I Never Knew That!

I am one of those guys who love to watch a good war movie now and then especially if nothing else good is on (football, nascar, fishing shows, etc...). I probably have seen most war movies but every so often I see one I didn't. In this case I had actually seen the movie numerous times. The movie was The Bridge Over the River Kwai. In case you have been deprived of seeing it, the story is about a prison camp in the far east where the British POWS actually build the Japanese a sound railroad bridge. A team of commandos are sent in to blow it up to prevent the enemy from advancing further. The British commander tries to stop them but ends up realizing what he has done an blows it up himself. What I never realized all the times I had watched the movie was that it was a true story. There was actually a bridge and it was blown up after it was completed. I wonder how many others didn't know it was a true story.

I was reading my Bible the following morning and my thoughts went back to my learning the bridge was a real bridge and it was destroyed after its completion. I felt the Holy Spirit was asking me how many people are in the dark about His Word as I was about the bridge. Some folks see the Bible as a good story with adventure and action and all the different things in it that makes a story good. The problem is that the Bible is not just a story. It is an account of the creation of the world, the fal of man, God's coming to this world as a man and the revelation of what will happen in the near future during the endtimes. God reveals Himself throughout the Scriptures so we might know Him personally. He tells us what He wants for us and how we can enter into eternity and spend it with Him. Its not just a story! It is a manual for life so we can make it through this life and go to be with Him forever. He created us to be in communion with Him but that was broken because of sin. The story, if it would have ended there, would see all of us in Hell. But thankfully He knew man would mess it up so before the world was even formed He had a plan for Salvation in the works. He would send Jesus to die for our sins and He would rise from the dead to give us life and hope. The Holy Spirit is the person who applies it to us when we believe in Christ. I do not understand it, but there are those who reject the gift of salvation and perish in their sin. The worse part is that they will spend eternity knowing they had the opportunity but refused to take it.

I hope that you are one of those who know that the Story is real. No names were changed to protect the innocent because no one is innocent but the Lamb of God Jesus Christ! When you know the truth, the truth will set you free! You think a bridge blowing up was great ending! Wait till you see how God finishes up His Story!

Christmas: A Season of Joy?

Christmas! Just as the song says , I believe it can be "The Most Wonderful Time Of the Year". You see the faces of kids checking out all the toys they want for Christmas. All the stores decorate to entice the shoppers to buy their goods. There are all kinds of parties that are scheduled. Families come together for meals and to share stories and memories of Christmas past. Homes in our neighborhoods are lit up with all kinds of lights and yard decorations. But we often forget that this time of year many folks feel sad because they have lost a loved one that year. I know several people who have experienced such loss. This season was the first Christmas without their precious loved one. The memories seem to increase their sense of loss. Some of those folks who have passed away loved Christmas which makes it even harder for the ones left behind. But until God comes back for His people, there will be many others who will experience the same loss.

I recall the first Christmas that I celebrated after my own mother passed away. It was strange feeling not having her here to celebrate Christmas. I missed having her here but there was thing that I did realize. She was celebrating her first Christmas with Jesus in Heaven. She was walking around without crutches and no more cancer. For the first time in her life she was enjoying the Christmas season free of any pain or heartaches. She was now with others in my family that have left their earthly existence for an eternal one. As much as I loved them I would never want them to give that up to be here. I certainly wouldn't want to come back here if I was there! The other thing I realize is that if God tarries until after next Christmas, there will be more who will go through the same experience. My hope is that God would come back quickly so no one else will have to suffer such loss. I look forward to the day when we celebrate Christmas in our heavenly home.

I trust that you had a great Christmas and that God will bless you in the coming year. Look forward to the time we will celebrate our last Christmas here and go to celebrate it with all those who really know what it means to celebrate Christmas in the most glorious way!

Time For Some Political Incorrectness!

Last night Heidie and I were watching a Movie on the Angel 2 network entitled "The Perfect Gift". The story was about a drifter who comes to this town and meets an associate pastor and offers to build a nativity set for him on the churches property. He befriends a girl named Max (Maxine) and helps her understand what Christmas is really all about. Max's mother works for a company who was having a holiday party but who wanted to be politically correct by calling it a winter gala. After the nativity set was built, some guys show up telling the associate pastor that they had to remove it because it was against the codes to erect it in a business zone. It was torn down by some men from this political group. But folks from the town came by and saw it was down and rebuilt it. A town meeting was held to determine it's future. The guy from the group who wanted it down challenged the people saying their beliefs weren't as important as the money for the fine was. Max took money she got from her grandmother and laid on the table. She was followed by everyone in the room including some members from the council. They took a stand to defend their rights to have that nativity on the church's property.

