believe those ridiculous thoughts come from our own hearts and not from him…
And when we fight…against temptations, doubts, despair, and the devil
…and when we win!
...angels and saints in heaven watch and cheer us! And years from now in Heaven, they will never forget that on this day, October 26, the year of our Lord 2011, you and I fought our battles and won!
Happy St. Culbert of Cantebury Day, everyone!
A Note From Tom: October 14th, 2011
Hey, everyone!
Hope you’re havin’ a week of awesome autumn awesomeness! A week of fantastic fall falliness! A week of the coolest fall coolness! Don’t you love it?!
For me, fall is the most colorful time!
The pumpkins are orange…the leaves are red and yellow…and, as we say, “my grass is blue!” I don’t know why, but in the fall and spring, my heart is just pinin’ for bluegrass music! Last week, we got to go to the Museum of Appalachia for their fall “Homecoming” Awesomely awesome! Behind every hay stack, every tobacco barn, every kettle of beans, every molasses mashin’ mule, every quilting bee-hive, there was a bluegrass group! There were teen brother-and-sister groups. There were groups of old dudes who made it sloooowly up on to the stage with fiddle in one hand and walking cane in the other…and then…they would TEAR IT UP! It was like bluegrass heaven! Reminded me of Lester Flatt’s famous “I’m Gonna Be in Heaven’s Bluegrass Band!”
I know. I know. The words to those songs are a little corny for some folks. Speaking of corny bluegrass corniness, all you have to do is think Lester and Earl’s lyrics to the Martha White Flour and Corn Meal jingle…
“Now you bake right (uh-huh) with Martha White (yes, ma'am)
Goodness gracious, good and light, Martha White
For the finest biscuits, cakes and pies,
Get Martha White self-rising flour
The one all purpose flour,
Martha White self-rising flour's
Got Hot Rise!”
(This is when Earl Scruggs busts out that unbelievable banjo break high up on the 21st fret! He’s still the best!)
Occasionally, bluegrass songs about our faith in Jesus can be a little over the top, corniness-wise. Just take, “Prayer Bells of Heaven” as an example.
“While we are leaving in this world of care,
Many the burdens that we have to bear.
But there’s a prayer bell at the Lord’s right hand.
Give it a ring and He will understand!
Prayer bells of heaven oh how sweetly they ring
Bearing a message unto Jesus our king
When you are burdened down with sorrows and care
Ring on and on for God will answer your prayer!”
All you have to do when you’re in trouble is ring the prayer bells of Heaven and call Jesus!
Maybe it sounds corny, but it’s true! Speaking of corny…
Did you hear about the couple that got confused and scared in the corn maze last week? Apparently, Monday evening on a farm in Danvers, Mass., a family had gotten lost in a corn maze (isn’t that kinda the point?) They had only been in it for about 30 feet. That’s when they freaked!! Thankfully, they had…DA DA! Cell phones! They called 911. “"I don't see anybody. I'm really scared. It's really dark and we've got a three-week-old baby with us!!"
(Apparently, they didn’t have iphones. Coulda used the GPS and gotten outa there.)
The name of the family wasn’t released (mercifully!) Once they were rescued, the wife told the police, “"We thought this would be fun. Instead it's a nightmare!"
Bless their hearts.
It’s not exactly the same as being lost deep in a cave or trapped in a mine or drifting at sea. If you just walk in any direction, you’re gonna get out of a corn maze. Maybe they over reacted. But thankfully, they could give a call!
Seems kinda silly, really
Seems like me, really.
I know I over-freak-out all the time! When something happens, I so easily feel like I’m shivering in the shadow of impending disaster, when I’m really about as “at risk” as being turned around in a corny ol’ corn maze!
And my Heavenly Dad is watching me! He sees from above and knows exactly where I am.
And just like that petrified family whipped out those cell phones to call for help, all I have to do is “ring the prayer bells of Heaven!”
