Triple C News - February 3

Hey, everyone!

And how could we not praise our Lord for this awesome day? 

We oughta praise Him even if we were having more of the rain that rained all this rainy week, but since we're not, and we're having a beauuuuutiful day instead, praising Him today will be a chip shot! 

It's official!  “Friday: Early morning clouds will give way to mostly sunny skies and dry weather!…Saturday: Mostly sunny skies and milder.”

Awesome!

Y'know, a while back, I was mentioning that with the weather and sometimes sports commentary, I've realized these Friday "blogs" have gotten a little lengthy! I mean the Gettysburg Address was only 272 words and Abe was sitting' back down after a couple of minutes and some change!

So I decided I need to tighten up and get to the point a little quicker. Discipline is what I need! I've been looking into ways to limit my words and I remember an article I read about the haiku. 

A haiku is a Japanese poem that is only three lines long. The first line has to have only five syllables. So does the third line. The middle line has to have exactly seven syllables. The reason it has to be like this is…well, I'm not sure! But it does make you get to the point in only three lines and seventeen syllables!

Maybe a good Friday email would be…

"Hey, ev-er-yone!

It is good to praise the Lord!

See you this Sun-day!”

Or how 'bout...

"Don't complain about

Stuff that might happen to you.

Phil. two, verse fourteen!"

or maybe... 

"If your words are few,

you don't say "I'm sorry" much.

Proverbs ten, nineteen"

I've been thinking that another possibility to make these shorter, is to basically make this into a Friday "tweet"! 

A tweet is a message that can have only 280 characters in it. You say it and…done! Tweeting is a little hard for us old fellers to learn ‘cause I, for one, have never done one!

The closest you get to tweeting in the New Testament was a letter written by an old guy (surprisingly!) 

90-year old John wrote a couple of letters that are one chapter each and just like a tweeting epistle, he gets to the point, says it, and signs off.  In fact, 2 John could be called a “twistle”.

“It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love!”

"He tells us to love. 

When you love, you obey Him. 

Love is what He wants!”

(Yikes! I can't stop haiku-ing!!)

So a tweet has only 280 characters?  I’m gonna try one. Ready?

The other day, I was jogging down the road by my house thinking about stuff. The air is fresh, the sky is clear, I’m out of doors, and God is near! My best thoughts come to me while jogging. I do my best thinking then! And this thought was my best yet!! Ready? As I ran, I thought to mys..

Triple C News - January 27

Hey, everyone!

What an awesome day!! Sunshine all day!! And even if not…

You can get up, get a cup, and open up God’s Word AND your heart and make some sunshine for even the cloudiest, rainiest day!!

So, I have all these journals I write in everyday…

I write down stuff that super helps me that I read in the Scriptures in the morning…

along with thoughts and prayers that come into my heart…

And sometimes if something random jumps into my brain that I need to remember, I write that, too! Mostly in the margins or up on top of the page. That way, I have it down and won’t forget it so I don’t get distracted from the work of waking up and warming up that sleepy heart of mine!

Altho’ if I look back thru old notebooks, I don’t always remember what I was remembering!

F’r example, I read (because I wrote it one day)…

“Every Awesome Day Goes By Easily”

“Huh??”

Then I remembered that that’s what I thought up to remember the notes of the guitar strings! EADGBE!

Or one scribble said, “Cookies…Tues and Thurs”.  (No idea!)

The other day I found something that I wrote down when I must have been reading Luke, chapter 1 where it says that the Promised King (Jesus Who was on the way!) would be like “the rising sun…from heaven to shine on those living in darkness…”  (Luke 1, verses 78 and 79)

So, while I was thinking of that…

and so I wouldn’t forget…

I wrote this…(btw, I had a time reading some of this because it was pretty scribbly!)

“Luke says that Jesus is like the sun…always shining…

Even when it’s dark and stormy, above the clouds the sun is always shining.

If I or someone doubts the love of God…

that ‘God would/could love me…He loves others but I struggle to believe He loves me’,…

Actually, this is doubting that GOD IS LOVE!

He IS love! He’s not just ‘loving’! He IS LOVE! His essence is LOVE!

He is like the sun…always shining everywhere on everyone!

Not because they’re ‘worthy’ but because they are alive and the sun IS the sun! And the sun shines! That’s what it does!

Jesus wants me to not only believe in Him, but to believe that He IS love! 

If I don’t believe He is love, I don’t really believe in Him!

To believe with all my heart, yet to believe that He is less than Who He actually is, isn’t really believing in HIM!

Worship is simply loving the God Who IS love!

If you don’t love worshipping God, maybe it’s because you believe that the God you worship is less than LOVE!

To believe in Jesus, Who IS love, I HAVE TO BELIEVE IN LOVE!

To love Jesus, Who IS love, I have to LOVE LOVE!…”

It’s funny but I was glad I found this because I needed to remember all of that this week! 

I needed to remember what I had jotted down to not forget!

And I was glad I could read my scribbles!

Triple C News - January 20

Hey, everyone! Or better yet…

Hey, child of God! (Ephesians 1:5)

Hey, brother or sister of Jesus! (Hebrews 2:11)

Hey, heir of God! (Romans 8:17)

Hey, joint-heir of Christ! (Romans 8:17 again)

Hey, chosen one of God! Ephesians 1:11

Hey, beloved one (Ephesians 4:2)!

Hey, citizen of Heaven! (Philippians 3:20))

Hey, child of light! (Ephesians 5:8)

Hey, joy and crown! (Philippians 4:1)

Hey, holy saint of God! (Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Colossians 1:1, and many more!)

“Who?? Me!?” Yes!! YOU!!

Because (and ever since) you trusted in Jesus…

whether you know it or not…

whether you feel it or not…

all these titles are true of you! And more!!

“Wow! All that seems almost too good to be true!”

Exactly! Yet, it is!! It’s all super-true!! Almost like a fairy-tale-come-true!

One of my favs ever, British scholar C. S. Lewis, or “Jack” (as his friends called him) was…

after Winston Churchill’s…

the second most recognizable voice in England during the War as his BBC radio talks helped a frightened and grieving nation discover that faith in the God of the Good News of Jesus was the surest and swiftest way to courage and hope in dark times.

He wrote 34 books from 1931 and 1962, including the Narnia stories for kids (and for others like me!) about a frozen world beyond our world and a Lion Who melted it and remade it with His powerful love.

