POSTERITY

Making toy guns for my grandsons has been one of the bigger thrills of my tenure. It started out quite innocently enough, my first grandson was playing at our house one afternoon and he asked me to make him a gun. I drew a small rifle on a piece of plywood and proceeded to cut it out with a jig saw. After a little smoothing, voila, a toy gun. He played with it and left it at our house when he went home.

For several weeks after that I kept thinking about trying to make him a toy gun that more resembled a real one, keeping in mind to scale it to size. My daughter in law wasn't too keen on guns. So without asking her, I started to lay out a replica of a Winchester Model 94 Rifle. After the gun was mostly completed, I asked my daughter in law if it was O.K. for me to make a gun for her son. She already knew what I was up to and relented.

It was big fun, making that gun. The last stage was to paint it. Gail,[my wife] and I worked on the painting and finishing together. It was a fine re-creation of an Old Western Rifle.

We gave it to him for his birthday. By now his younger brother was old enough to go outside and play, so when they were both at our house I would give the younger brother the original plywood gun and my older grandson had his new birthday gun. In the midst of playing cowboys, the younger son said "mine's not even painted." Well, that did it. I promised him a new gun for his birthday.

And so it went. From that day forward I have been making toy guns for my grandsons for their birthdays. Every year they print out a picture of the gun they want and I scale it down to their size and duplicate it. As they grow, I make the guns a little larger.

Now here's the best part. These boys do not lack for toys. But when I am sent photos of family vacations, one or more of those guns are in the pictures. Even their friends think the guns are cool.

So, today I arrive at their house in the early evening. It's still daylight out and as I pull up my oldest grandson is running across the street with the M16 I made for him. Hiding in the garage is a neighbor boy holding a Thompson Sub Machine Gun from a previous birthday and as I enter the front door of the house, my youngest grandson is just on his way out carrying his Side by Side Double Barrel Shotgun.

I don't know what floats your boat, but this was just about the best moment I could have with these boys. They will probably not remember very much of me when they grow to be men, but they will remember the guns.

COMFY COZY

Complacency is our common denominator. It doesn't need to be part of our learning curriculum. It comes without being asked and stays indefinitely. It suggests additional hardware and software to augment it's state of mind. Overstuffed chairs, soft socks, easy snacks, electronic stimulation, and the occasional stretch just to remind ourselves how cozy we really are. World events are at our fingertips. For the most part we are unshockable, trouble and tragedy are daily fare. We can stand hours of it without being involved. We have a false sense of security, built on earthly reassurances.

The danish philosopher Kierkegaard wrote a parable about a wild duck. Leaving my personal distaste for the author aside for a moment, the story of this duck is a wonderful illustration of how our soul declines from it's ideals and becomes satisfied with lower standards.

Our fabled duck is flying northward in the spring time with all his friends. During the flight he drops down into a quiet farm, where he enjoys some corn with the tame ducks. He stays for and hour, then for a day, then for a week and then for a month. Finally because he is so comfortable with easy pickings and the relative safety of the barnyard he stays all summer. And then one Autumn day when wild ducks begin their flight south, he hears his friends calling him out. His heart leaps with excitement, his passion is stirred and with a great effort and flapping of wings he rises over the barnyard to join with his former comrades. Alas, he cannot gain altitude. His comfy cozy lifestyle has left him heavier and less exercised, and he finally drops back into the yard. He comforts himself by saying that it is O.K. to live where he is. After all the food is great and plentiful and all the built in safety of the structure offers a sense of security. Of course, every spring his former friends are honking overhead, and his heart is stirred for a moment or two and then he settles back down. Finally after enough years, he isn't even bothered by their overhead pilgrimage.

This is a great illustration for how the human soul, can so easily abandon it's fine ideals and settle for low living. Just like our physical bodies, our souls atrophy, and are easily persuaded to stop striving for the goals marked out for us in the Epistles. Surrounded by constant distractions, coaxed into neutral by easy goals, we do the very thing that Paul warns us about. We stop listening to sound doctrine, instead to suit our own desires we gather around us a great number of teachers to say what our itching ears want to hear, and turn aside to myths. This is the foundation for not finishing well.

So, are you cozy and comfy? May it never be. Fight the good fight. Rest as you need it, but only for the purpose of gaining strength for the battle.

