A Soul Called Leslie

Would you have gone looking for Leslie? Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! (Hebrews 13:2 NLT) This week I was talking to my friend Evette. She doesn’t read my blog, but friends from church know her, and I am sure she won’t mind me retelling her story. She inspired me. First of all, let me tell you about a soul called Leslie. The first time I saw Leslie, 7-8 years ago, he was standing in the back of my church wearing a tight teal blue dress, 3″ red heels, make up, bright red lipstick, his hair was – and still is – long, and he was carrying a gold purse. He just stood there just as plain as day looking for a seat. My family sits on the back row and my twins were infants at the time, so I can’t say that my whole attention was on this visitor, but he certainly caught my attention. Several people went up to Leslie and visited with him. I am assuming someone asked him to sit with them. He came back to church while he was in Abilene several times, maybe off and on for several months, but one day he decided it was time to move on. There were several people who tried to reach out a helping hand to Leslie – food, money and even some men’s clothing, although he was not interested in the latter. Leslie found his way to Austin. That is where he lives now. And that is where my story for today really starts. My friend, Evette, told me she was in Austin for a teacher’s conference. She knew that Leslie hung out on 6th street, so she went looking for him. She had been one of the people who had befriended Leslie in Abilene. Evette asked several people if they knew where Leslie could be found. One woman said to her, “Why would you want to find him?” Evette said as plain as day, and very convicted, “He is my friend.” She eventually found Leslie and visited with him on the street. She asked him if he remembered her, and he said, “Yes, you are Evette, from Abilene.” Leslie works the streets. He is addicted and looks gaunt and thin. His hair is thinning. The clothes he was wearing were women’s under garments and he was on the street. People that walked by knew the person he was – his character, his life – but my friend, Evette, talked with him as though he was a long lost friend and she was proud to know him. I told Evette, “God bless you. I am not sure that I would have sought out Leslie.” Later on, upon further reflection, I realized I would never have sought out Leslie. If I would have seen Leslie in his street attire, I probably would have avoided him – put my eyes down and never looked up. This is a sad and sorry confession, but I would have let my fear of the unknown keep me from loving and engaging the soul called Leslie. God forgive me! Help me see your children with your eyes. Help me love with your compassion. Help my heart break for those whom you love that are lost, even when it gets messy. God bless Evette. May she continue to love with your love and inspire me – and others – to get out of our comfort zones and love those we don’t understand. God loves Leslie, and so must we. There will be Leslie’s in all of our lives – people that make us uncomfortable, people that don’t fit our mold, people that are obnoxious and arrogant, people that hurt our feelings – but those are our Leslie’s. God loves us in our worst moments, how can we withhold that love from others? For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. … But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. … For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:6-10 NRS emphasis added) About the author: Tammy Marcelain is part of The Coffee Group. For many years Tammy walked away from the Lord and through His love and grace she has come home to His loving hands. Tammy’s son jack was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April of 2005. Her life shows how to hold onto the Lord and live through His grace in hard times.

