I have this ‘BOX’ that contains all kinds of ‘stuff’ from years-gone-by! It contains hand-written get-well cards, in crayon, from my classmates during my stay in the hospital in the 5th grade… It contains ‘songs’ that I’ve written through the years (MANY of them as a sophomore at Edwardsville High!), as well as, to quote the Moody Blues, “…letters I’ve written, never meaning to send.” It also contains a number of photos, programs, ticket stubs, etc. of my ‘life’ long-ago!

While going through it recently, I came across this… It is not dated, but was typed on the typewriter that I had in school, and has punctuation and paragraph notations (which I have incorporated here, though I lose some ‘formatting’!) as though it was turned in as an assignment at some point in time, though there is no ‘grade’ or ‘marks’ of any other kind…

Still, WHENEVER I wrote it, it was a LONG time ago… Can You say, “A blast from the past!”?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIFE

Life is only what you want it to be.
If you want it to be good, it will be good.
If you want it to be bad, it will be bad.
Life is what you make it.

Steven C. Luebbert

LOVE

Love is a phenomenon which affects us all. It can be sweet, innocent, daring, guilty, lasting, temporary, quiet, loud, understanding, disagreeable, and sometimes ugly. Love is always equal, but in some cases, opposite.
The perfect love would consist of these from above:
Sweet, Innocent, Lasting, Quiet, and Understanding. Yet how many of us possess perfect love?
THINK ABOUT IT

Steven C. Luebbert

LIVING

Live your life as you see fit
Whether banker or plougher of sod.
But if it’s happiness you forfeit
“What ever happened to that guy, God?”

Steven C. Luebbert

This is the second of the ‘Susie Stories’… The first was published in the January 2001 issue of the Wesley Chapel Circuit Rider, (It appears below on this site…) while this one appeared in the December issue that same year.

 

Shortly before Christmas, one year in high school, Susie and a girl friend read an article about baking Christmas breads in coffee cans and decided to try it themselves. After working out the ingredients and getting the coffee cans, etc., together, they spent several hours mixing, pouring, and baking. The finished products were very pretty to look at. But that was all you could do! I offered to take them home to the farm and try to drill holes in them to make candleholders out of them!
Having started the year out with a ‘Susie’ story it seems appropriate to finish it with one as well. Susie and I, you will recall, played in the same crib as babies and, in spite of not seeing each other for years at a time, were very close friends during most of our junior and senior high school years. As I said before, the only home she had known had been a house trailer that she shared with her mother. True, it had been moved, once, to a different town and school district, but it was still their home. And as I had also explained before, having grown up with a single parent during a time when such things were not ‘the norm’ had helped her to become a very out-going and open-minded female, again at a time before such a thing was commonly accepted.
One would expect that living in a home with no men would encourage a girl to excel in the ‘womanly’ arts, as they were described at the time, such as cooking, cleaning, etc. But as a forerunner of today’s ‘modern woman’, Susie had distained all but a rudimentary education in such things. True, she was responsible for taking care of the house, and generally prepared her own meals, and often those of her mother, but generally avoided anything that involved more than basic skills. Indeed, some of her misadventures in cooking became legend among my friends at the time.
A second story occurred the summer after we each had graduated from high school. Over time, most of my friends had met Susie and some of them developed their own ‘unique’ relationships with her. Jeff and Dave might each drop by two or three times a week, while I would usually be by three to five times a week. She also had a boy friend, a childhood sweetheart that she had gotten back in touch with and was seeing regularly. (They eventually married the last I heard.) And then she received a letter from a long-time pen pal wanting to stop and meet her in person while traveling across the country. I’m not really sure how long he stayed, but it seemed like about a week.
During this time her mother’s job and habits left Susie with pretty much having the house to herself. Because of this, we had all gotten into the habit of dropping in at just about any time of the day or night, and seldom saw one another while there. (High school graduates in 1971 were very independent!) And she would generally try to feed us. On this particular week, she fixed a big pot of spaghetti on Sunday to feed her pen pal. As each of us would drop by during the week, she would add a little water to it and reheat it. By the end of the week, we were laughing about eating ‘spaghetti soup’!
There are two points I can make from these stories. The first is this… Susie was the kind of person who would give freely of all that she had to give, be it time, food, advice, or encouragement. You never needed to ask, you just knew that she was there and would do her best to be a good person and a good friend. We could all learn from her example!
My second point is a little deeper…during my visits we would often have our ‘brother-sister’ talks, as she called them, and Susie would open up and tell me what was really on her mind. She might tell me how Dave had stopped around midnight to discuss how unfair life was, in general, and to him specifically. Or she might let me know how Jeff usually stopped in the wee hours of the morning to carry on serious discussions on logic and philosophy. What I learned, though, was this…She wasn’t always happy about Dave and Jeff stopping by in the middle of the night! And during this particular week she talked about how unfair it had been for her pen pal to “just invite himself in” like he had. She never seemed to talk much about what she and her boyfriend were doing, but she would occasionally tell me about various problems they might be having. But when I would advise her to tell each of them about her concerns she would flat out refuse! I tried to explain to her that “You can’t make everybody happy all of the time! In life everybody has to make choices, and sometimes somebody will be hurt by those choices! But they have to be made!” But for a very long time, she refused to accept that as an option! She wanted to be all things to all people!
Many of us want to be all things to all people! We want our friends and co-workers to see us as ‘cool’ or ‘hip’ or ‘bad’, or whatever the current term is, and still be seen as an ‘individual’. We want our parents (or children) to be proud of us. We want to be a part of the community, a part of the ‘in-crowd’, and a part of society and yet be admired for living our own lives. We want to be known as ‘fun-loving’ and ‘hard-working’ all at the same time. And oh yes, we really want to be known as Christians!
Guess what? IT CAN’T BE DONE!!! Being a Christian is not like putting on a special hat or badge. You don’t take off your ‘I Love Jesus’ hat to attend the next function. It is a way of life, not a social stepping-stone. Being a Christian may not always seem ‘cool’ or ‘hip’, and standing up for Christian values may not always be admired by the community or society. But NOT standing up for them will guarantee the eventual downfall of that community or society.
This year, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord, let each of us take a moment to consider what being a Christian means to us, and what it should mean in our lives. And if it seems as though there are conflicts to deal with between the two, the advice that I gave to Susie thirty years ago still applies today, “You can’t make everybody happy all of the time! In life everybody has to make choices, and sometimes somebody will be hurt by those choices!” May your choices be made prayerfully and with full regard as to what it means to really be a Christian.

