Bye Bye 2020!

Many of us are tempted to think Good Riddance, 2020! But let's not be so fast. Consider,

I Thess 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 

     Much good has come from this bad virus. Our ability to communicate virtually is MUCH superior to what it was a year ago. One of my dear colleagues with Cru in Guatemala, Chris C, just sent an email describing all the virtual ministries he has going and how his overall ministry has grown. In the same way, I (Phil) have been able to speak at many venues in Guatemala, Brazil, Wisconsin, Georgia, Minnesota, Clemson, and other places I wouldn't have been able to visit except for Zoom and Streamyard.
     Likewise, all of us in ministry are being forced to consider NEW strategies, and some of these will forever change the ways we do ministry. Even our APPRECIATION for face-to-face meeting has likely increased for many of us, and giving gratitude to G^d for this "assembling ourselves together" will increase substantially, whereas most of us took that for granted before.
     We are grateful for a great many things, including our friends. I pray that our gratitude for so many things we take for granted will last for many years to come. Our own appreciation for simple things has grown a great deal. Thanksgiving Day was absolutely beautiful here in Alabama. 

      For whatever reason, we expected the 2020 fall colors to be a bit drab, perhaps in keeping with many other aspects of the year. But, once again we were wrong. Instead the colors here were marvelous. One of our favorite verses is Romans 1:19-20, "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made."
     Think about this, the dying deciduous leaves at the end of summer could have simply turned brown and fallen off, as they do some autumns. But G^d, in His grace and mercy gives us absolute beauty. 
     Enough talk. Take a look.



We hope you enjoy G^d's beautiful gift to us all, at least in the SE USA. Let's thank our L^rd for 2020. He can use even a deadly virus for His glory. He can change us more in trials than in smooth times. G^d is good regardless of circumstance. And we can be thankful that...2021 has simply GOT to be BETTER.
     We thank G^d for you in season and out. Pls keep praying for us and let us know how we can pray for you. And let's welcome 2021 with great expectations.

Blessed Companionship

A previous blog post was about sacrificial listening, and that got me thinking about companionship. As terrible as people, including me, are, G^d created them and me too, for fellowship. In Genesis, right after the creation of man, G^d says, “t is NOT good for man to be alone…” and created Eve. Now that doesn’t mean that G^d made all of us for marriage. Jesus Himself, was a bachelor, but Jesus himself practiced sacrificial listening and practiced fellowship, not just with the disciples, but with Mary of Magdala, and many more.

If Jesus wanted companionship, so ought we. Strangely enough I enjoy companionship most when I travel and when I hunt and fish. I LOVE hunting and fishing with lots of folks, but my son Andrew and I have got to hunt and fish a lot over the last 14-15 months.

I love hunting and fishing, and I love it so much that I will do it alone, if necessary. Fishing is a sport that lends itself to fellowship, but not deer hunting. Deer hunting, you pretty much hunt alone. But the sweet fellowship comes as you travel to the hunting spot. Even more fellowship happens after the hunt as you describe that buck you killed, or those deer you saw, but didn’t shoot. It also comes as you share the fox squirrel that crossed near you, as you relate the hawk calls you heard, as you talk about the cold or the wind or the rain.

Much of the joy of the moments reward us again as we share it with our companions. And, though sacrificial listening is required at times, much of the listening is more joyous than sacrificial. It shocks me how much more pleasure I get from hunting with someone, even though the actual hunting is 100% alone these days.

So, let us NOT take companionship for granted. Let us give thanks to G^d and to each other for the joys of sweet fellowship—especially outdoors.

 

Christmas Eve

 Well Christmas is here--almost. As many have noted, it is easy these days to lose the Christ in the Christmas. We hope that you haven't made that great blunder.

Regardless of the distractions, let's remember that baby in the manger who came to earth to take away out sin--something we could never achieve ourselves.

Let's think of Mother Mary who says in Luke 1:38, "Behold the handmaid of the L^rd, be it done to be according to your word." What faith this young unmarried woman expressed in that simple phrase. May we have such faith.

Christmas this year will be different with social-distancing and masked visitors. The customs may change, but the advent of our Savior is still the SAME. Sadly too, our consumerism is still the same, though shopping modes have changed.

We in the USA and western Europe are so distracted by materialism we can easily miss the significance of Our Savior come to save us. Here, we (me too), say save us from what? We have it so exquisitely nice who is interested in heaven. From my perspective, those living in poverty and under oppression can readily celebrate salvation much more genuinely than we can.

So, please take just a moment and reflect on what heaven will be like--how superior in every way it will be compared to "...the present evil age" of Gal 1:4. Think about HOW MUCH better it will be to be in the presence of Jesus, than in the world's finest resort. Think what it will be to be in the close presence of Jesu, the King of the Universe, and to chat with the Greatest Teacher and King of eternity. And recognize that it will NEVER end.

So, pause and endeavor to dismiss this world for the moment and thank the L^rd that He was willing to be born in humble circumstances to save us from our sin.

Pause, Pray, Praise.

Yes, Deer Season is in for 2020 (No animals were harmed in this blog.)

It is 6 Nov. and I am on my third deer hunt. This is my first hunt on the Brown Farm down in Greene County. I had low expectations for the morning because the night before had been good feeding and I assumed all the deer had full bellies and were laying in their beds chewing their cuds and digesting the contents of their full bellies.

