“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8

It was a BEAUTIFUL day yesterday and I couldn’t have had more fun. My Doctor friend set my disabled Ranger friend Galen, up with a hog hunt. As an added bonus, I was invited along. My hog huntin’ education began at Swampbilly Outdoor Adventures in south Florida. Gary and Lane were our guides and they wove together stories and learnin’ like an expert quilt maker. After all…EVERYTHING has it’s rules!

I listened hard as they mesmerized me into a world I had never visited. Ranger Galen couldn’t help but add to the fun with his humor… “How many bullets you NEED?” “You want me to shoot yours for ya?” And “Hog’s ain’t scared a NOTHIN’…so be careful!” It’s hard to tell truth from fiction when entering the world of a Florida ‘Cracker!’

Soon enough I was staring down 2 hogs that were PERFECTLY in sync and side by side with one another. I couldn’t get a clean shot, but stared through my scope for over 30 minutes just waiting for an opportunity! Just as I was about to shoot, a little buck deer came moseying into the area. Those 2 hogs took off so fast, you’d a thought satan himself had just arrived! My guide, feigning a hollow sincerity, simply said, “Well I ain’t never seen THAT before!” We just laughed!

Hunting follows a series of predictable patterns. If you study and learn the habits of a species, anyone can sneak in and ‘take captive most any other critter on earth. Especially MAN! I can attest to it because I have been ‘taken’ MANY times! Even when I have tried to ‘be careful!’  At Bible Study we’re focusing on other religions of the world. When examined side by side, it is easy to see patterns and traditions that cross over and blend each together. Though common in belief, they actually prove successful traps that can EASILY take down ANY so called ‘tough guy!’ Paul summarizes that truth in today’s verse.

“Be good…listen…focus…work hard…be nice…love…give…sacrifice” are all nice sounding words so common to ‘religions’ of the world. But they aren’t primarily useful in saving their believers when satan shows up to claim his territory. For THAT you need the ‘Real Deal…’ The ‘Savior!’ And His name is Jesus Christ! I have banked on that knowledge and trust Him implicitly! So should YOU!

So if you want to hunt critters, look up Swampbilly Outdoor Adventures. But if you are looking to save your own soul… you better put your trust in Jesus Christ!

Man….are you payin’ attention???

“To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:22-23

My son Clint was going to be ‘Batchin’ it with his 2 sons last weekend, as his wife was going out of town. Batchin’ was my father’s term and means wifeless and motherless…like being a bachelor. It USUALLY meant more candy and soda pop! Clint invited us up to spend the night as His brother Colt, and family, were coming over for a Barbecue as well! PARTY!!!!!!!

Clint had told me he’d like to surprise his wife with a shoe shelf, for when she got home, and asked if I could help. I was thrilled at the opportunity. When Saturday afternoon arrived, and with sons eating junk food and watching TV, we got busy. Grandson Duncan came out to see what we were doing, and stuck around for about 10 minutes, even handing us some boards in the assembly stage.

Angela was going to be getting home last night so I asked Clint if he thought she’d be happy with her surprise. “Well,” he said. “It isn’t a surprise now! She talked to Duncan on the phone and he blurted out, ‘hey mommy…we built you a shoe shelf!’” Clint had forgotten to clue his own son in on ‘the surprise’ part!

Looking back, I could see how Duncan came to his conclusion, and his excitement to reveal the secret to his mom. I had marked the lines and held the boards in place while my son screwed and assembled the piece together. Duncan handed us some boards…so…He DID help. SO…He had every right to share in making the gift! AND in sharing some Glory from Mom!

I, like Paul, am a Glory hog. Because I am a son, I get to share in the blessings of my Heavenly Father. God laid out the work of Salvation to be done, His son Jesus did the hard part, and now ‘I’ get to share in His blessings. Simply because of the opportunity to ‘HELP!’ Even if only a little bit! You see, Daddy God is ALL TOO PLEASED to share! And He ENCOURAGES it!

Sharing the Good News of the Free Gift of Salvation by Faith in Christ’s accomplished work is MY ONLY part in the HUGE work of Grace. Sadly, I find God forced to mostly become ‘my cheerleader’ as I often sit on the sidelines not doing my little part. It helps and encourages me to realize that ‘I’ CAN’T get blessed if ‘I’ don’t at least put in ‘MY’ few minutes sharing Christ with the Lost. And neither can ‘THEY!’

Today I am dedicating myself to actively stealing some Glory. After all, and after reading this Bible verse, Jesus’ favorite pets seem to have been ‘Glory Hogs!’  Right Paul?????

“From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” Galatians 6:17

This weekend, my grandson got hit in the face with a baseball! Though I wasn’t there, I was told about it and now have the evidence! It doesn’t’ take a lot of imagination to see the evidence on his face…AND that he wasn’t just hit with a baseball…he was HIT with a baseball! So hard, in fact, the laces of the baseball left a marked imprint on his face!

