Fighting The Man In The Mirror

     The worker was spending another night in a different motel in another town.  His line of work necessitated being in different areas on a regular basis.  He often worried about the security of the motel in some of the places he stayed.  Such was the case this night.  He went to bed tired with the security issue on his mind.  Sometime during the night nature called, and he arose to go to the bathroom.  The outside light was the only light coming into the room, and, as he came around the foot of the bed, he saw a movement to his right.  He focused on the movement and saw a man standing in the bathroom doorway.  His instincts caused him to raise his fists and drop into a protective crouch, only to see the man do the same thing.  "I am in a fight to the finish," he thought.  He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that during the night the door to the bathroom had closed, and he was looking at his own image in the full-length mirror.
     Ever so often the fears we face are much like the man in the mirror.  They really are not going to be able to hurt us.  So many of our problems can be blamed directly on the man we see in the mirror.  When we see the fear as it really is and not as we imagine we have taken the first step in conquering our fear or our perceived enemy.
     Christians should take great comfort in the promise of God to never leave us nor forsake us.  His constant encouragement for us to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us should sustain us in whatever we face.  No one ever faced a more chalangeing foe than young David in facing the giant.  It goes unnoticed, often, that David could not fail because he had already been anointed King of Israel.  Our God knows the ending much better than we know the beginning.  It is so simple- a prayer for us to pray, "not my will, but thy will, oh God."  With that being my desire, all else makes no difference.

Battling Giants

     I am sure that young David was very curious as to what the army of Israel was doing.  No doubt he did not need any encouragement from anyone when his father said to go check on his brothers.  We sometimes forget that David had already been anointed king of Israel.  But the lad was not expecting what he saw once he arrived at the camp.  The army of Israel was sitting in their tents and day after day Goliath, the giant, hurled challenge and insults at the army. 
     The first question we need to ask is, why was there a giant in the land?  He was a left-over from the time the children of Israel crossed into the promised land.  Their command was to kill all of the enemy.  Now, years later, they are still being troubled by the giant.  There was only one family of giants in the land when they sent out the spies.  They were the reason the children of Israel spent forty years wandering around in the desert.  Now the problem remains.  Young David recognized the problem and chose to do something about it himself.  His faith in God enabled him to be victorious.
     Today, many, are facing giants of a different nature in their everyday life.  The giants of fear, financial problems, temptations, etc.  Many of the problems that we face as Christians are giants that have been there for a long time.  Some of them we brought with us this side of the salvation experience.  They taunt us, they tempt us, they cause us problems in our everyday lives.  I think we can easily understand that David alone, did not defeat the giant.  The giant problems we face today are such that we by ourselves can not be victorious.   But rest assured faith in Jesus will accomplish the impossible and allow us to see the invisible.  The scripture gives us the assurance that we are not alone and He will never leave us.  David threw the rock, God did the rest.  When we trust in Jesus, victory is already on the way.

The Most Priceless Possession On Earth

     The sun has set on the last day of 2011, and with the setting the door closed on dreams and plans that once leaped within the hearts of individuals, at least for this year.  Hopefully, tomorrow will dawn, not only a new day but a new year.  I am so afraid that most people have not even tried to determine what life is all about and why they idly procrastinate while time, seemingly, comes and leaves us behind.
     In the dawning of the new year we would be better prepared to face the new year if we would take an inventory of the past year and see what, if anything, we have done that would make the world better for some of the folks we come in contact with.  The average person begins to offer an alibi for their shortcomings by pointing out the absence of things in their life that others have--if I had more I could do more.  To do this shows that we do not have a clue as to the most priceless possession we have- time.
     Time is the great equalizer.  Ultimately, the prince and the pauper reach the same point in their life, in which time has run out.  But, until we approach that moment, we are all the same.  The octogenarian and the baby have the same amount of time--the ever present moment.  Neither can accomplish a single thing, tomorrow, the next hour or even the next minute.  We are bound by the moment at hand.  Somewhere there is a young man entering college, a drug-addict trying to quit, a young couple planning their marriage, a godly saint waiting on the moment to cross over;  all live in the ever-present now.
     God has been gracious to allow me to be upon this earth for seventy-four of the New Years.  Along the way, I had thoughts as I suppose everyone does--"How much time do I have?"  There was the "now" of my graduaton from highschool, graduation from college, marriage to Doris, birth of our children, joys, pains, deaths they all had their now. Let me assure you, it is no small comfort to realize that I have as much time as I ever had--just now.  The obvious consideration for 2012 is how can I be of value to my God, my family, my community and my country?
Without comprehending the essence of time and the purpose of life, it matters not how many New Years your ever present now allows you to see.  It all will be in vain.  If you value life, don't squander time for that is the fiber of life.

