“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers…” 2 Thessalonians 2:1

‘They’re here!’ I thought… as I ran to the door. After weeks of planning, then rescheduling because of illness, my youngest daughter arrived with her whole family. Because they live almost 4 hours away, and because of differing schedules, we don’t get to see them very much. But as ‘looking forward’ became ‘here and now,’ Joy filled my heart and lasted all weekend.

My granddaughter ‘Cypress’ is the cutest little thing. I know most every grandparent thinks that and I am no exception! When she got here, the age old game of playing shy came too. I know it well. As she turned her head away, I caught her peeking with 1 eye as my daughter said, “go see Papa.. you’ve been waiting!” But I know the game. It doesn’t happen that fast!

There’s a little game of ‘playing hard to get’ that goes on between Cypress and me. But that game has been played with every one of my granddaughters, when they were her age. As they got older, the game waned, until it was gone altogether. But that’s just how things Grow! As life takes on a responsibility of its own, heart holes can become a sign of maturity. Sniff!

Today’s Bible verse is God’s addressing of those ‘heart holes.’ Having seen most of our kids and grandkids this weekend, we awoke today to a kind of loneliness that is only produced by love for one another. The kind that, when absent, makes itself known only in the sorrow of silence. Of all the things I love about Jesus, HIS addressing of THAT silence is His GREATEST!

There is NOTHING on earth that addresses the Godly Sorrow of yearning and loss like Jesus Christ. I missed my kids before we even left! But we planned to get together again THIS MONTH! Looking forward to ‘soon’ makes ‘the heart hole’ pill easier to swallow. But for family and loved ones that have passed on, a much stronger medicine is necessary.

IT IS A FACT!!!! WE WILL BE GATHERED TOGETHER WITH JESUS. There is a DATE coming! A TIME! A REUNION! And it will NEVER END! The BEST part is.. we will ALL be with Jesus Christ … FOREVER! In light of eternity… it is coming SOONER… than later! As I Consider the Joy that is ‘to come,’ it helps me face hard days with something to LIVE FOR! How about you?

Are YOU looking forward and planning YOUR reunion of joy? Because it is possible to be so stuck on ‘back then,’ that you can miss the REAL joy and reason for where you are right now. Do you look forward to the anticipation and joy of ‘The Gathering?’ Do you let that promise fill and encourage you to keep working and moving forward? Because THAT is precisely what God wants His Hope in you to do!

“He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 Amplified Bible

Saturday night (or very early Sunday morning) it’ll be time to readjust my clocks 1 hour backward. And I’m looking forward to it! It is this time of year I get to gain that hour of sleep, stolen from me last spring, when I was forced to move the clock 1 hour ahead! Time changes are tough! They interrupt my body’s natural rhythm. And I need all the rhythm I can get!

Yesterday, as I was reading my Bible and contemplating, I ‘memory drifted’ while looking back on my life. Hearing that wherever you go… there you are, I was feeling VERY blessed. Looking back from where I came, I know I had never imagined that where I am, is where I’d be! For me, that makes loving God SO easy! Turning back to look helps me to better see ahead!

I’ve always loved this Bible verse because it seems to capture my whole life, put it into a time capsule and then bury that sense of wonder inside my heart. Unlike real time capsules that have a ‘wait time,’ I can open mine at any time. Each time I take the time to do that, I am even more blessed by God and His beauty, in and around me, AND His loving purpose for me!

When I looked yesterday, I had the sense of ‘OOOOOO!’ Like looking at a beautiful sunset, there is no better sound than that. Then realizing that His purpose for me has always been right on track, yet still just a small part of forever, I felt ‘Ahhhhhhhh!’ Seeing the world’s confusion and not knowing what’s going on, all I can grasp is the wonder of ‘Wowwww!’

My heart, as does EVERY heart, KNOWS! It knows how small and insignificant I really am. But that God Himself is in the process of making me, to present me, as His greatest gift to His Son… Jesus Christ! I have a past that He has used (sins erased), a present that seems to be very Biblically active, looking forward to a time and place where everything will come together for His ultimate eternal purpose!

In my High School Yearbook one of the questions we had to answer as seniors was, “what is your favorite season and why.” I had written, “Fall – because it’s a cool time to think!” Then as now, I can honestly say… yes it is! How are YOU doing with then, now and later? Are you looking at your life through God’s lens? Enjoy your extra hour and think about it!

“You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest till He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: “Never again…” Isaiah 62:6b-8a

Having the opportunity to speak to High School Freshman classes, and having spent hours preparing, I was nervous! I told them so. The presentation I had prepared was, “How NOT to HAVE to live with your mom after graduation.” Preparing and RE-PRE- preparing, Katie guessed why I was so nervous saying, “You care about this too much!” She was right!