This was written for and published in the January 2001 ‘Circuit Rider’ newsletter that I ‘did’ some years while at Wesley Chapel, outside of Jacksonville, IL.

It is ‘_01’ because I wrote Another ‘Susie’ story for December of that same year!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

“Ok,” I said. “Push down on the clutch.” “The what!?” she answered. I knew it was going to be a long afternoon.
Susie and I had known each other for a very long time. In fact, I’d been told that we had played in the same crib as babies. And in spite of not seeing one another for years at a time, and being in separate school districts (she went to Roxana – I went to Edwardsville), by high school we were very close friends.
Susie had lived in the same small house trailer, with her mother, all of her life. And this was at a time when single parents were not an accepted part of society. Still, by high school she was a bright, outgoing (even ‘bubbly’), normal(?) teen-age girl. She primarily took care of herself and the house while her mother was working and was a living example, in most ways, of what the ‘modern woman’ was to become. Yet, as in each of us, there were gaps in her education. One of these, for her, was driving. Susie is the only person that I have ever known, personally, to flunk Drivers Ed. Not in the classroom, but on the road.
I can recall her telling me that her instructor kept telling her “Miss *****, it is customary to SLOW DOWN for a corner!” At one point she broke the antenna off of her mother’s car by getting too close to a mailbox. When we each graduated from high school in 1971, she was still not driving! So, that summer I offered to try to teach her.
After picking her up sometime after lunch, we drove out to the outer parking lots at SIUE, which were empty at that time of year. (And no mailboxes in sight!) My ’67 Fairlane was a nice size car to learn to drive in, and, with its small 6-cylinder engine, was easy to control. But it was a manual transmission! Something that Susie had, apparently, never been around. My work was cut out for me.
We spent the afternoon learning how to start and stop with a clutch, how to shift gears, how to back up, how to go forward, how to turn while going forward, how to turn while backing up, how to park, etc., etc., etc. Towards evening I let her drive some on the roads around the main campus, which were also pretty much empty at that time of year.
By the end of that summer, I believe, she had gotten her license. I liked to think that I had some small part in that, even though at times, watching her drive, I wouldn’t admit it to anyone!
As close as we were that summer, within two years we were each married (to other people), and within three had seen each other for what has turned out to be, probably, the last time.
I’m not one who usually thinks much about ‘New Years’. Sometimes it has been a day off from work, but normally, to me it is just another day of the year. At the times that I do ponder upon it, though, I tend to reflect upon the people that I have known, the friends that I have made, the friends that I have lost, the places that I have been, the places that I’ve never made it to, the things that I have done and experiences that I’ve had, and those that I have missed out on.
It’s good to reminisce. Sometimes, a person needs to stop, turn around, and look at the path that they have taken in order to remember why they are where they are, and why they are going the direction that they are going. It is certainly something the Israelites should have done more of!
Consider how many times, in the Old Testament, that they would ‘forget’ the things that God had done for them and move away from the path that He had directed them to. Even in a time that God worked directly among the people, they ‘forgot’.
God may not ‘reside’ in a visible temple anymore, but He certain works and resides among us by being a part of each of us. And when we take the time to look back at our life path we can see all of the places where God has taken an active roll in our lives, even if we didn’t realize it at the time.
Each of our lives is an intricate web of friends, family, experiences, losses, joys, happiness, and sorrow. And when we look, we can see how God has worked to weave all of that together, and become part of it, to make us into the person that we are today. And that person is very special to God. He will certainly continue to be with each of us throughout the New Year.
And I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens next! ‘Happy New Year!’

OK, THIS is a ‘Difficult’ one to ‘share’… It is a VERY personal… yet very POWERFUL… message!! It was written in 2008 and given on December 28 of that year at the little church in Hartford that I had grown-up in… and… as I prophesied here… is now gone! 😦

As part of my ‘returning’ to this area, I was attending classes at ‘Lewis & Clark Community College’ (I graduated in the spring of 2009, wearing a Gold Rope across the stage! ), all while driving a truck 10-12 hours every day!!

Also, Many of my friends will remember Henry, from my class at EHS, 1971… He makes a cameo appearance… albeit, a sad one…

The verses are from Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14…

Hasn’t the weather this year been really strange? I had worked late on a project Wednesday night, so it was around 7:30 or 8 in the morning when I got up and going on Christmas Day. As I’m sure many of you know, waking up all alone to a silent Christmas morning can be a bit dis-heartening, so the first thing I did was just open up the front door to see if I might be able to sit on the porch for a little bit. That early, it was still a bit cool, but not Too bad, so I went out… and was just awe-struck with how quiet it was! There were No cars, no train or factory or plant sounds in the distance, no radios or boom-boxes blaring at the Laundromat across the street… I walked to the sidewalk, then all the way across Wood River Ave. in just my sweats and my moccasins, and never heard a sound or saw a soul! My first thought was it was the ‘silence of the dead’, but I immediately changed that… what I was experiencing was the Peace of a Christmas morning!!

Now, I know that the date that the world chooses to celebrate the birth of Christ has absolutely no Biblical base, just as I know that the celebration of His birth has absolutely Nothing to do with our salvation… But still, isn’t it great to have at least One day/year when the majority of the world stops and recognizes the mystery and ponders the meaning of the Christ child? And for just a few minutes that morning, I was able to literally ‘feel’ that mystery and ‘magic’ in the very air around me as I personally experienced at least the total peace in that part of Wood River, Il at that moment of time!

I said that the weather this year has been really strange, but that hasn’t been the only thing, at least for me. Indeed, I would have to say that much of the last Three years has been rather strange for me. You see, it was just over three years ago when I made the decision to leave behind every aspect of the life I had spent some 30-odd years building and start all over again… and so it was that I found myself living back in the town where I had grown-up as a child, attending the church that had been so central to that childhood, and going to school! Talk about déjà-vu all over again! Much of it has been almost like learning to walk all over again… except that this time, I’ve had to teach myself, with nobody there to catch me each time I’ve fallen… and if anything has gotten easier from all of this, it’s been learning how to fall!

Anyway, as I was saying, there have just been a number of strange things to deal with sometimes… one recent example might be how the instructor of one class this last semester docked me for not being creative enough, while the other instructor really got on me about being Too creative… so much so that other students in the class started to take issue with him and defend me! So what you learn from that is that if you want to be creative, you have to be true to Yourself, and not worry so much about what others might think… and to anyone that knows me, That has Never been a problem for Me!

