“So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.” Romans 14:22

NO! It was just as simple as that. NO! Having posted a story on a neighbor’s grass getting WAY too high, I received a response from my pseudo mother. At least I guess that is what I could call her. She was my mom’s best friend growing up and we stay in touch. She is smart, funny and quick. I received an email from her with the subject header, ”SUGGESTION.” I began laughing before I even opened it.

It was no surprise, even though it may have been an accident, but ALL the words were in capital letters. Years ago I used to send emails in all ‘caps’ and someone responded, “why are you yelling at me!” With a chuckle I realized that, even if it was unintentional, she was serious. She wrote, “CUT NEIGHBORS GRASS AND SAY…..CALL IF I CAN EVER HELP YOU ACT LIKE A CHRISTIAN…..YOU CAN DO IT..…” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Have you ever been faced with a supernatural request from God? One where you KNOW that you KNOW He is telling you to DO something. Part of the fun of being a believer is learning how to hear His voice…and then act on it. Over the years He has asked me to do some pretty crazy stuff. At the risk of seeming to justify myself, I’ll refrain from specifics and keep them between myself and God. Wink wink!

So there it was! At ‘mom’s’ suggestion I realized I had a decision to make..again. Having already considered and made it over several weeks, the decision remained the same. “NO!” Now I have to live with the consequences. In this case, I’m OK with that!

I have learned that God’s will, even His suggestive will, comes in several ways. It can be a still small voice deep in my brain. It can be a visual that sparks the flame. The Bible or other reading material may plant the seed. Or it can be at the nudge of leaders or other people. In any event, the decision to do, or NOT do, ALWAYS rests with me. God’s approval or disapproval follows. It is a daily, and sometimes hourly, seesaw.

In the end… it was the 2 big dogs that helped my decision. I think you get the picture. The ‘zing’ of the email wasn’t enough to change my mind about the grass. And “No” stayed no! But I can live with that. Especially since someone else has already cut it! WHEW!!!! I’m glad God talks to more people than just me! AND glad I still have mom to keep me honest!

“From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits.” Psalm 73:7

Receiving the call that my lawnmower cable was in, I drove to pick it up. The process had been so unbelievably fast and efficient, I couldn’t help but praise the shopkeeper’s efforts. “You are SOOO AWESOME,” I said. “I don’t find this kind of service very often…kudos to you!” He humbly thanked me but said it was simply his job and he was delighted to help. Ringing up the purchase with my credit card, he then lay the cable on the counter. It was the wrong one!

NATURALLY I was disappointed, but not overly so. Stuff happens! But after the praising I had given him, his natural inclination was to find out how the order got messed up. What he was REALLY looking for, was a way to direct responsibility from himself. And even though I told him, “it’s OK, not a problem, I get it…” he kept fishing for an excuse. I smiled.

I have a neighbor I do not know who is renting a house near me. The grass is about 10” tall. For some weird reason I began thinking about the unfairness. Here I am trying to be responsible while someone else…isn’t! For fun I just thought about how “I” might try to get a slice of their pie! Then the thought hit, “the store ordered the wrong part, maybe I should simply use this as an excuse to NOT cut MY grass.” Then I felt heaven scowl!

Psalm 73 may be considered the “Not Fair” Psalm. After seeing the rewards of the carefree, irresponsible life, the writer’s quill begins to whine! Looking up several versions, the picture painted is that ‘hardened hearts produce fatty eyes!’ In other words, irresponsibility produces the desire for more irresponsibility! Sadly, I see it every day!

The clamor for ‘Fairness’ seems to be following the same path, as the masses demand more. Governments are now expected to guarantee personal safety, while at the same time prevent all injustice. It is a dangerous requirement at best. Since fairness is actually a heart quality that is taught and not caught!

#73 is a great humbling Psalm. In reading it, I am reminded that God NEVER added ‘fairness’ to His list of promises. ‘Personal safety’ is not there either. In fact, The Word goes on to say that followers of His standards would actually suffer more injustice than normal! But there is an addendum. Justice for the responsible WILL come…just not here!

I reordered the proper cable for my lawnmower. 

“For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun? Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.” Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

Did you ever have one of those days? While cutting the grass, the lawnmower broke… AGAIN! I had pieced it back together before, knowing full well it wouldn’t last. It is a poorly designed machine built to NOT last. The company that built it may have filed bankruptcy, but my grass still needed to be cut. Wading through the options, I was trying to find a sensible plan.

“I COULD just go buy a new mower, I thought. But I did NOT want to spend $400. Sweating, I took it apart to discover the problem, then shopped online for the part. Delivery would take 2 weeks. The local mower shop MAY be able to help sooner. But they weren’t answering their phone. Driving there, I was glad to hear they could have the part the next day. “VICTORY!!!!” Getting back in my 100+ degree truck cab, the fan for my AC abruptly stopped fanning. “WHAAAAAAA,” I hollered in frustration.

