by | May 27, 2011 · 6:23 pm

Hollow Humor

Steve Martin at the premiere of Baby Mama in N...

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I love to laugh.

There should never be any doubt that I enjoy humor. As a matter of fact, my love for humor has not only gotten me through some difficult times, but it has gotten me into trouble. That is why I truly wanted to see, live and in person, comedy royalty, a legend……

Steve Martin.

Wow! I couldn’t believe I was actually in the same room with “the Jerk,” the “wild and crazy guy!” It was such a thrill, even after the sticker shock and buyer’s remorse that followed purchasing tickets. After dinner at my wife’s favorite restuarant (to make her happy), we had skipped desert, walked in the rain, choked through some guy’s smoke in front of the entrance, and found our place within a stone’s toss of living, comedy genius. It was awesome!

For the younger readers, Steve Martin is the white-haired guy in The Pink Panther, and the upcoming movie with Jack Black and Owen Wilson, The Big Year.

Well, instead of going around doing comedy, Steve Martin is touring with The Steep Canyon Rangers and playing bluegrass (Steve Martin is a scorching banjo player). But along with an all-original set of music sure to please the mountain music lover in everyone, Steve couldn’t help be the funny man. We’re not talking about joke-telling funny, just simple, natural humor. Even though the adults over 30 would have loved to hear him sing “King Tut,” he kept the humor conversational, never once putting on a pair of bunny ears or an arrow-through-the-head.

The Sad Part…

Even though I love comedy and music (even bluegrass banjo), the greatest love of my life is Jesus. And even though Martin was great and really worth the ticket price, it could have even been better had the One I love been invited.

A legalist would say that any music that is not religious is sinful. The legalist would not have enjoyed Steve Martin. On the other hand, a “recovering” legalist can enjoy what is beautiful and “good,” albeit not religious in nature. It’s just that no matter what it is, if it is void of Jesus, regardless of its quality, there’s something missing. It’s sorta like ordering your favorite food, only to notice that a key spice is missing. Adding a key ingredient after the fact is not the same as sprinkling on a little salt.

That being said, for what it’s worth, the following video is pretty darn funny; but sad at the same time.

The big reason why I listen to Christian music is not because I have to – I want to. Even though music and art of all types, including comedy, is ok on the surface, without Christ at the core, it rings hollow. What are your thoughts?

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by | May 23, 2011 · 11:58 am

Being “Real”

Have you ever been completely spent? Worn out? Empty? I have. As a matter of fact, I woke up this morning feeling like a squeezed out tube of toothpaste.

Yesterday was a great day. I was blessed to be able to preach in the morning, the afternoon, and the evening. The only problem is that when you go all day, preaching your heart out, by the end of the day you’re exhausted. When I got up to drive the school bus, I looked at that tube of toothpaste and said, “That’s me.”

Over the next couple of hours a thought came to me: how can you tell when a tube of toothpaste is empty? Usually, it is flat and rolled up. The compacted tube shows evidence that all of its contents have been used – there’s nothing left. Then what about the hard, stand-up kind?

These new containers for toothpaste are deceiving. Unlike the old-fashioned tubes, they do not compact and show any visible signs of being empty. They always look full. Then it hit me – what hypocrites! Those new-fangled containers are just putting on a show and never give any hint of being used up. In other words, they’re not “real.”

I want to be “real.”

This is not a lesson on hypocrisy. This is not a lesson on being a whitewashed tomb full of dead men’s bones. This is about being “real.”

Too often, especially in ministry, we are forced to put on a façade, thereby making ourselves appear to be something we’re not. It’s not meant to be hypocritical. It is meant to spare others from the truth of our own inadequacies – our own emptiness. Sadly, because we don’t want to be a burden or a disappointment, we endure the emptiness…the loneliness…the fatigue. Being “real” is risky.

There are limits to how much dirty laundry a pastor can air in public without losing his ministry. There are limits to how vulnerable he can be around others. But may it never be said that we have to pretend to be something we are not. We are human. We have weaknesses. We have limitations. We can feel “used up.”

