Valentine Weekend

Hey, everyone!

Wow! Hope you've got some fun plans for Valentine's weekend 'cause this forecast looks amazing! Perfect weather coming! Check this from Todd the Weather guy…

"Very cold this weekend!! Saturday will see an arctic cold front coming, with bitterly cold air arriving Saturday night into Sunday! Lows plunge to near 10 degrees with snow flurries likely! Highs on Sunday will only reach into the 20's! It looks like there's a good chance for wintry precipitation next week! Stay tuned!"

Doesn't that sound awesome? At least down at our little house in the country, there's no gagging, tears, or near-puking in the weather predictions!  As far as I'm concerned, it can frost and freeze and snow a foot, as long there's no STINK in the forecast! 

Remember that skunk I was telling y'all about last week under our house? 

Gone, baby!

I delivered the li'l sweetness to it's new home somewhere waaaay down the road on Tuesday! 

If I ever get on Jeopardy, I think I'm picking this as my little personal interest fact they use in that eight second interview they do in the middle of the first round…

"It says here that one time you trapped a skunk and released it into the wild all by yourself."

"That's right, Alex! I've had some help in the past with catching and releasing the little stinkers but this time I did it from start to finish all by myself!"

"Good for you. Next, we have…"

"Wait, Alex! I haven't told you what I used to catch it! Honestly, I'll have to say that not many folks have ever done this by themselves! I'm kinda proud of the fact that…"

“Sorry. We need to move on to the next contestant. It says here you once juggled live turtles in a circus…"

Anyway, if Alex doesn't want to know, I'll tell you what food I did use to catch it…Skunks are really amazing critters! They eat grasshoppers, mice, grubs under the ground, and poisonous snakes! 

Speaking of amazing skunk facts, did you know that their stink remains on you for four to eight days? 

Did you know that their smelliness comes from two streams that burst out of their rear ends and travel separately thru the air for up to one foot before they combine in mid-air to make a fine mist?

(I bet the guy who first filmed this in slo-mo had to wait four to eight days before anyone wanted to see it!)

Skunks have to be able to put that tail straight up to let you have it! They can shoot five to eight times before the tank is  empty, and it takes a week to "fill 'er up!"

They normally travel alone (duh!) and only socialize with each other during mating season (I guess some times instincts are stronger than stinks!)

And besides grubs and snakes, they love Li'l Debbie's Honey Buns! That's what I used!

I bought this little wire trap at Tractor Supply that's about as big as a shoe box. You put the H-Bun in the back. Mr. Skunk eases in for a munch, steps on a flap that makesthe door shut behind him, and Wham! You gotta skunk-in-the-box!

Now what?!

That's where it gets scary…

You gently throw a towel over the whole thing and speak to your prisoner in gentle tones…

"There you go, li'l buddy…It's gonna be fine…just enjoy yer bun while I sloooowly lift you into my truck…We're goin' fer a ride…This is probably your first time in a truck, huh?…Easy…Let's keep our tails down,ok?…D'you know Key Springs Road? You'll love it there…You'll need to stay off Hwy 61…I think I saw one of your cousins there this morning…Wasn't pretty…"

Then when you arrive, you pull over and calmly lift the trap and trapee out of the truck. 

Then comes the most delicate moment…I was trembling and sweating. My heart was pounding. I felt like one of those specialists who defuse live WWII bombs when they find them in Europe's farm fields. Sloooowly I lifted the door. And as steadily as shaking fingers could, I hooked the latch…It's open! I stepped back slowly then ran to the truck! And watched! 

Nothing!

 "C'mon, dude! Get out!" 

And there he came! Waddling like cross between a duck and a ten-ton elephant, scooting about his business like he rode in trucks going 60mph everyday!

"I did it!" I thought! "Yes!"

I wiped a tear and cranked my truck.. And drove away with a song in my heart.

I had a familiar feeling…

It felt like the first time (and every time!) I preached on the streets and piazzas of Italy.

Or the first time I ever held a hand and prayed in an ICU.

Or the first time I ever walked thru the steel doors of a jail and heard 'em close behind me.

It's the feeling you feel when you have something that's scaring you and you trust God and, with His help, face that fear and do the thing.

There's no feeling like it in the world.

Even if the fear never really goes away no matter how many times you find yourself in an intimidating moment and place, you begin to understand that with Him, you're not alone and you're going to be OK!

Whether it's deciding to have a tough conversation that is long overdue…

or whether it's deciding to share a word about Jesus with someone who needs it…

or especially if you have to decide if you have what it takes to set a skunk free…

Just do it!

'Cause fear really stinks!

Music and Singing

Hey Everyone!

Hope you’re having a fantastic day! 

Hope your day started a little “fresher” than ours did a week ago! 

You know that feeling when you’re really totally asleep and all the sudden…you’re dreaming about…what is it?...”Why am I dreaming about…coffee? Why is this coffee so strong? In fact, it’s so strong…and I like it strong…it’s just a little much for me…” And then you’re awake and you know where the java-like smell’s coming from…

SKUNK UNDER THE HOUSE!!

So, picture this. Or better, get a whiff of this…

 It’s 3:15 am… your eyes are watering… you feel close to almost throwing up… both of you…and you look at each other and ask, simultaneously, “What do we do now?!” Sleep isn’t an option. We made coffee, but frankly I felt like I’d already sniffed a whole pot. 

Then I remembered what we did last year when a skunk snuck (and stunk!) under 834 Johnson Rd, O.S…

I went into the living room, turned on the Mac, clicked the itunes thingy, put the speakers on the floor, facing down and found my anti-skunk play list. Actually it’s my double-strength, no-kidding, straight-up, turbo-charged traditional bluegrass play list. I like Nickel Creek, Rascal Flatts and all that, but they’re not on that list. This is my Lester n’ Earl, “Shuckin’ the Corn”, Bill Monroe, “Goin’ Back to Ol’ Kentucky”, Stanley Brothers, “Uncle Pen”, Martha White Flour play list. 

Cranked it up, and went outside to make sure it wasn’t rockin’ the ‘hood. And we let it play. As the yodels, high lonesome harmonies, and banjo breaks rolled, the piyew-iness diminished. After a while, we were convinced it’d worked. Ol’ Stinky had gone back home.

Funny, but apparently skunks don’t like bluegrass. Who’da thunk it? I would’ve thought they’d have liked it. Maybe all the singing out the nose makes their favorite defense less offensive. We love bluegrass and don’t like skunks under the house at 4:00. So …it all works out!

Y’know, one thing the Scriptures say that sometimes is hard to remember, is that we are in spiritual battles everyday. It might not always seem like it, but those who love Jesus have an automatic enemy. He’s mean and wants to keep you discouraged, frightened, and/or upset. 

I like how the Message puts it…

“So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way…

Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet.” (Eph 6)

One of the weapons we have to stay encouraged is praise! Praise music and praise singing! In the chapter before the one we just read, Paul says that praise…and singing it…are the best and easiest ways to keep your heart full! 

And here’s another tip: The enemy of our hearts…you know, the one who wants to steal your joy…he hates to hear praise about as much as skunks hate bluegrass! Get your “praise on”! There’s someone who can’t stand to be around it!

Ahhhh! That smells better!

Tell 'em

Hey, everyone!

It goes without saying, but I hope y'all are having a day filled with praise and…

Whoa!  

Stop!

I need to start this whole thing over 'cause I started out from the very beginning saying something really dopey!

"What? That 'Hey, everyone' thing? You say that every time!"

No, not that.

The next thing! That "It goes without saying" thing...Shouldn'ta said it!

I'm starting to think that there is too much of that! 

I'm starting to feel that there are too many times that I assume that folks know what I feel or want for them and that it isn't necessary to say it. "It just goes without saying", as they say. 

But, you know what? It really doesn't! 

There are so many folks who walk around with a heart full of questions they shouldn't be asking. 

"Does that person care for me? 

Do they like me? 

Will they be waiting when I get there? 

If I need them, can I call? 

Would I bother them? 

Am I one of them? 

Do they think about me?"

"And why do they ask this?" you ask.

Because it doesn't go without saying!

If you care, you need to say it!

If you're friends, let 'em know!

If they can count on you, tell 'em so!

You need to say it!

The other day I was listening to a bunch of bluegrass and country songs shuffling on a playlist and I heard the coolest song by a singer that Tina and I love named Claire Lynch. The banjo was ringing', with a groovy fiddle jumpin' in'… But even tho' the melody was bright and light, the words made this the saddest song I've heard in a long time!

"He's so fine!

No ordinary kind of thinker!

