Life review: My 3.5 years in Court Part 1

I just searched this blog, and to my surprise, I have never blogged about my 3.5 years in Federal Court.  Go figure.

In late fall of 1987, I was an untenured (i.e. NON-permanent, contingent) professor of Physical Education at a large southern university that loves football (that last part doesn't narrow it much does it?). I had decided by this early point in my career in Higher Education that the prospects of being the "greatest teacher this university has ever known" were steadily dimming. Instead I had elected to try to impact this uni for the L^rd, Jesus the Christ.

I decorated my office to reflect this commitment, including prominently placing my 1957 worn KJV Bible on my desk. I began to communicate to my students that the most important thing they could know about me was that I "was a Christian". I also developed a talk on my specialty science area called, "Evidence of G^d in Human Physiology".

Coincidentally, my immediate supervisor had grown up devoutly Roman Catholic. As an young prof, he had fallen in love with a married woman--and you don't have to know much about Catholicism to know this is a NO-NO. In the end, the woman won out over the church, which undoubtedly created greater inner dissonance for my boss. He had sworn to stamp out ANY mention of Christianity he encountered in Higher Ed., undoubtedly to help reduce his own sense of guilt.

The announcement was made that no one should promote Christianity on campus, as that would be "improper".  Hmm, since I was the only person in our unit doing this, the announcement was clearly aimed at me alone.  Seemed a bit "chicken" way to "correct" me.

A few days later, my bosses' boss called me to his office where he presented me a letter telling me personally to never mention Christianity again on campus.  Hmm, what now?

Brenda and I discussed this at length. I was the sole supporter of 3 children, a wife and another child on the way. It didn't take us too long to adopt Martin Luther's statement, "Here I stand, I can do no other." He could not recant, and neither could I. My job, and my salary, would clearly be put into a high-risk position. Frankly, if I were the uni., I would have speedily fired me, and thus be quickly done with a pesky problem. But, they did not.

After some consultation with folks who know about such things, Brenda and I decided to file a lawsuit against my employer--the one who sent me a check at the end of every month.

Hmm, this could go very badly.

Read on next blog.

Buying a Bit of Real Property

The term "real property" is meant to distinguish between land and other real estate and personal property which includes cars, clothing, books, etc. And, for the last few weeks Brenda and I have been looking for some real property in the form of undeveloped land we could purchase as an investment. That it could be used for deer and small game hunting was only a side issue (just kidding).

Inflation at about 2% per year will erode the value of cash according to "the rule of 72". At 2 % inflation the rule of 72 says in 36 years the purchasing power of $100 in cash will be only $50. Inflation tends to RAISE the value of real property and is a common hedge against inflation.

Fascinating eh?

Well that is the foundation necessary to explain why we were buying land anyway. The particular purchase has a spiritual aspect, which is why I am telling you about it.

By "chance" at chruch I mentioned to one of my friends that we were looking for some land. He quickly volunteered that there was some land right next to his Wife's family's land that was close by (one of our requirements) that was for sale. He gave me the owner's name, and I quickly called her.

She had 50 acres, and yes it abutted Annette's family's place, and also adjoined the Sipsey Forever Wild land (about 24000 acres of land protected against any development and open to the public). Unfortunately a young man had already expressed interest in buying it and she had agreed to sell it to him. "Oh well", I said, "if anything falls through, please consider me highly interested."

The land sounded uniquely suited for what we wanted, the price was the best we had seen, and the ONLY hitch was that it was already spoken for. So, that night I prayed, "Dear L^rd, if you want us to have that land, it's in your hands. We will be happy regardless."

So, about 4 days later, on Saturday, I get the call. "The young man who was going to sign the contract just called me. He just got engaged and his fiancee told him that she didn't want that much debt starting out. So the land is yours if you still want it."

Wow, thank you L^rd!

And that led to us getting stuck, which you may have read about in the last 2 posts.

Well, the deal ain't done yet...

A Bridge Too Far- Part II

In the last blog, we had two trucks stuck in a muddy, slick road. Daniel's truck was pretty close to dry ground. My truck we had driven out the far end of the big mud hole, but got struck turning it around. Brenda and I, having learned the tricks of using the come-along, got unstuck and turned around with just a few minutes work. But still about 100 yards of mud lay between us and the way out.

Mike E showed up, along with his young son, maybe 8. Mike was very experienced at this and had a winch with over 50 feet of cable. We were set.

Sure enough Mike winched Daniel's truck out and we got it moved to dry ground. Now the only problem was my truck on the far end of the long very slick muddy road.

