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 20th, 2011

Hey, everyone!

Hope you’re having an awesome day! Like King David says, our God is so great that He has good things already stored up for your day! (Psalm 31!) Who knows what unexpectedly good things are comin’?!

Kind of like “flash goodness”.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of those “flash concerts” that are sweeping the nation. They’re like those “flash mobs” when people “spontaneously” and surprisingly do Broadway songs and dance numbers together for shocked and unsuspecting crowds on the streets and malls of our nation’s cities. I saw one film of a hundred people “bringin’ it” with the “Halleluyah Chorus” in a mall food court last Christmas. Wow! In flash concerts, a bunch of folks…musician and singer types…get together and decide to practice some classical music thing and then bust it out on unexpecting shoppers and strollers.

Like…

Picture this scene that happened recently in a Philadelphia farmer’s market… “Farmers” and “shoppers”, who are really members of the Philadelphia Opera, mingling and chatting…Suddenly! An orchestral waltz beat! You think, “I believe I’ve heard that music before! But where?...”

All-of-th’sudden some dude started singing!

Loud!

In Italian!

Those who knew would have recognized the first lines of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata”. But mostly, everyone just looked around to see what was going on!

“Libiamo, libiamo ne'lieti calici

che la belleza infiora.

E la fuggevol ora s'inebrii

a voluttà!...

“What?!”

Then a woman’s bellowing…

“ Tra voi tra voi saprò dividere

il tempo mio giocondo;

Tutto è follia nel mondo

Ciò che non è piacer…”

“What on earth is happenin’ here?!” folks wonder.

Then the guy who was squeezing peaches right beside you eighteen seconds ago, belts out…

”Godiam, la tazza e il cantico

la notte abbella e il riso;

in questo paradisooooooo!!”

Pretty soon, people everywhere are screeching and soaring Italian words to a blazing orchestra!...

“La vita è nel tripudio!”

Then the guy, who a few minutes ago was bagging tomatoes sings, “Quando non s'ami ancora!”

Then the former okra shopper is singing the Violetta lines, “Nol dite a chi l'ignora”

Then it’s everybody in the clandestine opera! All together for the swelling finale!

“Godiaaaaaamo, la tazza e il canticooooooo

la notte abbella e il risooooo;

in questo paradisoooooooo ne sopra il nuoooooovoooooo diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiì!!!!”

And the farmer’s market goes wild!!

“Bravoooooo!”

They’re called “flash concerts”. Orchestras and operas are organizing them and ambushing the unexpecting with classical music in markets and malls everywhere! I’d love to see one someday!

It’d be cool to be in one!

Maybe you could be!

There’s a verse that says God has good works for you to do. Things He wants just you to do.

Only you could do them.

Nobody will do but you!

…Loving the hurting that come your way.

…Encouraging someone who is struggling to make it to the end of the day.

…Praying with someone who is so downhearted they can’t even do it for themselves.

…Giving something to someone who really needs a hand.

Lots of times, these moments are unexpected. At least, we didn’t expect them. But Ephesians, chapter two, verse ten says that God had already prepared that moment beforehand. It was already organized and arranged. From a long time ago! The things He has for you to do. The love He has for you to give.

It’s like “flash goodness”.

No one expected the goodness of God to bust out like that today!

Except for Him!

Check out that Scripture…

“For we are…created in Christ Jesus for goods works that He has prepared beforehand, that we should do them…”

Y’know, in the Italian version of this, the word for “works” is the Italian word “opera”. It’s where we get the words, “operator”, and “operation”. Eph.2.10 in that language goes, “….creati in Cristos Gesu’ per la buona opera”. In Italian, an “opera” means any artistic work, whether singing, painting, or composing piano stuff.

And an “opera” is any good thing you do for the love of God.

Maybe today, when folks least expect it (even tho’ it’s been organized and planned in Heaven for a long time), an opera of love with bust out!

And you’ll be an opera star!

To the gloooooooooory of Gooooooooooood!

And angels will clap and flap and shout, “Braaaaaavooooooo!”

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!

A Note From Tom: September 16th, 2011

Hey, everyone!

