SPRINGTIME!!!

Terry Harmon, my close friend and brother in Christ, once again provides us with one of his weekly bulletin articles. We’re reminded that the seasons come and go, and this is the time of year we can relish the freshness of springtime. Thanks Terry for this ‘seasonal’ reminder.

Have you noticed how the birds are singing and the trees are beginning to bud? With the recent, cooler weather and soaking rains the grass will be turning green in no time. H.A. Jacob says that life comes and goes just like the seasons. There are seasons of summer, when the sun reigns and the heat warms the earth’s crust. As the days begin to shorter, the weather begins to cool and autumn seems to burst into color. With the beauty of the red, gold and brown hues, we soon feel the promise of cooler nights. In short order, winter comes with the crisp, cold air and an occasionally frosting of snow and ice. But as the days begin to length, and the air begins to warm we realize the cycle of the seasons turns again to springtime.

Springtime is a beautiful picture of hope. Spring seems to assure us that no matter how cold and desolate; how bitter or solemn the winter, it will come to an end bursting forth with new life. Things will become green and tender again. Fruitfulness will return and we will grow. Springtime seems to say that we can be stronger than before. We can over come the dead of winter and live again.

Jacob asks what we should learn from the seasons. What can we take from the cycle of creation that will make us better, stronger and ultimately more Godly? Consider the following three points of growth:

1) The difficult seasons will come to an end. Nothing last forever and by enduring it, we can begin a new.

2) God is working in each season of our lives. He is preparing us to bring forth fruit in due season. Even though the pruning is painful, the results are worth it.

3) Other people are in a ‘season’ just like you. Some are in the season of winter and distress, needing the warmth of encouragement. Whether by a touch, a kind word or a gift of charity, encouragement is a tangible commodity. As Christians we need to be able to offer encouragement as we recognize the respective seasons of friends and family.

It is always ‘in season’ to speak words of encouragement. God will give us the tongue of a disciple which will speak to the weary words of strength and resolve. As we wake each day, and tune our ears to heaven, He will help us speak words of blessed assurance. “Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.” (I Thess. 5:11). “A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!” (Proverbs 15:23). And Paul reminds us in Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned as it were with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.”

May your spring this year bring you a new and refreshing time. Even more so, may it be a budding time for each of us on a spiritual level. Let us keep our minds open as to where others are ‘seasonally’ in order to offer a word of encouragement!

1, April 8, 20131, April 7, 2013

A Roller Coaster Ride!

Personally, the best description for the last few days of March, 2013 would be a roller-coaster ride!

Emotions were flowing as we learned of my daddy’s passing on Saturday afternoon, March 23rd. Then within forty-eight hours, we spent sixteen hours traveling to Kansas and back for his graveside service. Though visiting with family was a blessing, laying the patriarch of our family to rest was difficult at best. The next forty-eight hours brought us to the annual LTC convention in Dallas (Leadership Training for Christ). An exciting, busy but certainly focused weekend for more than 1,000 saints in down-town Dallas. But the month of March was still not over; our youngest son decided he was ready to put Christ on in baptism…at 10:30 PM Saturday night, March 30th! An exhilarating lift as we continued to ride ‘the roller coaster.’ Oh wait, the next afternoon following morning services, my oldest drove back to Tennessee to resume the last two months of his freshman year. His first time to drive 9 hours…alone. If you could see the calendar of events and feel the emotional twisting and turning, you’d know these past few weeks have been a roller coaster ride.

So how does one put this in to prospective? Any time we lose a family member, we hurt; and anytime a lost sheep is found, we rejoice. When you feel those two strong emotions within a matter of days you realize priorities have to be set. What is most important and where do I put my focus?

One of the blessings we experienced at the memorial of my daddy was the assurance of his faith, and gentle hand of sympathy from brothers and sisters in Christ. Four of his grandson’s lead the singing and read scripture, while several others shared thoughts of encouragement. But as we closed the service we all joined in singing some songs of praise and inspiration. We closed the service with the song, “Softly and Tenderly”. The message was perfect as we sang about ‘coming home’ and in respect to my dad’s passing…I believe he was on his way home. But then as I considered my son’s baptism I realized that he too began his journey as he decided he was ready to ‘come home’. Each of these events, though separated by two different extremes, bring my mind toward what’s most important. Do we listen as Jesus is calling us home?

“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.”

Refrain:
“Come home, come home,
Ye who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!”

This song is a wonderful call for the sinner, the lost lamb, to come back to the fold of God. And I certainly saw the implications as I realized my son was indeed turning his mind to follow Jesus and come home. But as we remembered the passing of our daddy, the third verse of this song rings true. Grim as it may be…it is so true…

“Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing for you and for me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.”

Roller coasters are certain to come into our lives…whether we want them to or not. The question we must ask is how will we ride? Many enjoy the thrill of the lift while others hold on tight. We know there will be times when we cry out and wish the track would level off. But the best advise is to find the excitement at every turn and hold on tight! Know the ride will soon be over and the ups and downs will eventually level off. Take comfort in remembering Christ is at the controls of life. He knows your fears and He sees your tears. And when we come to give Him our lives, even the angels rejoice. Our Savior is pleading for us all to come home…softly and tenderly.

1, February 26, 20131, March 4, 2013

Growing Up…in the Lord!

Perhaps you’ve been asked the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Little children are often asked this question and the response can be interesting…if not a little comical.

Some little boys might reply with, “When I grow up I want to be a fireman.” In the 70’s it was not uncommon to hear younger boys say they wanted to be an astronaut or a policeman or maybe even president. Actually, growing up in my ‘neck of the woods’, we all wanted to be cowboys when we grew up. If you were to ask the ladies, their response might not be much different. They too have dream of tomorrow with aspirations of what their life will be like. One little girl once told her parents, “When I grow up I want to be a mommy.” We consider our future and wonder what we’ll do tomorrow. As we plan for the unknown, most truly wonder what they will do as they reach that level of accountability. Where will I work, where will I live, what will I become when… ‘I grow up.’