Half the time 

i stop and wonder what is on his mind.

I have to tell myself he loves me, 

'cause he don't like too talk about.

What he feels, he keeps it in his own hip pocket

that's the deal and I just have to take or leave it.

But in my heart i know he loves me.

He just don't like talk about it.

Sometimes I wish he would tell me more!

Move me with flowery phrases!

Swear by the heavens his everlasting love!

Its hard for him to say he loves me.

He just don't like to talk about it.

But still i find I wouldn't change a thing about him.

Why should I?

I never want to live without him.

He doesn't have to say he loves me,

if he don't like to talk about it."

What!? Yes he does! 

This poor heart is on the edge of broken! She's sitting there, telling herself that he loves her! Trying to talk herself into believing it! 

'Cause he won't say it!

"'Cause he don't like to talk about it!"

C'mon, man!

Say it!!

My heart was so perturbed! 

Sometimes bluegrass will do that to a person...

But then another song came on the shuffle! This one was written by Paul Overstreet ("You say it best when you say nothing at all"…Remember that one?) He's one of the sweetest and one of the best at writing country songs for a healthy heart.

Listen to this…

"He stood looking at his father who is 85 years old

He remembered all the ball games they played so long ago.

Then he put his arm around him and kissed him on the cheek.

He said 'Dad, it's time I told you what a friend you've been to me!'

'Cause when you love someone

You gotta let 'em know.

When you're thinking of someone

You need to tell 'em so.

Don't know what makes us think

Our minds and our hearts can be read!

What's going without saying should be said!

She stood in the kitchen doorway, all grown up with children, too,

Watching as her mama cooked just like she used to do.

She slowly walked up to her and she held her wrinkled hands

She said, 'Do you know you are the greatest mom a daughter ever had?'

'Cause when you love someone

You gotta let 'em know.

When you're thinking of someone

You need to tell 'em so.

Don't know what makes us think

Our minds and our hearts can be read!

What's going without saying should be said!

No one needs your roses

When the sun of life's gone down.

If you're gonna send a message of your love

Then send it now!

'I don't believe I've let you hear the things you should have heard.

I don't believe I've truly put my feelings into words.

'Cause to me you are so beautiful, much more then words can say!

But if you don't mind and you've got the time

I'd like to try today!'

'Cause when you love someone

You gotta let 'em know

When you're thinking of someone

you need to tell 'em so

I don't know what makes me think

My mind and my heart can be read

What's going without saying should be said!"

I was talking to someone recently and asked, "Did your dad tell you that he loved you?"

"Yes he did! But it was later in his life that he really started to say it freely."

"Did you teach him by telling him you loved him?"

"Yeah. I guess I did."

There are lessons that are passed down from father to son, but what better lesson could be passed up from son to father?

If you love someone, why don't you tell them today!

What's going without saying should be said!

Up where the Son always shines

Hey, everyone!

Wow! It's gonna be an awesomely bright and sunny one today! Skies of bluest blue made bluer still by golden beams of the sunniest sun!

"Really!? I just heard we can "expect considerable cloudiness and a 70% chance of rain all day and into your Saturday with a 50% chance into tomorrow afternoon…"

Oh…well, that's true for the just the very first of the sky. 

The slice nearest to us. 

Under the clouds, it is going to be pretty wet and sloshy for the next couple of days. But in most of the sky, it's gonna be clear as clear can be! 

I was reading about a fella in the 40's wrote  "The Weather Book". He explained that the sky (everything "up" until you get to outer space) is about 250 miles high. But the slice of sky where the weather happens and where the clouds "live"…we call this the "troposphere" (well, actually I've never called it that!)…is only about 18,000 feet high. So…

It'll be bright and crisp and clear in almost all the sky today! And every day! 

It'll only be cloudy and rainy in the lowest levels right above our heads, meteorologically speaking. 

So the forecast for today and for everyday till Jesus comes is "…mostly sunny and clear! (with some variations in the lowest levels where clouds may or may not be, depending)"

Which reminds me…

Tomorrow, I'll be at two funerals.

During the funerals, there will be singing, shouting, dancing, eating, praising, and endless joy joy joy!

"Wow! I can't remember ever being at a funeral like that!"

Oh, sorry. I didn't mean "at" the funeral. I mean "during" the funeral. 

At the funeral, there will be hugs, smiles, tears, encouragement, remembering, soft quiet singing and prayers. Mostly they are like this. Down where we are.

But up above, where those who are loved and gone will be during the funerals…Up beyond the troposphere and the sky…

There will be singing and praising and joy like we have never yet known! All the time! 

It is always and neverendingly thus! 

Both now and forevermore! 

Worlds without end! 

Amen!

And all of us who love them and who love Jesus as well, will be joining them soon! And if it happens to me before He comes to gather us, while y'all are down here "below the clouds" at my funeral, with your hugs and smiles, I'll be dancing and praising like Gene Kelly and Mahalia Jackson and I-don't-know-who, all rolled into one! 

Praising my Savior and loving my new life!!

Up where the Son always shines!

Y'know, one time, the Apostle Paul wrote that he had the very unusual experience of getting to visit Heaven for a moment before his "time". He said there are not words in any language to describe the wonders above that he saw and the wonders above that he heard! He spoke of "inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell!" (2 Coringthians 12.4)

As the song says, "...Just too marvelous! Too marvelous for words!"

Some scholars believe that this may have happened when Paul was taken outside the city walls of Lystra and stoned to "death" by some folks who were more upset at him than humans should ever be at anyone. 

"They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city…" (Acts 14.19-20)

A pile of stones.

A circle of weeping, hugging friends.

Quiet words.

Tearful prayers. 

A stone moves!

And than another!

A hush!

Our dusty hero standing tall!

"Really!? You've been with Him?! What was it like?"

"You have no idea!! I can't even talk about it!"

Hallelujah!

"Keepability"

Hey, everyone!

Hope you're having an awesome January 16! According to "This date in sports history", this was a huuuuuge day for Stan Musial in 1952! Got a raise to an amazingly unprecedented salary of $85,000 a year! Considering that this was equivalent to Clayton Kershaw making his $32,500,000 this year (according to MLB Salary rankings) no matter what you make, Stan the Man's salary has to make you feel better about things in your life!

When Babe Ruth signed a contract in '29 that gave him more money per year than the guy in the Oval Office, a reporter asked him whether he thought, considering the Great Depression and all, he deserved as a ball player to make more than President Hoover did. The Bambino answered "What the *%&# has Hoover got to do with it? Besides, I had a better year than he did!"  

If you have any resolutions to keep…how’s it going on those? 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. "Keepability" is the secret! Let me give you three suggestions if it’s not too late to add a few…

Eat some chocolate every day. Chocolate is so good for you! Researchers tell us that “the anti-oxidants mop up the damage done by free radicals” (don’t ask). The flavanols in chocolate relax your artery walls and keep platelets from sticking to them.  All you need to eat every day is the amount the size of a stack of business cards, 1/3 inch tall.

If you have more than that, you’re on your own.

Laugh everyday in 2015! Laughing is very good for you and 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. “  Maybe that’s TMI but it’s good to know.

Pre-school kids laugh 400 times a day while adults only laugh 17 times! What happened? 

"Why was 6 afraid of 7?"

"Because 7 8 9!"

Think that's 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…

Eat chocolate daily.

Laugh daily.

And…

Oh, yeah! 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, except 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 yourlife! 

Harvard researchers studied 7000 people over nine years and found that people with terrible health habits like unhealthy eating (not including daily chocolate!) 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 viruses 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 2015?  

Other people need you!

And 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!!

Eating Together

Hey everyone!

Wow! Today is gonna be Awesome Friday! Sun's comim' up at 7:47 and going down at 5:38! Just last Friday it went down at 5:33 so our days are getting sunnier! And even if the sun doesn't stay up long tomorrow, it's gonna be freezing so you wouldn't want to be out there much anyhoo! Wouldn't it be awful if the really cold days were like in July when the sun is up the most? You'd have plenty of daylight but it'd be too cold for swimming or softball! I think it's better this way.

(Wait a sec. Maybe that's why it IS warmer in July…)

But mostly, no matter what happens, it'll be awesome, spiritually speaking! *

(*Romans 8:28)

Y'know, usually on these Friday Triple C emails, I try to have a thought or two to encourage us for our day before we get to the announcements for the week (and I do  have one for today!) but we have an important reminder, so I thought I'd give you that news first…

Sunday is the second Sunday of the month and that means "Fellowship Meal!!"

"What is the 2nd Sunday Fellowship Meal?"