I have made some new friends this last year or so, but I seem to have lost even more… some just seem to go by the wayside, while others… well, I’ll just say that it was very strange to get a call from people I knew in Jacksonville one day telling me that my best and oldest friend had been found dead in his bed that morning… he had had a heart attack, and, living alone like me, there was no one there to help him or call for help… THAT really makes a body stop and think.

We’ve also lost some very special people here in the last 3-4 years… so many, in fact, that some are given cause to wonder about the future of our little group here… as well they should! I mean, consider with me for a moment… for the most part, I’M one of the youngsters here each Sunday!

But you know what? One of the hardest but most important lessons I have come to terms with… or should I say, Tried to come to terms with… is that no matter what happens, God is in control… even when we mess up and just get things completely wrong, He can Still take that and help us to learn, and make the most of it!

Some of you may remember the song that put many of the words of these verses I chose this morning to music… indeed, I remember very distinctly sitting here one Sunday morning in the mid ‘60’s and discovering them in the Concordance of my Bible and realizing for the first time that they were Biblical! Let me read them again…

Eccl 3:1-14
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

When I first started attending classes again, I felt that I could probably proficiency out of many of them, just taking the tests for the credit, but not actually take the class, but decided that spending the time in a classroom environment would probably be a good experience for me… and while I feel like I was right on Both counts, I have to say that there has not been One class that I did not learn something in… and Most of them, I learned a Lot! And I’m not talking about just facts and figures here… I’m talking about learning things about myself that I didn’t know… learning and discovering skills and talents that I never suspected… and, on occasion, recognizing that there are some that I just do NOT have! God has been teaching me!

When I first started attending here again, it was with the hope that I might be able to study and relearn many of those lessons taught me as a child but seem to have grown foggy over the years… but many of the teachers I grew up with are either no longer with us, or are just unable to perform that function any longer! But again, you know what? God has seen to it that I Still have been learning the lessons I’ve needed to learn… even if much of the learning has been on my own!

Next Sunday is the first of a new year… and I predict that sometime within the next 24 months… and possibly much less… the subject of the future of this little group of faithful followers will begin to take on more and more importance… first, our attendance will continue to shrink as more of us are no longer able to be here… but even more than that, I fear that we may soon be unable to fill the leadership and teaching roles for each service… indeed, there may well come a Sunday in the not too distant future that we might not even be able to fill this lectern on a regular basis! Why is that? Because our ‘fire’ is all but gone out… there is barely a spark left! Maybe enough to get each of us here the rest of the distance we need to go with our own lives, but Certainly not enough for anyone outside to see!

And I Know of which I speak, for My fire has been ebbing for some time now! I have had 2 close friends, this last year, take me to task for reusing some of my old talks instead of studying and writing a new one each time… and though I may argue that they are Good talks with a good message, and that I just don’t always have the time to put towards assembling a proper study… in the end, I have to admit that they are right… because the Biggest reason I have sometimes chose to recycle material is that My fire for doing God’s work was down to a dull glow! And I think it’s time we ALL start to do something about it!!

Verses 12 and 13 say that, “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God.”

It is time that we start being Active Christians again!! Let’s get someone local here to contact the city and other organizations and offer the use of this building for things like Scout packs and afterschool study programs! Let’s start putting together some neighborhood potlucks and/or meals During The Week, and then get out and make sure the neighborhood Knows about it!! I, for one, would love to set-up and do the weekly Bible study I wrote using old TV westerns as the base… and open and advertise it to the general public! Let’s see if we can get some singing groups organized to make local appearances around the area and Show people what voices can do without a piano or organ! Let’s get started, right now, planning some kind of Vacation Bible School for this next summer! Let’s DO Something!!

Most congregations and denominations that celebrate Christmas use it as one of their ‘strengthening’ times of the year… they know that if nothing else, many of their members will attend at least at Christmas and at Easter… but the ones who are “successful”… the ones who have masses of people attending and taking part throughout the year… are the ones who are true to the ideal that following Christ is not a part-time thing… it is not something that you can concentrate on once-or-twice a year and think that’s enough! The only Christian that Jesus will recognize is the Christian who follows the Lord’s leading 24/7… until their dying day!

These verses from Ecclesiastes tell us that there is a time to everything under heaven… and I say to you that unless we make this a time to plant… a time to heal… a time to speak, and embrace, and Love… then it will most assuredly become a time for us… as a congregation… to die!

Given on December 21, 2003 at the Lynnville UMC…

 

Tradition! I must say that I have never been one to worry too awful much about it. In fact, some people have wondered how it is that I became a Methodist preacher, where so much of the ‘normal’ Sunday service is usually steeped in tradition! And I’ve even been told by other pastors that I tend to hold tighter to some of the ‘traditional’ concepts than many of them do. My response is usually something along the lines of my not having a problem with using either a traditional or contemporary format as long as the basic truth of the message that’s presented can be gotten across in a clear and meaningful way, and I have used both methods, I think, to good extent, and indeed sometimes do very well combining them. Today’s service is a point-in-fact.
Since, after some discussion with various people, doing a special Christmas Eve Service here seemed rather redundant, I opted, instead, to include elements of both this last Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve into this one service. Again, combining elements of tradition… the Christmas carols, the stories of Mary and Joseph, and the lighting of the candles, for example… with the using of the projected pictures and lyrics… along with a couple of surprises… in support of this ‘dual’ service.
Tradition! What traditions have you and your family developed and/or passed down over the years? One that my family always did, when I was a boy growing up in Hartford, was for all us of to get in the car and drive around the area to look at all of the Christmas lights, especially this special house in Rosewood Heights that always had a fabulous display, most of which was hand-made back then. When my son was very young, I always made it a point to wait till he was here and we would all go together to select and cut down our fresh tree to bring home and decorate just in time for Christmas day. Yet sometimes, on the years that he wouldn’t be here to spend the holiday with us I might not be inclined to put up a tree or lights at all. Over the last few years, I’ve taken great pride in doing some special lighting effects with various trees in our yard, but this year, since I’ve been on-the-road so much, I elected to let it slide… I figure that will make next years’ display even more appreciated!
Tradition! The verses that I just read contain the traditional story of the Christ Child born in a stable and laid in a manger, and of the angels proclaiming to the shepherds “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” Yet, on this Sunday last year, I preached to you about how it was not the birth of Christ that matters to us, but His death on the cross!
Tradition! In an article that I wrote some time ago, I talked about how we needed to re-familiarize ourselves with some of the lyrics in many of the traditional Christmas songs. And it is very true that I believe a major part of the problems that this country and society of ours’ are confronted with daily are caused primarily from a lack of teaching many of those traditional ideas… from a lack of understanding the importance of having traditional values and morals… and yes, from a lack of knowledge of and faith in God! And yet, today I want to play for you a ‘Christmas Song’ that I would imagine most of you have never heard! Indeed, it is from a Broadway musical that seemed, on the surface, to promote many of the bad ideals and low moral standards that have become such a trademark of our country… and did it in the late sixties/early seventies!
The show was called Promises, Promises, and the music and lyrics were written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach. The show centered around a young office assistant and his struggle to ‘climb the corporate ladder’ by loaning his apartment out to his superiors to use for their… aahhhh… ‘boys’ night out’. In the end, though, traditional morals win the day as the main characters, at least, realize the errors of their way and vow to not get involved with making or listening to ‘promises’ that are not all that they should be.
The lyrics are printed in your bulletin, if you’d like to follow along.

