Category Archives: Relationships and Family

Topics related to how we deal with the people God has placed in our lives.

by Anthony Baker | September 21, 2010 · 7:00 pm

Goodbye to a Family Friend

I don’t want to do it, but it must be done.

Why do some things that should be so simple have to be so hard? What is a car? Is it not just a machine? Does it have personality? Does it have feelings? Well, when you have driven a care past 300,000 miles, you tend to question reality. Seeing this car leave our family is going to be, no it IS difficult.

Several years ago I actually took the time to look for a specific brand, model and year of car. I wanted a 1994 Honda Accord EX. After searching the car lots and the papers, one morning, when I first got to work in Clarksville, TN, I logged onto the local paper’s website. There, for the first time listed, was a car meeting the exact specifications I was looking for. What was better, it was a one-owner (garage-kept by a literal “old lady”), and the asking price was at least $1000 under value. I was the first to call and said, “I will be right over.”

The little blue Honda has been through a lot with our family. It has had me drive it to appointments while I was wearing a suit and tie. It has endured me driving it all hours of the night while delivering pizza. It has carried the sick. It has raced to the aid of friends and relatives. It has even carried the load once packed into a Ford Crown Victoria that broke down on the way to Chattanooga from Kentucky (I will never underestimate my wife’s ability to pack again).

With nearly 340k miles on the old car, and with another in the shop, we have decided to let this one go. The possitive side of the story is that someone else is going to get some benefit from it. I still has life in its engine. It still

One last look inside (my legs look wimpy)

looks pretty good, too. For that matter, I think that the 1994 Honda Accord was the prettiest body style that Honda ever came out with. Even the newer Honda we have, a 2001 EX, is not as elegant. As a matter of fact, the ’94 gets better milage. I do like the V6 in the 2001, though.

I hate it when change comes, especially when it requires the loss of an old, faithful friend. This little Honda has been as faithful as they come. It has never given us any problems that didn’t come with just usual wear and tear. It was literally the best investment I ever made. So long little friend. You will be missed.

Happy Birthday to Me!

A whole lot has gone on this year. I have had a few serious health scares. My wife, Valerie has had more than her share of health scares. Our girls have had difficulties, and even our dogs have had problems. Man, it has been interesting. But one thing I can do it genuinely celebrate the fact that I have gotten older. I lived one more year.

September 17, 1967, was when I was born. As I described it to a kid on the bus yesterday, “I was born before Austin Powers got transported in time.” I really don’t know if she understood what I was talking about. Anyway, Iwas born in the 60’s. I put it another way a couple of years ago when I was speaking to a Vietnam veterans group in Soddy Daisy, TN. I said, “When you were ‘in country,’ I was ‘in womb.'” Fortunately, they actually got it and thought it was funny. Good thing…they could have killed me, unlike the 10 year old.

Now, I have gotten some cool things for my birthdays over the years, thanks to loving parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, girlfriends, friends, co-workers, and other assorted associations. But I can’t think of anything more cool, more fun, or more seriously (did I say) cool than a new 4G iPhone. I have actually entered the most sophisticated, up-to-date, high-tech world of modern gadgetry. Best of all, it is a brand new phone; not one handed down from somebody else who decided to upgrade, but felt sorry for me. Who can I thank for this work of Apple art? My lovely wife and children (and who knows, maybe even my son-in-law).

I am 43. I won’t be long before I am 50. Before I die there are several things that I would like to do at least once. There are a few things that I would

like to do again. One thing that I would like to do is drive a 67 fastback Ford Mustang again, one like I use to have. I can still smell it. I can still remember the feel. Of course, I can still also remember rolling over several times in it, all the while praying to God “please don’t let me die!” Anyway, I would love to drive one again, if not own one.

Another vehicle I would love to own again, or at least drive, would be a 68 F100 like my dad used to have. That was a REAL truck. I don’t see how the new ones even hold a candle to it. When my dad was still alive, we used to imagine a perfectly restored 68 F100 pulling a scary, mean, black-on-black (like mine was) 67 Fastback on a trailer to a car show. Now that kind of setup would cost as much as a house. Oh well. I can still dream, though.