Fortunately, unlike a tube of toothpaste, we can be refilled. And for that matter, even a seemingly squeezed out tube always has just a little more to give. God gives us what we need, when we need it.  The important thing to remember is that we shouldn’t try to act full, when we are empty. When we do that, that is when we act in our own strength. Let us then admit our weakness and emptiness, and in turn our heavenly Father will refill us with what will bring Him glory. Who knows, maybe it is our emptiness He wants to use most.

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 KJV

Just keep it REAL.

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by | May 20, 2011 · 10:45 am

Venting Before the End of the World

The following are random issues on which I am going to vent for the last time – unless the end doesn’t come tomorrow.

Idiots that Predict the Second Coming of Christ

Poster in Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachus...

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I am not going to take a lot of time with this one, but when will people learn? If you haven’t heard, a well-intentioned fool has predicted the Rapture to take place tomorrow, May 21st, 2011. You can click the link below and go straight to the source of all this nonsense. Or, if you are wise, you could just stick with the words of Jesus:

Matthew 24:36 KJV – “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Mark 13:32 KJV – “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”

If the words of Jesus aren’t convincing enough, then here’s where you can learn that Jesus was wrong: ebiblefellowship.com.

Idiots that Take Advantage of Stupidity and Show Their Own Foolishness in the Process

Believe it or not, there are folks out there that are making money off of those who believe in the rapture, and I’m not talking about Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins (no offense, guys…I bought your books). I’m talking about people who sell pet insurance to people who want their pets to be taken care of in the event that the owner is raptured. If you don’t believe me, just check them out: http://eternal-earthbound-pets.com/.

There are a couple of things about this that irritate me. For one, these folks are truly going to be lost without hope if the rapture comes any time soon. For that matter, they are lost without hope because they deny faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of the their eschatology. I believe the day will come when the trump of God shall sound and all the dead in Christ shall rise, the living to meet them in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). I also believe that cars crash, hearts stop, cancer kills, and spiders bite. These folks could meet their Maker unprepared at any time, regardless of some fool’s predictions.

Secondly, I am irritated that these folks have made me sad for my little dog! What if the rapture comes tomorrow, or next week, what will happen to Nugget? Do you suppose that God will mercifully take the lives of the pets of Christians in order to keep them from suffering in a post-resurrection world? Who knows? Probably not. That’s sad. On the other hand, I have plenty of family and friends, not to mention church members, that will probably still be here when that time comes.

I just wish that I had a parrot that said, “Told you so, told you so, told you so…”

Hypocritical Liberals

San Fransisco just approved a measure to be put on the ballot for the November elections. Up for a vote is whether or not to ban circumcision.  Click {here} for story on ballot.

Yes, without any measure guaranteeing religious freedom, voters will attempt to ban the age-old procedure because it is painful to little boys and denies their rights as individuals to decide. EXCUSE ME!?

Correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t these the same, caring, loving, considerate, pro-choice folk who, given the opportunity, would see nothing at all wrong with chopping a baby to bits only eight days earlier? So let me get this straight, it is OK to kill a child by poking scissors into it’s skull and sucking out it’s brain, or by letting it die of “natural causes” on a metal table, but it’s a crime of abuse to circumsize only eight days later? You’re kidding, right?!?

Forgiving Egyptian Debt

Brilliant! Just brilliant, President Obama. We have bridges that are falling apart and miles of southern acreage destroyed by tornadoes, but you’re willing to give a Billion dollars to the Muslim Brotherhood? The very same people who will turn right around and say thanks with a bomb or a knife to the throat? The least you could do is tell them all debts would be forgiven if they stop butchering Coptic Christians. Oh, but that would be to much, wouldn’t it. We wouldn’t want to offend the fledgling Islamic state, would we?

Just look, it takes an Australian paper to say something: The Australian accuses West of ignoring Coptic Christians.

The End?

I feel better, now. Hope to see you in Heaven on the 21st, if you are one of the “elect,” of course. But if the rapture doesn’t take place on Saturday, I will be in church on Sunday worshiping the One who is not slack concerning His promises, but is longsuffering and “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9

P.S.