When I was in high school, I didn’t get much help in the “whaduhyawanna do with your life,” department. Consequently, as a junior, I found myself in the ‘Guidance Office’ talking to an uncaring counselor. When I asked, “what am I going to do with my life? I have no ideas?” His response was “There’s a catalog over there… go look through it. You’ll find somethin’!”

50 years later, as I sweated the details of what to say to kids who are now where I was, I was again… VERY NERVOUS! I look around the world and I do not like what I see. Evil is not just lurking… it’s attacking… and right around the corner! Truth be told, I actually wonder how much freedom today’s kids will have. Will their voice, if they choose to have one… matter?

This verse I read this morning… jarred me! Written by a prophet of God about 3,000 years ago, it is GOD telling people what it is that HE wants! It may be the craziest piece of Scripture of all! God wants ME, to PESTER Him, until He DOES, what it IS… HE REALLY WANTS to DO! Go ahead… read it again! Apparently after 3,000 years, He hasn’t been pestered enough!

The opportunity to stand before classes of kids, starting out where life starts mattering. On a road of Apathy! From there on, their lives will be tracked and scored. Winners go on to win. Losers will go on to ‘the college of hard knocks’ to learn ‘the hard way…’ or just plain lose! But the one thing that kept me nervous was their apathetic ‘freedom of choice.’ Now God… I get it!

The apathy in the room scared me. I tried to scare that from them with numbing facts of what awaited if they didn’t start the course clearly pointed out before them. Checking the news when I got home, I saw Jews being viciously persecuted around the globe. The UN, our own Senate and Congress have become a zoo! Many people have yet to learn a thing! I give up!

I don’t mean I give up – up! I can see that doing Earthly things Earthling’s way isn’t working. This verse today feels heavier to me. So instead of poking at the world, I’m going to try poking at God to remind Him (at HIS request) that it is HIS wish to make Jerusalem (the City of Peace) the center of a loving peaceful world… where we who love Him will live FOREVER! But I have to ask myself if I really CARE enough to work up my voice! What about you? “HEY GOD!”

Here’s a challenge… I was a kid in the 60’s. Try reading the 60’s chapters in Isaiah! See what God has to say about what just MIGHT be going on… TODAY! And POKE HIM! After all, HIS heart is broken too!

Unbeleeeevable- And what year are we?

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, made a splash on Monday by wearing a Star of David on his lapel. But far from achieving the result he expected, the diplomat’s gesture provoked angry reactions at the organization and especially in Israel. Erdan and the members of Israel’s permanent delegation to the United Nations wore a yellow Star of David, a symbol of Nazi persecution of Jews, at a Security Council meeting on Monday afternoon (which, like all previous meetings, ended without results). On Tuesday, the head of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel sharply criticized the country’s diplomatic delegation for wearing the symbols.

Erdan vowed not to remove the yellow stars until the UN condemns Hamas’s “atrocities.” He added that “some of you have not learned anything in the last 80 years. Some of you have forgotten why this body was created.” Erdan decried the Security Council for “remaining silent” in the face of the heinous attacks perpetrated by Hamas militants against Israel on October 7, which killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians. Except for a morally and politically weighty but non-binding resolution adopted by the General Assembly last Friday — which the Israeli ambassador described as an “infamy” — the Security Council has rejected four proposed resolutions and remains deadlocked on the matter.

“So, I will remind you. From today, every time you look at me, you will remember what it means to remain silent in the face of evil,” Erdan continued. “Just like my grandparents, and the grandparents of millions of Jews, my team and I will wear yellow stars from now on,” he said, standing up to pin a star on the lapel of his suit. View on Watch

The Nazis forced Jews in Germany and the other European countries they occupied during World War II to wear yellow stars on their clothing to identify themselves as Jewish. Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have compared the Hamas attack that triggered the war to the Nazi persecution of Jews, the use of the symbol is tantamount to violating a national and existential taboo, while highlighting how sensitive comparisons with — and flippant references to — the Holocaust remain for many Jews. October 7 marked the highest number of Jewish deaths in a single day since the Nazi genocide.

Dani Dayan, the director of Yad Vashem, has condemned the Israeli ambassador for his decision. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Dayan wrote: “We regret to see members of the Israeli delegation wearing a yellow star. Such an act is degrading to both the victims of the Holocaust and the State of Israel. The yellow star is a symbol of the helplessness of the Jewish people and of being at the mercy of others. Today we have an independent state and a strong army, and we are masters of our destiny. Today we wear a blue and white flag on our lapel, not a yellow star,” Dayan wrote.

Do you wear or carry a yellow star on your heart or body today? The Church needs to and should stand up and out!  Why not send a note to your elected leaders?