Burt Bacharach – Christmas Day

Christmas Day is here and so are we

Time for children and presents And Christmas tree happiness.

Christmas Day is all that it should be

Lights and carols and holly And all kinds of loveliness.

Christmas bells ringing out Goodwill to men

And peace on earth

Ev’rything they taught you When you were a child

The things a Child Once taught the world.

If Christmas day is really in your heart

You don’t have to save up All your love to give once a year

Learn to give, try to live Each day like Christmas Day.

 

Tradition! At this time of year it seems to be traditional to talk about peace… it seems to be traditional to talk and think about those who are hungry or homeless… those who are away from home and loved ones… those who may not be so well off as we might be. And it is right and proper that we do so! But why do we seem, sometimes, to only do it at this time of year?
Christmas is the day that we set aside to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus… the Christ child… the Messiah… our Lord! And it is He who has taught us that we should love our fellow man… it is He who has told us that we are, indeed, our brothers’ keeper… it is He who has said that we are to love our neighbor above all else but God! And He never said to concentrate on doing so during the month of December each year in honor of His birth! We are to be doing these things each and every day of our lives! Listen to the words of the song… “If Christmas day… the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ… is really in your heart, you don’t have to save up all your love to give once a year. It is truly time to give – time to live each day like Christmas day!”

My ‘talk’ given at the Lynnville UMC on November 2, 2003. The Scripture was from the book of ‘Ruth’, chapter 1, verses 1-18…

 

 

Sometime ago, I told some of you how that when my Grandpa Luebbert retired from Granite City Steel in 1965, he and Grandma bought a farm in the hills and hollers of the Ozarks, about 40 miles south of Jeff City, and lived there for over fifteen years. During that time, there came into existence a whole ton of ‘Grandpa’ stories.

One of my favorites is of the time he had come back from a very cold morning of hunting and in his rush to get inside, forgot to empty the shells, like he usually did, outside. Oh well, he thought, and pumped them out, counting as he went. Then, like normal, he pulled the trigger to make sure it was empty… and shot the leg off of one of their rocking chairs and put a hole in the floor!!! I guess, from the way they told it later, Grandma must have really come unglued… and that time, at least, Grandpa had no choice but to be still and listen.

Grandpa was born in 1900 and died in 1983, and I guess if ever I had a hero in my life, it was him. At least it seems as if I learned an awful lot of my mannerisms, my humor, and my general outlook on life from him. I learned how to patch stuff together with baling wire, how to drive and handle equipment, how to fish, how to farm, and how to ‘think out of the box’, if that was what was called for. I learned an awful lot of my work ethic from him, too, but I also learned that it was alright to just relax and be a little crazy sometimes.

When the work was done for the day, we would come in and sit around the huge dining-room table that he had built some years earlier so that all of his family could sit together, and we would talk. Ohhhh, I wish I’d had a tape-recorder going during some of those talks! But, I’ll save all of that story for another day!

All in all, as I say, I learned a lot of really good things from him. But there was one thing I learned that maybe wasn’t so good. You see, Grandpa had this way of teasing Grandma that was so much fun to watch. He would be sitting at his usual place across from you at that table and be just talking away about any number of things when suddenly he would stop, wink at you, and say something to Grandma while she was working in the kitchen. Then you could hear the fireworks start… she would start carrying on about whatever it was he had said, sometimes coming into where we sat at the table just all upset and reading him the riot act… and all the while he’d be looking at you with a little grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. What great fun! And I learned how to do it very well! But you know what? None of the women I ever tried it on thought it was the least bit funny! Can you imagine?

As far back as I can remember, the book of Ruth has always been my favorite. Now, if I were to be honest about it, that may be because it was one of the few books of the Bible with a story-line that a young boy could understand. Growing up in the days of Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, and The Donna Reed Show, the idea of a woman’s ‘place’ being in the home was one that was being ‘programmed’ into all of us during that time. And the whole intent of the book of Ruth, to my young-boy’s mind, was to reinforce that point of view… that a woman’s place… (Now… please don’t throw anything!!! Let me finish the sermon!)… That a woman’s place in the proper order of things was to be subservient to men!

On top of that, there is just something so romantic about this particular passage when read from the King James… “whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” The fact that she was actually saying it to her mother-in-law- never seemed to enter the equation… Ruth was professing her love and devotion to that person and to that person’s way of life. And I fully expected the woman that I married, on that far, far future date, when I was a child, to feel just exactly that way about me! I mean, look at Mrs. Cleaver… all she ever wanted to do was stay home to do laundry and keep the house clean, and then make sure all of the men in her life were well fed and well loved… what more could any woman want?

BOY! Have times changed! But you know what? It’s all for the better!

The ‘women’s lib’ movement, as it was called, actually began a very long time ago, but it seemed to me, at least, that it reached its’ hey-day during the 60’s and 70’s. But most of us ‘males’ were still living in the dark ages! We still felt that the proper place for any ‘good’ woman was in the home. After all, isn’t that what the Bible always said? Ahhhhh! Those that were at the Western Bible Study Death Valley Days session last summer know better!