C S Lewis explained to a class of 5th graders that Aslan didn’t strictly “represent” Jesus but rather…

”Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as He became a Man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen.”

His own story was almost a story “too good to be true”!

An atheist and the world’s leading expert on medieval literature, he opened his heart to Jesus because…

as a scholar of ancient stories…

he found the story of Jesus a story too good to be…untrue!

There was a woman named Maureen whom C S Lewis had helped to raise. They stayed in contact thru the years and in February, 1963, Maureen discovered that a distant and to her, unknown relative…

Sir George Cospatrick Duff-Sutherland-Dunbar of Hempriggs…

had died of old age.

And he had no wife or kids or heir…except Maureen!

She instantly became the Baroness Lady Dunbar of Hempriggs and owner of the ancient Dunbar Castle in Scotland!

When she went to visit Jack in the hospital as he was dying, she was warned that he was incoherent and didn’t recognize anyone. As she slipped quietly into the room, put her hand in his and whispered, “Jack. It’s Maureen,” he greeted her feebly but resolutely…

“Lady Dunbar!”

Amazed, she replied,“Oh, Jack! How could you remember that?!” 

 “On the contrary,’ he whispered. “How could I forget a fairy tale?”

Triple C News - January 13

Hey everyone!

Now that your tree's down and your left-­overs are just "overs", I really hope you had a “First-Coupla-Week­s-of-the­-New-­Year” filled with praise and thanks! In fact, you should just really resolve as your New Year’s Resolution Numero Uno to have a 2023 daily filled with praise and thanks so,…

Whoa. Wait. Maybe that's not such a good idea.

I mean, praise and thankfulness are like the most important components of your heart's health, but apparently resolutions aren't the steps to getting there!

Seems that when folks resolve that "first of all, from now on, I'm going to never..." 

or…

”Secondly, from now on, I'm always going to...", it actually ups the chances that you "will" the first (instead of "won't" it), and "won't" the second (instead of "will" it)!

When determined hearts resolve, and make resolutions that "from now on", they're going to stop doing something bad they've always done, or start doing something they should do but rarely have, success rates are less than impressive! 

For a week or so, we do swell!  76% keep their resolutions that long. But six months down the Resolution Trail, 54 to 60 % have stumbled to the curb! 

60% of all gym memberships are unused.

After six months, 85% of those who resolve to be “ex-­smokers", ain't.

Most of the time, we have problems, not because we don't "resolve" well, but because we don't remember well. I have a few things I try to remember almost daily. If I get into trouble, I've usually forgotten one or two.

They're like the sayings painted over the exits on football locker rooms that all the players smack  as they head on to the field. Notre Dame's says. "Play like a champion today!"

Here are mine...

1) ”My life is His"...Everything I have is His. He bought it with His blood. If I lose something, I'm not sad! It wasn't mine to start with!

2) ”My home is Heaven"...Not here! Good cow! If we expect to "have it all" here, we'll be disappointed all the time! I'm just passing thru this world!! On my way home!

3) ”My time is today"...This is the only day I have to think about! Most of my depression, worry, and anxiety come from thinking about a day that's past or hasn't come!

4) ”My job is to serve people”...Jesus said, “I am among you as one Who serves…” (Luke 22.27) Ever seen Downton Abbey? I work “downstairs” unless I’m waiting tables for the family!! Just like Him!

5) ”My goal is to please God!" That's all I care about! I live for the smile of One! If I didn't please everybody in the whole world today, that's OK! I wasn't really trying to! If I pleased Him, it's been a great day!

6) ”My fight is for joy"...I want joy in Jesus more than anything! An invisible enemy doesn't want me to have it. So, I'm ready to fight for it! 

Every day!!

7) ”My strength is weakness"...If I know I can't do stuff or face things on my own...Hello!!! I wasn't made to! I'm poor, weak, and needy! As he says in 2 Cor 12, "When I'm weak, I'm strong!" In Him!! My weaknesses...I love 'em!

I'm probably not going to resolve to start doing things I don't do this coming year. I'm just going to renew my resolve to remember things I already know!

Triple C News - January 6 2023

Hey, everyone!

What an amazing New Year’s Eve we had!

It was almost like Christmas Eve when I was a kid! 

On Christmas Eve, we’d go to bed about 9:30 or 9:45, and wake up in the morning and…just like magic! Christmas was here! And on New Year’s Eve, Tina and I went to bed about 9:30 or 9:45 and woke up in the morning and…just like magic! New Year’s Day is here! 

I remember one New Year”s Day that was different from all the others we’d spent together.

January 1, 1980…

We took off in a U-Haul truck (I was driving that one) and a blue 1963 Plymouth Valiant (Tina was driving it with its 4 speed stick shift on the steering column), with a baby in the back seat of the Valiant and another baby in the driver’s seat (actually, in the driver!)… and we headed north to Winona Lake, Indiana and the beginning of seminary. We didn’t know what was ahead for us. We didn’t exactly know why we were going except that God had made a way and I wanted to study the Scriptures with all my heart and prepare for something…

After we skidded and slid into our new Hoosier world and that first month of shivering, job hunting (found one bagging groceries), classes, and sloshing through snow, messy diapers, and Greek conjugations, there were moments when we wondered… 

“What are we doing here!?”

But that first semester, I took a class in the Book of Psalms. 

And I discovered the 90th one.

“There it is! That’s what we’re doing here!”

After saying that in this short life you have on earth, you can sort of… maybe… all things being equal…possibly… count on seventy years down here (eighty, if you’re exceptionally stout) before you “fly away”, Moses prays this:

“So teach us to number our days so that we can acquire a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12)

My prof said that he had calculated how many days he had ’til he was seventy and every day marked one off! 

He'd say, “That’s one less day I have to do what God has for me to do!”

Wow! 

I only have one life!

I only have one chance!

I only have these days!

To do something important…

To do what God has for me…

To do what Jesus showed us to do…

To love, serve, give ourselves away.

To live my days so that I have no regrets at the end…

If I waste one of my days…

by nursing a stinky attitude…

or making stupid choices…

or caring too much about things that won’t matter when it’s all done…

I can never have that day back!

When I first met this Psalm, I had about 16,250 days until I would turn seventy. 

Counting from today, January 5, 2023 I only have 579 left!