Well, ever since CCC started, we've been doing this thing where everyone (mostly) brings food from home and after worship, we put it all together, grab a plate, and we just eat together! Sometimes, folks can't stay for whatever reason, but if you can, it's a bunch of fun!

"How do you make sure everyone doesn't bring the same thing by accident? What if everyone brought green bean casserole and that would be all we had? Or what if everyone brought banana pudding and we just had banana pudding to share?

Well, I know some who would consider the banana pudding thing a sort of miracle…but just so it doesn't happen, we have a plan! There is a list. and usually, on the week before, this announcement goes out…

This Sunday, January 11

is our monthly covered dish luncheon

immediately following the Worship Service.

Please plan to stay and eat!

Bring 2 dishes to share from the following categories:

meat / veggie / salad / bread / dessert

The refrigerator is available to keep cool things cool

and the oven is ready to keep warm things warm,

so come on early and put your food

in the kitchen until after Worship Service!

So, you just pick two total from whichever categories. When we put it all together, it's always a balanced diet! Tho' not always a WeighWatchers diet! You're on your own, as far as that goes!

"Why do we do this every month?"

That's a great question! There's a simple answer and a complex one! 

Simple answer? We're hungry! 

Complex answer? Turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.

"What chapter?"

Wow. You could just read the whole thing! 

It's amazing how much food and eating together is in there! in Luke's Gospel Jesus loved eating together with people! The super religious crowd was upset with Him constantly because, not only was He friends with folks they considered "less than acceptable", but He ATE with them!  "Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law complained to his disciples, 'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?'” (Luke 5)

Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son to some people who were upset with Him and said, "Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1)

I remember hearing about a girl named Edith who was afraid she had been too sinful for Jesus to welcome her into His family (of course, He would welcome her!!) but she was encouraged when someone read in church this verse from the ol' King James…"This man receiveth sinners…and eateth with them!" She thought he said "Edith" and…well, you get it!

Our Lord did miracles so people could eat together (Luke 9).

He raised a child from the dead and first thing, got her something to eat (Luke 8)

He promised we'd always have food (Luke 12)

He told stories about food (Luke 17)

He shared His deepest secrets at the table, eating with His friends (Luke 22)

And two folks were shocked and amazed to find He was risen from the dead! Because He was at their table, eating with them! (Luke 24: 30-31)

One super interesting thing is that the Book of Acts was written by Luke as well! It's kind of "Luke vol. 2" And IT'S full of food! 

Luke says the first believers in Jesus… "studied what the apostles taught. They shared life together. They broke bread and ate together. And they prayed. Everyone felt that God was near… All the believers were together. They shared everything they had.. Every day they met together in the temple courtyard and in their homes they broke bread and ate together. Their hearts were glad and honest and true. They praised God!" (Acts 2: 42-46)

The word Luke used for "shared together" is the Greek word (Luke's language) "koinonia" We often translate it, "fellowship". It means…uh…"to share together"! They shared tons of stuff! 

Including their food!

Eating together is a way of saying, "You're important to me! I like being with you and knowing you better! You're like a family in Jesus to me!"

And, amazingly, verse 47 of Acts 2 says, "…They praised God. They were respected by all the people. Every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved!"

People wanted in! 

Because lots of hearts want to be in something that makes them feel that someone thinks they're important…

That someone likes hanging out with them and knowing them…

That someone thinks they're family!

Fellowship Meal this Sunday!

Now for my thought of the week…

uh…

I can't remember what it was…

Well, rats!

New Year

Hey, everyone!

Hope you had a peaceful News Years' Day and I really hope that you are blessed beyond all you could ask or imagine this coming year! 

And as we look back on 2014, and evaluate the year gone by, I was wondering…

Can we really say in all honesty, that we twa hae run about the braes, and pou'd the gowans fine? Do you feel this year that we've wander'd mony a weary fit?

Have we? 

Really?

Even tho' seas between us braid hae roar'd, we twa hae paidl'd in the burn, frae morning sun till dine…

Did you truly have those in your life that you would say of them, "And surely ye'll be your pint stowp! And surely I'll be mine! And we'll tak a right gude-willie waught!"

Have you seriously taken a right gude-willie waught?

Seriously?

(Actually, I don't know if I have either! Or if I shoulda!)

Let me look it up…one sec…Oh. Apparently that means "to lift a glass of good-will".

Those are all the words to the traditional New Years Eve chorus "Auld Lang Syn". The lyrics are tough (as in, impossible!) to understand because they were written by Robert Burns in 1788 in the Scottish language. But folks sing it (or try to!) around the world as the clock strikes and the ball drops and the fireworks boom at midnight, every January One. Once, when I was in like 3rd grade, we were doing a field trip to McGhee-Tyson airport and just by chance got to meet Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians as they were arriving in K'town. They were some kind of "swing band" from the old Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman days. Apparently he's the one who started the "Auld Lang Syn" thing on New Years Eve at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York in 1929. It went "viral", as we say, and there you go! Singin' it ever since!

It's the only part of "It's a Wonderful Life" that I woulda changed. In the last moments, they were rockin' "Hark the Herald Angels" right when Harry arrived and  lifted his glass to "my brother George! The luckiest man in town!" That movie woulda been PERFECT if the last words woulda been, "Glooory tooo the new-born Kinggg!!!"

Instead, it ended with George winking up to Clarence and crooning, "We'll take a cup o' kindness yet for auld lang syn…"

"What on earth does that mean?!"

Apparently, in ancient Scottish, it means "for the olden days" or "for old times' sake" or something' like that.

Apart from all the incomprehensible Scottish words, even the words in that song you CAN understand don't make sense! 

"Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne?"

I remember Billy Crystal saying in one of his movies, as the clock struck twelve, and the singing began...

“What does this song mean? My whole life, I don’t know what this song means. I mean, ‘Should old acquaintance be forgot?’ Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances. Or does it mean that if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot them?”

That's why I like to wish y'all something you really can get your mind and heart around! I want to wish you a "Blessed 2015!"

Ever wonder what that means? When we say, "Bless you!" at a sneeze…or "say the blessing" at supper…or when Tiny Tim says, "God bless us, everyone!"…what are we really saying? 

Actually, in the New Testament, "to bless" is made up of two Greek words scrunched together. The words are "to speak" and the word "good". "To bless" you means "to speak good over you" "God bless you!" means "May He speak good things over you!" 

And as it says at the beginning of the world on the Bible's first page, "He spoke and it was so!" If God speaks something good over you, it will be true! 

And as the Apostle tells us in his letter from prison to the Ephesians, God "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing Heaven has to give!" He goes on to say God chose us! He loved us! He adopted us! He is always blessing you! Always speaking good over you! He calls you…

"My beloved!" (Ephesians 1:6)

"My child!" (Ephesians 1:6)

"Mine!" (Ephesians 1:7)

Y'know, our English word, "blessed" comes from an Old English word, "bloedsian", which means "marked or bought with blood" And that's exactly what our Paul tells us! All the blessings are ours because "in Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins"! And because of His blood, we have every other blessing as well! 

Guaranteed!

So if I "wish" you a blessed New Year, I'm really only reminding you of what you have and always will! God has already said it! He has and will always bless you! In 2015 and forever!

It just makes you wan ta tak a right gude-willie waught!!

Gift Exchange

Hey, everyone!

Or better…"Whew! Everyone!"

As in, "Whew! Christmas is over! "

Only thing left to do is go to the mall to exchange gifts that didn’t “fit”, continue the digestion process after yesterday, pack those decorations back up next week, stow 'em all away back in the attic or shed, and in the meantime, enjoy the "after Christmas glow"!

By the way, if you didn't make it to our Christmas Eve service, our Christmas choir rocked the house! And it was packed! We had so many candles lit by the end of “Silent Night”, it was getting kinda warm in there!  I thought the sprinklers might go off! That would have been a Christmas memory!

I didn't really get everything done I needed to this year. I was going to make all these amazing, spectacular Christmas cookies...and I have also decided that I'm going to become a master baker and there were several delicious dough-y intentions I found in the December Southern Living that never made it into or out of our oven.

I hadn't really thought about how disappointed I was for not getting everything done 'til I read about Chet Fitch. He died in October at 88 a few years ago. He knew it was coming. So he wrote notes on thirty-four Christmas cards for special friends and gave them to an accomplice to mail in December. The return address was "Heaven"!

The notes inside said, "…Wish I could tell you about things here but words cannot explain… I'll probably be seeing you (some sooner than you think). Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. Chet Fitch"

A friend for nearly 25 years, Debbie Hansen Bernard said, "All I could think was, 'You little stinker!!' It was amazing," she said. "Just so Chet…always wanting to get the last laugh."