Wow! What an awesome, crisp, fresh morning!! Personally, I’m “on a roll” of ‘em! We went up in the Smokies camping for a coupla days and it’s always crispy up there! I don’t know if y’all know this, but…camping rocks! Including the rocks in your shoes! I just have to admit it…I’d never really been camping til this summer. This time we stayed TWO nights! Cooking outside!…washing dishes outside!…taking your ice cold bath outside!…goin’ to the…well,…outside!...It’s the greatest thing since indoor plumbing!

One thing about camping is that things are a lot simpler than I thought they’d be!

Like, I thought you’d have to start fires by clanging those sparky rocks together. Nope! The folks we went with just pile some wood you get at the office in the cast iron fire place, splash half a bottle of lighter fluid, followed by a lit match…Voila’!

“What if you (we) run out of milk or somethin’?”

I’m thinking you chase a goat and you milk it while I hold it. Soooooo  much easier than that!

“We could just get in our cars, go down the road to Gatlinburg and buy some.”

“What?! They have grocery stores up here? There’s one in Gatlinburg?!”

I love it when answers are simpler than I thought.

The other day, I was reading my favorite blog. It’s called
Hmmm & Hum”. You can find it at leeyounger.com (Yes! That one!)

A girl from some other state asked Lee (he gets questions from around our globe!)…

“Is it possible to describe God with human language? Is there some word or variation of multiple words that give him justice? I feel as though human language will always be misleading and once we think we have found an accurate description of God, it’s not God who we are describing because we will never know everything there is to know about Him…What are your thoughts?”

“Yikes! What would I say? That’s a tough one! How could I answer this complicated question in a way that’s not too complicated?”

Lee’s answer?

“Wow. Cool question… and dang, well said. So much of what you’re bringing to the table here about God is so true! We are just little finite people made of dust - how could we ever hope to understand who God is? I mean, He’s eternal and infinite and perfect and possesses limitless power and knowledge that’s boundless! He is all the things we aren’t, so how could we ever really understand Him… much less, describe Him?! …And without perfect understanding, we can’t truly explain or describe who He is. Except for one little word…Jesus.

 Jesus is the reason that we can know God. He’s the reason we can know what God is like and can be confident that when we explain God, we’re on the real thing. Jesus came that we might know who God is. Jesus came to show us the heart of the Father. Jesus came to explain what God is like and show us how He loves. In Colossians 1, Paul said that Jesus is “the visible expression of the invisible God.” In other words, when you look at Jesus and you see Him loving the poor, the hurting, the broken and the rejected, you can know that God is like that. When you look at Jesus and you see Him respecting women in a society that oppressed them, you can know that God is like that. When you look at Jesus and you see His power over weather and diseases and demons and human authority, you can know that God’s power is like that. When you see Jesus embracing and exalting children and weeping over the pain of death and loss, you can know that God is just like that. Jesus was and is Almighty God who came down here so that we could understand Him. God didn’t just want us to be able to wrap our minds around Him, He wanted us to wrap our arms around Him… to touch Him and know Him.

I love your question, and I’m glad to tell you that the answer to it is really just one little word: Jesus.”

Ahhhh! Simple!

A Note From Tom: September 9th, 2011

Hey, everyone!

Hope you’re having a joy-filled week…even tho’ it’s tougher this time. On Sunday, September 11, everyone will be remembering a Tuesday, September 11.

I remember. We used to have an office in Jackson Square before we had Ogden. I was meeting with someone who was having a time of sadness. This person was living in a crumbling marriage and was choosing to leave it and move away.  I was trying to change this person’s mind. Tina called and said, “Something really sad is happening in New York. You better check it out on a TV.” I remember thinking, “I can’t right now. Something really sad is happening in a life right now and I’m trying to stop it.”

Then I went over to the Young Life office. While the towers fell down, so did our tears.

Then the images. The photos of collegues, holding hands and jumping. The phone messages left on answering machines. “If I don’t see you again, just know I love you, babe. I have to go…”

Maybe all of us could say (and some so much more than others) that our lives and hearts would never be the same as before. I heard an interview yesterday with one family who lost a dad and a grand dad that day. They called all their former life up to the eleventh of September, 2001, “the before”.

