“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

Standing at the edge of the swimming pool, I saw the milky evidence that spring had passed into summer, here in sunny Florida. And once again…it had blown passed me without any warning. Having owned this same pool for over 30 years, I have NEVER been successful at the transition when it comes to chemical and temperature balance.

Four kids mutated into 10 grand-kids, and they ALL have the same love for the swimming pool. Winter time proves too chilly for them to swim, but as spring arrives their ‘wanna’ and ‘gonna’ finally meet. Over the years I have come up with ideas to warm the water sooner without spending $$$ on a pool heater! This year, black garbage bags over floating hula-hoops really seemed to work! Now…I had another problem!

To me, algae is kind of like a grand-kid, since it doesn’t like cold water either. So while I was warming the pool for my offspring, pool algae took notice as well. After all my grandchildren had been in the pool several times, I surveyed the milky water and realized it was time to forget temperature and get to work on chemical balance. So out came the floating hoops and in went the Chlorine…LOTS OF IT!

The days in which we live are more complicated than I can remember. Social problems come storming at us every day. Are they real or simply imagined? Do we act or wait? The letters to the Thessalonians mention these times and give clear and specific instructions to God’s kids. We are called to follow the Spirit and to test (judge) and act accordingly.

God’s game plan for crazy times may be likened to swimming pool balance. When judgments get cloudy and the heat starts to rise, we are called to to keep calm and stick together, balancing the good against the bad. Because God’s plan is for us to transition properly in the times we live!

I admit to going a little overboard sometimes. I took all the chlorine, acid and tablets I had, and threw it in the pool. Then went and bought more. A day later it was clear as it can be. Although the next time you see me I my be lighter in hair color and smell like a pool store! But the grandkids aren’t coming over for a while…. I think!

“After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” 1 Kings 19:12-13

She did it again… I know she doesn’t mean to, or that there is anything wrong with her doing it. But there it was. The voice from across the house was being focused upon the only other human here…me! She spoke… and I heard not!

Being alone in a house that has more than enough room for both of us has it’s drawbacks. One is communication. Space, along with the fact that I don’t hear as well as I used to, both contribute to my frustration. I love my wife and care about everything she has to say. it’s just that sometimes it is difficult to hear it!

When this happens I either ignore her until I get a moment to go to her with, “did you say something?” Or I go immediately. It depends on what I am doing and how urgent it is. At that point, it isn’t about listening as much as it is about MY desire and focus. I find that ‘I’ select when ‘I’ want to hear what she has to say… when ‘I’ want to hear it! Does that sound bad? I hope not.

My communication with God can be a lot like Ol Elijah’s. I HAVE to admit that there are times when God is speaking and I simply do not hear Him. But there ARE times when my listening and focus are not in tune as HE may want it to be. It doesn’t help, having an ADD brain either!

My life is not my own. HE is God…I am not! I MUST remind myself that it is up to ME to TURN my focus upon God and REALLY LISTEN! That is… if I WANT to hear what He has to say! I have found that SOMETIMES…He gently whispers…just to get me close to Him. I think I hear Him now!

“And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites–a land flowing with milk and honey.” Genesis 3:17

Anniversary, Father’s Day and my Birthday all come within 7 days…every year! With 4 kids and 10 Grandkids there is a weekly cascade of phone calls, get togethers and celebrations. It makes me feel kind of bad for them actually. Because at my age, and with my personality, I am not needy for anything. I don’t want anyone feeling obligated or go out of their way.

This year, one by one, they came…with food, presents and well wishes. So much so that they literally wore me out! And I loved every minute of it. My youngest daughter, Calah, wanted us to come to her house for dinner. So last, night we did. And what a time it was!

We got to the house and their 2 young boys were excited. The Shepherd’s Pie was in the over. Pecan pie was on the counter. Peanut butter fudge and my son in law’s famous toffee was in the refrigerator. I ate until I was blown up like a balloon, and then played with the boys. I was in hog heaven.

Our mutual favorite subject, besides Family, is Jesus Christ. As we talked about standing up for Christ and witnessing to a world that seems to increasingly NOT care, the word obligation came up. And then Charles spoke. He had NO idea he was about to minister to the Minister.

