Think Twice

Have you ever thought twice? You had decided to do, say, or act a certain way. Then you had a change of heart or mind and performed differently. God did!

Exodus 32:14 (MSG) states that God did think twice. He decided not to do the evil he had threatened against his people. The Bible tells us that frequently the Creator relented. Jonah is an excellent example. God commanded that he preach to the great city of Nineveh that their destruction was imminent. Jonah 3:10 (MSG) tells us that God saw...that they had turned away from their evil lives. He did change his mind about them. What he said he would do to them he didn't do.

Then there is the self-declaration of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15-25 in which he thinks twice about doing good but then doesn't do it. Then he decides not to do evil, but he does it anyway. There is certainly a time to think twice and then follow through on that alternate decision. The solution to Paul's dilemma was stated by him in verse 25...Ponder his conclusion: The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ...acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

photo from flickr.com

The lyrics of a song from the end of the musical Oliver reminds us to review the situation. Fagan is thinking twice about his villainous life, marriage, friends, and work. His conclusion? "I think I better think it out again!" There are always choices to consider. Robert Frost suggested as much in his poem Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood...I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.

Matthew 7:14 states that narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Do you need to review the focus of your life? Think twice and take the Way of the Cross. After all, that is the only way that leads home.

Stressed

This morning my wife and I had the privilege to worship twice. Both were online. First we worshiped with our congregation in Columbia, TN, and then with our son's church in Mitchell, IN. Both were occasions to rejoice and extol God's praiseworthiness and majesty. When listening to Phillip's sermon in Columbia, the idea for this blog formed in my stressed-out brain.

I have had bloggers block for several days and have not published. Phillip's lesson was on the stress in Jesus' life. I won't repeat his points. Please refer to the online feed of that  sermon for an excellent 6-point message (West Seventh church of Christ).

Of course we all know that stressed backwards is desserts. We think of stress as negative and dessert as very, very, very positive, if possibly somewhat unhealthy. I was given a timely example about stress while waiting for the worship to go live.

I tried numerous times to add a comment or join the audience...all to no avail. Those minutes were increasingly stressful. Have I mentioned I don't do well with stress, and that patience is not my strong suit? That was not my finest moment. Then the sound didn't work. That took the tech folks at the building awhile to figure out. Finally the songs they posted had an echo issue just as they had the previous week. I know how hard and long this week they worked to solve that issue. I'm guessing Satan was active in all those stress points to discourage us. It worked but only briefly. Everything was made right and the worship was inspiring.

This morning's frustrations and this blog took me back to a decade ago. It was toward the end of a two week road trip out west with a colleague. We had concluded several days in Yellowstone National Park. As we were leaving the park via the East Entrance, I hydroplaned my Nissan Sentra on some black ice. The skid occurred as we approached a sharp curb at Cub Creek. It was perhaps the most stressful and terrifying moment of my life. We ended up off road down about 10 feet in a snowdrift. For all the details too numerous to mention here, I refer you to my blog of May 27, 2010. After that episode I started believing more than ever in guardian angels and God's intervention in our lives. His miracles have not ceased!

off road at Cub Creek in YNP

When things don't go as expected, I need to remember WHO is really in charge. Let go and let God. Turn to HIM and all is well. Reflect upon Matthew 6:34 (MSG)...Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Thank you, Lord!

Comfort

I am amazed that I was led to 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 (NIV) for today's blog in these times of pandemic and social distancing. Nine times in those five short verses the apostle Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to repeat the word comfort. Notice the first two verses of that passage:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

God is the source of all comfort. The reason He comforts us in our troubles is so we can pass it on to our neighbors. Let's ponder just a few of the ways we can comfort others during COVID-19:

• Offer condolences and sympathy for loss.
• Share empathy and commiseration during hard times. We are all in this together.
• Communicate cheer or an offer to help. Perhaps run an errand for someone who can't.
• Speak a kind or encouraging word via phone, text, or social media.
• Visit with a neighbor from 10 feet across the yard. Social distance doesn't mean isolation. Many are lonely during these times.
• Try to love like Jesus...from a safe distance perhaps wearing a mask.



photo by Hannah Morgan on unsplash.com

• Emulate the God of compassion.

What can you do to follow the example of our God of all comfort? Please share your ideas in the comment section of this blog.

Community of Sewists

photo by Pille-Riin Priske on unsplash.com

I recently heard a term that was new to my vocabulary. In response to the plea from the medical profession for face masks to help shield people from the Coronavirus, a multitude of sewing machine experts have volunteered to fill that need. I was watching Fox News and heard them referred to as a Community of Sewists.