One of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen was by Ken Burns, who made documentaries about the Civil War, baseball, and Lewis and Clark that last for hours. This one was on the Friday following 9/11. It was about thirty seconds long. It showed the towers, the explosions, the rolling dust clouds, the streets, just like we had seen them endless times that week. But the film and scenes were all run backwards. The film ran in reverse. The clouds rolled back, the towers jumped up, the planes flew backwards and away. It ended after half a minute with the bustling, almost cheerful streets of New York, and a crisp, blue, early fall sky above.

There really was “the before”.

In our world, full of hate and hurt, there is a longing for “the before”. The saddest faces I’ve ever seen were in a war refugee camp. They had been driven from homes that they, and their parents, and grandparents were born in. “The before” for them was only six weeks in the past. But the war that came to them had already taken 250,000 lives. And the hate that caused it was over a thousand years old.

Some have never known “the before” except as in a faint dream in the heart. Today, tomorrow, Sunday, September 11, and every day in our world, five times as many people as died when the towers fell, will die from not having enough to eat. Most of them will not yet have reached their twelve birthday. In one country in Africa, 28% of all will die before they are five.

If we were really hoping to rewind to “the before” all the hurt, hate, sorrow and pain, we’d have to reverse the film of the human drama to the very first days of our world, when two walked with God in the cool of the day and He met all their needs and filled all their longings. The day they chose to not, the time after “the before” began. All the hurt and hate is because humans chose to walk, not with Him, but from Him.

That’s why the most important thing we can do for the healing of the hurts and hearts in our world is to tell folks everywhere about the love of Him Who came to bring us back, Who came to make all things new!

There is coming a day when He will come again for all who know and love Him! He says that on that day, “I make all things new! (Rev 21.5) Every day, experts say, 70,000 people trust in Jesus for the very first time. And every time they do, “old things have passed away; all things become new!”

In The Return of the King”, when Samwise discovered that Gandalf wasn’t dead, Tolkien wrote that …

…Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth… between bewilderment and great joy…At last he gasped: “Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?” “A great shadow has departed," said Gandalf, and then he laughed, and the sound was like music…as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days without count. It fell upon his ears like the echo of all the joys he had ever known…

In Pontcharra, an Alpine village in France, Paul and Karen Davis have gone to share the love of Jesus with folks who have never heard the message before. On Sept. 25 they will have their first worship service of Jesus! A few months ago, a new friend there, Mylene, asked Jesus to come into her heart.

For her, all things have become new.

That’s better than ”the before”!

A Note From Tom: September 2nd, 2011

Hey, everyone!!

Hope you’re having a week just filled with praise and thanking God for everything! If not, you have two days left before the week’s over! There’s still time to fill it

It’s gonna be an amazing weekend! The forecast, if you haven’t heard…
 
Wait a sec.

I wasn’t going to give the weather this week.

I realized that these little Triple C emails are getting longer and longer because I’m talking way too much in them! When we first started these, I’d throw in a few sentences to encourage us a little, and then all the announcements for the week would follow. Last week, my “li’l-thot-fer-the-week” was two Word Document pages! So I decided that today’s would be super short! Sorry if you get rained on, on Booms Day and didn’t expect it ‘cause I skipped the forecast today! (It’s supposed to, by the way…70%)

It’s tough to say something important in just a few words though! Sometimes bumper stickers can be cute and/or clever, but lots of times the truth of the thing is more complicated than the seven or eight word slogan you glue to the back of your car.

Those changeable church marquee signs face the same challenges. Down in Oliver Springs, one solution churches have found for bringing a fuller, more detailed message on those signs is that they start the message on one side and finish it on the back! I’ve never really seen that anywhere else! Next time you travel down Tri-County Blvd, headed for downtown OS or on to Wartburg, check it out. You have to completely turn your head around to read the other side of the sign to get the point! I wonder if they have a higher than the average percent of fender-benders on that stretch…

Anyway…

Here’s an example of how life can be more complex than a bumper will allow. Just the other day, I saw this saying drive by…

“Don't put a question mark where God put a period.”