Let me read a quote from the Handbook of Bible Application that I used during that session… “God’s image is the basis for human self-worth. Knowing that we are made in God’s image and thus share many of his characteristics provides a solid basis for self-worth. Human worth is not based on possessions, achievements, physical attractiveness, or public acclaim. Instead it is based on being made in God’s image. Because we bear God’s image, we can feel positive about ourselves. Criticizing or downgrading ourselves is criticizing what God has made and the abilities he has given us. Knowing that you are a person of worth helps you love God, know him personally, and make a valuable contribution to those around you.

 

God’s image is shared equally by women and men. God made both man and woman in his image. Neither man nor woman is made more in the image of God than the other. From the beginning the Bible places both man and woman at the pinnacle of God’s creation. Neither sex is exalted, nor is either depreciated.”

 

On the subject of marriage, the same source says… “Marriage is a cooperative effort between equal partners. God forms and equips men and women for various tasks, but all these tasks lead to the same goal — honoring God. Man gives life to woman; woman gives life to the world. Each role carries exclusive privileges; there is no room for thinking that one sex is superior to the other.

 

Marriage is a gift from God. God gave marriage as a gift to (the world). Marriage was not just for convenience, nor was it brought about by any culture.”

 

In spite of appearances, my Grandma and Grandpa must have really loved one another. But because of the attitudes that prevailed throughout their lives, they spent a great deal of their years together just ‘existing’… each of them taking care of their end of raising a family and building a life… but never really being able to cooperate and support each other in the process! That is NOT what God made man and woman to be… He made us as equal partners… different, yes… but equal! And that equality has always existed! It is only man that said otherwise! Let’s look, briefly, at some examples.

Women were always an important part of Jesus’ ministry while on this earth. In Luke 8:1-3 we read, “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”

And in Acts 2, Peter quotes from the prophet Joel by saying:

 

In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

 

These verses, and many others in the New Testament, give testimony to the importance and equality of everyone, including females. The idea that men were somehow superior is an entirely manmade idea! Imagine that! And I would like to extrapolate that ‘revelation’ with the thought that all peoples are equal in the sight of God, as well! To quote from a children’s song that I’m sure all of you remember… “Red and yellow, black and white. All are precious in His sight!” All truly ARE precious in His sight… every man, woman and child of every race, creed or color!

So…. Where does this leave us in regards to the book of Ruth? Well, actually, it doesn’t change a thing! As I said, Ruth is professing her open, all-encompassing love and devotion for her mother-in-law. But for us to fully appreciate what that is about, and how it applies to us, today, we need to tie it into today’s Gospel reading, as well. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

It is only when we begin to love God and our neighbors with that same total, un-assuming, and all-powerful devotion that Ruth professes in these verses, that we begin to approach that state of all-encompassing love that God has for us, and that He intends for us to spread in His name.

Ruth gave her life over completely to that person she felt love and a responsibility for! And it is in that same way that WE must give ourselves over to God… completely… overwhelmingly… and unconditionally! That’s what He expects… that’s what He DEMANDS!

My ‘talk’ given at the Lynnville UMC on December 19, 2004. The Scripture is from Romans 1: 1-7

 

“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz…Oh, what a relief it is!” “N… E… S… T… L… E… S… Nestles makes the very best!” “Chewy, Chewy Tootsie Roll lasts a long time!” “Mother, please! I’d rather do it myself!”

I’m sure that most of you sitting here this morning remember hearing these at some point in your life. I’d also bet that you could tell me who’s cookies are baked by elves, what truck claims to be built like a rock, and what vacuum-cleaner only weighs eight pounds!

Isn’t advertising great? Advertisements tell us what their products are for and why we need them. And really successful advertisements convince us that we just can’t live without that particular product, and make us want to rush out and get it!

I recall the summer between by sophomore and junior year of high-school when my friend Henry and I were both in the Edwardsville Junior Theater, along with several other of our friends. We were having a bake sale at one of the local car dealerships as a fund raiser for the group, and just weren’t getting enough floor traffic to move all of those cakes and cookies and pies that our moms had made for us. So Henry and I came up with a spur-of-the-moment campaign and put it into action.

I had customized my full-size bicycle with fancy handle-bars, short fenders, and a seventy-two inch sissy-bar that held up the back part of a metallic-red banana seat. Since it was mounted at the axle, this chrome bar actually stuck up in the air about seven feet! Taking two of the bake-sale advertising posters and mounting them on the front and back of that sissy-bar, a group of us began to ride up-and-down the streets of Edwardsville shouting out the ‘good news’ of the bake sale while Henry kept honking the aah-ooh-gah horn he had on his bike to attract attention! I can’t say if it really helped or not, but we at least had a lot of fun doing it, and got out of standing around the tables waiting for people to come in!

Advertising of one kind or another is essential for any business or venture to succeed. First, the background and qualifications, or history, of the company must be established in people’s minds. Hence, we have power companies and pharmaceuticals running ads that do no more than promote their name to people. Second, the product itself must be shown as being authentic and reliable… such as the battery that keeps on going and going and going… The next step is to explain what it does and why people need it… such as the paper-towel that is more absorbent. And lastly, there is the call to you, as an individual, to acquire it for yourself… ‘Call within the next ten minutes and we’ll double our offer!’ Now, not all ads have all aspects at the same time, but a successful campaign must touch on each base to ‘make it home’, if you will.

And in Paul’s opening address to the Roman church, he succeeds in doing just that! He starts by identifying himself and his qualifications… “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son…” He continues, then by verifying the authenticity and quality of the ‘product’… “who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” … tells us why we need Him… “Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” …and then makes the personal appeal to each of us… “And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” He then goes a step further by thanking each of them for accepting that which is proffered… “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Today is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent. In our Old Testament verses from Isaiah this morning we heard the prophecy that, “…the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Then Matthew tells us how Mary was pledged to Joseph, but was found to be ‘with child’. Joseph intended to divorce her quietly, but, “…an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

And just in case we missed the point, Matthew adds…

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

Again, we have the prophecy… and the fulfillment! Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary in a stable in the City of Bethlehem over two-thousand years ago… and His coming was foretold hundreds of years before that! And this coming Saturday we celebrate that birth, and all that it meant to the world… and to each of us!

But it is also foretold that Christ will come yet again… and at that second coming, He will gather in all those who have been faithful and strong in His name!

In the title song from the rock-opera, Jesus Christ, Superstar, Jesus is asked why He chose such a backward time and such a small nation… “Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication!” And yet, even without that massive system in place, the Word has spread throughout the world! I doubt that there are very many on this planet who haven’t at least heard of the name of Jesus, though many need to have explained to them who He is! And so the work must continue! Can you hear me now?

