Old Blue, Faithful and True!*

Not long after getting married, Anita bought me a hybrid Raleigh mountain bike. I was so excited. I had a wanderlust for riding that relieved some of life’s frustrations and gave me an outlet for my ADHD (at least temporarily). She knew I loved biking because I had ridden a cheap, old style 3 speed, with fenders, and a basket, that I had bought from a garage sale while at Seminary. That PeeWee Herman style bike may have embarrassed her a little. Perhaps she bought it to give her a break from my sometimes smothering style of relational affection (handed successfully down to me from my mother).  That bike is now affectionately known as Old Blue. It has faithfully propelled me down many rural roads and nature trails in Columbus, GA; neighborhood routes and trails in Austin, TX; urban riverfront greenways and back streets in Nashville, TN; a hundred plus mile, two-day adventure fundraiser called “Jack and Back” from Franklin to Lynchburg, TN;  riverfront and mountain beauty in Chattanooga,TN;  miles of gorgeous bike paths in Dublin and Columbus, OH and miles of oceanfront roads and beaches while on vacations. In my first church, a medical professional told me I needed to make sure I included physical activity in my daily routine because of the stressful situations I would face in ministry. I enjoyed biking, it was a little faster than walking, but slow enough to enjoy the scenery. Every chance I get, I try to bikexplore and bikenjoy the places where God has me. For some years, it was just me. Then the adventures included a bike for Anita, and then each of  4 kids except the ones temporarily in the trailer connected to Old Blue. Then, as the kids had interests of their own, it was back to just me and Old Blue again. Occasionally Anita would join me on her mother’s mountain bike. In Dublin, OH though, as Anita and I were driving,  looking for a new home, we noticed a tandem hybrid at the street in one neighborhood. I said, “I wonder if that is for sale,” and then I asked Anita if she would ride it with me? We stopped and we could hear a man from the garage say, “$25 bucks!”. We began to talk and he, in a thick New Jersey accent, told us that he was a policeman. He discovered that I was a pastor. He excitedly told us he was married to a pastor's daughter, so he wanted to give us the tandem.  Anita and I tried it the first time… quite a feat of trust for a strong independent woman, riding behind someone  when she had no control over speed or direction.  She loved it though. We rode that thing exploring our new city, until literally, it fell apart, beyond repair and we had to call our daughter to come rescue us. Then we bought another tandem cruiser, known as Big Red, and rode it everywhere… until we moved back to TX where the heat caused a steering malfunction and we crashed breaking Anita’s pelvis. Then it was back to Old Blue as Anita healed her bones and worked on trusting me and the bike to take her safely on two wheeled adventures again. Old Blue is over 30 years old, has been tuned up several times, had a new gear cassette, new tires, cables, and chains, new grips and seems to still be strong enough for off road (known to me as “tree bashing”) trips (though trail rides are much more tame than the challenging terrain of yesteryear for this old man). Old Blue has been faithful and true, even through flats, crashes, long grueling rides and lost trails. 

The Apostle John wanted to reassure those in the early church who may have been unsure about what he future held for them. He knew that Jesus could always be trusted for their future. Times were difficult and uncertain. Governments, rulers, even neighbors and some so called friends couldn’t be trusted.  John spoke of Jesus, the conquering Messiah, who would rescue them and defeat His enemies, those who were persecuting His favorite people. John says, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”(Revelation 19:11–16 NIV)  Jesus is faithful and true and will see us  through whatever it is we are facing! 

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

Just Don't!*

 

My family had a mini-farm, 7 acres on the Little Tennessee river that we would visit on weekends and some afternoons when I was in elementary school. I learned to garden, fish, shoot a gun, ride a pony, whittle a stick of wood, pick fresh cherries and eat them right off the tree, and run from an angry rooster (a whole other story). I also learned some new ways to aggravate my sister. One cold day we were checking to see if the electric fence was working. I pulled the finger of my glove away from my finger, so as to not complete the circuit, and touched the fence, saying to my sister casually, “it’s not on.” Her response was to grab it with her whole hand (aaaand wait for it) ZAP came the electric pulse. “OW!” she shrieked,  as I laughed and ran away. She was mad as a wet banty hen, which gave her a little extra closing speed. If I hadn’t had a bit of a head start, she would have caught me…! My parents reminded me, ahem, exhorted me, (read disciplined me), saying that we don’t treat our siblings that way. And my sister may have taken the next opportunity to smash a Hostess Twinkie in my face.  (Thank goodness we now treat one  another a little better). 

In the early church God’s people apparently weren’t treating their Christian brothers and sisters very well. So Paul reminded them to be kind and gentle with each other, stick together and act like people who belong to Jesus. He says, “ Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:2-3  So, the next time we are thinking of being unkind to someone, anyone, just don’t. 

