Halloween

Halloween

 

October 31

 

“Trick or treat?”  Years ago we didn’t ask for treats, we just did tricks. Now children don masks and costumes and demand treats from grownups, like an entitlement. 

The fact that All Saints Day follows Halloween is an appropriate reminder to put away the craziness for another year. Otherwise life could become a series of Halloweens with people wearing masks all the time. I know God wants me to take off my mask and get real with Him. No tricks or treats Lord, just living everyday humbly obeying You.

 

“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.” (Proverbs 22:4)

Bob Harron

 

October 30

 

He had a knack of seeing the best in people and encouraging them. Bob Harrron. was  the first sports publicist at Columbia University. At Bob’s urging a Columbia baseball game became the first telecast of a team sport. (April 17, 1939) A  reviewer wrote “baseball will never go on television.”

 

When Bob retired he came to Trinity College and became my mentor. He was the consummate encourager' God knows Bob, I am still trying to be everything you thought I was.

 “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.” (Romans 14:19)

Memory

October 28

 

I am struck this day by what a priceless gift memory is. Without memory there would be no knowledge. There would be no Bible. I wouldn't know my own name.

 Memory is a wonderful gift and I shouldn't take it lightly. Thank God for memory.

 Moses warned us about memory long ago.

“You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. If you, by any means, forget the Lord your God, and follow other Gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.” (Deuteronomy 8:18-19)

Birthday Present

 

 

October 26

This is my wife Joy’s birthday. Friends drive us to a surprise. The car slows, then we see.  Gads! It is a glider. The pilot is dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt. “Nothing to worry about,” he smiles, “ the leaves are in full color.” We squeeze into one rear seat and the pilot closes the canopy. “We are in God’s hands now,” I whisper. The noise of the wind is loud. I thought gliding would be quiet. Joy gets her wish for a bird’s view of the countryside. We thoroughly enjoy ourselves. I’m just thankful the surprise wasn’t hang gliding.

 “Give all your worries to God for He cares what happens to you.” (2Peter 5:7 NLT)

From a Housing Project to Success

 October 24 

 His mom raised him, and five siblings in a housing project. At 13 Big Brothers matched him with Bob,19. who   encouraged Dave to finish school and go to college. After college Bob offered Dave a job at the TV station where he worked.

 Today, on his own, Dave is literally helping people around the world become successful in business. One of those people is Bob. Accepting an award Dave thanked God, his Mom, and Bob. "To succeed, work hard and pray,” he says.

 "The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it." (Proverbs 10:22)

Deceiving Myself

 

October 23

 

Our facilitator, Ron says, deception is looking outward at what the world says instead of looking inward at ourselves and what God says.” We list how we have deceived ourselves. I write:

  Judging my success by the world’s standard-praise from men. Thinking that if I work hard all will be right and if I do good I am good.

 “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? I the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind, even give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Help from Strangers

 

 

October 23   

Everything seems fine until I distinctly smell gasoline. I pull off the road, open the hood and find gas seeping out of the fuel line. It is a miracle that the engine hasn’t caught fire. Now what do I do? A car pulls in behind me. The driver sees the leak and proceeds to tape the split hose. What a Godsend.

 

Come to think of it, I have had a lifetime of Good Samaritans who have come by and bailed me out of trouble. on the roadways and byways of life. Many of them were strangers but as the parable says, they were my real neighbors.

"He who showed mercy on him."
Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10: 36-37)

How Does God Keep Track?

 

October 20-21

 

How can God keep track of everything?

I read,” God is within you.” That's it. I imagine.I’m like a personal computer tied into a master computer. If I'm not plugged in I'm powerless. My screen is dark. Getting plugged in is an act of faith. Once logged on I can get an infinite amount of wisdom from the Master but that doesn't make me a mainframe. I’m still only a personal computer.

 

Jesus put it this way: "The Kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say ‘here it is' or ‘there it is' because the Kingdom of God is within you."  (Luke 17:20-21)

Climbing a Rock Face

 

 

October 18

 

The rock face is straight up. My arms ache as I stretch for the next finger crack. It is out of reach. I stretch and my feet slide out and I fall. Barry Barth, my bailer, is doing his job. He holds the lifeline and I bang against the rock and dangle there. No damage to the bones just to my pride.

