Hello, friends.
It’s been nearly 2 months since I last updated you about anything, and for that I apologize. However, today I want to introduce you to my new YouTube channel, Edify.
Below is a link to my latest episode (for Sept. 22). I hope you like what I’m doing.
Filed under Christian Maturity
As I begin to write this, I am looking up to where it says, “Add title.” But I’m not sure what it should be. I am going to have to wait till I write a little more, I guess.
Two things have brought me back to the old keyboard: my new friend’s question and my questioning of what’s next.
My New Friend’s Question
If you read my last post, you’ll know who I’m talking about. There’s a sharp young man where I work with whom I’ve had some conversations. It was he who, while standing beside me in the “micro market,” asked, “Are you OK?”
Now, it doesn’t happen very often, as you probably well know – someone actually asking if you’re OK. I mean, it’s totally common to have people casually ask how you’re doing and not really expect an honest answer. And they shouldn’t expect it, either.
You and I do the same thing, don’t we? In passing, like an amplified “hello,” we ask, “How’re you?” without really wanting to receive a detailed response. All we expect is an obligatory, “I’m fine, how are you?” To which we always intend to say, “Fine.”
But this morning was a little different. My new friend asked if I was OK. He actually wanted to know! How strange! In a place with 5,000 people on any given day just trying to make it through their shift, here you have a guy who actually cared! So how did I respond?
Well, I don’t remember my exact words (his were more memorable), but I said something like, “I’m not that great.”
That’s when he told me he had noticed my lack of on-line activity (writing here, that is). So, here I am.
Questioning What’s Next
That brings me to the second of the two reasons I am writing this: I don’t know what’s next!
Here’s the thing, folks… I’m worn out. I’m tired. Primarily physically, but also emotionally. Everything from my new job (the main reason) to uncontrollable events, all have drained me so much that I have nothing to squeeze out. It’s literally taking reserve energy to type this.
If you want to know how bad things are, consider this: I am probably (90% sure) going to back away from the whole watch thing. Why? Well, for several reasons:
So, if not watches, what? Back to painting? I wish – and hope! But again, with no dedicated place to set things up and leave them, it takes too much energy out of me to even get started.
And then there’s that whole “energy” thing. Did I mention that I worn out, tired, exhausted?
I don’t even want to study, which is the most tragic thing of all. Even though I have the opportunity to schedule speaking engagements, the thought of picking up a phone tires me, not to mention the mental fatigue that accompanies preparation.
Lastly, because this is already too long, I’m spiritually drained and feel like I can’t refill. My faith is under attack from several fronts and the battles are taking their toll. I’m not losing my faith, per say, but I do find myself wondering if I’m fighting the right battles.
If I could get more sleep, I would. But that’s a subject of its own.
But I’ll tell you this, at least some dadgum Volkswagen Atlas SUVs are getting built!
Filed under Uncategorized
A New Friend
I had a couple of good conversations with a new friend this week. It all started with me being bored out of my mind and trying not to fall asleep at work. Having worked with him a little before, and sort of expecting a little of what was to come, I decided to walk over to where I saw him standing and ask him a very, VERY open-ended question.
To paraphrase, I asked, “So, tell me something philosophical.” It was like opening a faucet, LOL! What I was not expecting was the volume of conversation. Obviously, I struck a nerve!
A Second Conversation
So, it was the next day – in the only down time I had (coincidence?) – that this young man walked over to me and started a conversation. If nothing else, he would have made my day by the way he started . . . “Based on yesterday’s conversation, I’m assuming you’re a Christian?” Let me tell you, that alone was a shot in the arm that I needed that very moment!
It was too fast-paced and in-depth to recount what was talked about, but there was one thing my new friend said that made me smile. He prefaced a statement he was about to make with, “I don’t want to offend you…“
You Won’t Offend Me, Honestly
It’s not the first time I’ve been told that. Actually, it was just a couple of months ago that an older man who hired on the same time as I did asked what I had done for a living before coming to work at Volkswagen. When I answered that I had been a full-time pastor, he immediately returned with, “Well, I don’t want to offend you, but I don’t believe what you believe.“
How is this supposed to offend me? Why would I be offended by someone telling me he doesn’t believe the same things as me? It’s possibly because when he’s mentioned it to other believers they’ve gasped with indignation and shock. Sort of like, “Whaaat? How is that possible? You must be a bad, bad person!“
But seriously, it doesn’t offend me when someone tells me he doesn’t believe what I believe. All it does it open the door for the kind of conversation I live for!
