Grounded!

Grounded was a term that started sometime when I was a kid.  I don't remember being grounded.  I remember getting what we called a "whoopin", which we deserved most of the time.  "Whippings" got my attention and I believe that they filled the need of discipline in my life anyway.

Then we grounded our children.  There is nothing to do but go to your room and sulk.  Think about what you have done (in reality figure a way to do a better job of not getting caught next time ) and  consider what you did that made you have to enter that solitude and desolate place called your bedroom.  Parents then quickly forgot their children, and the children made sure that they would do better (yes, a better job of not getting caught.)

I am calling for making a change!  Let's do something that will make our children and grandchildren realize that when they do something wrong they are going to have to receive something that disciplines them into understanding that they don't ever what to do that again.  I don't know what that is but let me give you some thoughts on this.

First, when your children need discipline...just do it.  But what ever you do, don't make it something that they will quickly forget the ramification of.  It needs to be a memorable experience.  They need to know that certain behavior is not acceptable and will "cost" them something for behaving in an unacceptable way.

Second, love them through it.  You can discipline without your child thinking you hate them.  They are not even capable of understanding the amount of love you have for them when you are disciplining them.  I know I didn't, and I don't think my children did either.  But, I do know that my children, for the most part, understand that I loved them more than they knew at the time.  Why?  Because I made them understand there were repercussions to certain actions that caused them to think about what they were doing and why.

Finally, pray for them.  Pray with them and pray for them.  Let them hear you talk to God concerning them and their actions.  They will get it at some point if you are sincere in your prayer life concerning them.  They need to know that God is that important to you.  Never give up your faith and your faith will never give up on you.

Think about it!  What if God grounded you?

I'll see you later.

How Far Do We Go?

I have a question.  How far do we go before we reach the point that states our intentions where we get as far away from what we know is right before we are unable to realize it may be too far for us to come back?

That was a mouth full.

What I am thinking is this.  So many of us get out on our own, making our own decisions and we realize that we  may have overstepped the limit of where we feel comfortable with our past decision making guidelines.  Before, we had our parents and our church friends, but then we find there is a whole other world out there that doesn't hold us to those guidelines anymore and we can pretty much do what ever it is we want.  We don't have to really answer to anyone at all.  At least that can "make" us do something we don't want to do.  It starts off small with little resistance or even discipline if we do something out of the ordinary.  But then, after a while of doing those things without repercussion, we find ourselves venturing further and further away from what we thought were our limits.  We may even realize we are able to make our own decisions, but the repercussions are now upon us when we do something that could or does cause us to find ourselves away from what we have always known.

Moms and dads, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, friends and church family, we will find, aren't with us nor do they mean as much to us as the did in the past.  We have walked away from what we have known and away from the people who have known us.  We do make new friends,  but they are not really a part of who we have been.  Now, let me say, this is a freedom of choice that God has given us, but it is one that can lead us to loneliness, heartbreak, and a failure to be in the most important relationship we could ever have.  A relationship with God can be lost because we walk away from what we know into an unknown world that is accepting and easy.

Through this rambling my question still remains, "How far do we go?"

Don't let a funeral be the time to say, "I wish I had been strong enough to stay with God and His family", though difficult and burdensome.  Swallow some of the desires you have and never walk so far away that you can't see those you love and so far that you completely walk away from God.

I'll see you later!

City on a Hill

“I don’t know what to do,” she stated as she sat in my office crying and looking for answers. “I’ve tried praying, begging God to take the pain away.  Why is this happening to me?” Her life was falling apart.  Her husband had found someone else at work to spend his free time with.  He left her with their two children and a house payment along with the bills to pay and left his family to be with his new found friend.  Her children didn’t understand why daddy hadn’t been home in weeks. “What do I do?”

This story is so familiar to so many of us.  It has either happened to our family or to someone we know.  It may have even happened to you personally.  I personally know that the pain of that type of loss, separation,  and the feeling that there is no love to be found can be overwhelming.  I have lived through it as a child and was blessed enough to have my dad “find Jesus” and show us the way to a better place than where we were.  Through a man, who knocked at our door back in the mid 1970’s, named Buck Bloodworth my dad found salvation through Christ Jesus and brought the message he had heard back to my mom and ultimately to his entire family.  Many of those my dad shared that message with became born again Christians.  Some that he shared that message with decided to continue in the lives that they had chosen beforehand.  Not everyone accepts the message that I believe will help them cope and deal with the situations that seem to tear their families apart.

Yes, I believe that Jesus is the answer to our problems.  For the young lady whose husband had walked out on her, Jesus was the answer.  She was immersed into Christ and gave herself to becoming the child of God she is today. With this decision she remarried a great Christian man who had suffered the loss of his wife and has led her children to know Jesus as she does. I know of story after story of people who have turned their lives around by deciding to follow in the steps of Jesus.