To all the atheist planning “after judgment” or “rapture” parties,  please take note: rapture or not, this life on earth will end.

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” – Hebrews 9:27-28 KJV

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by | May 16, 2011 · 1:40 pm

Life Lessons from the School Bus #10 (Tennis Balls)

Crazy Obstacles

Back when I first trained to drive a school bus, all drivers were required to complete an obstacle course. I don’t know what they do these days, but one obstacle that I had to overcome it worth remembering – the tennis ball row.

The obstacle course was tough enough, but one test that we had to go through seemed totally off the wall. It was the last test, the last trial, the last obstacle of the day. All one had to do was drive a school bus across a parking lot, but without touching any tennis balls. What’s the catch?

The right side of the bus, front tire and rear tires, was to go between two rows of tennis balls, the spacing of which only left 2 inches of clearance. In other words, you only had at most 2 inches on either side of the widest part of the back tires. Touch a tennis ball and you have to start over. Go over the tennis balls – you fail.

Really, I could see how this exercise taught precision driving skills, but what was the point. When on earth was I supposed to encounter a bunch of yellow balls on the highway? Little did I know, a day would come when I would see first-hand the purpose for this lesson.

The Real Test

A few months into my driving career, I was asked to fill in on a route in the county. The route I was put on took me way out into farm country…tobacco country. After picking up a few kids, my directions led me down a gravel road, way out amidst acres of Kentucky no-man’s land. It wasn’t too long until I came upon a creek. The only way to get across the creek was to drive my 15 ton bus over a homemade, log and plank bridge.

“You have GOT to be kidding me!” was the first words out of my mouth.

“No, this is the way we always go,” said the boy noticing the terror in my face.

Trembling in my driver’s seat, my muscles hardly willing to obey my brain’s idiotic commands, I slowly began my crossing. Middle of the way through, as the bus was slightly rocking back and forth, I could see that my tires were barely on the wooden planks that lay across the logs. Then it hit me – “That’s why they had us drive through those tennis balls!”

The next thought that came into my mind was, “If they had told me what they were training me for, I would have found another job.”

Life Lesson

The reason for the lesson may not be obvious until the need for application.

“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” -James 1:3-4

Sometimes we are called by God to go through tests and trials which we don’t understand. What we need to realize is that God knows what is ahead of us, what bridges we may have to cross.

Let Him do what He must to train you for the road ahead. You may be the one responsible for carrying someone over to the other side.

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by | May 14, 2011 · 3:17 pm

Saturday the 14th – Scary?

I Survived

If you didn’t notice, yesterday was Friday the 13th. Are you still alive, or did a maniacal, undead mask-wearer visit your un-chaperoned slumber party?

Well, even though we are being overrun by 13 year locusts, I survived the day and night and never encountered a single monster – except our little dog who came in from running around in the wet grass and jumped in the bed.

Movies

Back in the 1980’s a movie came out to spoof the Friday the 13th horror films. It was called Saturday the 14th. The promo line was, “It gets bad on Friday the 13th, but it gets worse on Saturday the 14th.” …..Whatever.

Real life, however,  is far more terrifying than movies. As a matter of fact, the scariest day for any pastor comes every week. Someone should make a movie about it – a documentary. It could be called…..“Sunday Morning (before Church)”

Here’s what the announcer could say during the promo commercial…

“Forget abandoned campgrounds, haunted lakes, and dark rooms. Forget about blade-wielding criminals that won’t die. Forget about whatever goes bump in the night, requiring someone in a bathrobe and slippers to say, “Is anybody there?” All the real demons come out on Sunday morning before church….like clockwork. This is REAL!”

Reality

There is a real Devil, believe me. Even if the Bible did not teach of his existence, I could take you to him, or at least one of his workers, at about 9am on any given Sunday. All I would need to do to summon his presence would be to say, “Honey, where are my shoes?” I could also say something like, “How long are you going to be in the bathroom?” Any one of theses phrases are guaranteed to conjure something, or someone.

