We, as humans, don’t like the idea that we are spiritually and morally bankrupt.  I think that is why many don’t come to Christ.  They don’t want to admit that.  But I think that we tend to do behave the same way after we have come to a saving knowledge of Christ.  It makes us feel better if we start “paying our own way.”  I think that this is very dangerous ground to walk on.  We lose power because we are doing things on our own.  Sounds like a perfect strategy for Satan, doesn’t it?  What a great way to nullify the individual’s power or the church’s power.  God, I want to get back to my spiritual pauper attitude.  THEN, we can do all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens us.

Bill

As men, instead of learning gentleness from women, we go overboard and end up losing ourselves totally.  We are told we need to cry all the time, we shouldn’t be decisive, we need to be led by others.  That, to me as I read the Bible, is NOT what men should be.  We also are now being told that we should be concerned about certain aspects of ourselves physically, as if that is important.  I have constantly taught my daughters to be content with the way that God made them, now we need to help our sons with stupid physical characteristics.  I could go on, but I don’t want this to be too long.

OK, women.  Women are now being told that they need to be driven, assertive, and ruthless, just like the male morons that they work with . . . sorry about the moron thing!  Anyway.  Women are told to be sexually aggressive and that visual stimulus is important, just like men.  Again, I could go on, but you get what I am trying to say.

My plea to all of us is to stand firm!!  God has given plenty of examples of Godly men in the Bible.  They may not match up to the world, but thank the Lord for that!  There are also plenty of Godly women as well.  Let’s not take our mentors from the world.  Find God’s definition of a Godly man or woman and then follow that.  If you still need help, find one in your church to watch and emulate.  Men, let’s be the spiritual leaders in our homes and present your wives spotless and blameless before God.  Women, be submissive (bad word??) and remember that the backbone may give and move, but it still supports that entire body!!  God gave us certain roles in the family, let’s fulfill them and be satisfied with that!

And to all of the single families, God bless you and there is a special crown for you in heaven!

I’m done preaching.

“. . . They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.” (Here is where it gets really deep!) “The apostles left the Sanhedrin REJOICING BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN COUNTED WORTHY OF SUFFERING DISGRACE FOR THE NAME.”

THAT is where the deep part, the “loving your enemies” part comes in. So this Thanksgiving I am looking back over my life and trying to thank God for the small times that I have been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. That is a start, but just a start. Because I am on the other side of those things and have survived them. The real test will be when I am going through the next time. Will I rejoice and thank God that I am being counted worthy to suffer? We’ll see . . .

What I am specifically talking about is the proverb, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” This proverb has been on my mind lately for different reasons, but it hit home for me again Tuesday morning.  We were having staff clean-up day (when we just get rid of the junk that has accumulated since the last day, there is a spiritual lesson in that, but not today.) and Alice brought in donuts for breakfast.  I ate one (confession is good for the soul, if not for the weight!) and Doug was kidding and said, “Is that going to show up on your blog?”  Well, here it is, but not because of the donut so much as because of the way iron sharpen iron.  Doug was kidding, but it made me think (and possibly kept me from eating another one).  As I was working, I thought more and more about the way we do sharpen, or dull, each other. I am thankful for those who have sharpened me over the years.  Dolan, you have been a blessing to me and have really helped keep me a little sharper!  My brother-in-law has sharpened me many times.  Tim, you and I have not always agreed on everything, but the conversations have helped sharpen me.  Doug and Trevor help sharpen me daily.  I believe that there is something special about the male to male sharpening relationship, but I have been sharpened by women as well, Cami seems to send me an email, or just says something that will grind that point a little finer in me.  Of course the one who keeps me the sharpest here on earth is Karon (no I am not saying that she is a grinding person!).    There is nothing that can take the place of that marriage relationship.  There are many more people that God has/is using in my life, but there is not enough space for all to be mentioned, just know you are a blessing to me and God knows how I thank Him for you.
I am thankful for the people that have, and continue to, sharpen me.  I want to be a sharpener to others as well.  We, especially as men, can really serve to sharpen or dull each other.  Let’s be careful.

I was thinking about this in the shower, “Why is the devil so interested in my health??  Why doesn’t he hit the bigger sins more than this??”  (I know, not theologically correct, but you know we all think of big and little sins).  Anyway, I got to thinking that maybe these less noticeable sins are like a hedge around the bigger ones.  It seems like I am always working on the little sins to get them out of the way before I hit the big ones!  Maybe my health and lack of exercise (more acceptable sins) are a Satan created barrier to protect the more destructive things in my life.

I would love your thoughts on this.  Not sure if this is on target or “missing the mark.”

Bill

Man, I have missed this porch!  Got to be careful, though.  Doug, our beloved pastor and my boss is on the porch too!  I’m getting back to work now!!!

I love the porch because it is always spring out here and that makes me feel better too.  Before I go any farther, I want to remind or inform everyone what the porch was started for.  We started to hang out on the porch because it is a place that we can go, talk about our views on things, and not worry about being condemned or criticized.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t have disagreements (there have been plenty of them on the porch up to this point), but we do it with love.  After all, that’s what a porch is for!

