“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Here it is, only 7:15 in the morning and I am mad as a hornet! I agree the matter is trivial, if I’m talking dollars… which I am. $5.99 to be precise! But this is NOT ABOUT money. It’s about PRINCIPLE! And for me, principle takes precedence over cash! So, after looking for a contact, and getting more edgy, I FINALLY connected and ‘let ‘em have it!’

It should have been simple! Finding the items didn’t take long, But when the ‘place order’ came up, the screen told me they were giving me ‘Free Shipping!’ After ordering, I saw they billed me $5.99! As far back as I remember…. $5.99 isn’t FREE! I felt bad for the lady on the other end of the phone, but she said had no control over the order and asked me to ‘cancel and resubmit.’

Unfortunately, the merchandising business these days has outmaneuvered the ‘service factor.’ Far too often I have tried to contact a company, only to be run through a computer with NO ability to actually TALK to a person. If an order is lost, late or unavailable… the word from the computer is… ‘too bad… not our fault! But thank you!’ And it only seems to get worse.

‘FREE” is my favorite 4 letter ‘F’ word! So, just for curiosity’s sake, I went to my computer browser to look up the word FREE and how it relates to Salvation in Jesus Christ. After all, The ‘Corporate Church’ has been bragging that Salvation is ‘FREE’ forever! After my Bible search, my face registered the same kind of shock as I had with my computer order! Because… it isn’t there!

The Bible does it say that Heaven and Eternal life are FREE! As I write, I can sense the Holy Spirit laughing at my lifetime ignorance, or stupidity! The Bible tells me that I have been SET FREE from sin and death. But it NEVER says that the TRANSACTION was free. After all, God reminded, it took the death of His Son Jesus to BUY IT! And MY death to redeem it! It’s a gift… but NOT free.

Maybe that is the problem with the whole Jesus business. I find most people who call themselves Christians FAR too lazy or presumptuous to actually put time, shoe leather and sweat into their relationship with the God of the universe who suffered HORRIBLY to set me free. When I received Salvation from God by accepting His offer of Grace, we traded titles. Mine for His. His for mine!

God expects me to LOVE Him, FOLLOW Him, SEEK Him, STUDY Him, WORSHIP Him. That means working at finding out what He wants from me and OBEYING Him! THAT is NOT FREE. It takes time, patience, determination and setting Him as Priority 1! ALL THE TIME! But what I get in return, AFTER my investment, is PRICELESS.

Have YOU ordered a life from God you think should be FREE? If so, you may want to cancel that order and resubmit! Because true Worship… is a verb!

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…” Psalm 24:1

I found the balled up former Marine with his chest in my face rather humorous, since he was standing in my driveway! I was glad he was there, because I had invited him. He had a problem with me traveling over a piece of property that he called HIS! But the only legal claim was his testosterone, which I already dismissed… just like he had at my attempts of ‘reasoning together.’

The story is not really worth telling because it is repeated everyday by people of all ages. I’ve seen it, and cried it FAR too often. Within family and siblings, children at school, between adulthood friends and acquaintances, by bosses and land owners alike. Like a crease forcefully cut and chiseled under- ground, the darkness is called, “MINE!” The very word itself… simply an empty shaft of nothingness!

I had shared this idea with 2 young men in a beautiful mountain scenery, a picture of which would adorn any room. “Who owns all this, boys?” I asked. After failing to guess, I gave them the REAL answer, which is today’s Bible verse. “God owns EVERYTHING,” I said. “And He owns you too!” With that, I asked them, “so what are you doing with His property because… He WILL demand to know!”

Now admittedly, I was a very selfish child. My mom even gave me a label… “me first-er!” If there was a line for a church dinner, I felt, being the preacher’s kid, that I had a right to be at the front of it. If my siblings had something and I wanted it… I took it! Even if it wasn’t MINE! I actually felt like MY desires superseded their actual rights! But I was headed for a catastrophic and inevitable crash!

‘Telling’ cannot relay the pain and anguish I suffered when, after receiving His free gift of eternal life, I looked at Jesus, after a pointed request, and said, “No… that’s mine!” Being an experienced father of 4, I learned to laugh at my children’s unlearned bent toward selfishness. But I laughed only briefly. Like Jesus, I knew THAT attitude HAD TO GO! And with me… Jesus set about it. The HARD way!

I told that fellow standing in GOD’S driveway that he was a bully. I don’t like bullies because I used to be one and hate the reminder. I learned that Jesus can be much like a pig! Getting into the mud-pit to fight Him made me realize… HE LIKES IT! And I’m glad! I learned the lesson that I don’t OWN ANYTHING, even myself.  Giving God His rights over my everything gives me MORE than everything.