Beware the Crack
So, to all my new and old friends out there, “offend” away! Go ahead, tell me what you believe that differs from what I believe. Seriously, I’d love to hear it! All I ask is that YOU return the favor and not get offended when I ask you questions about how you came to your conclusion.
Let me give you a little advice, however. If you want to continue being an atheist or agnostic, or whatever it is that leads you to believe I might be offended by your words, beware of the cracks that may develop in your philosophical foundation. As soon as you begin to open up to honest conversation, you risk hearing a perspective that might change YOUR mind. You risk developing a crack of doubt in your own presuppositional opinions, a crack that may allow a tiny seed of faith to sneak in and take root.
So, no, you won’t offend me; you will encourage me! All you can do is convince me that I’m in the right place at the right time, just as God ordained.
The thing about foundation cracks is that they rarely close back up; they just go deeper and wider.
Filed under Apologetics, Christianity, Faith, Witnessing
Here is the latest from my YouTube channel, The Humble Horologist.
If you haven’t yet subscribed to that channel, then hurry and do so, then leave a comment in the form of a question to an Authorized Dealers (of watch brands). These questions will be put to use in a series of interviews with ADs.
Filed under watches
Hey, friends!
I recorded this short introduction. Would you be kind enough to watch and share it?
Thanks a bunch!
Filed under Christianity, ministry, Pakistan
I know that what I am about to write, and you are possibly about to read is a tad disturbing and possibly a bummer. However, stick with me for a few minutes and try to follow my still developing thought.
On this day 32 years ago, my father passed away at work. He was 46 years old; I was 24. He died from a massive heart attack while working third-shift security.
This morning before Bible study began at church, several of the men and I were talking about our ages. One of the guys told me with a grin, “I can guarantee I am older than you.” He was wrong – I was two years older than him. I was older than all four sitting at that table… and I also thought they were older than me!
Age is a funny thing, for our actual age and how we feel are more often nowhere close to each other. I still feel in my 20’s, like time stood still when my dad died. I don’t feel 55. Yet, here I am, older than my father was when he died, even older than his father, my grandfather, when he died (age 53). My dad was 24 when his father died, so I wonder if that was the age he felt when he died.
It has now been longer since my father died than I lived up until that day. That feels weird. It also feels weird that I always think of my dad as older than me, no matter how old I get. Time stood still for him as well as it seems it did for me.
That leads me to think about heaven. What will it be like when we see those who have gone before us when we were young, yet now we are adults? The Bible does briefly address some of the question in the last half of 1 Corinthians 15. There, Paul talks about there being a difference in the body we shall receive compared to what we have now. Earthly attained age will evidently have little to no relevance.
Therefore, in conclusion of this thought, at least one thing will be true when we see our loved ones again in Heaven (if we trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior): the saying that “time will be no more” will have as much to do with age as it does the clock.
Your thoughts?
Filed under General Observations, Life/Death, old age, maturity
Here we go again.
The first thing I want to ask is this: Does anyone even remember what made them hate Donald Trump in the first place? It’s been so long; I would venture to guess that most people have forgotten and have just become accustomed to a daily desire to see him crucified.
The second thing I want to ask is this: What did Donald Trump ever do to you to hate him so much? Seriously, there may be a few people in the country who’ve gotten into disagreements with President Trump and cannot forgive him for some reason. I mean, seriously, he was a New York businessman, the one who “fired” people on national television – some people loved him; some hated him; most just didn’t care.
Third, what did Donald Trump do so bad that it’s worth pursuing any and every hint of a wrongdoing, not to mention a punishable crime, in order to finally destroy him (and by “destroy” I do mean it literally)? What other people in this world have garnered so much long-term hatred and persistent attacks? Anyone? Bueler? Anyone?