The evidence of his presence can be seen in the items that come up missing. For instance, he is regularly hiding stuff that was in total view only 8 hours before. He or his demons love to hide shoes, hairbrushes, shirts, dresses, pantyhose, lipstick, and Bibles. Occasionally, he even likes to hide the church mail that comes to the parsonage, leaving the pastor to look irresponsible.

Predictable

But thankfully, one thing’s a constant: even though Satan is real, just like in a poorly-written movie, his ways are predictable. Unlike our God, whose “judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33), the “wiles” of the devil never deviate from his modus operandi.

The Greek word translated “wiles” in the KJV is  methodia (μεθοδεία). Essentially, it is a word made from combining  meta and hodos (“after,” and “a way”), and is used to describe what could be called “a decided plan of deception and trickery.”

Satan is a “method” actor, in other words. He plays a part – a predictable part – in trying to deceive, trick, thwart, anger, harm, and sidetrack God’s people. He follows a pattern which can be anticipated and for which preparations can be made. It’s all in the Script.

Preparing for Sunday

So, why do unseen forces literally attack on Sunday morning? They do it because it is the Lord’s Day. They do it because they want us to be ineffective and powerless. They know that hurting, lost, and desperate souls need to be ministered unto, many of which might be on the verge of giving up. The forces we battle against would love to use a missing hair brush, a wrinkled shirt, a nicked face, burnt toast, or an upset stomach to literally raise the dead – the “flesh.”  The enemy knows that “they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8).

Fortunately for us, all we have to do is be watchful (1 Peter 5:8), armored (Ephesians 6:11), and filled with His Spirit, the “power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10). The “wiles” of the devil, his schemes and evil plans, are no match for the God “who performeth all things for me” (Psalm 57:2).

On top of that:

  • Do all you can do to get ready for church the night before. If necessary, get ready at different times, so as not to get ticked off at children or risk being asked, “What do you think of this dress?“
  • Take different cars, even if your 10 year old has to drive the lawn mower
  • Reduce dress standards/expectations so you can go to church looking like you just woke up
  • Put duct tape over everybody’s mouths until they get to the door of the church
  • Get up in the middle of the night to eat all you can so you can avoid breakfast, thereby avoiding arguing over what to eat
  • Become Adventist and go to church on Saturday (last resort)

If I Could Make a Movie

I do wish that I could make a movie that featured some of those evil characters in horror films. One in particular is the guy that comes and kills people in their dreams, Freddie Kruger. Another would be the ultimate movie villain, Count Dracula. Add to the list all the other demonic entities that send women running through the woods in high heels, only to trip on a spider web.

Just for fun, I would have all the demonic bad guys come up against a couple of praying saints, or a old preacher who’s broken hearted and fed up with sin. The bad guys would come against them in full force, swearing and threatening and promising all kinds of pain and suffering. Then when all hope seemed lost, right at the moment of despair, as the demoniacs were making their charge,

they’d run into a solid, unconquerable wall of Light…

the ringing sound of a massive sword being unsheathed would be heard…

terror would fill the eyes of the attackers at the sound of a Voice, saying…

“These are mine!“

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. – 1 John 4:4

Now, where are my clean socks? I knew I put them in the drawer…..Honey?!

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by | May 7, 2011 · 10:40 pm

Happy Mother’s Day!

A Song

When was the last time you heard a Mother’s Day song? I can’t remember one. Well, I decided to write one this evening.

I call it… “Mother’s Day”

Since my wife won’t let me sing it in church tomorrow, I put it on here for the rest of the world to hear. Hope you get a chance to sing it for your mother. As we church people say, “I hope it’s a blessing.”

And by the way, it was recorded in my kitchen on my iPhone 4.

Click “Mother’s Day” to listen.  Please? Pretty please?

“Mother’s Day”

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by | May 7, 2011 · 12:46 pm

What Congress Needs to Hear Before 2012

Cover of "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be...

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I am going to do something unusual. I am going to let you read an extensive quote from I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Geisler and Turek). If you don’t have this book, I would highly recommend it.

The following is from chapter 14, “What Did Jesus Teach About the Bible?” The scene is a hypothetical speech made before the House and Senate by a 7th generation descendant of George Washington.

