The Click-track of life:

"Click . . . Click . . . Click . . ."

My grandson is a drummer. I'm not a musician, but I know from what other musicians say, and just from being able to tell when someone is good at something, that he is really good at it. I'm not into the type of music that his band plays, but I know that, as he puts it, It has to be "tight." I would describe They Will Fall's music as chaotic, but it is a very carefully planned chaos. In order to keep it together, they generally use a "click-track." A steady rhythm click, click, clicks in Christopher's ear to keep him on track, not to mention with "the track." In a recent Facebook post, Christopher commented, "I've noticed in myself after playing to clicks for years now that I've lost a lot of feel as a musician. I've lost a little bit of the ability to read the other musicians. It's easy to become a robot and forget that music is supposed to provoke emotion. . . . [S]ometimes it's refreshing to just rely on each other's individual artistic voice and not rely on a Macbook Pro to dynamically lead through a set." Though, as I said, I'm not a musician, I identify with the balance this sharp, young man talks about. My style is to take my ear-bud out and just respond to what is going on around me, fly by the seat of pants, just let it come, and live in the moment. If I let that tendency rule, though, I find, at the end of the day, that my "to do list" has become a record of all the things I didn't get done. If go into by-the-agenda mode, I walk by hurting people without helping, "click, click," and though others are rejoicing, I am oblivious to their joy. "click, click, click." The Apostle Paul we meet in the New Testament was an incredibly disciplined man, yet he was aware of, and responded to, those around him. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15, NASB95). The Lord Jesus, though clearly dedicated to a Divine timetable--“He had to pass through Samaria.” and, “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;” (John 4:4, Luke 9:51, NASB95)--took time to reach out to children, was aware when a woman in need touched Himin a crowd, and reached out to her. Lord, I have things to do, things I believe You want me to do, and others are depending on me to accomplish, yet, I know, Lord, that all around me others are rejoicing, hurting, discouraged, exhilarated, weary, or bored with life. Don't let me ignore them. Help me remember that the most important things aren't things at all. They are people. People for Whom You, Christ, died. Keep me balanced. AMEN   It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Time Flies on Wings. It won't wait for you

I've thought a lot recently about a poem I read back in high school. I'm fairly sure that Andrew Marvell's intentions were not--how does one put it?--all together honorable, toward "his Coy Mistress." Still four lines from the poem have stayed with me for half-a-century, now:    But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near; Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.  Events have conspired, of late, to make me acutely aware of times passage, and the eroded landscape it leaves behind. My little brother had a birthday. Two of the youngest senior citizens I know were just confronted with the reality of mortality. My younger grandson is now fourteen. Though you'd never know it by looking at my lovely wife, in a week and a day we celebrate our Forty-fifth Anniversary. Just this morning I talked to a friend considerably younger than me; we discussed his retirement. It was the second serious conversation I've had this week about age and mortality. I'm surrounded by people younger than me, not only the students at Pacific Islands University, but the staff. Some of them are younger than my sons.  As if that wasn't enough video footage of the winged chariot rolling, unhindered along. The subject matter this week, for the class I'm teaching was heaven. Finally, though I started the week with good intentions, here it is Fridayand I'm just now giving you something to think about. It's not nearly as poetic, but the following has some of the same sentiment and is more my style than the verse of the Cavalier Poet. "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to slide across the finish line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, and shouting GERONIMO!!!"    Whether you prefer the version from the literature book, or the doggerel from the Internet, there is something to be said for the sentiment. As a fellow preacher reminded us Don't waste your life. I could say more, but I think you've got it. Go live Life. Love Jesus. Like the great apostle "finish your race. It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Deadlines, Seen and Unseen

Deadlines:

I'm up against a deadline.  That's nothing new.  I spent most of my life as the pastor of a small church.  Sunday is always coming.  This one is a bit different, though.  While the deadline is real and missing it will have consequences, those consequences are less immediate than the preacher showing up Sunday morning with nothing to say.  Actually the real deadline is still ten days off--a lifetime for a guy who worked week-to-week for most of his life.  However, if I'm going to meet that deadline in a week and a half I have to meet a self-imposed one today. Several proverbs--or maybe they are cliche's; you decide-- compete for attention in my mind.   "You have to aim for perfection in order to achieve an acceptable result."  I learned that from a guy who never strove for perfection at any time in his good-enoughlife.  Still, the aphorism has some merit. "The perfect is the enemy of the good."  Some of those perfection-strivers burn so much time getting point A just right, that they never get to B or C, and A by itself just won't cut it. "Keep the big picture in mind." "Little things matter." Back when one of the biggest questions I asked myself, week in and week out, was, "What am I going to preach on Sunday?"  I had to learn that my task was not to preach the best sermon I could, but to prepare the best sermon I could with the resources, including time, that I have.  Now that I'm in this retirement, or second career, phase of life I'm accutely aware that we all face an unseen deadline.  The Bible makes clear that "it is appointed unto men once to die" (Hebrews 9:27), but God doesn't enter the date on Google Calendar for us.  I've watched enough people die to know that likely that deadline will be preceded by other smaller cutoff points.  I remember when I told my mom she couldn't drive anymore, and when we knew that dad couldn't be trusted to get from point A to B. The Psalm writer prayed, "LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered" (Psalm 39:4, NLT).  If you read the rest of David's musings you will see that he prayed at a time of great turmoil.  He feared for his life.  Unlike David's, my life is pretty good, but, as surely as Sunday is coming, so is the end. It's STTA. At this site, you'll find some resources to help you prepare for that most important deadline, and live with real purpose until then

The First Time, a second view:

Something to Think About First Times, the second time:

A bit of balance about first times. Two statements that stick in my mind: My pastor when I was growing up, who later became my Father-in-law, used to speak about folk still being "forked end down."  By that he meant they weren't dead yet. One of the hardest working people I ever knew, a business woman who was a charter member of the church I pastored, used to say, "You can't begin any sooner than right now." I put both of those together to make an "X," as in "X marks the spot."  If you are still forked end down then you still have opportunities.  You can mourn about all the chances to make a difference youmissed, or you can survey the ways you can move the needle in the right direction right now, and step up.  You'll never begin any sooner. Get busy. It’s STTA.

Don't wait too late for a first.

Something to Think About First Times:

As I stood at the registration counter, the very nice lady asked if this was the first time I had attended the convention.  I came to know the Lord in a church that was part of this fellowship.  Many men who were part of this group of churches were key in helping me over the years.  Actually the church I pastored for most of my life is a member church.  Yet my answer as a sixty-six year old retired pastor was, "Yes." There are reasons why, I think some of them are at least kind of good reasons, nevertheless, I felt a twinge of regret as I gave the answer.  By God's grace I plan to be around for a while, but I am aware that the years I have left aren't as many as those I have spent--by a good margin.  So, since I have business to attend to, let me simply share two quick thoughts. When we put something off, we make an assumption--an assumption concerning something over which we have no control.  While I have no control over time, I do have experience in watching it fly by.  Often when I put something off until tomorrow I seriously underestimate how full tomorrow will be.  We have all had the experience of being up against a deadline and having more to do than we can get done.  Don't live in that mode.  Clearly we have a deadline, we just don't know when it is.  (Hebrews 9:27)  Choose wisely.  Once we pass an opportunity or spend a moment, it is gone.  (Ephesians 5:15-17)   Don't assume that later will be soon enough for the first time.  Maybe not. It’s STTA. Read here to find out how to prepare for life and death.

