Author: Dave Burchett

I am taking a dual risk this month by attempting an iPod devotional series. If the Apple attorneys take note this will quickly become the MP3 Playback Device Devotional series. So I hope the lawyers stay busy with bigger fish.  At any rate…here is how it will work. On the old iPod is a “shuffle songs” feature. You hit the button and it randomly picks a song. This month I am going to write a blog about whatever song the device selects on that day from the 1,000 plus songs on my iPod. My music list will further confirm my status as a Christian who makes others feel superior. My music goes from Al Green to the Youngbloods. Beatles to U2. Old hymns to modern praise music. Toby Keith to Frank Sinatra. Oldies to the soundtrack from Monty Python’s Spamalot. This could be interesting.

Today the shuffle landed on one of my favorite Christian artists. One year ago  Andrew Peterson was not even on my playlist radar. Youngest son Brett suggested I should check out Peterson after he had performed at a chapel service at Baylor University. Andrew Peterson quickly moved to my top-rated playlist. The iPod shuffle today landed on a haunting and beautiful song called “After the Last Tear Falls”. Andrew Peterson has filled part of the void that I felt when Rich Mullins was tragically killed almost ten years ago. His ability to use the power of music to portray truth is reminiscent of Mullins. Here are some lyrics from today’s song.

After the last tear falls
After the last secrets told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves
And the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that’s just too hard

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

Andrew Peterson gives me a powerful reminder that in this fallen world, full of sin and pain, there is a love that can save me. He recognizes that trouble will not escape followers of Jesus. In the midst of our cancer journey Joni and I have felt His love. That love and grace should be my focus as I navigate this crazy and confusing world.

After the last disgrace
After the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician
After the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison

There is love
Love, love, love
There is love
Love, love, love
There is love

Satan tells me there can be no love from a God that allows such pain. The truth is that I am God’s hands and feet to reach out to a wounded world. If everyone who has claimed the name of Christ got serious about doing something tangible we would make a real difference. Would such a concerted effort eliminate all pain and suffering? Of course not. But the body of Christ could make an incredible difference by practicing sacrificial living, giving, and service. There is love. We need to reflect that love. The body of Christ needs to focus on what unites us instead of what divides us.

And in the end, the end is
Oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We’ll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we’ll look back on these tears as old tales

Andrew Peterson’s message is powerful. Someday we will see how God worked in the ugly fallenness of this planet to accomplish His purpose. I once heard a pastor say that he expected to spend the early part of eternity walking around heaven making comments like these.

“Oh, I get it now.’
“Now I see how God was working.”
“I understand why that happened now.”

In the end, there is love. Sometimes I fear my actions don’t reflect that I really believe that with complete certainty. That is why I am grateful for the trials. The good times are fun. But only the hard times slowly mold me a very tiny bit more in His image. In those really hard times I truly realize that there is love.

I am taking a dual risk this month by attempting an iPod devotional series. If the Apple attorneys take note this will quickly become the MP3 Playback Device Devotional series. So I hope the lawyers stay busy with bigger fish.  At any rate…here is how it will work. On the old iPod is a “shuffle songs” feature. You hit the button and it randomly picks a song. This month I am going to write a blog about whatever song the device selects on that day from the 1,000 plus songs on my iPod. My music list will further confirm my status as a Christian who makes others feel superior. My music goes from Al Green to the Youngbloods. Beatles to U2. Old hymns to modern praise music. Toby Keith to Frank Sinatra. Oldies to the soundtrack from Monty Python’s Spamalot. This could be interesting.

So here we go…pushing the button. The first song randomly selected shows that God does indeed have a sense of humor. The song that came up is called Smiling Faces Sometimes and it is from a group called Undisputed Truth. The song was originally recorded by the Temptations but the version released by Undisputed Truth in 1971 became the number 3 song that year. What delicious irony that the guy who wrote When Bad Christians Happen to Good People gets a song about hypocrites for the debut of this little experiment.

Here are the opening lyrics from that song…

Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don’t tell the truth uh
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof

I get hundreds of letters (okay…emails) from wounded Christians who could have started their note with those lyrics. They have been hurt and betrayed by other churchgoers, often with smiling faces. I try to encourage them. I remind them that we are all human. I ask them to look to Jesus. I try to communicate that I have felt and do feel the pain that they are experiencing. But everytime I hit send I am saddened that we allow this to happen in the body of Christ. Sometimes I am downright (ticked) off that any of us allow our agenda and self-absorption to overpower the awe inspiring gift of grace that brought us together in the first place. Not many things seemed to tick off Jesus more than hypocrites. Listen to these comments directed to the religious leaders.

“How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy–full of greed and self-indulgence! Blind Pharisees! First wash the inside of the cup, and then the outside will become clean, too.

 “How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs–beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. You try to look like upright people outwardly, but inside your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

 “Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?

