On a River Bank

He stood there alone - a desolate portrait of solitude and sorrow. The mocking wind smote his swarthy features with demonic vengeance. Doubts abetted by merciless sun rays probed and lacerated the core of his being like phantom lancets, while the grimy, black mud in his sandals punctuated the gloom and grief of his soul.

A speck of foam elegantly mounted upon the breast of the racing current testified to the vanity and brevity of life while becoming a sacrifice to an unyielding stone.

The combination of death's sullen separation, coupled with the sudden responsibility of the heavy load of leadership, was cause for the noticeable sagging shoulders. The giant of faith who could open and close the heavens - the warrior of Carmel who could call fire from above - was gone.

On a promontory some rods away grouped the skeptics, pessimists and crepe-hangers. "What shall we do now? The days of miracles, powerful praying and holy living are gone! And what great days they were!"

But they did not watch alone. Demons cringed while mighty angels posititioned themselves for immediate departure as the deathless Deity of the ages interestedly observed that lonely, tested soul.

Moving perceptively toward the waters, Elisha placed his right foot on the immovable bastion of God's eternal existence, and his left foot on the continual faithfulness of God, and smote Jordon's waters with His powerful promises. "Where is the God of Elijah?" he cried. The hiss and rip of parting waters answered, "Right here by your side."

Today as in Elisha's day, the mantles of mature and seasoned saints are falling all around us, and we, their successors, are tempted to wonder what will happen to God's work without them? What we have to remember is that it is not the person at all, but the faithfulness of the Lord. The same God of Elijah...and of Elisha...is your God and mine!

The Spider Had a Heart Attack

At least I think he must have! A woman's piercing scream can trepidate the bravest heart!

Over a forty year period of pastoring the Wesleyan Church in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and residing in the fine, but very old, parsonage the good parishoners graciously provided for our family, I was privileged to nearly completely remodel and enlarge it. The project at the time was completely stripping and remodeling the upstairs. Since this was the bedrooms of our three children - as well as that of a dear niece who was living with us while attending our local college - the four of them had been relocated to hastily fixed up bedrooms in the basement.

At that time, the basement was unfinished - bare concrete walls, a very uneven concrete floor and no ceiling on the floor joists. This resulted in the mutual residence of various kinds of critters from time to time.

Our family became rather accustomed to "sharing space with them".

On this occasion I was upstairs mentally and physically completely absorbed in some carpentry procedure when the atmosphere of all three floors of the parsonage was jarringly pierced by not just one scream, but a series of them! I instantly flew down both sets of stairs and witnessed a once in a lifetime scenario of our niece vigorously jumping up and down, all the while screaming, "There's a spider! There's a spider!" The spider was rather uncerimoniously dispatched, and I sternly said to her, "Norma, (not her real name) in this house the only time we scream like this is if there is something wrong".

The point in this story - that is, other than raising the hair on my head and significantly elevating my adrenelin - is that her jumping up and down and screaming accomplished nothing. It was a futile waste of time.

A time waster is a life waster. All of us do this, but when we realize it, wise and thoughtful persons stop it, for we realize just how precious time is. Probably the most significant aspect of the passing of time is that it cannot be recovered once it is spent.

A cheering aspect of time is that God has graciously endowed each individual with equal portions, and places its precious value in each person's control. Every segment of time is like the treasure of a sunset - each one is different, each one can be personally enjoyed and used, and each one is quickly gone forever, never to be visited again.

What's Your CQ?

Measurements are at the same time interesting and frightful. Few of us can pass up any opportunity to see how we rate in skills. We are motivated and fascinated to know whether we are below average, merely average, or (as we generally anticipate) above average.

I think that it is possible to determine character quotient (CQ). We can discovered what kind of stuff we are made of inside--the kind of a person we really are--by answering a few important questions. Here are some of those questions:

1. When you receive undeserving credit, do you usually:
a. accept it and say nothing, NO POINTS
b. correct the false impression, 1 POINT
c. correct it and give the proper credit where it belongs, 3 POINTS

2. Where there is a particularly distasteful or difficult task to be done, do you usually:
a. try to get out of it, NO POINTS
b. do it reluctantly if asked, 1 POINT
c. take "the heavy end of the load," 3 POINTS

3. When something untruthful is being spoken about an absent person, do you usually
a. let it pass, NO POINTS
b. say nothing, but refuse to gossip, 1 POINT
c. correct the falsity and stand up for the absent person, 3 POINTS

4. When you can rightfully retaliate against one who has wronged you, do you generally:
a. think, "It's about time he/she got it" and let fly, NO POINTS
b. don't retaliate, but let your bigness be known, 1 POINT
c. let it pass quietly, 3 POINTS

5. When you are away from home and any aquaintances, do you usually:
a. behave differently and inappropriately, NO POINTS
b. maintain the same moral and ethical standards, 3 POINTS

6. When you can make a buck unfairly and undetected, do you usually:
a. do it, NO POINTS
b. do it, but feel guilty, 1 POINT
c. won't make money unfairly, seen or not, 3 POINTS

7. Treatment of spouse. Do you usually:
a. treat him/her worse than persons outside the home (talking, behaving, conversing with them with much more courtesy and sensitivity than a spouse), NO POINTS
b. care much, but neglect to show it, 1 POINT
c. make constant effort to let him/her know of your concern, love and respect, 3 POINTS

8. Treatment of subordinates. Are you usually:
a. bossy and demanding, distanced and demeaning? NO POINTS
b. friendly, respectful and appreciative of their efforts, 2 POINTS
c. the preceding plus a personal interest in their well-being and development, 4 POINTS

9. Treatment of the disadvantaged (poor, handicapped, sick, illiterate, aged, "abnormals" of any kind). Do you usually:
a. give little thought or attention to them, NO POINTS
b. feel sorry for them but get on with your life, 1 POINT
c. consider them personally equal and make an effort to relate to them, 5 POINTS

10. When do you forgive?
a. not at all or rarely, NO POINTS
b. when you are asked for it, 1 POINT
c. whether it is requested or not, 3 POINTS

0 to 6 POINTS: Poor Character.
7 to 14 POINTS: Average Character.
15 to 33 POINTS: Above Average Character.