I understand the point, I guess. But sometimes some of those closest to Jesus did it, and it was really OK with Him for those He loved to ask their questions.

“Jesus said, ‘You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’“ (John 14)

Tom had a question. But our Lord was cool with that.  Because He loved that guy!

Sometimes Jesus would add His question marks to their periods.

“Peter said, ‘I will lay down my life for you.’ Then Jesus answered, ‘Will you really lay down your life for me?...’“ (John 13)

One thing to remember tho’ is that when the New Testament was first written, they didn’t even use periods, question marks or any punctuation! They only used capital letters and didn’t even put spaces between the words. So…there you go!

I saw one that said, “Christians aren’t perfect. Just forgiven”

I guess it means that except for forgiveness, Christians are just like everyone else. It fits on a bumper, but..wow! It really isn’t true! Folks who love Jesus are soooo different in so many ways from those who don’t love Him! We’re alive from the dead, we have the power of the Holy Spirit of God inside, we’re destined to be conformed to the image of God’s own Son…Don’t get me started! I’ll never finish this!

Here’s another I saw the other day…

“Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger”

Huh?

Besides not exactly being a heart-warming, arm-opening, lost-sheep-welcoming sentiment to someone who hasn’t been out on Sundays in a while…

I don’t think anyone who goes into a Mickey D’s ever imagines that by walking through those doors, they hope to turn into a burger! I believe they hope to turn the burger into them!

Whoa! I’ve already gone on a LOT longer than I meant to today!! I guess what I was trying to say is that lots of times, deep and personal spiritual encouragements and exhortations take more space and time than a drive-by bumpering can provide.

If you really have something to tell someone who really needs to hear it, it really helps if you take the time to know them. And it super-helps if they know you love them. It’s best if they can read the things written on your heart and not on your car.

I did see one the other day that I liked, though.

“Be kinder than necessary”

‘Nuff said.

A Note From Tom: August 26th, 2011

Hey, everyone!

Or as they say at the beach where we were last week,”…

Well, actually, I’m not sure what they say. I think they say the same thing we do.

Anyhooo…

The beach of North Carolina just blew us away ! Not in the way it’s about to do tomorrow morning when hurricane Irene lands (pray for folks along the Eastern seaboard!...that as the winds blow, they can hold on! To Him!) but just with it’s beauty and amazingness! To not do anything but BE! With kids, grandkids, each other, and with Him!

All I can say is,” Duuuuude.”

I did learn some interesting things tho…

In one of the houses we stayed in, there were several copies of “O Magazine”. From the cover photos, and pictures on several of the inside pages, “O” apparently stands for Oprah Winfrey. And it is full of advice about everything! I learned how you can make a blackberry jam and peach jam pie with a lattice crust out of those pie crusts that are in the can you bang on the counter! And they look like you’ve worked for days on it!

There were also articles like…

“Are your eyebrows communicating a false message about you” It seems that one big problem some folks have is that their eye brows may make them seem more upset or tired than they really are! Did you know that? "Even subtle variations in the brows had a significant effect on how the woman's mood was perceived," says John Persing, MD, professor of plastic surgery at Yale University School of Medicine.

Who’da thunk it?

So O  “challenged master eyebrow expert Eliza Petrescu to set things right.”

And this article…“Is your handbag killing you?” I’m not sure how it could but apparently they have ways.

And “What do you do if you have to wear a bridesmaid’s dress and that week your chest breaks out in pimples?”

You can’t stop the wedding! What do you do?!

But the major article in this “O” issue was about how to follow your intuition.  Check this…

“Learning to trust your instincts, using your intuitive sense of what's best for you. That whispery sensation that pulsates just beneath the surface of your being, is paramount for any lasting success. I've trusted the still, small voice of intuition my entire life. And the only time I've made mistakes is when I didn't listen…the more we can tune in to our intuition, the better off we are.

For all the major moves in my life—to Baltimore, to Chicago, to own my show, and to end it—I've trusted my instincts… Get quiet so you can hear the still, small voice—your inner GPS guiding you to true North.”