That I had just saved almost $400 was destroyed when I THOUGHT, “I’m going to have to take this to the shop! Is something out there determined to make me pay $400 today?” It was a real question. Suddenly, from the back of my mind I had the thought…check the fuse! I did…and even had a spare! “VICTORY!” Excited, I wanted to tell my wife. When I walked in the room, she dropped her glasses… and they broke! “AAAAAAA!”

Did you ever have one of those days? The Bible tells us the richest, most powerful and wise person in the world had them. In fact, he wrote a book about it called Ecclesiastes. It sums up the life of man in 1 word…MEANINGLESS! I felt my life at that moment, was just like that! In despair, I put on some Jesus music and decided to just keep busy while talking to God. Which is EXACTLY the conclusion of Solomon’s book! It eventually worked!

At the end of the day I don’t know much more than when I started. SOMETHING seemed to want to make me spend $400. I know.. it sounds crazy. But thinking through and talking to God seemed to bring solutions that worked on my heart. Even my wife found acceptable replacement glasses online…3 for $20! After all is said and done, I guess I can affirm that living with Jesus Is NOT meaningless. Even if I would have had to spent $400!

“When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.” Mark 5:15

While posting the Words of the Day on Facebook yesterday, I saw that I had 2 warning notifications. Having never seen that before, I investigated and literally could not believe my eyes. Facebook had censored me not once…but twice in the same day! Feeling shamed like a school boy placed in the corner, I simply HAD to find out where I went wrong. What a shock!

The first was my comment on a posted joke about how women work harder than men. A fact in which I totally agree! Having 5 wonderful wives and mothers in my immediate family, there is no question on the matter. So I made the comment, ‘men are pigs.’ Facebook notified me that they took it down because they considered it ‘hate speech!’ I laughed!

The next no-no came when I re-posted something about Hitler and how he had gained power. I see similar tactics being played by left wing politicians. I was notified again by Facebook that I needed to ‘fact-check’ my response concerning Herr Hitler! SERIOUSLY??? I didn’t laugh!

It is only coincidental that yesterday President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting social media companies to “defend free speech from one of the gravest dangers it has faced in American history.” That of censorship. I got it…and get it!

Jesus faced similar ridiculousness over the whole demonic pig incident. After setting a man (or was it 2 men) freed from demonic possession at the cost of a herd of swine, the townsfolk ‘were afraid!’ NOT of the demons.. but of Jesus! Preferring demons to Deity, they asked him to leave!

When raising my lovely daughters I made sure to drive the point home that ‘men are pigs!’ I emphasized ALL men…INCLUDING me! They couldn’t believe it! Young ladies in their teens have a tendency to loose perspective when a young lad first pays them attention. I wanted the point driven home…young lad’s have something else in mind! Even if it OCCASIONALLY may not be true!

Tim Allen became famous when he used the line about men and pigs. It was funny because it is true! ALL men, left to themselves in the flesh…ARE swine. Being a man, I battle that truth daily. Any man who tells you otherwise is ALSO a liar! Jesus knows it too. Which is why He and His gang rowed all night to reach to Gennesaret! A man (or 2) needed saving! We still do!

The world hates God’s Truth and the conviction it comes with. Left to ourselves, ALL people have a selfish, ugly, dark spot on our hearts. It is SO dark in fact, that it is irreparable. The ONLY way to irradiate the problem is this…the pig has to die! Which is what being ‘Born Again’ is all about. Anyone who disagrees also adds a censorship problem to their piggishness! Don’t be an oinker!

I wonder if I’ll get censored again today?

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

“You threw it away?!” That’s it! 4 little words that would come back to haunt me later. It wasn’t even the words that became the problem for me. It was how I said them. I was irritated and hurt over something EXTREMELY petty and stupid. I should have known better…but it was too late now.

I had found a small cache of “Quotable Quotes” articles from old Readers Digests lying in a pile. I remembered years ago how I used to cut them out and save them. After all, I never knew when I might need a good line for a sermon. “Where did you find THESE?” I hollered out to my wife. She replied, “I found them in a box of old things. They were attached to a note to me from your dad.” Stunned, I asked, “Where’s the note?” “I threw it away,” she said.

My dad has been dead for over 21 years. I don’t exactly remember the date because he made me promise to forget it before he died. It irritated him that people would ramp up their sorrow because of a date on a calendar. But a note from my dad? 21+ years later? And she threw it AWAY without my seeing it? I was upset at her. Until she fished it out of the trash and laid it before my eyes. Then I felt stupid.