He said that He doesn’t really tell the Gospel in an orderly Biblical fashion. He just lives to show people how much better HIS life is BECAUSE of following Jesus Christ! I felt like I had been hit by a sugar cloud! I know EXACTLY what he means. I’ve lived without following Jesus…and I have lived the last 45 years WITH Jesus. And my life is absolutely as sweet as pie. Which is kind of a fulfillment of God’s promise!

The old enslaved Israelites didn’t have ANYTHING good. And God came to them with a promise. “I” will lead YOU into a land flowing with milk and honey. Which should have been a clue! Life with Jesus Christ is NOT a drudgery, an obligation or a struggle. When I trust Him, Life is simply SWEET and it WORKS!

Being old, I can get kind of cranky at times when people don’t understand the bible and its promises. I think am going to take Charles words enjoy the Sweet Life Jesus has given me. With that outlook, no obligation is even necessary!! Is YOUR life sweet because of Jesus?

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8 NASB

I’m a sucker for a deal! The local Walmart has an aisle dedicated to cheapskates like me! It’s called the ‘Clearance’ aisle. I was walking it, killing time while my wife looked at fabric, when halfway down I realized I was NOT looking at the PRODUCT so much as the amount of $$$ discounted. $5 off $40 did NOT capture my interest! Then something did!

Before me lay a whole rack of Fram Air Filters for vehicles. It reminded me that I hadn’t changed ours in quite a long time! The initial price was about $19. Clearance price? $2! I dug out my phone. The reason for the phone was, that EVERY car filter has a special size. Was MY filter among the pile? Goggle could tell me, and after a few minutes… JACKPOT!

REPLACING my filter is NEVER as easy as it would seem. It sounds simple enough to unsnap the cover and swap out the filters. But theory and reality are rarely best friends. After some time I got it done and am happy that I can now drive unconcerned about dirty air getting into my car’s engine for at least another 12,000 miles…or 3 years! Whichever comes first! (that’s a joke)

Changing my air filter, It hit me that Christians have filters too! The verse above is the perfect proof. The convicting part is that OUR filter MUST be used CONSTANTLY.. AND renewed REGULARLY. Why? Because we are dirty creatures and Christ is in the business of purifying His stuff!

There is no gauge to tell me when my car’s air filter needs replacing. Jesus filter is even more state of the art because it COMES with a sophisticated warning system called ‘conscience.’ Whenever I find myself chugging out and feeling dirty, THAT is the sign that I need to apply God’s Premium THRPLGEP filter! Like a car’s filter, the MORE I use it, the less grungy I feel and act. Which, in turn, makes my life’s engine run smoothly.

I have to admit that changing my filter can is not as easy as I think it should be. Often I wrestle with coughs and chugs as dirt gets into my life and I don’t notice. But God’s filter is EXTREMELY fine. And even the SLIGHTEST micron of filth is detected. When I FINALLY realize what the issue is and go to my filter, it is easy to run the THRPLGEP test…

Is what I am thinking True? Honorable? Right? Pure? Lovely and…well.. you get the idea. Oh.. and the price?? Don’t bother trying to pay… it’s FREE!!!! Kinda! And automatically comes with your New Life in Christ! Yeah… I mean YEAH!!!!!!!!!! (That was a joke too!)

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8

It was Father’s day and there were 10 of us hanging around the house. Kids were playing and adults were talking. One of the grandkids had gone to the refrigerator and brought back 2 cans of soda. BOTH of them were my wife’s favorite brand and kind of hard to find in a store. I said him, “Hey, Would you mind going to get another kind? That’s Gigi’s favorite!” And that is when it all started.

We have plenty of ‘pop’ (that’s what I called it as a kid) in the refrigerator. So it wasn’t an unreasonable request. But Katie didn’t want to have hurt feelings and immediately called for a taste test. “Let’s see what everybody thinks!” Soon she had set up a taste test between Diet Coke and Tab (her favorite). It was fun to watch!

Everyone who took the test took it seriously. They even cleansed their palate with water in between sips! I just sat back and smiled at the whole thing. Because I already KNEW what brand would win!

I don’t know all the particulars about church history and the what’s and why’s of every denomination. But I DO know that people who have an affinity for Jesus know the importance of worshiping in a church. One person likes this while another likes that. One goes here because of the music, another there because of the teaching style. Some don’t bother to go anywhere because NOTHING tastes like they want. And I wonder!!!

