Thursday, November 27, 2003

Everyone who writes a column always writes a holiday column about Thanksgiving or Christmas or whatever. Without fail these columns are written and it must be by the thousands. So not to be left out or to bow to peer pressure, I too have decided to write a holiday column.
I have decided on the very original title:
“THANKSGIVING”

Cool huh? And of course I have to make a list of what I am thankful for.

1) I am thankful for a God that loved me so much that He died for me, a sinner.
2) I am thankful for my family, given to me by that same loving God.
3) I am thankful for my “church family”.
4) I am thankful for the men and women who have taken the fight to the terrorists.
5) I am thankful that my parents and parents-in-law are still here to share in my family’s lives.
6) I am thankful for coming home to my family.


Nice list huh? That is the nice thing about lists, you can write what you feel really quickly.

Now He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for eating, may He supply and multiply your seed, and increase the fruits of your righteousness you being enriched in everything to all generosity, which works out thanksgiving to God through us.
(2 Corinthians 9:10-11)

Why are we thankful? Just because it is the Thanksgiving holiday and it is the annual chore to be thankful? Or is it because of this holiday you are extra aware of the blessings you have received? I hope you think of the latter and not the former.
We walk in this life surrounded by so many blessings that we are aware and not aware of. Remember how the song goes, “count your many blessings, name them one by one”?
Have you ever tried to that just that? If you are honest, you cannot count or name them. God is indeed a generous God. That much is worth thanksgiving!
Well, my annual thanksgiving column is about over, and that I am thankful for! But, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of what is important in life and to be thankful for it.
Happy Thanksgiving!


Sunday, November 23, 2003


When my son was younger, Michael Jordan was the star of the NBA and playing for the Chicago Bulls. Michael Jordan, at that time was leading the Bulls to several NBA championships, was the star of the team and seem to be able to do it all....score, pass, rebound, play defense, and win games. So successful he was that the slogan “be like Mike” came about.
Young basketball players wore copies of his jersey, emblazoned with the number twenty-three and wore out many basketballs trying to be like Mike.
But as all things that must be, Mike came to pass. Time caught up with the NBA superstar and now he is just like the rest of us and watches NBA games from the sidelines (except that he can afford the tickets!) The body aged and the quickness slowed, the shots didn’t fall as well and the jump didn’t have the same height as it used to. Time marches on.
Today my son is older and no longer are there Michael Jordan posters hanging in his room, the cards, posters and jersey are packed away in a box and life, as always, has moved on.
In our lives, it is better to be like Christ and not like Mike.
Christ came into our lives to:
1) give us eternal life “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
2) to give us a better life “I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”(John 10:10)
3) to give us peace “And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 4:7)
4) to give us hope “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, so that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
(Romans 15:4)
5) to sacrifice Himself for us “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.”
(Ephesians 5:2)

It was fun to watch Michael Jordan play basketball, but that has come and gone. It is much better to “be like Christ” and keep my eye on Him.
Remember, instead of “Don’t Be Like Mike, Be Like Christ”
Until next time on My Front Porch








Friday, November 07, 2003

The Grey Ghost
Quiet, ghostly, grey against the trees of the forest. Walking slowly towards you...
What! Is this another Hollywood horror flick? No, it is a white tailed deer in the woods.
It is fall in our little part of the world, the leaves are down and the forest trees have taken on that grey look that comes at this time of the year.
As I stood in the woods looking across the way, there he was, almost as if he appeared out of nowhere..he was just there...
During the fall the fur coat of the deer changes color from the summer tan/brown to the grey of the fall. A deer can stand beside a clump of trees and just disappear from sight, almost as if by magic. With the stealthy footstep and camouflage the deer does seem to be a ghost appearing out of nowhere—especially if you don’t know what to watch for.
Look closely and you will see the outline of the deer against the tree, the eye, the twitch of the ear, the wag of the tail, the slow movement of the head. If you are a careless observer than you will not see him!
While a deer is an animal that just is out looking for acorns and the farmer’s corn and his camouflage is a method of protection, there is an enemy that uses camouflage for our destruction.
This creature uses deception also to hide in plain sight, to tempt us, to lure us away from the right and lead us to the path of destruction...this creature is Satan.
“ For the mystery of lawlessness is already working, only he is now holding back until it comes out of the midst. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved. “
(2 Thessalonians 2:7-10) “For such ones are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. Did not even Satan marvelously transform himself into an angel of light? Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. “(2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
Satan practices deception, that is his greatest power over us. With Christ in our hearts, he cannot touch us, but by deception—deceiving our ability to think and resist. When we turn our eyes from Christ and listen to the lies he states, then we fall into his trap.
“Let no one being tempted say, I am tempted from God. For God is not tempted by evils, and He tempts no one. But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is fully formed, brings forth death. “(James 1:13-15)
Satan tries to hinder God’s work (I Thess 2:18) and keep the lost, lost.
Satan tries to hide in plain sight, to deceive us and camouflage his motives, to hide from us his true message. But, with the knowledge of God’s Word we know Satan’s agenda and can resist him.
“Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. “(Ephesians 6:10-18)

Monday, November 03, 2003

Two People, Two Lives

I had two uncles, Uncle Bill and Uncle Tom, both of whom served in WWII. Uncle Bill served in North Africa, was captured by the Germans while Uncle Tom served in the Pacific Theater.
I can remember both men, now deceased, and the contrast that their lives were.
Both men sacrificed for their country, while not the ultimate sacrifice, they both gave up a great deal for their country.
Uncle Bill spent about three years suffering in a Nazi POW camp. He came home, built a family was successfully employed all his life and left this world after suffering from kidney failure in his later years. (I often wonder if the travails he went through in the POW camp had anything to do with his kidney failure.)
Uncle Tom also went when his country called. During his service in the Pacific, he was wounded, contracted TB and malaria. When the war was over he returned to home and didn’t build a family, have a successful employment—in fact I mostly remember him sitting in his chair in the living room or on the porch, in his mother’s home. Over the years he slowly went blind and slowly went to drink. Many an afternoon he would walk back from the legion hall or I should say staggered.
All of this came to me after I became an adult. When I was a kid these two men were giants to me. The fought in the war! Now looking back I see the contrast their lives were.
Both sacrificed a great deal, both went when called and both returned and there their paths diverged. It is strange how two people dealt with the adversity that life gave them.
As Christians, we also, have to make sacrifices. Some are easy, some are very hard. How do we react to those times?
I don’t want to put down my uncle, I know there could be reasons for the life he lived, but others have made the grade and moved on. The saying “problems is just another word for opportunity” is not just another cliche.
How do you react to the challenges in your life? How much are you willing to sacrifice as a Christian? Could you give it all as Christ did?
It may be easier to give it all and “go out in a blaze of glory” than to live out a life time of sacrifice. To daily struggle with the pain.
How will you walk when your time comes?
Jesus informs us of the meaning of His parable of the sower:
“The sower sows the Word. And these are those by the wayside, where the Word is sown. And when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts. And these are those likewise being sown on stony places; who, when they hear the Word, immediately receive it with gladness. But they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Afterward when affliction or persecution arises for the Word's sake, they are immediately offended. And these are those being sown among thorns; such as hear the Word, and the cares of this world, and the deceit of riches, and the lust about other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. And these are those sown on good ground, who hear the Word and welcome it, and bear fruit, one thirty, one sixty, and one a hundredfold. “
(Mar 4:14-20)
The same conditions, four different people, four different outcomes.
When it comes to sacrifice, are you ready?

Until next time on my front porch.