I don’t know what I was expecting or why. It’s been so long since I have communicated with my dad, I guess I was excited to finally get something. Except… that ‘something’ came at the expense of irritability toward my wife. After all…SHE is to be my highest priority. Even my dad would not have approved.

Thinking back, I begin to rationalize, “it’s not really THAT big of a deal, right?” Except that it is. Everyday, people get irritable with other people. Which might easily be passed off as normal, if GOD hadn’t something to say about it! And the verse today was the source for my discomfort with myself.

There are times that words can come across as ‘unwholesome,’ even when they’re not! To a kid, “Clean your room” may be considered rude when coming from a parent. “Do your job,” from one’s boss, or “God’s Word says to not do that” from a pastor. I guess the way to really know if something said is ‘unwholesome’ is in the intent. In MY case, those words had came out in disrespect.

The incident is closed now. Apologies to my wife for my words have been conveyed. And since I HATE feeling stupid, I have logged this incident as a learned a lesson… one more time. But I just can’t help but laugh. You see, I KNOW my dad. And I KNOW he’d be smiling right now because… his note was not only used…but was right on! No ‘maybe’ about it!    

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.” Colossians 2:18

Restaurants have been opened after the Covid-19 incident, and people are now venturing out. Owners and Wait Staff who have not made money in months are now hungry to get back to normal. Friends of ours have a Karaoke business, so we went out last night to support them and the restaurant where they appeared. It was quite an event!

The place was “at capacity” as people joyfully sang and performed. One guy was loudly applauded as he made his way UP to the microphone. I figured he was either going to be VERY good… or very NOT so! Karaoke is kind of strange in that regard! The first note was telling as he hit it hard and right on target. He could have been a performer from years past, he was that good. It was a joy to listen to him. Everyone else thereafter had to play catch-up.

This morning I saw a headline in a devotional I continually ‘unsubscribe’ from! But they have my info and continue to ignore my request. The headline intrigued me so I just HAD to read the article. In it, some lady prophet had written, “We are living in the days of Joel Prophesied 3,000 years ago!” It was filled with secret information God had revealed to her PERSONALLY. Now she was sharing. I wanted to throw up!

I didn’t read the article because I was hopeful. I read it to see just how bad it could be. And it was worse. You see, as just 1 little pastor among so many, I AM a TRUE fortune teller sent by God! But most folks do not WANT to hear what I tell them.

The Word of God is living and active. In it, God gives us the do’s and don’ts of genuine Christian living. So when I say, “you may want to quit drinking like that or it will destroy you,” (Eph 5:13) I am telling the future. “Give God of your time and money and He will give YOU…time and money” (Matt. 6:33)! And, “God doesn’t want you in bondage to THIS thing and wants you free!” (Rom. 6:6-7). “EH,” they say…”what do YOU know?”

While God is madly in love with us and gives us promises for life, many find more interest in the mystical. Real Christian leaders do not focus on the hocus pocus, but on ministering God’s Word to the hurt and lost. ‘Jesus Works,’ is one of my sayings. But one has to do the HARDER thing and DO what He says to see the results. Which is difficult when the masses may be looking MORE for a spectacular performance!

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.'” Matthew 16:24-25

While preparing for Memorial Day Church Service this year I was suddenly overwhelmed with my earliest recollections of the holiday. My father had gone into the ministry when I was 5. His first church had a parsonage on one side and a cemetery on the other. This meant my favorite place to play was in the well kept world of the dead! As those memories flooded back to me, I took time to really process them like I never had before.

Unless you have done it, playing in a cemetery may seem dark and morose. It was not. Countless hours were spent playing among the tombstones where I practiced reading the names and mathematically trying to figure the age of the person lying below when they had passed. It was quite an education. One thing that separated some plots from others was the American Flag or military symbol. To see it on a tombstone said to me, “THESE people were special!”

I don’t believe anyone entering the Military went expecting to die. Though they knew there was a possibility, death was not a certainty. Through fear and duty, each operated on the assumption that they would eventually make it home. For most, it was that singular thought which kept them motivated in service. It was at this thought yesterday where God flip-flopped my thinking concerning my service to Him. It was a dramatic shift!

My favorite superhero is Batman. Here is a guy who has NO supernatural skills. One who had suffered tremendous loss and pain, but used it for the purpose of making a difference. Hiding behind a cowl, his battle to keep his identity hidden was almost as intense as his fight against crime. He brought life and peace by fighting against death and evil. Which is 180 degrees opposite of what Jesus Christ has called me to do!

Let’s face it…Christian Believers are God’s Superheroes on Earth. The mission to win back the world from the hands of satan has been handed down EXCLUSIVELY to the followers of Jesus Christ. There is NO backup plan. We are it! To join is to understand and accept the terms of our Leader and Master Jesus, who set the example. But unlike those who serve in the Military who fight to live, the Believer’s FIRST command is to DIE! And He isn’t kidding!