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; Legacy Standard Bible All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“Oh you have to see this!” Katie said. These days, seeing something usually means it’s on her phone. To see ‘it,’ she sends it to me by email or text. That’s just the way things are done now. Opening it up, I knew that I too had to ‘share.’ The description on the picture goes along with today’s Bible verse. Being one of the first Bible Verses I learned, it’s a favorite of mine.

I remember fond memories of my father in his ‘study’ as he worked feverishly on the sermon, almost all day Saturday, for Sunday. It was a ritual. He hadn’t known the Bible very well when he was miraculously led into the ministry. In fact, he hadn’t even graduated High School! So Saturday was a long, slow, studying, thinking, writing, pondering, practicing kind of day.

Today’s verse was one of HIS first he studied and learned. Over the years, the longer he served, the more he studied… AND the more settled he became in hard times. Knowing The Word in my heart means I carry it with me wherever I go. Having read it so much, it is always with me. And like a cell phone, it’s my direct line to Home and my resource in dark, hard days.

There is no way to explain ‘peace that passes understanding.’ Though I’ve got it! But I got it the long, hard way… through repetitive use and application. It doesn’t ALWAYS have the answers for my troubles. But the Faith it teaches has never failed, and now wobbles even less over time. Do YOU have that kind of faith or want it? Try using your Bible like a cell phone!

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” Psalm 32:8

“Where’d they go?” I had just gotten to the church and was unpacking my backpack… computer, checkbook, pen, Bible, sermon… SERMON!!! Uh-Oh! I didn’t even have to look hard. Inside my Bible, where I’d left my sermon notes, I had mindlessly placed my notes to a different talk. Too late to call Katie, I just bowed my head and talked to The Great Shepherd!

Having preached and spoken THOUSANDS of messages over my life, It wasn’t the first time. I’m sure it won’t be the last. Though a little concerned, I wasn’t worried. I had it all right there in the top of my head and in my heart… right where it needed to be. I felt like Noah on the ark. When it started to get dark, he suddenly remembered he had Flood Lights!

Having been a Christian a long time, and having ‘been there’ before, the reminder that the life I live is not mine easily can become a comfort. Apart from Him, I really don’t have anything to say anyway. The message that had come to me had actually been dropped in my lap, from above, in a miraculous kind of way. So I knew that The Author… HAD this!

Freaking out is a common occurrence in this life. It had taken a LOT of years to realize that, even when a sheep is lost… 2 facts ring through the seemingly dark forest. First, God is never surprised. And second, God still knows where that sheep is! There have been a LOT of times that I had gone off in my own direction, only to discover ‘I’ was the one who was lost!

The rules for walking with God do not change. First I must change focus. Then I must call to Him and ask for directions, being willing to DO what He says and GO where he sends! Then… the follow through. Reading The Word brings the Holy Spirit into my sphere of attention. His unseen eye, coupled with His wisdom, just seems to happen. All that is left is to go and DO what He says!

God has a job for me. A task. A divine appointment. Someone I ‘bump’ into might need a word from The One guiding ME. It is ALWAYS miraculous and ALWAYS fulfilling. Eye watching is NEVER boring. Are YOU paying attention to the Great Shepherd and following through? He just might be sending a lost sheep in your direction!  DO ya follow?

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1

Winner Winner! That is the ultimate conclusion the mailing SCREAMED at me when I pulled the tab to reveal ‘MY’ number! But it did EXACTLY what I figured it WOULD do BEFORE I “pull(ed) the tab to activate…” It LIT UP! WINNER WINNER! Experience has taught me that when an ad like this comes, it’s best to just trash it. No sense in getting my hopes up!

The typical ploy is to fill the recipient with the question… ‘But what if?’ By looking at the prizes, I may agree that there is SOMETHING on that mailing that I WANT. Pulling the tab simply certifies that fact. If ‘want’ goes on to form an action, it might move me to go to the dealer, where a salesman will be all too happy to show me how easily I can GET my want!

Reading today’s Bible verse was fun because I didn’t go LOOKING for it. It just happened to show up in my reading about Jesus in Matthew. A CROSS reference sent me there. Having read it hundreds of times before, I felt that ‘Spirit Nudge’ moving me to go back and read it again. Then again… till I saw it! When I did… it was even better than that winning flier.

Do YOU see it? Probably not. Because when I felt the nudge to go LOOKING for it in other translations, it isn’t there!!!! Because THIS version leads me to believe that a QUESTION is coming. Except… the punctuation mark at the end of the sentence is ‘!’ and not ‘?’! ‘HOW GREAT IS’ is a QUESTION. And it’s a question that doesn’t get a specific measurable amount!