I hope I’ve spent most of those 15,641 days…from that long ago day in January to today…well. 

I definitely remember some that got away from me. 

Thankfully, Paul said it’s good to forget what’s past and press on! 

‘Cause this is our only chance! We only have a limited number of days! 

I probably have less than you! 

I might only have 579! 

As a matter of fact, while I’m writing this, I’m still in my PJ’s! 

Gotta go!

Triple C News - Dec. 30

Hey, everyone!!

And Happy New Year!! It’s almost here!! 

It feels like a new start! Another chance to make those resolutions that will make a "new and improved” me! 

Like for last year’s resolutions, I decided to…um…to not…wait...It was to start doing…ah…doing what? Or was it to start NOT doing something? 

I actually don’t remember!

That must mean I must still be doing it…or NOT doing it! But if I don’t even remember what it was that I was or wasn’t doing…that I needed to stop or start doing… it couldn’t have been THAT bad!

I read an article on “23 Resolutions you can actually keep”. Ready?

#2 “Make your bed” (Actually, Tina already does that and we sleep in the same one!) *

#7 “Drink more water” (Coffee’s full of water, right?)

#9 “Keep your car clean” (Did someone tell on me?)

#13 “Shed some weight by decluttering” (Wait! That’s two resolutions smushed together!)

* (I do other jobs, tho’!)

So, here’s mine!

“Make your Friday emails short enough to fit on one page or less!”

So, from now on, when I get to the bottom of this page, I have to stop, no matter what!

I only have space to share with you my New Year’s verse for 2023. Ready?

I found it the other day and thought it was super sweet!

“May the Lord bless his land with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield!” (Deuteronomy 33.13-14)

“Wait! What does that mean?? How would God bless me with the best of the sun and the finest of the moon? I mean the sun shines with light and Vitamin D on whoever’s out there in it! And the moon’s beautiful to whoever looks up at it! How could anyone expect to enjoy the best or the finest of those two?”

I’m not sure. But you have to admit, it’s a very cool Scripture!

And I also know that God has a beautiful and perfect will for all who love Him! And I've learned that like the sun and the sunshine it “brings forth”, those who are most “out there in it”, know best how blessed they are by it!

And like the moon, Jesus is always beautiful! But His finest loveliness is enjoyed by those who love to look up at Him!

So, in 2023, may the Lord bless YOU with the best and the finest of the will of Jesus for you! 

Just get out in it! And look up!

Triple C News - Dec. 23

Hey, everyone!

Wow! It’s almost here! Remember how excited you used to be when you were a kid?!

I didn’t even know much about Jesus when I was little but I used to pray in my bed every night and say, “Dear God, it’s only nine more days until Christmas…” (like He doesn’t know!)

And I had no idea how Santa fit into the whole thing theologically! 

(Apparently he sees you when you’re sleeping and knows stuff about you, good and bad, that you’re trying to figure out yourself!)

Christmas really is for kids! On the other hand…

A young girl…maybe 12 or 13…didn’t even blink about it…

or need to think about it…

when an angel offered to her an opportunity to be misunderstood and maligned if she would say “Yes!” to God…

A boy…maybe 13 or 14…never uttered one word of complaint when his plans of a quiet and peaceful domesticity evaporated in the swirling whirl of God’s dizzying redemptive invasion of the planet.

And they were just kids! Christmas is for kids…

And brought to you…BY kids!

Kids with a brave and simple faith.

In “A Christmas Carol”, Bob Cratchit’s Tiny Tim must have been about nine or so…

With a disability…And a brave and simple faith

“And how did little Tim behave?” asked Mrs Cratchit…

“As good as gold,” said Bob, “and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.” 

Jesus said to enter into the Kingdom of God, you have to change and become like a child (Gospel of Matthew 18.3)

Maybe He meant, like them, you’re weak and needy.

Or maybe He meant, like them, your faith is simple and brave…

Christmas is for kids.

And…Brought to you BY kids!

Give yourself a present this Christmas!

Be one!

Merry Christmas, y’all!!

“God bless us, everyone!”

Triple C News - Dec. 16

Hey, everyone!

Wow! So hard to believe that in just a little over a week, we’ll be singing with our candles lit…

“Siiiii…iiii…lent niiiiiight…Hoooo…ooo…ly niiiiiiight…”

I always drive home knowing, “Now it’s Christmas!”

Next Saturday millions will sing that ‘round the world in loads of ways! 

They sing…

“Nos hep son! Noswyth lan!” (in Cornwall) 

“Glade jul, Dejlige jul” (in Denmark)

“Douce nuit, Sainte nuit” (in France)

“Noche de paz, Noche de amor” (in Spain, Mexico and other places)

“Notte tranquilla, Notte di pace” (in Italy)

“Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht" (in the original German)

Even tho’…

…the Scriptures don’t actually say that our Lord was born in the middle of the nuit…I mean…the noche…ah…the nacht…opps… the night! Luke tells us that the shepherds were watching their flocks at night, but were told that “this DAY is born to you a Savior!” So it may be that the Baby was born in the morning and then the Holy Family was able to get a couple of naps in before receiving visitors. 

I do think it would make sense tho’ if the infant King was born in the middle of the night. 

After all, He IS the Light of the world. His love shines best when it’s dark! 

Always has! Always will! (that is, “until the Day dawns…” 2 Peter 1.19)

There’s a place in Ephesians 5 where Paul tells us to “make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil…” And I don’t think he means it in a nail-biting, freak-out way! I think he’s saying, “Hey! Let’s take advantage of these days because, as always, His love shines brightest in the dark!

In my annual “Christmas listen” to the audiobook of Dickens’ Christmas Carol, once again I misted up as I drove down the road hearing the ghost of Ol’ Jacob Marley’s bewailing his wasted life and opportunities to love and care in a world of pain and poverty, literally trembling at the thought that many just waltz thru life without realizing that this is their only chance to do good to hearts in need…

Listen to what he told his ex-collegue Scrooge…

“Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness!

Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life's opportunities misused! 

Yet such was I! Oooh! such was I!''

It held up its chain at arm's length, as if that were the cause of all its unavailing grief, and flung it heavily upon the ground again.

``At this time of the rolling year, I suffer most. Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode? Were there no poor homes to which its light would have conducted me?!”