Well, at least I have my family that loves me. And even though I don’t have the truck and the car, I have a dang cool phone. I have nothing to complain about. Happy birthday to me!

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Filed under Relationships and Family, Uncategorized

by Anthony Baker | September 14, 2010 · 10:34 pm

You Don’t Have to be Perfect to be Used

So, a Pharisee and a Publican walk into…let’s just say…a search comittee meeting…

You know the story of the Pharisee and the Publican, don’t you? Jesus told the story, as recorded in Luke 18:10-11

“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.”

Imagine that instead of the temple, they walked into a search committee meeting. A meeting of people designated with the task of finding, let’s say, a new pastor for a church (at least that’s the way we do it in the Baptist denomination). They walk in, introduce themselves, compare resumes, and one gets the job. Which one? The one that fits the picture of what every Christian fit for service should be – perfect.

Sunday night I shared with my congregation that God doesn’t just use perfect people, but people who have made mistakes, REAL people. But sadly, within the church today, there are many men and women who have felt inferior and useless because of sinful and broken pasts. They are the people who sit on the pews, week after week, doing all they can to be faithful in life, but are forbidden to hold positions in the church. They are much like the Publican, men and women who know they have failed before, but want to be forgiven and start new. They are not the ones that look down on others for mistakes they’ve made. They’re not Pharisees.

Have you ever considered how dysfunctional the characters of Genesis were?

I read through the book of Genesis last week in a couple of sittings. Reading a book of the Bible that way, especially in a different translation, can help you see the story from a new perspective. This time I was just astounded at how messed up these people really were! There was so much “stuff” going on that if it were today, it would make an episode of Jerry Springer, or TrueTV look tame! Consider, if nothing else, the sad story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel. This was a seriously messed up family with real marital problems. At one point, Leah and Rachel get into a jealous argument over a son’s mandrakes. Just imagine you were a marriage counselor and listened in to the following story…

Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. When he brought them to his mother, Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” But Leah replied to her, Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want my son’s mandrakes?”

“Well,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night. – Geneses 30:14:16 HCSB

Twice Abraham told other people that his wife, Sarah, was his sister so that he would not be harmed. Joseph’s brothers hated him and sold him to traveling salesmen. Jacob and Esau were seriously at odds. Leah, poor thing, kept trying to have children so that her husband, Jacob would love her. Jacob’s father-in-law, Laban, got him drunk on his wedding night and gave him the wrong wife – on purpose. The son’s of Jacob (founders of ten of the tribes of Israel) lied to a bunch of men about making a covenant, then proceeded to slaughter all of them after they had convinced them to be circumsized. It just goes on and on. Messed up, I am telling you!

Nevertheless,

God told Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” How is this even possible? If God can use Abraham and his family with all their problems to bless the nations, then He can SURELY use ANYBODY!

Check in next time, and I will continue my thoughts on this subject. I will be addressing the legalistic applications of 1 Timothy 3, the portion of Scripture most likely used to keep the Pharisees in the pulpit, and the Publicans in the pews.

Here’s a teaser: should divorce keep one from serving as deacon or pastor?

Tell me what YOU think.

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Filed under Christian Living, General Observations, legalism, Relationships and Family, Uncategorized, World View

by Anthony Baker | September 1, 2010 · 11:55 am

“What do these stones mean?”

While driving my school bus just the other day, I happened to ask a couple of teenagers about their knowledge of the battle of Lookout

Mountain during the Civil War. They had no knowledge that there ever WAS a battle on that mountain! I was completely dumbfounded. Every day we drive across the foot of Lookout Mt., right past monuments and markers, right beneath the cannon placements above, and yet they never even knew there was a battle there! Unbelievable!As I see it, somewhere there was a breakdown in the education these children were given. How is it even possible that teenagers could graduate from schools in Chattanooga and never know that one of the key battles of the Civil War, the very war that liberated their ancestors from slavery (they were African-American), was fought in their own back yard?