I m in a very pleasant location, though I had to kill a couple dozen red wasps to be relaxed in this shooting house.  Fortunately, the chill of fall ad them in s stupor. It isn’t cold- high 50’s and t 0815 the wind has just started to blow a bit in the last 20 mins. I am archery hunting, so I have to be within 35 yards of a deer to make a high-percentage shot.

To my surprise, just after 0700 I saw a big doe with two fawns. They were about 250 yards SSE of me in a big green-field. These were the first deer I have seen whilst hunting this year, so it was a thrill, especially when the 4^th deer, another good doe, joined the others. I watched them as they slowly fed my way. When they got within 100 yards, I got my bow up and ready.

My excitement mounted as they steadily came my way. The two fawns were prancing, and running and enjoying themselves, as was I as I silently watched. I had used my rangefinder and know where 22 yards was. When they crossed the 55-yard mark, I got ready to shoot. They only needed to come within 40 for me to try a shot, but suddenly 2 more does and a fawn came out at about 80 yards to the east. That’s bad because now I had even more eyes and ears listening for me to mess up.

The first group decided to exit the field and came at a trot crossing my east at 35 yards—which would have given me a shot, but I was pinned down by the watchful eyes and acute hearing of the 2^nd group.

The first group went out about 150 yards into a second green-field and started grazing, the 2^nd group crossed the field to my south pretty quickly, only feeding a bit.

I continued to watch the first group, though they were presently far out of range,  I hoped they would come back the way they had traveled earlier, and I set up for a shot. Alas, I discovered one more red wasp, and as I dispatched him apparently I scared the deer with my movement.

Just a couple minutes before 0900, a single deer appeared to my ENE at a bit over 275 yards. Since it was alone, it was most likely a spike buck. At 0913 another lone deer appears at the end of the south field, over 250 yards away. After  short feeding he flags and runs off the way he came.

Oh well, that’s the way hunting goes. It was a beautiful morning and it is always nice to see 9 deer in 4 different groups, and even nicer to come so close to getting a good shot. Well, there’s always the next hunt. I count my blessings that I had this one.

Cleaning houses for fun

Am hoping this title, “Cleaning houses for fun”, has you a bit intrigued. Some of you cannot envision me cleaning much of anything besides fish and firearms. Well, today I will add a third object—deer hunting shooting houses. To be accurate(pun alert), they should be called ”sitting houses” because a lot more sitting gets done than shooting.

Generally shooting houses are small sheds 4-6 feet wide and 6-8 feet long with a ceiling height of about 7 feet. They have a metal roof and lots of small windows either always open or able to be opened. They provide a dry place to sit and watch for deer to appear. Sometimes they are on the ground, but more commonly they are elevated 8-12 feet, though we have one on our farm that is probably over 20 feet above the ground. I have acrophobia, so I have never even climbed to that one.

Shooting houses provide good, comfortable places to sit and wait on deer. I write this sitting in a shooting house where I have completely revised a textbook before, and worked on Fit Over 50, plus done lots of other computer tasks and read many a book. As I get older I hunt a higher percentage of time in these abodes.

Shooting houses also provide a good, comfortable place for various species of wasp to build their nests and raise the next generation of stingers. So, each fall, owners or leasers of said houses must go around and spray the wasps and sweep out the deer wasps and other debris that accumulated since last season. Failure to do so may result in a painful surprise for an unsuspecting deer hunter once the day warms and the wasps begin flying. In the house I sit today I had to kill over 2 dozen wasps yesterday while I was trying to hunt.

As a service to a friend, yesterday Andrew and I killed hundreds of wasps and swept and roughly cleaned 2+4+2+2+4 +3= 17 shooting houses. This took us from just before 1100 to about 2:30, with both of us working as fast as we could. It is hard, dusty work and there is a realistic danger of getting stung by irate wasps who object to tearing down their nests. We also found 3 bird nests inside the houses, one that still had eggs in it from a failed attempt last spring.

Everything, even hunting, has at least a small element of effort required, EXCEPT ONE THING. Accepting Christ as Savior requires no effort on our part, only acceptance.

Growing as a Follower of the Christ, obeying his general and particular will for us. Now that takes some work.  But it is a LOT more worthwhile than deer hunting.

 

First Fire of Fall 2020

 On Sunday 31 Oct we lit our first fire of fall 2020, and  didn’t let it go out until 5 Nov, when we had an unusually warm stretch of Nov. weather.

I am not sure of why warming by the fire gives such comfort, but I truly savor it, as I am guessing I have relayed here before. Last year we burned a fire in our fireplace insert all winter long. We were gifted with a good supply of very dry firewood which burned well.

This year we are burning wood that I cut the spring and summer of 2019. It typically takes wood over a year to season totally to make a good-burning, hot fire. Wood containing moisture uses heat to evaporate the moisture which leaves as steam. And, green wood causes a fast build-up of creosote in the chimney.

The chief thing I have noticed already is the increased weight of this newer wood. More weight in dry wood means more heat available and slower burning rates. The other night, I put one heavy chunk of wood in the fire and went to sleep. Six hours later it showed hot coals still which started the following day's fire. I was impressed.

I think part of the joy of a wood fire, besides the smell, is the work required to have one. First you have to find wood to cut. Then you cut it, then you haul it, then you split it, then you stack it to dry, then you move it from the stack to the wood box, and finally you move it from the box to the fire.  Whew! That’s the first time I think I have ever written this all down in one spot.

I have never considered this, but fire, in some form, is essential to life as we know it. Perhaps there are a few, very few, tropical places that never need warmth from fire, but even those folks want/need to cook food and sometimes to boil drinking water. For those of us a bit farther from the equator, we make fire to warm, to cook, to boil, to drive our internal-combustion engines, and to do a great many things in industry to give us useful metals, liquids, and other products.