This Christmas…

at this time of year when the the days are short and nights are longest …

and when some are struggling…

and some are sadder…

and others are lonelier than Christmases past…

What if we made this…

…the Christmas to be kinder than ever before ?

…the Christmas to tell people you love that you love them more than ever?

…the Christmas to go out of your way for someone “out of the way”?

Let’s leave sad regrets for words unsaid and deeds of love undone to poor ol’ Marley!

Light your candle!

Let us shine!

Christ the Savior is born!

Christ the Savior is born!

Triple C News - Dec. 9

Hey, everyone!

Hope you’re having an awesome, “joy to the world” week! As the old carol says, “So why should men on earth be so sad, when our Redeemer has made us glad?”

Sadly, one of the sights that tells us "'tis the Season" is that grumpy face with the grouchy expression you see everywhere.

“Who you talking ‘bout? All the hastled shoppers?”

Nope! I was talking about the face of Ol’ Ebenezer Scrooge you see everywhere these days. Between streaming the old movies, or a play they’re doing in K-town, or ads on TV, you see that “grumpy gills” all over the place! The sad thing is that, even tho’ he was super mean for years…

(Dickens described him as “…a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!”)

...in the end of the book  he changed! Totally!  But people ALWAYS think of him the way he was at the beginning and not the way he was at the end!

At the end of the little classic, he “… became as good a friend and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world… and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”

Wonder why they never show him that way?

Could you imagine a smiling, cheery, chuckling “Ol’ Ebenezer”, giving a hand and a hug to a weary beggar, or stopping to sled down the hill with the kids behind his house? I’m sure it happened! One of my favorite pictures of the end of the story is in a kids’ book that shows Scrooge and Tiny Tim sitting in the grass on a hill outside spring-time London, laughing together.

When a person really changes from what they shouldn’t have been to what, with God’s help, they could’ve been, I wonder why it’s easier to remember what they were rather than what they’ve become?

Here’s a good Christmas verse…”If anyone is in Christ, he (or she) is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold! All things have become new!”

That’s how God sees you! Not what you were! Not even what you are, really! But who you are in Jesus! Being outside of time, He already sees you as who you will be one day! 

Free! 

Faultless! 

Filled with overflowing love! 

All the time! 

The “You” you were always meant to be!

He sees you as the new “Scrooge” that He always meant you to be when He put you in this world!

It says in the last book of the Bible, that when we’re finally with Him in Heaven, “we’ll get a new name…” so people won’t remember you by the one you had when you weren’t fully the “You” you will be one day.

For all us “Scrooges” that’s an awesome idea!

Triple C News - Dec. 2

Hey, everyone!

Wow! You can really tell it’s Christmas! The other day, I was driving down the road and saw one of those church signs that said,…

“STARTED SHOPPING? DON”T FORGET HIS PRESENCE!” 

I thought, “Well, for one thing, I haven’t.” And secondly, “Christmas can be tough sometimes for some of us and with all the other places I have to go, I didn’t really need to go on that guilt trip today!”

Speaking of things people don’t need at Christmas, I was reading an article about presents that you shouldn’t buy for anyone…Ready?

(If you’ve gotten any of these, there’s still time to take it back…)

1)Exercise gear 

2) Wrinkle cream (“Don’t give stuff that could be interpreted as sending a message…”)

3)Re-gifted stuff (“Just don’t…)

4)Ski equipment (“Don’t give anything that will cost the person to use it, i.e., lessons, ER bills, etc…”)

5)One-wheel electric skateboards (“Just think for a second…”)

6)Fruit cake ( “If you get one, you could use it as a door-stop, as a Duraflame log, or as weight for the back of your pickup in case of snow…”)

Speaking of…

Christmas is really to remember the birth of the One Who owns everything! 

If I were to buy a gift for Him, what could He possibly want from me? 

What do you give the One Who has everything?

I know!

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! 

One thing we hope to do this year is to buy a set of clothes and a book bag for twenty six orphan kids who live with Suni Nandigam in India! And we are praying that we can buy three saris each (the dress women wear in India) for 52 widows! It will be the only clothes Suni’s orphans and widows get this year! 

I remember the year we first did this for Victor and Suni. When Victor heard we were going to do this, he wrote…

“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 fill 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!

Our dear friend Victor is in Heaven now and Suni carries on the work with the orphans and widows with God’s help and with those Victor trained.

So, there’s a tree in the lobby with tags on it. The sari are $40 a tag for three widows and the orphans are $35 each…'Nuff said.

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!”

Triple C News - Nov. 25

Hey, everyone!

What a beautiful day we’ve got today!! And right after a beautiful day yesterday!! 

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

And btw, Happy Native American Heritage Day! Today!

It’s a day to recognize and honor the first Americans, the indigenous native peoples of North America.  

And folks have lobbied for that one since 1915! It wasn’t until 1990, that the 1st President Bush declared the Friday after Thanksgiving as a day of appreciation for those of the 1st Nation!

Did you know there’s a Smithsonian website that can tell you which native peoples first lived where we do now? Anywhere in America! Before there was an Oliver Springs, the Tsalaguwetiyi of the eastern Cherokee, the Savannah River band of the Uchee people, and the Shawnee people called this home. 

Lately, I’ve loved listening to the stories of the journeys, struggles and joys of Native American followers of Jesus today!

One of the most difficult chapters they share in common is the pressure they often have felt after coming to Jesus to deny their culture in order to “fit in” with others who shared their faith but not their heritage. They couldn’t speak their languages or wear their native clothes if they were going to be “accepted”. At times, they have even been told it’s wrong to. One woman shared that it was hard to believe God loved her when she was told she shouldn’t be the one He made her to be.

Another came to know Jesus at 20 years old and was told right away in a weekly Bible study group that since she had become a Christian, she couldn’t attend “those tribal dances” any more. 

“But dancing has been how I’ve made it through all my heartbreaks up to now! And it’s become one of the ways I worship Him!” She explained what happened at their dances and that there wasn't anything that anyone would object to. 

“Ok, let me think about this for a while,”her pastor said.

A week later, he said,  “Well, I’ve been reading and praying about this and I read that when the lost son came home in Luke’s story, they had a dance to celebrate…and David danced before the Lord, even tho' some didn’t like it. But God was ok with that, so I can be ok with this!”

