Parents, The Waters Aren't Always Smooth.* Word From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, The waters aren’t always smooth. A couple of years in High School, I was privileged to work with some marvelous people at the day camp my school hosted each Summer. Lots of great kids learned all kinds of fun things: how to swim, crafts, riflery, archery. I can’t remember all the kids or activities, but I was thrilled to be teaching water skiing. Why they thought it was a good idea to put a bunch of kids in a van driven by a teenager, to be dropped off at a public park and be taught to ski by a teenager in the water, and pulled by a boat driven by a teenager… I don't know. Fortunately we had no major incidents. By the way, the camp director was a wonderful coach at the school who believed in and trusted his staff and had high expectations of all us teenagers and let us know when we weren’t performing up to his high camp standards. One of the best parts of teaching water skiing at this camp was that two people had to go pick up the boat from where it was docked and take it up the lake to where the park where kids were waiting to learn. The instructors usually took turns water skiing to and from the dock to the park. Whoever got the early morning ski, usually had beautifully smooth water that looked like glass. It was good water for slalom and barefoot, especially for the underpowered old boat that struggled to hold a speed. My co-workers were more than gracious with each other, sometimes giving up their turn so someone else could enjoy the smooth water. One day after teaching the kids, it was my turn to ski back to the dock, a storm came up with no warning about 3/4 mile back to the dock… rather than stop, we just decided to hightail it all the way back, the rain felt like rocks hurled from a slingshot and the wind was blowing large waves. I locked my elbows around the rope, closed my eyes and hung on tight. I was never so glad to get back to the dock and get back to shelter. We skied almost every day in those Summers, smooth or rough water and we were thankful for the joyful memories on the water in the sunshine, the opportunity to teach kids a fun sport, and God’s gracious protection.

Some of Jesus' disciples were lake dwellers, fishermen by trade. They had lived on the water everyday and were probably used to some storms, but even so, a tremendous storm came up that caught them by surprise and even scared these seasoned fishermen… but what they had forgotten was that Jesus, the Calm One who Cared for them was in their boat… Here’s the story from Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV): “Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”

Jesus was so calm, he was asleep in the boat in the “furious storm.” His calmness was misinterpreted as not caring. In Mark’s account the disciples said, “don’t you care that we are about to die?” But His care was tremendous, He cared so much He and His calmness and care were with them in the boat. Had the disciples realized that Jesus' top priority was relationship and connection and being there when things were tough, they would also have realized that His calmness was with them too. In another storm, just to show it wasn’t about the storm or the boat or the water, He hightailed them to shore instantly(see John 6:21) so they would understand it’s about connection with Jesus. The miraculous sign was wonderful, but it wouldn’t save them, connection to Him would save them. As we become like Christ, we too will begin to display His character of care, connection, and calmness in the furious storms of life… like during a global pandemic or racial unrest or global dust storm or even murder hornets! We gotta keep calm, we gotta keep connected, gotta keep caring for each other even when the waters aren't smooth.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Who Are You? Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, Who are you? A generous and gracious neighbor and friend who was (and is) an extraordinary Tennessee VOL fan, invited me to a football game to cheer on the Big Orange and stay in his family’s condo at a game in Florida. They had an old ambulance converted into the ultimate tailgate vehicle, all orange, called the “Volmobile,” it said it right on the outside. However, for a little more practicality, he drove us down to the Sunshine State in his father’s stretch black limousine, with a phone (back before many people had phone’s anywhere but in their home). They were giant bricks with a phone cord and handset. We had more fun in that Limo, people would slow down and look to see who was in the back, squinting to try to see through the tinted windows. My friend and I had more fun in the Wendy’s drive-through (He loved everything Wendy’s… Fries, a Frosty and his burger was always “Single, cheese, everything, no pickle”). I would climb into the back and put my dark glasses on day or night. We would give them two separate orders and drive around (he was a very good driver of this extra long vehicle, not bumping any curbs).Just before he would drive up to the window he would put on his chauffeur’s hat and sunglasses, roll down his window, then grab only his order and puuuullll forward slowly, roll down my window so I could grab my order, then roll it up for me while I held the bag and drink. People would ask my friend, who he had in the back. He would make up some famous person’s name, tell them with a straight face, then when we pulled away we would laugh and I’d climb back up to the front seat to eat our #1 meal. I think we even got waved through by the traffic cops in football traffic to the special parking area… It was fun pretending to be someone famous, but we knew we were just normal people in an extraordinarily long vehicle. This friend is always especially humble, generous and really cares about people.

