The Old Man in the Back of the Sanctuary

The United State Constitution contains amendments listing our rights as citizens, commonly called the Bill of Rights. The Fourth Amendment protects our privacy from government search and seizure without a warrant showing probable cause. Our homes and businesses are therefore secure from government intrusion unless there is sufficient reason to believe we are breaking the law. These are the original “safe spaces” from the prying eyes of our government. (Of course the Constitution was written before social media gave us the opportunity to expose our private lives for the entire world, including government agencies, to see.)

God gives us no such protection from His prying eyes. There are no safe places where we can hide our thoughts and actions from God. Proverbs 15:3 tells us, “The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.” We are under the constant surveillance of our Creator and He doesn’t need probable cause of sin. If you are still not convinced, here are God’s own words to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:24), “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?”

There is a secular song we hear around Christmas time each year that is titled “Santa Claus is coming to town”. Have you ever thought that the words of that song should really be, “You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout, I’m telling you why. Jesus Christ is coming again. He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.” Of course the problem is we can’t really be good on our own. We have inherited the sinful nature of Adam. We must first accept Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as our only hope of freedom from our sinful nature. The blood Jesus shed for us then covers our sins and we really can be good in God’s sight through the righteousness of His Son and not our own.

When we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, we no longer need to frantically and futilely seek a place to hide our nakedness and disobedience from God, as Adam and Eve did. We can instead give thanks that His watchful eyes are always on us and His Holy Spirit guides our every step along the path He has chosen for us. Praise God for His divine surveillance!

 

 

 

A small group of Christian men from CLC meets every Saturday morning at 6:00 am for breakfast, fellowship and prayer. Time passes so fast while we are together that we usually don’t break up until around 9:00 am. One Saturday we decided to meet at the local Cracker Barrel when they opened at six. There were seven of us sitting at a round table in the corner. Our server was a pleasant and outgoing lady and we were her only customers at that hour. She discovered why we were meeting and gave us her testimony. When she had served the food she asked what our topic of discussion was today. We told her at that moment we were talking about controlling anger. She smiled and told us how she used to get so angry when a semi was in front of her blocking her view of the road ahead. Then one day God revealed to her that the semi driver could see the road much better from his high vantage point than she ever could, so patiently following his lead would keep her safe. She said the life lesson was that God from his high throne can see all that lies ahead and he wants us to pull in behind him so he can lead us to our destination safely. He blocks our view so that we travel by faith and not by our own sight line. What an unexpected blessing. We have returned every week since then.

As Christians, we often strain our eyes trying to see as far down the road as possible and then worry about how we will react when we get there. Corrie Ten Boom wrote that when she was a little girl in Holland she went to her father and said, “Papa, I am so afraid I won’t be strong enough to follow Jesus.”  He smiled and asked, “When we take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the fare? Three months before we are to leave?” “No, papa” she replied, “You give it to me just before we get on the train.” Then he explained to her that God will give her all of the strength she needs when it is needed. The Bible is full of stories of how God put words in the mouth of a believer at just the right time or provided someone with strength when it was needed most.

“One Day at a Time, Sweet Jesus” was a popular song by Christy Lane, although many other artists have recorded it too. The message of that song is dear to my heart and I have been living one day at a time for so long that I don’t even remember what it was like to try to plan my life far into the future. Jesus said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34) But God doesn’t want us to only take one day at a time. He wants us to take one step at a time. Another of my favorite songs says, “When by the path he leadeth, but one step I may see. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.” Yes, he will light our path (Psalms 119:105), but only as far as we need to see at that time and no further.

The closer I get to the end of my journey, the easier it is for me to take one precious moment at a time and make the most of it.

 

 

My last post was about the miracle of life. Sadly, our society has lost respect, wonder and awe for that miracle. Instead, life has become cheap and expendable. I have seen our nation move farther and farther away from God in my lifetime.  Sin has been around since Adam and it certainly existed during my youth, but there was a strong respect for human life back then.  Today we have skidded down that proverbial slippery slope at amazing speed to very scary depths.  To give you an indication of just how low we have sunk, I saw a woman holding a sign during a recent women’s rights march that read, “If Mary had an abortion, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

God completely destroyed nation after nation for embracing many of the things our society now celebrates. The most egregious example is that more than 59 million innocent babies have been killed by abortions in the United States since 1973, some just before they were able to take their first breath.  Most of those babies have been sacrificed by their own mothers at the altar of convenience.  In addition to the untimely death of those unborn babies, each mother will either be plagued by guilt or her heart will be hardened.  How much longer will God allow this mass murder of innocents to go on?