Yes, Christ is coming! As advertised and predicted, our Lord and Saviour will return, in victory and triumph over all evil! Hallelujah!! All Hail the Lord’s Anointed!

I am enjoying going through my old files and selecting more to share on Here! This ‘talk’ was given at the Lynnville UMC on April 17, 2005, and the Scripture is from verses 19-25 of the 2nd chapter of 1 Peter…  🙂

 

My fourth-grade teacher didn’t like me very much. Well, actually, I don’t think she liked anybody very much! She was one of those still left from ‘the old school’ of thinking that promoted discipline above all else… that was her class room, and by golly, you better not forget it… or cause any problems while in it! And I was one who just seemed to cause problems, even though I never really saw it as such!

One example that comes to mind was the time two of my classmates started fighting in the hall while we were all taking a bathroom break. I walked right into the middle of them, held out my arms and told them to break it up! That was the moment that one of the other teachers walked out to see what the disturbance was all about and hauled all three of us off to our teacher. “But I was trying to stop it,” I cried! “Yeah, I know how you were trying to stop it,” she said!

And so it was that I soon found myself sitting outside of the principal’s office along side the other two. The fact that it was my first trip there but the other two were already sort-of regulars added some credence to my story, but I still found myself suffering the same punishment as they did… so much for trying to do a good deed!

Now, that’s a very simplified example of what Peter starts off talking about in these verses this morning… if you suffer for doing good and endure it, it is commendable before God. However, I think he had something far more intense in mind. In the verse prior to these, Peter says… “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh,” so these verses are actually addressed to them, but they apply equally as well to us today!

The Life Application Commentary tells us that, “Many slaves would have heard this letter read to them because many of the early church members were slaves. Roman law regulated the treatment of slaves, but ultimately masters had power over their slaves. Many masters were “good and considerate” (especially those who were Christians), but many were “harsh” (perhaps especially with slaves who had become believers). …Harsh masters could inflict cruel punishments upon slaves, considered as property, usually by whipping or beating them with a stick. Like thieves, runaway slaves were branded on the forehead. Others were imprisoned. Many slaves died from mistreatment or imprisonment, but it was illegal to take the life of a slave without a court order. In some cases, a master might take out his anger on his slaves, even though the slaves had done nothing to incur any wrath.

 

Many of the readers of this letter would have known all too well what it meant to [bear] up under the pain of unjust suffering. Peter had learned about suffering from Jesus. He knew that Jesus’ suffering was part of God’s plan and was intended to save people. He also knew that all who follow Jesus must be prepared to suffer. Thus it would be commendable or praiseworthy if these believers trusted in God as they endured any “pain”… caused by unjust suffering.

 

By being conscious of God when they suffered, they were remembering God’s care and love for them even as they suffered. They focused on the fact that they were suffering injustice as Christ had suffered injustice, and they knew that one day God would right all wrongs. This gave them the proper attitude, enabled them to persevere, and kept their practice from being mere passive acceptance.”

 

Some years ago I wrote a letter to a person who had lost a close family member… I’d like to read an excerpt from it now, modified only to hide their identity and update it to now…

‘I once bid on and bought a book titled ‘Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People’. I’ve never read it! The fact is, I already know! Or should I say I know what the answers are supposed to be.

I am no stranger to sorrow. Over the years I have tried to deal with it in different ways. None of them work very well, but the ‘easiest’ always seemed to be to bury the hurt deep inside and pretend it didn’t exist anymore. Many has been the time that I have had to do this in my own life, and because of that those around me have often gotten the impression that I ‘really had my act together’, dealing with life and moving on.

And so it became common practice for my friends, and through them others, to come to me for ‘counseling’ them through their problems. And I would sit, sometimes for hours, and listen to life stories about break-ups, school, drugs, parents, and yes, even unexpected deaths, and be expected to spout out words that would ease the pain and make everything all right. And I did know the words! I could talk sense and logic about why almost anything happened and what the person should, logically, be feeling and doing about it. And they would sit back and agree, sometimes through their tears, that I was absolutely right… that what I said did make sense and that that was what they should be feeling and doing!

You know what? IT MADE ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE! And as I went through my various life situations I discovered why. When my heart was full of pain, and life seemed unendurable, knowing the ‘reasons’ and the ‘wherefores’ made no difference! There is no reason or logic in the world that can counteract a real hurt. All we can do is live our way through it. And that can be the absolute hardest thing to do!

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? What is the point of believing in and following a God who seems either to have no control or, at the least, refuses to exercise any control over such things? And if all of this “GOD” stuff is in doubt, do any of the ‘truths’ and ‘beliefs’ that we have held mean anything? Indeed, does life mean anything?

Why does God ‘let things happen’? Most Pastors would probably tell you that He doesn’t, or that we just can’t always understand His ways. And that is true. But what DIFFERENCE does it make when a person is hurting RIGHT NOW? Why does life have to be like this RIGHT NOW!? Do you want the truth? I don’t know! And I doubt that anyone alive today really does.

I can only tell you this. There have been a lot of times in my life when I was alone. I don’t mean physically, but mentally, spiritually, and psychologically alone. In other words, I could be at a high school dance or football game and surrounded by hundreds of people and feel totally alone. I could be at a church service or youth event with countless others and feel totally alone. I could be with family or friends, or even that ‘special someone’ and feel totally alone. But through it all, when I look back on my life from this end I can see that I have NEVER really been totally alone! Even during the years of my life that I tried to deny even the existence of a ‘god figure’, I can see now that God never denied my existence, and has always been there.’

 

Now, I grant you that Peter’s remarks in this morning’s verses were more intended for those who suffer and/or are persecuted because of their belief in God and Jesus… but I put it to you that many of us suffer in silence for just living our day-to-day lives! One might suffer when we consider why so-and-so got that promotion instead of us… why that neighbor who has never seen the inside of a church can afford a new car while many of us can’t… or why that drug-addict survived the accident while the child and mother both died… I mean, it’s one thing to be a martyr when a person is speaking out and standing up for Christ and trying to make the world a better place and suffering the ‘slings and arrows’ of ridicule, or even, in some cases, physical retaliation because of it… that’s what Peter is talking about when he said that we should consider and follow the example of Jesus… “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” But living life day-by-day involves far more than just that kind of suffering!