So the next time you see a fire, unless it is raging out of control, thank the L^rd G^d for fire.

Thank you L^rd!

 

Sacrificial Listening

I recently ran across that term, "Sacrificial Listening", and thought, what a great concept. There are so very many people today who have NO one to listen to them. A few people, hermit types, can handle that happily, but G^d made us social creatures, and having someone listen to our theories, our hopes, even our complaints is a true Blessing.

Well, how about the “sacrificial” part. Well, as a talker, most of my listening is sacrificial, from my perspective. But, many people in this world are boring—including me. Listening is so very important, but quite often requires sacrifice, even as people patiently listen to my stories.

Sacrificial listening requires that we invite people to speak about whatever, and we actively listen, asking clarifying questions, nodding, smiling when appropriate and silently communicating that we are truly attending to their words.

We speak with much more impact, if we sacrificially listen first. We serve others by listening. We help them process their own thoughts, when we actively listen and ask good questions that help them reflect on what they are saying.

But, it does take some sacrifice on our part. And, we grow in Christ-likeness as we listen and express love to those to whom we listen sacrificially.

After all, G^d Himself sacrificially listens to us!!

"Day of Infamy"

Today, 7 Dec. is a "Day of Infamy" because this was the date of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Now, if you have ever had the pleasure of visiting Japan you know that it is among the MOST civil countries of the world. IF I had to walk down the streets of a big city at 2 AM, I would feel safest in a Japanese city. Our son David who has lived in Japan for over 10 years now, says that police officers in Japan have boring jobs, seldom even giving out speeding tickets.

Sadly,  Japan is the least religious country I have visited to date. They have many religious shrines, but these are almost entirely relics of the past. When some dignitary in Japan visits one of these spots, they are doing it for historical and publicity purposes, with no serious consideration of spiritual principles.

How do I know this? Well I can't give you a lot of specific arguments, but I can tell you that religion of all types is very low profile in Japan. And, this is not because of civil or criminal law, it is simply their preference. It really struck me to go from the SE coast of Japan to the SW coast (down near Osaka) and only see ONE cross on one building the whole way.

Now I do KNOW that there are Christians there, including some Christian professors. Several years back we spoke to an assembled group of Christian profs at a University in Osaka. I know a Cru missionary now in Japan, and know a couple who were missionaries there.

Let's take this day to PRAY for the people of Japan. Everyone is an eternal being. Everyone needs to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let it be so. Pray.

Fall Gardening

 Gardening is, more or less, a year-round hobby. Fall is the time for transplanting. Fortunately, I have had good success in transplanting even in spring, and planting day lilies in early August. But, the best time for moving trees, shrubs and flowers is fall when they are going dormant.

This last few days (early Nov.) we have transplanted some of my favorite bush--the crepe myrtle. I salvaged some gerbera daisies from the trash in mid summer, and am in the process of getting them in the ground. Our next door neighbor, Ms. Connie, gave me 7 cuttings from her beloved "mother" gardenia. I got them rooted and set them out last week. All 7 survived the summer and appear to survive the transplanting.

I also moved a Leland Cypress from the east side of the front yard to the west side. For some reason, the east side of our front yard does not foster rose, cypress, or anything. A few lantana seem to do OK, but nothing else.

Here's the new crepe myrtles.

As you might suspect, this whole row is composed of volunteer shoots from mature crepe myrtles. If some of these die, no worries, as there are plenty of other volunteer sprouts. I also have 5 loropetalum that I harvested from a couple of huge bushes back at Allums. It has taken a year and a half, but they are big enough to safely move, if I discover a spot for them. They are so very hardy, that I might even try one over on the "No-grow" east side.

To see the wonderful beauty that G^d has given us in plants is to increase our worship of Him. That he made such variety and such beauty tells us that heaven must be a lovely place indeed.

A Surprising Love for Canada Geese

 As most of you know, we live on a small lake. We derive surprising joy from the lake. We love kingfishers, the hawk, the domestic geese, the great blue heron, the little green heron, and we really enjoy the Canada (not Canadian) geese who pass through here headed south now, or north in the spring. A few seem to over-winter on our lake, and I guess we are pretty far south.

We love to hear them honking as they circle and maneuver to land into the wind. We love to see them paddle leisurely across the lake. Our neighbor east of us has a couple of Geese decoys, and the geese will come to her back yard and dock. There were 4 there yesterday.

Yesterday (Nov 2) we saw a NEW record ~80 Canada geese all together.

Aren't they impressive? It was not possible to get them all in the frame, but we counted them, not estimated them.

That these beautiful big birds can fly south each fall, and then back home again each spring is a marvel. We are so grateful to G^d that we get to enjoy his creation.

"18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things."  Rom 1

Blessings,

Wonderful Fall

 Fall is in the air. On 1 Nov we lit the first fire of fall in the woodstove.

There is a LOT of enjoyment in Fall. The weather has cooled, making running more enjoyable. Deer season is in, and the leaves are turning (today is 3 Nov). The lake this morning was covered with fog, as the warm moist air near the lake surface rises and cools causing fog to form. Yesterday was sunny with a high of 57-58 F. I could work outside without sweating.

Every season has it's differences and its pleasures. G^d brings the seasons. Time flies and G^d reminds us that life is short...but eternity is long.

Gratitude for the .PE.A.