What silly things are you holding onto that YOU call “MINE?” Why not set yourself free and make them HIS?

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Returning from vacation in the Pennsylvania mountains, it was interesting to discover that what I heard up there, was exactly what I had been hearing in Florida. And still am! With summer in full swing, often the first words uttered in greeting are, “Wow, it’s hot out here!” It’s a perceived opinion that comes from real individual experience, yet is assumed to be held by all. In Pa…. I just smiled.

My roots go back to Southwestern Pennsylvania. When we visit, Katie and I enjoy both new and old experiences. On a historical tour of an old industrialist’s mansion, our guide suggested our group assemble under “the shade of that big tree” since… “Wow, it’s hot out here!” We winked and thought, almost in a bragging way, “this is NOTHING compared to Florida!” But we held our tongues.

Going to my mountain cabin does many things for me. Having been born and raised up there, I have deep seated memories and emotions tied to ‘The Cabin,’ a former old closed church that my father purchased 48 years ago. A place like my grandfather’s cabin, further north, where I had even learned to walk! It’s a magical spot in mountainous woods that many STILL call ‘God’s Country!’ And I concur.

Growing up, I spent hours walking through those woods with a BB gun and feeling like a big game hunter. Then I was saved in those mountains as a young teen. Now, mountain mornings find me sitting in a chair facing them with God’s Word in my lap, the Holy Spirit in my heart, and Jesus Christ sitting right there with me. It is the holiest place on earth! But that is MY experienced perspective!

“Wow, it’s hot out here,” is not just a summary of air temperature. It can easily apply to the current ‘world atmosphere!’ As population grows, individual demands form group similarities, which often turn toward evil, selfish political demands. But while the world roasts, I smile! Because today’s Bible verse, from experienced perspective, is as real and refreshing to me as my mountain cabin in hot July.

Do YOU know and experience the COOL love, compassion and faithfulness of God? If you do, why not share Him with some poor sweating soul?

“…they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” 1 Peter 1:12

The only one who drives my truck is me. Not being a vehicle guy, I am completely unconcerned about how it looks. As I see it, a truck is a tool to get me from 1 job to another. That said, tools and things have a tendency to store up in the cab behind my seat. This is not a problem because nobody sees back there anyway! Which recently proved to be an eye opening revelation!

I had a reason to clean out the back of my truck last week, and cringed at the thought. Removing each item, 1 at a time, I had to decide, “save” or “pitch?” With a trash can beside me, each item was either deposited in the trash or onto the garage floor for sorting later. Strangely, the trash can was not filling up as fast as I thought, as treasure after treasure was found!

Over the last few months I have had the need for Duct Tape but could not find any. Cleaning out my truck, I found 4 rolls of the stuff! I had lost my garage door opener about 6 months ago when voila’… there it was! Right under the pile behind my seat! Which begs the question… since they remained in my possession, were those items ever LOST in the first place?

These thoughts may signal I am losing my mind… or that I just need a vacation! But as I lay in bed last night, a serendipitous thought broke through the clutter of my mind, and it concentrated on this verse today. I figured it was God trying to tell me something, since I hadn’t had a thought about angels since before I lost the garage door remote!

Being a man with flaws and failures, I don’t really feel like a wonder. In fact, much of my time I spend fighting off satan’s attempts to bring me down by the remembrance of my failures. But this verse suddenly SCREAMED something at me I had never realized… the ANGELS in Heaven are actually JEALOUS of ME! It appears that I possess something they cannot even begin to treasure! Hmm!

It’s a fact that Good News can’t come until Bad News settles in. That all of us are sinners destined for the eternal trash bin should be common knowledge. That lost trash could rule the heavens is a treasure greater than anything I can fathom. But is it true? Could God be cleaning me up to prepare me for something so BIG, that even the Angels are mystified???! I’m gonna look into this!

Could it be that God is trying to prepare YOU for something eternally big???  

“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

The whole McCay fam was at the Birthday party when it happened. But with so many weans and excitement, it went unnoticed by everyone but me. My son Colt was helping unwrap a large toy for his nephew by cutting the zip ties that held it to the box… snip, snip, snip! Speechless, I asked to see the box when he was done to confirm what I thought I saw, then smiled!

Upon examination, I saw he had cut all the zip ties without even thinking, then was discarding the packaging, cut ties and all! What made it initially shocking to me was that the zip ties were LONG ones and, if cut carefully, could be used again! But not now!