 

The Life Application Commentary says that… “We may suffer for many reasons. Some suffering comes as the direct result of our own sin; some happens because of our foolishness; and some is the result of living in a fallen world. Peter writes about suffering that comes as a result of doing good. Jesus never sinned, and yet he suffered so that we could be set free. When we follow Christ’s example and live for others, we too may suffer. Our goal should be to face suffering as he did — with patience, calmness, and confidence, knowing that God controls the future.

 

When Peter says, ‘to this you have been called’, he is referring back to suffering for doing good. Why have believers been “called” to unjust suffering? Because such suffering was endured by Christ. Jesus had told Peter and the other disciples at the Last Supper: “No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also”. When we patiently suffer injustice, we are following our supreme example in Christ. He suffered great injustice in order to obtain our salvation:

 

• He endured the unbelief of his own people.
• He endured a trial by religious leaders already committed to his death.
• He endured the lies of false witnesses.
• He endured beating and mockery from his people and from the Roman soldiers.
• He endured merciless flogging.
• He endured an excruciatingly painful death by crucifixion.
• He endured the insults of bystanders as he suffered on the cross.
• He endured a time of separation from God.”

 

Jesus understands our suffering… even when we don’t! One of the reasons He became a man and lived among us was so that He might understand all that it means to be human and live in this confusing world of ours day by day! As Peter sums up this chapter, we are all like sheep who have gone astray… but through our belief and our faith, we have returned to the Shepherd. And as any sheep might attest to, we might not always know why we are being led here or there… we might not understand the ‘mechanics’ of our day-to-day existence… but we trust in our Shepherd! We trust in our Lord and Saviour to always have our ultimate best interests to heart!

In this morning’s reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus says… “I tell you the truth…. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice…

“I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep… whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”

I may not know why it sometimes seems like bad things happen to good people… I may wonder at how ‘success’ sometimes seems to come too easily to the undeserving… but I trust in my Shepherd… and I will strive to follow wherever He leads!

This was given at the Lynnville UMC on February 15, 2004. The Scripture is from 1 Corinthians 15: 12-20…

 

The first full winter we spent on our small farm outside of Edwardsville found us still experimenting with different things and configurations to see what worked best for our operation and ease of maintenance. The old barn that we used for cattle was of the hand-whittled tendon-and-peg era and still had the track in the hayloft that had been used for putting up hay in earlier years. We, of course, had used our old corn elevator to fill it full of that season’s hay bales, and part of my daily chores was to feed it to the cattle on each side of the barn.

To feed the cows on the one side was a simple matter of climbing the steps and dropping however many bales were required down those steps into the hallway, then breaking them apart and spreading them out into the hay-rack that ran the length of the stall. The other side, though was actually just a fenced-off area of a machinery storage stall where we let our registered Polled-Hereford bull, Joe, get in out of the weather. There were two holes that had been cut through the floor of the hayloft for the purpose of dropping bales out, but one was over the machinery that we did have stored in that area, and the other was right over Joe’s part. Now, he didn’t get a full bale each day, so when you needed one the only thing you could do was to drop a bale through the hole into all of the muck and slop in his area, go down, climb the gate we used as a divider into it, grab the sloppy bale and throw it over the gate. Then, each day you would throw him a few slaps off of it, always being careful where you grabbed it. Needless to say, this was not pleasant, nor efficient! Furthermore, it was wasteful, because, obviously, he wouldn’t eat all of it that you did give him.

After only a week or two of doing this, I noticed an old piece of tin-siding that had been nailed to two 2×4’s to form what had probably been a corn chute sitting on a pile of junk that had been left by the previous owner. Putting my thinking cap on, I nailed one end of it underneath the hole in the floor over his stall and the other end over the divider gate. Now, when you dropped the bale through the hole it landed in the chute and slid right down over the gate! No muck… no muss… no fuss… ready to feed!

I’ve always seemed to have a knack for thinking things out like that. That’s one reason that I seem to get along with computers as well as I do… like Mr. Spock, I just tend to reason things out logically one step at a time. I recall once in my sophomore Geometry class of reasoning a different solution for a given problem than what the teacher had in his book … my answer was 100% correct and one step shorter than the book’s! This was quite a shock to him, for I disliked the class and seldom did any of the homework assignments, yet on this occasion that I had, I outdid the writers of the book!

I really did not like any of the math courses that I ever took… probably because of the way they were taught back then… everything was just so dry and boring. But I do remember bits and pieces of what I learned. One of those ‘bits’ involves what I’ve always called the basic Algebraic equation. What that says, simply, is that if A=B, and B=C, then A must be equal to C. Let me see if I can make that simpler… if 2+2 is equal to 4, and 3+1 is equal to four, then 2+2 must be equal to 3+1! What we find in today’s verses is Paul’s use of that type of algebraic formula, or reasoning, to defend the resurrection, not only of Christ, but of all mankind!

Are you aware that there are many today who would deny the resurrection of Jesus? And I’m not talking just about non-Christians… I have been told… and I grant that that makes it second-hand… but, I have been told that there are some who profess to believe in Christ and yet deny the resurrection! Take, for example, the fact that the rock-opera Jesus Christ, Superstar ends with the crucifixion… it never mentions the fact the He arose three days later! I find that incredible!

Think about that for a minute! If Jesus’ life did indeed end altogether on the cross, then could He have been any more than just a really great teacher and philosopher? But, in the first part of this chapter, which we studied last week, Paul states emphatically that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures… that he was buried… that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… and that he then appeared to a vast number of people!

In today’s verses, though, Paul is assuming that his audience accepts the concept of Jesus as the Messiah, and of His resurrection, and begins attacking the idea that some of the people at Corinth seem to have regarding the resurrection of the human body! We read in the Life Application Commentary that, “Christians attempting to share their faith are often shocked by the world’s denial of the possibility of Resurrection. The gospel remains an irritating and upsetting challenge to the commonly held views of life and death. True Christians are convinced that Jesus’ resurrection did happen, and that it changed everything. The Christian faith comes from Christ’s experience, not people’s individual feelings or desires. The conviction of the Resurrection gives believers hope for the future.” As we learned last week, “It seems from this passage in 1^st Corinthians, and the course of Paul’s argument, that there were some among the Corinthians who thought the resurrection an impossibility.” And Paul is taking them to task for it!

Let me read Paul’s argument again and see if I can simplify it a bit for you… “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ was not raised, then all we have been taught is useless, and your trust in God is useless. The apostles would all be lying about God, for they said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.

