That someone you are passing is made in God's image.

Take Time to say, "Hi."

Some of the news recently reminds me of my daily exercise walk. Besides that, I figure it's about time for an update on the pavement pounders. Kathy and I have walked on the route from the Yigo (jee-go) Fire Station to the "X," where the road is blocked, for over a year now.  At 3.2 miles/walk, I figure we've put in over 600 miles.  There are two rules that Kathy and I maintain as we walk. We walk fast, and we greet everyone we meet. We meet some famous and glamorous folk who, like us, are out for some exercise in the morning. Famous or not we speak to all of them. Unlike us, Sean Penn is a runner. We see him a couple of times a week. He has never introduced himself, but as I look at him through my sweat impaired eyes, as he is running one way and I am walking the other, I'm sure it is him. Even though he generally wears a hoodie, the nose is a giveaway. He's exactly what you would expect.  He always looks like he's puzzling through some deep existential crisis. He never smiles, but on occasion, he breaks his runners-high trance long enough to grunt a reply to our greeting. I'm not holding my breath for an invitation to his gated villa surrounded by Guamian jungle and few hundred guards. I've never heard anyone say anything about Penn living here. No doubt it's because he has sworn them to secrecy. Some of you are under the mistaken notion that Mr. Miyagi, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita is dead. No, he's alive and walking, and looking pretty good I might add. I always resist greeting him with "Wax on. Wax off," but he looks to me like he is still into catching flies. Though I resist the line from the movie, we always tell him hello. He is as friendly as he used to be in the movies. It's not as hard for him to blend in as it is for poor Sean. A Hafa Adai tee-shirt is all it takes for Miyagi-san to blend in with the island's Asian culture. There are a bunch of other regular greetees that I don't know as well. There is a guy who is either an Asian stock trader or a spy. I figure he has a hidden earphone he is listening to. He doesn't have time for us; he's either saving the world or becoming its richest man, so I understand. It's always a pleasure to see the world's best-dressed walker, bright, perky, hair well-groomed, and perfectly color coordinated. She, her less colorful companion, and the man they drag along, always return our greeting. Those we know well, some even by name, we begin to greet when we are about ten yards apart. That way we can have time for a brief exchange. For some, like Lily and Hector, an older couple who stroll along like they wouldn't mind spending all day on the little dead-end road, we'll often stop and chat for fifteen or twenty seconds. Two things are true about all our companions. None of the walkers pass us, and we greet them all, even the Asian sage, no doubt a descendant of Confucius, who is even less talkative than Sean. Recently the news has been full of reports that President Trump said some unfortunate things about some of the people in the world. He and his spokesmen deny it. Me? I'm following the lead of Penn and the Sage. Whether he said what others say he said or not, is beside my point. The news gives us opportunity to ask: Why should we show respect and kindness to everyone we meet on life's walk? Some don't return our kindness, some even treat us badly, though we treat them well. James confronts his far-flung congregation, folk who had met more than their share of ill-treatment, with a basic reality. James 3:9–10 (NASB95) With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;  from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. The Apostle Paul says that our speech should be that which builds up, not tears down. Why? Because people are created in God's image. They should be treated as such. The next time I walk down that road in Yigo, indeed, wherever I walk for the rest of my days, I will never meet a human being who is not worthy of respect and kindness, because everyone I meet is a bearer of the image of the God of the universe.  It's STTA.

A False Alarm and a Real Lesson

"Where could I turn but to the Lord?"

My friend, Liann Stae, lives in Hawaii. She gave me permission to share her thoughts about this morning's false alarm, warning of missile attack. It’s amazing how God is speaking to me this morning. Hawaii awoke to very alarming news. The official warning was that a bomb was heading our way...many people panicked, even stores were getting ready to close, and some did CLOSE as soon as they heard the news. To many, including me, it all seemed real... That is exactly how real Gods calling is for us all. I opened up my phone to do my daily devotion, and the first thing that came up was this verse from Ephesians 5:14 which states, “...Awake O Sleeper and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” This verse sounds so much, like when Jesus told Lazarus to rise, and Lazarus obeyed the command and walked out of his tomb. Are we seeing our calling from Christ, to be as real as the frightened Hawaiians saw the threat of a nuclear attack, which turned out to be a mistake by the way. Thank the Lord! Because for sure, we were not all ready at all for this. Question is, are we gonna OBEY God’s calling? And do what wakeful people do in the face of danger? This is an awakening for many and a reminder to others...JESUS thank you for this reminder!  If I had been in Hawaii, I would have sought to get my family to safety and would have done everything I could to see that neighbors and loved ones would have a chance to survive the disaster that appeared to be coming from the sky. I claim to believe in the reality of heaven, hell, and eternity. I believe that Jesus deserves to be worshipped in every nation and language on earth. Am I willing to give that reality the priority it deserves in my life? Thanks, Liann for giving us . . . STTA (Something To Think About). Liann is a 2017 graduate of  Pacific Islands University, where Kathy and I are privileged to serve. She works as a teacher's aide in Hawaii, and was just accepted into a Masters in Counseling program at Liberty University. If you'd like to find out you can help give a good, Biblically based education to more people like Liann, click here.