Real Spring Cleaning

How do you really clean house this spring? What I caught began with an innocuous call, or so it seemed, mid-morning on Monday. An insurance agent needs a digital photograph of our geothermal heat pump by Friday, a formality for our file and his job. Which compels Dutch Farmer on Monday evening to remove every boxed up memory, Christmas wreath and invoice from the last 7 years out of the storage room to begin reorganizing afresh so that aforementioned agent will not injure himself getting his photo of said heat pump. I join the late night lustrating. Come Tuesday morning, I slip into the storage room to file a gift bag, and am met with open floor, empty shelves – space. Throughout the course of the morning, I find several excuses to crack open the door, just to steal a peek at the wonder of it all, and, now, in hindsight, I think that in fact the wonder of it all was contagious, for by noon on Tuesday I begin stripping down bookshelves, sorting Thorton Burgess, G.A. Henty, Wilder, Montgomery, Dr. Seuss, Flaubert, Teale, Porter, and Richard Scarry, discarding, purging, releasing, and reshelving. Which leads to the rearranging of three desks, two children’s tables, a puzzle box, a piano, and 5 bookshelves. And so the dominoes continue to fall, with the dividing up of toys, labeling of tins, arranging of baskets. I wake Wednesday morning, still feverish and deep in the throes of it, and before breakfast, empty out our bedroom closet of corduroy shirts, maternity swim suits, packages of ping pong balls. I fling overalls I once wore to the zoo, bag skirts I wore with cowboy boots, and toss cowboy boots I don’t wear. I gather for the thrift store an old suitcase I hauled around Quebec for three months when I was fourteen and can’t now zipper shut; but I write my name on the dust it wears and smile and think of the memories. Gone too are pants that never did fit in spite of all my wishing, a pair of shoes that pinched my little toes red, a sweater that itched and irritated whenever I foolishly wore it. And soon, through a tangle of clothes hangers and a knot of old ties, it emerges: open floor, empty shelves – space! Calling shoes out from the shade of dresses, I align them on a shelf, and they blink, adjusting to light of day. So I stand back. Stretch. Breathe. Revel. Dutch Farmer, in from the barn, searches me out and I seek his face, reading for multiplied delight. And trip on this, “You put your shoes on my shelf?” Your shelf? My mind scrambles: I sent the ping pong balls, rolls of scotch tape, race car trophies, and batteries that merely squatted there, and moved them all into rightful residences! I reclaimed neglected territory! I enlarged our boundaries with the removal of unnecessary tonnage! But my tongue lies, thankfully, barely, still. I mumble something unintelligible, collect an armful of clothes for the thrift store, and retreat. But changing over the laundry, indignant retorts roar through my frontal cortex, hardening heart arteries. I let them. Iron heart sharpens razor tongue. I set out breakfast dishes, and this heart tail snaps and whips subtly, quietly … stingingly. “Are you planning to go with us into town this afternoon?” he asks, buttering bagels. Feeling less than buttery, I crack out a sharp “No!” They eat, and I return to the closet. Another shuffle gives my shoes a bruised home elsewhere. Mainly because I haul, rather unceremoniously, my wedding dress, crinoline, veil, out of the closet and down to capacious storage room. I flick out the light, close the door. At the close of breakfast, and before we step out into the day, we pray the day’s Scripture. It’s my turn, and I read: “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience“ (Colossians 3:12 NIV, emphasis added). Is it normal to feel so conspicuously, startlingly, the unclogging of one’s arteries? In my spring cleaning furor, how had I purged out the only attire necessary? Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. And how was that I would pray this verse, this day, with this ugly, naked heart? But He knew. So come Wednesday at noon, a wedding dress once again anchors the corner of the closet, he and I wear happy, sheepish, forgiveness, and our shoes mingle intimately in the shadows of a top shelf. And maybe this house, heart, is cleaned a bit deeper. For grace is contagious and love a spacious, wide open place. Lord, wash this heart clean. About the author: Ann helps us see “the holy” in laundry, listening, and liturgy. Her blog, “Holy Experience,” is a fresh breath of air for the soul.

Facing Adversity Over and Over

What do you do when you can’t face the same thing again? Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put his boots on? He asked for help and she could see why. With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn’t want to go on. When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy said, “Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.” She looked and, sure enough, they were on the wrong feet. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on-this time on the right feet. He then announced, “These aren’t my boots.” She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, “Why didn’t you say so?” like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, “They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear them.” She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said, “Now, where are your mittens?” He said, “I stuffed them in the toes of my boots …” As I read that, I thought about how many of our frustrations come about as the result of having to do something over and over. Let me give you an example. A number of years ago, I was having some back trouble and the doctor told me I needed surgery. I counted down the days until I could find some relief. The surgery went well (in fact, I went home less than 12 hours after surgery), but the recuperation didn’t go as planned. Instead of getting relief, I found myself back under the doctor’s knife six weeks later. I remember that the greatest source of frustration wasn’t the surgery itself. It was the fact that I thought I was getting better, but then I had to go back and start all over again. Just when I thought I was making progress, I encountered a setback. I was able to easily muster the emotional strength to face the first surgery, but it was much tougher the second time. I’ve seen the same thing happen in a number of different areas. I suspect you have, too. Maybe you were hoping to get bills cleared up, only to be hit with an unexpected dentist bill or car repair. Maybe it’s harsh criticism you’re dealing with, a situation at work that’s making it difficult to maintain your Christian standards, or perhaps the struggles of dealing with a rebellious child. You think, “I can handle the difficulty I’m going through as long as I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.” Only just when you’re about at the end of the tunnel and you’ve taken about all you can take, you then realize that there’s more adversity ahead and the light is barely visible. I understand; I’ve been there. The Christian life is long and sometimes difficult. There are times when we feel we just can’t take it anymore and we want to give up, especially when we’ve had to face the same adversity over and over and over again. May this passage serve as a source of comfort and strength to you: He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:29-31) I pray that your strength will be renewed this day as you wait upon the Lord. Hang in there … it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming! About the author: Alan Smith ministers with the Church of Christ in White House, Tennessee and publishes the email devotional “Thought for the Day.”