Choose Life

Something To Think About Choosing Life:

Genesis one declares that God made people in His own image.  Just what does that mean?  Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God is a Spirit, so the image of God is not visual.   Genesis 3, the story of the Fall gives us an important clue.  After Eve and Adam disobeyed their creator, we read that God came looking for them. “When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.  Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  (Genesis 3:8-9) It appears that God not only created the first couple and placed them in Eden, but that He regularly came by to be with them.  Now that sin had come between them and their God, He called out to them, not because He didn’t know where they were, but so they would realize what they had done.  When we come to the other end of the Bible we hear John declare about the New Jerusalem, “I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. . . . The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.  And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.”  (Revelation 21:3 & 22:3-4) In between we see the God seeking out a people who will be His very own.  So often we misread God’s motives.  Adam and Eve’s rebellion caused them to be cast out of the beauty of the Garden Eden into a world of thorns and weeds and pain and death.  The alternative to that home in heaven that we read about in Revelation is the one place in the universe where all of the blessings God gives to those who yield to Him are absent.  Why, between these two poles of God declaring His desire to be with His creation and bless them, do we think that we are better off without our Lord?  The enemy of our souls continues to convince women and men that they are better off as rebels. Get quiet and listen.  Can you hear the voice calling, “Where are you?”  He wants you to answer so you will know.  Are you living in the realm of His blessing, or are you continuing to follow the voice of the tempter? The Apostle Paul tells the story of some who made the right choice. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,  that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.  So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.   (Ephesians 2:1-10) It’s STTA.

First your are old, and then you die.

Something To Think About When you get done being old you die :

My late father used to jokingly call cemeteries, "scull orchards," though he would, also, often slow down, out of respect, when he drove by one.  I think he was utterly sincere when he claimed to have no concern for how his body would be dealt with after his death.     His line was something like, "I don't care if you bury me head-down in a post hole and mark my name on my shoe heel"  In actuality he wasn't that nonchalant.  He purchased grave plots for himself and my mom.  My dad never really got old. He was only sixty-two when he died.  I've spent my life being a small town pastor.  I've hung around death a good bit.  I've seen folk die and leave the heirs with a real mess, and I've seen others proactively bless their families by the preparations they had made.  I'm not proposing irresponsibilty. My wife and I are entering into a time when we'll be traveling a lot.  We are no longer--as the saying goes--Spring Chickens (though you can't tell it when you look at Kathy).  We figure it is responsible to make some preparations.  We are getting our wills in order.  We're passing on some key information to our sons.  Our house may not be in order, but we are trying to cut down on the chaos.  We, however, refuse to focus on dying.  In fact we don't have to refuse; focusing on death isn't really a temptation; life is just too interesting. Growing old involves some accommodation.  A friend of mine is a good athlete.  He can't jump any more, but he is having a great time coaching those who can.  The deterioration and slow-down that comes with growing older is inevitable, but we don't have to cooperate with the trend.  Let's do what we can to preserve life's vigor for as long as possible. Part of living responsibly, especially at this end of life, includes preparing to die--indeed, I've said on other occasions that one is not really ready to live until he is ready to die.  That doesn't mean, however, that we need to focus on death.  The fact is we will die whether we plan to or not.  We will only really live if we go about it purposefully.  I'm a realist.  Fifty year Guarantees don't impress me much any more, but at this point it would appear that I have some space between here and my appointment with the grave.  I choose to focus on life. Bottom line: Be ready to die (see the link below) and then get on with living(likewise check out the link below), how old you are is irrelevant.   It's Something to Think About. Young or old we all need the Lord. Find out more here.

AGING, #3

Something To Think About Aging, yes, even more:

On a journey, especially one by air or across water, you reach what is called the "point of no return."  Except in science fiction movies, it's not quite as ominous as it sounds.  The point of no return is simply the half-way point of the trip.  Once you pass that point you might as well go on to your destination; it's closer than going back to the beginning.  I don't expect to live to one hundred and thirty, so it is clear that I passed that point some time ago.  The reality is we can't go back in time, but the picture helps me to put some things in perspective. Maybe it will help some of you, on whichever side of that imaginary point you find yourself. For those who can reasonably conclude that they are still on the outbound phase of life's journey, I hope these thoughts from one on the other side will cause you treasure the time the Lord gives you.  I've lived long enough, and observed enough people to see folk who wasted their prime opportunity only to spend the backside of their journey regretting it.  Both phases are wasted. I see a lot of oldsters, like me, who waste the life they have left, mourning the youth they no longer have.  We can't go back.  If we allow the past to rob us of the future we will have lost all that remains. Caleb was eighty-five when he asked Joshua to allot him one of the most difficult territories to claim (here).  The Apostle Paul determined to  "forget . . . what lies behind and reach . . . forward to what lies ahead, [he] press[ed] on toward the goal"  (Philippians 3:13–14).  Both modeled behavior that we folk on the far side of that no turn back point need to emulate.  I'm trying to remember it myself.  I have less life in front of me than I've lived behind me.  That makes what is left all the more precious.  With Moses I pray,    “. . . teach [me] to number [my] days, That [I] may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)    It's Something to Think About.   Young or old we all need the Lord. Find out more here.