 I led our congregation in Communion this AM. The assigned passage was Gal 1:3-5, which reads, "3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

As I meditated on this Scripture, the phrase, "...the present evil age..." really caught my mind. This was written 1970 years ago yet the Holy Spirit is telling Paul to write, that the Christ delivered us from "...the present evil age." WoW!

We Christians sometime get lulled into thinking that the present evil age (PEA), is the evilest of all. But, G^d is Sovereign over all, including ALL ages. I am NOT grateful for the PEA, but I am grateful to know that NOTHING escapes G^d's notice, all is within his control.  We need NOT fear.

We can indeed be grateful even for this PEA. It is just one more opportunity for G^d to show Himself strong. As the verse begins, "...peace to you from G^d our Father." We can enjoy His peace, if we recognize it and put our faith in Him, not in government, not in politics, not in "health and wealth", but in G^d.  Thank you L^rd that through the shed blood of the Christ, our biggest problem is already solved.

Tired, yep tired

 We got back from the beach in the late PM of 16 Oct. We had spent the last week recovering from the 13 talks of wellness week. The next day after our return, I had the opportunity to speak to a bunch of profs in WI, MN, IL, OH, and a few other places. I LOVE doing this, but it does take a toll.

The last 2 days at the beach, I was inspired to do two really hard runs. Well, put all of this together and I was bad tired Sat. PM. I taught Sunday School this AM, and really enjoyed doing it, but find myself pretty tired again today.

Go figure. I forget that I am 70.7 years old, and I have never been this old before. My recovery seems to take longer than it did at 30. Go figure.

Fortunately, I have some freedom in retirement. Tomorrow, Monday, I have a dental appointment and a few small things to do, but no big pressure. For that I am grateful to G^d.

"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest..." Prov 6:10.

Thank you L^rd that this is Shabbat, a time for rest!

A PERFECT Beach Day!

 I am writing this on 15 Oct 202, and who would have expectd a PERFECT beach day in mid-October?

Allow me to describe it:

Not too crowded.  Hey it's mid-Oct.

It's 81F- not too hot, but warm enough.

It's Sunny!

The wind is mild.

The sea is FLAT- in fact, about the flattest I can ever recall seeing!

There are HUGE swarms of minnows attracting shoals of ladyfish who break the surface and occasionally go airborne to feed on them.

There a pods of dolphins swimming by often--maybe feeding on ladyfish.

We made it to the beach a little after 0900, and stayed until about 1230 and then after a quick lunch it's back out again.  You can't let a day like this pass you by.

Why Me L^rd? Why am I so Blessed?

 One of the several GREAT things we heard said at our Wellness Week was shared by Pam A.

Why has G^d Blessed me so much?"

That reminded me of King David's prayer of gratitude, "Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 2 Sam 7:18.

Indeed. We count our Blessings often. G^d has given us good health, a nice retirement income, a GREAT ministry opportunity working with some terrific people.

Why has G^d Blessed me so much?

Thanks be to G^d!

US Elections, 2020

 

On Nov 2, the day before the US national election, I posted this on FaceBook.

AFTER THE ELECTION IS OVER, WE CAN STILL GUARANTEE THESE RESULTS:

1 - God will still be on His throne

2 - Jesus will still be King of kings and Lord of lords

3 - The Bible will still have all the answers to our problems

4 - The tomb will still be empty

5 - Jesus will still be the only way to heaven

6 - Prayer will still work - it will still make a difference, and God will still answer prayer

7 - The cross, not the government, will still be our salvation

8 - There will still be room at the cross

9 - Jesus will still save anyone who puts their faith and trust in Him

10 - God will still be with us always, He will never leave us or forsake us!

We were astounded at the response. We had almost 200 responses in less than 24 hours. Right now, the tv news is showing long lines to vote before people go off to work. It is just after 0700 and the news is heavily promoting the Democratic candidates, and showing which states need to go "Blue" for them to win.

By the time you read this, we will know for CERTAIN who won. And, truth be told, 1000 years from now, it really won't matter. G^d will still be on HIS throne, and He will never leave us or forsake us.

Comforting, isn't it.

Laguna Beach Christian Retreat Center

Sometime back in the late 1990's, Barry and Karen M told us about this place. We immediately visited and have been back 40-50 times. We walk through the grounds and Brenda recollects, "We stayed in that one, and in that one, and that one too!". Most of our time we have stayed down at the cottages which is close to two groceries and to some good running routes.

One of the virtues of this place is that they give me a "pastoral discount" since we work for Cru now. The cost is lower than market, but the facilities are pretty basic--perfect for us. We spend a LOT of time at the beach, so we don't need a fancy room.

We've been here so much that it is kinda a home-away-from-home for us. That makes us more comfortable. We know where to shop and where to eat, and where the best thrift stores are nearby. They have had some staff turn-over, but Jeremy has been here checking us in for many, many years.

Brenda was recalling things that have happened whilst we were here. I can only recall getting the job offer for Liberty U here. I do remember coming here after our son Daniel and Shannon's wedding.

All of our kids have spent a lot of time here. Brenda and I have spent a lot more time here.

And all of it has been happy, happy, happy.

Thank you L^rd!

Wellness Week Report

 The first week of March we completed our third time to lead the Laguna Beach Wellness Week. We had 12 participants plus me and Brenda. We had a great time, and hopefully everyone learned some useful things.

