Sirens in the Distance

 

In 1982, we moved to the Brainerd area of Chattanooga where we heard sirens often. My wife and I developed a good habit: every time that we heard a siren we said, “Somebody’s life is changing.”  And it’s so true.  Whether it’s a police siren, a fire truck siren, or an ambulance siren, the terror is the same: someone’s life is changing.  And we need to remind ourselves of several things:  First, it could’ve been us.  Be grateful for every ordinary day; a day in which nothing much happens.  Thank the dear Lord for boring days!  Next, we should say a quick prayer for the person whose life has been affected by the tragedy.  It could have been an accident that they were involved in; it could have been a medical emergency that suddenly happened; it could have been their stupidity that finally caught up with them.  Whatever the event, they need prayer.  And thirdly, we pray for the families involved.  Tragic events may happen to individuals, but there are always parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, or friends who are affected as well.  Which brings me back full circle.  The distant siren needs to remind all of us to be grateful to the dear Lord for peace and safety that He gives us each and every day. That emergency could have been me.  That emergency could have been you!  Don’t forget Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

A Lesson from Socks

 

When I started cardiac rehab two months ago, I had to dust off my athletic sneakers (no jokes, please) and my white socks.  But the socks’ elastic was so old that they slouched down like Pete Maravich’s socks (just Google his picture if that name doesn’t compute).  I bought three pairs of new white socks with grey reinforced heels and toes.  Then a friend gave me three more pairs, but they were all white.  So, last week, as I was pairing my socks fresh out of the dryer, I came up with one grey-heeled sock and one all white sock.  I laid them on the dresser because I knew that with the next cycle of white clothes, their mates would turn up.  But after two baskets of white clothes, my orphan socks were still on the dresser.  Very strange.  But Monday, when I put on a pair of white socks for cardiac rehab, I found one grey-heeled sock inside an all-white sock paired with it.  Mystery solved.  I promptly paired the grey-heeled sock with the one on the dresser and put on both all-white socks.  How often do we see things a particular way but can’t see the solution because we fail to notice important details.  The problem could be solved if we would step back and re-evaluate things with a fresh, new look.  It has been said that insanity is doing things the same way but expecting different results.  Hey, give the Lord a chance at changing your life!  Don’t keep doing things the same old way.  II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  Give the Holy Spirit the chance to make a change in your life!  You’ll be glad that you did.

Warning

 

Let me pose a hypothetical situation: I am sitting in my backyard relaxing when I look through the chain link fence to see an unattended toddler walking towards a swimming pool.  To my horror, the child walks up to the pool edge and tumbles in.  What would I do?  What should I do?  I would scramble over that fence, no matter how high it was.  I would jump into the pool after that little child without thinking of my wallet, cell phone, or shoes.  I would risk everything to save that little life.  So, what about my neighbor who is lost and unrepentant to the Lord?  Is he not in eternal danger?  What should I do?  Should I get involved?  Should I plead with him?  Should I do everything within my power to show this neighbor the error of his ways and the danger ahead?  Ezekiel said it best in Ezekiel 33:8,9 “When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”  I am responsible to warn the wicked man, but he is responsible to obey God.  But, what about you?  Are you warning folk about the danger ahead?  Or are you one of those who need to be warned?  Think about it.

Bessy, Cameroon

 

Ten years ago, I was able to travel to Cameroon, Africa to visit Dr. Ben Sinclair.  Brother Ben had prepared my way and scheduled me in several high schools, technical schools, medical colleges, and teachers’ colleges to speak on Creationism.  I was able to speak 19 times in various venues in and around Bamenda, Cameroon.  What a blessing!  One school in particular was humbling to me.  The director of the Government Bilingual High School in Bessy was cordial and accommodating.  They did not have electricity, but Brother Ben had a portable generator.  I set up my laptop with data projector in the school and Brother Ben located the generator as far away as his 100-foot extension cord would allow to keep the noise at a minimum.  I nailed up a sheet into the mud brick wall to use as a screen, and I lectured for an hour with students focused the entire time.  They thought that Hollywood had arrived!  My replica fossils were more welcomed than my lecture was!  At the end, I presented the director with a Creation book that I had brought.  He held it high and the students cheered.  Then the director said, “When we get a library, this will be the first book in it.”  I was glad to give each student a Gospel tract that Brother Ben had printed.  Please pray for the students in Cameroon.  II Peter 3:9, “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.”