Let’s briefly refresh our memory about the origin and progress of infanticide in America.  In 1973, Roe v Wade was heard by the Supreme Court.  Roe was a single woman who claimed she was the victim of rape and was also a victim of Texas’ law prohibiting her from having an abortion unless her life was at risk.  It was a class action suit so even though she had a miscarriage before the case went before the Supreme Court she was still given standing to proceed with the suit.  Later, the woman known as Roe admitted that she lied in her deposition about being raped.  She repented and become an outspoken opponent of abortion, but the damage was done when she was used to set the precedent. She died earlier this year.

At the time the Roe v Wade decision came down we were told it would only apply in cases of rape or incest and then only during the first trimester. Within two years it had been expanded to any reason connected with the mother’s mental or physical health and could take place up to and during delivery.

In 2010, there was a brief celebration at the White House when the CDC announced there had been 50 million reported abortions since Roe v Wade.  (There had actually been more than that because several states do not report abortions to the CDC.)  Our hearts break when we hear about one innocent child being shot and killed on the streets of Chicago.  How is it that the death of millions of young lives has gone virtually unnoticed?  How could anyone celebrate the death of 50 million innocent individuals?  How many gifted doctors, researchers, scientists, statesmen, musicians, artists, poets, prophets, evangelists, pastors or other Godly men and women have been killed before fulfilling their potential?  Only God knows.  He told Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5) “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations,” and He knows the gifts and potential of each one of those 59 million precious souls.

A few years ago, I read an article that originally appeared in an American Medical Association publication. It was written by a prominent expert on medical ethics.  In it he explained that when late-term and partial birth abortions are accepted as ethical, then it would be equally ethical for a mother to kill her child up to the age of two for the same reasons used for abortion.  My first reaction was, “Heaven help the two year olds.” After thoroughly reading and rereading that article, it was clear that he reached a perfectly logical conclusion based on the false premise that abortion rights of the mother are moral and ethical.  Beginning with a false premise like that one will always lead to even more immoral acts being mislabeled as ethical.

One predictable result of our disregard for human life at its beginning is our attitude toward the elderly and end of life decisions. A doctor who helped create the Affordable Care Act stated his opinion that expensive medical treatment should be rationed to those 75 and older since that is “a reasonable life expectancy”. I wonder if he will still feel that way when he reaches my age.

I know mixing politics and faith is taboo in today’s America, but others have made abortion a political ideology, not me.  Protecting life from conception through old age has been my ideology since I accepted Christ (19 years before Roe v Wade) and it hasn’t changed throughout my lifetime.  I pray that Americans find eternal life through Jesus Christ and begin to celebrate life instead of death.  That is our only hope to escape God’s judgement.

 

I do not play a musical instrument nor have I had any vocal training, but since my wife passed away I have found it very comforting to spend 30 or 40 minutes each evening before bedtime singing some of my favorite gospel songs and choruses.  My two dogs seem to enjoy my concerts, but then they have become accustomed to my voice and I enjoy their unconditional love.  It recently occurred to me that although a few of the songs are classics, most of them would be unfamiliar to this generation. I sometimes become emotional while singing about God’s love for me and about heaven, but there is one song that was recorded by the group Alabama that I have never been able to sing all the way through without shedding tears of joy.  I would like to share the words of that song with you.

A man and wife had prayed for years for children losing faith and close to giving up. Then a young girl with no way to keep her baby laid in their arms a tiny gift of love. It only takes one life to make a miracle, one tiny ray of hope to light up the dark. It only takes one life to make a miracle, one honest prayer coming from the heart.

 A small coal mining town in West Virginia prayed as they kept vigil day and night. Saddened by the twelve whose lives were taken, but oh so thankful one made it out alive. It only takes one life to make a miracle, one tiny ray of hope to light up the dark. It only takes one life to make a miracle, one honest prayer coming from the heart.