I remember someone saying that they were asked the question, “Can you dance and still be a Christian?” She answered, “I don’t think you can be a Christian and NOT dance!!” 

In Heaven, John looked “and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands…” (Revelation 7:9)

Forever beautifully different…and yet forever one!

Happy Native American Heritage Day!

Triple C News - Nov. 18

Hey, everyone!

Can you believe 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?

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

Is it the thoughts of "Thanksgivings 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 realizing in a quiet corner of your heart 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!

“And so on this day, Friday November 18, in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty two…

Let us 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 land!

For filling our hearts with joy!

For giving the faith to trust Him when it gets tough!

For a life full of growing family and loving friends!

For something good and sweet to do for Him!

For our awesome Triple C family! 

Thanks be to Almighty God for all His blessings!”

And at our house, we thank God for you!!

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

Triple C News - Nov. 11

Hey, everyone!

Hope you’re having an awesome, praise-filled Friday! I have been waiting all week to share something we heard the other evening!  We were sitting around, sharing with a couple around our table, enjoying some of Tina’s delicious cooking…

BTW, that’s something we LOVE to do! Sharing a meal with brothers and sisters in Christ! It’s SOOOOO important and SOOOO vital to the life of followers of our Lord in all times and all places around the world, from Jesus’ day to ours! Whenever you can get with your church family and share food, you’re telling them, “You’re important to me! You’re our family!” 

So whenever you can, as they say, “Y’all come!”…

Anyway, they were telling us an amazing and hilarious story about her great grand dad who worked at the zoo in Washington DC and about the morning he got to work to find the elephant cage open! Turns out that th…

BEEEEEEEEEPP!!!!

BEEEEEEPPPPP!!!

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP!!!!!

WE INTERRUPT THIS CCC FRIDAY EMAIL TO TELL YOU THAT THIS SUNDAY…

ONCE AGAIN, THIS SUNDAY…

WE ARE HAVING OUR MONTHLY FELLOWSHIP MEAL AFTER WORSHIP AT TRIPLE C….

PLEASE BRING TWO…WE REPEAT...TWO….EXTRA LARGE DISHES TO SHARE…

ONE MAIN DISH AND ONE SIDE DISH OR DESERT….

WE HAVE OVENS TO KEEP YOUR FOOD WARM AND FRIDGES TO KEEP IT COLD…

WE ALWAYS INVITE VISITORS AND COLLEGE KIDS SO BRING PLENTY! 

AGAIN, FELLOWSHIP MEAL THIS SUNDAY AFTER WORSHIP! 

WE NOW TAKE YOU BACK TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED EMAIL…

BEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP!!!

BEEEEPPPP!!!

BEEP!

…and that was the only time a US President ever had to shoo an elephant off the White House lawn! (He actually pushed it!)

Amazing, right?

Those are the kinds of stories you’ll hear when you join brothers and sisters to share food together! 

It’s important! Always has been!

Hold on…Wait a sec…Now that I think about it…

You could even join us this Sunday! We’re having our monthly Fellowship Meal!

I almost forgot about it!

It's always the 2nd Sunday of the month. Right after the worship service!

Hope to see you there!

Triple C News - Nov. 4

Hey everyone!

Wow! What an awesome day! What a day to praise God’s goodness to us all! 

Sunshine, warmin’ up, big game on the way!

What a day to have joy in our heart! ‘Cept that…

Lots a people are super upset!…

Seems like all over our country folks everywhere REALLLLY disagree ‘bout lots of things! 

Especially over who should vote for who (Wait. Is it “whom”?) and why. (Or is it “whym?”)

I’m not sure what all the fuss is about!

It’s really simple!

Let me tell y’all whom (It is! I looked it up!) you might wanna think about voting for…

(Just kidding! Goodness knows, I’m not gonna actually make any suggestions!!)

But I think I know what kind of person you should pull for in ANY situation!

It’s easy!

I believe that what we need now more than ever are folks who are wise! 

It’s a complicated world out there and the wisdom to navigate complexities and bring everyone together is rare, scarce, and essential!

“Wisdom” in the Scriptures isn’t insight into esoteric mysteries but just knowing how to talk, be, act, and react, day by day in this world we’re in.

And as far as wisdom goes, there are two kinds to choose from.

According to the Epistle of James chapter 3, verses 13 thru 18, there is a “wisdom that comes from Heaven” and a wisdom from…

well…

somewhere else, I guess. 

“How do you tell the difference?”

That’s easy!

The “wisdom” that doesn’t come from Heaven, but comes from…elsewhere…

expresses itself in…

“bitter envy” (verse 14)…

(the Greek words are “zelon pikron”)…

and “bitter envy” means “zeal or passion that is hurtful and bitter and leaves a bitter taste…”

(Ever heard/seen any of that??)

And that wisdom is also full of “selfish ambition” (verse 14) 

The Greek word for “selfish ambition” is “erithea”…

According to scholars, it’s a word that means ”a pushing forward for personal ends… regardless of the discord it causes…contentious…a partisan spirit (“We’re right; all y’all are wrong!”)…factions…”

James tells us that when that’s the “wisdom” folks have…

sadly, you’re gonna find “disorder and every evil practice”! (verse 16)

Yikes! 

That wouldn’t be good! 

He actually says this kind of “wisdom” is “earthy, fleshly, and…” 

(Well, maybe you better look it up! Check out James 3:15!)

So, that wisdom really isn’t wisdom at all. In fact, it’s the opposite!

“So, who do we look for, bud?”

Easy!!

Look for someone who is wise with “wisdom from above”! Heaven’s wisdom!!

“How will I know it when I see it?”

Once again…easy!!

It’s not necessarily someone who has graduate degrees in advanced calculus or Renaissance literature in the original languages.

Wisdom is a special kind of heart!

“Wisdom from above is first of all…pure!” (James 3:17)…

It means “clean and holy, inside and out!”

“First of all…”

It’s the FIRST thing you’re looking for!

Then, “peacable” (James 3:17)

“Huh?”

Well, “peacable” means someone who is peace-loving, peace-making…

Wherever they go, people who wouldn’t be, are getting along better than they did before! These folks work to help people understand each other better! 

It’s a kind of “love-skill”.

Than, you need to make sure your choice is someone who is not only pure and peace-loving and peace-making, but is also…

“gentle”! (again, 3:17)

Wow! How ‘bout that?!  

