“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” Revelation 22:12

It was Wednesday and I had to prepare for “FLAP (Fellowship, Learning, Asking, Praying) the name of our Bible Study held weekly at Church. Searching for my truck keys, I found my backup set. But I can’t use those because there is no ‘House key’ on that ring to get back in my home! Finding my 1st set, I walked outside, inserted the key and off I went. Arriving at the Church, I used a key on the ring and opened the door. ENTERING was PROOF that I had prepared well!

It sounds silly, but the wrong keys, the wrong vehicle and the wrong direction would not have proved a correct outcome. It’s just common sense! And yet, as we studied the Book of Daniel, I noted that Historically, mankind has MOSTLY operated on ‘NONsense! It was time for my daily personal assessment!

Today’s Bible verse should be written in red because JESUS CHRIST is the speaker! His audience is ALL of mankind… you and me! And the ‘reward’ He is going to bring is based upon MY OWN key ring! What I held as most important, what I focused on and where I served.

I remind myself that FAR too many people think that the judgment is going to be based upon whether they are mostly good or mostly bad in the area of personal sin. Which is not true! I am still AMAZED that how many people believe they are going to heaven because they are ‘mostly good’ people! If only it were that easy!

When I asked Jesus to take my life in exchange for His, I became HIS! I am His Heir with a purpose and mission. Each day I have the choice to show up at Dad’s business to do my part, or not. The job I have is not the same as yours. I like words, you like math! Having a say as to what I will do or where I go is a daily blessing…or a curse!

There is a big issue with folks about what the last word ‘done’ means in the verse. I cannot be ‘sinful’ verses ‘virtuous’ things, since Christ already PAID for my sinful. The things I will be judged on will be the preparation, planning and execution of The Master’s overall plan. Did I ‘do my part’ and ‘how well did I do’ will be the issue. Here is where NONsense makes NO sense!

MOST people do not do ANYTHING for God or His Kingdom plan. Life here is a day to day, ‘do what you can to get through,’ kind of existence. When death comes it will be a Lottery…with eternal fate coming like a chance flip of a coin! Jesus’ final words prove it is everything BUT!

What I CHOOSE to DO in HIS Business MATTERS ETERNALLY. God has plans that He wants me ‘in’ on and missions where He expects my participation! Doing my own thing, not following His ‘Plan’ as laid out in the Bible or not regularly talking to Him is like heading out the door with the wrong set of keys! NONsense!

“The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” Romans 8:21

It was close to Katie’s Birthday last week and I overheard her talking about shoes. Specifically the old wooden Dr. Scholl’s wooden sandals that were popular back in the late 70’s. I remember her LOVING those things, but had a hard time understanding her laughter while remembering the pain after she’d slip off of them sideways! But her Birthday was coming so…I searched, found and ordered her a pair. They arrived yesterday!

She was SOOOO happy! Even though these one weren’t made of wood, she slipped them on and smiled. Later when we were out walking she turned to me and asked, “When you look at my feet, don’t they just take you back to when we were first married?” Realizing my wife may have just discovered a secret to ‘time travel,’ I simply agreed…quickly adding, ‘Yea honey, they do make you look younger!” We laughed.

I received news yesterday that Lee, from our church, is not doing well. That is…if going home under Hospice care is a true indicator of such a thing. Family is being called, courage mustered and prayers uttered as sorrow looms in every corner. What does one SAY in a situation like that. What words can REALLY be uttered to lessen such pain? The only thing I have found that can provide any kind of levity, is to focus on the future!

Things change. What we have learned to love and cling to can evaporate into an air of sadness quickly. This whole Covid thing has disrupted the very fabric of our lives, as fear and the pursuit of a false safety has become the mindset of a majority. In truth…we are NOT SAFE and never have been! Left to our own imaginations, it is popular to invent false realities that trick our minds to help us FEEL like we are O.K., even as our very world is slipping into decay and in need of liberation! What can we say?

The Word of God is the ONLY place we can turn. It is HIS perspective that gives us hope and courage for a better and different future under HIS kind of normal! Focusing on what ‘will be’ is a good thing. But ONLY if it is REAL! Born again believers, like Lee and Hazel, KNOW that ‘there’ holds NO comparison to ‘here!’ As I talked with Hazel yesterday it occurred to me that… “In the end, doesn’t looking forward make things look SO much better!?” Time travel indeed!

Please pray for their courage and strength.

“I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8

WHAT A MESS! And the SMELL??? As much as I did NOT want to clean it up, no one ELSE was going to do it! So reluctantly, and minus enthusiasm, I got started since, it WAS MY fault after all. I had set the garbage bag, WITH food leftovers, in the corner of the garage. Pushing in the lawn mower in a hurry, I didn’t see my old garbage lying there. Have YOU ever noticed how a plastic bag and a metal mower don’t go well together?