There are many times in my life that I forget who I really am and pretend to still be living like I haven’t connected my life to Jesus. I act like someone else, the old flesh. I sometimes try to solve my problems and pain with worldly remedies… solutions that never work in the long run BTW. There were times I tried to act like I was famous, all you had to do was ask me, or be close enough for me to try to convince you. I had engaged in so much unhealthy self-talk about who I was, I forgot who I really was and Who I am really becoming like… The Good News is that God’s character never changes. He loves us no matter what. He sacrifices so that we are blessed. He gives us the gift of an unending relationship with Him and doesn’t take it away even when we forget, or pretend, or act out of character with our New Self. There can be some discipline from Him for acting badly, but He never disconnects with us. Paul tells those who are connected to Jesus, “For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]” Romans 11:29 (AMP) We gotta keep asking ourselves, “who am I?” And be reminded that we are called by God and gifted by God and blessed by God to be a new creation… a person that loves and values people well, and doesn’t pretend to be better than anyone else... someone who remembers their connection to Jesus and acts like Him even when we are scared or hurting and want to pretend we are someone we aren’t. He makes us a person whose character doesn’t change regardless of the hat we are wearing, the sunglasses we are wearing, the car we are driving, the church we are attending, the career we are pursuing, the friends we have...

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Like Moths To A Flame! Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, Like moths to a flame! As a teen, when I got my driver’s license, I used to drive right by the Krispy Kreme doughnut store a few times a week after “studying” at a friend’s house after swim and/or musical practice. It also happened to be conveniently located right across the street from my home church. Whenever the “HOT DOUGHNUTS NOW” sign was illuminated, I was drawn in like a super magnet to the heart-attack-in-a-warm-sugar ring-on-the-bottom-box, fried dough, making mother ship. It was fun watching the dough plop into the fat to fry, flip, fry some more, then get carried around the conveyor to be smothered in liquid sugar and picked up with a chopstick and put into my white box to let the fat and sugar ooze off to be eaten later. My car seemed to drive itself into the parking lot. Krispy Kreme always had the special, buy one dozen and get the second half price… so, of course, I had to “think of my parents and sister” and make sure they had some fresh deep fried, sugary, all melt-in-your-mouth goodness! And of course I also had to have one of those small milk “chugs” they sold from the refrigerated display to wash them down. My intentions were good to save some for my family, but in the 15 minutes or so driving back to my house I had usually slurped down a dozen of them, like sweet doughy oysters in a food eating contest and started on the second box. Sugar was all over my mouth and car, the tiny baby napkins did nothing to keep the sticky yumminess off of the steering wheel regardless of how many came out of the little shiny dispenser boxes with a spring behind them to push them forward, and you ended up with a hand full. Then before school the next morning, I would warm up the rest for breakfast with a tall glass of milk… occasionally there would be a doughnut left for my family. Why do we do this?! The writer of Proverbs warns us, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Proverbs 26:11 (NIV) I was probably self medicating the complex stresses of being a teenager. There is actually scientific evidence that we are drawn toward fatty, sugary foods under stress and they trigger a part of the brain that rewards us with a little dopamine that makes us feel better… temporarily. (For some reason, I couldn’t figure out why I kept having reflux at night and headaches at school from the sugar crash mid-morning…)

There is good news for us… we don’t have to keep medicating with dozens of Krispy Kreme doughnuts or other not great for you stuff that makes us feel better for a moment but brings harm and even shame in the long run… this list can be long for me! Most of the unhealthy things we consume, whether food, drink, or activities usually end up consuming us... making us slaves to having more. Peter reminds us who we are and we aren’t slaves anymore to the HOT DOUGHNUTS NOW sign or whatever the particular trigger is for us. When we belong to Jesus and His people, we don’t have to return to the folly of our own personal dysfunctional habit mother ship to medicate, we are now free to enjoy God’s Joy and give it out freely to others who are hurting and needing some dopamine too. Peter says, “Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want. 1 Peter 4:1-2 (MSG) As we connect to God, we can begin to think, act, and become like Jesus. So, the next time you feel like you need a couple of dozen doughnuts or whatever, try stopping hanging out with Jesus and letting Him remind you of who you are now. We also need to connect to some people who act like Jesus and can gently remind us to do the same and we return the favor when needed.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Happy Father's Day!* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, Happy Father’s Day! My Dad was one of those guys who could diagnose and fix anything. He was a part of the wonderful builder generation that humbly made our country great. He was the ultimate Boy Scout, because he was always prepared and a jack of all trades. I think the show "MacGyver" should have actually been called "McGinnis" because with a paperclip and a little piece of tape my Dad could fix anything. This attribute came in handy because he loved to drive Jeep Wagoneers, famous for going anywhere, but also needing lots of repairs and specifically universal joints. We were on our way to Florida one year on vacation, and the Jeep began to wobble and make funny noises. I was sad, because I thought we would have to get the car towed and return home, but of course, Dad never even blinked. He put on the coveralls he kept in the back for just such an occasion, crawled under the Jeep and removed the universal joint and engaged the front wheel drive… and voila’, vacation saved! As a physician he was a gifted diagnostician, he could determine what was going on and treat it with the right stuff. He was gentle and caring. He retired early and took his doctor training and gifts around the world on 35 different mission trips, most with his medical transcriber in tow, his sweety, my Mom. Because of his diverse skills he not only treated people medically, he could build a building or dig a well or run excavating equipment. He could hunt and fish with the best and was a dead eye sure shot with a gun or bow. He built his own log home with a set of plans and a couple of helpers. One of his greatest most selfless acts was taking care of my mother “in sickness and in health” and “‘til death do us part.” For 17 years he used all of his gifts to care for my mother with Alzheimer’s. A couple of years ago after her passing, his health required the help of assisted living. His body is no longer able to do the tasks it once was, but still full of love and care, and this year he was blessed with a bonus wife. She is a beautiful woman who had a full life of love and care for her own family and now they are wonderful companions. I could write volumes about this man, whom I am blessed to call my father. Happy Father’s Day Dad!