As a junior in college (many years ago), I had my mind set on teaching. I loved every aspect of working with younger minds and imparting some obscure nugget of reason. The responsibility of molding and directing the hearts and minds of children was a challenge I eagerly embraced. However, almost 30 years later, time and circumstances have had a way of altering my path. Though I’m no longer an ‘educator’ by trade, my profession remains the same. I love working with people as they mature and grow stronger. Only today, it’s more of a spiritual growth that I seek to inspire in those who come into my ‘classroom’ of life.

But what about you? As you read this you may be a long time business man (or woman) who has been in the work force for years. Or you might be a young college student still trying to settle your mind on a degree. Some reading this might be retired and still wondering, “What will I be when I grow up?” What ever your station in life, however far you have gone or still have to go, think about making your life more than just a career, a ‘job’, that you do. The apostle Paul wrote an admonition to the young preacher Timothy, “…be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” II Tim. 4:5 Could you really be an evangelist? Is ministry really your calling? Let me encourage you to do more than just consider it…make that your priority. Know that I am not promoting that you quit your job or drop out of school, but I do think we all need to change our thinking when it comes to what is most important in life. You work to make a living, so you can pay the bills, so you can live your life. But life won’t be worth the living if you don’t live it for God. Where does He fit into your career and your future plans? Does God figure into life at all?

Regardless your degree (college students) or your career I hope we will all realize that in the Lord’s church, we are all called to ‘minister’ to a lost and dying world (Matthew 28). Everything else is temporary. Classes, projects, responsibilities to your employer are important, but God’s desire for you to work in the fold should supersede all that. Work hard and fulfill your obligations for the task at hand, but ask yourself…what will I really be when I grow up?

A Cappella, directed by Keith Lancaster, sings a song about this every issue. Would that we make God our number one objective and teach that to our children. Does the world know who you are or are they still waiting to see what you’ll be ‘when you grow up.’

“Growing up in the Lord” [LINK]

Chorus:
I’m growin’ up in the Lord.
Oh I’m gettin’ stronger; turnin’ back no longer:
I’m growin’ up in the Lord…I’m growin’ up in the Lord.

I make mistakes but that’s part of growin’ up.
Part of growin’ up in the Lord.
His understanding is what I need the most,
I am staying close to His word.

Sheltered from harm when I am safe in his arms
And I am learning to do His will.
Hearing his call although I stumble and fall. I can get up and keep growing still.

Repeat Chorus

Now as I’m growin’ I’m learning what to say, Learning how to walk in the light.
I’m made aware of the devil every day Learning how to handle the fight.

Tempted by wrong, He keeps me ready and strong So I can handle the Tempter’s snare.
Jesus is mine and since he’s there all the time I am protected within His care

Repeat Chorus

1, August 24, 20121, August 23, 2012

Everything Changes, Except…

Change isn’t easy! As a matter of fact, Sydney Harris, an American journalist for the Chicago Daily News once said, “Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better.”

Change can be hard to face at times and yet if we want to grow, we have to change. For things to sincerely ‘get better’, they can’t stay the same. This week my daughter (a senior in HS) went with me to the office. As we talked about the changes in our family, big brother is now in college, I reminder her that we ALL change. She wasn’t going to always be my little blonde, curly haired 5 year old. She was growing into adulthood and, if the Lord wills, would one day have a family of her own. If we remain the same, that would be nice, but how could things hope to improve. As a matter of fact, in our spiritual lives we sing the song, “Change My Heart of God”. If we want our lives to ‘get better’, we have to go through a metamorphosis (a change). But why do we ‘hate change?’ Perhaps it’s because of the uncertainty that lies ahead.

How often I would like for things to ‘just stay the same’. Actually some folks take great strides to make sure things never change. We are comfortable with the tried and true. Not needing to ‘wonder what will happen next’ is a good thing…isn’t it? Let me direct you to another hymn that actually talks about the changes in our lives. The transitions that we face in life.

Over 100 years ago Jennie Wilson penned a song that tells me what to do when uncertainty comes into my life. I need to remember the words…

Time is filled with swift transition – naught of earth unmoved can stand (Nothing on earth can change this fact)
Build your hopes on things eternal, hold to God’s unchanging hand. (The earth changes…God, eternal, does not)

Trust in Him who will not leave you, whatsoever years may bring, (God is constant, even with the changes in life)
If by earthly friends forsaken, still more closely to Him cling. (People let us down, God won’t)

When your journey is completed, if to God you have been true (When life is over, and if you have been faithful)
Fair and bright the home in glory your enraptured soul (delight without measure) will view (Heaven’s really good!)

Hold to His hand…to God’s unchanging hand!
Hold to His hand…to God’s unchanging hand!
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

We will face changes in life and some of them will make us ‘wish for the good ole days’. But change will come and often it will come swiftly. In a world that is created to ‘change’, hold fast to Him who created this world…He does NOT change. James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom THERE IS NO VARIATION or shifting shadow.” To put it simply…God doesn’t change.

Children hold the hands of their parents because there is comfort in knowing someone is beside them. We hold hands as couples to show our spouse (and others who might be watching) that we find comfort and security in our loved ones presence. In a world that is ‘swiftly transitioning’, perhaps we should be looking to reach out and take hold of our Father’s hand. Changes will come into your life, but with God we will always find consistency. Perhaps Mr. Harris was right, we do have a dilemma when it comes to change, but remember what he said, want we really want is for things ‘to get better.’