Aging, again--Old folk tend to repeat themselves:

Something To Think About Aging, again--Old folk tend to repeat themselves:

I can give hearty affirmation to King David's observation,    “I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25, NASB95)    I have been well provided for, all of my life.  The warm memory of a great meal from last night still lingers.  I was refreshed by good night's sleep in a warm, comfortable bed, sheltered by a house that meets my needs.  For most of my days, my situation has never been very far from hand to mouth.  But that has been OK.  By God's grace I was gainfully employed, and through that means the needs of my family and myself, were met.  I am now moving into a realm where there is more room between payday and due-day.  My late uncle put it this way.  He told me a few years ago, "I don't work anymore; I just draw."  Here in the West, many of us who worked through our adult years, are able to draw a Social Security check, and maybe on a pension fund.  Even for those of us who need to supplement that income, the "have to" element is not nearly as great as back when the "baby needs new shoes, and transmission just went out on the Ford."  More and more I find myself thinking, in answer to the question, "What do you have to do today?" "Nothing.  I don't have to do anything."  But, I need to keep in mind there is a great deal I need to get done. I've learned a lot from watching my wife, over the years.  Kathy has been self-employed for most of our time together.  She is a very capable piano teacher.  For a time she also taught music to preschoolers.  Her business, however, has never been more than a part-time job.  Because of her Proverbs 31 management of our household, we have been able to live well, mostly on my income.  Kathy chose to be good for nothing.  She has led the music ministry in our church for decades, and has invested herself deeply in the lives of women and girls, through ministries like Coffee Break.  I'm trying to learn from her, and from the work the Holy Spirit is doing in my heart, that . . . though there may be nothing I have to do today, there is a great deal I need to get done. This is a challenge that John Piper has eloquently made in his book,Don't Waste Your Life.  Look at page 46--the link accesses a pdf of the whole book--for a tragic story of some folk who concluded that because they didn't have to do anything that they had nothing to do. Seniors, let's finish well. Lord, I'm thankful to be at a place where more and more there is nothing I have to do.  Help me see that there is much that I need to get done.  It's Something to Think About.   Young or old we all need the Lord. Find out more here.

Time:

Something To Think About Time:

I'm at one of those points in life where I'm going through the transition from "I have plenty of time." to, "I'm not going to get everything done."  I've been there before.  I know that minutes and hours are the same today as they were a short time ago.  Why do I have the sensation that they are flying by faster? Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses.  He had forty or fifty more years to work with us than most of us have, yet he prayed,"Teach us to number our days."  I don't think the wise leader of Israel had in mind knowing how many days and minutes he would have.  That is certainly information that is not available to you or me.  Even predicting when folk with terminal diseases will die is an inexact science.  The fact is none of us know how much time we have.  We number something because it is precious.  Time certainly is that.  It is the stuff of life.  So let's join with Moses, and the Psalmist who recorded his prayer.   Lord teach me to number my days. May I consider what I'm doing with them. May I ask what good will be left behind when my day is gone. I want to use my time that is fleeting to invest in eternity, which is forever. Thank You, Lord, for this time.  Help me to make the most of it. AMEN It's Something to Think About.