Christmas, The Virgin Birth

Not, "Did you get What you wanted for Christmas, But, "Did you Learn something from Christmas?

Even before it had taken place, people struggled to accept the miracle of the Virgin Birth of Christ.   The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. . . .  Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:30-34, emphasis added)   We all know where babies come from. It's what twelve-year-old boys snicker about, fathers of teen girls worry about, and what makes it, when it is done right, such a wonderful concept. Women don't get pregnant without the involvement of a man. During Jesus earthly life, His enemies used this as an insult. You can see the sneer on the faces of the Pharisees when "They said to Him, 'We were not born of fornication'" (John 8:41). Down through the centuries, the sneering and ridicule have continued. It hasn't taken the Lord by surprise. Kathy and I received news that some friends of ours just had the first Baby born in 2018 in Wellington New Zealand. As I look at Oksana's picture, I am struck with the miracle of any birth. The same God Who sovereignly oversees his universe so that the meeting of ovum and sperm brings a new and unique life into existence is well capable of providing the genetic material needed for a new life, without the involvement of a man. Having said that, though, there is no getting around (and I'm not trying to get around it) the fact that God chose to bring His unique son into this world in a unique way. From the get-go it is clear that what we consider miraculous is just a day at the office for our great God. Part of the angel's reply to Mary was, "[N]othing will be impossible with God." Restoring a sin-cursed creation, bringing people dead in sin to life--everlasting life--in Christ, and calling out a people who will be God's special people are tasks that require supernatural power. God made known, even in the conception of His Son as a human, that the Trinity is up for the task. "A virgin will conceive." is not merely an arcane point of doctrine for Theologians to argue about in their towers of ivory. It is a reality that makes clear the fact that our Savior comes with supernatural power to accomplish that which is clearly beyond us. This Christmas I learned that God is able. It's STTA (Something To Think About).  If you'd like to read some stuff that a Theologian friend of mine wrote about the Virgin Birth, click here. By the way, I've been to Jim's house, and He's been a guest in my home on Guam. He doesn't even have an ivory tower, though he has been known to argue.

Lessons from Christmas, #1

Not, "Wha'd ya git?" But, what did you learn from Christmas?

A week ago the question on everyone's lips was, "Are you ready for Christmas?" Or, if addressed to a child, "Are you ready for Santa?" Now, the Interrogatory du Jour is, "What did you get for Christmas?" I'm glad for whatever gifts you received, and I felt greatly loved by people's kindness to me, but let me suggest another query,    "What did you learn from Christmas?" Christmas is a powerful statement that we can't make it on our own, down here. Jesus birth was heralded as "Good News." Among Christ's impressive titles and names are Savior, Immanuel--God with us--and Son of God. He took the form of a man, became a servant, and was obedient to death. He was made in all points like us. His entrance was not the fulfillment of a parent's threat, "Don't make me come down there." but rather the warm embrace of a loving father who comes to us when we are in over our head. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:17 NASB). It was "while we were still helpless" that Christ stepped in (Romans 5:6) at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. We didn't send for God.  He came. Now, how will you respond?   It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Been here a while

It's been a while now.

I'm listening to the roosters crow in the early morning light on the day after Christmas.  I can pick and choose what I do today, but I know that soon my schedule will step back into the driver's seat. Some time early in January, when our one year anniversary of living here on Guam will come to pass, I'll likely be too busy to think much about it. So I'm taking time this morning to reflect on that coming marker on my calendar. I'm 67 years old, and  I've lived longer in this lovely little apartment on the campus of Pacific Islands University than any other place I've lived as an adult, except one. That sounds way more impressive if you don't know that Kathy lived in #1 place for more than 42 years. That doesn't leave much time for # 2 & #3. To say we have "put down roots" here would likely be an exaggeration and might belittle those who have invested so much more, though, to carry the image a bit farther, we are comfortable in the planter on the porch. For those four decades when my address was 2106 S. Carpenter Drive . . . (mail sent to that address still gets to us, by the way) I always tried to maintain the spirit of the old song, "This world is not my home. I'm just passing through." Now, in a sense, that homeless for Christ mentality is easier to maintain, but only in a sense. I find in me a kinship with Jonah, who came to regard the plant that shaded him as his in a particular and powerful sense. Usually, I have a pretty clear idea what I'm thinking about when I write "Something to Think About." This morning, not so much. I guess the best I can do, as I consider my anniversary of living in Mangilao Guam, is to share two things to think about, which might seem contradictory, but which I don't think are: Being transplanted is painful, for some more than others, we have a tendency to resist putting down roots--even in the pot on the porch--knowing that the next move is coming. Resist that self-protective urge. Be where you are. Nothing in the world is permanent. Jesus said of Himself, "Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head" (Luke 9:58). Do we think we are better than He? It's STTA (Something To Think About).