Now I’ve got to admit, this is a pretty cool picture! Isaac is a pitcher, and when the batter hit the line drive straight at him, his reaction didn’t keep up with the speed! Oh… He’s OK now! I talked to him after the event and he assures me he is fine. Besides…he has a GREAT FOREVER STORY to tell.. with pictures to back it up! I mean…how blessed can 1 guy get!!!??

As the story goes, he was knocked down…and apparently out! I was told that my son Colt, Isaac’s dad, was freaked out when he saw Isaac lying there! Now he knows how it feels! Colt still carries the head scar from an incident with a shot-put at about Isaac’s same age! PROOF that love comes with a cost! And you can ask God for verification of that fact!

Jesus carries scars! In fact, He’ll be the ONLY one in heaven outwardly showing them off! Because He will be the ONLY one in heaven WORTHY of God’s evidence of love! Because there was a day…a point in time…when God put EVERYTHING on the line and into His Son’s hand’s. It was the day the Son went down! It is ‘The Day’ we still talk about!

Scars tell stories. HIS-STORY continues to impress people around the world. So much so, that His mark spilled over into MY life as well. When I get close, and draw closer to Him, the Word tells me that people can actually SEE His imprint on my life! And it gets even better! Jesus’ marks on my life are SO IMPRESSIVE, that when God looks at me, all He can see is His Son!

The story of Isaac continues. He went on to pitch the rest of the inning…and to a NO HITTER! It is my hope that your reading this will help YOU see the impression Jesus can make on simple people like us…and desire to join His team! After all, your price has been paid! And once you’re in and marked, you simply cannot ever lose!

Thanks Isaac…for taking 1 for the team!

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25

Yesterday’s weather was unpredictable and frustrating. One minute it was sunny. The next it was pouring down rain. It continued all day. Having to go outside several time, I noticed the entryway into the house was filthy from all the leaves and debris I had picked up on my shoes and tracked into the house. I had a decision to make!

I’ll be honest and tell you that it really didn’t bother ME that much. On my own, I can be quite a slob! But my better half is better than me at the tidy thing. I know SHE would be bothered by it if she came home and saw the mess ‘I’ had made. Under her non-present presence, I got out the broom and dustpan!

Now don’t get me wrong. She wouldn’t scream, complain or hit me!! She’d just see it…and be bothered. Remembering my vow, “for better or worse,” I opted to make it better! As I was sweeping, I started thinking about what I’d be doing if I didn’t have her influence over me. I mean, would I turn into a filthy pig or something? The thought made me cringe!

The Holy Spirit is a Gift from Jesus to me to make me better. He confirms Christ’s Words to me, leads and guides my thoughts with an influence to please my Lord. He is ALWAYS there and ALWAYS guiding and speaking. Even when I don’t sense His presence! Listening and DOING…well that is 100% up to ME!

I DO have a ‘Pig Alarm!’ It has been honed over the years and I am a better man for it! Now, it only takes about 25% slop for it to go off and get me moving into cleanup mode. Which is GOOD! I’m better because I have learned to listen. But I know LOTS of people who don’t… and it scares me!

Now please don’t get me wrong. I am NOT saying I am better than anyone. Just that I know what might happen if I lost that quiet, but efficient and prodding voice…if it were gone! Since my base ‘flesh’ is so pig-like, I cringe thinking how quickly I might revert if I lost it for ANY length of time. I am blessed to be ABLE to hear, serve and follow.

What mess is the Holy Spirit trying to get YOU to clean up? And…are you listening?  

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

The day had been pre-planned, marked down in my calendar and I was prepared. But then last night I received a cancellation notice! Looking back, the event wasn’t one that was going to be exciting or fun and joy. In fact, it wasn’t going to be about or for me at all. I was asked to give and pass on something I already had! I made contingency plans.

I have a dear friend, and if you are a regular at our Church, so do you! Howie has been coming down to Florida from Connecticut, as a snowbird, for decades. We all look forward to seeing him, AND Shirley his wife, when they do! Howie informed me a couple weeks ago that today, he will be going in for heart surgery. I was honored when he asked me to join his wife in the waiting room to help her through the waiting ordeal. But due to fear over Covid, no visitors are allowed. Enter plan ‘B!’

The verse today just seemed to pop out at me, and it took some prayerful guidance from God to get His point! Howie, and ALL Believers, HAVE BEEN GIVEN an “eternal encouragement and good hope.” Because of that gift, none of us need worry about where we will spend eternity. We already know and look forward to the transition. BUT….What about NOW??!