Was this information not considered important enough to teach in public school?

The Battle of Lookout Mountain

When I took just a few minutes to share some facts about what happened in and around Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga, making them look out the windows up to the low-hanging clouds that covered the bluffs, they began to understand some things. When I related how desperate the Union troops were, the seemingly invincible fortress that was Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and then used the clouds right in front of them to explain the “miracle” that took place, history came alive. I asked them to imagine how scary it was to a guy that may have walked all the way down from New York, just to look straight up that mountain and know that he was going to have to go up it with just a rifle and a bayonet.

Most American young people do not care about history because they have never been led to make a connection with the past. When it becomes personal, either by making it relevant or intriguing, they take ownership. We can’t just sit around and blame our children, or other’s, for not knowing what we do not teach them. The very same thing can be said about our faith and what we believe. Consider the following Scripture:

Joshua 4:4-7 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of Jehovah your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; that this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall say unto them, Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.

What can we learn from these verses? What principles can we see that could help our youth better understand our Faith, not to mention our history? Here are just a few observations.

“When your children ask in time to come…” If our children are not asking questions, they need to be. We need to lead them to places and discussions that would cause them to ask the right questions that lead them to discover truth.
“These stones…” There needs to be stones of remembrance, monuments, memorials in each Christian’s life that cause others to ask “the reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).
“Then ye shall say unto them…” Do we know what to say when they do ask? We had better! What a loss and a missed opportunity when a child, even an adult, asks “what does this mean,” and we have nothing to say.
“Your children…” It is our responsibility to teach our children, not the state, nor a stranger. Ultimately, we will be held accountable for what they learn, and from whom.

I can’t be held responsible for all the children of America, but I will be held responsible for mine (that’s one BIG reason we homeschool). You will have to answer for yours. And when it comes to the others that ride our buses, or mow our lawns, or stand in line, or or sit in our Sunday School classes, or whatever, don’t waste an opportunity to explain the reason for the “stones,” even if it’s a big mountain.

Happy Birthday to Haley!

Ten years ago, yesterday, our little Haley Brianna Baker was born. Born in Hopkinsville, KY, she is a true Kentucky Wildcat. Well, being from Tennessee, I know very little about what a “true” wildcat from KY should act like, but if Haley is any clue, they’re nothing to mess with.

Tomorrow is the big party. We are really going to take advantage of living next to a church gym. The party is going to be science themed, with all kind of experiments (cool ones, of course) that the kids will be able to do. One of them will actually involve making ice cream in freezer bags!

Ten years ago, my daughter was born, but I really didn’t know what to think. You should have seen her! You know how everybody always says, “All babies are beautiful?” Well, to be completely honest, I shocked the nurse beside me when I said, “I don’t think she is mine.” Who could have blamed me? Do you know who she looked like? FRED SANFORD! You know, from the tv show “Sanford and Son?” White, Baptist preachers should not be having babies that look like old, black comedians! You should have seen you look on the nurses face. “Don’t say that,” she replied in a strong whisper which my wife was not supposed to hear.

Just a couple of days later, my wife carried Haley into the sanctuary of Hillcrest Baptist Church. I can still see her carrying that little bundle in her arms. The proud look on her face was beaming, as mine must have been, also. It was more than just the pride of having a new baby to show off, however. What most people can’t understand is that it was also a sense of pride that we were able to take our little girl to her first church service in her life, the first one after the day she was born, and dedicate her to God.

Psalm 127 compares children to arrows in a quiver, and verse five says that a man is happy whose quiver is full of them. Sadly, we can’t have any more children. Haley will be the last, naturally. She was our last home-made arrow, but we are happy with what we have. I just pray that God will continue to give us the grace to rear our children in such a way that, as arrows, they will stay sharp, straight and fly true when they are released to pursue their God-ordained target.

Why were Valerie and I so proud? I don’t really know for sure. But one thing I do know is this: it was really cool to think that we were responsible for bringing into this world one more weapon that would be destined to put some hurt on the Devil. Happy birthday to our littlest “Arrowhead!’