While the Batman symbolism of a sold out, dead to oneself, superhero may sound strange up front, I believe it accurate. Where the military soldier fights to preserve his life, Jesus demands I lose that silly distraction and give it up at the start. Doing so, I receive HIS life…His strength…HIS peace…and HIS Kingdom. Which isn’t a bad trade after all. Doing so actually enables me to PLAY among the dead things of this world, without fear, as His soldier of ‘The Cross!’ God blesses ALL who serve, a we continually remember that!      

“But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3

We sat in circle around the church last night, about 20 of us, all looking at a woman we had never met before. She had tears running down her face as we sat and listened to the story of her family. It was 1 week ago that we had heard the story from one of our members. One thing had led to another, the Holy Spirit moved and an offering was raised. She was there to receive it, and sat overwhelmed at what God had done. Elsewhere, court was in session.

Satan looked with disdain at one of our members in the witness stand and proceeded with his charges. A hateful scowl of disgust crossed his face at the very sight of the accused, even tho it was only a doll in effigy. He proceeded. “Did you or did you NOT disobey me when I told you to refrain from giving any ANYTHING to this worthless cause?” “Speak up!” No response! Let the evidence show that we not only have your fingerprints, but your NAME AND SIGNATURE are on the donation check!” “I pronounce you GUILTY of disobedience!”

The next charge brought no reaction from the doll, but was leveled as if there COULD be one. “Did I NOT tell you tonight that you are FAR too busy and have FAR too many of your own personal problems to bother taking the TIME to come this foul place? But there you sit…all smiley… as if you haven’t a care in the world. Do you not realize I will MAGNIFY your troubles as payment for your disobedience? Again…GUILTY!”

Elsewhere, The Master of the Universe was looking down with so much joy that the angel’s faces could not help but follow suit. He sees. And He knows. He KNOWS that money is tight for his son. But watched as he gave it by faith anyway. He knows that His son is buried in mountains of work that will require hours he does not have. Yet there he sits with his fellow brothers and sisters still.

As for the character in question…he is perfectly content and at peace. Even though he KNOWS he is guilty! Guilty of following the gentle but difficult request of his Maser. He also knows that his Savior has GAZILLIONS of dollars and holds all time in His hands. And with a Master so generous, giving with a servants heart is more fun than anything else he could be found guilty of. His case rests!

“Praise be to the God…who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4

While taking a bath I noticed movement on the floor. Coming closer to presumably greet me, lay a ‘Tegenaria Domestica,’ commonly known as the domestic house spider. My reaction was spontaneous as I blurted out, “well hey there buddy!” As I moved my head, he ran under the open door! I guess he was figuring he was hiding, even though his legs could be seen sticking out from both sides of the door. Silly spider!

You may call me weird, but spiders and snakes do not scare me. After 64+ years on this earth without incident, I figure the odds of getting attacked or bitten by either are lower than dying from the Corona Virus… which, last I read, is less than .00 something. What I DON’T like is the ‘Periplaneta Americana,’ or ‘American Roach.’ Down here in Florida they are called ‘Palmetto Bugs!’

It was my first trip to SW Florida and I was 19 years old when I encountered my first one. I was sitting on the john when it sauntered out from under a counter. It came out cocky, (hence the name I guess) stood right in front of me, stared and wiggled its long antennae. It was almost 3” long! Chills ran down my spine since I didn’t know what the thing was or if it had teeth! When I tried to swat it with a towel… it FLEW into my face…then around the room!! I guessed it was laughing at my Yankee ignorance and naked fear!

Though the incident of the attacking bug has never been repeated, I can’t seem to get it out of my head. Time, experience and taking to Florida natives has tamed that initial fear to a simple act of vengeance. When I spray or swat, I do it with an attitude of… ‘so who’s cocky NOW?’ SMACK…then FLUSH…for justice sake!! It feel better now because I am someone who knows.

There are a LOT of things that are scary on this planet. And for VERY good reason. They CAN hurt you! Pain, sickness, hurt, loss, fear and death are VERY real. And EVERYONE has experience. When it comes to death, the ULTIMATE fear, if it hasn’t visited your world, just give it time. It IS on the way! But so is the COMFORT by which we can overcome its sting!

Jesus came, died, and in brash cockiness, rose again! Then…He made the statement that, because of what HE did, I can and shall do so as well… if I choose to follow Him that is. It is not only an encouragement…it is a PROMISE. Now.. knowing Him…I have the ability to go out and encourage OTHERS to become just as cocky in their knowledge and experience. So…what scares YOU?