igbok

So what are you going to hang on to during the Nope. You won’t find it in your dictionary. It’s less a word than an acronym. On the order of NATO or IRA or FAQ, the letters pronounced as a word are actually the initial letters of more familiar words. You pronounce this one to rhyme with pig-lock or big-block. Now you’ve got it: ig’-bok. And it means … Okay. We’ll get to the meaning directly. It’s not my word. David Arms and Lloyd Shadrach came up with it as shorthand for something in short supply these days. With so much bad news coming from so many quarters, they were thinking in terms of something that could counteract pessimism, something as an alternative to despair. What they came up with was igbok. And igbok means … But I’m getting ahead of myself. Do you know much about the biblical idea of hope? Unlike our modern-day use of the term, hope isn’t “wishing with little prospect of fulfillment” or “desire in the face of unlikelihood; wishful thinking.” In the Bible, hope is a secure and confident expectation. It is trusting God to keep his word. There are many things in life that God has not promised. Contrary to the false opinion of some, he has never promised smooth sailing for believers. He has never promised immunity to illness, freedom from stress, or exemption from financial reversals. Remember Job? Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”? All the martyrs? Faith doesn’t guarantee an easy life. Sometimes, in fact, it is one’s faith that brings persecution. Why just think of it: If being a Christian meant bad things could never happen to you, it would be the cheapest insurance you could get! So what does the Christian faith offer? It guarantees that no physical harm can diminish your spiritual value or security. It promises a secured future in the face of today’s harsh realities. It tells every pilgrim on her way to the Promised Land that none of the obstacles along the way can deny her an ultimate reward. In the meanwhile, how do we see ourselves and our situations? If we have plenty, we will be grateful and share it; if we have nothing, we will not envy what others have and know how good it will be to be home at last. If I recover from heart disease or cancer, I am grateful to God; if I succumb to illness, I am with God sooner. If my business thrives, I bless kingdom work with the profit; if it goes broke, I never tied either my identity or God’s love to a balance sheet. In effect, the promise of God to his people is that – come what may – he will be with them. He will not let the things they value most be lost to them. He will rescue them from evil – even if that rescue can come only, as it did with his Beloved Son, through his power to raise the dead! In the meanwhile, know that it’s gonna be o.k. Or, for shorthand, igbok. And to see how Lloyd and David have developed the igbok theme, go to igbok.com. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1 NLT). For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT). About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.