Guess he did!

And he also got his Christmas cards done! Even though he was 88!

And dead!

So, I'm not feeling so good about not getting stuff done!

It's amazing how the holidays…and especially this one…can “get to you” in some of the darker corners of your heart. You feel like you just didn’t do enough. Maybe you didn’t try hard enough, Yuletide-wise. You feel like you’re the Christmas tree light bulb that burned out and made the whole string go out. And if they keep trying ‘em all, somebody’s gonna find out it was you! 

Sometimes it feels like, after the eggnog carton is (thankfully) in the garbage and the multi-colored, torn up wrapping paper is all in the big black plastic bags, that Christmas guilt just keeps hangin' around.  Sometimes Christmas guilt feels like the last package you open!

"Did I do enough?"

"Did I get the wrong thing for that person? Did they really like it?…or did they just say they did?"

"Did I spend enough on this person to really say 'I love you'? How much money says, "'I love you'?"

Yikes! Santa didn't leave that gift of "Season's Guilt-ings"! I think Satan's the one that leaves you that stuff!

"Jesus is the reason for the season"….and giving you and me a clean, forgiven heart is the reason He came. So we could be free of guilt!! At Christmas and all the year through! “Nothing to lose and nothing to prove!” 

Both Now and Forevermore !! 

Amen!!

Jesus came to give gifts. He said…

 "I came to give eternal life…"

"My peace I give you…"

I give a spring of water welling up to eternal life"

If you wound up with a box of Christmas guilt, why not take it back and exchange it? It doesn’t fit you. And it doesn’t look good on you. You don’t need a receipt because it isn’t really yours.

Exchange it for the gifts Jesus came to bring you, like…

Peace. 

A clean heart.  

His whole-hearted acceptance and affirmation of all of you, all the time.

And unlike that electric nose hair trimmer and that Christmas necktie where Rudolph’s nose lights up…

His gifts are gifts you can really and truly love and enjoy everyday!

All day!

All year!!

Merry Post-Christmas, everyone!

Merriest Christmas Ever

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?)…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 Bumble, Yukon Cornelius and 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 month, you heard about widows in India. Just like Anna, many of them become widows at a very young 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 for the year. So…

We put dozens of envelopes on a Christmas tree! One tag for $25 bought 2 and 1/2 saris. Enough tags to buy 325 saris for 325 widows ! Along with 60 envelopes for the 60 orphans who live in Victor's home (!), at $20 each tag, this bought a school outfit and a book bag for each of the kids. That tree was covered with envelopes! By this past Sunday, 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!! Along with a greatest Christmas dinner ever for 180 inmates at the Morgan County Prison…and sending $1200 to Jane, Tasha, and Hallie in Chicago, so that ladies from the inner-city can have help preparing themselves for that up-coming job interview …how could we ever 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, 325 widows will have a Christmas when they see the love of Jesus flowing to them from 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!

Happy "what" days?

Hey, everyone!

Hope you're caroling your way thru your day for all the seasonal reasons! It's gonna be awesome! From what I heard, "…Sunshine returns today with high temperatures slowly warming into the upper 40s…Tomorrow, mostly sunny skies will continue with highs continuing to warm into the middle to upper 50s!"

So, I just hope you're having the "merriest of Decembers!" And while I'm at it, "Winter Greetings! 

That doesn't quite do it, does it?

I guess I was just thinking about what they say on TV commercials anymore at Christmastime. We were watching a ballgame the other day and the ads were encouraging us to buy a new car to "make this the best December ever!"…or to shop at their "Winter Event!" One even wished us "Happy Honda Days!" 

"Hey! Let's just put our name where His used to be!" Bam!

It seems crazy that many business and marketing folks hesitate to wish us a cheery "Merry Christmas!" anymore. Even tho' "79% of Americans think Christmas should be about Jesus" and "73% of 'Nones' (those who don't have any religious beliefs or faith) think songs about Jesus should be sung at school Christmas programs",  lots of retailers just don't want to say "Merry Christmas" in their ads. 

But, if you think about it, I guess it makes sense. 

I mean, since Jesus was born into poverty, grew to have "no place to lay His head", and said that we must "be on your guard against all kinds of greed!" because our life "doesn't consist in an abundance of possessions", if I was just trying to get people to buy more stuff, His would be the last name I'd want associated with that!

On the other hand, if it's just about celebrating a "December to remember" or a "Winter event", it seems like you couldn't find a worst time to buy a new car! In December that new auto is a lot more likely to slide on sleety, slippery streets into a fire hydrant or get slush all slopped up on it from the other cars sloshing by! 

Maybe one year, they'll just try to get us to forget what holiday, month or season of the year it is, and simply say, "Buy stuff!"

This is a little random, but the other day, I was listening to a Bing Crosby Christmas record and I heard that warm, sweet voice sing these words about the "faith of our fathers" and how they lived with all their heart for Jesus, not just at Christmastime, but always…

Check these words...

"Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,

Were still in heart and conscience free.

How sweet would be their children's fate

If they, like them, could die for Thee!

Faith of our fathers, holy faith!

We will be true to Thee till death!"

Wow.

That's what I call a Christmas carol! It was recorded for the album, "White Christmas" in 1945. 

Why does it seem like three hundred years ago?

But maybe in some ways, it's healthier this way. Maybe it's better if some just say, "Happy holidays". Maybe it's better for them, spiritually.

"Christmas" is a Latin word. It comes from the word "Christus" (which means Jesus is the coming King of all), together with the word "messa" or "sending", which comes from the word, "mittere", which means "to send" (like in "emit" or "transmit"). "Messa" is where we get the word "mission". Christmas is "the mission of Christ to our world".

Maybe it's best that wishes of true Christmas joy and cheer are spoken only by those who love Him whose mission into poverty and suffering and whose rising from that tomb, alive from the dead has filled their hearts with gladness and merriment!

Maybe if more folks who still haven't come to believe in Him and love Him, made less wishes of merry remembrance of things that really have no place yet in their hearts, they would be more likely to stop and think…

"It's the end of December. They called it a 'December to remember'. I have new perfume and new jewelry, new clubs, and a new car. Yet, I'm not happy… Hmmm…I wonder what's missing in my life and heart?"

"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!” cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew…

“Bah!” said Scrooge, “Humbug!”…

“Christmas a humbug, uncle!” said Scrooge’s nephew. “You don’t mean that, I am sure?"

“I do,” said Scrooge. “…Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer?… Much good it has ever done you!”

“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,” returned the nephew. “Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round—apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that—as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!…I am sorry, with all my heart, to find you so resolute….But I’ll keep my Christmas humour to the last. So A Merry Christmas, uncle!”

And a Merry Christmas to you!

From Units 4, 5 and 11

Hey, everyone!

Hopefully your heart is filling with the peace of that special something called the Christmas season! And hopefully  your heart won't be filled with all the cholesterol and saturated fat that comes with another piece of that special something that calls for loads of Christmas seasonings! 

Don't mean to be all Grinchy about it, but for their health's sake, sometimes some folks might need to be a little careful about all Christmas spritzes, Christmas stollens, and  Christmas panetones that come flying our way during the holidays! 

Not to call anyone out, but starting with a certain "right jolly old elf"! 

I read the other day that if Santa were to actually eat all the cookies left out for him on "the eve"

…figuring that 76% of Americans identify themselves as "Christmas celebrators"

…but 85% of those households have "out grown" believing that St Nick's actually going to stop by

…that leaves 11,400,000 homes with kids who potentially believe in Santa.

Calculating conservatively that if in only 10% of these homes, kids actually leave Santa snacks (my dad always said Kris liked a cold beer at some stops!), that's 1,140,000 plates and glasses of cookies and milk.

"Two regular-size Nabisco Chips Ahoy cookies, according to the manufacturer's analysis, contain 100 calories and about 5g of fat.  An eight-ounce glass of 2% milk contains 130 calories and 5g of fat…"

That's only 230 calories and 10g of fat. Not bad.

Except if he eats that 1,140,000 times in one night, that's 262,200,000 calories! It takes 3,500 extra calories to add an extra pound of weigh to the average bod. That means that if Santa weighed, say, 240 lbs when he started his route, he'd weigh 75,154 lbs by time he returned home in the morning!

Yikes! I don't know if he could even make it back! Rudolph's good but not THAT good!