Garbage day around here is Thursday and it was Friday morning. Which meant that I had missed setting this bag out, AND that the now stinky contents had to be SUPER wrapped… since it was going to lie around for almost another week until NEXT trash day! It was a nasty job.

Last night, listening to some good Christian music, I found myself in a VERY trashy mindset. Listening to songs about the ideal Christian Life, something started to smell…REALLY bad! It took a few more reminders from satan about what I had recently said, done and felt before I realized…that smell was coming from ME! I hadn’t noticed satan’s lawnmower storming through the backdoor of my mind. Soon, I had BECOME what I was smelling! Garbage!

One of the hardest concepts any Christian can grasp is the one concerning who I AM in Christ. “There is NO condemnation to those who are in Christ,” Romans 8 says. But at the moment, I sure didn’t feel or SMELL that way! I FELT like a piece of rotting garbage. It was time to take out the trash!

If you point out to a Prince that he is a failure, you’ll have a failure for a Prince. Point out that the Prince is ROYAL and NOBEL by BIRTH, and you’ll get a Nobleman! The difference is in the power each point of view holds. According to God, there is ONLY ONE view that matters. HIS!

I was feeling down, like a failure…stinky, smelly, disgusting and ripe! But that was satan talking at me. I knew that the ONLY way to eliminate that trash was to TAKE IT OUT…by REPLACING it with what GOD says about me because of what His Son did on MY behalf! And “I” HAD to be the one to DO IT!

I AM the Righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). And the ONLY person who can make me feel like garbage… is ME! I just felt like that surpassing knowledge was worth passing on! 

“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalms 11:3

I am a Felon! A willful, arrogant, non-conforming rule breaker who was being threatened with forceful compliance (or else)! When I tried to bring reality to bear, “Um…that’s not really a law or rule you have the power to enforce,” the self appointed judge continued, only louder, with disdain and disrespect. Standing my ground, I ventured onward!

Society is being shaken loose with the erosion of foundational truth. A SMALL minority of our population has become radicalized… burning, looting and destroying the very foundations of our Country. With no power to legally establish law, they use the power of ‘perception’ to control the masses. If ‘they’ determine something is bad and against their agenda, society is demanded to adopt their standards. To NOT heed is to be labeled and ridiculed.

Obviously, the concept is not new. David wrote Psalm 11 while fleeing for his life in the wake of Saul’s flaming disregard for God’s way of doing things. When what was right was called wrong, and vice versa, and when faced with a hostile takeover, David asked, ‘what do I do NOW God? Because heading for the hills just seems ridiculous!”

I find it very easy to feel isolated and alone. When the feeling of feeling sorry for myself begins to crowd in, the ‘Facts’ are easily distorted and untruth can begin to look reasonable! It is there that the Holy Spirit cries out, “STOP, LOOK and LISTEN!” “AHHHHH There He is!” I am reminded. GOD sees EVERYTHING. He KNOWS it all too! And though David didn’t have the whole picture in the Old Testament…WE do today!

God’s patience and grace are buying time for the REAL felons to HEAR, REPENT and TURN from their rebellion. While I may think God’s patience sometimes goes a little too far, it is HIS determination to do so. MY response to evil is to be the messenger and representative of HIS Word so God’s enemies can at least have something to HEAR!

Please Pray for our Country and petition God for an assignment. As our church folks stand out on ‘The Corner’ with the Gospel, may His Spirit invade the hearts of those who don’t know Him. Please consider joining us! What God calls for is more Spirit-led felons for HIS cause!

“Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” Daniel 2:27-28a

Starting a Bible Study series on Daniel last night brought back old feelings and remembrances, along with some new ones. Reflecting on the overall study, and discussions that followed, I am forced to ask, “Do I honestly like the way God does things!” Before you become outraged, I’m willing to bet YOU aren’t! I also bet that Daniel wasn’t either! Please allow me to explain.

I didn’t say I didn’t like God. I LOVE Him. But ‘His ways are past finding out’ (Romans 11:33). We saw it in the story of Daniel as we had heated discussions about what the heck is going on in the story of OUR world. Not that we disagreed! Good People are emotionally exhausted and spent over the ridiculousness of the increasing evil around us. Back to Daniel.

Daniel and his 3 friends were actually from the Royal Family of Judah (see Dan. 1:3). Though they proved to be more wise and handsome than a Valedictorian Quarterback, it is obvious they hadn’t had much influence at home. Evil King Jehoiakim was responsible for bringing God’s Judgment and the subsequent Babylonian exile of Judah…seemingly without warning from Dan and the boys.