My dad grew up right next to the church he attended all his life. His pastor told him about Jesus when he was a boy (I too decided to follow Jesus in that same church at about the same age). He married a godly woman and they had my sister and me in worship and Bible Study each week of our growing up years. Now, we and our families have found the joy of knowing that God is always with us. As the wisest-man-ever once wrote, “In the [reverent] fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, And His children will [always] have a place of refuge.” Proverbs‬ ‭14:26‬ ‭AMP‬‬ I’m thankful to have a dad who could confidently fix anything, but also know that God has been with him since boyhood and that confidence was passed along to us. Regardless of who our earthly father is, we all have a Heavenly Father who can fix anything and loves us, cares for us, and gives us Jesus.., and we too can pass that love, care and confidence in Jesus to our children.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Counting Your Blessings! Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, Counting your blessings! As I count my blessings this Father’s Day Weekend, one is my Father-in-law. This tall, well dressed, well spoken, gentle giant of a man, is a great leader. He has led in the corporate world with Dean Witter/Discover/Sears in cities across the United States. A man of integrity sought out for deacon boards, finance committees, and other leadership opportunities in the church, this great Bible Study teacher always looked for a church home the first Sunday in every new city his career placed him. He has raised two wonderful children, their spouses, and 6 grandchildren and their significant others. His generosity seems to have no end. He has helped provide vehicles for my growing family, helped with clothes, vacations and in countless other ways. He even invited all six of us and a street rescue dog to live in his home when we were “homeless” between churches. He let us stay when the dog kept climbing over his prized Corvette, breaking through the garage window screen to escape and chase neighborhood domestic rabbits, Governor’s Club golf balls, and golfers who may have seemed too close to “her territory.” His patience is enviable. He has a special relationship with each of my children, impacting their lives at significant times in their growing up years and still now as young adults. He and Nana showed up for every special milestone and event in their lives, with praise, gifts, and endless words of encouragement. He is quite the grill chef… burgers, brats, flank steak, brisket, ribs, pork… His Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts are unrivaled. His love and care for people comes out in the wonderful food he prepares and serves for his family and friends. He is a great husband to a wonderful wife. He is a great duck hunter, skeet shooter and golfer… his duck salad is the best way I have ever enjoyed eating wild duck! He is a gifted wood carver and has carved wonderful geese, ducks and other waterfowl with grace and precision. He has given these as priceless wedding gifts to Anita and me and my recently married children. His writings are thoughtful and encouraging. After our broken engagement and reuniting, when hearts were tender, raw and broken, his thoughtfully written words and careful wood carving brought hope and healing to our lives. He spoke of how when making the Canada Goose it was made in three separate parts that were fused together. Two separate parts made the body, but without the connection to the third part, the head, the two parts meant nothing. He spoke about the two body parts representing Anita and me that would become “one” and that Christ was the head of the marriage, without Him the relationship would be meaningless. Love and respect for Christ and each other would prevail as the foundation for a happy home.