On the other hand, we almost took that many Christmas cookies and sweets to the Morgan County prison on Tuesday! Each made with the love of Jesus for men serving their sentence and spending their Christmas behind prison walls…

WOW! What a time we had! Those guys were so thankful for all the Christmas deliciousness that you all made! They feasted on an amazing dinner of smoked turkey (300 lbs of it! Thanks, Dicky!), potatoes, stuffing, rolls, green beans, Heidi's homemade cranberry sauce, and TONS of brownies, cakes, pies, fudge and cookies (thanks to all of you!!), served with a Triple C smile, "straight from the heart"!!

After dinner was served,  they sang Lee's own Christmas carols with our praise team, laughed at a hilarious skit of Devon and Travis, listened to beauuuutiful singing about a brave little boy and a girl in the dark and a labor of love, with no mother's heart to hold. Then they heard a message about the Christmas love of Jesus…What God did was simply indescribable! I had prayed so much that men would do three things that night: laugh, cry,and listen. 

Bam!

Andy Morgan told me about a month ago, "This dinner is for a young man we haven't met who is spending his first Christmas in prison. He's far from home, very alone and afraid." 

"Wow!" I thought. "That is SOOO true!"

I think I met that young man a couple of times that night.

A young man came through on his second time around and looked me in the face. His eyes were glassy and watery. "Grazias por la comida," he said. "De nada", I said. "El placer es nuestro."

Y'know, I think guys came thinking a church was providing a room full of convicts with a Christmas dinner. They found that Jesus was throwing them a Christmas party! They went back to their cells knowing that He offers His love and a new life to them.

"When the Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and criminals, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with these sinners?”On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2)

I think 180 guys went to bed Tuesday night with their tummies stuffed, their spirits and cholesterol high, and some with a mind full of questions, and many with a heart full of thanks, maybe a few with a future full of Heaven!

Merry Christmas, Units 4,5,and 11 of the Morgan County Correctional Facility!

And THANKS! everyone!!

Thanksgiving

Hey, everyone!

As your kitchen's warming up, I hope your heart is, too…filled with thanks for the million reasons we have to be so! Being thankful is such an awesome idea! And just to give you a beautiful Scripture to support the cause of the "Thanks-filled Heart", why don't you turn in the Bible to verse…

By the way…

Here's something to be thankful for! Did you know that for years and years, you couldn't really say, "Turn in the Bible to verse so-and-so…"? 

Bibles were written on scrolls like a roll of paper towels. In order to find a verse, you had to unroll… and unroll… and unroll it until you found your verse! It'd take forever! When you said, "Turn in the Bible to verse…", what you meant was, "Turn and turn and turn and turn in the Bible to verse…"! 

Then someone got an idea! 

"Why not cut the roll into evenly measured out pieces, tie and bind the ends together on one side, and then you can just flip from one place to another?! You could go from Isaiah to First Corinthians in one flip! It'll save hours and reading the Bible won't be so hard on our arm muscles!" 

And that's where books (instead of scrolls) came from!

It was a totally awesome idea! All amazing ideas are like that! It might seem kinda obvious to us later, but until someone thought of it, no one had thunk it!

Like having a day once a year to stop…breathe deeply…and thank God for all He has given to us and done for us!

It seems like an obvious idea to us! But someone had to think of it!

Thanksgiving was her idea…

Sarah Josepha  Hale, editor (she liked to be called “editress”) of Godey’s Ladies Book (as well as the author of the epic poem, “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) thought that we reallllly needed a day to thank God for how much He has blessed us all. And she thought the idea needed to come from the top! So she wrote to President Zachary Taylor, saying, “Y’know, we really need a day to give thanks to God in America!” 

No answer.

She wait ‘til he was gone and wrote the next Chief Exec, Millard Fillmore. “We really should have a national thanksgiving day!”

He didn’t write back either.

So, she waited ‘til there was someone else in the White House. 

Franklin Pierce didn’t answer either.

Her next letter was to…

 “President James Buchanan

1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC ”

Nada.

It wasn’t until the 6’5” Kentuckian from Illinois was sitting in the Oval Office, that she got an answer back! As he leaned back in his chair at the desk and propped those huge boots on the desk (as he usually did) he sliced the envelope open, puffed into it, pulled the letter out and read…

“Philadelphia, Sept. 28th 1863.

Sir,

Permit me, as Editress of the 'Lady's Book', to request a few minutes of your precious time, while laying before you a subject of deep interest to myself and -- as I trust -- even to the President of our Republic, of some importance. This subject is to have the day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival.

 For the last fifteen years I have set forth this idea before the Governors of all the States and Territories. Also I have sent these to our Ministers abroad, and our Missionaries to the heathen, and commanders in the Navy. It has occurred to me that a proclamation from the President of the United States would be the best, surest and most fitting method of National appointment.Thus the great Union Festival of America would be forever secured.

 Excuse the liberty I have taken.

With profound respect,

Yrs truly

Sarah Josepha Hale,”

So he did!

In his 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation, he wrote..

“…It has seemed to me fit and proper that God’s blessings 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 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. … 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 3d day of October, A.D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

A. Lincoln

But, it wasn’t really his idea. 

It was hers.

Actually it wasn’t her idea, either.

Turn in your Bible to Ephesians 5:19-20…Ready? Let's read together…

“Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,  always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Thankfulness...It’s the best idea!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

(By the way, we’re super thankful for you!)

Thanks be to “ye Almighty God for all his blessings!”

Hey, everyone!

Can you believe it?

I love it!! 

It's already almost Thanksgiving Day!! What IS it about that day that is so awesomely beautiful?

Is it the smells that take you back to memories that are sweeter than pecan pie?

(If our kids come to our house the Bennett Rd way, for the grandkids in back. it's literally  "over the river…or creek, really…and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go!")

Is it the sentimental feeling inside that feels warmer than the bird in the oven?

Is it the thoughts of the "Thanksgivings of days-gone-by" that swell your heart like a helium balloon drifting down Fifth Ave in front of Macy's?

I don't think so, really.

I think the thing inside my heart that I love on Thanksgiving is that it gives you a whiff of the feeling that should fill every room in your heart every day of the year! 

To deliberately, intentionally, thoughtfully, purposefully, methodically, introspectfully and retrospectfully slooooooow dooooooown long enough to thank God for…

all we have…

all He is…

all He gives…

THAT'S what feels so awesome and "Thanksgiving-y" about Thanksgiving Day!

It's not from remembering what "the Day" used to feel like, but from remembering that this is the way every day should feel!

To be filled with thanks is as beautifully satisfying and satisfyingly filling as two or three plate-loads of turkey and stuffing!

Sometimes I feel like forgetting to be thankful every day is like forgetting to get out of your PJ's.

Ever had that feeling where you're sitting at work or walking down the hall at school or sitting in the stands for the game and realize, "What!? I'm still in my PJ's!! How did THAT happen?"

You haven't?

Well, me neither, but…

It WOULD be crazy, awkward, and a cause for concern! "What's happening to me? I'm losing it! I forgot to get out of my PJ's!"

For us who have been sooooo loved and blessed, to leave our house without a thankful, thanks-filled heart would be just as weird! And crazy and awkward and concerning!

I remember one guy writing that he was having a tough time. His marriage had falling apart and he was in "just making it" mode. He slipped into a diner one Saturday. Folks sitting…eating…reading…sipping coffee. Minding each their own business. A young mom and little daughter sat in a booth and the little girl watched as food was delivered and immediately consumed. 

"Mom, don't people thank the Lord here?" she said.

The waitress stopped. "Sure, honey! We thank the Lord here! Would you like to lead us?"

"Ok", she answered.

Then the waitress added, "HEY! EVERYBODY SHUT UP AND BOW YOUR HEADS! WE'RE THANKING THE LORD TODAY!"

Everyone froze. Then you could hear a sweet voice say…

"God is great.

God is good.

Now we thank Thee for our food.

By Thy hand we are fed.

Thank You, Lord for daily bread.

Amen."

And everyone looked up. And smiled! 

And a couple clapped! 

And there rose in the air a feeling of cheer. In an instant, everything had changed about the place! I remember that fellow who told of the moment wrote something like, "And I felt a change in my heart. I knew I had been going through a tough time, for sure. But I had my Lord! He had forgiven me and made me His own! And at least HE would never leave me! And I knew I was going to walk into the future with Him! How many things I had to be (but had forgotten to be) thankful for! Thanks changes everything!

"Now ain't that better?" said the waitress. "I think from now on, we'll start everyday that a way!"

So, it's good (tho' a little crazy that we even need it!) to have someone tell us, "Remember to thank God! For everything!"

