A Record

Greyson, my six-year-old grandson must have been hungry last night. We went to Los Potros in East Ridge, and Greyson announced, “Well tonight I’m going to set a salsa and chips record.” And he pretty much did! His Aunt Becky tried to slow him down by telling him that his cheese cassidea was on the way, but Greyson would not be deterred. He was going to “set a record”.

Observer or Participant?

This afternoon, my daughter took my wife and me, along with all of the grandkids to Superfly Jump Park just off of Gunbarrel Rd here in Chattanooga.  What a hoot!  An indoor arena with fifty trampolines!  The kids loved it!  Oh, it was a little pricy, but Becky was paying, and I was just along for the ride.  The kids made sure that I was watching them as they jumped higher and further than they ever had.  So, to save us old people the cost of paying while not participating, I was given an armband that simply said “observer”.  I was not a participant in the trampoline fun, I was just watching.  It saved me about $16!  What can I say!?  But then I got to thinking of the spiritual application of that little armband.  Am I a “participant” in God’s plan for the ages, or am I just an “observer”?  Do I get involved or do I just watch?  James 1:22 says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”  First, we should not just be hearing what God says in His Word; we should be DOING the words that we hear.  And secondly, we should not lie to ourselves about not obeying.  Hey, we know if we are really doing or just listening.  And God knows too!  We can’t fool ourselves and we can’t really fool God.  We should just come clean.  Come clean with ourselves and come clean with God.  Let’s OBEY what we hear.  Why not start tomorrow?  Hey, why not start tonight?!

The Hounds of Heaven

My Granny Whitely had two dogs when I was growing up: Minnie and Joe. Minnie was a little mixed breed and Joe was a bloodhound. Joe had a great nose, but Minnie was the brains of the pair. Joe would pick up a scent and tenaciously follow it - head down, nose working, oblivious of anything around him. The rabbit could be bounding off in clear sight, but Joe just kept his nose to the ground. Minnie would see the fleeing rabbit and give chase, vocal and loud. Then, and only then, would Joe drop the scent trail and follow Minnie and the rabbit howling in his mournful blood hound voice. Between Joe’s keen nose and Minnie’s vigilant eyesight, no rabbit ever got away from the pair. It kind of reminds me of the Holy Spirit after a lost soul. If I pray for an un-saved neighbor, the Hounds of Heaven will track that one until he is safely in the fold. We have a choice, but God’s will is clear. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. II Peter 3:9 Have you trusted Christ as your Savior? Have you made your peace with your Maker? Do it now while you can, for God’s day of salvation is available.

Control

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to get someone to do something that you want them to do? Oh, it’s pretty easy to get little kids to “obey”. But the older they get, the harder it is to get them to do what you tell them to do. Hey, just wait till your kids are forty years old! And does your wife do what you want her to? (Or your husband) I have noticed that the only person that I have any real control over is myself. And then, I actually have trouble controlling myself! But there is a way to control others. You can pray for them. You can unleash the power of the Blessed Holy Spirit to convict and to work on them when you aren’t there. But be careful when you pray. For the same Holy Spirit may change YOUR heart and will. But after all, isn’t God’s will what we all really want in life? It’s not about us, or our kids, or our spouse, it’s about God. Pray the Lord’s Prayer, and really mean it: “ Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

Proud Papaw

My mother’s father, Papaw Epperly, was very proud of me.  I knew he was proud of me because he told me all the time and told everyone else all the time.  My younger brother Phillip and I would spend several weeks each summer in West Virginia with Papaw and Granny.  I learned shape notes, processing chicken eggs, and milking cows.  I often would go to work with Papaw and stay all day.  He was a plumber and worked on new houses.  Anyone that we came in contact with, Papaw would start his bragging about me.  One day, we stopped in Beckley, West Virginia to talk with a stone mason.  Unknown to me, he was a bi-vocational evangelist.  And that afternoon, Papaw began his bragging.  I thought he would tell this man about me taking algebra in the eighth grade, or me playing in the band at school.  But Papaw told this man about my perfect attendance in Sunday school.  Papaw told of my Sunday school pin that had thirteen yearly bars under it.  I had never been that proud of my Sunday school pin, but I that day, I was.  My granddaddy was proud that I was faithful in church.  But it wasn’t my hard work; it was the faithfulness of my parents who made sure that I was in Sunday school each Sunday.  My parents took me to church, and I took my kids to church, and they take my grandchildren to church.  Hey, that’s what it’s all about.  Teaching the next generation.  And the next.  And the next.  Do you take your children to church?  Do you take your grandchildren to church?  What about taking a neighbor kid with you to church.  Hey, you may start a whole new legacy!  Think about it.

Communion

When I fly on an airplane (actually, that’s the only way that I fly), the flight attendant always goes through the emergency drill instructions.  I usually try to tune her out because I could probably give her speech from memory.  But one part sticks out in my memory: “please put on your oxygen mask first, and then help others around you.”  Now that may seem selfish to you, but it isn’t.  If you don’t put on YOUR mask first, you will obviously pass out and not be able to help anyone else with their mask.  Duh!  Hey, that’s the way it is with the Christian life as well.  We must examine ourselves and get our own hearts right BEFORE we can assist anyone else.  That’s one of the main points of communion: we must examine ourselves first.  Paul said it well in I Corinthians 11:28 “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”  God can only use a clean life.  Look at your life first, and then help others. Don’t TELL someone how to live the Christian life; SHOW them how to live the Christian life.