 Two thousand years ago the world laid waiting for the savior they were told would come. Then on that winter night there in a manger, God blessed the world with His one and only Son. It only takes one life to make a miracle, one tiny ray of hope to light up the dark. It only takes one life to make a miracle, one honest prayer coming from the heart. It takes one honest prayer coming from your heart.

A few years ago I saw a post by Rick Warren on Face Book showing a new born infant and The caption read, “If you don’t believe in miracles maybe you’ve forgotten that you are one.”  Every moment of each life here on earth is a miracle, but life takes on even more meaning when we can say with Paul, “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.” (Philippians 1:21 NLT).  As miraculous as it is, life here on earth doesn’t begin to compare with the miracle of eternal life that is ours through faith in Jesus Christ.   I get just a little taste of heaven every time I enter the presence of God through prayer or feel the Holy Spirit prompting me from within, but I cannot fully comprehend the joy I will feel as I enter God’s kingdom to spend eternity with Him.

 

 

In the eighth chapter of Luke we read about a woman who suffered physically with a bleeding condition for twelve years. She also suffered mental and emotional anguish during those years because her illness caused her to be ceremonially unclean – an outcast from Jewish society. She set out on a mission to find Jesus for healing. When she finally found Him she must have worked her way through the crowd saying, “Unclean” as people quickly moved away from her allowing her to finally reach Jesus. She reached out and touched the hem of his garment. Immediately she was healed and the bleeding stopped. Jesus asked who touched him and his disciples said in that dense crowd it could have been anyone. Jesus told them, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” The woman fell to her knees at the feet of Jesus and explained for all to hear the reason she had touched His garment and then testified about her miraculous healing. Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” We don’t know her name or where she was from, but her deliberate act of faith is recorded as an example for all generations.

I relate to that woman on more than one level. I have known physical, mental and emotional pain and felt the relief she experienced. When my wife of 50 years died, I found myself in a dark place mentally and emotionally. I was suffering physically from chronic sciatic nerve pain constantly shooting down both legs as well. I had been a believer for six decades and I never before felt so isolated and alone. I held a memorial service for Carol at Christian Life Center and began attending CLC regularly. After spending my first Thanksgiving and Christmas alone I felt lost and without purpose. On December 28^th, 2014, Sam Hamstra and his wife Taylor (Campus pastors at the CLC Hammond, Indiana, campus) preached about David hiding in a dark cave with 300 misfits. I thought to myself, “I’m in that dark cave but with only my two dogs for company.” Then Sam stated boldly, “If you are alive, God is not done with you yet.” That statement caused my heart to leap with joy and it stirred the Holy Spirit within me once again. I felt assured God has a new purpose for my life and I became deliberate in my search to find it.

Life Groups were starting up again at CLC and a friend from the noon service invited me to a men’s group that would be meeting Wednesday evenings. I approached that first meeting with great expectation that God would finally reveal His new purpose for my life. Instead, He had a surprise planned for me. After the opening prayer the leader asked for prayer requests. I asked for prayers for relief from my chronic sciatic nerve pain. Several men laid hands on me and prayed in the name of Jesus for an end to my suffering. I felt no different as I drove home that night, but I awoke the next morning without sciatic pain for the first time in eight years and I am still pain free more than two years later.  I have arthritis in my knees, but the pain is so much less it still amazes me.

As for my new purpose, Sam and Taylor were greatly encouraged by my emails thanking them and describing how their message blessed me and brought me out of my cave. I then realized that God wants to use me to encourage other believers. I shared with Sam and Taylor an article I had written. I then began to share weekly emails with all of our pastors and my friends at CLC, attaching a new article each week. The emails were titled “From the old man in the back of the sanctuary” and my Christian family encouraged me to start this blog. I post twice each week and praise God that it continues to attract visitors. I pray that each of you reading this will find encouragement in the words God has given me to share with you.

When we are desperate in our search for Jesus; when we deliberately reach out and touch Him by faith: amazing things still happen.   

