Month: July 2019

I have written many times that stereotypes are always false because no two people in a group are alike. They may share a few characteristics, but each person is unique. God loves variety. You can see it throughout his creation. He gives us unique DNA and fingerprints. He gives us different environment and experiences and even different reactions to the same environment. Because of this, the Christian life about which I write will not be exactly the same as yours. I share my experiences and the experiences of other Christians, but I could not possibly cover the experiences of every child of God as we walk daily with Him.

What do all Christians have in common? We were all sinners who have been saved by the mercy and grace of God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have each experienced a spiritual rebirth and the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in us. We accept the Bible as the inspired word of God and understand its meaning for us with the help of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we begin to display to the world a family resemblance we now have with our heavenly Father. Paul calls those family traits fruit of the Spirit. They are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

 What differences are found among Christians? Each of us has been given unique gifts and talents. God wants us to use those gifts and talents for His special purpose. So we each have a special mission that affects our Christian life as we walk down the path He has chosen especially for us, with the people He has placed in our life. Our relationship with God as his son or daughter does not produce sibling rivalry. God’s love is unlimited; we don’t have to compete for His attention. Although we are different, we are each special in His sight. Minor theological differences; age, race and culture may appear to divide us, but they are insignificant because of our unity of Spirit.

There are many people who claim the name of Christian, who have not experienced spiritual rebirth and do not display the fruit of the Spirit. They give a distorted view of the Christian life to non-believers and have even caused many Christians to call themselves “believers” instead. I tried that for a while, but I was convicted by the Holy Spirit to take on the name of Christ again and do my best to correct the misconceptions. I want the world to know who it is that I believe.

The Christian life is never boring. It is difficult at times, but is always worth it. I have never met a Christian who regrets their decision to accept Christ’s sacrifice in their place; then walk with God’s Spirit through this life, physical death and eternity.

Scripture references: John 3:1-21, Romans 6:23 & Romans Chapter 8.

The main purpose of my blog is to share what living a Christian life is really like day to day and over the long haul. I want to clear up any misconceptions about the Christian life held by those who have not begun that journey and to remind Christians of the power we have at our disposal to take us through the sunshine and storms of our life.  However, I think it is good once in a while for us to remember where it all begins.

Everyone begins life as an innocent baby in our mother’s womb, but soon we begin to take on our sinful nature and God’s judgment of death for sin. There is nothing we can do – no effort on our part – that can release us from that death sentence. I was eleven when I realized my sinful nature had me living on death row. I read John 3:16, where Jesus describes His mission to set me free from God’s judgment. I accepted His sacrifice in my place and vowed to serve Him forever. At that moment, God’s Holy Spirit took up residence within me to guide me and give me strength to overcome whatever I encounter in life. God wants everyone to be saved. He knows that some will reject His gift and follow the enemy (Satan) instead. But to those who believe and accept Jesus Christ as Savior, He gives the birth right and blessing as His adopted son or daughter.       

It is God’s mercy and grace that make the Christian life possible; mercy that takes away the punishment we deserve and grace that showers us with blessings we don’t deserve, including eternal life. The Creator knows us better than we know ourselves and that is why He provides us with His Holy Spirit to help us in so many ways. His Spirit affirms with our spirit that we are a son or daughter of God. It is important to note that the Holy Spirit is not a remote control that God uses to force us to do His will. We retain our free will. I am not a ventriloquist’s dummy with God’s hand up my backside. His hand is on my life, but that is because I pray daily for it to remain there. God wants us to worship and obey Him because it is our desire to do so. There have been more times in my life than I care to remember, when I have said, “I’ve got this!” and grabbed the steering wheel of my life while the Holy Spirit dozed off in my back seat while waiting for me to consult Him. Every single time I tried that, I wound up in a ditch and humbly asked Him to take the wheel and get me out of trouble. I’ve been a slow learner, but now I know that following His lead and responding to His promptings will keep me on the road to my final, glorious destination.

So, the Christian life begins with something as simple as accepting a precious gift from God.

A friend shared a straight forward, beautifully illustrated post on Face Book that he believes in the Biblical definition of marriage; between a man, woman and God. I was ready to like it and scroll on when I read a comment from a woman that read, “Seems to me, whether one is gay, lesbian, trans, straight, etc. God will judge them. I feel for those who have taken it upon themselves to judge. That is a major undertaking. Thank God, I was not approached to take it on. By the way, of all sins mentioned in the Bible, which one is the no brainier you’re going to hell? Seems to me Jesus hung out with some pretty shady characters to minister to them.”