This is great wisdom for all of us… when marriages, churches, and communities are broken, we need Christ, the Head of us all to join us together, lead us and heal us. Paul spoke of how love and respect were so important and that “...Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.” Ephesians 5:23 (CSBBible) I’m so thankful for Jesus and this man I count as a blessing, a second father to me, and spiritual patriarch for his clan. His wisdom from Above points us all toward Jesus and healthy connection. Happy Father’s Day Glenn! Thank you for the ways you lead under the headship of Christ.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Things Aren't Always As They Appear! Words from COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, Things aren’t always as they appear. On vacation one year, we
awoke the first morning to clouds, and fog so heavy it made your clothes wet if you stepped outside. But undeterred, I was determined to enjoy my vacation, fog or no fog! I checked with the family to see if anyone wanted to go for a bike ride and my youngest said she would go. (BTW Happy 21st Birthday Annabelle McGinnis!) We headed through the fog soup toward the marina. Visibility was near zero, but we followed the trails and streets until we arrived at the end of the island at the marina. We parked the bikes and walked into the marine supply store to look around. It was like a scene from a scary movie. The lights were dim and blinky fluorescent bulbs, making it hard to see, and the store was empty. Then some sailors came into the store. Charter boat captains, I assume. They had the dingy, (not to be confused with dinghy) yellow colored, head to toe rain suits… like they had just walked off a ghost ship… it sent a chill up your spine. It didn’t help that my voracious reader daughter, who had quite an imagination, was with me. As my irrational discomfort turned into wide eyed fear, I felt more and more silly, but no less scared. And whether it was happening or not with my daughter, I thought I saw a little fear in her eyes too. Each of us stoking the fear we perceived in each other. We quickly made an escape plan from the dimly lit store, passing the extra large hooks, gaffs, fish knives, and Spam, avoiding the yellow clad spectors, whom I was certain I heard talking like pirates… “Arrgh… I think we’ll be need’n’ some chucky chum for the sharks today”... My daughter and I walked faster toward the exit as they made their way toward us down the end of the aisle of the marina store at the end of the isle. As we rushed out the door and stumbled down the steps, we jumped on our bikes and peddled away from those Pirates of the Carolinas, hearts beating faster than any workout we thought we may have had on those bicycles. We came back to the rental excitedly telling our story of our harrowing experience. But somehow, when the fog had cleared and I rode back to the marina store with my wife later that day, the ghostly, haunted marina was a beautiful resort marina surrounded by luxury vessels ready for fun and enjoyment. My wife has never let me forget this confused perception of this beautiful and welcoming environment.

Fear can do that to us all… it can change our perspective of reality. It changes how we think. Fear shuts down the rational and relational parts of the brain. It makes us see enemies, when there are none. Fear in us can instill fear to those around us too, it can be contagious. God gives us fear for protection, there are some scary situations that we need to be aware of and avoid, or confront, but if we confront everything from a fear perspective, we lose the reality that God loves and cares for us and we forget how to love and care for others. We move into protection mode and we begin to fear everything. “The disciple whom Jesus loved,” encourages us to not let our lives be driven by fear, but by love. The apostle John says,
“There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:18-19 (CSBBible) Remember things aren’t always as they appear, remember God is love and we love because God first loved us. Let love replace your fear, because fear can easily manipulate us into thoughts and actions that are not loving at all.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, We Are All Different and We Have to Love Each Other: Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, We are all different and we have to love each other. To my diverse group of Facebook friends, I count it a great privilege to call you all friends. Some of you knew me as a child, some as a teen, some as a young adult, some from young married life and beyond. Some of you have seen and heard me at my worst, for that I apologize, and some of you have seen me at the moments God has blessed me to bring you some little bit of joy or encouragement in some way. Thank all of you for your friendships! As I look at you all, you are a diverse group of wonderful people representing a wide variety of causes, ideologies, ways to live your life, and ways to practice your faith. I would love to sit down at the table with you all together and allow you to get to know one another. You each have much to bring… a word of encouragement, a testimony to God’s goodness, a love story, a moment of fun, an embarrassing human moment to share. I would love for you to see and hear the diverse blessings each of you bring to the table. Many of you don’t think or act alike at all, yet each of you are a unique blessing in my life. I would like for us to have the chance to honor each other as God’s children, love each other and trust God’s Holy Spirit to make it clear to each of us what we should know and how to live wisely based on His Truth. If I distance myself from you and refuse to listen, it is so much easier for me to say, “you are not my people,” and when I do, I give myself permission to begin to fight, defend, and hate. My anger escalates and I fight to win at all costs. I’m not suggesting we should embrace a form of humanism where anything goes, we all need God’s boundaries and rules, but I am suggesting that when we speak to someone about our differences in opinion that we do it respectfully in love, still realizing that each person is created in God’s image and innately valuable. You see, if we are sitting shoulder to shoulder at the same table we can have discussion, and these can even be lively as we defend the values we hold most dear to us. However, when we get ourselves into trouble is when we begin to act superior to each other and justify it by our own arguments and others with whom we agree. When we sit down at the Facebook table, I have seen some of the people I care about tear each other apart, because we have said, “you are wrong, I am right, and therefore you are not my people.”