That word (the Greek word is “epieike”) means…

”kind, sweet, reasonable, meek, fair…”

Kind and meek in their words…

kind and meek in their posts…

kind and meek in their tweets…

kind and meek in their re-tweets.

What’s next on your qualification list of wisdom?

“Submissive” (verse 17)…This is soooo interesting and sooo rare!

It means ”easily persuadable!…

”I have my opinion but I’ll listen to you! You could talk me into seeing your side!”

It means “approachable, compliant, good at listening, not a ‘know-it-all’…”

Last of all, “merciful”…”full of mercy, caring and compassion” for the disfavored…

for the “least of these”.

(Sigh…)

Sure wish there were more wise people around!

How I wish we could all have our opinions…even firm opinions…

but with Jesus’s peace-ableness…

Jesus’s meekness…

Jesus’s gentleness…

Jesus’s sweetness…

Jesus’s approachableness…

Jesus’s mercifulness…

I don’t know if only those who know Jesus could be this way. 

I DO know that all those who love Jesus SHOULD be this way.

Wisdom. 

Let it start with those who love and follow the One Who is called 

“the Wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:30)…

the Prince of Prince…

Jesus, the “meek and lowly of heart”.

And let US be they.

Let it begin with us!

Triple C News - Oct. 28

Hey, everyone!

Hope you’re having a praise-filled, thankful day of fall sunny-ness! And to prime your heart for autumn awesomeness, maybe you could start your day with a pumpkin spice mocha, light a pumpkin spice candle and fill your heart with a pumpkin spice attitude of joy!

“Wait. What’s pumpkin spice joy?”

Oh. Actually I don’t think there is such a thing.

But it’s about the only thing that doesn’t have a pumpkin spice version!

This season of the year is the time for pumpkin spice everything!

Besides the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte, did you know there are pumpkin spice Oreos? And pumpkin spice beer…pumpkin spice lip balm…pumpkin spice cream cheese…pumpkin spice nut butter…pumpkin spice raman noodles…pumpkin spice spam(gross!)…pumpkin spice Twinkies…pumpkin spice popcorn…

even pumpkin spice dog treats!

Y’know this whole pumpkin spice craze has gotten so big that on my Mac there’s an app that I put on it that when I use Pages (like I am right now) when I type…

PUMPKIN SPICE

if you click on it and put your nose close to the screen, you can actually smell a very faint smell of pumpkin spice! It’s so cool!

In fact, you could actually try doing it! Just click on where I typed “pumpkin spice” in capitals and put your nose close to the screen. Did you smell it?

It may take a couple of tries.

Anything?

(Actually, it won’t really!  I was just kidding!)

But it won’t be long before they have that app, I bet! 

And when it happens, remember! I thought of it first! 

I wonder why something like pumpkin spice flavor snuggles in there and grabs such a place in everyone’s favorite fall…feelings?

It’s really only been around since 2003.

Bruce Clark, professor of marketing at Northwestern says that it has to do with nostalgia that folks have about pumpkins and carving them and memories…

And someone just put a smell to it! It smells like fall!

It smells like home…

It smells like the fam around the fireplace…

It smells like…”’Night, John Boy”…”’Night, Ma…”

It smells like…sniff…sniff… (I better stop)

The only thing pumpkin spice doesn’t smell like is…pumpkins! They don’t really smell like anything! But someone associated a smell with something that doesn’t normally smell that way and it unexpectedly captures your heart.

There’s a place in Ephesians 4 where Paul (who wasn’t always like this!) told us that we who love Jesus ought always to be “kind and helpful”…”tender-hearted and compassionate”…”being gracious and generous in our giving and forgiving everyone”

Then he wrote “…be like God. Walk in love…”

As you walk…everywhere you go…love and kindness.

Love and kindness in your words…

love and kindness with your friends…l

ove and kindness for all you meet…

love and kindness in your thoughts…

love and kindness in your posts…

love and kindness in your silent prayers…

And in the next verse he adds an astounding thought…

When you do, it will smell like Jesus. (Ephesians chapter 5, verse 2)

When you get your pumpkin spice latte and you hold it tight and smell it, all the sudden you may not know why but you’re thinking of falling leaves, crackling fires and cozy sweaters.

And when you’re kind and helpful…

when you have a tender heart…

when you’re gracious and generous in your giving and forgiving…

all of the sudden…

and they may not even know why…

or how…

or what it even means…

but in ways they might not even understand…

they’re thinking of…

Him.

Triple C News - Oct. 21

Hey, everyone…

Fall is the time when so many beautiful things happen so quietly…

The leaves were full of reds, yellow, and orange the whole time. As the day quietly shortens, silent changes occur where each leaf meets the branch that restrict the flow of minerals, water and chlorophyll and green gives way to autumn’s beautiful display that was hidden there all along…

How do they know to do this?

Squirrels have begun to gather up their stashes of nuts, buried away for the months of need. They used to think squirrels could smell where they had hidden their provisions but now  scientists say somehow they remember their own secret places and they leave their friends’ food alone. 

How do they know how to do this?

There are over 350 kinds of birds who are quietly beginning to fly south from Canada and North America and some won’t stop until they’ve made it to South America! Scientists say they have the jitters (they call it “zugunruhe”) days and weeks before they take off. I kind of get that too before a long trip. They always know when to leave and where to go, even when they’ve never been there! 

How do they know how to do this?

Researchers say birds utilize the changing angles of sunlight by day, and they follow stars at night and somehow the magnetic fields lead them. But ultimately, scientists have to admit they don’t really know.

I feel free in my heart to say I think Jesus tells them. 

On this spectacularly beautiful fall day, we all have a deep sadness inside. 

We lost a dear friend and a sweet brother last Tuesday.

Although, we didn’t lose him; you only lose something if you don’t know where it is.

Twoter is home!

On the Sunday before last Sunday, after our worship time, Lee said to me, “Let’s take Twoter and Terry the communion bread and two cups and share it with them in the hospital room.”

I thought it was a beautiful idea.

“How did he think of that?” I wondered.

Twoter had begun his chemo in the days before and wasn’t feeling good at all, but he sat up in the bed and took what Jesus called “His body” and drank what He named “His blood”. He thanked us so sweetly. We prayed and left.