I found it hard to believe that a declaration of faith was found to be judgmental. The Holy Spirit would not let me pass that up. I told her that Jesus did not condone or participate in the life style of those “shady characters”. Then I explained to her the huge difference between warning someone of God’s judgment and being personally judgmental. I concluded that Jesus affirmed that definition of marriage. She retorted, “Jim Anderson He also affirmed no selling items in the synagogue. I doubt he condoned cheating on your wife, lying, oogling over a woman…I could go on. I just think we need to clean up our lives before we cast our stones. Any sin is condemned!” That hit a nerve and I let her know that in over 50 years of marriage, I was never unfaithful to my wife, even in my heart, and that I’m still faithful four years after her death; because when love lasts over half a century it doesn’t die with your spouse. I told her I never have claimed to be perfect, but I don’t want anyone to face the judgment I faced before I gave my heart to Christ. She seemed surprised that I took her comment personally. She told me she meant it to be a general statement, but we both knew she was trying to paint me and all evangelical Christians as hypocrites. I explained that her use of “your wife” in a comment that began with my name had misled me. I concluded, “Just like you mistaking a loving warning with judgment and condemnation.” She apologized again and we concluded our discussion on a very positive note. Not all such communications end that way.

When I was young, communication was mostly verbal. Inflection, tone and facial expression helped us understand the meaning of what was said. Now we just have the words on a screen. We shouldn’t be surprised when we are misunderstood. Even Jesus struggled to explain spiritual truths to Nicodemus, who was a religious leader. (John 3). I doubt if I changed that woman’s mind about “judge not” or “casting the first stone,” but I might have planted a seed that Christians don’t all pass judgment, but lovingly warn of God’s judgment. With God’s help that seed might grow into a more positive attitude toward evangelical Christians. Sometimes that is all we can do when they aren’t ready to accept the whole Truth that Christianity is not a religion, but it is a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  

A Face Book friend, who lives in Sri Lanka, posted this recently and I want to share it with you. “There are only two days during the year when nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow. So today is the time to love, believe, do and to live.” This is something I need to put on my refrigerator door to read every morning as I prepare breakfast and as I ask God’s blessing on my food, I need to ask Him to show me what must or should be done today. Focusing on today frees us from regrets from the past and worries about the future. Jesus teaches us, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34)

Today is the time to display to the world around us the fruit of God’s Spirit within us: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Today is always the right time to let God’s light shine through us to those still living in darkness.

Today might be decision time. The most important today in my life was the one when I put my faith in Christ and accepted His mercy and grace. The Israelites had a today of decision as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.  “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.” (Deuteronomy 30:15) That decision was to worship and serve the living God of creation or the false gods they would encounter in the land they were entering. Sounds like a decision we must make in the culture of today doesn’t it? Not every decision we make will be that important, but our spiritual decisions will be.

Today might be a day of preparation. How is it possible to plan for the future without worry or fear? It is because as Christians we have the advantage of having the Holy Spirit to guide our daily actions. He can actually see the future and warn us to prepare today without worry or fear of what is coming. I have another friend who lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They received warning last week from the weather service that they were in the direct path of a hurricane in the Gulf. The day they received the warning was a day of calm preparation. They were able to face the storm with confidence when it arrived. We can weather the storms of life if we pay attention to the warning of the Holy Spirit and calmly prepare today for them.

Let us live today as though it is our last one here on Earth; for someday it will be.   

I and other Christians I know are quick to admit we are not perfect. We are still a work in progress; that is not to say He isn’t able to use us as we are; just that He isn’t done with us yet.  Each of us is in a stage of God’s process that is especially designed for us. It isn’t a competition. We each develop at our own pace that is set by the Holy Spirit within us. As someone who has been going through stages of spiritual development for 65 years, I can testify that some stages of the process have been uncomfortable and even painful, but it is all part of God’s purpose for us. Each of us is in the process somewhere between the babe in Christ we were when we began our journey with Him and the mature, Christ-like person God wants us to be as His son or daughter.

I was a young Christian in high school when I read a book titled, “Death and Dying”. I know it sounds gruesome reading for a teenager, but I learned a lot about living from that book. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross spent her entire career caring for and observing people who knew they were dying. She documented five stages that were universal as they each dealt with that reality. I have quoted some of her observations that seem to take on a spiritual rather than clinical tone. She obviously recognized the spiritual nature of the people she studied. She found those five universal stages also applied to loved ones going through the grieving process. I think those reactions occur in nearly every part of our process. They are: Denial (There must be some mistake. This can’t be happening to Me.): Anger (Why is this happening to me?): Bargaining (God, I will do anything you ask of me if you spare my life.): Depression (There is nothing I can do about this situation. I’m helpless.): and Acceptance (Your will be done. I’m ready.)