My father was born a year before the Great Depression of 1929, and my whole life was affected by his experience. He didn’t throw ANYTHING away! Teaching me to be frugal came naturally since, being the youngest, he was the last to get what could be got! Dad taught me to depend on my own wits and resources for success. But over the years, I made other plans for my 2 sons.

Being poor means you make do with what you have. And if a job needs done, you do it yourself. If you don’t know how, you learn… hands on! Early on I committed to a goal for my boys, that they would NEVER have to own a tool, unless they WANTED it. I wanted my sons to be so successful, they could just pay a company to do work for them.

Owning tools for most any kind of job around the house, zip ties are just part of my necessary resources. I have discovered that with so many items wrapped with them, if I carefully cut a zip tie, I can reuse it again. As I stared at the ties Colt had just cut, I realized the thought of saving them for reuse hadn’t even crossed his mind! Because he was successful!

I was born poor, wretched, pitiful and blind! In need of salvation, my heavenly Father already knew there was no way for me to save myself. So He made other plans. He paid the price for my sin HIMSELF and WANTS me to be in His family… SUCCEEDING in the family business.  He doesn’t want me trying to save myself. I buy neither zip ties, nor salvation! My God, MY Father, already did!  

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” Romans 8:1

“HAPPY 4^th OF JULY!!!” That is what someone said to me yesterday… on the 3^rd! This year the 4^th actually falls on a Monday, turning the HoliDAY into a WEEKEND! Which, for people who like to drink and party, extends celebrating to days on end without having to make up an excuse! As I wrote those words, I realized I did so with some serious jealousy!

While a teenager, I discovered that alcohol gave me PAINFUL hangovers that hung on for days. And it wasn’t for lack of trying! It took a while, but I finally accepted bad hangovers to be a gift from God! Had I not been blessed, and with my personality, I’d probably be dead by now. But I have to be very careful, because it is easy to become judgmental with such a gift.

This year, the timing of the 4^th is unusual because we’re getting ready to go on vacation. And though we do it every year, it never gets easier. For weeks now my brain has been overloaded with anxiousness due to ‘things I have to do’ before leaving! To top it off, I feel guilty for not getting things done well. All in all, I’ve been feeling guilty and bad about ME! I need some FREEDOM!!!

Guilt is a terrible thing. Being in the business of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ is similar to partying and vacationing because there are 2 sides to each coin! On 1 hand, Jesus Christ died for ALL my sins so that NOW… there is NO condemnation, or hangover, for me to face. EVER! BUT… His gift of grace ALSO expects me to live and act LIKE HE does… PERFECTLY! Since I don’t… GUILT!

So, as anyone can see, I have a problem! Taking my vocation seriously calls me to encourage and lead people to walk like The Savior, while NO one… including myself… DOES! Add to it the fact that satan has a field day playing on this field called Earth, we ‘ALL’ could use a ‘mighty pac’ of Christ’s freedom… which comes with permanent ‘stainlifting power!’ Just drink it in and rest on it

Are YOU free from ALL your guilty stains? Happy Independence (dependence) Day!

“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” Isaiah 65:17

Having a 4 wheeler to ride in the mountains is an absolute blast for me. I’ve had an older one that was gifted me by my kids for my 60^th birthday, but it’s gotten older as I have. Unfortunately once, the brakes gave out and sent me down the mountain… backwards! After I became conscious, I realized how close I came to seeing Jesus… an event which I look forward to. Just not in that manner!

I’ve spent lots of money and time to fix that old stopping problem. Finally, I took it to the Honda shop to let a certified factory rep take a look. Going to check progress, I walked into the store and toward the service area. But RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME sat a brand new shiny 4 wheeler on the showroom floor. Casting temptation aside, I headed to ‘Service,’ only to get bad news!

The things I have done to fix my old 4 wheeler actually caused more problems than helped. Swapping brake types and using aftermarket parts to make it run LIKE new SOUNDED creative and cheaper at the time. But as I asked the Service manager questions and offered suggestions like “what if?” and “how about?” he politely shook his head in wonderment! Then I remembered ‘The Crash!’

It didn’t take long, since I’m not a fool! As I walked back out through the storefront, the owner was standing beside that new shiny 4 wheeler, when I just blurted out… “how much?” Within a few moments I made my decision! And for pretty much the same reason that I took Jesus up on HIS offer of a New Life decades ago. Crashing through life with no brakes was no kind of life! So I got His!