God is like that bailer. I can't see Him but I know He is there. He keeps me from falling too far, but allows me to climb my own obstacles. He picks me up when I fall and He renews my strength when I stumble. God can be your bailer too.

 “The Lord is the strength of my life;  of whom shall I be afraid.”(Psalm 27:1)

Flat Tire

October 17

I hear a familiar thump, thump coming from the car so I pull off to the side of the country road into an vacant lot. Yep! A  flat. A young man, Ryan offers assistance.  He is there to meet his boss, who is a carpenter.

" My boss was a carpenter once," I say adding, "I 'm talking about Jesus.”

Ryan looks up at me, then continues what he is doing in silence. The next moment his boss drives up and I tell him what a Godsend Ryan is. I know who sent him.

"The Father knows the things you have need of before you ask him." (Matthew 6:8)

"I'm Waiting on God's Direction."

October 16  

  

I have a friend who has been out of work for more than a year. He lives at least a mile from me on another street but there in my mailbox is a letter for him. God works in strange and wonderful ways. When I hand him the letter I ask how he is doing. He replies, " I am waiting on God to give me direction.”

"Did you ever think maybe God is waiting on you to get ready? How is your heart?  

 Don't answer me, that's between you and God. I was just prompted to ask."

 

"As in water, face reflects face, so a man's heart reveals the man." (Proverbs 27:19)

 

 

 

 

Secret to a Successful Marriage

 

 

October 13 Weekend

 

 Joy stands in the doorway to our little office and leaning on the doorframe she says, "I feel overwhelmed." I rise and take her by the hand saying, "You know where we go when we feel overwhelmed?"  We walk to the adjacent bedroom and kneel by the bed and pray.

Keeping God at the center of our marriage

and keeping Him our focus and making each other a priority has made for a lasting and loving relationship.

“Let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”(Ephesians 5:33)

"I Need Help Here"

 

 

October 12  

 

"Do we have a plan for this faucet?" Joy asks passing the bathroom sink.

I can't get the handle off to see what is wrong. I pray silently, " I need help here."

I open the valve under the sink for hot water to wash my hands. When I'm through, without thinking, I turn the regular faucet to shut the water off. It Works! I stand there staring at the faucet. I Slowly  turn the handle and the water comes out and then I turn it off again. It is working! How did it get fixed? It certainly isn’t anything I did, except pray.

"With men this is impossible but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

   

 

The Last Seinfeld Episode

    The Last Seinfeld Episode

   October 10

 

Although we had stopped watching, the hype lured us to watch the last Seinfeld episode.
It was surprisingly serious. Jerry and his friends are tried and convicted for their antics and not being sensitive to the needs of others. The characters, put in jail, don't get it.

What will the last episode of my life be like? I know I will be found guilty of being judgmental and insensitive to others. But my judge will be fair and forgiving. I’ll bet my life on that.

 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1John 1:9)

                

 

Tree Fort

 

October 6

 It was 8' x 8' with screened windows on three sides and a full size door. The fort could sleep four boys comfortably. No adults or girls allowed except by special invitation. It was a place to trade secrets and make plans. The former occupants of that tree fort are all grown now with homes of their own. The tree fort is gone too, only the supporting trees remain. Whatever was said there is at best a faint memory but it is not a secret.

"For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light." (Luke 8:17)

Worth Remembering

October 5

Received by E-Mail:

 "When the request isn’t right, God says no

When the time isn’t right, God says Slow

When we aren’t right, God says Grow

When everything is right. God says Go.”

 

 

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9)

Stand-in-the-Gap

 

October 4

A million men gather on the Mall in Washington D.C. on this day (1997) to humble themselves before their God.

We find a place to sit 500 yards from the main stage. It is 6:30 a.m.. The event starts at 1 p.m. It is a moving moment to see so many men from all over this nation arriving to Stand in the Gap. One speaker says, "Most assemblies on this mall demand rights. We are here to confess our wrongs." 

" If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land."

(2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT)

The Ultimate Question

 

 

October 3

 

 There is a powerful conversation between Martha and Jesus that puts it all right on the line. Martha says,  "Lord if you had been here my brother (Lazarus) would not have died. But even now I know whatever You ask of God, God will give you."

Jesus says, "Your brother will rise again."

Martha states: "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day.”

Jesus- "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me though he may die, he shall live.” Then Jesus asks the question we all eventually have to answer.

“Do you believe this?” (John 11:21-26)