This last Tuesday, in the evening after Twoter had gone to be with his Lord that morning, we were talking and Maria said, “You know, whenever we would have communion during worship service, Twoter would always bring some of the bread and cups downstairs where those who were working with kids would be so that we could take it too.’

“Seriously??” I said. “I did not know that!”

Lee didn’t know that either!

“Yes. Every time.”

And then we stopped and thought…

When Lee suggested that we take communion to him in the hospital, it would be a blessing…

a moment…

a gesture…

a comfort…

that Twoter would personally deeply appreciate.

For unknown to us, he had quietly done it for so many!

How did Lee know to do this?

Just like the trees and birds…

I believe Jesus told him. 

Triple C News - Oct. 14

Hey, everyone!

Top o’ th’ mornin’ t’ ya!

Or as they say in Cornwall where my people come from, “Metten daa whye!”

“Where did THAT come from??”

Oh. Sorry!

We’ve just been watching this show on PBS about a veterinarian in the 1930’s in the Dales of Yorkshire in England and I just got curious about my British grand dad and where he came from. 

I thought he might have come from there in the north but it turns out he was born on the other end. 

So, I never really thought much about where our English side of our family came from but the story I always heard was that my granddad’s dad (who would be my dad’s granddad) abandoned their family when when my granddad was ten and he and his impoverished mom had to come on a ship to America to find a new life. 

“What a jerk!” I thought. “Who does that??”

So one night after we watched two episodes of “All Creatures Great and Small” on PBS Masterpiece Theater…

(Do they spell it “Theatre”?) 

I just thought I’d “google a bit” and see what I could find out…

“Hey, babe!! I just found my granddad’s name on the internet!! 

Wait!! And I just found HIS dad’s name!!

He lived just outside the little town of St Austell in Cornwall!! 

His name was…David!!”

…google…google…

“Hey! I just found…

Oh, my!…

a gravestone.”

A photo of an old, moss covered grave in the lovely cemetery of the parish church of tiny village of 

St Mewan, one mile from St Austell…

“David Job”

My great granddad!!

“Died 7 March 1896”

My granddad came on a ship with his mom in 1900.

“Hey, babe! My granddad’s dad didn’t abandon his family!! He died!”

“He was 41!”

“My granddad was six…without his dad…”

“I…I…my…my…my heart just broke.”

And then I found another photo of an even mossier old gravestone…

“Hugh Job

Baptised at St Mewan 2 September 1804

Buried 19 January 1867”

My great, great granddad!!

Wow.

So, I know that the amazing evangelist and preacher John Wesley died just thirteen years before my great great grand dad was born in St Mewan….

And I know that John Wesley had some of the widest blessings of God in sharing the Good News of Jesus and how you could have a “new birth”…

in Cornwall!

He traveled there 42 times on his preaching tours! He preached to crowds of 20,000 plus!! 

Once, just down the road from St Mewan, he preached to 32,000!!

By 1850, (when my great great granddad Hugh was 46!) Cornwall was only one of two counties in all of England with more born-again “Wesleyans” than people in the “official” Church of England!!

And there were more of these new “Methodists” in St Austell (including St Mewan!) than anywhere!!

My granddad always seemed to me to be so exceptionally sweet and kind. 

When he came to visit us from Ohio, he and I would walk down Maple Lane hand in hand and I’d get him to talk in that accent he had from “Jolly Ol’ England”. 

He’d sing to me with his sweet quivery voice old songs like “By the light of the silvery moon…” 

Whenever we talked on the phone, I’d always cry so much from hearing his voice I couldn’t speak to him…

Mother Teresa wrote:

“Be the living expression of God’s kindness; 

kindness in your face, 

kindness in your eyes, 

kindness in your smile, 

kindness in your warm greeting.”

I always thought of him that way.

And I always wondered why he was the way he was.

What if his dad hadn’t been the jerk I thought?

What if his dad was as kind as he?

What if his dad’s dad was kinder than all?

What if one day...

in the tiny village of St Mewan...

just outside the little town of St Austell…

Jesus looked up into my family tree and said what He said to Zaccheus once…

“You come down! I’m coming to your house today!”

If one day, I find out that’s true, just to know it will be jolly good!

Triple C News - Oct. 7

Hey, everyone!

Wow! Don’t you bet you’ll remember for the rest of your life where you were last Tuesday night? 

Aaron Judge with that amazing swing and…

SWAT!!! 

And it’s a NEW AMERICAN LEAGUE RECORD FOR HOME RUNS IN A SINGLE SEASON!!!

62!!!! 

(Mickey Mantle only reached 52!)

You might not have noticed but 6 days ago was the 61th anniversary of Roger Maris hitting his 61th home run in 1961!

Wow!

(Aaron tied that record on Sept 28 and broke it this week!)

So, here are some amazing facts…

The Yankee center fielder is number 99 and when he hit number 62, the Yankee win-loss record went to 99-62!!

“What!!! Are you kidding me???”

If the distance of all of Judge’s home runs this season were added together, the total would be 25,520 feet! 

Or almost 5 miles!! 

Or from Yankee Stadium to somewhere in the Central Park Zoo!!!

Heads up, elephants!!

Speaking of home run runs, Albert Pujols hit his 702nd career home run last week! 

He took an average of 25 seconds to jog around the bases after each one. 

So in his major league career...

during games in major league parks...

he’s spent 4.86 HOURS...

jogging! 

I bet you remember your biggest spiritual “homers”.

You know, those moments in your personal history when everyone held their breath while you “launched one” out of the park!

I bet you’ve had loads of them!!

What?? You’ve had some good moments but maybe not a string of home runs? 

My guess is that you’ve had more than you think!!

Remember that time when you sat and listened to someone you didn’t really know very well, unburden their heart to you because they just needed a real listener and couldn’t find one until you showed up?

Remember the letter you wrote to your Compassion International child and you didn’t realize that it arrived at a truly critical moment and turned overwhelming discouragement into new hope in Him?

Remember when you gave more than you really thought you could so that kids could go to Young Life camp and someone you’ve never met, met Jesus there and they’re going to thank you one day in Heaven when they learn it was you who made that possible?

Oh. You DON’T remember those moments?

Well, I’ve got news for you! 

Your Savior does!!

Here’s a verse to carry around for a day or two till it settles into your heart…

Ready?

Hebrews 6, verse 10…

“God is not unrighteous and He WILL NOT FORGET your work of faith and labor of love that you showed to His Name in that you ministered to the saints and continue to do so…”!!