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

Are You Fatigued*

I took Military Science class in College, mainly because I needed another college credit and a couple of friends were in ROTC and they needed soldiers to lead as they trained for service. Both of these men served our country well… thanks and kudos to them and all those who solemnly swore “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic…” The class came with a lab, which was actually field training. We put on Army issued fatigues and boots, we marched, carried stoppered weapons, learned to ford a raging creek with a rope, repel and do push ups… I am thankful for the small taste of the training our service people go through, it makes me appreciate them even more. We took an overnight FTX, a Field Training Exercise, somewhere in the North Carolina mountains. It was dark and we hiked toward our target. With weapons and a 30 pound pack… and we hiked, and we hiked, we got lost, and for 3 straight hours we hiked. We finally made it to our target point, then we engaged the “enemy.” For a while adrenaline perked us up from the all night hike. We dove into ditches to dodge grenade simulators and enemy “fire” and took over a small “fort.” When the battle was over my M16 was traded for a much heavier M60 from the guy who had to leave for a wedding (a privilege of not being real enlisted soldiers)... with which I again got to hike through the mountains. Then my pack was traded for a heavier military communications pack, that again, you guessed it, I had the privilege of hiking through the mountains. When the FTX was over when the Sun began to rise, after we disassembled, cleaned and reassembled our weapons, and ate some MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) breakfast, the cadre of officers rewarded everyone with a surprise for their hard work. Normally, I would have been really excited to rappel down Grandfather Mountain, in NC, but because I was so fatigued in my fatigues, I couldn’t enjoy it. My mind was foggy and my body was exhausted, I wasn’t even sure I had secured my harness well. I wasn’t present enough to relish the experience with my friends and colleagues. I made it down the mountain with shaky muscles, but not with the exhilaration it should have brought. I was just too tired. 

Sometimes we are just tired, fatigued. Life can get exhausting. The things we would normally enjoy are not as enjoyable because we are just tired. Work, family, friends, demanding schedule, even fun; too much of them can get the best of us sometimes. The weights piled on your shoulders can seem to be increasing as you get more tired. Don’t forget to rest. Don’t forget to refresh. Take a timeout, a Shabbat. Find some time to step away from all the stress. Rest, connect with God, then do something fun. Then you can reconnect and bring your best self to those you love and care about. Get a dose of God’s joy and return to share it with those around you. 

Listen to Isaiah’s reminder to those who follow God: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding. He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the LORD will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31 (CSB) 

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

(Updated version of an older post)

Sailing Into Trouble!*

 

Sailing into trouble. All my growing up years, my mother wanted my sister and me to have to have a well rounded childhood experience. She enrolled us in diving, swim, skiing, television, tennis, art, drama, music, sports, and several other kinds of lessons. When I was in my pre-teens she put me and my sibling into a sailing class. I don’t know what I was expecting. Perhaps my pre-adolescent mind pictured a pirate ship with giant square sails, men with eye patches, peg legs, or hook arms, yelling at me to: “hoist the mainsail,” “swab the deck,” or call me a “limey,” or a “scurvy dog.” Or maybe I imagined one of those racing schooners that I had seen on the black and white TV and people quickly raising and lowering large triangular white sheets and hanging off the side to keep it from capsizing, while waves threatened to knock them into the drink at any minute.  My fears were alleviated when we showed up at Ft. Loudon Lake to find some tiny tubs with one sail and one single mast, Sunfish sailboat. The instructor was laid back but got right to work teaching us the terminology of sailing vessels, teaching how to rig the boat, and coaching us on the navigation rules on the Tennessee River. The first week we never even got in the water. As a young man of action, I was reluctant to return, but my mother, who needed some time with us “out of her hair,”insisted that we try it again. This time we actually, one by one, got into the Sunfish with the instructor, and sailed a bit. I did enjoy it. We returned each week of the class and learned to sail solo. Unfortunately, there was only one Sunfish, but the instructor was quick to point out that we had the small tubs with sails we could use, we were all skeptical. One day, my ADHD self could wait no longer for the Sunfish to come back, so I decided to try one of the tiny boats. They are smaller than a bathtub and quite unstable.  I quickly found out why no one was using these boats… as soon as I got into the boat it began filling with water, but I kept going at the urging of the instructor, who assumed they were self-bailing like the Sunfish.  As I inserted the small daggerboard (used to keep the boat from capsizing) and got some wind in the sail, the boat began to move, but took on water even more quickly. By the time I was a few yards from shore, I and the boat were under water.  The instructor apologized for the equipment and dragged the boat back to shore as I swam back in. We all had on lifejackets, so we weren’t in any danger.  It wasn’t exactly a shipwreck, but in my imagination… I had to avoid being attacked by sharks…  or at least being gummed to death by a suckermouthed carp nestled in the mud at the bottom of what we fondly called “Lake Nasty.” Our beloved body of water had earned the moniker when the water treatment plant had “mistakenly”  been dumping raw sewage into the river a few miles upstream for years (a problem now rectified… according to officials). I went home and took a good bath… and only sailed in the reliable, stable, Sunfish for the remaining lessons. (Years later, I enjoyed the faster, funner, reliable Hobie Cats.) 

When Paul was talking to his young protege in the faith, Timothy, he warned him to hang on to the One he could trust and live life with a clear conscience, or his faith would be ineffective and headed nowhere.  Paul, who himself had been actually shipwrecked three times, one time floating helplessly adrift on the open sea, gave a strong warning about not behaving like those who don't yet belong to Jesus.   He says to Timothy, “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.”(1 Timothy 1:19 NLT-SE) Doing what we know to be wrong and doing it anyway, is like getting in a sinking ship. Start with Christ, talk to Him, listen to Him, consult Him and let Immanuel remind you how His people act, and then go do that. 

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