“Prayer bells of heaven oh how sweetly they ring
Bearing a message unto Jesus our king
When you are burdened down with sorrows and care
Ring on and on for God will answer your prayer!”
Corny, but true!
A Note From Tom: October 6th, 2011
Hey everyone!
Isn’t it an awesome day?
Oh… except for everything they’re talking about in the news today…
Whoa! Seems that unemployment is at an all-time high and rising…For those on Wall Street, it feels more like a roller coaster at Dollywood that a street in Manhattan…The Fed Chairman reported a "deterioration in the economic outlook over the summer….It is clear that, overall, the recovery…has been much less robust than we had hoped."
Yuck! Its so gloomy to hear them talk about it! “…deterioration over the summer…much less robust than we had hoped…” It sounds more like a sports report on the overall performance of the Braves than an economic news update!
It’s stressful just to listen to them talk about it!
Matter of fact, the other night, we were listening to the news and, well…y’know how it just kinda gets you all bummed out…or even anxious…just to listen to the nightly gloomy, doom-y news they always bring on the tube?
Well… Tina hadn’t done her daily two miles yet, and we decided to go walking down our country road just as it was starting to get dark. All you could see was the first star, which is really a planet. As we walked and talked about the news, it started to get darker and darker (not the news, but the sky). By the time we were half way done, the sky was FILLED with stars…hundreds and hundreds of them! Thousands!! Down in OS, we can see more stars than you can see on the “Ridge”. They say in New York City, you see can 30 stars on a clear night. In the suburbs, you can see 300. In the country you can see up to 30,000!
But that’s just a pinch of the stars there are in our Milky Way!
We have something like 100 million billion stars in our galaxy, give or take a trillion! And there are over 100 million billion galaxies like ours out there! There’s a star called Betelguese, that is bigger in diameter than the orbit of Jupiter around the sun!
We walked and watched and wondered.
In Psalm 147, it says “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”
Isaiah says, “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"?
Psalm 148 says the shining stars sing His praises. Can you hear them? What if you could hear them at night?! Wouldn’t that be the coolest!? Wouldn’t you feel better about things in the morning if stars’ songs put you to sleep at night?
Whether or not you hear them, they praise Him!
He knows their number!
He knows their names!
Not one is missing!
Wanna know what the economic out-look is? “Look out!” they’re telling us.
Don’t look out.
Look up!
Seriously. Tonight, go outside and look up!
Go to bed knowing…we’re gonna be alright!
A Note from Tom: Spetember 30th, 2011
Hey, everyone!
Or as they’ll say at the Museum of Appalachia Homecoming, “Howdy, folks!”
Yup! We’re going next week for an afternoon of toe-tappin’, quilting bee-in’, banjo plunkin’, wool spinnin’, fiddle sawin’, ‘baccy chawin’, juice spittin’, moonshine chuggin’ fun! (…well, not those last three!)
It’s gonna be beautiful! On Friday, we’ll hear the “high lonesome” songs of Harlan Fields and the Bluegrass Scholars, the Appalachian Harmonizers, Ramona Jones, widow of the late, great Grampa Jones…wow! The list just keeps goin’!
Mmmmm,! I know that they’ll have that amazingly good ol’ Southern cookin’! Altho’ I’m not a huge fan of some of those dishes…
Pinto bean pie, corn meal gravy, possom jerky, dandelion jelly…Whoa! These are just not my personal favs…
Ever tried ramps? Yuck! Makes your eyes (not your mouth!) water just thinking about it!
Collard greens…Shoooo! I just struggle with them. I think they’re slimy and gross. I’m not sure what to do about it. If anything.
Back in the Old Testament days, they had foods that no one would ever eat. Some southern favorites like rabbit stew or pork barbeque would be unthinkable to the ancients. Other coastal and/or Cajun dishes…squid, shrimp, lobster would be left untouched. It wasn’t because they were yucky (tho’ some illegal foods like lizards, bats, snakes and spiders were borderline gross) but it was because they were “unclean”. Check it in Leviticus, chapter 11. God had determined that His people shouldn’t eat certain critters because it just wasn’t right. In some cases, it was hard to know why, but… Don’t touch! Don’t taste! Above all, don’t swallow!