Had they been praying? Had they been warning? Had they tried to influence at all? After being taken captive, tested and castrated, they were placed into a forced 3 year boot camp to ultimately become an influencing army as Nebuchadnezzar’s ‘Wise Guys!’ Yes I said ‘castrated!’ After seeing the results, castration seems to DO something to motivate a fella’!

As we talked of Daniels world, we slipped into our own, as frustrated parents began complaining about our local ‘Nazi -like’ school board! All I could do was listen in sorrow, remembering how several of us started protesting and warning parents to ‘get involved’ YEARS ago when 3 women on the board made horrific decisions over our kids. But the majority of the public remained silent. Now, like Daniel, we find ourselves… here!

I have learned that God doesn’t simply ‘take out’ His enemies. He SEEMS to prefer to let them go on to dig deeper holes! AND to see if those who call Him God will do THEIR part in His business. Unlike humans, He isn’t as immediately concerned about ‘castration-like’ abuse if His people aren’t! Which leaves me where I started. With a question…

“Do I honestly like the way God does things?” is probably not the right question. Looking at Daniel, I’m rethinking MY place in all this mess. Maybe MY question should be, “knowing what I know, what does God expect ME to do about it!?” And what do YOU say? 

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Coming to the checkout at the grocery store, I subconsciously checked the number of people in the various lines and, always in a hurry, chose the shortest one. As it turned out, my calculations were WAY off. There in front of me was a mother with 4 little stair-step kids. Her cart was so full she couldn’t fit any more. I couldn’t help but smile.

The scene transported me back into time. Back to the days when Katie and I shared that same particular adventure. Her children were all 2 years apart, as cute as they could be and so well behaved…I couldn’t help but strike up a conversation. Noting the oldest was probably about 10, I commented on her buying out the whole store! “We keep running out of food,” she said with a grin. I relayed to her OUR experience…”you ain’t seen NOTHIN’ yet!

When I got home and told Katie, she reminded me, “I remember when we went through a gallon of milk a DAY!” We both enjoyed the memory but came to the same conclusion…’How did we ever do it?’

It isn’t a question we don’t have the answer to. It’s the ANSWER that is always amazing to us. GOD blessed us as He had promised. We were His, gave Him our time, kids, possessions and He in turn…always came through. Looking BACK on that certainty, I flashed forward to the present and gazed into the future. I felt that same pang of nervousness.

Our world is REALLY different than it was when our kids were little. Evil has seemingly taken hold of every corner and facet of life. Looking toward a questionable future, I can’t help but look back past former days when I felt the same nervous uncertainty.

We are going to take a little trip through ‘Daniel’ at our Church Bible Study. I mean, if I think it’s tough here and now…I’m reminded that this is a cakewalk compared to the days of ol Dan and the boys! It’s times like these that I need to be reminded that God is never surprised, always working, and has plenty of WHATEVER I may need to make it through. Nerves have nothing to do with it! Only trust in HIS Promises since…we ain’t seen NOTHIN’ yet!

Thanks for the memory Lord. 

“This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.” 2 Timothy 2:11

It was getting late when I remembered that the Pittsburgh Steelers were playing on Monday Night Football. Old habit and intrigue took a seat in my head as I flipped the channel to check it out. Sight and sound immediately met feelings of comfort, as old remembrances began to stir. But a quick pan of the camera, unavoidable but necessary, proved…it was all a lie. And then…it wasn’t!

Ask me where I’m from and I’ll tell you, “Pittsburgh!” Having been born and raised there until the age of 19…less than a third of my life! But I carry its influences to this day! Having lived through the 70’s Steelers Football heyday, I carry an old torch for the team. Even though they have not really lived up to their legacy. I blame Ben!

Quarterback Ben has been kind of a let down to me. Not that I KNOW much. To ME he seems to get hurt too easily and looses a lot. Much of the time…off of the playing field. Last night they won, the sounds of the crowd confirming it. That is, until the camera panned out to show the stadium COMPLETELY EMPTY of people due to Covid. The sound was faked and a lie. Then a small group of players, from both teams, took to the center of the field.. to PRAY!

The thought that ran though my head as Ben exited the field was, “Ha…typical Ben…of COURSE HE wouldn’t join the prayer circle.” An interviewer shoved a mic into his face and began to ask about his role. He responded, “well FIRST I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!” My jaw dropped and I ran to the internet. And there it was….ol Ben has had a BIG change take place in his heart. Immediately, so did I!