Kooks

Who really wants these folks in church? Jesus, of course! While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:5-17 NIV) As Susan and I made our way toward seats in the vast auditorium of the mega-church hosting the conference we recently attended, I took in the scene around me. Contemporary Christian music boomed from a state of the art sound system as classy, creative videos flashed on huge screens. Most of the five thousand seats were already filled with leaders from churches across the country. Settling into our comfortable balcony seats (think stadium seating), I marveled at the technology, architecture and significant slice of evangelical leadership on display in this vast room. The lights dimmed to signal the beginning of the next keynote session, introduced by a seamless transition to a pounding set of praise songs led by a bevy of talented musicians. This was not my grandmother’s church. Stepping onto the stage as the praise set concluded, the keynote speaker … the senior pastor of a mammoth mega-church … moved into two circles of bright light created by follow spotlights, his image projected on screens flanking the stage. Flashing a smile backed by a set of brilliant white teeth (they almost appeared to be glowing on the huge screens), the speaker opened with a few humorous comments about his family. I joined the crowd in chuckling about the antics of the speaker’s wife and children, while noticing that the man seated in front of us was busily typing every word being uttered into his lap top. Segueing masterfully to his message, the keynoter indicated that he intended to share wisdom drawn from many years of successful ministry. I sensed the mass of assembled church-going humanity leaning forward in anticipation of the words about to be spoken. The fellow with the lap top typed frenetically. And this is what was spoken: “If we could just find a way to get rid of the kooks in the church, things would be a lot better.” This was the promised wisdom drawn from years of ministry experience. I couldn’t believe my ears! He had to be joking, but this was no joke … he was serious! Turning to Susan, I mouthed, “Did we just hear what I think we heard?” She nodded … lap top guy just kept typing. Improve your church by getting rid of the kooks! I could tell by the way Susan looked at me that she knew I’d be one of the first to go. Suddenly, I felt very out of place at this conference. The keynote speaker continued to share wisdom drawn from his years of experience … but reverberating in my ears was, “Get rid of the kooks!” Who decides who the kooks are? Have some of us who call ourselves Christ-followers become so desirous of sanitized, polished, efficient church that we want to boot out the people that Jesus loves the most?! My brain was pounding … we’re all kooks. The church family that I’m part of and love deeply is full of kooks. Jesus called as his first disciples a ragged assemblage of kooks. Jesus hung out with kooks. He sought out kooks. Jesus died for kooks. The keynoter was still going strong (and lap top guy was still typing) as Susan and I slipped out of the auditorium. We walked without speaking to our car. As I slid behind the wheel, I turned to Susan and said, “I should have stood up in there and said, ‘We’ll take all of your kooks at my church!’” Gripping the steering wheel, I felt anger and frustration wash over me … and then God gave me something to laugh about: that senior pastor who wanted to get rid of the kooks was a kook! He just didn’t see it. As Susan and I drove out of the parking lot of that mega-church, I thanked our good and gracious God for the mercy He shows to all of us kooks. And I prayed, “Lord, bring us more kooks.” About the author: Vann served for years as a youth minister with a special focus on mentoring new ministers. He is now the Connecting Minister for Southern Hills Church in Abilene. He loves to reach out to people that many folks neglect or forget and is a whiz at organizing and equipping others for ministry.

Everyone Loves a Lover

Why are some people just more loved than others? Dentists get such a bad rap! And the jokes about them are terrible. Patient: How much to have this tooth pulled, Doc?Dentist: $120.Patient: That much for just a few minutes’ work?Dentist: I can extract it very slowly, if you’d like. Dr. Mac has heard them all. He would let his patients make him the butt of them – especially if it helped them relax a bit. Patient: How much to extract wisdom teeth?Dentist: $500.Patient: That’s ridiculous! Isn’t there something cheaper?Dentist: I can cut the price in half, if we don’t use anesthetic.Patient: Nope. That’s still way too much.Dentist: OK. If I just rip them out with pliers, the price is $50.Patient: That’s more like it. Book my husband for next Monday. Dr. Mac had this big, infectious smile that didn’t depend on corny jokes. If his cosmetic work to put pretty smiles on others’ faces got rave reviews, the authentic warmth that can light up a room comes from a deeper place. Dr. Mac had such a place – deep in his heart, but always accessible. One of those dentist jokes is believable about him. Dr. Mac: Would you give me a few of your loudest, most blood-curdling screams?Patient: But this hasn’t been all that bad!Dr. Mac: I know. But there are still folks in the waiting room, and I want to go by this afternoon’s Titans (or Predators) practice. The avid sports fan in Dr. Mac found immense satisfaction in being team dentist for both of Nashville’s professional sports franchises. And this ecumenical graduate of the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry was so devoted to Vanderbilt athletics that he received the National Commodore Club Award several years back. But there are lots of athletes who will tell you that Dr. Mac wasn’t so much their dentist as their friend. Ah, that was his real specialty: friendship. He loved life. He cared about people. I think it was Joseph Addison who said something like: “Friendship enlarges happiness and reduces misery – by doubling every joy and dividing every grief.” The wife he loved, the children in whom he took so much pride, the many of us who called him our friend – we have been blessed by him. His peers chose Dr. James W. McPherson to be listed among the Best Dentists in America 2004-2005. Many more would put him in the book of Best Friends in My Life – Ever. It just goes to show that everyone loves a lover. And it reminds the rest of us to pay more attention to what matters most – people. The sweet smell of incense can make you feel good, but true friendship is better still. (Proverbs 27:10 CEV) About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.