Somehow I missed #5

Why did  Christ come? #5

My wife was picking out songs for the Christmas Eve service at our church. She thought of using I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day but decide it is too heavy. It is heavy. It deals with weighty material. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem from a depth of grief that, thankfully, few of us ever experience. You can read the whole story here. Here is an excerpt:  On Christmas day, 1863, Longfellow—a 57-year-old widowed father of six children, the oldest of which had been nearly paralyzed as his country fought a war against itself—wrote a poem seeking to capture the dynamic and dissonance in his own heart and the world he observes around him. He heard the Christmas bells that December day and the singing of “peace on earth” (Luke 2:14), but he observed the world of injustice and violence that seemed to mock the truthfulness of this optimistic outlook. The theme of listening recurred throughout the poem, eventually leading to a settledness of confident hope even in the midst of bleak despair. In emotional darkness Longfellow listening to the bells. Instead of loudly and sweetly proclaiming peace, the grip of grief and the terror of war, distorted the ringing into a grotesque dissonance. Instead of the sweet ring of "peace on earth goodwill to men," the sound he heard came, ". . . from each black, accursed mouth, [as] the cannon thundered in the South." He spoke of a continent rent, and households made forlorn. I can feel the father's pain as he says, "[H]ate is strong, [it] mocks the song of peace on earth, good-will to men!” This time of year we are apt to suffer from the Hallmark distortion. Everything is softly lit. Just enough snow is falling. Little drummer boys play with perfect precision and even donkeys and sheep all behave themselves. It make a nice picture, but it's not the world into which Jesus was born, or the world in which we live. You know how cruel Herod seems in Matthew 2? He was all that and more. And this business of moving people around so Rome could collect tax? There are reasons why tax-collectors were hated. I figure "the decree was met with a resigned sigh. In case you haven't noticed, our world hasn't gotten better. Refugee camps are full, children are hungry, wars and terrorism rage on. The face of despair is not hard to find. Not only did Christ come to a world of darkness and pain, He entered fully into that condition. Isaiah tell us that He was a man of sorrows, acquainted wiith grief, and the writer of  Hebrews says, Jesus was made perfect through suffering, partook (became) human flesh, and that He was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." (Isaiah 53:3, Hebrews2:10, 14, & 4:15) As surely as Christ came to a world of First-Century darkness, He continues to plead in our Twenty-first-Century world, where light is still hard to come by. He entered our world of sin, so He take us to His sinless home. That's worth ringing the bells for, and . . . It's STTA (Something To Think About).

He came to make all thingsright: Why Christmas, #6

Why did Jesus come? #6

Sometimes I feel like I'm hanging out under the altar. "I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging. . .?” (Revelation 6:9-10) These martyrs are not alone. Throughout history, down to this present hour, God's people ask,   "How long, O LORD, will I call for help, and You will not hear?  I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save.  Why do You make me see iniquity,  And cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me;  Strife exists and contention arises. (Habakkuk 1:2-3) In my life, I've known people who have a keen eye for, and an uncanny feel for equilibrium. If something is just the slightest bit uneven they can detect it. They don't feel right unless their world is plumb and level. I think all of us have a detector like that in our soul. We know when things aren't right, and it makes us ill at ease. Christ came to make all things right. The process hasn't been completed. That last great enemy, death, still struts around this fallen world. But Christ in His death and Resurrection defeated even that enemy. We sing "Joy to the World" at Christmas, and rightly so, but that song is not really about Christ's coming as a babe, but about that time, yet future, when he will come as a king. Make no mistake, though, the victorious coming again has been secured by victory won in humility, that passed through a manger in Bethlehem. Another Christmas carol puts it this way, "Born that man no more may die." Why did Christ come? He came to make all things right. It's STTA (Something To Think About).      Click the image to see the story of redemption The link will take you to chapter 1. You can go from there.