The Biggest Goal in My Life

Herein lies an imponderable--just what is one's best? In prospect we always do our best. In retrospect, seldom if ever. What seems best at the time seems begging in review. Much of the answer lies in the probing of our purposes and in the establishing of a pattern.

In this we need a pattern, a measuring method to ascertain ones' best. The most common method is usually a mistake, that is, comparing our progress with the other fellow's. Peer pressure can lead us into endeavors and pursuits that are often considerably or totally incompatible with our gifts or God's will. The sooner we learn to "wear our own armor" and do it with grace, the more fulfilled and effective will be our service.

If the matter of the moment is receiving our best in devotion, attention and endeavor, any retrospection enlisted should only serve to note how better it may be done the next time around. Any failures noted, inadequacies revealed, or weaknesses uncovered should not be allowed to stand in judgment of a past performance. We who operate automobiles with accustomed ease today can recall painful experiences of jumping the clutch, killing the engine, spinning the tires, grinding the gears, and taking corners too fast. The second driving lesson didn't correct all of the initial blunders and some of us still have our problems.

The body of Christ is not all hands, all feet, or all hearts, and much precious time is futilely wasted by body members attempting to locate themselves within the body. The fact is that no man can determine who is what. The "selfsame Spirit" that worketh in all of us is the placement Personality in the body, and the placements are seldom recognizable by the various members of the body. The priority concern should be to function to capacity wherever one is or whatever one does.

Doing one's best is not an impossible dream, an illusive idealism, or an unrealistic and unattainable goal. If we honestly purpose and try to do our best, it is indeed our best, and God sees it so.

The biggest goal in my life may sound unappealing to some, oversimplified to others, and evasive to still others, but it my constant prayer and deepest desire. "Lord, fulfill Thy purposes within and through me. Help me to do this moment and this day what You want done. Help me to be in the fullest measure what You want. I sanctify to Thee even my infirmities, failures, and inabilities. Use all there is of me to perform Thy will. In Jesus name. Amen."

Different Stars

The Bible declares that there are no two stars alike, and since nobody has ever physically and personally made an "on site" inspection to either disprove or corroborate this, Bible believing Christians accept it as fact. Here is how the Amplified Bible writes 1 Corinthians 15:41:

"...the stars are glorious in their own distinctive way; for one star differs from and surpasses another in its beauty and brilliance".

Roughly a thousand years before this inspired comment by the Apostle Paul, the psalmist wrote in Psalms147:4 that, "(God) counts the number of the stars, and calls them each one by name".

Without arguing with the scientific community that has long insisted that our sun is merely "another star", the Bible seems in both this scripture and in Genesis 1:16 to state that our sun differs from the stars: "God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also".

And here in 1 Corinthians 15:41 the Bible says: "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars...". The strong inference in both the Old and New Testaments is that the sun was specifically and uniquely created by God to provide light and warmth to the earth, and that it and the moon are the only heavenly bodies like them.

The idea here is how unique and individual each star is - and accordingly, how individualistic and unprecedented each human soul is.

Though there are probably milti-billions of stars, each one is specifically and individually Divinely created and named, so that when our human eyes see a falling star burn out, an observing angel might say, "There goes Spica", or "Look at Alcor go!", or "How beautiful is Procyon as he blazes!".

He is a God abundant in grace Who comes to each human soul and offers an eternal relationship to him or her...a union and a friendship shared with no other human being.

He gives us a lifespan to make up our minds, for every person who loves, follows and serves Him is a volunteer. Every friend of God chooses to be.

Andrew's Duct Tape

Memories of Andrew's (one of our grandsons) duct tape unfailingly bring smiles, and sometimes outright laughter, to those of us who know him.

His duct tape episode occurred some years past, before his entering into the United States Navy where he currently serves aboard the aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson.

Andrew's unflappable, unpretentious demeanor, and his contagious, adventuresome sense of humor, has at the same time endeared him to his family and friends, while establishing him as the one to notice in any group setting without his even trying. Just one of those likable kind of guys.

At this youth camp his sneakers had split open, and this camp was some 70 miles from any shoe store where one could replace them. He said nothing to his mother (our daughter) realizing that there was nothing she could do about it during the camp. Besides, Andrew is one of those "non-whining" young persons.

Duct tape rode to the rescue! Silver sneakers looked so good he did not stop with merely covering the split, but wrapped the entire shoe - sole and all - with duct tape.

Initial laughter by onlookers morphed into admiration (and later into duplication) as he "innocently" displayed his silver shoes in all of the camp services, and became the center of conversation when he gave the same duct tape application to his cowboy boots. As far as I know, he was still wearing his duct tape cowboy boots weeks later when he left for boot camp at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. I don't think the Navy let him keep them.

As I say, these memories always elicit pleasant and humorous thoughs of our funny grandson's antics with his ubiquitous rolls of duct tape, but the splits in the sneakers and boots were still there though they were ingeniously covered by strips of duct tape. The "fix" was at best temporary, and eventually re-emerged as bad or worse than ever.

When Jesus fixes our broken and split and torn lives, His restoration is complete and effective. He makes all things new! until not even scars remain!