A  group of ladies at my church called the Stitchin' Sisters have been coming together for many months. Their goal is to sew items for the needy both locally and in third world countries. They meet for two to three hours on Wednesday mornings at the building to sew. My wife is a member of that group. Many of these ladies take their work home. Some of the items they create are children's dresses, kid's shorts, stuffed bears, diaper bags, cloth diapers, baby afghans, backpacks, etc. These find their way to first responders, local hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living programs, mission trips, Healing Hands, and Disaster Relief.

Over the last few days the Stitchin' Sisters have changed their focus to the medical professionals fighting Covid-19 in nursing homes, rehab centers, and hospitals. They are making masks like hundreds or even thousands of other sewists throughout our nation. Today my blog is a shout out to these individuals.

So here's to all the mask makers in the United States of America:

Warm Fuzzies! 😀💖🏆

Thumbs Up! 👍✌👌🙏

Sewists STRONG! 💪

Not Really

After the Israelites left Egypt victoriously, they had many moments when they said or did things that were indicative of their lack of trust in God's power and glory. One such occasion is recorded in Exodus 14:10-12 [MSG]...

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw them--Egyptians! Coming at them! They were totally afraid. They cried out in terror to God. They told Moses, "Weren't the cemeteries large enough in Egypt so that you had to take us out here in the wilderness to die? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? Back in Egypt didn't we tell you this would happen? Didn't we tell you, 'Leave us alone here in Egypt--we're better off as slaves in Egypt than as corpses in the wilderness.'"

wow! What short memories those people had. They had just witnessed the Ten Plagues as displays of God's control and authority. They had ransacked Egypt and left in a party spirit with riches beyond their imaginations. After 440 years of slavery and oppression they were finally headed to that promised home, a land that legend reminded them was flowing with milk and honey.

Better off as slaves in Egypt than as corpses in the wilderness? Not really! In today's vernacular the sarcastic answer might be, "Are you kidding me?"

RIP Kenny Rogers

I woke up this morning and discovered that one of my musical heroes has passed away. Kenny Rogers has been one of my favorite country singers for decades. Delores and I got to attend his concert in Cherokee, NC, over Labor Day weekend in 2012. It was quite a spectacle, though the harsh lights made it difficult to photograph from the crowd. A highlight of that show was his wife and twin sons appearing on stage with him. Of course he sang all of his top hits.


Years ago I enjoyed creating parodies of famous songs. I enjoy the one about a driver's lug nuts coming off a tire during a lengthy road trip. The lyrics are something like you took a long time to leave me loose wheel. I remember writing one about The Gambler. Those lyrics made me think humorously of today's circumstances with the hoarding of special paper, home schooling, and the distance spacing quarantine. [Disclaimer: I'm not meaning to make light or poke fun at any unpleasant or even dire situation in which people may be finding themselves during this pandemic.] My intent is simply to share a little light, entertaining humor. Feel free to sing along.

[tune: The Gambler]

On a long March day, quarantined with my wife.

Staving off the boredom, she'd sew while I watched TV.

We take turns by sharing all the cutesy stuff on Facebook

And every now and then we'd cease that fun to eat or sleep.

We've been life-long educators good at reading people's faces,

And knowing how their lives went by the way they frowned or smiled.

But with today's pandemic, we can't tell just by looking;

The adults all have their masks on and we seldom see a child.

Then my wife made us both masks, so we could go to Kroger

And see if toilet paper was restocked on their shelves.

But our searching proved quite fruitless 'cause soon as any truck came

All its cargo was claimed by a group of hoarding elves.

[sing along]

You've got to know when to snag 'em, know when to bag 'em,

Know when to walk the aisles, know when to run.

Don't waste time counting money when the last roll's been unloaded

There'll be time enough for counting when the grabbin's done.

That concludes my tribute to Kenny Rogers except for this special message to the love of my life because She Believes in Me: Lady, Through the Years I may have acted a little Crazy evading the Long Arm of the Law Everytime [we] Two Fools Collide; just realize how often You Decorated My Life. While we are quarantined as seeking Buried Treasure on some Islands in the Stream, remember We've [still] Got Tonight and I Will Always Love You!

Off the Hook

As Jesus journeyed from the upper room to the cross, there were three individuals who played a role. Each wished to get off the hook for the character he portrayed. The first was Judas the betrayer; next was Pilate the judge; finally there was Peter the denier. Each regretted his actions in the drama.

photo by Ivar Asgaut
on unsplash.com 

According to Matthew 27:1-10, after learning that Jesus was to be crucified, Judas attempted to return the betrayal money to the chief priests. After that gesture didn't get him off the hook, he committed suicide by hanging.