The week started on 2 Oct and it was cold, cold for the beach. The first couple of days we wore long sleeves and sometimes jackets and jeans. By Tues PM, it had warmed up and stayed warm the rest of the week. A hurricane formed in the Gulf, but it was far enough west of us that we didn't get weather out of it.

For the first time for us, we did a service project. We drove 90 min west to Navarre Beach where we repaired a privacy fence damaged in Hurricane Sally.

We enjoyed several GREAT meals together, along with some beautiful sunsets. The beach was very nice, as usual.

I enjoyed the 13 times I spoke in 7 days. G^d seemed to bring things together in terms of thoughts and Scriptures. I enjoyed seeing, feeling that happen and I attribute to the prayers offered on our behalf. Thank you L^rd!

It's The Birthday Celebration Time of Year

 The end of October sees a LOT of birthday anniversaries in our family. Brenda's birthday is 29 Oct Damon's in 11 Oct. My slightly younger brother David's is 31 Oct. Our son David's is October 26. Our son Andrew's is 17 Nov. and Juno's is 20 Nov. 

Birthdays matter. They mark another trip for planet earth around the sun. We grow a bit older, and hopefully much wiser. Over about 40, our bodies begin to fail, slightly at first, then more noticeably. Our step slows, our energy declines, and vision and hearing diminish.  Hmmm, doesn't sound that appealing does it?

But for those of us who have put our faith in our L^rd, Jesus the Christ, the BIG news is that are moving towards our ultimate goal of being with Him. And, that's 100% great news! Yep, "Some glad morning when this life is o'er, I'll fly away."

And when we consider the Goodness that lies ahead, these "light and momentary afflictions" seem like a great reminder that our time here on earth is drawing to a close. So, welcome those gray hairs. Welcome your failing vision and hearing.

Rejoice! Rejoice in the L^rd, and again I say Rejoice!

Wellness Week in Review

 As has become our habit, Brenda and I spent the first week of October in beautiful Panama City Beach at the Laguna Beach Christian Retreat with a dozen Christian friends from AL to TX, to TN, to NC, to IN, to MI. The first few days were COLD! We wore long sleeves and long pants, and sitting on the beach in just a bathing suit was pretty much out of the question. But, after a couple of days it warmed up to a comfortable beach temperature.

Our day was pretty full because I had to give a devotional every morning that was introductory to the talk of the morning given by one of the group. In the evening I had about an hour to share a full-blown wellness talk. So, most of the week i was busy speaking or prepping to speak.

But, I learned a lot. And those folks were a great participative audience. They smiled and nodded and finished Scripture verses for me. It was a true JOY for Brenda and I to be around them. We had asked a lot of folks to pray, and things just seemed to "click". Things fell into place and I tried to move talks around and even created two or three new talks to fit in with where G^d seemed to be directing us.

We had a 5k run walk, and I ran my fastest time in the last 4 or 5 years.  It felt great to push myself again in a race. (Note to self- find a 5k and enter it...as soon as COVID permits).

One of our participants had a birthday during the week. Brenda recalled the year my family drafted little notes of encouragement and collected the strips of paper into a box. Every time I pulled one out, I smiled and enjoyed a bit of joy. It's is my all-time favorite gift to receive. It seemed to go over well with our friend too, who shed tears of joy.

Thanks be to G^d for a great safe time together and safety in our travels. Thanks be to G^d for giving each of us words to say.

And thanks for your prayers.

Some Crucial Instructions on a Kid's Toy

 "To activate: Bend, snap and shake. May take a few moments to reach full brightness."

At our recent wellness week, one of our speakers gave us glow-in-the-dark bracelets. Her point was to let our light shine and also to encourage each other as we see a "great cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1). She read the above instructions, and all of us over 50 saw the application for our own bodies.

When we "activate" we often snap and sometimes shake. When suddenly changing our focus, it often takes a few moments. But, after these many years, we HAVE a lot of light to shine.

We must take a few moments to "reach full brightness" though. Sometimes our "light" is intrusive, or obtrusive. Sometimes younger folks need to walk in the dark a bit in order to gain an appreciation for the light.

Too, we need to "Bend, snap and shake" at least 3x per week. We gotta keep moving, old timers. If we stop moving, whatever health we have will spiral. Often times, the broken hip doesn't kill us, but rather the pneumonia we contract from laying in bed too long in recovery.

But I was impressed with mine and Brenda's glow-in-the-dark bracelets. We activated our bracelets late one afternoon. When I got up about 3:30 AM to "take care of some business" I noticed they were still glowing brightly.

Those of us who are Followers of The Christ need to let our light shine brightly (Matt 5:14-16).

Because Jesus tells me so! (Matt 5 is the first of the 3-chapter Sermon on the Mount preached by Jesus).

Great story from a friend

I was recently in a group and heard a personal story I thought was profound.

The lady sharing had grown up in an Asian culture. Many Asian families set very high standards and are shame based. She had immigrated to the USA and married and has several children. Like all of us, on occasion she makes mistakes. When she failed at anything, no matter how small, it was crushing to her. She was living as an adult, what she had learned as a child--never make a mistake, and when you do it is serious and shameful. I doubt her parents intended for her to take her childhood learning so seriously as an adult, but that often happens.

Well, this pressure to never fail, and the shame that accompanied the inevitable failure was slowly destroying her. Very wisely, she shared her situation with some Christian friends, and eventually brought it to the church elders to pray for her.

Her report was, that when the elders prayed for her, she had this image of her resting her head in the lap of Jesus who was comforting her.

Wow, let that sink in.