Notice how Jesus valued everyone. He never said, “these are not my people.” He did have a problem with those who had already decided in their arrogance that they were right and good and everyone who thought differently was wrong. We all have our junk, stinking ways of thinking, and bad behavior, so none of us is good or right… That’s why we need a Savior, we need Jesus… He is Good and He is Right… and His words to us are to love one another, to even love those you consider your enemies. I have never been converted to someone else’s opinion about anything from them yelling at me, attacking my way of thinking or calling me names. I’ve never stopped and said, “you know I think this person who is calling me names and attacking my ideologies is right, I think I’ll change my mind.” Most of the time I jump into the fight and begin questioning their intelligence and calling them names too, or running away in fear or at the least unfriending them. All we have accomplished is devaluing the other person, no one is lifted up, no cause is valuably furthered, and no love has been extended. Jesus didn’t tell Nicodemis, “For God so loved the Pharisees or Sadducees or Jews or Gentiles or Democrats or Republicans or whatever other group I claim…” He said, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (CSBBible) The language is inclusive… the whole “world” and “everyone.” Since God loves this way, we have to ask Him to show us how to love this way too. Ask Him how we keep on loving when people keep being mean. Jesus kept being the loving, forgiving person He always was even when being beaten and crucified.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Contentment? Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, Contentment? We were on our way back from our honeymoon in “Paradise,” when, as planned, we flew into DFW airport to make a visit to the seminary where I was pretty certain I would be starting classes the next semester. We went from the creature comforts of beautiful island scenery, pleasant accommodations, transportation, and a relaxed pace, to the hot, dry, hustle and bustle of the Dallas-Ft.Worth metroplex. Southwestern seminary was beautiful, but noticing the grand scale transition in physical comfort level was unavoidable. From driving a convertible exploring the tranquil beauty of a Hawaian Island to a tiny compact car, contemptuously named “Jellybean,” trying to survive navigating Metroplex traffic with speeding cars and trucks on converging interstates from every part of the country. From a comfortable condo with an ocean view, the sounds of peaceful waves breaking on the rocks and sand and cool breezes, to a dirty hotel room, with sticky carpet, threadbare sheets that your toes stick through and a view of a sweltering blacktop parking lot foreground and interstate background and all the sounds that go with them and a part-time air conditioner. Anita and I chuckled together at the stark differences that we wondered if they foreshadowed what lay ahead the next few years. God blessed us with a marvelous church, wonderful friends, our own little fixer-upper, and wonderful mentors, who taught me a deepening faith, but most importantly, God’s assured us that He was with us. The faith I had known to that point was faith in a middle class home and church with the comforts that go along with it, but I didn’t know what it was like to have to trust God for the next mortgage payment or car repair and still trust God enough to tithe. I continue to find that God is faithful to be with us in all our circumstances whether with ocean breezes or sweltering dry places or cozy accommodations or freezing cold winters… Christ is still teaching me how to be content in Him and to see His marvelous provision and presence and the comfort of connection to His wonderful people.

The Apostle Paul had survived all kinds of hardships, from shipwrecks, to beatings, to running for his life. He had known privilege, a great education, popularity and power but he came to know that life and faith was much more than circumstances on this planet. He tells us,
“... for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. ‘I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content - whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.’” Philippians 4:11-13 (CSBBible) As we look at our lives and the sometimes uncomfortable circumstances we are in, we begin to understand that this world is not our permanent home that we are citizens of heaven, but while we continue to dwell here we can handle anything because we have the Spirit of “God With Us” as a reminder and deposit of what He has in store for us for eternity. We can be content in “any and all circumstances.”

Hang in there people! God IS with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Are You Up And Gone To Carolina? Word From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, are you up and gone to Carolina?  We had a group of family friends that would take an annual trek to the Carolina coast when I was a child.  Those times were filled with beach days, crabbing, mini-golf, and lots of fried shrimp.  The place made it fun, but the people made it special... family time uninterrupted by all the activities of home… fun times making memories with friends in the sun, surf and sand.  From the time Anita and I were dating, the Carolina coast has been special to us too.  Her Aunt, who lived on the Isle of Palms used to host a reunion about every other year. Everyone would gather for a week-long celebration of all the celebrations and milestones we had missed together. She made every person feel special and made matching T-shirts so that everyone belonged. Kind encouraging words were spoken and many meals were shared shoulder to shoulder and laughter was only a moment away.  The Carolina cousins now keep the tradition going since her aunt’s passing.  Once again, the place is wonderful, but the people are what make it special.  Of course one of our favorite songs is “Carolina in My Mind.” James Taylor apparently wrote the song from a far away place, homesick for the people he loved and belonged to.  The love of the people who spoke gentle and kind words to him and familiarity of the place seemed to call out to him.   I love the line he sings: 

“There ain't no doubt in no one's mind

That love's the finest thing around

Whisper something soft and kind

And hey babe, the sky's on fire

I'm dying, ain't I?