Does God Play Bingo?

What is your letter? Preparation Indulge me a moment. Think of life like a Bingo game. You come into the game with one card and it’s yours for life. As time goes by, God calls out numbers. Sometimes HE calls a friend or a member of your family, but at times, when you least expect it, HE calls your number. Most of us travel through life, thinking we are in charge. We play the game till our numbers line up and point us to victory. We try to move heaven and earth to find a way that makes sense. The goal, after all, is to make the pieces fit, to line up the numbers, to win. If we spend all of our lives thinking that is the goal, then we have missed the point all together. The goal is to hear God call our number and to watch God move heaven and earth to get exactly what HE wants. God calls our number when HE is ready, not when we think it’s time or past time. To us it makes sense to line up all the numbers; to God it makes sense to move his people into position for this life and the next. I have friends who never quite understood why God called their numbers. Life seemed to never be complete. Understanding eluded them till they moved off the card into the next world. Now it all makes sense. We get distracted by trying to figure out the clues; we want to understand how God connects the dots. We want life to make sense, to have meaning and purpose. It does, but sometimes it’s a mystery. So enjoy! When God calls your number, step out and claim the moment. Take the challenge. Listen for HIS voice. HE knows how it all fits and when it makes sense. B4! Is that you? Inspiration Rich was very comfortable doing exactly what he had been doing, but these crazy people kept hounding him. They want him on their shortlist for the next CEO of World Vision. “Were they out of their minds?” he thought. At the close of a conversation with a member of the search committee, Rich was asked, “If you are selected for this job, you will have to travel to some of the worst places in the world. You will be exposed to heartbreaking things: children living in garbage dumps, women who have lost their children to disease, people on their deathbeds with AIDS. Are you comfortable with that?” “Comfortable?” Rich gasped. “I am so uncomfortable with that, I can’t even express it! I am terrified! I am not the guy you want at your bedside in the midst of your suffering.” For days Rich pushed this pending venture as far away as he could. Then came that bewildering morning call, “Rich, this is Bob. I’ve gathered the six members of the search committee together and asked them to write their first choice on a slip of paper, fold it, and pass it to me. Your name was on each one. You’ve got the job!” “What? But I don’t want the job. I can’t do this job. This can’t be right.” After he calmed down a bit, Rich told Bob, “Well, you better keep the second guy on the hook.” Then, just before Rich and his wife were to fly to Seattle to do a little first-hand World Vision investigation, Keith, well-healed entrepreneur, surprised Rich with a job offer that would mean millions of dollars in options. Rich was interested, but he had to tell Keith of his dilemma without revealing the World Vision name. “We have to go check out this charitable organization. I have to finish the process, regardless. Then, I’ll give you an answer.” Keith was amazed that Rich was even considering leaving his career, but out of the blue he began … “Decades ago,” he stated, “my wife and I adopted a little girl from India. Then at age ten she died. The loss tore us apart. Months later I was going through the mail and saw an appeal from a group called World Vision. I responded and they connected me with a new “daughter.” For years we wrote. If that’s the kind of thing you are leaving business to do, well, that I can understand.” “World Vision IS the group, Keith. They want me to be their US President.” God was calling Rich’s number. B1 Read about Rich and World Vision in “The Hole in Our Gospel,” by Richard Stearns. Motivation Looking back on your life, when has God called your name, surprised you with something unexpected and out-of-the-box? Have you thanked HIM? Are you still listening? The call usually comes when you are comfortable or have your eye focused somewhere else. Don’t try to fit all of life together. Take it one number at a time. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. A third time the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if

