Something left when you're done

Heritage:

This morning was Friday morning on the side of the world where I live now. It's fourteen hours in the future compared to my home in Virginia. At eight this morning I was beginning a class that I teach at Pacific Islands University. We typically start our classes with prayer. So as we went to the Lord in prayer on Fridaymorning it was six in the evening, back in Virginia. Thursday at 6:00 PM my home church and several other congregations were beginning the last night of a big event for teenagers, TEENWEEK. My class was praying for TEENWEEK. More than three decades ago, Covington Bible Church started TEENWEEK. I was privileged to be instrumental in its beginning and continuation.  Some of the Teens and leaders at TEENWEEK '18   As the class and I prayed this morning, what was going on in Virginia seemed very distant. I guess that is because it is very distant, both in miles and minutes. I don't want to give the idea that I think that doing games in a mud-pit, having a half-court basketball tournament, or serving up fifty pizzas at a time is essential to the cause of Christ. It isn't, and I know that. TEENWEEK, however, is a tool that has been used by God's people and blessed by God. I feel a bit like someone who is attending his own funeral. Normally, we think about heritage as something that goes beyond a person's life. I'm privileged to be alive and see something that by God's grace I was privileged to be involved in, that still goes on. Some of the leaders in the picture above are children the teens I was privileged to work with years ago. They are doing TEENWEEK and, more importantly, taking leadership in reaching a new generation. Thank You, Lord. My advice to you is, Go do something that lasts. It's Something To Think About. To see more about TEENWEEK '18, scroll through the posts at the Covington Bible Church Facebook page.

What Happened While I Was Away?

Something to Think About What Happened While I Was Away:

I need to begin with a disclaimer--bad style, but good honesty--There have been a lot of changes in my personal life over the past year, so maybe I'm not seeing things clearly.  I don't, however, think that is it.  It took a lot longer than four months for these things to happen, but when I got back to the USA a couple of weeks ago, I could see clearly that it isn't the same country I left at the beginning of the year.  A usually reliable culture watcher, Al Mohler, confirmed my observation in a recent blog post.  Actions and attitudes that not too long ago were considered wrong, even antisocial, are now considered commendable.  Choices that my countrymen have made in the political realm include vast support for a socialist, and the apparent choice of a candidate whose chief asset appears to be what he is not.  Apparently, what matters most to many people is that someone say what they think, what they think is less important.  I'd love for my nation to be great again.  It would be outstanding if my grandkids could go to college free.  I'd love for someone qualified to lead my country.  I wish I could say otherwise, but all of the slogans I hear appear to be that and nothing more.  I'd like for someone to step up and lead us in the right direction.  What I see, instead, are folk furiously running to get in front of where big crowds are already headed.  They aren't leading; they're apt get run over. I figure that by this point this sounds more like something to be depressed over than some thing to think about.  Actually, though, I find myself quite hopeful.  My optimism doesn't come from the political or cultural realm,  rather, to quote the words of an old hymn, "My hope is in the Lord, Who gave Himself for Me." Don't get me wrong.  I'm not surrendering.  I'm seeking to make my land and my world a better place.  I just realize more clearly than I did five months ago, that in the final analysis this isn't where I belong.   It’s STTA.

You can come home again, but . . .

Something to Think About Returning Home:

Thomas Wolfe famously said, "You can't go home again."  Actually you can, but you can't make it feel the same.  For the second time in my life I have returned home and found it somewhat weird--not bad, just different. Nearly fifty years ago I returned home after being away at school for a couple of months.  Shortly after I entered the familiar surroundings of the house where I'd lived for most of my life, my Mom asked, what I wanted for supper.  As far as I could remember that had never happened before.  My home was an "eat what's put before you" kind of home.  When Mom asked my dining preference I knew things had changed.  I had the same feeling the other day. Kathy and I had embarked on a new ministry venture.  We pulled in our driveway after being away for a bit over four months.  We began to settle into what is now the new normal.  It's not bad.  It is different.  And it's a bit of a challenge.  I suppose I'll have to wait a while before my verdict is credible, but I think it is good. I'm changing all the time.  All I have to do to demonstrate that is get out some old pictures.  That guy with a full head of black hair is gone.  In his place is an older guy with wrinkles and a wisp of gray on his head.  If I don't look at the pictures, though, I don't notice the change.  It happens a bit at a time.  I constantly adjust to the incremental difference.  The fact is, though, everything in this world is constantly changing.  If you stay gone for a while and then come home you notice that. Enough of my rambling.  The Lord's brother, James, and Jesus follower, Peter, both refer to Jesus words about the transitoriness of all things in this world.  These surroundings that seem so solid and lasting are really like delicate flowers.  They spring up, and flourish, but soon wither and die.  (See here, here, and here for the Biblical references.)  Don't try to keep things down here the same.  You'll only frustrate yourself.  Don't depend on that which is sure to fail you.  You are sure to suffer loss.  Make sure you invest in eternity.   It’s STTA. Read here to explore that which is eternal.

What Breaks Your Heart?

Something To Think About What's In Your Heart?

The joke is told about a man who was in a terrible car wreck.  He had been thrown clear of the auto and was standing, somewhat dazed, on the side of the road.  He was looking mournfully at his new automobile, now just a poke of twisted, smoldering metal and plastic. "Oh my Beemer, my beautiful Beemer . . ." he moaned as a motorist stopped to help.   "Was anyone else in the car?" the good Samaritan asked. "No, but look at my car, my brand new BMW. . ." The rescuer, finding out that no one else was hurt began to take stock of the driver.  To his horror he noticed that the man's left arm had been severed between the elbow and the wrist.  He stood cradling the stump and mourned the loss of his luxury sedan. The passer-by could finally stand the irony no longer. "Shut up about your stupid car.  Look at your arm." Turning his gaze from the ruined auto to the remains of his left arm the accident victim didn't miss a beat.  "Oh, my Rolex, my beautiful gold Rolex . . ." I've seen scenes, not unlike that, played out.  In a time of great tragedy or crisis the fact that the most important thing to a person was, indeed, just a thing became clear.  More often I've observed the syndrome being played out over time.  I've been in houses that looked ready for a photo-shoot for Better Homes and Gardens,  where children lived, lonely and ignored.   I've known men who worked so hard at making a good living that they had no time or energy for building a worthwhile life.  Perhaps it could be said about our society that . . .  never have so many had so much and enjoyed it so little. We are like the prosperous farmer in Jesus Story.  We see our stuff as the end, rather than the means to--and often not even the chief means to--an end.  Jesus didn't leave on our own in drawing the moral from His parable.  He introduced his story this way, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”  And finished it with, "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Accounting is not one of my favorite things to do.  Some of my number-crunching friends will sometimes come at me with their spread-sheets and charts.  I'll ask them, is it a :) or a :(? This man's balance sheet resulted in a big, red frowny face. What about you? Is there anything in your life that feeds your soul? Are you doing anything that will still be important in Eternity? Are you focusing on what really matters? I hope you will find it to be . . . Something to Think About.

Being Prepared Joaquin, the Byrds, & a Philosopher King:

Something To Think About, Being Prepared Joaquin, the Byrds, & a Philosopher King:

As I write, Hurricane Joaquin is churning away out in the Atlantic, southeast of here.  The predictions of what is going to happen are less than exact.  Here is a map of possible tracks the Hurricane could take, from  earlier this week.  I just heard a news report on the storm that  included the word "likely" many times.  Apparently the latest projection indicates that the storm will stay out in the ocean. In spite of the uncertainty, massive preparations have been made for Joaquin's consequences.  Huge machines have been piling up sand berms in New York and New Jersey, some friends of ours moved disaster relief equipment to a strategic location, football games were rescheduled and played early, and, of course, parking lots were jammed as folk stocked up on bread and milk.  I even charged my cellphone in anticipation of a possible power outage.  I'm resting now from my preparations. Keeping in mind what could happen, and the fact that by the time we know for sure what will happen it's too late to do anything about it, prudent foresight is wise. The Bible, almost universal religious instinct, and the restlessness in our own hearts warns that there is something on the other side of death.  We should be prepared.  I've done a lot in the past couple of years to stave off the effects of aging, and delay the appointment that I most certainly have with death.  Just an hour ago I took my cholesterol med.  To live as if I am going to live forever in the state in which I now exist, is foolish, perhaps arrogant. In more than four decades of pastoring, I've done quite a few funerals.  I make it a practice to ask the family if there is any particular scripture they want me to include in the funeral service.  The two most often given answers are "The twenty-third Psalm," and "That passage about their being a time for everything."  I've always figured that folk were thinking more of the Byrds than Solomon.  The Sixties rock band was making a plea for peace.  Solomon was observing that nothing in this life really satisfies.  Even the Byrd's version includes the first, all-encompassing couplet, "A time to be born, and a time to die."  The wise king goes on to point out,  He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Far from being something we can be all mellow about, the Bible's philosopher's view of the times leads to a troubling conclusion.  It is part of the reason that he finds life to be "vanity and vexation of spirit" (Ecc. 1:14).  It supports the final conclusion of the book.  "Fear God, and keep His commandments"  (12:13).   Death is coming.  That is sure.  There is something beyond.  The evidence is strong.  It is wise to be prepared. It's STTA. You'll find some guidelines for preparation here.

Something marked off my bucket-list: So What?

Something To Think About, 51.4:

I'm going to guess that Iv'e been trying for at least ten years.  This past Saturday I finally succeeded.  I really don't know how.  I do know it doesn't matter--at least not much. I ride a bike.  I do it to get a bit of exercise, and because I enjoy it.  I live in a beautiful area for riding, changing terrain, lovely woods and pasture land.  Sometimes the sky is just breath-taking.  I'd say 70% of the time I take a ride up Potts creek, turning uphill at Mountain Lake.  I head home down the steep side of Pitzer's Ridge.  The circuit is just short of ten miles, and it has the aerobic benefit of being mostly uphill.  The Potts Creek section is what cyclists call a "false-flat."  It looks flat, but all you have to do is look at the way the creek is flowing to know it's not.  It's a slight uphill grade with a couple of bumps along the way.  When you turn uphill at Mountain Lake, unless you have the kind of legs that we old cyclists envy, you have to do some down-shifting.   For a mile or so the grade's not too bad.  On a good day, I can keep a 10 mph pace with a burst of 15 at one point.  For those of you who don't know, that's what good cyclists would call "S-L-O-W."  Then things get steeper.  Usually there is some standing on the pedals.  It's probably bad style, but I avoid using my lowest gear.  Knowing I could down-shift once or twice more if "I needed to."  keeps my head in the game.  There are a couple of switchback curves and then I top out.   The hard work of the ride is done at this point.  There are a couple more switchbacks as you start the downhill, so you can't just let it go.  I watch for oncoming traffic and for gravel on the pavement and work on my cornering skills.  About halfway through the last switchback I start accelerating and after one more gradual curve I'll pedal as fast as I can.  Before long, I can't keep up.  I may continue to turn the pedals, but I'm not adding any speed.  At this point I'm reaping the benefit of the gain in altitude I labored for in the first three-fourths of the ride.  Without really trying I'll get forty-five mph or so.  If I flail the pedals as fast as I can in the upper section, and then fold my body into a less non-aerodynamic position I can hit the upper forties.  It's been a silly goal of mine to get over fifty.   Fourteen years ago I had a bad bike wreck, and even though it didn't involve excessive speed, it causes those who care about me to be concerned for my safety, so very few share my enthusiasm for the "5-0" goal. This past Saturday I felt good.  I flailed at the right place.  I forced my body into a lower crouch than usual--low enough that I couldn't see the speedometer on my handlebars.  The road was clean and there was no traffic, so I could take the best line.  When I raised my head enough for a peak, I saw the "5."     If a cyclist gives a shout of triumph on a deserted road, does he really make any sound?  When I got further down the road I checked--my cycle-computer records top speed--and gravity had propelled me to 51.4 mph. I bored you by telling you about my biking routine so we could get to this important curve in the road.     SO WHAT? A movie of a few years ago, made "bucket-list" a part of our vocabulary.  I've had conversations with people in airports who were spending thousands of dollars in a quest to cross something off a mental list of thing they want to do before they die.  Others make themselves miserable because they realize they'll kick the bucket before they come close to emptying it. I could be all self-righteous if I wanted and tell how my bucket-list item cost nothing, and is a part of my exercise routine, so it actually provides some benefit, but I won't.  The fact is, I don't know why I went faster last Saturday than I have before.  I do know it doesn't matter and that is the lesson in my downhill story.  The Bible challenges us to spend our lives--our time this side of the overturned bucket, doing that which will last to the other side.  Jesus spoke of laying uptreasures in heaven.  The Apostle Paul counselled building our house (life) with "gold, silver, and precious stones," rather than "wood, hay, and stubble," for our life work will be tested by fire.   John 14:3 says Jesus is preparing a place for His followers.  I'm quite sure mine won't have a plaque on the wall commemorating my "Fifty+ mph" achievement. Here is a one-line bucket list:   DO SOMETHING THAT WILL LAST FOR ETERNITY. It's STTA.