Does that sound like the happy, happy Jesus that we like to portray? In a handful of verses He called the self-righteous leaders hypocrites, lawless, filthy inside, and sons of vipers. Ouch. Jesus was righteously furious. And He was furious over phony faith. Compare His tender response to repentant sinners. It is clear that Jesus wants honest hearts and maybe, just maybe, that is why He preferred to hang out with the not so self-righteous.

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such despicable people–even eating with them!  Luke 15  NLT

Oh no!!! Eating with sinners! And yet I still see that ugly scenario playing out today. We find safety in surrounding ourselves with others just like us. The lifestyles of the lost and not so famous are uncomfortable to us. So we take the safe route. I think Jesus loved being with the “sinners” because they realized their condition. They offered no excuses. They were eager to hear how this remarkable teacher would address that condition.

Just like the pharisees I can clean up the outside real purty. But God knows what lies beneath. It is scary and painful and ugly to allow the Holy Spirit to start cleaning out the dirt, the dead bones, and everything unclean. But we will never experience God the way He desires to relate to us unless we are willing to do just that. Frankly I don’t see the point of being a Sunday Christian. If this is real we need to pursue it seven days a week. The hardest truth I have had to admit as a husband, father, follower of Jesus is that I make time for those things that are a priority to me. There can be short time diversions for work or circumstance. But over the weeks and months how I spend my time and how I live my life reveals my heart. That is a hard truth.

Our iPod selection goes on…

Your enemy won’t do you no harm
Cause you’ll know where he’s coming from
Don’t let the handshake and the smile fool ya
Take my advice I’m only try’ to school ya

Isn’t that what hurts us so much when someone in the church does the wounding? We don’t expect it. We are not prepared at all to get sucker punched by a family member. But it happens in the church. Smiling faces do sometimes tell lies. Smiling churchgoers sometimes do great damage. But there is another possibility.

Smiling faces that love others like Jesus can still change this world. And, in my heart, that is undisputed truth.

 

Two movie quotes are bouncing around in my oddly constructed brain. The first one is from Tom Hank’s excellent film A League of Their Own. Hanks plays manager Jimmy Dugan in a movie about a womens’ baseball league during World War II. Dugan sarcastically berates one of his players after a mistake and she bursts into tears, prompting this response.

Are you crying? Are you crying? Are you crying? There’s no crying, there’s no crying in baseball. Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pig (droppings). And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry? No. No. And do you know why?
Evelyn Gardner: No, no, no.
Jimmy Dugan: Because there’s no crying in baseball.

That was the message I received loud and clear as a youngster growing up in scenic Chillicothe, Ohio in the 50’s and 60’s. My heroes did not cry. And therefore I determined I would never admit to crying. Catch that? I would never admit to crying. I learned early that to be that strong you couldn’t really be honest. And that brings me to the source of my  youthful dilemma. Old Yeller. I totally violated my no crying resolve during that movie. I realized I was not alone when I watched the movie Stripes and this inspirational speech by Bill Murray’s character.

Who cried when Old Yeller got shot at the end? Nobody cried when Old Yeller got shot? I’m sure.
I cried my eyes out.

So did I. And I cried when Brian Piccolo died in Brian’s Song. I cried when father and son had a catch in Field of Dreams.

Despite my childhood resolve I discovered there is crying in baseball, football, and especially in life. There has been crying during Joni’s cancer journey. I have realized that there is no shame in that admission. Women who read these humble ramblings are probably wondering what kind of an idiot would think that there is shame in crying? The answer is the species called men (Americus Johnius Waynicus). But I no longer follow the example of the Duke on that issue. So it was no surprise that the Kleenex came out when I viewed a video by country group Rascal Flatts today. The song is called Skin and the lyrics tell the story of a high school girl named Sara Beth. She learns that she has leukemia and Sara Beth fears that no one will want to take a girl with no hair to the prom. The lyrics are powerful and the video is even more so.

Check out the video (and have a Kleenex handy).

Obviously this video touches me in our season of life. I have written about what God is teaching me about what real beauty looks like. I have also seen the strength and courage of these incredible women who are battling breast cancer. They are constant inspiration and encouragement to me.

This is the ending of the song Skin.

They go dancing
Around and around without any cares
And her very first true love is holding her close
And for a moment she isn’t scared

Joni and I have cried. We have been scared. Then I meditate on the words in I John…

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.

We have learned that if we close our eyes and allow the God who first loved us to hold us close…for a moment we are not scared.

Today is our Chemo Date Day. While Joni and I spend our day at the Slow Drip Spa I am posting a gently read post from the past. Today’s flashback talks about a study on grumpiness. I don’t mean to scare you but apparently the grumpy contagion spreads quickly from person to person. But there is hope for a cure…

 

Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down…

Who knew that salty comedian George Carlin was on the cutting edge of scientific research when he made that observation about ways to stay young. A recent story by Knight Ridder writer Eric Adler in the Kansas City Star reports that a growing body of psychological research is bearing out the power one individual’s mood can have on others.