I invited Daniel to drive my truck as far towards safety as he could. He loves this stuff. He tells Brenda to strap in, they are going on an adventure. He floors it, and hits the mud hole at very high speed, splattering mud on the windshield and everywhere else. He barrels down the middle and fish-tails like crazy but...he makes it all the way through!  Wow! I was shocked and awed.

Now, only thing left is to get back about 900 yards to the paved road. I was at the far end of the big opening. I couldn't recall where the exit of the field was, so I headed west... and got stuck about 60 yards from the exit. Fortunately this was an "easy" stuck as opposed to where we had both been before.

We made it out uneventfully after that-- Thanks be to G^d! All three trucks were covered, and I do mean covered in sticky brown mud. Brenda and I were both just happy to be on pavement, even if there wasn't much of an opening in our mud-covered windshield. We drove back to civilization looking for a car wash so that I could see a bit better. We paid $7 to go through an automated wash, which may have knocked a little mud off, but hadn't helped the windshield much at all.  Did I mention the stickiness of this brown clay?

We pulled over to the gas pumps and thankfully they had a good supply of long-handled windshield cleaners and a good supply of washing water. After 15-20 minutes we had the windshield totally clean- almost.

I have NEVER seen a vehicle with so much mud. Thankfully it is raining this Monday AM, so armed with a long handled brush that you connect to your hose, I was able to get the majority of the mud off.

And, we were happy to be warm, dry and unstuck...until the next adventure!

A Bridge Too Far- Part I

Some of you may have seen the WWII movie, "A bridge too far". Well in our case, it really wasn't a bridge, it was a long, very soft patch of dirt road. Well, not really dirt, but a long patch of sticky, slimy mud road.

Yep, Brenda and I rode out to look at some land to possibly buy. It was a bright sunny Saturday PM, and we were a bit excited. I had NEVER seen the property except on Google Earth. I was in my 4x4 tundar truck. We were surprised at the high quality of the road going in, and were excited with the quality of the property. I wound our way across a large open field, which I had seen. As we left the field on the NE side, the road looked fine, but Brenda remarked, maybe we should stop.  My enthusiasm once again got me in trouble.

We had gone maybe 150 yards down the road before the mud got so slick we could NOT proceed.

No problem, I have a come-along and some chain and rope in the tool box. I got set up and quickly winched us about 3 feet. Still no traction. I kept winching and moving until we had come about 20 feet with no longer any trees to attach the hand winch. No problem, I'll call Daniel, who absolutely LOVES this kind of thing.

Daniel got there quickly, quickly hooked us up to his truck, and started to pull. His wheels started spinning, and, you guessed it, he got stuck too.  Took maybe 10 minutes for this. No problem, we had two come-alongs now. After maybe 45 min of work on his truck, he called a friend with a jeep and a winch who  absolutely LOVES this kind of thing.

And now it's dark.

Read how we made it out next blog.

End of the Rich Young Ruler Story

Yes, many, probably most of us, are rich by the world's standards. But the issue is NOT how much wealth we have, it is our attitude and approach to it. In the Rich Young Ruler's life, his wealth was MORE important than his worship. In Matt 6, Jesus clearly says that we cannot "serve two masters". And yes, wealth can master US.

Also in Matthew is Jesus' parables about the treasure buried in a field and the pearl of great price. The point of these two stories is that some things are worth giving up ALL we have. The Rich Youngster didn't feel that eternal life was worth giving up his wealth.

Jesus points out, to our chagrin, that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to be saved. "Then who can be saved?" inquire the incredulous disciples.

They were stunned by Jesus' statement.

And Jesus gives us this clear answer, "The things impossible with men, are possible with G^d!"

Thank you L^rd. Our salvation is NOT in our hands, but in your pierced hands. Remember Jesus started with "There is none good except G^d alone." and he finishes with essentially the same statement--G^d is our only hope, since only He is good.

Unfortunately the rich guy didn't get it then, but maybe later. Do we get it? I do, I pray you do too.

Lk 18 Rich Young Ruler

Last post, I left you with some questions that I hope you considered.  Here they are:

Why only 5, and which of the 10 did he omit?

Why did Jesus give this response to a question about how to be redeemed?

What would you have answered, and why different from what Jesus said?


What did you decide about each?

Why only 5, and which of the 10 did he omit?

Jesus clearly omitted the commandments about:
No gods before Me...No images, No taking L^rd's name in vain, the Sabbath, and no coveting.
Why these? Sometimes omissions are as important as what is said. I am supposing that Jesus left these out to UNDERSCORE that these were the young man's weaknesses. the ruler worshiped and coveted money, and many materialistic things, and immaterial ones that he worshiped, he may have disregarded the Sabbath in his materialism, and perhaps he swore by the L^rd's name.