I'm Dreaming Of A Right Christmas!

     The onslaught against Christians in general and Christmas in particular continues.  More and more stores are only showing advertisements with "Happy Holidays", no mention of Christmas.  Latest word is that the senators and representatives can not put the words, "Merry Christmas," on their mail.  We have no one to blame but ourselves.  To use a previously published phrase,  the opossum, Pogo, said, "We have found the enemy, and it is us.  Take a stand, now.  Let businesses know that if they are against Christmas, we are against them.  I'm dreaming of a right Christmas.
     I am dreaming of a Christmas in a land where it is normal for a family to not lock the door when they leave the house.
     I am dreaming of a Christmas in which parents are not afraid for their children to play outside unsupervised.
     I am dreaming of a Christmas when the simplest of gifts are deeply appreciated.
     I am dreaming of a Christmas where even adults believe in the spirit of Santa Claus.
     I am dreaming of a Christmas where Christ is the central theme of Christmas.
     I am dreaming of a Christmas where unknown people can meet on the streets and say, without fear of hurting some one's feelings, "Have a merry Christmas!"  After all, it's Christmas and has been for hundreds of years.  Those who are offended knew this was the custom before they came here.  They are free to go back.
     I am dreaming of a Christmas where everyone understands, that in Algebra,  an X stands for an unknown, and Christ takes the place in Xmas.  Perhaps, in that context X is appropriate for many who do not know the Christ of Christmas.
     I am dreaming of a Christmas where our president is unashamed to beseech the blessings of God upon our great nation instead of bowing to those who would wipe the  name of Christ from Christmas.
     If you are new to America or under thirty or forty years of age you are probably thinking, that is an impossible dream.  But it is not an idle dream; it is a recollection of Christmas' past in which many of us today still remember.  God do it again!

We Have Found The Enemy....

     Years ago in a comic strip the little opossum, Pogo, made this statement, "We have found the enemy and it is us."  That is the problem in about every imaginable situation.  We are our own worse enemy.
     The most dangerous enemy that confronts us, as a free nation, is found within our own borders.  We, as a nation, have come to the point- the same as a movie of a few years ago, "we are sleeping with the enemy."  Many of the enemy are encamped within the confines of Washington, D.C.  Congress is filled with men and women who have abandoned their promises of doing "the will of the people" and have their own particular agenda of promoting themselves.  Until a new constitutional amendment is passed that prohibits congress from making laws that affect the citizens of the United States and does not affect them or prohibits them from making laws affecting them that does not affect the citizens of the United States we will continue to have problems.  Congress needs to be under the same health care plan, retirement plan, and insurance plans as the average citizen of the country has.  If they want more let them pay for it like everybody else.
     The man in the White House is his own worse enemy.  He would like to blame his problems on everyone else, but he is his enemy.  He became irritated because of those who claimed he was born outside the United States.  This could have easily been avoided by producing a birth certificate in the beginning and releasing all of his records pertaining to his work and education.  He might also deflect much of the criticism about his being a Muslim by boldly declaring on national TV that he believes Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  That is the mark that distinguishes a Christian.  It is not if your name is on a church roll, or you follow a certain dogma, it is your belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
     The atheist crowd acts as if Christians were their enemy.  It is hard to understand how something that does not even exist (that would be God in their mind) can even disturb their imagination.  If that is not enough for them to worry about, try worrying about this.  In Christian America they are free to choose to believe in God or not, but should the Muslims take over the country some day, they will be forced to, at least verbally, say they believe in a god or die.  Who is the enemy here?
     Inside the ranks of Christians I find that here we have become our own worse enemy.  In our well intended attempt to live at peace and harmony with all men many have broadened our thinking and weakened our position by declaring that the Muslims worship the same God we worship.  Sorry about that, but the last time I checked, the Christian God had a son that was dearly beloved, his name is Jesus.  The Muslims deny that Jesus is their god's son.  How can that be the same God.
     It is time we recognize that we are our own worse enemy.  Sometimes it is the termites on the inside of the church that do more damage than the woodpeckers on the outside of the church.  They are so deadly because they are so quite about their work.  It is past time that we let the Word of God be true and every man a liar.  I MUST SAY IT!!!
  

Can you trust the snake?