Gone to Carolina in my mind”

Paul, the Apostle, was writing to some people he loved, who had apparently forgotten how to treat the people to whom they belonged.  He writes to them from a far away place reminding them, “love’s the finest thing around.” He says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8,13 (NIV)  This year’s Carolina reunion has been postponed due to COVID 19, but memories of the love and laughter of those to whom we belong are calling out to us, reminding us that “love’s the finest thing around!” During these crazy times of uncertainty and turmoil, let Jesus whisper words soft and kind to you and then pass them along to those you love whether you are close to them or far away. 

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Joy Is High Octane Fuel For Us: Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, Joy is high octane fuel for us… In what I call the olive press years of my life, squeezed between the pressing needs of my young growing family and the demands of ministry, and some other important life priorities, some things got pushed to the back of the plate. Checking the gas gauge on my car on a regular basis was one of those. Between taking kids to school, sports, and dance, hospital and funeral visitation, local denominational connections, trips to check on extended family, etc, I was known to have the gas gauge frequently below a ¼ of a tank most of the time. One morning taking my son to school, we were almost to school when the engine stopped. I wondered what had happened and yes, a glance at the dash indicated I was out of gas… Fortunately I was going down a hill and there was a gas station at the bottom of the hill on the other side of the street… If the Good Lord was willing and no oncoming traffic stopped me, I figured I could coast right up to the pump and I prayed a quick prayer for those very things to happen. God answered and I coasted in, happy and celebrating at God’s provision. I looked at my son and saw some distress on his face… an unintended consequence of not checking my fuel level and running out of gas.

If we get too caught up in the tasks we are responsible for, we can run out of the fuel God designed for us to run on, Joy. We get some Joy in our tank when someone is glad to be with us. The greatest source of unending Joy is God, He is always glad to be with us. We can get some joy from other people who are glad to be with us too. This source is not always as reliable unless we have some high Joy people around us; count them all as blessings if you do. We can get some joy from pets. My dog is almost always glad to be with us, wagging her whole body when we walk in the door. We can sometimes enjoy ourselves when we are glad to be doing a favorite hobby or activity. The great prophet and rebuilder of Jerusalem, Nehemiah, was concerned that the people he loved were sad and depressed, so he reminded them that God’s Joy is their best fuel. He says, “... the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10b (CSBBible) Sometimes amidst our serious circumstances and the tasks that fill our calendar we can forget to check if we have enough joy fuel to give us the strength to make it through. Our engine can run a little while on stress, fear, anger, but it eventually destroys our engine. All those negative emotions have unintended consequences on those we love and all of our relationships too. We gotta check the gauges, before we have to coast into the pump, or worse, be towed to the station. We gotta go to the Source of Joy, then we will have the strength for our journey! Take time to hang out with Jesus, He’s always glad to be with you.

Hang in there people! God is glad to be with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, What Gets You Crosswise?* Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, what gets you crosswise? Most cars I have owned in my adult life have been reliable used cars graciously given or at a generous discount. One day I had the exhilarating privilege of driving an extended family member’s new 2005, C6, Mag Red, Corvette Museum Delivery, Corvette… It looked really cool, sounded really tough with custom pipes and was as clean as a whistle. My son and I climbed in and took it for a spin. I was just pulling out of the neighborhood and hit the accelerator like my own car and just like that we were crosswise in the street, tires spinning and I had lost control. Fortunately, no one was on the road and I regained control just before a police officer came over the hill. Still shaking, I drove the 4 wheeled rocket around the block without touching the accelerator and carefully drove it back into the driveway. I had no idea how much power was under the hood… 400 HP in a sports car proved to be more than I was ready for.