If it wasn't for the fact that this is going on today at many places all over the country, it would have been just another great story. But the fact is that is does happen and it seems to be increasing all the time. It is called being "politically correct". We are being told we need to be politically correct when it comes to all sorts of things. We are redefining terms because they might be construed as an offense to this group or that group. People that are short are now called vertically challenged. People that are on welfare are economically challenged and so on and so forth. The list goes on and new terms are being added all the time. Our religious freedoms are being eroded and taken away because a small minority don't like religion. They are opposed to it and are trying to force us to be quiet about ours. Actually, I should say that they are opposed to Christianity. Most of them don't care about any other religion but focus on trying to remove Christianity from every vestige of society. The problem is that our nation was founded on biblical principles and God was a central theme. All you need to do is simply read what our founding forefathers wrote time and time again. The ACLU wants to force us to be quiet and become politically correct. I do not know about you, but I think it is time we stopped caving in to their wishes and take a stand. We need to let our little light shine as we sung many times as children. We need to stop being politically correct and be spiritually correct instead. I was told a cross on my deck was offensive and I should remove it. Guess what? It is still there. I might take it down one day but only to replace it with a new one. Let's not worry about what man thinks about our views and beliefs but lets be more concerned what God thinks! We know the truth and we need to get it out. Remember the whole reason we have Christmas is because many years ago God came to this earth as a baby and we celebrate that birth once again!

Remember I said about Max's mother and the company she worked for? She was challenged herself by Max and took a stand and won out with the company. They called it a Christmas party after all! Max learned about true Christmas because of the drifter. You will have to get the movie to see who that drifter was. Even the associate pastor found new courage to start a church were the real truth could be shared. Who was the drifter? Get the movie! It is well worth it! Merry Christmas

A Wise Wife

The other day, as my wife and I were talking while we were doing the dishes, she told me something that made me listen very closely. We had been watching the Christmas special "Nestor the Long Ear Donkey" and so we were talking about it. She made the comment about it and Rudolph I found very interesting. She said that both Nestor and Rudolph had issues with physical defects which caused them problems with those around them. She said that the shows took these creatures and ended up showing them doing something special. Their "defects" actually turned out to be something they used for a great purpose. Nestor got Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem while Rudolph got Santa through to deliver toys to the kids. She wondered if that wasn't the reason the characters had the "defects". She figured the ones who wrote these shows did so to encourage kids not to give up because of their "defect" whatever it may be. She was much more aware than most folks when it came to the shows.

In college, I had a friend who was born deformed from birth. His knees didn't bend and his arms were basically crossed. His "defects" didn't seem to bother him at all. He worked on cars and even on electronics as though he was perfectly normal. My Mother met him and stayed with his family when they came out to my graduation. My mother asked me how come I didn't tell her that he was handicapped. I told her he didn't see himself as handicap. He wouldn't let his deformity stop him from living a normal life. People that have "defects" often let their "defects" control their lives and never live life to the fullest. They view themselves as defective and it distorts their whole existence. Others make folks with defects or handicaps feel like they are less of people because of their particular problems. Neither of those views are healthy. Just because someone is not perfect physically does mean they are less of a person than someone who is. God even used a donkey to get a message through to Baalam when nothing else did. God uses foolish things of the world to confound the wise and the weak things to take down the strong. We all have our own defects yet God chooses to use us for His glory and kingdom even with our defects. After all, God doesn't wait for us to become perfect before He accepts us but loves us as we are and loves us too much to let us stay the way He found us!

Just as Nestor and Rudolph found their special gift in their "defects", we can rest assured that God has a plan to use our "defects" in ways we never imagined possible. Sometimes it takes a while for it to show up! Remember that God uses "cracked pots"! Thanks Heidie!

Friendly Visit to the Dentist

Tuesday I woke up and was going about getting ready for work when I realized something was wrong. My tongue felt something wasn't right with a tooth. I felt one tooth was missing a chunk from it. I looked at my mouth with a dental mirror and confirmed what I thought. I got dressed and left for work. As soon as I was at work, I called the dentist and was blessed to find they had an opening becuase someone cancelled. I went to the dentist and they checked the tooth out. The dentist proceeded to remove the old filling and clean up the tooth. He restored the tooth and told me to be careful not to eat anything hard. He told me it would need some further work. I was glad to get it done and get back to work. Of course the tooth seemed to hurt worse after he was done than it did before.

While I was driving home, I knew God was teaching me something from this experience. I realized that God is much like the dentist when it comes to our lives. He made us to be in a relationship with Him. But Adam messed that up and caused that relationship to be broken as a result of sin. But He loved us so much He sent His Son to this earth to restore the relationship. He takes what is messed up and hurting and brings it back to where He had planned for it to be all along. He desires to remove the old filling (sin) and repalce it with His grace and restore us to wholeness. And just like the dentist, it is not a pain free experince. You see it is because of the pain of sin that we realize something is wrong. Just like a cavity in a tooth leads to pain, sin in our lives brings pain to our spirit. Like most folk, I will call the dentist when the pain gets too bad. When I finally admit to myself that I have sinned and need forgiveness, I go to God confessing my sin and seeking His forgiveness. He then takes my sin and restores my joy and peace in Him. He makes the pain of the sin go away. And just like the dentist, we end up going back to Him when we mess it up again. The awesome thing is that He doesn't mind because He knows us but desires better things for us.

The thing that really made me think about the dentist visit was what the dentist wants to do to fix the tooth more permanently. He scheduled a visit to put a crown on the tooth next month. I thought about what God has planned for us when we go to be with Him. He has promised a crown to all who are faithful no matter what we did before we met Him as Lord! What a cool thought!