Until one day…
In Mark, chapter seven, Jesus was talking with His closest friends about some tensions that the religious folks had with Him. They had bunches of problems with Him, but this one was about the things you should or shouldn’t eat and how you should or shouldn’t eat them.
““Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?...(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”) He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, hate, envy, etc. These make him unclean..”
So, it isn’t what you eat that makes you unclean.
But in the middle of all that, our Lord said something amazing! Really, miraculous! Something only the Living God could say! Maybe you didn’t catch it…
“...(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)”
“What!? Those unclean foods are no longer unclean? We thought lobster was unacceptable to God! We thought rabbit was unwelcome at the table! We thought pork had no place in a holy home!”
It didn’t. Until that very moment! Jesus wasn’t saying that they were really always OK even though the laws of Leviticus outlawed them. He was saying they were undesirable and unacceptable until He said…in that moment…“Now they’re fine, good, and mmmm…good for you!”
Only God could do that! He made the rules! He gave the laws! He was the only One Who had the right to pronounce them unclean! And He’s the only One Who has the right to say…now they’re not!
Just like He did with you and me!
There was a time when we were unclean, impure, unacceptable. Yes, we were! Until the day we accepted Jesus and He said, “Now you’re clean! Now you’re pure! Now you’re good! Now you’re more than fine! Now you’re Mine!”
“What!? They’re no longer unclean? We thought he was unacceptable to God! We thought she was unwelcome at the table! We thought they had no place in a holy home!”
That’s right! They were! Now they’re not! Once they didn’t! Now they do! Know why? “Cause He says so!
To reword Mark 7 a little…for those who accept Jesus. ”In saying this, Jesus declared all fools ‘clean’!”
As Paul says in his awesome Romans chapter 8, “God is the One Who declares us righteous, acceptable, and clean! Who can condemn us?”
What a miracle!
I’m super-thankful He declared all foods…and you and me…clean!
I still don’t like collard greens.
(That might take another miracle…)
A Note From Tom: September 21st, 2011
Hey, everyone!!
Hope you’re having a super-encouraging, “September-ish” kinda week! (which would be appropriate, since it IS September!) And if you’re not having an encouraging week, and you’re needing some encouragement, here’s a little tip…maybe, just ask God for some! Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is so good at it, His other name is “the Encourager”! Encouragement is totally His thing!
And sometimes it can come from the most unexpected places!
One of the most encouraging people who ever lived was the British professor, C. S. Lewis. He encouraged the entire British Empire to hold on to God during the darkest of days of the bombing of London and the Second World War. They said, after Churchill, his voice was the best known in all of England! And he encouraged kids (little and big!) around the world with his amazing stories about a little girl in magic snow and a faun with a package and an umbrella, and everything that happened after that.
Those stories also had a lion in them.
But about a month before he died (on the same day as JFK)…tired, sick, and lonely…he got a letter from a little girl, thanking him for his beautiful Narnia books and for all they had meant to her.
This unexpectedly encouraged him so much!
He wrote her back.
This unexpectedly encouraged her so much!
His answer was…
“Dear Ruth,
Many thanks for your kind letter, and it was very good of you to write and tell me that you like my books; and what a very good letter you write for your age!
If you continue to love Jesus, nothing much can go wrong with you, and I hope you will always do so…
God bless you.”
Wow! All I have to do is love Jesus and nothing much can go wrong with me!
This unexpectedly encouraged me so much!
And it has for a long time!
If you’re kinda down or worried today, all you have to do is love Jesus and nothing much can go wrong with you!
Maybe this can unexpectedly encourage you!
If you asked God for encouragement at the beginning of reading this, maybe your prayer just got answered!
Bam!