Now go ahead…judge me on shallowness. But I TOLD you I’m only an occasional, when it’s convenient, fan. I know almost NOTHING about football. The only pain I ever got from it was when I was punched and robbed at the Steeler’s victory parade in 1975! But…I HAVE been a JESUS fan for a LOT Longer! Call it shallow if you want, it’s OK. But after seeing a few dozen men kneel, in an an empty stadium, standing up for Jesus…I JOY in the fact that, “I am personally ‘teammates’ with Ol Ben.” And that is no lie! Go Jesus! Go Steelers!

Whose team are YOU on?

“and a great crowd of people followed Him because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick.” John 6:2

O.K…I’ll admit it! Yesterday was the first day of NFL Football since the Covid and protest events, and we just had to check it out! Katie is more of a football fan than me, even if it is simply to have a game on to hear the favored sounds that remind her of Fall. To be honest, my REAL interest was in the HYPE that was centered around the game. As it turns out, I was not disappointed at being disappointed!

Though I have seen the promos, it is STILL a shock to see Tom Brady in a Tampa Bay Bucs uniform! Like many, I can’t seem to understand the what’s and why’s of how that all happened! Many Bucs fans have been excited about the acquisition though, and have said, “We got us a winner now!” as Tampa went on to lose the game. But the BIGGEST and WORSE loss came by way of petty politics and advertising.

Though knowing it was going to be there in some way, I was not prepared for the significant onslaught of my sensibilities. The message was loud and clear…injustice, bigotry, racism, a pandemic and even global warming are RAMPANT in the world…and it’s all MY fault! It is now MY job to jump right up and change the way I think and live so that OTHER’S demands can be met! The assault comes more in the form of a demand than a request!

Jesus caused a stir in His day, much like Tom Brady, when He brought HIS reputation to town. Healing people of sickness and disease was a big deal back then, and because the ones who got the most success were the ones who got the closest, crowds crowded Him all the time. Their petitions went from requests to demands, and then fanned the flames of expectation. When He didn’t meet theirs…they killed Him

Today’s world does not seem to have changed much. I see it often, as people come, and then go, often hostilely leaving because their own expectations have not been met. Not getting what one feels they want, deserve or demand can do that to a person. Which is a reminder to ME that I must be careful in my own expectations as well.

As football gear and stadiums are decorated to reflect a demanding change for something I have little or nothing to do with, it is left to the customers (FANS) to determine if they want to put up with the hype. I am reminded that Jesus cares little for my demands or agenda. His call is to service and separation from the selfishness of the world. And if ANYONE understands abuse it is HIM. But with His call comes the PROMISE that if I choose to follow Him, I can and SHOULD expect the same treatment HE received. Complaining about it isn’t going to make it go away!

So….will I keep my eyes focused on Him??? Will YOU? Stay tuned!

‘As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He (Abraham) is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.’ Romans 4:17

The silent monster was back! This newest invisible specter sudden arose from within to present me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It whispered, “Make me happy and I’ll go away!” I Have fought his kind MANY times, but THIS time I was too grumpy and didn’t feel like fighting. Honestly, it was quicker and easier to throw it a snack than go to battle. So I went and got the ice cream!

TRYING to watch sugar intake lately is NO fun. I never have had to before and figured it wouldn’t be a hard…IF I ever needed to. Now PLEASE don’t tell anyone this, but when I heard of people fighting to stick to a diet…I used to think, “wimps!” Now that I have stepped onto THEIR field, I see them as warriors!

Facing the facts I’ll admit it! I am HORRIBLE at STOPPING things that I have allowed to become habits. But getting older, I have a choice to at least TRY to keep this physical house in SOME semblance of order, or just “let ‘er burn to the ground!” So…there I slunked… cocky, arrogant and confident…figuring, “this’ll be a picnic!” So I was caught TOTALLY unprepared when this NEW monster showed up!

As I licked the spoon and bowl clean, I began to feel that old familiar OTHER monster that ISN’T new. HIS name is ‘Guilt!’ And I HATE him! Having set a goal, it was self evident that I was a loser… a failure! Guilt kept attacking (I HATE when he does that). But I remembered what I did the LAST time I faced him over a different matter. So I pulled THAT sword out, swung it and smiled! “Hmmmm…it works here too,” I thought.

I am a child of God by Faith in Christ Jesus! My God is a God “that calls things that are not, as though they WERE!” And right then and there, in FRONT of this new monster, He called me “SON! Victor! Perfect! Complete!” I believed Him! And IMMEDIATELY could feel the strong monster of desire loosing its grip!

Romans 8:37 says I am “MORE than a Conqueror through Christ who loves me.” In all my years of wearing this armor, I have NEVER been able to explain what that verse REALLY means! But I don’t have to. Because I’m wearing the armor! Take THAT Mr. Giant!

What giant are YOU fighting?