Her testimony is that G^d rescued her from her shame and guilt and convinced her that He forgives her and that she can enjoy the peaceful assurance that the Christ died for her, and that He loves her regardless.

And G^d did all that with a simple prayer.

What do you and I need to take before the L^rd, what do we need to take before the L^rd in the presence of our congregational leaders? YOU may not happen to get relief as quickly as my friend, but her testimony is encouraging.

Why not consider it?

It's Wellness Week again

 A few weeks back, Brenda and I made what has become an annual fall trip to Panama City Beach to lead a Wellness Week with a bunch of Christian friends from MI, IN, TN, AL, TX and maybe a couple of other states. All these folks are single, except us.

They have a strong bond of unity and also meet every late spring at the same place. In fact, that's how we got to know them. We were down at the beach and noticed a group of people gathered together, who appeared to be holding a Bible devotional. Curious we drew closer and they invited us in. We discovered that day this super group of brothers and sisters in the Christ.

When they learned later that I was in the midst of co-Authoring Fit Over 50, they asked about me leading the Wellness Week, which we happily accepted.

We had about a dozen folks plus us, and the weather was a bit cooler than good ocean swimming requires, but we had a lot of fun. There is something great about Christians assembling to love one another and to spur one another on to love and good deeds.

We had devotions, presentations, and prayers. We ate together and ran/walked 3 miles together in the annual footrace. We walked and talked with each other and with the L^rd.

We look forward to next year's trip--L^rd willing. May G^d grant us all the health to do it again next year. We take the actions to be Well, but we count on the L^rd to do His perfect will in each of our lives.

Blessings,

EVANGELISM- Not just for the Professionals

 In my youth, some 1000 years ago next week, I got the message from growing up in church. Evangelism is the job of the pastor. He is the only one trained enough, skilled enough to explain the message of:

We in Trouble.

Christ is Solution.

REPENT, Trust Christ's (pick one: Redemption, Atonement, Sacrifice, Salvation).

Well, if you find the above 10 words too daunting, there is an APP that I highly recommend available here:

https://www.cru.org/us/en/digitalministry/apps-tools/godtools.html 

This gives you the option of putting the essence of the gospel on your own cell phone. It even offers you training on sharing the gospel. It has two gospel options plus a follow-up tool helping new converts, and old to grow. It has a couple of tools to start conversations just by presenting questions to others, and one uses emojis to express responses.

This little app enables you to gain the SAME qualifications as your Pastor (well, not all of those quals, but the basics of sharing your faith).

People all around you are eternal beings (See Lk 16:19-31). Many of them are headed straight for hell. They may not know it, but the "bridge is out" on their current "Highway to Hell". Yes, they may be "too busy", or "Not interested", or too sophisticated, but nonetheless, the bridge is still out. And no, you don't ever HAVE to tell anyone that the bridge is indeed out...but that seems SAD. Don't you think they at least need to know. And they CAN KNOW if you will simply tell them.

Just have them take a look at your cell phone.  You can even share the pages to THEIR cell phones.

Check it out.

Archery

 Archery must be one of the oldest sports/activities in the history of mankind. One of the MOST interesting events at the 2008 Olympics, to our surprise, was archery. If you ever get a chance, go see an archery match.

My earliest purchase, even pre-dating the canoe, was a fiberglass bow and arrows from the Sears and Roebuck CO. Where we lived, so far out in the country, that was my best bet to get a bow. I don't remember another bow until I was a Naval Officer stationed at Pax River, MD. There I killed my first whitetail with a recurve bow. I don't think I got a compound bow until after I arrived at U of AL in 1984. Sometime after that, one of my friends at church quit bow hunting and gave me his much nicer, much better compound bow. I am still using it.

When we moved to Maryland, Brenda got a bow and for 3 years we were "members" of our Pax River field archery group, who had a nice field archery course on base. We went several times and shot. In field archery, there are several targets at different distances that aren't marked. So you have to first estimate the range, adjust for that range, and then loose your arrow.

Last year I bought a cross-bow which became a legal method of hunting deer in AL a few years back. It kinda shoots like a short-range rifle. I like it for hunting because there is very little motion in aiming and shooting it. It is more like shooting a rifle than a bow though. I like it, as it is fast and accurate and like I said, little movement is needed.

Archery, the ancient sport, is only practiced by a few sportspeople and quite a few deer hunters.

If you get a chance, give it a try. You'll be reliving a long history.

Life Review: Looking back

 Kierkegaard famously observed, "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

In my old age, there is plenty to which to look back. I think back to my own childhood and am surprised at some of the things I still recall.

    I once put a smaller cooler inside a larger cooler and placed a Popsicle inside. Yep, didn't work.

    We camped a lot in the backyard and the woods directly behind our house. We hunted squirrels, explored, enjoyed.

    We had bb-guns from a young age, and yes I was once shot in the eye, but the bb bounced off the uppermost bone surrounding my eye and remained lodged under the skin until Dr. Looper removed it.

    Once my next younger brother and I were shooting bbs into a paper wasp nest under the front door awning. It was a popular place for wasps to build nests. My unsuspecting brother happened to come out that door. The wasps took out their obvious irritation on my poor brother, who had no idea that David and I had stirred them up. Once he made the connection, he chased us a good distance.

    Amazingly I don't think I ever broke a bone, and neither did my brothers. Though, I did once break my dad's ribs. He was playing football with us in the front yard. He went up to catch a pass, and my shoulder was positioned right under his left rib cage.