Woe to you, egotistical hypocrites! You are full of greed and self-indulgence. Everything you do is done for appearances:  You make pompous speeches and grandstand before these TV cameras. You demand the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats wherever you go. You love to be greeted in your districts and have everyone call you “Senetor” or “Congressman.” On the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness! You say you want to clean up Washington, but as soon as you get here you become twice as much a son of Hell as the one you replaced!

Woe to you, makers of the law, you hypocites! You do not practice what you preach. You put heavy burdens on the citizens, but then opt out of your own laws!

Woe to you, federal fools! You take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, but then you nullify the Constitution by allowing judges to make up their own laws.

Woe to you, blind hypocrites! You say that if you had lived in the days of the Founding Fathers, you never would have taken part with them in slavery. You say you never would have agreed that slaves were the property of their masters but would have insisted that they were human beings with unalienable rights. But you testify against yourselves because today you say that unborn children are the property of their mothers and have no rights at all! Upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed in this country. You snakes! You brood of vipers! You have left this great chamber desolate! How will you escape being condemned to hell!

Jesus Wouldn’t Say Such Things!

Oh, really? Just consider what he said to the rulers of His day…which, incidentally, were even more ruthless than our government allows.

Matthew 23:13, 23-33 RSV – [13] “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. …

[23] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

[24] You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

[25] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. [26] You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. [27] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. [28] So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

[29] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, [30] saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ [31] Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. [32] Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. [33] You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

More Like Jesus

Let this be an example to those who serve America. Many of you say you are Christians, but talk like Jesus you do not. If more men of integrity would stand up before the nation’s leaders and call them to stand account, can you imagine what kind of country this could be?

You say it over and over, “No more politics as ususal,” but you lie…it’s always the same. Do something really different for a change: speak the truth and take a stand for right, not career or party.

Be the men and women who deserve to be in Washington.

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by | May 6, 2011 · 12:22 pm

Softball, Food, and Wisdom

Is it Better?

In my last post I made reference to being at a ball park. For a parent of athletic children, that is the place to be on a summer day, morning, afternoon, mid-afternoon, late afternoon, evening, late evening, nighttime, and too-stinking-late-to be-up-on-a-weekend night, especially when this pastor has to preach Sunday morning. Softball tournaments are nothing but a racket. They keep you all day at a ball park so you can buy unhealthy, gut-murdering food…

But it’s goooood..

This is my question…why is it that hot dogs and nachos are better when bought and eaten at a ball park? Surely I am not the only one who feels this way. No cheap hot dog made at home really compares with the ones you spend too much money on and come cradled in cardboard. Nachos with chili and jalapeños can never taste the same made in a clean, sanitary home kitchen. These foods need volunteer workers, weekend kitchens, dust from a field, and sweat in the air to be gourmet.

Nothing Spiritual?

Is there a spiritual lesson here? There has to be one! I am The Recovering Legalist…there has to be a point to this story, right? Maybe there is.

Matthew 15:11, 20 KJV – [11] Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. … [20] These are [the things] which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

James 3:6 KJV – [6] And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

Just after I took the above picture, some coaches and parents on the other team got angry with a call that the umpire made. Shortly after that, another call was made that made one coach curse the umpire. With justifiable indignation, the umpire ordered the coach to either leave the ball park in 30 seconds, or forfeit the game for their team. He left.

It just made me think about the food I was eating and the environment in which it was made. My health could recover from the food, but a poor testimony could take a lifetime to heal.

Oh, and one less person at the park means one less person eating all the hot dogs…

Anybody got some hand sanitizer? Preferably without sparkles?

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by | May 2, 2011 · 7:58 pm

What’s Your Preference?

I’m American

Just sitting here at a ball game, watching my little girl hit a run-scoring double, and thinking, “It’s great to be an American.” Of course, some may disagree, especially those in other countries who don’t let girls play softball, or even show their faces (no offense, Bin Laden…no, wait, you don’t care anymore, do you?). Nevertheless, I feel a great appreciation for the blessing of being born in the United States (I even have a real birth certificate).