     It is an often told story, but it won't hurt to repeat it again.  A traveler high up in the mountains in the winter came across a rattlesnake that was just about frozen.  The rattlesnake said to the traveler, "Pick me up and take me down where it is warm."  The traveler said, ""I am afraid you will bite me."  "Oh, no," said the snake, "I would never do that."  The traveler picked up the snake and placed him inside his coat where it was nice and warm.  When they got down to the base of the mountain the traveler felt a sharp prick in his side.  He unzipped his coat and saw that the snake had bitten his side.  "Why did you bite me after you promised that you would not bite?"  The snake replied, "You knew what I  was when you picked me up."
     I think it is time that Christians wake up to the fact that the entire world is at enmity with God.  I think everyone expects the atheist to oppose Christianity, but fail to realize that many of the other religions of the world also come under that category.  It is time that Christians take a good close look at the Muslim religion.  Remember the snake above.  Now take a look at the countries where they are in control and see how they treat people of other faiths.  So they arrive in a country of religious  freedom that is based on the Judeo-Christian concept.  A country that has stood for over 200 years under that concept and has provided a quality of living that is unsurpassed in the entire world.
     The news today carries the story of Muslim students enrolled in a Catholic university and are protesting the placement of the cross on their own property.  The poor mistreated Muslim students are offended by the cross.  I would suggest that they find a Muslim university to attend if they are offended.  If a Christian was in one of the Muslim countries he/she would not even have the freedom to complain about a perceived offensive object.
     Where ever they go, they make demands for things to be done that will accommodate their religion.  If they want any accommodations let them accommodate themselves.  The Catholics pay for all of the expenses of their own university and I hope and pray that they do not bow down to their stupid requests.  It is high time for us to "let God be true and every man a liar."
     They would like to be able to impose their laws so as to supersede the laws of our nation that enabled us to become great.
     If you are still reading, I probably will lose you here, but so be it.  President Obama is as guilty as any man, if not more so, in contributing to the downgrading of Christianity and the upgrading of the Muslim religion.  What is that he said, "America is not a Christian nation."  He downplayed a day of Christian prayer and honored a day of Muslim prayer.  The very idea of the president of a Christian nation bowing down to a leader of a lesser nation.   The question has come up on whether or not he is even a Christian.  That question could easily be put to rest by his acknowledgement that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  I have difficulty believing that a Christian could set under the filthy mouthed preacher as he set under for so many years and be classified as a Christian.  I use the term not as to his eternal destiny but as to his being Christlike.
     I know it is not politically correct and I fear no longer religiously correct to say this but, it is either Jesus Christ is God or he was a liar.  If he is not God then each one of us has helped keep a lie going for centuries.  I for one, believe that He is the Son of God.  Elijah challenged the religious world of his day on Mt. Carmel, the choice was whether Jehovah was God or Baal was God.  There was no mistake in the answer.  We have come once again to a Mt. Carmel and the question is the same, "Is Jesus Christ to be God in your life or is Muhammad, Buddha. or some other fake icon to take that place.

Just Saying It Does Not Make It So

     Years ago in New Orleans, while it was still unlawful for Catholics to eat meat on Friday, there lived a lone, solitary Jew in the midst of a Catholic neighborhood.  Each Friday he would fire up his outdoor grill and proceed to permeate the neighborhood with the aroma of the grilling steaks.  Thus, in defense of their sanity, the neighbors began a campaign to convert the Jew to the Catholic religion.
     After several months of fervently witnessing to the Jew their efforts were rewarded. The Jew joined the Catholic church.  The father, dipped a rose in water and sprinkled the Jew with the words, "You were born a Jew, you were raised a Jew, but now you are a Catholic."
     The community breathed a collective sigh of relief.  That is until the next Friday.  As they prepared to eat their fish, there drifted through the neighborhood the aroma of steaks being grilled.  They converged on the Jew-Catholic and immediately asked, "Don't you know you can't eat beef on Friday?"
     He responded, "What beef?  Then with a flair he dipped his brush into the barbecue sauce and said, "You were born as beef, you were raised as beef, but now you are fish."
     I fear that something like that happens regularly in the church world.  By adjusting key words here and changing intent there, we come up with the same type of logic.  I am thinking especially of the simple concept of baptism.  No seriously thinking person will try to convince anyone that the use of the word baptidzo (best I can do on an English keyboard) meant anything else than dip, plunge or submerge in a liquid.  Oh, I know, pouring is such a beautiful symbol of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and sprinkling is such a beautiful simple service that can be performed anywhere, but what about the fact that baptism is supposed to portray the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
     Make no mistake about it, when interpreting the scripture, "Let God be true and every man a liar."