    We did most everything the local Southern Baptist Church offered for youngsters. We did Vacation Bible School, RA's, graded choir, Sunday School, Morning and evening church. Baptist Training "Union". I carried a 1957 KJV Bible with my books to High School.

    Our little town was "dry" with no LEGAL alcohol sales. But one night we ran out of gas and happened to coast into the little two-pump gas station about 1.5 miles from home. Fortunately, the man who ran the station was awake and sitting in his station, but had just ran out of booze. We got enough gas to do us for free..in exchange for taking him to the local bootlegger to resupply. But that was about exciting as life got for us.

    Thanks be to G^d for a peaceful happy childhood--a privilege denied to many.

Learning from the Hummers

 As you may have guessed, we are big hummingbird fans. We have been feeding them, and watching them for many years. Some of you know what I mean. They dart about in mid-air, they hover, they fly backwards, they are so small, yet so capable. And, of course they are beautiful.

But, if you have watched them long, you KNOW that these little beauties fight constantly! This morning, just after sunrise, there were 4 (I think) who were fighting furiously around out feeder.

Yes, in that way they are a LOT like us. Maybe that explains some of their appeal. You see there is PLENTY of sugar-water to be had. We keep the feeder well supplied, and when we left town two weeks back, we made sure there was sufficient hummingbird nectar in the feeder.

Yet despite that there will always be plenty of food--they still fight. We have plenty, even too much, and we still fight. Hummers appear to be greedy--just like...well, you know.

Hummers spend/waste a lot of energy fighting to be next at the feeder. Let me assure you, there is plenty of time throughout the day when the feeder has no hummers present. Patience hummers, patience! Patience humans, patience.

Alas, I do NOT expect the hummers, or the humans to change.

L^rd have mercy.

Christ have mercy.

Thanks L^rd for your mercy and grace which we ALL need so desperately.

Overlooking the Obvious

 Remember that back in the spring we found a humming bird nest high in a pine out over the lake. We did our best to enlist someone to come take a photo of it for us. We were not successful and a storm eventually removed the nest. Today, 14 Sept Brenda and I had been sitting on the back porch sipping coffee, chatting, and enjoying the day. I was watching a hummingbird float around the pine limbs just above the porch, and there it was--a hummingbird nest!  Go figure.

I am guessing that it had been there since late spring. It might have even been there when we saw the other one. I recognized it, because I had seen the high-high one a few months back, and so I knew how they looked. That bit of familiarity helped me find the new, much closer nest. I tried to take a photo, but my camera just isn't good enough.

A raccoon had found our hummingbird feeder within reach last night, and so had peeled off two of the little plastic flowers that mark the feeder holes. We saw many hummers coming into where the feeder had been previously, then leave with disappointment clearly evident in their little faces.

But that mini-disaster had caused us to look around and see what ELSE the hummers were doing, and that led to our new discovery. Perhaps the DISASTER of COVID-19 will cause us, and many others to look anew at the things around us and discover a MUCH bigger gift than a diminutive hummingbird nest. Perhaps they will discover G^d, Who was always there all along.

Maybe we can eventually get a photo of this nest. 

What a WEEK, what an Opportunity!

 This week has been a doozy! I found out last week that I would be speaking this week 3 times to professors and 2 times to students...in Guatemala.

One of the FEW great things about COVID distancing is that we are able to go places without leaving home. At 1 PM I spoke with a group of faculty from Clemson. Then 2 hours later, I spoke with a group of students in Guatemala.

The attendance has been impressive. the first day we had over 2000 profs who either were live with us or saw the recording of it. The first day with students had over 600 students show up.

Hmm, that NEVER happens in REAL life.

My translator was excellent. She was doing a super job of capturing the emotion I was attempting to interject. She laughed at my gags and jokes. She was terrific.

Thanks be to G^d for this wonderful opportunity to attempt to influence those profs, who are so very influential in their OWN right, and also get to try to influence young people trying to figure out the world.

I LOVE this mission field. I pray that G^d will get folks excited about following Him, and that He will draw many to himself.

Thank you L^rd!

First day of Fall

Today, at some hour, the earth will tilt so that the sun crosses the equator as our Northern Hemisphere tilts slowly away from the sun. The day and night sunlight and darkness will be equal--hence the name, the Fall equinox. Fall begins and the weather will cool.

The summer has flown by, despite the COVID crazies. We have swam a few times at the lake, fished a good deal, gotten some chores done, and mowed the grass over and over.

Of course ALL time flies by these days. the weeks seem to go by as fast as days used to go by.

The seasons are out reminder that things change, and that we grow older, day by day. Looking back, this is my 70th Fall.  Where have they all gone?

Fall is nice in this part of the USA. It leads into a typically mild winter of short duration which leads to another nice weather of Spring.

Soon the leaves will turn.

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Ps 90:12

Life Review: Mixing Emotion with Running

 I marvel at how the different aspects of human wellness overlap. Here is true story that illustrates this.

In about 1975 or 76, we were stationed at Patuxent River Naval Air Station with VQ-4, a US-Ballistic-Missile-Submarine communications squadron. Most days, MCPOC (highest enlisted rank) Roger B and I would meet promptly at noon and run a 10-mile loop around the Air Station. One day I was coming back from a mission with my air crew and we landed at Pax.

One of the Maintenance Officers, Lt. Lance S. met me between the aircraft and the hangar. He chewed me out about something with the aircraft. I was his equal in rank, though he was older and more experienced. But, this time he was wrong. It must have been about 1140 AM when this happened, because I didn't have time to even discuss the situation or defend myself, because I had to meet my friend Roger at noon.