“But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.”

The Life Application Commentary tells us that, “The bodily resurrection of Christ is the center of the Christian faith. Because Christ rose from the dead, as he promised, we know that what he said is true. The Resurrection affirms the truthfulness of Jesus’ life and words. The Resurrection confirms Jesus’ unique authority to say, “I am the resurrection and the life”. Because he rose, we have certainty that our sins are forgiven. Because he rose, he lives and represents us before God. Because he rose and defeated death, we know we will also be raised. Christ’s resurrection guaranteed both his promise to us and his authority to make it. We must take him at his word and believe.”

In all honesty, by its very definition faith is not an exact science. There is no scientific or mathematical formula that I’m aware of that will prove or disprove the existence of God. There are currently no videos or photographs of Jesus walking on water… there will most likely be no ‘news at 5’ regarding His latest healing… He won’t be interviewed on the Today show tomorrow morning by Katie Couric regarding the latest speech He made on the mountain about all those who are blessed. Faith… is faith!

Either you believe in the Bible… believe the words, the instructions, and the messages that are there… or you don’t! Either you believe it to be the Word of the living God, directed by Him to be written down for us over the centuries and read, understood and obeyed by all… or you don’t! There is no pick and choose! There is no ‘bending’ of this idea a little, or ignoring that commandment… either the Bible is the Bible and you know, believe, and follow what it says… or you don’t! And if you don’t… you cannot be a true follower of Christ! And if you are not a follower of Christ… just who is it that you are following?

Proof! That’s what people want! Proof! Proof of God’s existence… proof of Jesus’ resurrection… and proof of our own reward! And I stated that there IS no scientific or mathematical proof that I am aware of! However, let me leave you with this quote from Martin Luther… “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.

That’s where our proof is! In the life around us! In the air that we breath… in the magnificent way our bodies function… in the magic of the renewal of life surrounding us almost everyday… from the budding of an apple tree, to the metamorphosing of a butterfly, to the birth of a new human being… life is ‘resurrected’ around us almost continuously! How can we doubt that the being responsible for all of these amazing miracles each and every day is any less capable of restoring these clay shells of ours and granting us everlasting life?

I have been searching through some old files looking for pertinent things to start adding on to here, and came across This! As best I recall I wrote it somewhere between 7-10 years ago…

 

Earlier today I got in to… we’ll call it a ‘discussion’… that started with a post concerning how ‘stupid’ we were for not supporting gun-owner registration… It wound-up with my being told that I proved the point for keeping guns away from crazy people and that I needed ‘counseling’… I’m not going to post the other comments, but I’m betting that most of you can ‘read-between-the-lines’ as to what I was arguing against… In the end, when the other’s comments became even More… uhhh… personal… I said, “It’s Always amazing how, when an argument can’t be won the name-calling begins,” and tried to just stop… To which the other person kept at it for another hour-or-so, never realizing how it made ‘them’ look! :>)

I had posted these three ‘comments’ separately, but am reposting them together so as to be easier to read… What to YOU think?

Part 1…

Have None of you ever read George Orwell’s ‘1984’? Back then we were Watching for it, and refused to let any of it happen!! Today, it’s like y’all have taken it and used all of the evil in it as a blueprint to change this country/world into… I just Don’t get it… This country was Established on Freedom… and Now we have members of ‘society’/government who seem bent on removing/destroying ALL of those Freedoms! Recent ‘memos’ & warnings to the military & law enforcement have listed ‘Fundamental Christians’ as the ‘greatest threat’ to the government because we acknowledge a ‘Higher Power’. (Islamic terrorists are not even ON that list!) I REALLY hope that is True… and when the time comes, I Pray that God gives me the chance to PROVE IT!!!”

Part 2…
“First of all, the ‘solution’ to violence is NOT in any kind of gun control, but in education! And I’m not talking about the pre-programmed, propaganda-based ‘education’ we have in this country today… We have built how-many generations, now, of little automatons who are totally unable to think and/or act for themselves… But That is another story… What I’m talking is having removed ALL concepts of ‘good-&-evil’… First, we’re being indoctrinated that any thing we do ‘wrong’ is Not Our Fault! … Then, from removing Religion from the schools to all of the graphic tv, movies, and video games we’re presented with, ‘Death’ is no longer a reality… I mean, all you have to do is rewind or hit the reset button! If a person is programmed to kill, that person will Find a weapon of Some kind to do it with!!! So, registering guns will have absolutely NO effect on controlling that type of violence!! NONE of which has a Direct correlation to the Constitution! What DOES ‘effect’ the Constitution is when MY rights as an individual are usurped and I become a piece of data in some giant database! The government now has complete access to my whereabouts 24/7, via the GPS in my phone, they are Fully aware of every word that I type on this and Other sites (I have had the FBI and other agencies follow the web blog of my sermons and articles!), they know my bank accounts, my credit cards, my voting record, etc., etc., etc… How can you have read 1984 and NOT recognize Big Brother?!? And we have been lax enough to allow it this far… I choose to allow it NO FURTHER!!!”

Part 3…
“First, how does registering a gun prevent Anyone from being killed? I say again, If someone wants to kill someone else, they will find a way… and Bombs can be built with ‘stuff’ from under most sinks!! I have Never, as yet, owned a gun… I do not like hunting, and never saw the need for one! I Do, however, know very well how to Use one! The point of the Second Amendment has Nothing to do with hunting, and actually very little about guns, as such… The whole point of the Second Amendment is that WE the people can defend ourselves from a government intent on over-powering it’s population! When the DHS comes to arrest me for being a Christian, my bow-and-arrow will be no match for their Fully-automatic weapons! The Second Amendment INSISTS that the people be allowed to be as well armed as the government… It is ONLY in this way that You, Your family, Your friends, Your community, as well as mine, can defend ourselves from an oppressive government gone wrong! I don’t care about the robber down the street, or even the murderer two blocks over… I’ve managed to protect myself and my loved ones from them for 60 years now without a gun!! But when my money is being stolen from me by my own government and given to terrorist groups… when I’m being Forced to participate in illegal medical schemes… when I begin to live in fear for my very life, NOT because of some ‘murderer’ or ‘thief’ who might live in this town, but from my own government… and all because of my belief in God… Then, YES, I want… nee’, NEED… something to fight back with! And the Second Amendment GUARANTEES me… and YOU… that Right!!”