Fourth, aside from what the radical Hollywood type, the sexually-perverse, and the baby aborters claim, what harm has President Trump done to anyone in the country, especially the average Joe, by keeping documents at his residence? How far will the claim that “no one is above the law, not even a President” be applied in the future?
Every claim that the Left has made until now has either been shown to be made up, exaggerated, or a flat-out lie meant to drum up rage. NOTHING has stuck to President Trump because there was nothing sticky. How are we really expected to believe that this last attempt to arrest Trump is based on a Scout-honoring, moral-high-groundish, damned-if-we-don’t kind of ethic?
Who is being arrested and prosecuted for creating false documents, false narratives, false accusations, and FAKE NEWS in order to remove a sitting President? What is wrong with this picture? Since we are ALL human, dig deep enough and search far enough and all of us will be found guilty of something, if only intent. However, there have got to be a dozen people guilty of treasonous and scandalous federal crimes against our nation AND the President who are getting off Scott free in the pursuit of ANYTHING unscrupulous in Donald Trump’s entire life!
So, what if Trump is guilty and found to be so? In the meantime, why shouldn’t the American people rise up in righteous anger? We the People did NOT want this charade of justice to go on and on and on like this, and we certainly didn’t want our President to be constantly maligned in front of the world for eight years!
So, to make things fair, starting with ANY Kennedy, Clinton, Obama, and especially Biden who was/is associated with the White House, each Democrat should have a special investigator allotted unlimited funds to scour the hidden their hidden records, search their underwear drawers, and pay their ex-boyfriends and girlfriends to talk about what led to their breaking up.
That’s my thoughts. What’s yours?
Filed under America, current events
I have been doing watch reviews on YouTube for around 8 months, I think. You can be the judge, but I think I’m getting better at it. At least I hope so.
But for this week’s video I decided to put one together quickly because of time constraints. In the process my oldest granddaughter, Emma, wound up being my co-host.
Enjoy 🙂
Filed under hobbies, Relationships and Family, watches
How are you? How are you doing? What’s up?
How do you respond when people check up on you? Do you respond differently to different people? Do you give different answers, some more transparent than others, depending on whom you can trust?
Well, I trust you. Yes, I do. For one reason, you are actually reading this when so many others couldn’t care less. You care enough to get past the introduction.
So, how am I doing? Not well.
I think it was my wife (I can’t remember) who asked me the other day, “Are you having a mid-life crisis?” “Maybe I am,” I replied. I haven’t researched it, so I don’t know. However, I would bet that a definition would include a picture of someone that looks eerily like me.
For one thing, five decades worth of mistakes, miscalculations, stupid decisions, and squandered opportunities continually plague my memories. It’s not that I sit around and meditate on my past until I think of something depressing; they are triggered by ordinary things like a store at the mall, a movie, a song, a smell, an event, an expression, etc. I can drive down one road and be hit with 10 regrets in the span of a mile.
Secondly, there’s all the things I could have done and should have done. Have I accomplished anything? Of course. But when I am in a group of others who’ve accomplished anything similar, I feel like a fake, an imposter. I should be able to fit in, but now I never feel worthy.
I’m not a spiritual giant or anything. I’m not that great of a speaker. I have a very hard time praying. And, based on my cumulative experience, I’m a lousy pastor. Yet, that is all I’ve ever really wanted to be. I wanted to be “man of the Book,” a man with worn knees, a figure behind the pulpit my children would tell their children about.
But here I am, pushing 56 years old, a new employee in an automotive factory, with no savings, no home, a literal antique car to drive, and no real desire to pastor another church.
Simply put, I don’t know who I am anymore. For that matter, I’m not sure I ever did.
I don’t know where life is going to find me 5 or 10 years from now. However, even though I may never be a leader of anything, I can strive to be a good follower of Jesus.
Filed under Christian Maturity, Depression, old age, maturity, self-worth
Hey guys, I hope you are all well. I’ve not written for a while, but I’m OK.
But I do need your help. I’m trying my best to raise awareness and support for a ministry that is near to my heart, but I keep hitting brick walls. How do I get the word out? The only way to raise support is to get the word out to more people, but I’m at a loss on how.
I would appreciate any help or advice. God bless.
Filed under fundraising, Pakistan
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The Recovering Legalist 