That being said, I am sitting here on this nice clean porch, a little discouraged after the election yesterday.  I am discouraged because I am afraid for our country.  Not because Obama has been elected, but because of us as a nation choosing some of the social issues that we chose.  I mean, I don’t know about the economic packages that both of them propose.  I didn’t vote for McCain because of the “drill here, drill now” policy.    Even the war was not the central issue to me, although I think it very important.  What was most important to me was some of the issues that, in my opinion, went directly against Biblical teachings.  It saddens me that abortion will continue to be promoted as an option for birth control.  I don’t know the numbers, but if even one child dies for convenience, it is way too many!  It saddens me that we think that the homosexual issue is debatable when the Bible clearly states that it is sin.  I don’t like the idea that someone that does not contribute might get a tax rebate when the Bible says that if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat (paraphrased).  I am discouraged to think that hard work and good stewardship is going to be rewarded with money being taken away and given to someone else for the cause of “fairness.”

With that being said, God has reminded me that He is still in control and that my role in all of this as a believer is to pray for him constantly and to support him.  So… I will pray for my country and that God would not let us go to our own devices and I will pray for President-elect Obama that He would seek to lead in accordance with God’s word and His precepts.  I guess what I am saying is that I am now a supporter of Obama.  I may not agree with everything and I will fight when something is against Biblical principles, but I will seek to be the man that God wants me to be and pray.

Anyway, I wanted to talk about Sr. Adults and what is the difference between that generation and me.  Malda has been in my office twice in the last week for prayer for the mission team from our church.  She is a Sr. Adult lady that has been involved in her church and in missions for longer than I have been alive!  It was just a simple gesture, but it got me to thinking.  She just bent over (not an easy task for one her age) and picked up a dime and put it on my desk.  Didn’t say anything, just set it there.  She started saying something else, but I didn’t hear her because my mind had changed channels at that point (watch the ADD comercial) and I got to thinking about how many times I have stepped over that same dime and just left it lying there.  It puzzled me why she, in her age, had bothered to pick it up and me, not nearly as old, chose not to.  Well, a few days later she was in my office again.  One of the secretaries had slid a piece of junk mail under my door.  I left it there as I was busy getting the day going (it was morning and I would pick it up later).  Well, you guessed it.  She came in, we prayed, and she picked it up and left it on my desk.  By this time I am feeling a little ashamed that a Sr. Adult lady was having to pick up after me!  Well, I let that one pass too.  So later on I am listening to talk radio or WLBF and I hear an interview with someone (I had just gotten in my car and came in on the middle of it) and they were talking about how morality has changed.  The person being interviewed said something very interesting.  He said that the World War II generation was a special generation.  That they shined the brightest when things were the darkest.  Very few generations have come up to their level of commitment and giving.  Since the ensuing generations could not come up to this level of morality and generosity, they just changed to rules for living so they would not have to.  I’ll let that sink in for a moment…………………………………………………  I wonder if that is not true.  Maybe these two incidents have nothing in common, but maybe they have everything in common.  Ms. Malda picked those things up off of my floor because it was the right thing to do and didn’t even think about it.  It wasn’t a fluke because she did it twice.  She didn’t really do it for me per say because it was done without thinking.  It was just so ingrained in her that she just did it.  I hope that you all can take this further because I know what I am feeling, I am just having a very hard time putting it into words.  Have a good day and try to be kind to a Sr. Adult today.

 Well, as most of you know, we are dealing with cancer a third time.  What do you say after that?  I had a joke in mind, but didn’t want you all to think I was inappropriate.  Sometimes you have to laugh about it.  Karon is really doing well.  I wanted to share a prayer with you that she prayed this morning.  It really touched my heart and I think that it even surprised her (there’s that Holy Spirit praying again!).  She was praying and she said, “Thank you, Father, for the opportunity to have cancer a third time because I know that you can be glorified through it!”  I was a little speechless, and she was too when it came out of her mouth.  She really means it, though.  Her main prayer for the last few days is that God would be glorified in this.  I watched her minister to a lady in the surgeon’s waiting room yesterday as she was struggling with the knowledge of her father-in-law having cancer.  She had very wet eyes and Karon jumped up, sat next to her, and started quoting scripture and testifying about God’s faithfulness to her.  It was a blessing to watch.

Things won’t be the same.  As you go through this some things change forever, but God never changes!  I’ve learned some really great stuff through the last two times and God has made me a better husband and minister because of it, so it’s all good at the end!

One more thing before I go back inside.  Some of you have questioned if it is ok to talk to Karon about it.  She wants to talk about it and it seems to help her.  So if she EVER gets on the porch again, feel free to discuss things.

Bill

In Ezra 3:12 it says:
    But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.

Even in the Old Testament, there were folks in church that looked back and cried that things weren’t the way they used to be!  This temple foundation was smaller and wouldn’t be as elaberate, so they wept.  It is sad that they missed what God was doing and how He was bringing His people out of exile.  He was in the midst of them, blessing them, fulfilling His promise to them, yet they didn’t see any of it and cried because it wasn’t like the old.  I’m sure that this put a damper on the enthusiasm of the ones that were celebrating as well.  I can just hear the conversations like, “Boy, can you believe what God is doing?  He has allowed us to come back and begin building this temple!  How great is our God!”  And the other one saying, “Yes, but this isn’t anything like the old one.  It is really a sad copy of that one.  You should have been here when the old one was here, it would make this one look pitiful!”

It just hit me again how much damage a backward look can be for a church and how sad it is for the members that do it.  Let’s look at what God is doing now and what He wants to do in the future!  Let’s look outside our church to a community that needs Him.  Let’s look inside ourselves to see what needs to be yielded to Him before He can use us!  As that warthog on the “Lion King” said, “Let’s keep our behinds in the past!”