Jesus was clear in that He expects every one of His followers to be involved in a church (Hebrews 10:25). Church is TEAM work and it takes all of us to pull it off. But it seems that the Sheep have grown to be quite the picky bunch! Like Goldilocks…some like it hot and some like it cold! Some like it hard and some like it soft. The interesting, yet scary part, comes in the opinions.

The test between Diet Coke and Tab went on. And someone even threw out, “But if Coke ZERO were in this test what would be the result?” The winner of the game was Coca-Cola, since they make ALL the flavors in question! MY big question, that I have no good answer for is, “Does Jesus win among all his so called follower’s opinions and tastes?” in the end I think it all depends on how seriously the tasters take the test!  

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'” Mark 16:15

I had the opportunity of a lifetime and I was not going to let it pass. My Granddaughter was over for a sleepover by herself so it was perfect timing. I asked her to bring her Bible and she did. We had talked a little about reading it and how to grow in our faith. Now I wanted to show her how to do that as well.

Grabbing my markers, we opened her Bible together and I began to tell her of the color system I use to mark important passages. We started with the color ‘Green’ and I asked her, “when we are driving down the road and see a green light, what does that mean?” “Go,” she said. And I explained that when I read anywhere in the Bible that is telling me to do something, I underline it in ‘Green’ so I know it is a ‘command.’ Simple right??? no!

As I have been thinking lately, I realize there are a LOT of words in my Bible that are underlined in Green. But in paying attention to some of them, I have to admit that when it comes to my obedience, my REAL reaction is to say ‘NO.’ Or ‘I GO TOO SLOW!’ I felt rather like a failure.

Conviction can bring either a sense of failure or empowerment. I talked recently with some folks who have been feeling guilty that they have not done what God has asked of them. The conviction of guilt has stopped them in their tracks. Feelings of unworthiness retard any growth. But I only have to look at MY life to see the answer. I can either stay stuck in place… or use His command to GO and DO what He says.

Jesus Christ will be the first to tell you that He does not own a ‘Guilt Bag.’ He doesn’t collect failures to whack us with then we arrive home to Glory. He DOES have a ‘JOY Jingle’ though. And when we DO what He asks, HIS JOY follows us right here, right now. So I must learn to GO when He says. And practice makes perfect.

This verse today tells us explicitly the 1 thing Jesus has asked us to Go and DO. ‘GO… Tell everyone about the life, joy and peace I offer. You know.. like the one I give YOU!’ Convicted, I realize that If I don’t have it… I can’t go share it. And I can’t GET it… until I grab and USE it!

Please pray for our Church … A few of us are going to the local street corner where protesters have been staging themselves. God has convicted me that it is MY corner, since it is on the same road as our church. One of their signs said, “Come Join Us!” So we are taking the Gospel. Thank you for praying for us. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime!

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

15,701 days ago I married my better half! That makes 43 years…counting leap years. Most folks know our story. I was playing drums in a hotel band in this town. She was on a spring break vacation from Ohio with 3 of her friends. Our eyes met when she walked across the dance floor and 2.5 days later, and under influence from HER, I asked her to marry me. We were married in 2 months. The rest is ourstory!

Last night we looked at each other and were shocked! The years have gone by SO very fast! A perspective, I guess, that comes with age. Maybe it’s the odd number of years…43, but I find it tough to summarize. If someone were to ask me, “what is the secret to a long happy marriage,” I’d have a tough time narrowing it down to just one sentence.

Looking back we had been warned. And rightfully so. Neither of us had a college education and had dropped out. Realizing the mistake, we were each working and taking part time classes. Both of us lived with our parents. So without a good education, a good job, a place to live or any good sense…we fell instantly and madly in love. All we knew was that we WOULD NOT live our lives without each other! We were warned!

After 43 years it is a good story. Even though the warnings proved true. We did it all wrong and life was HARD. Every lesson, from how to fight, share, forgive, make up, disagree, make decisions, tackle finances, having babies and raising them… we learned the HARD way! It seems every lesson came after a failure first! We had been warned. And we weren’t SUPPOSED to last! Except for 1 thing!

This morning, my lovely bride texted me from the other room. And these words really say it all, “Thank you, God is so good to us.” The PERFECT summary of our lives. Even through hardship, difficulty, trial, pain, sorrow and loss…GOD is SOOOOOOOO GOOD TO US! We were warned. And I recommend to NEVER do it how we did! But needing a compass needle to guide us, we pointed our ship toward God and His Word.