I hurried to the gym and quickly changed clothes, whilst fuming with anger. I told Roger what had happened and neither of us said much. I spent about the first 2-3 miles thinking of exactly HOW I was gonna tell off that jerk, Lance. The next couple of miles, I toned down my upcoming speech to a more reasonable level. The next couple of miles, I toned it down more, and by the time I got back to the shower, I had made the very wise decision to say nothing to the LT. After all, I knew he was wrong, and it really didn't matter all that much.

I was telling an interviewer about this recently. The key lesson for me, in retrospect, was the way that the elements of wellness inter-played. A quick reminder, 4 key elements of wellness are: Relational, Emotional/mental, Physical, and Spiritual.

Running 10 miles is definitely Physical. It obviously had a calming, correcting effect on me Emotionally, and it sure helped my relationship wit Lt. S., and with Roger, and with myself. And there is the spiritual component of "a soft answer turns away wrath..." (Prov 15:1), plus the "be angry and sin not for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of G^d." (James 1:19-20) 

So the next time you decide to "tell someone off" try running 10 miles and then see how you feel!

Life Review: Inventions--or NOT

 Last night Andrew and I laser-sighted in a new scope on a rifle. We did it without ANY commercial products, except a laser pointer I use when I give some talks. I used an old Sears "workmate", which was a table-top clamp for working with wood. I bought in many, many years ago. I added to it some adjustable front feet, padded it with old blue jeans, and added an adjustable strap to hold the gun butt against recoil.

Last night, we mounted the rifle on the fabricated rifle clamp, and pointed it at a big pine about 20 yards away. Andrew took my laser pointer and shined it down the empty barrel--no easy task. I marked the tree with a reflector right where the immobile laser hit it. I then moved the sights so that the cross-hairs were right on the reflector. We shall shoot it soon to see if it worked--but it should.

I love being creative and over the years have fabricated several things. This summer we have experimented with a drinkable ice vest I invented. I discovered, by accident, that activated charcoal clothing absorbs odors. And, I invented an automated loader that places heavy objects on the back of my truck, merely by pulling forward 3 feet.

I invented my first climbing deer stand in about 1975 or 76. Subsequently, I invented another one that works as a movable seat up in a tree. I invented the safety harness I still use when hunting, and another that was built into a set of coveralls.

Most often, I used "junk" that I already have or find somewhere to make these creations. That gives me extra pleasure. I am currently thinking of an irrigation system for my flower beds, and so far I am up to about $40 on it. Commercial systems are very pricey.

G^d is an inventive, creative G^d.  As Kepler said it, "Thinking G^d's thoughts after him."

Thank you L^rd for creatively creating us!

Worshipping from Home

 Like many of you, we have been doing our Sunday AM worship via zoom and from our living room. In these days of COVID sequestration, thanks be to G^d for Zoom. We have been to "live" services on two occasions, once when I had some duty to perform in the service, like communion. In Hebrews 10:25 we are told , "not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Now at the time Hebrews was written, Zoom was in its infancy--just kidding. Obviously they HAD to assemble to worship. I have come to value the "meet together" part in a new way. Worship is NOT simply a sermon.  Worship involves being together. Worship involves praying together. Worship involves communion together.

I miss seeing folks that I don't see except at church meetings. I miss those folks.

If you cannot get out, please enjoy Zoom worhsip. If you can get out, "meet together". There's no true substitute for being with the "Body of Christ".

Blessings,

Day Lilies in August?

 We have been pleasantly surprised to have day lilies reblooming in August. Today is 15 August and we have had over a week of blooms, with more still on the way. As most readers will recognize, day lilies are a May-June flower, not an August one. But, we are grateful.

Here are a couple of examples.

I am not sure why G^d put such beauty in the world, and how so much of humanity agrees as to what is beautiful. I think humanity's general agreement, though not perfect, is a good testimony to G^d's design of humans.

Which b rings up a KEY point.  I do NOT understand WHY G^D did a lot of the things He did, but why would I expect to understand?

A two-Verse Sermon Part III

 Here is the final post on the last two verses of Jude. Here is the last verse,

"25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time[a] and now and forever. Amen."

At the time i read this in 2013, I was struck by the reverse description I was expecting,

"to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord..."

Isn't Jesus the Christ our Savior? But this says G^d, our Savior.

Isn't G^d our L^rd? But this says Jesus the Christ our L^rd.

Did Jude get confused?  I don't think so. 

I really thing the Holy Spirit here is helping us grasp, but still not fully understand, the Trinity.  Indeed G^d the Father is our Savior, and Jesus the Christ is really our L^rd--because of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--not 3 G^Ds, but ONE G^d in three Persons.  Yeah, I confess I still don't grasp the Trinity, but I do know the Trinity is our G^d.

So we finish up with these two points, "...be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority...". G^d is totally deserving of all these. Clearly He is Glory, He is Majesty. G^d personifies these two noun-adjectives. He has Dominion and Authority--clearly because He, or rather THEY, spoke the world into existence. And, in fact, they are fully deserving of ALL  glory, majesty, dominion, and authority. There is plenty of Scriptures to back up that idea.

And finally, "...before all time and now and forever. Amen." We always struggle with the Trinity, and we are so locked into time, that we also struggle with the idea of a G^d unbound by time. God was before all--including time itself. He is Present in this present of present time. And He forever will be. And each "He" represents the entire Trinity.

G^d doesn't need many words to preach us a sermon, does They?