 

 

 

I’m not only old; I’m “old school”.  I am computer literate, but I don’t own a GPS or Smart Phone. When a wonderful family invited me to their rural home for Thanksgiving last year I looked up the address on MapQuest and printed directions. The directions involved a lot of turns and I was concerned about driving safely while navigating all of them correctly. Looking at the map I noticed that a highway I knew ran parallel with their street with Beecher Road connecting the two near their home.  I got on that highway and kept a close watch for Beecher Road but I never saw it and I knew I had traveled too far.  I turned around and stopped at a gas station.  I asked a man pumping gas how to get to Beecher Road.  He said, “I’m not from around here but let me check my app” as he pulled out his phone. He said, “It looks like Indiana Avenue becomes Beecher Road.” I had just crossed Indiana Avenue so I thanked him and arrived at my destination relieved although a little bit late.  Why am I sharing this story with you?  It illustrates what happens when we take control of life’s journey and try to get there our way.  The enemy simply changes one road sign and we wind up lost even when we think we are in familiar territory.

My wife and I both grew up in Evansville, Indiana. About 25 years ago we decided to visit our hometown for the first time in many years. This time the street signs were very familiar but nothing else looked the same.  We literally felt lost on streets that used to be so familiar.  Then we would see a cemetery, park, school or hospital and we knew exactly where we were and began to feel more comfortable. Those landmarks helped us navigate through once familiar territory.  Like our hometown, America’s culture and society have changed drastically in my lifetime.  I still hear familiar terms like “values,” “beliefs,” “honor,” “love” and “freedom” but they don’t seem to represent the things I remember.  Then while studying God’s word I find those eternal landmarks that help me navigate through this modern society.

I heard a joke recently about a man who bought a new refrigerator and put his old fridge in the front yard with a sign that said, “Free to a good home.” For three days no one took a second look at it. He thought they must think it is too good to be true so he changed the sign to “For sale $50”.  That night someone stole it.  Life in our society today is a lot like looking at the display in a store window with the price tags all out of place.  Things of little lasting value are expensive and greatly sought after while the things that are of real value are discounted and seemingly of little worth.

Don’t trust the signs!  Trust God, through His Holy Spirit, to be our GPS and tour guide.  He will show us the best route to get us to our destination and point out important landmarks along the way.  He will also teach us the true value of every piece of His creation including us and our relationships.

 

 

Every generation has produced believers whose gift is to share the truths of God in poetry set to music. Are their words, or even the words of this humble blogger, as powerful as God’s word? Of course not! But they are powerful because of God’s word.

I took a German course in high school and one of the projects was to translate the lyrics of a song from English to German. I can still sing the first verse and chorus of “You Are My Sunshine” in German (virtually the only German I remember). The problem was, by translating the meaning of each word correctly, I lost the poetry of rhythm and rhyme.   I believe that as powerful as the message of the Psalms is in English, they must have had even more power and impact in the original language of the songwriter.

If you frequent my blog you know that I love to quote the lyrics of sacred songs that have made my heart sing. (It’s a “joyful noise” when I sing them.) Classic hymns of the 1700s like “Amazing Grace” and “Rock of Ages”; those of the 1800s like “It Is Well with My Soul” and “Sweet Hour of Prayer”; those of the 1900s like “The Old Rugged Cross”, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” and “Because He Lives” have all blessed my soul with reminders of God’s love and grace. Gospel songs (more than I can list) and contemporary Worship music also provide me with inspiration and draw me closer to God as I sing or listen to them.

God continues to inspire poets in this century who write songs lifting the hearts of those who sing or listen to them. Very few of us will be around to enjoy all of the songs of the 2000s, but there will be no end of singing and dancing in our future home.

I want to leave you with a sample from two of my favorite worship songs.

“You make me brave. You make me brave. You call me out beyond the shore into the waves. You make me brave. You make me brave. No fear can hinder now the promises you made. As your love, in wave after wave crashes over me, crashes over me. For you are for us, you are not against us. Champion of heaven, you have made a way for all to enter in.”

“It is amazing grace. It is unfailing love; that you should take my place; that you should bear my cross. You laid down your life that I may be set free. Jesus, I sing for all that you’ve done for me.”

Mark Twain once wrote, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Overcoming inertia by taking that first action is never easy (just watch me stand up some time), but you can’t get anywhere without taking your first step in that direction.

There is an old joke about two drunks waiting for an elevator. When the doors opened the first drunk stepped in not realizing the elevator car was not there. He dropped about eight feet to the bottom of the elevator shaft then yelled up to his companion, “Watch out for that first step. It’s a doozy!”  Sometimes our first step is scary, but we must carefully move forward if we want to get anywhere.