Events and Emotions

Have you ridden the roller coaster lately? We’ve all had hectic and trying times in our lives. Many of us have said, “What a bad day it was!” Have you ever had a particularly bad week, when everything went wrong? Can you think back over your life and remember an especially bad year? For me, 1985 and 1989 were two years that weren’t very good. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we’ve had those magical and wonderful times that we’ve never wanted to end. Life brings us a few ups and downs. Sometimes life’s events come at us too fast to take it all in at once. Other times, the burdens seem to linger on and on. Have you ever experienced a week, or so, of mixed events, all charged with emotions? The “things of life” have occurred far too fast for me recently. I’ve needed to buckle my “emotional seatbelt” in order to ride it out. On the heartbreaking end, my cousin’s wife in Utah complained of headaches and went to the hospital. She died twenty-four hours later of brain cancer. No one knew that she was ill. It was a shock. On a happier note, some family members traveled to Sherman, Texas, to celebrate my father’s 100th birthday. The day before, he lead a song during the morning worship service – “When We All Get to Heaven.” I was so touched to see him lead that song. We had a wonderful reunion – seeing so many of our friends from the congregation. Many people sent cards to my father. The telephone rang off the hook all day. Several friends dropped by to visit. One of the friends who appeared on the doorstep was the minister who officiated at my wedding. My husband and I had our picture made with him. It was an awesome feeling to know that we were all together again within a few days of our 40th wedding anniversary. Our wedding had taken place in Sherman – we live in San Diego – and it was great to see him after all these years. Coincidentally, we saw the best man from our wedding at the church building. Daddy’s birthday dinner and party were low-key. He didn’t want any fuss. I couldn’t believe that my father had turned 100. I had never even attended a birthday gathering for a centenarian. My parents’ picture was on the front page of the local newspaper with a nice article about his life – see the links below. Within a few days of that happy occasion, we had another sad one – my father-in-law’s memorial service. He was a good man. Among the pictures and flowers at the front of the church building, one unusual item stood out. It was a large candy bar: dark chocolate. Only a family member would have grasped the significance of the candy. He loved chocolate, and had us trained to give him dark chocolate for any gift-giving occasions. He had become diabetic in later years, and wasn’t supposed to eat it. One of his grandsons broke off little pieces of the chocolate bar to share during our time of light refreshments after the service. I almost “lost it” when I ate that little piece of chocolate, and thought of “Fafa” – his affectionate nick-name. Today is our 40th wedding anniversary. We’ll celebrate by going out to eat tonight – just the two of us. Later on, when things settle down, we may take a belated anniversary trip somewhere. However, I’ve taken a real live trip down memory lane over the past few days – that’s sometimes the best kind of trip. Every year on our anniversary, my in-laws used to send flowers as their way of wishing us well. My mother-in-law called events like this “victories and milestones.” We lost her two years ago, and the anniversary flowers stopped at that time. I almost expected flowers today, and then remembered that they weren’t coming. However, I also remembered the joy of years past, when things were different. What a blessing! If you’re celebrating, sorrowing, or somewhere in-between, remember that God is with us always and loves us, no matter what. He is with us in the ever-changing seasons of life! There is an appointed time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace (Ecclesiastes 3:1-10 NIV). About the author: Katha’s small town upbringing in Sherman, Texas was slow paced, with loving parents, lots of down home cooking, and church attendance. Katha graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in English and continued graduate studies in English at Abilene Christian University. Katha was an editor at a publishing company and has done freelance for businesses as well as writing devotional articles for Power for Today. She and her husband have two grown children and a granddaughter. Katha enjoys reading, crocheting, yoga, and singing in groups and as a soloist.