Why did Jesus give this response to a question about how to be redeemed? What would you have answered?
We might have launched into the 4 Spiritual Laws, or the Bridge Illustration, or the Roman Road to Salvation. Jesus knew the man's heart and instead went to the "heart of the matter" when he said, "...sell all you have... and you will find treasure...and come follow me." (Lk 18:22).

And why different from what Jesus said? Jesus KNEW that they man needed to recognize his sinfulness and need for salvation. Jesus said "Only the sick need a physician...".  Unless we realize our NEED the help of Jesus, we will never ask for His redemption of us.

So next blog, we'll consider how RICH people like us (yep, you are) find it hard to enter heaven.

Still MORE Preaching Fun

Yesterday I gave two more sermons at the Baptist Church where I was subbing for a friend.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yesterday AM, I spoke about the Rich Young "Good" Guy--the rich ruler, based on Lk 18:17-30. Originally I had titled it "The Rich Young Fool", but then recalled that Matt 5:22 instructs us NOT to call anyone a fool, so that had to be redone.

What struck me was the NEW things I picked up having to teach this story. The story is recorded not only by Luke but by Matthew (beginning at 19:16) and by Mark (10:17). The 3 records are very similar, with small additions.  Mark for example points out that the young man makes his request to "inherit eternal life" on his knees. Which brings me to a revelation when he says "Good teacher".

Jesus replies, "Why do you call me good, there is NONE good except G^d alone." I always realized that Jesus never stepped back from his G^dhood, so He is underscoring his divinity. But I had missed the OBVIOUS point that He is saying tactfully, no man is good, none can enter into the Holiness, Righteousness of G^d's presence with the Atonement of Jesus.

The Young "Good" guy missed that, and that is why "Good" is inside quotation marks.

Then Jesus says, "...keep the commandments, and lists 5 of the 10 best known ones.

Preaching Fun Part 2

A week ago I shared my opp to preach 4 sermons at a Baptist about 35 min from home.

Brenda drove me down to the church building and we made it in time for Sunday School. The idea is that I like to meet some members and learn a few names, in case I need them during the sermon.

We enjoyed Sunday School and participated a bit. The service started with some good choruses and hymns and the choir did a nice special. They gave a brief intro of Brenda and I, then Gary prayed for me, and for the congregation. Now it was MY turn.

I began with quoting Hebrews 4:12, "The word of G^d is alive and powerful..." then went on to 2 Tim 3:16-17, "All Scripture is G^d-breathed and useful...". Brenda's former pastor Melvin Frady used to start his sermons that way when I visited her church in 1971-72. Pastor Frady performed our wedding, and I stole his sermon intro.

I then went into the Beatitudes. I had mentioned to one of our dear missionary friends about preaching on this passage and she had recently learned that the Beatitudes give an outline of the Gospel.  Take a look at Matt 5:2-12 and check it out. I think this is a great illustration of the value of WORKING on teaching well in advance, so we can utilize what the L^rd has given to others also.

From the Beatitudes I went to the "You are the light of the world" and asked HOW we do that M-Saturday (most people do pretty well on Sunday). Then we went to vs 20, "Exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, and then to 27 about the TRUE standard of G^d, wherein even looking on another in lust is the same as adultery.

Finally I got to the PUNCH line for Matt 5, which is in the last verse, "Therefore be you perfect, even as YOUR FATHER in heaven is perfect!"

What?  Think about it.  What do we learn?  Let me summarize, "We in TROUBLE!"

And that concludes Sunday morning.  I won't outline the evening sermon, but will post another about this episode of life.

What we will LEAVE behind in Heaven

I think about how MUCH of my time and energy are devoted to things with NO lasting power. Most of the stuff I spend time on will be forgotten in a few weeks, months, and at most, years. We are anxious to make another $1, to plant flowers, mow the grass, build this or that. And yet... all these will perish, maybe sooner, maybe later.

I have mentioned before, Matt 6:19-21, wherein Jesus tells us to "Lay NOT up treasures on earth"...but instead to, "Lay up treasures in heaven...".  Hmm, sounds like a great plan, but why do I forget it so quickly? I blame it on the "Here and now", because it's here, and it's now. Heaven is again, "The sweet by-and-by".

I stay very busy with exercise, hunting, writing, speaking, traveling, fellowshipping. Some of these may sound kind of glamorous. And, I do admit they can be fun (though tiring). BUT, these will soon be washed away by the rain, just as the house built upon the sand. BUT, if I build on the rock, the house will endure (Matt 7:24-27). And, we build on THE ROCK by obedience,  24“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock." 

So, I am askign the L^rd to direct my steps, to capture my time, energy, resources for His use and glory, not for my temporal pleasure. 

May G^d make it so.