Sin's Consequences:

Something To Think About Sin's Consequences:

A good bit of pastoral life involves hanging around--simply being with people.  I did that this morning.  In addition to the lovely people with whom I spent several hours, someone, or really something, else was with us. Nothing exciting was happening, in fact our time passed in much the same way it would have had we been watching paint dry--old oil-base, wet-for-hours paint.  As I thought about it, it seemed rather perverse that events of such great importance were unfolding as we waited, and yet our experience was so mundane.  The clear, yet unspoken reality that hung all around us, and was hanging-out with us, was that sin had been let loose, and the consequences of that sin--or those sins--could not be--indeed, should not be stopped.  We were there in quiet vigil waiting for the dreaded other shoe to drop, not knowing precisely how bad its fall would be. James talks about sin's life-cycle.   Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. (James 1:14–15, NLT)  Someone had already died, their life horribly ended because a temptation had become an all-consuming craving.  The decision had already been made that another life, young and full of promise would never again be lived outside a prison.  We were gathered in a place where we didn't quite feel welcome, but where we had an official right to be, to get what news we could about the beginnings of another phase of the unfolding of this evil.  Will sin, in particular this sin, claim yet another life?  All around us were those playing their part--a judge, lawyers, witnesses, advisers, clerks, bailiffs, guards, prospective jurors, reporters, even janitors--each summoned by some authority to come and fulfill their role.  Then there was the family of the victim, and members of the family of the man on trial--in a sense, victims as well.  Some of us were there because we thought it the right thing to do.  I sure there are more than a hundred of us.  We had received the summons.  In a sense it was a summons from evil.  God has so ordered his universe that evil is like gravity.  It has a force that appears to be all its own.  Once evil is set in motion it calls far and wide.  That summons cost me a morning of my life.  The sentence already handed down from sin's gruesome bench to some who are involved, is "Your life will never be the same.  You will bear this mark." Pandora's box, version one billion, seventeen has been opened, and the imps let loose on humanity, even what we consider to be innocent humanity, have yet to be counted, and their mischief is ongoing, and will continue, in some cases forever.  Like watching the clock I watched evil unfold this morning.  I couldn't actually see it move, but its results are plain, and undeniable.  It's not pretty. It's STTA. A great deal of the story of the Bible has to do with sin and it's consequences, but the story of God's word is bracketed by paradise lost because of sin, and paradise regained because of Christ's victory over sin.  On Easter of 2014, I shared God's Story In His Own Words all in one message.  Click the link to listen or watch. You will find information about stopping the consequences of sin in your life, here.

Abortion: Let's at least try to talk.

Something To Think About, At least trying to talk about Life:

I don't know about you, but one of the--maybe simply the--frustrating thing(s) about the abortion debate is, it is so often like two people, wearing blindfolds, standing on opposite sides of the street yelling at each other in two different languages.  One side shouts over and over again.  "It's a baby!  Can't you see that?"  The other side yells back,  "It's my body (or her body) you have no right."  Both lines of rhetoric have long ago ceased to have any impact on the other side.  So instead of getting all red in the face, how about if I tell you about two absolutely wonderful young men, and then make an offer.   One of these young men is a passionate musician.  He's not only passionate about his music, but it is his passion to use his music to communicate the message about his savior, Jesus Christ.  He's an artist at heart.  He can do remarkable things with pen and paper, but lately his medium of choice is sod and stone, mulch and plants.  He turns barren places into refuges of beauty. The other young guy is also involved in landscaping, only his impact on his world is often made from the seat of a big zero-turn mower.  He's a young business man, the kind preacher-types, like me, really love.  He is a generous business man.  He wants to use what he has to God's glory.  That includes his talents and abilities.  He's tried his hand at preaching a few times.  He enjoys going to the County Fair and sharing the Good News with those who stop by his booth to receive a yardstick that tells the greatest story ever told. One of these guys is my grandson and the other my nephew.  Both of them could very easily have become one of those little lives that ends before they see the light of day.  Wow! Am I ever glad their moms chose a different route. Part of the reason those two moms felt they were able to choose life for those two little guys was, even though their circumstances were less than ideal, there was someone who said, "I'll help."  When one side stops hurling words like mortar shells, and instead packages them in love. And when the other side shows a willingness to take the hand of help that is offered--well--you end up with somebody outstanding, like my nephew or my grandson. Here is my offer.  I'll do what I can to get the two sides together in a celebration of life rather than a surrender to death. How about we begin here; It's Something To Think About. Over at The View Through My Keyhole, I'm posting some further thoughts and links on this. I don't want the graphics in this article to confuse you.  I am prolife.  I do think we should talk sensibly about the life of the unborn.  I used these graphics to illustrate the polarized positions that have been staked out in the debate.