One of the examples she gave was the wife of Ulysses S. Grant. She had an intuition that they shouldn’t accept an invitation to go the Ford’s Theater with the Lincolns. Whew! What if they’d gone?

Only problem with all this is that tons of times what I feel inside is right, isn’t what God wants for me. My “inner voice” is lots of times whiny, scared and selfish, when the voice of my Lord calls me to be quiet, brave, and self-giving.

I remember a super popular Christian book that advised guys in particular to follow their hearts. But Jeremiah said about his heart…and ours…that “it is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who could know it?” There probably isn’t anything worse to follow than my heart!

That book also said that you should follow your dreams. Now think about some dreams you’ve had. Follow those? Seriously?

Check Proverbs 14 .12…“There is a way that seems right to a person, but in the end it leads to death”

Proverbs 3 tells me to do the opposite of listening to my voice inside. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and DON”T lean on your own understanding…and He will direct your paths!”

So many of the things Jesus says to do are counter-intuitive! Just the opposite of what you’d think!

“Give, so you can have!”

“Die, so you can live!”

“Weep, so you can laugh!”

When the Grants turned Abe down, Major Henry Rathbone and his wife went to the play with the Lincoln’s. He had spent most of the war in offices and turned out to be mentally unstable in the end. What if Ulysses had said to the Mrs., “Honey, I know you have that ‘feeling’ you get, but let’s go anyway. Our President needs us!” The General had fought across Tennessee, Mississippi, and Virginia and turned the whole thing around! He might have stopped Booth at the door! If the worst had happened to him in doing it, Jesus said…counter-intuitively… “Greater love has no man this…!”

Instead of following the voice inside of you, it’s always better to follow the often counter-intuitive voice of Him Who told folks to do seemingly illogical things like…

 “Give Me those five loaves! Let’s feed all these people!” (“But what are these among so many?”)

…and “Let’s roll that stone from Lazurus’ tomb!” (But, Lord, by now he stinketh!”)

One symbol the very first Christians used for Jesus was the letter “X”. It’s the first letter in the Greek word, Xristos. It means “Christ the King, the Lord”

Instead of following the advice you read in “O”

…instead of following the voice you hear in “U”

…why not listen to the voice of “X”!

It’s only the only way to “C” what He wants you to “B”!

“OK?”

On the other hand, if you want to make a delicious pie really fast, or have problems of pimples on the wedding day, there’s some good stuff in there!

A Note From Tom: August 12th, 2011

Good morning, everyone!

Or as they say in Seoul, “Anyoughi jumusheseyo!”…

Or as they say in Lorrach, Germany,  “Guten morgen!”

In Denmark they say the same thing almost. “Godmorgen!”…except by the time they’re saying it in Denmark, it’s lunch time in Germany!

In Lithuania, it’s” abas rytas!”

In Italy, “Buon Giorno!”…in Russia, “Dobroe utro!”…in France, “Bonjour!”…in Israel, “Boker tov!”…in Viet Nam, “Chao buoi sang!”…

However you say it, top o’ the mornin’ to ye, gov’na!

It’s amazing to think that around the globe, people wake up to a whole different world of sounds! Even animals speak foreign languages! In the States, we say roosters crow, “Cock-a-doodle-do!” In Italy they say, “Chi-ca-di-ca-di!” I wonder if they would understand each other if they got together in the same country…They’d probably get in a fight anyway…

What if someone read John chapter 10, verses 27 and 28 to you like this…” Mis ovejas oyen mi voz; yo las conozco y ellas me siguen. Yo les doy vida eterna, y nunca perecerán, ni nadie podrá arrebatármelas de la mano…”

Would you feel a little more encouraged about things? Or would you just be confused?

If you want some encouragement for your day and you’re not having the “gutemn morgen” you hoped you would, you can look it up in your language. John 10.27-28. Check it out and be encouraged!!

But what if you couldn’t?

What if you didn’t know anything about God’s love because you didn’t have the Scriptures in your language?

Yuck!