HOOKED ON HECTIC

Busyness is something almost universally compelling in modern American life. It is quite correctly connected to achievement. A goal oriented society that teaches the completeness of "having it all," can't sell that promise unless its citizenry is already primed to live at that speed.

I'm not here to debate the value of high speed living, only to expose the myth that "someday life settles down." It isn't true. I am in my 63rd year without realizing any appreciable change in my schedule. I can remember the unique pressures of each decade. I recall the conversations with my friends where we would discuss how much easier things were going to be, once this or that episode was over. And before I knew it, several decades had passes, and I found myself not working full time. Certainly life would have slowed by now, and without a doubt my schedule is less physically demanding. But that is owed to less physical capacity, not less to do.

As I began settling into my 50's, this queer little conversational icebreaker began to appear. It is spoken almost without variation, no matter where in the country I have heard it. Here goes, "since I retired I am busier now than when I was working," followed by general laughter and the knowing nod. Almost as if there were some kind of valor attached to the statement.

I have mentioned in an earlier post that I am generally lazy. In my teen years, the idea of working full time, particularly working full time for several decades in a row, was abhorrent to me. But I soon discovered that the alternative was even less attractive. I guess the first discipline I really learned was showing up for work. And the second discipline was actually being a productive worker. Neither of these things came naturally to me. In fact, I was so undependable that I was fired from several jobs in a row, before I really did the hard work of disciplining myself for the privilege of earning money.

And once that discipline was set in stone I have nothing to replace it. It could be summed up in the statement, " I do therefore I am." Sounds kind of hollow doesn't it. I agree, it sounds like having a full schedule is the only validation I have for living. And on the surface it may look that way. But what motivates me is Jesus Christ. And it is for Him that I live. He gets me up in the morning and puts me to sleep at night. He gives me daily opportunities to participate in His work. His last command before he ascended from this earth was, "go and make disciples." Those four words alone are enough to give me purpose till my dying breath.

So, all in all, learning productive work habits as a young man, is now bearing fruit as a soldier of the cross. Evidence, that along with all the regrets I have for the years I squandered before I was saved, some of it was positive.

STEWARDSHIP

For the last year business has been lousy. It started taking a nose dive around May of last year. Every month we hope and pray for more customers. We are capable of doing at least double the sales that we are currently experiencing. Despite our prayers and a great deal of enterprising management we are still barely holding our own. Part of the problem right now is that I haven't reduced my salary during this downturn. And the reason that I haven't done that is that I spend my entire salary every month just to pay the bills. We have no other source of income.

The most effective thing to do at the moment is to sell the house that we are in, move into a more affordable home, and reduce our income accordingly. That could make the difference between the business making a profit or not. On the other side of the coin is the ever present possibility that business will return to normal, in which case we can cruise along quite nicely as we have in the past. I've got lots of reasons for not moving. One of the reasons is financial. It has been predicted that our property value will go up substantially over the next three years. I'm no stranger to greed. I like to put it in the category of strategic financial planning, {doesn't that sound good?}, but really behind it is greed. And the mixture is familiar to most Christians. We are to make the most of the talents God gave us. Thus the parable of the talents. At the same time, we are to continually surrender both the talents and their profits to the Lord, which will keep me from trusting in money. I don't know about you, but I am looking at this delicate balance on a daily basis.

What to do, what to do, what to do. God wants me to make wise decisions. He calls me to be prayerful in my spending. I don't want to take what could be an obvious sign from Him to downsize, and throw it out of the mix, simply because I believe that He will restore our business income and this entire letter would be for naught. So here I sit, doing the waiting game.

In my men's Bible study this morning, we talked at length about God's will for our lives and how that plays out in day to day living. Everyone has a slightly different take on the subject, and personal experiences abound. One thing I think is fundamental is not to ignore a clear calling. Another thing I think is fundamental is not to put my own comfort ahead of sacrificial living and giving. The other thing that I think is fundamental is to stay constantly at the ready to move out in faith.