Anything Goes – Except Faith

You can believe in anything, except God? A pervasive and dominant spirit of contemporary culture is its ability to tolerate practically everything that was once deemed intolerable. It is a mood. A climate. An all-encompassing frame of mind. In textbooks, this theory of human action is labeled “relativism.” It holds that the rightness or wrongness of behaviors is relative to each person’s individual opinion or to the social custom of her time and place. Stated negatively, it holds that moral truth is not the same for all people. Everything is up for grabs. Relativism became palatable and eventually gained the upper hand because of its polar opposite – dogmatism. There have always been individuals or groups that are willing to dictate beliefs and behaviors to others. These dictators, tyrants, and authoritarian parties claim to know what is true and yield to no request for proof. It is true because they say so! Questioning is simply not allowed. But a strange thing happened on the road to non-judgmentalism and tolerance. All points of view came to be tolerated except the one which holds that truth and falsehood are real categories, that some acts are good and others bad. Faith may have suffered the most in this great cultural shift. About the only thing that will not be tolerated in today’s super-tolerant world is a Christian claim to truth or the public presentation of one of its moral claims. So “God exists” is allowed as a private belief; it just can’t be offered as a public truth. “Lying is evil” or “fornication is wrong” may be held as a private standard; it mustn’t be stated as a norm by which character is examined. Ironically, there can be no genuine tolerance unless one is committed to a strong view of truth and morality. You don’t “tolerate” people with whom you already see eye to eye. You can only “tolerate” those with whom you disagree. Authentic tolerance means treating someone with fairness and respect – even though you disagree. It means extending to others the right to disagree with your beliefs. More than that, it means trying to see the other’s point of view and granting anything of value it captures. It means being willing to offer support for your views, not simply asserting something and expecting others to accept it on your word; it means listening to other points of view with fairness. Respectful discussion produces understanding. It even leads to changed points of view. So don’t apologize for having an opinion or a strong belief about something. Don’t be intimidated when someone calls you an old stick-in-the-mud (or worse) because of your attitude toward promiscuity or cheating on taxes. Jesus never said it was wrong to make ethical judgments, only that we should not judge carelessly. Don’t be so open-minded that you let all your common sense fall out. “Stop judging by mere appearances,” Jesus said, “but instead judge correctly” (John 7:24 NRSV). And he was not being a bigot when he said it. About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.

It’s About Seeing Us!

Do you see and listen to these folks around you? Josh has shared a few stories with me about his friend Jack. He has come to call him “Professor” Jack. I can understand that venerable title, given some of the really important things Jack taught him. Professor Jack is a homeless man in Detroit. In better days, he played in a band, owned a restaurant, and had a family. Addiction to drugs took all those things away from Jack. When Josh first met him, Jack was taking a meal from some church members whose hearts had been convicted about their need to help the poor. And he certainly qualified. Jack began to be a tutor and coach to my young friend as the two just sat and talked. Josh can, in fact, tick off a catalog of things he learned from Jack. One of the most important lessons came early in the course. As with first-rate teachers from Moses to Socrates to Jesus, Jack was open to questions. So Josh dared to ask him what good-intentioned people with charitable hearts could do that would really make a difference for the poor and homeless. “Make us feel real,” he said. “We want to feel like we are real people. See us. Talk to us. Be with us. Help us feel. It isn’t just about feeding us or giving us clothes. It’s about seeing us.” Now there’s a lesson that do-gooders like me need to learn! We know what Jesus taught about visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked. And we know that faith without works is dead. So we send get-well cards or visit hospitals. We donate money and build soup kitchens. We drop off used clothing. All those are good things. But what about personal awareness? What about communicating a person’s worth? What about making her feel valued rather than pitied? And how do I let someone know he is a human being to me, not a project? Professor Jack says it is as simple, direct, and difficult as making eye contact. Spending a little time in conversation. Asking an occasional question – and really taking what is said to heart. Okay, so you’re not the next Mother Teresa or someone who is going to give up your warm bed to live among street people in the dead of winter. Me either! But we can try to keep our giving and caring from becoming impersonal. We can actually be on-site occasionally. Give time as well as money. Have a conversation. Show some respect. It would be a fitting tribute to Professor Jack. He died of an overdose in December. I’m glad he knew he had been seen before he died. [Jesus said]Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do for others as you would like them to do for you.“Do you think you deserve credit merely for loving those who love you? Even the sinners do that! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, is that so wonderful? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even sinners will lend to their own kind for a full return.Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don’t be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. (Luke 6:30-36 NLT) About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades and served as a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities. He was a former president of Rochester College and Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Lipscomb University. He was the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles. His commitment to a non-sectarian presentation of the gospel touched countless lives.