What if it was super-difficult to have the Scriptures in your language because instead of letters, your language looked like this…^)/<<>^^/_:: <><<++^::…?

What if John 3:16 in your language looked like this…

What if it looked liked that? Like nothing written down because your language has never been written down before. What if your people didn’t even know about writing?

We at “Triple C” have had the honor of helping supporting Tom and Juanita Matthews for years as they work in Africa, helping tribal groups have the Scriptures in their own language! Sometimes it involves helping them learn to write their own language! But after tons of sweat and labor, people who would have never had God’s beautiful, precious promises can hold them and read them in a way they understand!

I am soooo thankful that we can give so much money so that stuff like that can happen! Money you give to what God is doing at CCC goes to things like this! Your money goes to Sam and Joan in Italy, so men and women and kids can know all about Romans 5…” Giustificati dunque per fede abbiamo pace presso Dio per mezzo di Gesú Cristo, nostro Signore…”

…and our C3 bucks go to Paul and Karen, so they can help Alpine villagers in Pontcharra, France know about John 7.37 “Si quelqu'un a soif, qu'il vienne à moi, et que celui qui croit en moi boive!”

…and so a brave woman in Tanzania can help orphans hear with the heart 1 John 3.1…” How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”…They speak English there, but they wouldn’t know this without Melissa and her friends!

…and so Jim and Barb, can help high schoolers in Madrid know that no matter how tough it gets, Romans 8.39 promises that “nada puede separarnos del amor de Dios que esta’ en Cristo Jesus, nuestro Senor!”

…and so Victor in India and the Indian evangelists he trains, who travel on bikes from one  village to another can share Jesus with those who have never heard His beautiful name! They face hostility and threats but share His love week by week! Victor has baptized 6000 converts to Jesus himself! The Indian missionaries he oversees have started 350 churches! Wow!

…and so Bill and Maria,, after years of serving Jesus all over, can reach high school kids in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where Bill grew up, and fulfill the words of Jesus…”"Go home and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

…and so, closer to home (in fact, in some of our homes!) Devon and Erin, Jordan, and Virginia, and Erica can love with Jesus’ love, kids and leaders across our county, so that they can start out on their journeys without the hobbling and limping so many of us walk with, from the wounds and hurts we caused ourselves when we didn’t know Him…

…and so Glen and Jane, Jed and Halley, along with Ben, Kristin,, and Peter and Tasha …and coming soon, our very own MATT!...can tell ex-cons, ex-offenders, ex-thugs from the worst streets of Chicago the ex-cellent good news of Romans 8.35 in their own language…”Yo! Yo! Yo! God loves yous and you won’t eva lose dat!”

I’m so thankful for what we can do with the money you give to the work God is doing through CCC…

With all our heart we say…

Gracias!

Merci’!

Danke!

Grazie!

Thank you…

…so much!.

…for giving!!

A Note From Tom: August 4th, 2011

Hey, everyone!

Wow! Isn’t this weather awesome!? It’s perfect outside! Just the way God planned it! The temp’s just right and the humidity couldn’t be better! Your forecast for tomorrow? Exactly the weather that our Lord has ordained for us to enjoy on this beautiful August day!

I know. It’s also hot, muggy, sticky, buggy, and sweaty, but I’m just trying to follow the awesome advise and insight of our Lord when He told His guys that it isn’t what goes into your mouth that messes your day up, but what comes out of it!  Check it.

“Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not pollute them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what pollutes them.’ ” (Matt 15.10-11)

Amazing! It isn’t what you eat but what you say…it isn’t what goes in your mouth but what comes out of it…that spoils everything!  I think that includes weather-complaining! Who’da thunk it?

Todd, our weather dude, always talks about the temperature and the “heat index”. The temperature is how hot it is and the heat index is how hot it “feels”. “It’s 93 but feels like 101!” I’m just not sure what factors they calculate to get that number. Humidity, f’r sure…Probably the wind speed, too…Do they factor if you’ve had a crummy day at work and your boss has driven you crazy the whole time? That’d make you sweat it up! How ‘bout if your underwear is 100% cotton or a 60/40 blend?