What does a crash in Ukraine have to do with me?

Something To Think About 777s, 7/18

A few weeks ago I spent half a day strapped right smack in the middle of a Boeing 777.  The news of the Malaysia Air jetliner, a 777, that was shot down got my attention.  On movies someone always sees the missile approaching.  I wonder if anyone did.  For many, maybe most, of the passengers the moment they were aware something was wrong was the same moment they died from what had to be a horrendous explosion.  The plane, or literally the pieces of the plane, including seats with passengers still wearing their seat-belts, "low and tight," fell about six miles to the Ukrainian countryside below.  Was anyone alive for part of that plunge? I've been on airliners. Some passengers were sleeping. Likely, someone was feeding or caring for one of the infants on board. Others--often this is me--would have been trying to get comfortable, longing for sleep, but unable to get themselves arranged in the narrow seat. Business people were getting ready for a big presentation. Many were passing the time staring at a movie, or reading. In a blinding second First Class, Business Class, Economy Plus, and the airline equivalent of steerage became absolutely equal.  The extra leg-room was irrelevant.  No one cared whether they had just eaten steak or mystery mush.  Young and old, male and female, rich and poor were ushered, in the blink of an eye, into eternity. I can hear some of you say, You won't get me in one of those things.  Consider, though, that if yesterday was average: Over 90 people died in motor vehicle crashes, just in the United States. 12 died walking. There was a 1 in 30 chance that someone in the US died from a lightning strike. It could be that someone died from electric shock; about 5 Americans die that way every month. About 150,000 people, all around the world, died in the last 24 hours. As one comic/philosopher observed, "This world is a mess; no one is going to get out alive." Generally when people get on an airplane they know where they are going.  Where am I going?  That is a question we all ought to ask, even if we aren't leaving the house. It's Something to Think About. To find out more about CBC at our website. God's Story in His Own Words. a message composed of nothing but Scripture that presents the flow of Divine Revelation from "In the beginning," to the final "Amen." You can find directions for getting where you really want to go here.

Looking forwad to joining my Mom:

Something To Think About, Thanks Mom, 5/12

I am greatly indebted to the woman I was privileged to call, "Mom," Irene Hargrove Merrell. Yesterday was the first Mother's Day I spent without my mom.  In a practical sense Mom had been gone for several years.  At first mom exhibited confusion, then frustration with not knowing others and not understanding that what was going on.  After a time she experienced periodic bouts of fear, because she didn't know who she was.  On a couple of occasions she plaintively told my sister, with whom she lived, "I don't know who I am."  Finally the tightening grip of dementia squeezed out even the ability to recognize that she didn't know.  Mom was mostly gone for quite a while before she died.  Having said that, it was still a comfort to know that mom was there.  I knew when I called her, or went to visit her that my words on the phone or even my presence by her side had little impact.  At the end, her life was lived like a person looking out of a moving vehicle through a very narrow, vertical slit.  For a fleeting second she saw something that wouldbring her a moment of joy, or sometimes even pain, but any memory of what had happened--even a second before--was gone and there was no anticipation of what was next.  That slit narrowed and narrowed until little if anything from the outside made it in.  The last time or two I went to see my mom I answered the question, "Why are you going?" with, "I know mom won't know or remember that I was there, but I will know."  Now that is gone for me as well.  I'll see mom again in heaven, not before. I don't write from sadness--at least not primarily so.  I figure my life is not unlike the way I imagine mom's experience toward the end.  Believing that my life is eternal, I figure my present situation is like my mom's dementia-choked experience.  I see such a tiny bit of reality--an infinitesimal portion of the ultimate reality.  Using a slightly different picture, the Apostle Paul said, "We see in a mirror dimly."  There is so much in the past, and in the infinite future that doesn't register on my time-bound mind.    My mom has not only gone back to the person she was before she began her long slow decline.  She has become all that God intended her to be.  I enjoyed Mother's Day.  I enjoyed it because I am Thankful for all that my mom gave to me and my siblings.  I enjoyed it because of the awareness that my Mother has emerged not only from that limited view that marked the end of her life, but from the limitation that marks all life in this time-bound world before those of us who, by God's grace, have been given eternal life will emerge into that realm in which we "will know fully just as [we] also have been fully known."  (1 Corinthians 13:12) I look forward to not only seeing my Mother, but truly seeing myself for the first time. It's STTA.

NEXT:

Something To Think About, Somebody's In Line: 3/11

From time, in an attempt to keep up with what's going on in the world around me, I'll look at one of the lists that constantly come my-way--you know, the "Twenty most" this, or the "Forty best" that.  This morning I looked at a list that matched "old" actors with younger stars whom the list-maker thinks will take the place of the star who is on the way out.    The resemblance between some of the outgoing celebrities, and their counterpart newcomer--like Meg Ryan and Rachel McAdams--is uncanny.  No doubt, if you take time to dig a bit deeper, though, there are nuances to the new version that weren't there in the old--same basic concept, but updated for a "new" era. Long before Hollywood, Solomon commented on the syndrome:     Speaking about a young king who rises out of obscurity to replace the old ruler, the wise man said, "I have seen all the living under the sun throng to the side of the second lad who replaces him."  Solomon goes on to comment, ". . . the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is vanity and striving after wind."  (Ecclesiastes 4:14-16) It is good to have a handle on ones mortality.   It encourages humility.  Peter reminds us that our "glory" like a flower--fleeting (1 Peter 1:24). It compels one to invest in something that lasts--like the people who come after me (2 Timothy 2:2), and to focus on that which really does last, like the Word of God (1 Peter 1:25). It encourages wisdom in choices.  Like the kid looking at the array of candy in the glass case, we ought to make sure that we spend out nickel so we get the most for it. it helps one avoid fads, and emphasize substance. In the eternal scheme of things who the next pretty face, or hunky body is really of very little importance.  Whether I use my time to the Glory of God is of supreme value. Live for Jesus! It's STTA. Explore the Good News here.

HEAVEN

One of our Sunday School classes at Covington Bible has been studying about Heaven. Thinking about the eternal abode of God's people is a good way to clean out the pipes.  Living in this world has a tendency to plug things up.  The sludge doesn't smell too good.  Enough!
Once one get's to a certain age, he tends to think of heaven in terms of what won't be there, and, in fact, the Bible gives ample encouragement in that direction
 
   "and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."" (Revelation 21:4)

   "I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." (Revelation 21:22-23)

 

  "There will no longer be any curse;"  (Revelation 22:3)

 

You can find other "won't be there" statements about heaven.  As is often the case, little kids tend to get it.

"Tell me about heaven."

"There won't be anything bad there." 

It is the bad things that limit us.  Often one comes to the place of dealing with a really big problem when he realizes not only what it is doing to him, but what it is keeping him from doing.

 

In Heaven:

• Love will be fearless.
• Worship will be untainted.
• Focus will be uninterrupted.
• Growth will be unlimited.
• Joy will be unmixed.
• Friendship will be unending.

As you begin a week which is likely to contain some unheavenly content, It's Something To Think About.

   It's STTA.
 

Don't assume heaven is your final home.  Find out more here.  For the next three Wednesdays there is a supper discussion about Jesus. Writeto find out more.