Y’know, at Thanksgiving, I used to love to read (sniff, sniff) an old proclamation from Gov. Bradford to those cold and hungry pilgrims on the first Thanksgiving. I first read it in a book somewhere and had always loved it. It goes like this…

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and made the forest to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from the pestilence and granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience, now I, your magistrate do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of nine and twelve in the daytime on Thursday, November ye 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth Rock, there to listen to ye Pastor and render Thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all his blessings."

Then I got some bad news…Turns out that “proclamation” is probably not real. Somebody apparently made it up not too many years ago and it’s been in circulation ever sense. 

Crud! I loved those words! 

Seems someone invented ye old paragraph in the 20th century. That’s the opinion of James W. Baker, Senior Historian at Plymouth Plantation. Words like “pilgrims” and “Plymouth Rock” weren’t used ‘til years later. 

I guess I had honestly wondered sometimes if there weren’t a few too many “ye’s” thrown in there for that thing to be real.

Oh well! If they didn’t say those exact words, they said something like it! 

And so do we! 

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 a growing family and loving friends!

For something good and sweet to do for Him!

For our awesome Triple C family! 

And at the Job house, we thank God for you!!

We love you all and hope this is “blessed-est” Thanksgiving ever!!

Thanks be to “ye Almighty God for all his blessings!”

Friday, ye 21th  of ye November, of the year of our Lord,  two thousand and ye fourteen

New Title, New Name

Hey, everyone! (Phil 4.21)

Hey, Brothers and sisters in Jesus (Eph 3.15)

Hey, Brothers and sisters OF Jesus (Heb. 2.11)

Hey, Priests of the royal family (1 Pet. 2.9)

Hey, Heirs and heiresses of God the King of all (Rom. 8. 17)

Hey, Alive from the dead! (Eph 2.1-5)

Hey, Stars shining in the firmament (Dan 12.3; Phil. 2.15)

Hey, Judges of angels and the whole world in the coming Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6.2-3)

Hey, Bearers of the new name that no one knows but he who receives it (Rev. 2.17)

Hey, Pillars in the temple of the Living God (Rev 3.12)

Hey, Participants of the divine nature (2 Pet 1.4)

That’s right! I’m talkin’ to you!!!

Those are just SOME of the ways the New Testament describes you! 

Those are just SOME of the amazing ways God sees you!

That’s HIS assessment

You might feel like a dufuss today for some bonehead thing you said…

You might feel like you’ll always be that thing someone called you when you were ten…

Maybe someone in traffic, out of his car window, called you something other than one of the above titles today…

But the Almighty One sees you differently! He has different names for you!

I was reading yesterday about the beginning of Paul’s new life with Jesus (they called him “Saul” at the time…along with other things!) He had been sooooo much against the followers of Jesus, hating on them at every opportunity while looking for new chances to hate them…

Until he didn’t!

Jesus blazed out of Heaven and Paul was on his knees (or maybe his face!) in the middle of the road, giving his heart to our Lord! 

He gained some things and lost some things that day. He gained a new life, new names, new titles, a new purpose, and a new home. He lost his guilt…and, temporarily, his sight!

So…Jesus appeared (somewhat more quietly and gently!) to one of His followers in the town named Ananias. He told him to go and put his hands on Paul’s eyes to heal them. Previous Ananias had wanted to punch those same eyes to blacken them. Ananias protested that Paul had been so hostile to them. But Jesus said, “True! But now he’s a chosen instrument to Me!”

“Wow! I would have called him plenty of things but not THAT! ‘A choice idiot!’…’a major chump!’…but not a 'choice instrument'!”

But that’s how God saw Saul…er, Paul…now! 

New titles! 

New names!

When Ananias knocked on the door and walked in, he might have wanted to call Paul all kinds of things. “You jerk!”…”You creep!”…”You #@$%#!”…But he didn’t.

He said, “B…b…b…b…brother Saul!” (Acts 9.17)

Wow!

“God says that you’re His child, so you’re my family! No matter what others call you, from now on, you’re my brother!”

Y’know, every Sunday morning at 9:30 we get together to talk, share, and encourage each other before we worship our Lord together. We call 'em “Community groups”. It’s just about being together with important people.

What if you could spend an hour on Sunday hanging out with…

Peyton Manning?

…or Coach Butch Jones?

…or Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood?

…or if you could spend an hour with Prince  William and Kate?

…or Benjamin Franklin? …Or Babe Ruth?

(Reminds me of the guy who asked his class, “If you could spend an hour with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?”, and a girl said, “The living one!”)

Well…

What if you could spend an hour with an heir of the world to come? 

Or with someone Jesus calls His sister or brother? 

Or with a royal priest of the Living God? 

Or with someone who has come alive from the dead?

You can!

C’mon!

Today

Hey, everyone!

It’s here, everybody! November 7! What an awesome day today is! 

Today! 

Did you know that, counting from Today, there are only 48 days and it’ll be Christmas!?

And after Today, there are only 55 days left in the year!

Thanksgiving is just two weeks and six days from Today! 

If you count from Today, there’ll be a new moon in 15 days…

Spring will be here in 134 days from Today!

It’s 49 days from Today 'til Boxing Day, 

And it's 165 days 'til the Queen’s Birthday and…let’s see…

Chelsea plays Liverpool tomorrow…(Wait. I think I must be on some British website…)

But Today is the day we think about today! Jesus said give no thought for tomorrow because Today has enough for you to think about! 

Today is a super important day! It’s the only November 7, 2014 we’ll ever get! It’s the day we could make choices that we would be glad that we made for a long time to come!

Today’s the day we could praise God by faith in something difficult and tough, without seeing the future and all the good that will come from it one day, when we will have wished that we would have praised Him (if we didn’t) when we should have…Today!

It’s the day we could say something that someone might remember with warm feeling for years to come!

Or NOT say something that they would possibly have never forgotten, but wish they could!

There’s an old song I love by Steven Curtis Chapman that goes…

"While it is still called Today, oh we've got to say the words
That are longing to be heard 'cause tomorrow may be too late
Go on and say what you need to say…While it’s still called Today!"

Today is our only day to trust God because yesterday’s past and tomorrow ain’t here yet! 

So…Today, November 7 is the most important day of the year!  Just like November 6 was yesterday when it was Today!

And, best of all, there are 0 days left 'til November 7! 

Did you know that on this date in history, the same thing happened on November 7, 1940 and on November 7, 1944? 

FDR was elected President…twice! Well, I mean, he was elected President once on November 7. 1940 and a second time on November 7, 1944…

Well, actually he was elected for the third time on 11/7/40 and for the fourth time on 11/7/44! He had been elected President twice before! 

Just not on November 7! 

Here's something else that happened on this date... On November 7, 2013…and November 7, 2011…and November 7, 1998…and November 7, 1873…and November 7, 1384…and November 7, 318 BC…

God loved you!

"Hold on thar just a minute! I remember what was going on in my world last November, in 2013 and it wasn't pretty! How could you say God loved me then? I thought He was just disappointed in me!"

Nope! He's never disappointed in you! To be disappointed, you'd have to have expected something different than what happened! He knew you were going to have a rough patch and a season of mess ups! He knew it before you did! He paid for it loooooong ago! You might have been disappointed in yourself because you expected better than what was, but He knew it was coming and had already washed it clean! Theologically, you might even say He saw it long ago, paid for it long ago, and when it happened, He didn't see it anymore! It was gone before it was done! Because He loves you always! Always has!

Someone wrote these words…

"Turn around and believe that the Good News that we are loved is gooder than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that Good News…to be in love with that Good News, is of all glad tidings in this world, the gladdest thing of all!" (Fredrick Buechner)

"Well, how on earth can you say He loved me on November 7, 1873? I wasn't even born yet! And I sure wasn't on anyone's radar in 1384! Or 318 BC!!"

Yup! Believe it or not, He has always known you were on the way! And He has always, always loved you! He loved you, set His heart on you, picked you to be His, before the world was ever spinning! And the moment you were born, angels heard Him say, "There you are!" 

And He has loved you every November 7 since! All day long! All night long! And every other day of the year! 

The past is gone; the future's not yet! But Today is your chance to say to Him and to show Him, "I soooo love You, too!"

That's why Today, November 7, is the most important day of all!

Until tomorrow!

Happy Reformation Day

Hey, everyone!

Hope you’re ready for the big holiday today!! I thought the “Day” would never get here! Gonna be awesome!!

"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…

reading the New Testament…

reading 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 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!

Have a joy filled day

Hey, everyone!