Pain, always unwelcome and inconvenient, is often the greatest teacher of all. Having experienced the nightmare of a terrible crash made me wake up to a possibility I don’t EVER want to experience again! Which is why I like sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who are living lives full of bad news. Since trying to fix the old life to be good enough… just leaves Jesus His head shaking!

Do YOU possess the New Life of Christ? Cuz matey… thar be mountains ahead!

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you… By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food…” Genesis 3:17-19

This last Spring, someone got the idea to plant a vegetable garden at the Church. Many folks thought it a great idea! So with enthusiasm, several set about planting a garden to keep us all from starving, should an apocalypse come upon us. Since I possess NO skills for farming, I ran to the store to buy cases of veggies! Now, ‘The Garden’ serves only as a painful reminder.

Many a good idea has died on the vine simply because we tend to forget that (#1) no matter what we do, there is STILL an underlying curse upon us all. And (#2) we have an unrelenting enemy who hates us so much, he will not rest until he sees us completely destroyed. As Katie and I set out to undo what the curse had done, we were painfully reminded of those 2 basic truths.

The fence we had put up did little to keep out the rabbits, and NOTHING to keep out weeds. As UV rays broke down the plastic fence, tearing it out proved more work then anticipated. Standing in ankle high weeds trying to cut the zip-ties that held it to poles, I was visited by a welcoming company of fire ants! We hadn’t even started on the weeds and sweat covered my face! I felt cursed!

As I looked over the mess that was supposed to be a garden, I remembered the story of the FIRST Garden from my early Sunday School days. It was GRAND because GOD had planted it! Man was created AFTER everything was already made perfect. Adam and Eve were given the job of being in charge of maintaining it’s perfect standards. But someone got a bright idea… and history was born!

As sweat poured from every pore in my body, I felt God call me into the shade for a moment of His Son’s reflection. There, with the Holy Spirit’s leading, Jesus pulled it all together for me. Within nanoseconds, I was reminded of the curse that STILL exists today. AND of the sad fact that men STILL pursue bright ideas to circumvent God’s initial proclamation by saying “CURSE? WHAT CURSE?!”

I have learned that SOMETIMES… pain can be a blessing. The sad painful fact that sin and satan still reign on this Earth, actually serves to drive me to The Savior. Bad news serves to make the Good News all the more a blessing. Standing in weeds, sweating, with fire stinging my ankles, I actually smiled! Because I was reminded that, thanks to my Savior Jesus Christ, THIS Garden… ain’t my home!

Have you been feeling a little weedy lately? Why not step into the shade with the Son!

“For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” Matthew 13:15

Walking into my daughter’s kitchen, the view through her sliding glass door revealed an unusual sight. Standing on the outside, looking in, were 7 chickens… all of differing sizes and colors. Not being a chicken guy, I didn’t really know WHY they were standing there, since they have their very own fancy, custom built coop to live in. But there they stood… on the outside looking in!

Cori has been raising chickens for years, and while there are only 7 of them, the low numbers do NOT reflect the amount of work it takes to keep them. Whether 7 or 70… chickens need to be kept, fed and cared for. They provide some amusing and interesting entertainment through their daily routine, along with their main purpose… eggs! But like people, they can be both dumb AND cool!

It was dusk when we were ready to leave, AND time for the chickens to go back into their coop. We followed Cori out, wanting to see how she’d get them in there. Curious, I wondered… would she whistle? Call? Cluck? Reaching for a bag, the chickens INSTANTLY ran to her feet, then followed her to the coop. When she threw mealworms from the bag onto the floor, they GALLOPED right in.

The epiphany hit me as the chickens scratched around looking for worms. They HAD been at the glass door because, beside it was where Cori kept the mealworms. They weren’t there because they adored their owner! They wanted WORMS! Sadly, I realized I was looking at the perfect metaphor for the lost of this world.

God created the perfect coop for man’s future. In Eden, no luxury was spared the stomach or eye of man… except for the fruit of 1 tree! And that, just to give them the chance to love Him in return. Sadly, it only took 1 taste to sidetrack mankind for eternity. Even more sadly, after God provided the perfect way for man to get BACK to Him through His son Jesus Christ, men still prefer worms!

How sad it is to watch people fight and scratch for wormy things instead of the real, abundant life Jesus offers to ANYONE who will choose Him over everything else. Tasting worms, and liking it, also produces heartless people who will do ANYTHING to their peers to get more. I thank God that He has provided me with a life filled with MUCH more than wormy things. How about you?

Are you standing on the outside looking in? God wants you IN!