There is a "City on a Hill" that shines as a beacon pointing the way to a better life.  I hope you will search it out and find it. Search it out and find the answers that you are looking for and that God is trying to show you.  Your story, once shared, can help others find the answers that they are looking for.  Don't let the bad things of life swallow you up and hide the wonderful story of Jesus from you.  Too many times we give up and take the easy route.  I pray you take the right route and work at your life to be who and whose you are supposed to be.

I'll see you later!

Where are Your Treasures?

I am amazed that we are so wrapped up in this world.  So much so that we worry about it.  We fret over the years to come that we are not able to control.  We worry about the future here and what will be left.  We are concerned with the here and now and the things we want to do.

Don't get me wrong, proper planning is a good thing for our future in living on this rock that is spinning and flying through space through the grace of God.  We need to look to care for ourselves and nature without just dumping everything and not doing anything.  But worrying?  Please folks!  Wake up!

"This world is not my home, I'm just a passing thru.  My treasures are laid up some where beyond the blue; The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, And I can't feel at home in this world anymore."

Don't you think its time to believe this song and the scripture of Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."


I believe it to be time to stop and realize that our treasures are truly in heaven and that is what our focus in this world needs to be about.  Not what we have, but what we are living toward.

I'll see you later.

Change

Somethings never change.

"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

Change for the sake of change is usually a preemptive strike against the things that haven't changed in a while.  Change in worship styles is one of the things I have seen over the last few years.  I am amazed at our thinking that change is the answer.  It is!  What needs to change is not necessarily our worship style but our hearts about worship.

We need to begin to realize that when we come together to worship it is about God and not us.  We are not the recipients, nor should we be, of the blessings that come from worship.  We are blessed because we have worshipped and honored our God and Father.  God should  be the center of our worship and the blessing we should receive come from understanding that we are there to worship Him, praise Him, and honor Him above all else.

Can I receive a blessing by worshipping?  Absolutely!  But, when my worship focus is on how worship affects me, then we are wrong.  We are always going to be affected by what we do, but the focus of our spiritual worship as a church family should always be to promote our thankfulness, love and devotion to our God for the gift of salvation that He poured out on us through His son.

It is time for us to change our focus and look to God the inventor and perfecter of our faith.

I'll see you later.

Sometimes!

"Pappa, why do some people stay upset all the time?" asked the little boy about someone he saw become vocally upset because someone annoyed them for some reason or another.  "Do they know that what they are doing is what they are angry about others are doing?"

Talk about out of the mouth of babes!

I was amazed at the insight this young child had as they viewed the reality of adulthood's most difficult aspect, living in harmony with each other and allowing others actions and reactions to be overlooked out of love for them just being there.  This is difficult for us as humans to understand, on either side of the situation.

My answer?  "Sometimes!"

I'll see you later.

How Long Is Enough?

There are so many things that I have done in my life that have been hobbies and fun ones at that!  Over the years I had to start making concessions and giving them up.  Let me share just a few of those with you that I have done.  Some I still participate in but then there are many I have given up.  I'll indicate the ones I have given up with an  in front of them. Now this is participation hobbies.

These are a few I have given up: Baseball,  softball,  bowling,  skating,  water skiing,  snow skiing,  motorcycling, umpiring baseball, officiating basketball, trapping wild game, and raising hogs (literally).

These are a few I still participate in: Fishing, hunting, swimming, camping, radio broadcasting sports, golf, hiking, playing music on my mandolin, singing, did I say hunting and fishing?

Why do you think I gave up some of my hobbies.  There are several reasons!  First, I became incapable of doing some.  Physically was unable to perform these to the point of enjoyment.  Others I gave up because of health reasons.  Still others I just became to old to do, which I never thought was possible.  Those were the things I gave up, yet there are some that I still participate in and enjoy.

Life does this to us.  There are things we would really love to continue in our lives, but there comes a time when it has been "Long Enough."  We have done our time and we need to move on to other things.  We may not want to, but it has been long enough.  We may feel we can still perform in some ways, but it has been long enough.

I have several friends who over the years have talked with me about this and I understand better now that I am getting older how they feel.  Many of my peers are having to give up things that they really don't want to give up but realize that it is necessary to listen to those around them who care about them and want nothing but the best for them. 

This very thing is happening at the church where I serve as the pulpit minister.  Several of our elders who have served for so many years have said "enough."  Not that it was a problem that caused them to leave, but the came to realize that it was time to step aside and listen to their bodies and hearts to know what to do.  I admire their desire to be honest with themselves and understand that they will never stop leading others in Christ.  I pray for them in their transition. 

Think about your life.  Have you reached a point to where you have had to say, "Enough?"  Have you come to the point where you have understood it was time to give up some of the things you really loved?  It is okay to give up the things you can't do physically or spiritually, as long as you don't give up doing what is right for God. It is time to become a blessing for others by allowing yourself to stand back and enjoy watching and listening to those who have come after you and be there to give them the wisdom and encouragement they need to do what it is they do.

I'll see you later.