I'll end this with a short story. I know a couple, who just like us, surrendered their business to God and lived moderately. After years of prayerful giving they were living on 40% of their gross salary and giving 60%. Now as you can well imagine they comforted themselves that their giving was an area of their life that was in no need of repair. After many years of giving at this level, the husband began waking in the middle of the night with the call from the Lord to pray about raising their giving. He was defiant. He was upset that his sleep was being interrupted. He was very self satisfied that their giving far exceeded most believers and therefore need not be amended. Finally one middle of the night prayer led him to be prostrate on the floor in tears, and with that he stepped out in faith and bumped the giving up to 80% of their gross salary. I talked to this man several years after that episode. He was still walking by faith and continually looking up.

LOCKED UP

Prison ministry is rewarding. Every encounter has it's own unique stamp. The faces are unforgettable. The stories, often tragic. But there is hope in prison because Jesus lives. He lives in the heart of many inmates. He is offered on a personal basis to inmates without hope. That's where Bill Glass Prison Ministries comes in.

Access to inmates is very limited. Visitation is closely monitored and brief. Without organizations like Bill Glass, most inmates would not get the personal attention of volunteers and volunteers would not have access to the inmates.

Through this ministry I have had the privilege of getting to know several men in prison. Their life and their life story become real to me as we get to know each other, and along the way, I often have the opportunity to give the reason for the hope that I have. It is a great thrill, to spend all day, or in some cases, two days, working my way through the cell blocks, stopping to talk with inmates who want to engage. After a few hours have passed, the prison way of life starts to settle into my brain and behavior. The rules are strict. The conduct closely monitored. For us volunteers, it's either fit into the system or get tossed out on your ear. Prisoners never get a day off. On the other hand, they have every day off. In fact, many of them become so accustomed to having every day off, that they spend the majority of their lives in prison. I know it sounds like a lifetime of misery, but after years being locked up and having every basic need met, the outside world can be a scary place. It is not uncommon to find men who have been in and out more than four times over the course of thirty years, with the majority of that time spent in.

I am most impressed by the musicians, entertainers, sports hero's and speakers, who also volunteer their time and talent to come along with us and entertain as they share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the inmates who are willing to come out into the prison yard for the show. The majority of the talented volunteers have lived through great personal tragedy, have been transformed by the healing power of the gospel and are tireless in their passion for offering the hope of Jesus to others.


Returning home after my most recent trip to Huntsville, I told Gail that I wouldn't recognize surrender if it hit me in the face. Every morning I start my day by surrendering myself the the Lord for His purposes. Well, at least that's what I say in my prayer. But honestly, I am so surrounded by comfort and love and convenience, that the only clue I truly have about a surrendered life, comes to me by way of observing life in prison.

CHRISTIANITY ON STEROIDS

Imagine being gifted along the lines of the man described in 1Corinthians 13. Paul writes about a man having full command of every language on earth, and as if that were not enough, also the language of angels. Boy, what a communicator a guy could be for God with that gift. Then add to that the gift of prophecy and wisdom to understand every mystery. Whew, the speaking tour alone would be exhausting. And finally give that same man the attitude of self sacrifice, forgoing all his earthly wealth to feed the poor and cloth the homeless. In the end, he is so comitted to Jesus that he faces a dreaded death with unflinching courage. I call that a Christian on steroids.

Pretty noble stuff. By my account this would be living life everyday on the mountain top. Walking so close with Jesus that this earth doesn't even phase the mind.

In actuality, God calls us to even greater challenges. Be faithful in your marriage. Don't exasperate your children. Show kindness to those who are in the way. Pray that your arch competitor becomes even more prosperous. Put our interests aside for the interests of others. Stop and help someone when it will make us late. Trust God during the most difficult circumstances where we are powerless to affect them. Develop a prayer life that features others first. Be a faithful man to the end, finishing well for the cross of Christ. This is truly Christianity on Steroids.

Unglamorous? You bet. Sound difficult? It is. Can it be accomplished by human will? Of course not. Only with Jesus as the center of our lives are we able to live as He commanded.

Put the face of reality on Christian living. This isn't about salvation. Salvation is free. This is about discipleship. Discipleship will cost you everything you have. There are no brownie points for this lifestyle. According to Romans 12:1, this is basic 101, expected, living. The call is "living sacrifices." Present your bodies as living sacrifices." This is not a metaphor and it isn't some deep hidden message. It couldn't be more plain. The mercy that Jesus displayed to us for our souls, is to be replicated in our lives.

There is no sweeter burden.