Today I am asking you to join in prayer for Howie and Shirley that they will receive, RIGHT NOW, courage and strength for what lies ahead in the IMMEDIATE future called ‘TODAY.’ Most of you know what they are feeling because you have been there yourself, in one way or another. It is our blessing to pass on hope and encouragement, so that THEY will then pass them on to others through ‘their’ words and actions!

It is impossible to give what you don’t have! It becomes eternally criminal when one passes…on what was passed on… so that they might pass it on! Howie has always been a giver. Today is a day he needs to receive. Thank you or your prayers and encouragement and hope.

There’s a name for this kind of thing! It’s called ‘Church!’

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Philippians 2:3-4

The truck was at the truck doctor’s office, which required that Katie and I share her vehicle. But this provided an EXCELLENT opportunity to show off my love for my wife. If I REALLY loved her, I would go pick her up from work and bring her back home! An excellent, ‘win-win’ plan! But I almost missed the opportunity!

Heading south on U.S. 41, the major 6 lane highway that seems ALWAYS under construction, I was in a hurry. I did NOT WANT to be late. Hugging the far right lane to prepare for a right turn, I was going only a LITTLE over the speed limit. Traffic was flowing well, when suddenly my lack of attention suddenly came to attention! A car shot across the 3 lanes of traffic and was in my path! RIGHT NOW!

It was too quick for me to be scared or even angry. Stomping the brakes and veering left, my guardian angel may have helped me miss smacking that drivers rear end by only inches! By the time I had time to emotionally react with a judgmental horn honk or a raising of my fist, it was long over! I actually thought, “it’s too late for that now anyway!”

The other driver’s move was foolish and filled with poor judgment. As I released the desire to in some way, ‘get even’ with a stupid gesture, I was convicted of the next thought…”you’ve done stupid like that yourself…PLENTY of times!” I was immediatly humbled.

I had left my phone at home accidentally because I was in a hurry. Had I been in an accident I would not have had the opportunity to even notify my wife. Rather than go back into the house to get it, I subconsciously thought, “Oh.. nothing’s going to happen anyway!” So in the matter of about 7 minutes of going to prove my love to my wife, I MOSTLY proved I was MOSTLY FOOLISH!

I was created to follow and Glorify God. NOT lead and ACT like I’m Him! Sin was once and for all defeated at the cross, but this bag-o-flesh still contains the residual smell of its former contents. Because of that, God’s Word is FULL of advice instructing me how to live, act and behave! Which can EASILY become a problem! Especially when YOU don’t do what I WANT you to do and get in my way!!!!!! haaaaaaaa! OOPS!!!! I almost just had another collision!!! 

“But what does it matter?” Philippians 1:18

Lately, I have been discouraged because of the lack of fruit in getting what I want! So much so, I haven’t really given it much attention lately. But yesterday I reached my breaking point… and it really got me down! So much so, I have decided to just give up altogether! MY desired goal was not being achieved. And since hopefulness had fallen to frustration so often, I finally have to just admit it…I quit!

For several months now I have prepared, paid, pained and planted a couple varieties of squash in my backyard. I have watched as the seeds sprouted into beautiful green vines, then cheered as big yellow flowers formed, only to have them shrivel up and fall off! Still determined, I tried again…then again! Nothing! It is time to face reality!

Over the years I have made attempts at growing tomatoes, peppers and even avocados. These only resulted in wasted money, time and effort. My latest escapade with squash only proves, once again, that when it comes to farming…I’m a dabbling failure! The position I am now in has forced me to make a decision I wasn’t prepared to make. But for my own sanity and purpose, I must make it!

I don’t believe my reading the 1^st Chapter of Philippians was an accident. Having been a Jesus’ guy for so long, I don’t even question IF He is trying to tell me something. I recognize His footprints, He method…even His silence! Paul was in prison when He wrote that letter to some church folks he hadn’t seen in 10 years! Having been persecuted, lied about and even physically abused, you can appreciate why he is sounding like he was out his options.

I am thinking that the final answer to Paul’s anguished state came to him like an ‘AHA’ moment! As if he said, “Eureka… I’ve GOT IT!” The verse today being the thing he got! And it COMPLETELY encourages ME! Difficulties, imprisonment, discouragement, signs of the times, and the ‘no light at the end of the tunnel,” leads him to simply say…“IT DOESN’T MATTER!”

I had to smile when I read this story. And then sigh in relief, as I could almost hear Jesus’ actual voice say to me, “Have I EVER asked you to farm vegetables!” It sounds silly now!!! Because it is. But it is refreshing to realize that “I am NOT a FARMER!”  I have been called to teach and proclaim God’s Word. Paul was simply a ‘1 THING GUY!’ His circumstances did not change his calling.

Quitting the squash business really IS…an easy thing to do!!!   But talking about Jesus??? Now that… I CAN do!  