Sometimes I get crosswise with people when I don’t realize how much power my words have. I say things without thinking and the impact can get me crosswise. James, the brother of Jesus knows that we all mess up in this way and reminds us that this doesn’t match who we are in Christ… “And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can't go on. James 3:2-10 (MSG) Jesus words are CROSS WISE, not crosswise… He knows exactly who He is, and what He came to earth to do, and His words always truly reflect His Character. Our words have tremendous power, as a friend of mine says a lot, “words matter!” Before we get crosswise, let's get Cross Wise, by spending some time with Jesus and learn from Him how to act and speak in a way that nurtures relationships, rather than testing them.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, Just When You Thought...* Words from COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, Just when you thought…
As a 20ish year old , my parents took my sister and me to Hawaii, to celebrate a major anniversary for them. In my young, silly, “ten foot tall and made of steel” arrogance, I thought I would try surfing... without lessons. Besides, I reasoned, I had spent most of my life in the water: swim team, lifeguard, water-skier, boogie-boarder, skim-boarder… So I rented a big board, swam way out where the waves were breaking and surfers were waiting. I arrived and watched those around me for a moment. The waves didn’t seem to be too big, I thought this shouldn’t be hard. I found a wave and paddled to catch it. I was surprised by its tremendous power when I was plunged to the bottom, spun head over heels like I was in a front loading washer: human, and foam, and water… lots of water and sand, and human, foam, water, sand… I finally found which way was up and poked my head above the surface and gasped for air. By the way, my board, the one I had rented without the foot harness, ‘cause I didn’t figure I needed one, was surfing just fine the 100 yards back to shore without me. I hadn’t quite caught my breath when another wave plunged me to the bottom again, washer on the second cycle… This time when I surfaced, I figured I better start swimming. So, these humbling swirlies from mother nature happened again and again on the long swim back to shore. By the time I arrived back on solid ground, found my board, I only had enough energy to drag the giant thing back to the shack and fall exhausted on the beach. There were several moments on the terrifying swim back when I was slammed to the ocean floor, that my prayer life improved tremendously… “God, please save me!”

During these times, just when we thought, “what else can happen?” another wave hits us… COVID, lost economy, storms, more human tragedy, angry riots, fires, billowing smoke.... Peter reminds us of the words of the Prophet Joel during his great sermon at Pentecost: “I'll set wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, Blood and fire and billowing smoke, the sun turning black and the moon blood-red, Before the Day of the Lord arrives, the Day tremendous and marvelous; And whoever calls out for help to me, God, will be saved." Acts 2:19-21 (MSG) 3000 people that day connected their lives with God by calling out, “Please save me!” Sometimes God allows us to get to a place where all we can do is call to Him. When we do, God answers immediately. Like when Peter, who had courageously climbed out of the boat to walk on water, “... saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt??" Matthew 14:30-31 (CSBBible) Join me in calling out to Jesus… knowing that He is immediately ready to grab us, connect with us and see us through these waves.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, An Enneawhat? Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, An enneawhat? As a sociology major and pastor, personality inventories have been interesting to me… Meyers-Briggs, DISC, MMPI. So, when the enneagram became popular, I was interested. Though there are nearly infinite genetic possibilities, we humans seem to want some handles on how people behave or misbehave, act or act out, so we can make sense of our interpersonal world. We all have positive traits, but our negative traits can quickly reveal our fallenness. I took the inventory and I'm Enneagram 7, as best I can determine. The nickname for a 7 is “The Enthusiast.” Apparently, as we respond to the challenges of our world, we are typified by spinning everything (even things that are not positive at all) to the positive and frequently having FOMO (fear of missing out - a phrase coined by Patrick McGinnis, to whom I have no known relation, which would be frustrating to enneagram 4, who apparently likes to name drop). We avoid negative feelings like the plague by running away to try as many new experiences as possible. One famous 7 is children’s author E.B. White, who wrote Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, among others. He is quoted as saying, “I get up every morning determined both to change the world and have a (expletive) of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.” It can be like living out the Muppets Song, “I Hope That Somethin’ Better Comes Along.” We are consistently inconsistent searching for happiness and trying to change the world for the better. It’s sometimes hard for us to focus, because we are endlessly scanning the horizon for the next new exciting thing, leaving unfinished projects and frustrated relationships in our wake. We may have great ideas, but following them through to completion is difficult. Like gift wrapping jello, we are hard to pin down… as you can imagine, schools, jobs or situations that call for a commitment to buckle down, put our nose to the grindstone and finish a task is a challenge. I am thankful for a wife who has loved me consistently for 30 years, through all my incomplete projects, unrealized plans, and lack of constancy. While I’m continually maneuvering to reveal the best side of things, she lives in the real world and keeps me grounded, yet she doesn’t kill my spirit by squashing my imagination… thankful for her grace. I’m so grateful that God makes us a new creation and changes us. He takes the worst traits of our personality inventories and makes us into new whole creations, redeeming us for His great work as ambassadors for His Kingdom. As God changes me, He reminds me that a consistent committed relationship with Him brings stability and peace to my life.

Regardless of our enneagram, Meyers-Briggs, MMPI, God loves us and sees us for who we really are, for who He created us to be, untainted by our sin and our feeble attempts to respond to this fallen world. Paul reminds us who we now are… the best expression of the personality God gave us, without the negative manifestations from our sin nature. He says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (CSBBible) These difficult times we live in can tempt us to self-protect and respond to people from the worst of our personality traits. We can let God’s Spirit remind us who we really are as we read His Word and connect with His perfection.