We MAY have been too dumb to know anything different. If so, I pray dumb for every young or old couple on the planet. Because we are not lucky.. we are BLESSED. So thanks for the text, honey. The secret to a long and happy marriage really CAN be summarized in 1 word…GOD! And if you don’t believe me…ask HER! Happy 15,701 days Peaches!  

“When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” Hosea 13:6

I’ve got an earworm. You know…a song that gets stuck in your head that, no matter what you are doing or thinking, it’s still playing in the background? Oh yea.. It’s a big one! Now, I can’t decide if it’s because of the beat or the words. It’s gotten to a point where I am taking exhaustive measures to get rid of it. Maybe if I dissect it, cut it up or break it down I might get it to disappear.

It’s my son Colt’s fault! He loves music. Which means it’s probably MY fault because… so do I. Growing up, ALL my kids heard so much of it, they couldn’t help themselves. When my son got a subscription to an online music service, he offered me as one of his recipients. I am having a blast looking up songs, artists and genres…then listening through the cool headphones my kids got me. But I hadn’t expected this earworm!

The song is “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa. The earthworm is, “I’m not where you left me at all!” It’s about someone who has been jilted, but then has finally moved on. The mood of the song (hence the beat) is celebratory, since the pain of the breakup is over and life seems joyful again. Which may…or may NOT… be the point!

Having been with Jesus a long time, I have learned to know when He is trying to tell me something. Even if it isn’t right away. Like my wife with a look, a ‘hmmm,’ or with silence, I have learned it is in BOTH of our best interests to pay attention. “I’m not where you left me at all” will not stop rolling in my head.

Israel is called God’s wife by God Himself! That said, he did a LOT of flirting and wooing over her. Sadly, Israel wasn’t impressed with God’s efforts. This verse in Hosea summarizes the process of their estrangement. Sadly, even God seems to be questioning His own methods to win His people. Blessing them leads them to self satisfaction! And now I get it!

I am a FOLLOWER of Jesus Christ. I personally committed to go where He leads. But now that my earworm is engaged, I feel like He is wanting me to question my decision. If I am His follower… am I where He left me? And if I am left, which one of us moved? Seeing the hazards of Israel’s reaction to God and His blessings, am I being careful enough to stick with Him, even if He leaves me somewhere for a while.

Hmmmm… MAYBE God is telling Dua Lipa to tell ME that He wants ME to be a little more sticky! Which doesn’t surprise me at all!! Thanks Dua!

“What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” Isaiah 5:4

Well…the bumper crop has come in and the yield has been MORE than disappointing. About 3 years ago my wife was gifted an avocado tree…professional installation included. I remember when we carefully selected the spot and the tree guy brought it out. We watched him install it and asked a LOT of questions. Even then, we were counting on the day when we would partake of it’s bounty! All we needed was time. Or so we thought.

With the tree, installation, fertilizer and netting to protect it buds from birds, there’s about $250 in cost. The hours spent in babying it are incalculable. When we saw the first fruits (only 5) we covered them for protection and waited. The other day we saw that the fruit was still small… and already ripened. All 5 fit in 1 hand. 3 days later…the tree was dead!

The average cost of a Haas Avocado it around $1.00. I have found them for as low as $.50. Even at the most expensive price, AND with not counting labor, we could have bought over 6 bushels ( I know I looked it up). I believe it a fair assumption that this experience has been a failure.

I am an avocado! Or an apple, pear, tomato or kumquat. I am not my own. The creator customized me with His what, when, where… and He has a why. Likewise, I am offspring! I also have offspring. As a Believer I belong to a church of Spiritual Offspring, united with His hand and purpose. All my sins and failures have been paid for in advance, and God’s purpose is clear. To bear much fruit (John 15:8)!

A Vineyard is used as a HUGE illustration for God. He uses it to describe Israel in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New. In John 15 He even takes MY life and carefully grafts me into His plans. He teaches and guides me with the Word and His Spirit… just like a farmer cares for his crops. He does all the work and expects a return on His investment. My job is to simply to abide in Him.

Like any human I have good days and bad. There are times I forget that He has forgiven me and set me up for success…then do my own thing. But even then, I can feel His hand as He constantly oversees me. I love when He does that. Because then I know He cares. I’ve been hanging around for a long time now…And I am trying harder to focus on HIM. Because He’s coming…and so is His expectation. I must remember that whatever He does with me… is 100% up to ME!