What Isn't Temporary?

Something To Think About, Temporariness:

The mom of a new bride was talking to me recently.   "How are the newly-weds?" I asked. "They are doing fine.  They are really enjoying setting up their temporary apartment." The young couple is barely back from their honeymoon.  Both are college students.  The apartment they'll be living in for the next year doesn't open up for another three weeks or so, so they are crashing where one of them lived pre-nuptials.  At first I smiled within.  "Young love," I thought.  "Why go to all the trouble of setting up a place for such a short time?" The fact is, though, we all live on a precarious balance.  My house, car, wardrobe, computers, and stuff in general is all daily succumbing to moth and rust.  What remains will be consumed with fire. Yet God has given me all that He has entrusted to me so thatI can enjoy it.  Clearly maximum gratification comes from using my stuff to the glory of God. At the time the Mother-of-the-Bride spoke with me I was involved in a remodeling project.  I've been doing these for a long time.  One of the calculations that almost always comes into play is, "How long will it last?"  Do I spend the extra money for the better material, or is the less expensive route OK?   My wife questioned me about one decision I made on this project.  My reply was, "I want this to last until I die."  I do, and at my age that is a realistic metric.  The problem is I don't know when my maker will recall me.  The successful farmerthought he had many years of plenty ahead of him.  In truth his future on earth was measured by mere hours.   Peter asks a probing question, "Since all these things are to be destroyed . . . what sort of people ought [we] to be . . . ?" (2 Peter 3:11) I need to constantly keep in mind that everything around me is temporary.  Jesus told us that we should lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth. It's STTA.

Hope & Despair, Side by Side:

Something To Think About, An Odd Mix:

Small church pastoral work is one of the last bastions of generalism.  You never know what's going to happen next.  Yesterday I had two meetings within just a couple of hours.  Both sessions had to do with young adults. Meeting one was full of hope and promise.  The scene before me and the narrative that led to the meeting are the stuff of a Hallmark movie.  There is every reason to believe that in the end they all will live happily ever after. The tragic element in the second gathering was thick enough to be suffocating.  Any thoughts of bliss at the end of the story had been abandoned long ago.  The conversation had nothing to do with producing a good outcome.   All of us will be satisfied if we can bring about an ending that is less-bad--something just this side of absolutely awful. In short, at 10:30 Hope came in and permeated my office.  At 1:00 it was like someone had hooked up a huge hope-sucker to the room.  Every good prospect was gone--or at least it seems that way. There was a time not long ago when all of the young people involved in my two gatherings were equal.  If we had a photo album we could look and "OOOH, and AAAH" at how cute they were.  We could look into those eyes and see great promise.  We'd see pictures of kids smiling, wearing crooked hats and proudly holding trophies, bright-eyed on Christmas morning, and having fun with family. If you took a picture of the mood of each of the meetings I hosted yesterday, one would continue that bright tone, the other would appear as one big, black splotch. I don't know enough to say just when, but if we could trace the time-thread backward we would find choices, maybe even one critical choice, choices made by parents, friends, teachers, the young people, themselves.  After those two meetings yesterday this guy in my head was yelling, "How you choose and what you do are important.  You are building the life you will live."  Not every decision I make is critical and irreversable (THANK YOU, LORD!), but some are, and I seldom know which one one, or ones, are defining decisions.  Wisdom counsels me to be careful with all my choices.  Down the line there will be a meeting about me.  Will it be full of hope, or dark with despair? It's STTA Here is a site where you can find out about Jesus Christ and His plan for you.  You'll find several opportunities to explore.  If we can help you, let us know.  covingtonbiblechurch.com