With all due respect to the good doctor and her research, she left out one stage that I went through while grieving, which I think is also universal. It is Guilt (If only I had gotten her to the doctor sooner. I should have gotten her out of the hospital before she got that MIRSA infection. If only I had…). Actually, that was the toughest stage for me to get through. I think there is some guilt or regret involved in everything we face, including death.

We spend our entire Christian life between our spiritual rebirth and the point at which our spirit is set free at last. I will serve my Lord for as long as He gives me life, but I’m obviously closer to the end of my tour of duty here than when I began to walk with Him those many years ago. Wherever you find yourself now, just remember it is a continuing process and it is temporary. Don’t let the enemy trap you into thinking one of the stages is your lot in life. You are only passing through them like hurdles you must clear on your way to the finish line.   

I want to share with you a Face Book praise report from my friend Rick. “Today (7-12-19) was my last cardio rehab (36x) at Evanston Hosp. Thank you to the Exercise physiologists, Cisco, Mitch & Charlie, Nurse, Denise & Respiratory Specialist, Kim. They all took good care of me. Next week I will join a health club & continue my exercise plan. I’ve come back from strep bacterial pneumonia in my brain (meningitis), blood (sepsis), & in my lungs (pneumonia). I had less than 20% chance of surviving that, but I did! Then I survived open heart surgery in February, where the surgeon went in to replace a leaky heart valve & ended up repairing it (2% odds). Some people say I’m lucky, but I say I’m blessed. The biggest blessing I have is my beautiful wife of almost 40 years, Marsha, who has stood with me, helped me for over a year & a half. I’ve got a lot of living to do!” As I have mentioned before, Rick and Marsha are Messianic Jews whose faith in Jesus Christ is unshakable.

Rick’s testimony reminds me of all of the times God has blessed me. I too was blessed with a beautiful wife who stood by me for 50 years. I too found myself by death’s door when I was only 12 and misdiagnosed by our family doctor. God blessed me with just the right doctor in the nick of time to treat my histoplasmosis. I have walked away from three serious auto accidents without even one broken bone. I could never begin to count all of the daily blessing I have received from God since I became a Christian. I believe God blesses us in ways we are not aware of; keeping us from dangers only He can see.

Rick and I are not unique. The Bible is filled with people who have been blessed and every Christian has his or her own stories of blessings in addition to the ultimate blessing of eternal life. I’m sure you have your own long list of blessings too. God blesses His children even though we don’t always deserve it. Jesus listed why people are blessed in the Beatitudes and other places in the Gospels. But Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, put it simply when she told Mary, “You are blessed because you believed the Lord would do what he said.” (Luke 1:45)

Do you know the best part about being blessed instead of being lucky? You know who to thank!  

I have to laugh when I see the words “all natural” on a food product package, designed to give the consumer confidence that product is wholesome. Arsenic, hemlock, poison ivy and poison oak are “all natural”, but are hardly conducive for a healthy, wholesome life. All arthropods are natural, but ticks, mosquitoes and others can transmit serious, even fatal, diseases or venom. All animals, including humans, are a part of nature, but not all are conducive for a wholesome, healthy life.

I could never understand how scientists could study the Universe and the diverse life forms in it and not see God’s creative signature. Taking a macro look at His creation; even our most powerful telescope cannot reach the outer limits of the Universe. “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.” (Psalm 19:1) Taking a micro look at His creation; we find the atomic and even sub atomic building blocks that form everything around us (even our own bodies). We can now identify the genetic code stamped inside every cell of every living organism disproving the Theory of Evolution; proof of the existence of the Intelligent Designer of everything in the Universe. In spite of human resistance, scientific research in every field continues to lead us toward God and not away from Him.

I have met some people who prefer to worship Mother Nature instead of Father God. That isn’t surprising; the Bible is full of stories of people worshiping the creation instead of the Creator.  Others prefer to worship idols made by their own hands or political/social concepts created by their own minds. Adam and Eve were created with a natural relationship with and love for their Creator, but the ruler of this world convinced them to question God’s authority and disobey Him, just as he had done. So now each of us must struggle in a war between our sinful human nature we inherited from Adam and our new loving nature we have inherited from God as an adopted son or daughter in His family. Our society is pulling us in the wrong direction, but through God’s mercy and grace we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us to resist that pull and stand firm in our new nature, basking in the “all natural” love of our Abba (Daddy). His love is the only real source of a healthy, wholesome life; now and for eternity.