Later in the same chapter Pilate was accomplishing nothing in his desire to be rid of the problem of Jesus. He even tried washing his hands. While that might avail us much in this quarantine against the Coronavirus, it got the Roman judge nowhere and off no hook.

Peter used curses and lies to deny his relationship with Jesus. We should remember also that all the other 10 disciples fled in fear when Jesus was seized in the garden. None of their actions got them off the hook. All they got was a terrified wait in an upper room until after the resurrection.

All of the three named herein were hooked into sin by Satan. None found a successful solution to getting off the hook. Today we live in perilous times facing a global panic and viral pandemic. We must renew our faith in Jesus Christ as the ONLY way, truth  and life...the only real path out of the grasp of Satan and off the hook of sin.

One Hundred

On November 8, 2009, I wrote and published my first ever blog. I titled it Can You Hear God Singing? It described my favorite Bible verse, Zephaniah 3:17. That verse ends with the words He rejoices over you with singing. More than a decade later it is still my favorite scripture. Today is my 100th pilgrimage into that elusive land of blogging.

from Scott Webb on unsplash.com

I remember my days just before retirement when I spent lots of time supervising student teachers. Every school year had its 100th day. It was important. Sometimes the school would celebrate that day with special reading activities. Seems in my memory that Dr. Seuss' birthday was often the theme of that occasion. Teachers would wear the Cat in the Hat hat or dress in pairs as Thing 1 and Thing 2. It was all great fun. For the rest of my hundredth blog, I will board my time machine and return to an era half a century ago. We call those days B.C., Before Children.

The year was 1970. I was in college in  Arkansas. Every year Harding College had an intramural speech arts tournament. It was a competition between clubs. My club, TNT (touch no tobacco, taint nothing toit, or trust-noble ideas-and tact) entered in a big way. I was part of a four member team who diligently prepared for the reader's theatre event. This was a dramatic presentation with scripts and stands. There were no costumes, lighting, music, or choreography. Everything was dependent upon facial expression, eye contact, and tone of voice. We had to be perfect. I was the Mayzie bird. The other characters on stage with me were Horton, the elephant; a narrator; and a person reading all the small people parts.

The production began with my high pitched, nasally, squeaking tone, "Hmmmmmmmm!"

Narrator:  "Sighed Mayzie, a lazy bird hatching an egg."

Mayzie:  "I'm tired and I'm bored and I've kinks in my legs from sitting, just sitting here day after day. It's work, how I hate it! I'd much rather play! I'd take a vacation, fly off for a rest; if I could find someone to stay on my nest. If I could find someone, I'd fly away, free."

Narrator:  "Then Horton the elephant passed by her tree."

And that, as you may remember, was the beginning of the end for poor Horton. His favorite line with his deep, drawling, slow-witted, bass tones was, "I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one hundred percent."

All the hard work perfecting and nearly memorizing each part paid off. We won! I still remember it as though it were yesterday. It's good to reminiscence back to those thrilling days of yesteryear. "High O, Silver, Away!" Hang in there, Horton!

P.S. Hope this quarantine doesn't last 100 days!

Back

I started 2020 with a plan to blog everyday, work out most days, eat right most meals, and read the Bible daily. I did pretty well at first. I blogged the first 45 days. I didn't miss a day, although some weren't posted until the last hour or two before midnight. We joined Planet Fitness and worked out nearly every day. We started the day by listening to the audio Bible. Our home-cooked, delicious meals were probably 85% healthy. It was going well until the cough happened. The details of that are in my last blog on February 17.

After the sinus drainage and coughing began to subside, we left for a two-week vacation westward to see family. After about 10 days we decided to cut the trip short and head home. By then I had involuntarily shared whatever I had with Delores. Her cough was soon worse than mine, and we made a trip to Urgent Care in Austin, TX. She had a negative swab for flu and left with two prescriptions.We did make it out to Hobbs, NM, before finally throwing in the road trip towel and heading home.

Lack of energy kept us inside and down for the next couple of weeks. I had little inclination for blogging or much of anything else. I've been working out daily again and my energy level has revived. It is time for me to get back. Back to blogging. The five weeks off hasn't been a total waste of brain and creativity. I have added to my idea file. My plan is to start tomorrow, not Scarlett's tomorrow - the real tomorrow. Since I have been a morning person most of my life, I will try to shun procrastination and blog first thing in the A.M. Let's see how that works. Tomorrow will be my 100th blog.

Antelope Canyon

My intent is to use blogging and the audio Bible to say Good Morning, God rather than Good God, Morning. With God's help this renewed plan will succeed and get me back on track in a healthy retirement. You are welcome to join me for the journey.