“Belief” and “faith” are often interchangeable terms for us.  Even in the scriptures they often appear to be used in a similar way.  Believing that something is true is one thing, but putting that belief to the test by taking action requires faith.  Sometimes our first action is not just a step but a leap of faith.

A friend I met on Okinawa was a Green Beret.  He parachuted on a regular basis as part of his training and he once told me with a smile, “That first step is the hardest.” He would jump out of a perfectly good airplane by faith; faith in the aerodynamic design and quality of his parachute, faith in the person who packed his chute and faith in his own ability to guide the chute to a safe landing area.  No matter how many times he jumped, the leap always required his faith.  However, each time he landed safely, his faith was strengthened and increased.

Isn’t that the way it is for us as believers?  Our first and most important step of faith is when we believe Jesus died for our sins, confess our sins and accept His grace, mercy and eternal life. Then we take the next steps of faith; acknowledging Him before others and entering the grave and rising with Him to new life in the waters of baptism.  As we begin our new life, we rely on the power of His Holy Spirit within us (Romans 8:11) to keep us walking on the path He has prepared for us (Psalms 23:3-4).  Each step we take with Him requires our faith.  However, with each successful step our faith is strengthened and increased.

 

 

 

 

God’s word is awesome! When I accepted Christ as my personal savior, the King James Version of the Bible was all I had. Although the old English seemed stiff and strange to me at times, it was also beautifully poetic. The 23^rd Psalm is a great example that still resides in my memory. As I studied the scriptures at that young age a miracle took place; my heart understood that which my mind should have had trouble grasping. God’s word came alive and spoke to me as I learned about His majesty, power, love, grace and forgiveness through the words and actions of His Son. I also learned valuable lessons from the stories of men and women who turned to God and even those who turned away from Him.

Today we are blessed with some great modern translations of the Bible. If you have been following this blog you know that when I quote scripture it is from the NLT version unless otherwise noted. A friend who studies the original Hebrew and Greek tells me it is the most accurate of the modern translations. The Amplified version expands on the multiple meanings for words or phrases and the Message uses colorful descriptions. In addition to the English translations, the complete Bible has been translated into 553 languages, the New Testament into 1,333 languages and at least one book of scripture has been translated into 2,932 different languages and I’m sure translators are working hard on new ones as I write this. Which of them is the inspired word of God? All of them!

How can that be? It is because the inspired word of God is not about language; it is about God’s message to us. As long as His message resonates within us, we can be sure it is His inspired word. The miracle of God’s word is that it comes alive when seekers and believers read it. The message impacts each of us in a very personal way. There are times when a verse or passage literally jumps off the page at me when I need it most. There are other times when I am reading a very familiar verse or passage and my mind is opened to a whole new aspect that I had never thought of before that has specific application for me now.

Three of the Gospels record these words of Jesus, “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.” (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33) John’s Gospel describes Jesus as the living Word of God.

My daily devotions are taking me through the entire Bible again this year and after finishing the book of Judges with all of its violence, disobedience and chaos, the book of Ruth is like a breath of fresh air.  Set in that same period when the nation of Israel was in such turmoil, Ruth is the story of love, loyalty and faith within one family.  It also has special meaning for me because on December 7, 1963, Carol and I stood at the altar of a small Baptist church in Baldwin, Missouri, and before God and those assembled we exchanged our vows from the book of Ruth: “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:  Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)

Love and loyalty are precious gifts to be given and received with thanksgiving and praise to God.  Ruth’s love and loyalty to her mother-in-law, Naomi, after the death of both of their husbands took her to Bethlehem where she met Boaz.  She was rewarded by God with a loving marriage to Boaz with descendants that include not only King David but also the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

God still rewards love and loyalty.  The story of Helen Keller, who was born deaf and blind, is a story of love and loyalty between Helen and her teacher.  Their relationship has been immortalized in the play and movie “The Miracle Worker”.  Anne Sullivan’s love and loyal determination not only brought light into Helen’s dark, silent world, but it also brought Helen’s wonderful insight and perspective into our world.  Helen went on to become the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree and her life and her words have long been an inspiration to me.  One story that I love is when Anne tried to tell Helen in sign language about God and she immediately responded in signs, “I know that”.

As I read the book of Ruth and reminisce about our wedding vows, one of my favorite quotes from Helen Keller echoes in my mind: “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”