This week we celebrated once again the anniversary of our declaration of freedom from the British on July 4^th, 1776. Since then, we fought a great Civil War to provide freedom to everyone living in our country. We fought two World Wars to protect our freedoms from aggressors who sought to rule us and the world. We are truly free because of the brave who fought and died to keep us that way.

There has been controversy lately about our National Anthem, our flag and even our Constitution from which our freedoms are derived. My favorite patriotic song growing up was America. “My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing. Land where our fathers died; land of the Pilgrims’ pride; from every mountainside let freedom ring.” I remember being glued to the TV screen as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. quoted those words, “Let freedom ring” in his powerful “I have a dream” speech.  

I grew up starting the school day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag and our country. Those words meant so much to me because of all of the brave men who served under that beautiful banner. Men like Sgt. William Harvey Carney, an escaped slave serving in the Union Army during the Civil War as a flag bearer. He refused to let our flag touch the ground even though he was shot seven times including once in the face. Miraculously, Sgt. Carney survived his wounds and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor. Men like the six brave soldiers who planted our flag on Iwo Jima while under fire during World War II. Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, Harold Schultz, Harlon Block, Michael Strank and Rene Gagnon are immortalized in the famous photograph and the statue in Washington, D.C. commemorating their feat. I will also always honor the memory of those brave men and women who returned home in a coffin covered by that beautiful flag.

I vowed to defend our Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic, as I enlisted in our Air Force. During my four years of active duty, I traveled to foreign lands and experienced other cultures. I learned to appreciate even more the freedoms we have in this great country because of our Constitutional Republic.

Of course, the only source of true freedom is found in Jesus Christ. I love these powerful lyrics, “I am free from the guilt that I carried from the dull empty life. I’m set free; for when I met Jesus he made me complete. He forgot the foolish child I used to be. I’m free from the fear of tomorrow. I’m free from the guilt of my past. Oh, I traded my shackles for a glorious song. I’m free! Praise the Lord, I’m free at last!” 

As a young married man, I often found worry about bills and things going on at work had my stomach in a knot and was keeping me awake at night. I knew what Jesus taught about worry; “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27) It wasn’t until God showed me that most of the things I worried about never even happened and the rest were not as bad as I had imagined them to be, that the enemy lost that tool against me.

Fast forward to now. I am not worrying about tomorrow, but the enemy has found new ways to “worry” me. He is what my grandparents would call a “worry wart”. He easily frustrates me when things don’t go as planned. It began when my laptop started acting up every time I tried to write; as it is doing somewhat right now. It zooms in and out, opens other apps and pop ups to try to break my train of thought and then keeps closing my word document forcing me to save and then reopen it.

Saturday morning we stopped by my ATM on the way to our breakfast meeting and my friend saw me put my wallet back in my pocket. When I got ready to pay my bill the wallet was nowhere to be found. I was in a state of panic. Not only did my Christian brother have to pay for my meal, all of my cards and IDs are in the wallet along with the cash. I had an appointment with a VA doctor Monday and knew I would need my ID card. We looked everywhere and no one had turned it in. I had planned to pick up some groceries on the way home but now I arrived home in deep despair instead. I franticly prayed for God to help me find it somehow. I had worn my sweat pants that morning and unbeknown to me, my waistband had slipped down in the back climbing into my friend’s Tahoe, so when we thought I stuffed my wallet in my pocket, I was actually stuffing it in my waist band. When I stood to get out of the vehicle I straightened my waist band and the wallet slid down to the elastic at the bottom of my pant leg unnoticed during the transfer to my walker.  In the bathroom at home, I looked down and there it was at the bottom of my pant leg. My brother in Christ came back, did a grocery run for me and kept out what he paid for my breakfast.

I’m sharing this personal, embarrassing story with you because it taught this old man a new lesson that is worth sharing. Worry isn’t just about the future. It is also about our reaction to those worrisome situations that are happening right now. It isn’t about computers or sweat pants either. It is all about my first reaction to adversity. I could tell myself that I’m just getting impatient and cranky in my old age, but my Abba (Daddy) isn’t buying that for a second. He showed me my first reactions of frustration and anxiety are a sign that I’m not trusting fully in Him for a satisfactory outcome regardless of the seemingly flawed process. My FIRST reaction should have been prayer that computer glitches are not going to stop me from writing what the Holy Spirit has prompted me to write. Saturday, I should have immediately prayed, “Lord, you know where my wallet is and I trust you to return it to me.” I would have saved myself a great deal of anxiety and emotional pain. My new favorite verse is, “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (Philippians 4:6)