I’m Southern

I also have a love for the Old South.  And because I am a true Son of the South, I maintain a particular preference for a drink rarely served in other parts of the world…iced sweet tea.

It’s only a preference, mind you. I can enjoy my tea hot. I quite often, if not regularly, enjoy unsweet tea. I can even drink it out of dainty cups or plastic jugs (must be my moonshine heritage). However, two things have to be present in order to make my tea consumption a magical, patriotic, caramel-colored celebration of leaf-juice perfection…

  1. Ice
  2. A Mason jar.

There is no wrong or wronger way to drink tea. The English have their fancy ways, as do the Chinese. But what makes drinking tea right, at least from a Southern perspective, is not just the temperature: it’s the addition of frozen cubes of water walled ’round by a jar meant to preserve food for future generations. That’s pure Southern cuisine.

Preference Identifies

Again, this is all about preference. If I were not a blood relative of someone who died while wearing gray, it would not be strange for me to prefer tea with cream and cookies. On the other hand, my preference identifies me. My preference hints at where I come from. My preference links me with others who love iced tea. My preference helps  confirm my birthright.

Should it be any different for a Christian? 

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea sweater than honey to my mouth! – Psalm 119:103

Dear believer, can you be identified by YOUR preferences?

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by | April 29, 2011 · 2:05 pm

Tornado Parking Lot

Tornado Alley?

I don’t know who coined the term “tornado alley,” but they need to come up with a new one…

“Tornado Parking Lot”

…or something like that. Tornadoes used to be something that was common only in mid-western, grassland states, right? Didn’t Dorothy and Toto live in Kansas? Well, it seems that tornadoes aren’t just for Kansas, anymore. They have come to like the South.

April 27-28, 2011 will be remembered as the most destructive time in the South since the Civil War. Never in my lifetime have I seen such destruction over such a wide area. Whenever we use to hear of a tornado hitting a city, there would be pictures of one stretch wiped out or damaged. This time, it is whole states involved, not just one city or trailer park, and hundreds of tornadoes.

Pray

It can’t be overstated that we in the South need your prayers. There is so much to do and so many who need help. The destruction is so wide-spread that many are overwhelmed with the logistics of providing assistance. All many could do in the first day was put every chainsaw into use clearing trees from roads, drive ways, and off houses. Now, it is the job of the professionals to try to get power lines back up. But with so many displaced, and with electricity scarce, taking care of basic needs for so many will be a monumental task.

Pray for the families of those that are missing. In one town (Ringgold, GA) not far from where I live, at least 26 people were reported missing after a tornado struck a doomed food store. There is no telling where they went. So many others were killed, as well as injured in the destruction.

http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14521722

Pull Together

One thing that never fails to amaze is the tendency of people to come together in a time of need. Being a good neighbor means more than lending forever a cup of sugar or hand tool. Good neighbors help pull a tree off of your roof; help locate your pet; comfort your little kids while you search for survivors; bring a hot meal to workers; donate blood; or, share a home with the homeless. Pulling together is the “neighborly” thing to do.

Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. – 1Cr 10:24 NASB
For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” – Gal 5:14 NASB

Protect

But before you come to the South, at least the rural parts, make sure you’re a good neighbor. Down here, in times like this, “a friend in need is a friend indeed,” even if he’s a total stranger. On the other hand, you’d better be careful if you’re not on the up-and-up.  A few blocks away from my house here in Chattanooga, a local policeman’s house was damaged, along with his car. That night, some looters came around trying to find stuff. The warning I photographed says it all. This ain’t no alley, this is a neighborhood, and we look out for each other.

I'd take this guy seriously!

Praise

It could have been far worse. As I drove around yesterday, I can’t tell you how many large trees fell just feet away from family homes. Even though many places suffered damage, many, many more were spared. One could be critical and skeptical about it all, but I choose to praise God. Many more lives could have been lost. Many more could have been injured. I shall stand among the living in the “parking lot” and give Him praise, for in Him do we have hope for tomorrow, and in the tomorrow to come.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us. – Rom 8:18 KJV

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