Isn’t it an amazing fall? The colors are everywhere! Reds! Greens! Yellows! Blues!…

"Blue!? Blue leaves?"

Opps! Sorry! I’m not talking about the trees! I was thinking of all those colorful political signs stickin’ outta the ground everywhere! It’s that time again! It doesn't happen every year. 

But it seems like it.

Did you know that on this date, October 24, in 1648, the Thirty Years Year and the Holy Roman Empire both officially ended? Shew! I'm just glad they're over! They were cruddy ideas to start with! And also on this date in 1861 the first transcontinental telegraph was sent across the US, from San Francisco to President Lincoln ("dear mr president stop sorry the giants beat the washington nationals for the NL pennant stop we cheer for you so cheer for us in the world series stop") 

I couldn’t wait to get to this email ‘cause I have a hilarious story to tell y’all! But before I do, I just want to wish you a day full of joy! Just a joy-filled day! 

Really! 

I really mean it! 

I realized the other day that I almost always start these emails out with those words…”Hope your day is filled with joy and praise!...”

But there’s NOTHING more important than that! I learned this from an unlikely teacher…especially if you’ve ever seen a picture of him! Remember Jonathan Edwards? Y’know…the ”Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” dude from high school Western Civ…If your text book had his picture, you wouldn’t forget it! Talk about grim! 

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but nobody smiled for pictures back then! Maybe it’s because it’s too tiring to keep the corners of your face turned up for the fourteen hours it takes to paint it. Maybe dentists didn’t have it together yet. But pretty much everyone was sour-looking back in the day.

Problem is…we grew up thinking Mr. Edwards’ heart was as dour as his face!

Not true!

Sure, he could preach a heated sermon on occasion, but most of his talks were about the beauty of the grace of our God…and about love (ever read his sermon, “Heaven is a World of Love”? Wow!)…and about joy!

You’d never know it, but that ol’ Puritan looooved chocolate! Once he wrote to a friend to remind him to not forget some on his trip to the Edwards home…” If you will bring what chocolate remains, you will much oblige your humble servant."

And he loved joy even more! It’s why he loved Jesus!

He said over and over that joy is the most essential heart ingredient for a healthy vital faith! 

"It would be worth the while to be a Christian, if it were only for the pleasantness of it…it begets love and peace, good will one towards another, brotherly kindness, mutual benevolence, bounty and a feeling of each other's welfare…it sweetens" the fellowship of those who believe!”

He first felt this “sweetness” the day he opened his heart to Jesus. "My soul," he reminisced, "was led away in pleasant views and contemplations of them. And my mind was greatly engaged, to spend my time in reading and meditating on Christ; and the beauty and excellency of his person, and the lovely way of salvation, by free grace in him."

He believed that knowing and loving Jesus was the most pleasurable thing the heart can do, and our number one duty before God is to “seek our highest pleasure”

 “The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here…”

Wow! How could a guy with a heart like that look so grumpy? Maybe the painter was the grumpy one! Maybe he just didn’t believe a person should be as happy as Jonathan!

Our very own Apostle Paul felt the same joyous way! He told the Corinthians that he was a “worker for their joy” Not the “lead pastor”, “youth pastor” or the “small groups pastor”, but the “joy pastor” was his job title!

He told the Philippians that he felt his only reason for not going to Heaven immediately was so he could stay around a while longer and help them have more joy in Jesus! (Phil. 1.25)

His prayer was for joy (Rom 15.13)

The Kingdom is about joy (Rom 14.17)

The fruit of the Spirit is joy (Gal 5.22)

Joy! 

Apparently there’s nothing more important! 

So, as I was saying… I hope you have a joy-filled day! 

Oops! With all that, I don’t have time for my hilarious story…Oh, well. Probably wasn’t that funny. And these verses will give you more joy than a joke would, anyway!

He loves me because I am me

Hey, everyone!

Isn’t fall awesome? Beeeaaauuutiful blue skies! Amazingly rich oranges and reds in the leaves! That nostalgic odor of everyone burning their leaf piles in their yard…

Oh yeah. I forgot. We don’t get to do that any more. I miss that smell! 

Y’know, fall doesn’t really have any smells. Spring has hyacinths and crab apple blossoms…Summer’s all about chlorine and watermelon…Christmas…you pick! Pine…roast turkey…Christmas cookies fresh from the oven…As the song says, “It’s the most smelliest time of the year!” 

Fall doesn’t really have any smells that go with it (any more!). Bend down and smell a pumpkin in the store. 

I get nothing.

Smells are the quickest and strongest ways to return to the days of your past. You know the feeling of smelling something you didn’t expect to and immediately you’re transported to some moment of years gone by, with accompanying emotional flood.  It’s actually because in your brain…

“...the olfactory bulb has intimate access to the amygdala, which processes emotion, and the hippocampus, which is responsible for associative learning…”

I didn’t know I had a hippocampus in my brain! Sounds like something smart and heavy.

The other day, I rode a smell to a “long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”.

 I was jogging down the country road in front of my house. It was still dark. You couldn’t see much but you knew the cows and skunks were out there! The smells were totally Oliver Spring-y! Suddenly…

I was in a slummy, broken down old dormitory on a foggy night in the outskirts of Milan, Italy. I was in a room with a bunch of Arabic guys from Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, watching them grow in their new faith in Jesus. One of the most sincere and humble people I’ve ever known was there. Antoine Stefan grew in war-torn Lebanon and had come to Milan to study. He accepted Jesus, eventually finished his masters in engineering, and together we started an Arabic language church in the city. He went from being a learner and beginner with a lot of problems to one of my dearest and closest friends and brothers. 

In the beginning, my collegues and I just kinda felt sorry for those lonely guys. We wanted to help them because they had so little and were so far from home. They became kind of a “mission of mercy” for us. Once we gave Antoine a coffee can full of change for his birthday so he could call home to Beriut on the pay phone. You NEVER give money to an Arab as a gift in front of his friends! It’s is a total humiliation! But, hey! we didn’t know and we felt so sorry for him! 

But in a couple of years, Antoine was truly a precious, faithful brother and friend. Besides Tina, he was about my best friend over there. He lives on Milan with his wife and three kids and I know he's doing well. But I had a moment early on an Oliver Springs morning, when I really missed him. 

Then I thought of an amazing verse I had read that morning. In the Gospel of John 15:9, Jesus said something astounding. “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you…” 

Jesus loves me like the Father loves Him! I am daily deeeeeeply thankful that Jesus has pity on me! He loves me with an infinite mercy for a helpless weakling! Compassion, pity, mercy…”I Need These Ev’ry Hour!” 

But He has more! 

The Father loves the Son just because He is Who He is! I would never associate pity or mercy with the love the Father had for Jesus. He just loved Jesus! For being Jesus! 

And Jesus loves me like that! With pity? Yes! With mercy for the weak and helpless? Hallelujah! But also…He just loves me! Because… I’m me!

At first, I cared about Antoine with a kind of sympathy. Or somethin’ like pity. But after a while...

After a while, I just had a huge place in my heart for Antoine Stefan, because…he was Antoine!

The Father loves the Son because…He’s Jesus! And Jesus loves me because…among other things…I’m me!

You’re you!

Yea!!

“Wow!! Where did all that come from on a country road in OS?”, I wondered.

Then I knew.

An Oliver Springs school bus had just passed me…I’m smelling diesel fumes… Smelling diesel in my hippocampus…all the hippos are smelling it…In an instant, in my memories...I’m on the bus…a diesel bus……in Milano…talkin’ and laughin’ with my homeboy, Antoine!

John 15.9…”Come il Padre ha amato me, cosí io ho amato voi…”

I love that diesel smell!

Heaven

Hey, everyone!

Here's your Triple C Friday news and announcements about all that's happenin' up here "on top of ol' Ogden"! 

"Movie Night On the Barn"! 

Sunday we're showing a movie on the side of our barn! I remember the first time we did. Our yard was filled with cars and folding chairs. A lady slowed down as she drove by. Rolling down her window, she asked someone, "Could I ask what is going on?" 

"Sure. Our pastor is showing the movie 'Elf' on the side of his barn."

"Well….That's the coolest thing I've ever heard of!"

Breaking news…

We will NOT be showing "ET"! We were trying to think of a movie kids would really like that they may not have seen before. That's how we thought of that one. Then someone reminded us this week, "Did you know that in "ET" they say the word, '&*%$#' about twenty times?! They even say, '*^#@%&*^'!"

Oops.

We switched to an  even better movie! And they don't even say "*%@$*" in this one!

I love what God has given me to do! All of it! I love getting to be a pastor!