Lots of times, folks struggle because they remember things God has long ago forgotten (your messes)…

and they forget things that He never will (your love)!!

It’s in the record book (His!) and it was a…

HOOOOOOME RUUUUUUUN!!!

That’s it for sports!

Triple C News - Sept. 30

Hey, everyone!

I just wanted to start this out by saying how THANKFUL I always am for you all! For your constant encouragement, steadfastness…

and mostly patience!! 

I’m thinking about that one because I might have unintentionally gone four or five (?)  minutes too long in my message on Sunday!! 

Sorry! Sometimes I go home and reflect…

“Bud, you stood up there and yapped your yapper for 30 minutes without stopping!!  And they just let you!” 

I’m soooo thankful for the wonder of being able to share with you week in and week out something that has meant the world to me from God’s Word!! 

I never get over the joy of it!  And I never want to forget that listening isn’t always easy! 

So, I have concluded that 23 minutes is the ideal sermon time! 

I made it within this limit almost always when we were outside at the park for all those months…Inside, almost never.

Maybe we could turn the chairs around, open the doors and I could stand outside in the parking lot! 

I seem to talk shorter out in the open! It really shouldn’t take long to say something important.

President Lincoln only took 270 words arranged in ten sentences and spoken in seven minutes to talk about what had happened “four scores and seven years” before and what should never “perished from the earth”!

One of my favorite writers, Brennan Manning, a Franciscan priest and friend and spiritual mentor to Rich Mullins used to end his talks (often longer than 23 minutes!) with this blessing:
 

May all of your expectations be frustrated,

May all of your plans be thwarted,

May all of your desires be withered into nothingness,

That you may experience the powerlessness and poverty

of a child

And so you can sing and dance in the love of God,

Who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

Seven lines and fifty three words. It just takes 17.23 seconds to say it.

But it’s the perfect blessing to set a heart free!

See you right here next week!

“Wait! You’re already done??”

Yup!

Triple C News - Sept. 23

Hey, everyone

Hope you're having the day you hoped you'd be having when you started! But if you're not, just try to keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side! Keep on the sunny side of life! It will help you every day; it will brighten all the way, if you keep on the sunny side of life! 

Wait. 

That's a song. I just quoted a song! An old bluegrass one!

Wow. 

Where did that come from? 

Oh. I know. 

WE’RE HAVING OUR HOOTENANNY THIS EVENING!!

In all the preparations, my head and heart are full of bluegrass music!

In fact, seems like every year, around September, for some reason, my heart just turns to bluegrass!

I'm not sure why September is the beginning of bluegrass music season in my heart, but 'bout the time other folks' grass starts to turn brown, mine turns blue! 

Maybe it's the soaring harmonies of, say, Bobby and Sonny Osborne singing' "Just A Few Old Memories" that I love so much. 

And how I wish I could do that Bill Monroe yodel when he sang “Good Bye, Ol’ Pal”! (And believe you me, I've tried!)

But when you hear that drivin' Earl Scruggs banjo, isn't there a place in your soul that says, "How could people not believe in a Creator when the world is filled with amazing wonders like this?”

Do remember where you were the first time you heard Earl Scruggs play the banjo? 

I bet you do!

Sometimes folks struggle with bluegrass music because they think it borders on the corny. In fact, some believe it's crossed the border and is somewhere out there in the middle of the corn field itself! Sometimes, you'd almost have to admit that some of the lyrics are so corny, while you’re singin’ ‘em, the kernels get stuck between your teeth!

But if you listen closely there’ll be a moment that is tender and sweet. And maybe even sad (which can be very sweet).

One of my all-time favs was Doc Watson, one of the greatest guitarists in the history of time! Winner of seven Grammys, Doc was completely blind before his second birthday. He inspired an entire generation of young bluegrass guitar players around the world!

 Just as Doc was tiring of traveling across the nation in the 60’s and 70’s during the folk music revivals, his son Merle learned to play “just like dad” and the two circled the world together, playing everywhere and making fifteen albums! 

Until Oct 23, 1985. A tractor turned over on their farm in Deep Gap, NC and Merle was in Heaven.

The best bluegrass could always be heard at a national music festival Doc hosted, named “Merlefest” after his beloved son.

In 1990, Doc recorded one of his most beautiful albums. There are only old Gospel songs on it and a few frankly are…corny!

“Oh, the Baptists go by water

and the Methodists go by land.

But But I'll tell you, my friends, if you wanna get to heaven, 

well, you gotta go hand in hand!

Most of the songs are about Heaven, like…

“Uncloudy Day”

“Farther Along”..

and “The Beautiful Golden Somewhere” (Beautiful!)

And then there was one…

It’s an old song.

Maybe sung more in earlier times.

About how when a person goes to Heaven young, it’s like God is gathering unbloomed flower buds for His heavenly bouquet.

In fact, it’s called ‘Gather Buds.”

“Jesus has taken a beautiful bud,

Out of our garden of love,

Borne it away to the city of God,

Home of the angels above.”

and the chorus goes…

Gathering buds, gathering buds,

Wonderful care will be giv'n;

Jesus is gathering day after day,

Buds for the palace of heav’n.

It isn’t difficult to see how someone might think the 3/4 melody and words seem old…and some might say, even tho’ sweet…maybe antiquated.

But on the last chorus, as Doc is singing about his bud that he lost only five years before…

repeating the words…

“Gathering buds…

Gathering buds…

Wonderful care will be giv’n…”

if you listen closely…

his voice cracks.

Sometimes, if you listen closely to someone's words, you might just hear a hurt that no one else can hear but someone who listens with love. You might just see a tear that no one else sees but one who cares to see it.

When he wrote his second letter to Timothy. Paul was old, lonely, and about to face his death in prison. And at the end of it, he said…

"Do your best to come to me quickly, … When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments… Do your best to get here before winter." (2 Tim 4:9, 12,21)

"Please. I need my parchments. I need to read them. Because I'm working hard to stay encouraged…I need my coat. I'm cold. I need you. I'm lonely. Hurry. Please, Tim…"

Did you hear it?

His voice just cracked.

Almost everyone has a hurt or a sorrow or a burden to share.

Every heart needs someone who will listen. 

Everyone needs a listener.

Will you be one?