July 2016 – ALookintoT

The Game

It has occurred to me lately that life is one great big game. I love history and find myself sometimes in the stories of old. I have been traveling with my wife of 37 years with close friends to the Highlands of Scotland meeting family and other friends along the way. Now, that is a land of events that have changed history forever! How about those McDonald’s and Cambel’s! The McDonald’s were massacred in Glencoe region because they were too slow to claim allengence to William of Orange. Ok, I may be historically challenged but makes the Hatfield and McCoy dispute look tame. What about those Jacobites and Rob Roy? Research the life and challenges of Scotland’s family histories if interested. Even my own last name is linked with the ancient clans of Scotland. I believe we are led by our desires to seek the unknown and devine guidance to point us into our own historical storyline. It is a game! The Wars of the Roses was a series of wars for control of the throne of England. They were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, those of Lancaster and York. Did you know the war of roses is where the author of the game of thrones got his inspiration? There is a lot of parallels between the Lancaster and York families in the English history and those of the fictional series. Lannister is to Lancaster as Stark is to York. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin is an exciting twist of fiction and facts to make history come alive in our imaginations. I will leave to your own explorations for further discoveries. Did you know early American patriats battled barbaric tribes of Muslim pirates along the Barbary coast in North Africa before we even had a formalized navy? Also, will leave that up to you to discover fundamental truths that history does indeed repeat itself. It is all a game of life. It did not matter that Henry VIII had a daughter to carry on his lineage. He wanted a son and was determined to revise traditional values to suit his purpose. The world have fought battles for centuries on some of these revisions. What does that have to do with the here and now? As human beings in the game of life, we move along the flow and swept into history. We should strive to keep our values pure and our traditions unchanged but the course of history is full of events out of our personal control. I believe it is how we handle the changes as they come that make the difference in our lives. Afterall, it is all in the game. I pray you get in the game of life and not simply float along the tides of change only to wake up one day saying what happened?

GDLW

It seems to me that we are on a perpetual “breaking news” cycle of the latest tragic events in the world. We thrive on the negative it seems. We get so immersed in the 24 hour coverage of tragic events it is a wonder we can function going about our lives as normal. Unfortunately, some function very badly as evident in the events of this last week. What is this world coming too? What other tragic events are coming to the breaking news headlines? What is the answer? “GDLW” means Go and Do Likewise”. Remember the bracelet so popular for years that simply says WWJD. Well, this message is similar. In Colossians 1:6, the message has not changed for thousands of years. We choose to ignore the peace given to us through the Holy Spirit that dwells deep inside us all. Why do we choose to ignore guidance from the Holy Spirit and go on our own? The violence in Dallas this last week resulted from one person’s rage with his perceptions of injustice. Does two wrongs make a right? I do not perceive to know and understand the tragic events that took the lives of people. The constant barrage seen with the 24 hour coverage of these events surely has not helped to calm angry people. I choose not to judge one way or the other on just exactly what happened but recognize that it was tragic. Families on both sides of these tragic acts of violence are all victims. Why do some people personalize an event seen on TV to create another tragic event? I remember watching my father get so upset watching the TV and back then was not even 24 hour coverage. I find myself getting angry but do we do likewise according to the violence shown on TV or do we do likewise according to the message of hope found in the gospel? In Luke 10, Jesus is explaining in the form of a parable who is our neighbor. The priest judged the victim as unworthy to even assist in any small manner of humanity. Likewise, the Levite stuck his nose up to pass by the victim. But the Samaritan who is perceived unworthy by most in those days, chose to act with compassion. Regardless whether we encounter black, white or any other color individual, do we act with contempt or with compassion? Jesus said to Go and Do Likewise to the acts of compassion. May we take his advice and do likewise? May we all pray for peace to a much higher power than us mere humans. Listen to my brief sound bite below if you have time. Peace be with us all.

The Harvester

This is my second message on Independence Day! As we celebrate independence, I hope you recognize we are all interdependent meaning we are dependent on each other to survive. Okay, what does that mean? It means that we cannot survive without reliance on each another. We can claim to be one of those survivalist who stock pile food, water and enough weapons to fend off an army but eventually we must rely on each other. I contend that we must also be guided by a power much greater than mere humans. My concern with our march into new worlds of progress is that we choose to strip off our interdependence with that higher power. Call it what you wish but I will call him the great I Am. I recommend a book I recently read not to plug the book but to offer an alternative to those who may wonder about divine intervention. Without ruining the story line, I encourage the reader to read beyond the mere story into the real story of redemption. The book is called “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers if you choose to explore its contents and how we are all given saving grace to survive in this hostile world.

My topic on Caution to the Harvester is about patience, doing what we are called to do and doing them for the right reasons. Advice given to the Galatians in chapter 6 seems to be full of common sense such as treating people with gentleness, carrying each other’s burdens and being happy with simply doing good without reward. These are all attributes of freedom to be what we are intended to be. Sow good things to be able to harvest a plentiful crop of goodness. If planting bad seeds, then bad crops are to be expected from our efforts. So why not realize this simple truth and be careful what we sow. In Luke, chapter 10, it is said that the “harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers”. The Lord commissioned many with strict instructions to go humbly to share the good news knowing that they would meet resistance. They were told to share with those who were willing to hear but dust off their feet to those who wouldn’t. Good advice!

Perhaps, as we celebrate our independence but recognize our interdependence with each other and the great I Am, we should take the good advice found in the scripture to sow good seeds in order to harvest good crops and to be happy with the simplicity of sharing with those who will listen as we travel along life’s path.

Listen to my very brief message below and read for yourself the miracles of His redeeming love.