In face of SO much happening recently, and with a big storm brewing out there in the Gulf, I found this devotional VERY encouraging. This is from RayStedman.org

Our Great and Glorious God – Daily Devotional

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-36

This reminder of the strange ways God works awakens within Paul a tremendous outburst for God’s inscrutable wisdom and his ways with men. You can see certain things that have amazed the apostle: There are the deep riches, as Paul calls them, the deep riches of God’s wisdom and of his ways. They are beyond human exploration. There is no way we can finally fathom God.

There are those who struggle to put God in a box where they can get hold of him and analyze him. But if they succeed in that, they have only reduced God to the size of a man. God is greater than man. He is beyond us. Our minds cannot grasp the greatness of God! We can understand what he tells us about himself, but even beyond that, there is much more that we cannot know. There are depths of riches. That is why we are always being surprised by God if we trust him. He is always enriching us in ways that we don’t anticipate. Then Paul speaks of God’s unsearchable judgments.

For instance, it is clear from Scripture that nothing God ever planned interferes with human responsibility. We are free to make choices. We know it. We feel ourselves free to decide to do this or that, to do good or bad. And yet the amazing thing is that nothing humans ever do can frustrate God’s sovereign plan. Isn’t that amazing? No matter what we do, whether we choose this or that with the freedom of choice we have, ultimately it all works out to accomplish what God has determined shall be done. That is the kind of God we have.

Paul is not only impressed with God’s inscrutable wisdom and ways, but he contrasts it with the impotence of man. He asks three very searching questions. His first one is, Who has known the mind of the Lord? What he is asking is, Who has ever anticipated what God is going to do? Have you? Have you ever been able to figure out how God is going to handle the situations you get into? We all try, but it never turns out quite the way we think it will. There is a little twist to it that we never could have guessed.

Paul’s second question is, Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever suggested something that God has never thought of? Have you ever tried that? I have sometimes looked at a situation, have seen a way to work it out, and have suggested to God how he could do it, thinking I was being helpful. But it turned out that he knew things I didn’t know and was working at things that I never saw and couldn’t have seen. God’s solution was right, and mine would have been wrong.

Paul’s last question is, Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? That is, Who has ever given God something that he didn’t already have? Paul says, Everything we are and have comes from him. He gives to us; we don’t give to him. He concludes with this great outburst: For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. God is the originator of all things; all things come from him. He is the sustainer of all things; they all depend on him. As C. S. Lewis puts it, To argue with God is to argue with the very power that makes it possible to argue at all! He is the end purpose. All things will find their culmination in God. He is why all things exist. Therefore, to him be the glory forever! Amen.

What significant changes in attitude and action would result if this grand and glorious Doxology were the basic, day-by-day guideline in our lives? Worship? Humility? Trust? Joyful surrender to God’s will?

“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then…stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.” Philippians 1:27…28

The back screened-in pool area of my house is a great place to sit at night, especially when the stars are out. I was doing just that when suddenly, there was a noise just outside the screen! It sounded bigger than a boogeyman, yet more ominous than a ghost. The thought hit, “was what made the sound dangerous?” Striving to remain calm, I had no idea. But I DID have choices!

Living in a subdivision in 2020 is generally safe. Though I’ve seen raccoons, armadillos and even a Florida Panther in the neighborhood, I generally don’t worry about strange sounds in the night. Being a full grown member on the highest level of the food chain doesn’t hurt either! Grabbing a flashlight and a weapon, I cautiously proceeded into the dark unknown.

God’s Word tells us, the highest members of His life chain, that there will be times when fear, doubt, worry or anxiousness may arise. But in every case, He goes on to tell us what to DO about those mysterious thoughts. Here He says to ‘stand firm in one Spirit, stick and strive together in the Faith and to NOT be frightened!’ Which can often seem a tough demand!

This verse is one of the main reasons I don’t understand people to call themselves Christians, yet don’t regularly and habitually go to Church! With COLLECTIVE promises and tools which come from gathering and uniting together, life can EASILY become ‘a lonely YOU against the forces of a dark evil world.’ Unlike boogeymen or ghosts, that world DOES indeed…exist!

God’s ‘Work’ of Salvation has enemies. We cannot see them, hardly recognize them when we do and rarely know how to actually use the weapons we have at our disposal. There is NO doubt in anyone’s mind that 2020 is a year when dark forces are rising. But God has warned us and given us the tools and methods with which to fight.

That noise? It turns out it was just an opossum. When it saw my light, it didn’t play dead…it RAN! These days we need to PRAY and UNITE against the forces of darkness as God’s TRUTH marches on. I’m reminded that when I do that, fear really doesn’t have a very large place to camp out!

Are YOU praying for your family, Church and Country to be on God’s side of the fence? Because the enemy is real and it doesn’t play opossum! Gear up!