Hang in People! God is with us! I’m praying for you!

Parents, These Are My People! Words From COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, these are my people! A few weeks ago, I talked about joining my college cheer squad and I said “these are my people!” They are hyper, loud, enthusiastic encouragers, who may have also been just a little narcissistic (okay, some of us a little more than others). When I joined the cheer squad, for various reasons, I let go of some other groups I was in and didn’t actively seek any new ones. I was comfortable with “my people.” There was a friend on that squad who was our mascot, even before we had an official mascot suit, he was our mic-man who led our cheers and then he was a cheerleader. He was always a vital part of our school spirit team. He was interesting to me, because even though he said of the cheer squad, “these are my people,” he also said that of many other groups he was a part of, it was just who he was. He was comfortable with who he was, regardless of the group. One of those groups was the Student League for Black Culture, did I mention my friend was white... blond hair, blue eyes, kinda unmistakably white. This group had an incredibly talented gospel choir, and when they performed, there, right there in the middle was his shining white face, smiling, singing, swaying, connecting, praising God… You see he never said, “these are not my people,” and the SLBC never said, “he’s not our people.” In spite of the visible differences, they found the ways they were alike in Christ, learned from the ways they were different and they all said, “these are my people!” They belonged to Christ and to His people and so to each other. He says this experience changed his whole perspective on life. This friend is a minister in Georgia now, he will be joining a whole host of pastors around the country of every color, trying to bring some hope and preach in the Name of Love to God’s hurting people this weekend.

God had to affirm to the apostle Peter that the Gospel was for everyone and that it transformed all who belong to Him into a New People. Peter then tells us, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV) When we belong to Christ we now say “these are my people,” because we all belong to His People and to each other. Like my friend, we need not be afraid to say, “these are my people,” even if we don’t all look the same. In Christ we are His people, a royal priesthood; we are God’s representatives in a hurting and fallen world, caring for and inviting others to become His People too.

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!

Parents, We Need Shalom!** Words from COVID 19 quarantine

Parents, We need ‏שָׁלוֹם‎, Shalom. When we started having kids, they just kept coming… 4 in 4 years (1995, 1996, 1998, 1999)… I didn’t know that was possible… our parents kept asking us if “we knew what was causing this.” Along with the many blessings of 4 preschoolers in one home, came the not so much blessing of no sleep. From 1995 through 2005, I did not sleep through the night without being awakened by one of my 4 little blessings. There was lots of rocking in the glider, warm bottles, changing diapers, and just plain scared of the dark. If they all slept through the night, it was a rare occurrence that was celebrated with a happy dance in the morning. The mornings involved a lot of coffee to give us enough energy for the day. The good news was that my kids were very resourceful. Once, when Anita and I and my mother-in-law were so exhausted from a newborn up all night, and we were not physically able get out of bed, my son who was 3 got a chair, climbed in the pantry for cereal, cabinets for bowls, silver drawer for spoons, and the refrigerator for milk for himself and his 2 year old sister. We arrived in the kitchen to their happy laughter as they finished their bowls of cereal. 

Did I mention, my brain doesn’t work well on too little sleep? When something happened to upset the applecart, like a child got sick, or an incident happened at the church, I didn’t have many emotional or physical resources to set it back up, so the upset continued and unfortunately everyone around me knew it. I had lost sight of His Shalom. There were days of exhaustion with no end in sight. Anita, however, was the rock, she had some mother energy that I knew not of. I would go to work at the church all day and some nights and would come home to help, but she was on mom duty 24/7. When the kids were having trouble going to sleep, she used to keep teaching them King David’s evening prayer… “I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8 The word David uses for “peace” and here is the meaning packed, Hebrew word Shalom, which also carries the concepts of wholeness, completeness, soundness, health, safety and prosperity, and also carries with it the implication of permanence. It is the kind of peace that comes from God that is not upset by any earthly circumstances. The peace promised by we earthlings is fleeting at best, but God’s peace is so much more.

In the midst of all the turmoil going on in the world… the kinds of things that can keep us up at night, we need Shalom. The weeping prophet Jeremiah tells us to seek it and pray for it for our cities.(Jeremiah 29:7) When Jesus was about to be crucified, and resurrected and ascend to the Father, He promises all those who belong to Him: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful. John 14:27 (CSBBible) His peace is permanent, complete, whole, healing, sound, blessing, and safe. If you are tempted to be fearful, remember Who you belong to. You are His and He promises us a peace that goes beyond understanding and circumstance. When you have Shalom you can bless those around you. You can continue to pray for the Shalom of your city…

Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!