Even tho' sometimes it's not always fun like "Movie Night On the Barn".

Last week, I was walking down the hall of the hospital to go to the consultation room near the Critical Care Unit. "Can I help you find where you're going?" a volunteer asked. 

"No, thanks. I know the way."

I've been there so many times before.

Yesterday, I was driving out to a graveside service at the cemetery. "Can I help you find where you're going?",  a worker asked.

"No, thanks. I know how to find it."

I've been there so many times before.

Actually, yesterday, my heart was overwhelmed for a moment as I parked. I thought as I opened the car door, about how many times I've been out to that cemetery  to be with families. 

"Almost twenty years of this place. Wow." I thought. "It's gone by so fast. Almost twenty years of sorrow and hurt and tears shed within the sound of cars whizzing by on Edgemore Road. Someday, we won't have to come here anymore!  One day soon! At the last trump…"

And I also thought, "Wow! So many from our extended Triple C family have been in Heaven, praising, dancing, singing for almost twenty years!" 

But in ways we can't comprehend, it must be like something more than "twenty years"!  I think that with Him…that is, in His presence…  what we call "Time" must be like no other time we've ever known! 

And with Him, there's an awesomeness like no other awesome thought you've ever thought and a beauty like no beauty you've ever seen and a joy like no other joy you've ever felt! 

When the Apostle describes Heaven, he says that it's never entered into your heart or imagination the unimaginable amazements of the Father's house! 

And Paul should know! He got to go to Heaven for a short visit once! In his second letter to the folks who loved Jesus and lived in Corinth, he said he was suddenly "caught up to the third heaven"! And he reported back that he had seen and heard things "that cannot be told…that no one can utter!" 

I wonder why he couldn't talk about this? 

(Besides the fact that it's all indescribably beyond words!)

Maybe he wasn't allowed to talk about it because, as the British brother, G. K. Chesterton said, if we could have a thirty second visit to Heaven ourselves, we'd just be silly with laughter the rest of the time on earth and wouldn't get anything done!

And he must be right because Paul said Heaven's awesomeness is so truly awesome that, compared to There, it made all his many years of pain and suffering down here "light and momentary"! (2 Cor 4:17)

"Light"…Just a light, slight bother! 

And "momentary"! Just for a moment!

One of my favs, John Newton, a sweet pastor and writer of songs that God's people still sing after 250 years (including "Amazing Grace"), had a tender, beautiful marriage. Since he and Polly had no kids, they adopted two girls. The second, thirteen year old Eliza, was the daughter of Polly's sister. Eliza's father and two siblings had all died of dreaded "consumption" or TB. Her mother's life was slipping away as well. Eliza was infected too. All knew the Newtons were taking her into their family for her last months. 

John wrote to Eliza's mother, Elizabeth, as mom, convalescing by the sea, was growing weaker each day…

"I told you that Eliza would be ours. That is a settled thing…but she has made herself ours and…has taken possession of a large room in our hearts. Her affectionate, obliging, and gentle behavior have endeared her very much to me. As to her health…I hope she does not suffer much pain, but she is so very patient that I cannot be certain. My chief desire is that the Lord may speak to her heart and draw her to Himself…And then whether she goes to Heaven at the age of twelve or at the age of one hundred and twenty, is no great matter…"

Wow. Whether 12 years or 120, compared to "There", is all "just for a moment!"

Her adoptive Dad Newton kept a record of her last days.

"Despite her great pain, she repeatedly thanked her nurses and the servants for all their kindnesses to her. She listened with smiles and nods to all the prayers and scriptures read to her. When the doctor, on his last visit, asked her how she was feeling, she replied, 'Truly happy. And if this be dying, it is a pleasant thing to do it.' "

Her dad, John wrote that during her last moments…

"About five in the afternoon, she desired for me to pray with her once more. Surely I then prayed from  my heart. When I had finished, I said, 'My dear child, have I expressed your meaning?' She answered, 'Oh yes!' and added, 'I am ready to say, Why are His chariot wheels so long in coming? But I hope He will enable me to wait His hour with patience.' These were the last words I heard her speak."

On October 6, 1785, Eliza died. 

John Newton wrote in his diary, "The Lord sent a chariot of love for dear Eliza. We almost saw her mount…"

Just a moment! Imagine that!

The One Who Loves Me is Cheering Me On

Hey, everyone!

Hope your Friday is beginning as a praise-filled, thanks-filled day! (Now that I think about it, I can hope for that all I want, but whether or not your day has praise and thanks in it, is kinda up to you!) A little needed rain today and then…weather-wise, FALL'S HERE!! October brings so much awesomeness! Beeeautiful foliage, crisp, blue skies and…baseball play-offs! 

It's started, folks! 

I'm not sure how it happened, but I don't really have a favorite team this year…

Wait! Oh, yeah...

I know how it happened. 

Next, years, Bravos!

Sigh. 

Anyhooo…

Actually, I like lots of the teams in the play-offs! I'm glad the Angels are in it! I like the Cardinals! The Dodgers are awesome and Kershaw is awesome to the 10th power! Kansas City hasn't been in it since before Vin Scully's voice changed in junior high! I like the Giants. I'd like 'em more if Pablo Sandoval didn't dip so much! (He spit on his own jersey during an "at bat" the other night! Gross!) 

If the Giants get discouraged today against the Washington Nationals, they have a secret weapon of

encouragement…

Hunter Pence! 

He's their right fielder and his main contribution is just bein' pumped! It's  100 mph, all the time! His eyes are wide, his socks are outside his pants and pulled up over his knees almost to his belt buckle,  and if he goes down, it's swinging'! He runs kinda funny, but fast! One reporter wrote, "When he runs to first base, he looks like a three-legged deer fleeing a forest fire. Then, on defense, he’s in right field, loose and limber, composed, and then the ball get hit out his way and, oh #%$@!, the forest is on fire again!!"

So if a guy's infusing enthusiasm into his team, what are you going to do to stop it? 

Discourage him, of course!

That's kind of what's happening across the country. There's a national campaign to discourage Hunter Pence.

It started in New York against the Mets back on the first of August. A couple of fans from Queens were spotted on camera with hand-painted signs, insulting Hunter Pence. One said, "Hunter Pence eats piazza with a fork!" The other bore a slanderous accusation apparently all New Yorkers would recognize. 

"Hunter Pence puts ketchup on his hot dogs!" 

In the Big Apple, nobody does that!  If you are thinking of squeezing that particular condiment on your dog, fahgetaboutit!

Then someone retweeted pictures of those signs. And the rest is history! 860 re-tweets in the first week! Then, everywhere the Giants played all August and September (except at home in AT&T Park) the fans held up disparaging signs, insulting Hunter! Mostly they imply that he is a health nut (he follows the Paleo-diet) and a dork…

Stuff like (and these are real, folks!)...

"Hunter Pence wears sandals with socks"

"Hunter Pence has sharknado insurance"

"Hunter Pence likes Godfather 3"

"Hunter Pence returns his library books on time"

"Hunter Pence takes 13 items to the express lane"

"Hunter Pence still has a Blockbuster card"

"Hunter Pence makes his girl friend watch the Weather Channel for fun"

Hunter Pence hates bacon" 

"Hunter Pence DVDs reruns of Full House"

"Hunter Pence remembered your birthday without Facebook"

"Hunter Pence wishes all Hunter Pence signs were in comic sans" (I don't get that one.)

"Hunter Pence knows where Waldo is"

"Hunter Pence never skips commercials on recorded shows"

I'm not sure how he's making it. I'd be striking out every time if I was being slandered and insulted everyday. 

Thankfully…

You have Someone Who is cheering you on all the time! Your Lord is your "#1 Fan"! He thinks infinitely more of you than you think of yourself! I remember the time when John the Baptist had been arrested and was waiting for the trial he never got. He must have been so down and disheartened! He was probably thinking to himself...

"So, it all ends like this? I must have messed this up royally! I guess I shoulda kept my opinion about Herod's dating choices to myself! Now look where I am! Can't preach anymore! Can't help anyone! I wonder what my Lord thinks of this! …of me!"

And just at that same time, Jesus was talking to others about His friend, John! Know what He really thought? (In the end it's not your opinion of yourself that matters, but His of you!)

Check it…

"Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…" (Matt:11:11)

Not a sign that said, "John the Baptist eats bugs" or "John the Baptist can't tie my shoes" but simple this: "No one greater!"

Wow!

If I could just see myself the way Jesus sees me, I still might strike out every single time, but I wouldn't even care! The One Who loves me most is cheering me on!