One thing that I know will make the day seem hotter and stickier is complaining about it!

“Hot enough for you?”

“Gross! Can you believe how hot it is?”

“I can’t wait ‘til it’s not this hot!”

“It’s so hot our chickens lay fried eggs!”

“Our cows are giving evaporated milk!”

“It’s so hot the robins use pot holders to pull worms out of the ground!”

“The weather’s perfect for grampa! He’s also 98 and hazy!”

I remember a girl finding a journal that belonged to her mother, a missionary in Africa. Her mom had gone on to Heaven but when she was in that blisteringly hot country, she had never had AC the whole time.  They didn’t even have electricity! Yet, amazingly, she was always so cheerful and thankful! On the front page of the journal, these wise words were written. They were her “rules of the heart” Her mom lived by these. Listen…

“1) Never complain about ANYTHING…ever! Including the weather!

2 ) Never compare your lot (ie, circumstances of life) with that of anyone else.

3) Never wish that things could have been anything other then what they actually were and are.”

 Explains a ton!

Jesus said that the stuff that comes out of your mouth makes things worse when it’s just grumbling and grumping about the inevitable and unchangeable. If you complain about the temps, it cranks the heat index up for you!

Yuk!

Praise instead! Thank God for the weather He brings!

Complaining words come from deep inside you. And inside you, the temperature is 98.6 degrees! And it’s plenty humid down there, too! Letting those complains out into the environment is heating your whole house up!

So stop complaining about the weather! You’ll save $ on your AC bill!

That’s the weather!

A Note From Tom: July 28th, 2011

Hey, everyone!

Hope you’re having an awesome day!

Well, I do know of one person who is having a day that must be less awesome than it could’ve been.

I don’t actually KNOW this person. But I know something about this person, I think.

Y’see, the other day I was walking into Panera and I saw this photocopied sign (in color!) tacked up on the bulletin board. There was a picture of a parakeet. The sign said that this bird was lost in the Woodland area. It’s name is “Axel”. It’s mostly gray with a yellow crest. It answers to “Axel”. Then there was a number to call, written out about thirty times on the little tabs the person had cut at the bottom of the page, so you could just tear the tab off, slip it in your pocket, and call the minute you see a bird that has a yellow head and answers to “Axel”.

The sign had been up there a while  ‘cause I had glanced at it a few days before. I noticed that no one had ripped a tab off.

Several thoughts run through my thinking…

No tabs gone…hmmm…

…Maybe not that many people care about birds the way this person does. Maybe it’s a child’s bird and a parent is trying to tell this little heart, “See? I’m doing all I can to find Axel! He’s on the Panera board! If it doesn’t work, we’ll look into renting one of the big billboards along Solway!”

…Or maybe no one had taken a tab because not that many people really have much hope that this person and this bird will ever renew their relationship. A parakeet that flew away. What really are the chances that you’d ever see it again? Best case scenario…it’s gone home to Argentina. Worst case…it was lunch time for kitty. As tough as it is to accept, there is the ol’ “Circle of Life”. And cats have to eat. Cats are people, too.

As I looked at the sign and meditated on it…there in front of the bathroom door…I wondered about this broken-hearted one. I know some might wonder how a person could care about a little bird so much. Some might think parakeets are small, useless, and at times, annoying. On the other hand, I’ve often wondered why God would care for me so much. In His universe, I’m so small…kinda useless…often annoying.

But He DOES care for me! In fact, He even cares for Axel! Jesus said He at least cares for all sparrows. There are 7000 varieties of sparrows in the world. He knows and cares for each one! Matthew 10 says that they’re so common, you could get two for a penny! Luke 12 says you could get five for two pennies! Buy four and we’ll throw one in for free!

But…amazingly…not one falls to the earth without the Father knowing and caring for it!

I remember the Wednesday after Sept 11, 2001. I was brokenhearted and confused, walking on the sidewalk at Jackson Square. There on the sidewalk was a sparrow. It was dead. “The Father knows,” I thought.

He knows, loves, and cares for you! ‘Cause you’re worth tons more than a bird to Him! You’re His precious child! (Luke 12.7)