The punctuation and statements make it clear. I AM A LAVISHLY LOVED, CHILD OF GOD! It is NOT a question… nor is it simply a remark. It is an EXCLAMATION! My Bible was sitting beside that winning flier, and I had NO question as to which of those pieces of paper was most true and important! The next sentence says that the WORLD doesn’t even know! Hmmmm!

Now, I am a FIRED UP WINNER WINNER! God LOVES me and has taken me into His Kingdom. But before I go there, it is my mission to go tell the world so that they TOO can become winner winners! And THIS is NOT a SCAM! So are YOU a winner? Does He excite you from the inside out? Are you showing it off, like a shiny new car… to the WORLD? Go show off!

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

“SERIOUSLY??” Having just opened the box containing a new computer.  I figured it wouldn’t take long to plug it in, turn it on, then write and send an email. I had NO idea ‘the box’ was going to get so personal! An hour into “this should only take a few moments,” I wasn’t even past the setup menu! Having other things more important to do, I executed MY super power… and turned it OFF!

My first sales job was selling computers around 1984. Back then, the only computers available for home use was the Apple II. IBM didn’t exist for homes, and Microsoft had just cut it’s umbilical cord! For 4 years I watched the computer world explode! Having sold hundreds of computers, starting, installing and running the operating system usually took about 20 minutes. Not now!

The questions that were asked of me were VERY personal. ‘Not being an idiot,’ I could tell that it was channeling me into a direction the computer and software companies WANTED me to go. The internet browser I use wasn’t even available, and it had already loaded a bunch of programs I didn’t want! When it asked me to agree to allow the collection of my personal data… OFF it went!

The ‘not being an idiot’ is a very important and critic-al statement. It’s important because God doesn’t CREATE idiots! In fact, unless there’s some kind of birth defect that severely affects my brain, God’s Word tells me that He MADE me to understand that I AM defective! Great Grampa Adam’s original stamp of sin made EVERYONE’S DNA that way. I need a Savior… and I KNOW it!

God’s Son, Jesus, came to die for MY sin, not His own… cuz He didn’t have any! Sin is personal and I am guilty of it. Now HIS perfect life, when received and believed, can make MY life perfect in God’s eyes as well. Now, God and I have that sin-forgiveness thing down… but I have ZERO intention of giving a computer company the intimate details of my life… or ‘YOUR ‘contact info’ for that matter.

Yea Yea… I get it. I’m going to have to turn it back on and take the time to get the new computer going. The one I’m using now is ancient, slow and broken in places… like me! If I could, I’d ask the computer if IT wanted eternal life.  Tho ‘A.I.’ is just around the corner! But so is Jesus! Do YOU believe in Him? Are YOU saved and have eternal life? Just ASK Him! He forgets your sin right after you do. 

“Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.” Haggai 1:5

“HEYYYYYY!!!!!! DUDE!!!!!!!! I’M STILL HERE!!!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!!” I KNOW that’s what the little electronic gizmo thingy on my dashboard would be screaming… if it had a VOICE! Which it doesn’t. It just sits there in the ‘ON’ position… being annoying. ALL THE TIME! Well… at least when I start up the truck. I took it serious once and blew up the tire that was low, but it’s still on! “HEYYYY!”

I’ve been driving a long time and KNOW when I have a flat tire, so I KNEW it wasn’t flat. Kinda! I thought, ‘maybe tires are like me sometimes… a little down, depressed, deflated, overrun and under pressure.’ Blowing it up to the specific PSI, I thought it would leave me alone! It didn’t! I got frustrated, pushing every button to turn it off. It took 5 minutes to find and turn off my flashers!

All I can think is that the warning light apparently has connections! Its creator must have programmed it to acknowledge something to the master computer before the warning goes away! Finally… after looking carefully, I noticed I have a nail in 1 tire! “Hmmm!” I thought! “It makes sense now!” Then got in the truck and drove off thinking, “I’ll deal with it later! Hey.. I have skills!

I have a tire plug kit in my garage… or, my son in law could do it for me if I take it to him. The problem with the first thing is plugging takes time! The second costs time AND money. So for now, I have simply thought about it. ‘If’ I get stuck, I can call my wife or a friend to come help. I’m banking that I’ll get this thing fixed before something REALLY bad happens. I guess I’m simply a gambler!

Like my truck, I have an owners manual. And in it, five times in the Book of Haggai alone, God tells Israel to, “Give careful thought…” to “your ways” or “to the day!” The folks the warning was meant for… didn’t! Looking today at the state of Israel and the world… It appears that if ALL of us don’t start paying more careful attention to what God is trying to tell us, the world is going to get flattened!

Are YOU giving careful thought to your ways? Do you seek God every day by reading His Word and talking to Him? Do you hang out with fellow God Thinkers to learn more about what God is trying to tell you and to get help when you need it? We ALL MIGHT want to take His suggestion more seriously… at least more than I do the light on my dash!