Stay in Your Lane

 

In the early 60’s (before I moved to the Chattanooga area), Interstate 24 was built cutting through the Brainerd community.  Five bridges were built spanning the highway connecting the five main roads in the area.  N. Terrace and S. Terrace were added on either side of the highway to facilitate local traffic.  In the early 70’s. Calvary Independent Baptist Church grew on N. Terrace (I have been a member since 1980).  TDOT recently began widening the highway and lengthening the five bridges.  Three were completed in 2021, and the middle two are under construction right now.  And what a mess!  New lane changes, traffic signals, and closures abound.  Drivers not familiar to the changes are frustrated often having to drive out of their way to get to their destination … and arriving late!  Newbies stop when they shouldn’t and find themselves in the wrong lane having to merge at the last minute.  I try to be patient with hesitant drivers ... most of the time (if you know what I mean).  It reminds me of how patient the dear Lord is with me on my spiritual journey.  I often make the wrong turn in life and ignore the Lord’s warning signs.  But if I stay in the lane that God has assigned me to be in, I will avoid problems.  David said in Psalm 19:9-11, “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.”  God doesn’t make rules just to restrict His people, He warns His servants in the Bible to keep them safe.  And if we heed the dear Lord’s warnings, we will be safe and we will be blessed!  Yes, we will!

Onion Breath

 

Thursday evening, I made three mistakes.  My wife wanted a coney hotdog at Sonic because they were on sale for $1.  I don’t like coney hotdogs, so I got a hamburger (without fries because I’m trying to be a good boy).  The hamburger was delicious!  It had ketchup, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.  But it was late in the evening … too late for me to be eating a hamburger.  Mistake one.  I really like onions, but they don’t agree with my stomach.  Mistake two.  And I had to get up at 4:15 am (so I needed to go to bed early), and I shouldn’t have eaten onions so late in the evening.  Mistake three.  So, I tossed and turned for an hour before I was able to drift off to sleep.  And when I woke up in the morning, I still had dragon breath from the onions.  I brushed my teeth immediately, but my teeth weren’t the source of the foulness; it was my stomach.  When I got to cardiac rehab, I got a cup of coffee and drank it.  The other people thought that I had nasty coffee breath, but what they didn’t know was that the coffee breath masked my greater problem: my onion breath.  They should have been grateful for coffee breath … the lesser of the two evils.  How often do we try to cover up a spiritual problem in our lives with another problem?  We put on nice Sunday clothes and try to look the part of a good Christian, but we are being a hypocrite about it.  Our hypocrisy is one problem, but our spiritual indifference is the greater problem.  Wouldn’t it be much better to confess and forsake both sins?  I John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Hey, come clean before God.  You’ll be glad that you did.  And … no more onions late at night for me.  Hopefully …

Just Right

 

Because of my cardiac rehab, I have converted several million of my fat cells into muscle cells.  And since muscle cells burn more calories, without trying, I have lost weight.  Not much, but just enough to notice it in my waist.  My dress belt has become a little loose, so I tightened it up one hole.  But I haven’t lost that much weight, and the next hole is too tight.  So, I got out my leather holepunch and made a hole halfway between too loose and too tight.  Just perfect!  But in Revelation chapter 3, the old apostle John tells a slightly different story about the church of the Laodiceans.  They weren’t that bad, but neither were they that good.  They were half-way between; they were mediocre.  The church had cooled toward loving God and weren’t obeying the Lord like they should, which made the Lord disgusted.  Jesus said to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:15&16, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”  Hey, God wants you all in or all out.  God does not want half-way committed Christians.  So, … where are you?  Are you like my belt?  Too tight or too loose?  Hey, get with it!  Jump in or jump out.  But actually, God would have you to jump in, because He wants committed Christians.  Think about it.