That’s right, my friends. Grumpy people are contagious!

“It is one of the most robust phenomena I have ever seen,” said University of New Hampshire researcher Richard Saavedra. “And it’s all unconscious.”

Adler reported that in May, Purdue University psychologists presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association. Janice Kelly and Jennifer Spoor took 43 pairs of undergraduates and asked them to complete a task. One was designated the leader, the other the subordinate. The leaders were shown movie clips, this time of the “choice” scene in “Sophie’s Choice” or a scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Bad moods ruled again, with negative proving much more contagious than positive. In the March issue of The Journal of Applied Psychology, Saavedra and colleague Thomas Sy at California State University at Long Beach examined the effects of a leader’s mood on a group. The results were consistent. Research shows that being exposed to someone cheery makes you cheery, but not as much as being exposed to a spiritless grump makes you depressed.

So how do we avoid catching the grumpy virus?

“In general, the key is awareness,” said Sy of Cal State. “The most insidious aspect of a negative mood is that, often, it infects you unconsciously. If you realize, ‘This person is depressed. I’m catching his mood. That is why I’m depressed,’ you can manipulate it. You can control it.”

For Christians it is critical for the sake of the Gospel to build up immunity to the grumpy virus. Joe Aldrich, our pastor when we lived in Southern California many years ago, wrote these words.  “The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians–when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.”

What a surprise that the owner’s manual recognized the contagious nature of emotions. The word joy appears in the NIV translation of the Bible over 200 times and joyful another 16 times. Quite a surprise for a world that has come to believe (because of us) the words of writer H. L. Mencken when he defined Evangelical Christianity as the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. How did we as followers of Christ get that reputation? We didn’t learn it from our Father in Heaven. Just a sampling of verses on joy and being joyful would be good medicine when the first symptoms of grumpiness appear.

But may the righteous be glad
       and rejoice before God;
       may they be happy and joyful.   Psalm 68

yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  Habakkuk 3:18

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.   1 Thessalonians 5:16

Eric Adler finished his piece with this bit of encouragement. “Spirit-sapping Negative Nellies are powerful, yes. But research out of Stanford University and elsewhere also suggests that the moods of people who feel their emotions intensely — whatever they may be — are also highly contagious.”

We are all contagious – good or bad. Why not make a choice today to spread the virus of cheer. I saw a church sign that said it pretty well.

If you have the joy of the Lord in your heart be sure to tell your face.

Amen.

I am willing to confess that my life does not always demonstrate intellectual depth. Before a recent baseball telecast my fellow production crew mates and I engaged in a spirited debate over how many vegetables should be included in the vegetable medley for it to truly be a medley. The consensus was that at least four veggies could qualify but that was borderline. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary was not all that helpful as they defined medley as a “diverse assortment or mixture”. Perhaps they had a heated debate as well around the old lunchroom before deciding on their elusive and safe definition of medley. So as I proceed into today’s musing medley I only promise a diverse mixture. I hope there are no blog versions of lima beans in this mix for you.

• Dallas becomes butt of national jokes by trying to cover butts

The Dallas Morning News has been covering what appears to be a serious debate over banning men from wearing their pants too low. That’s right ladies and gentlemen…things are so good in Big D that we can now focus on what is apparently one of our biggest problems. Saggin’. Seriously, can there be a bigger problem facing Dallas? For those not as hip as me the definition of sag in the Urban Dictionary is to wear one’s trousers lower than the intended waist line, hence the back of the trousers “sag”.  

Dallas school trustee Ron Price recommended the ban at Wednesday’s council meeting, following through on a plan he announced Tuesday. Mr. Price wants the city to create an ordinance to allow police to cite people who wear their pants too low. “Too low,” he said, allows too much underwear to show. “We have a problem in our city,” Mr. Price said. He ran a slogan by the council that he’s given to the initiative: “Pull it up, or pay up.”

Shouldn’t that be pull “them” up? The other pronoun seems dangerously ambiguous.

Council member Bill Blaydes said some people simply allow too much sag. “It’s … very fast approaching lewdness, and there are laws against it,” Mr. Blaydes said. “To ignore it any further, I think, is going to be a problem throughout this city.” But not all council members agreed. “I agree with Ron Price that it’s disconcerting,” Ed Oakley said after the meeting. “But how do you legislate that? How do you have a dress code on a public street? I don’t know if you can without crossing the line on freedom of expression.”

My take on this? If we can expand the jurisdiction of the clothing police I might be on board. For example, why should young men be ticketed for “saggin” when old guys are free to go “pittin” (pulling their pants up to the armpits)? How about some of the egregious Spandex violations by both sexes? In an earlier post I mentioned that men in tank tops should be outlawed…especially if you look like Fozzie Bear.

How about old people trying to look young and young people trying to look old? I think we should outlaw both when the fashion police hit the streets. Fashion enforcement would seem like a good idea until I get arrested for wearing my holy (actual holes, not religious) Cleveland Browns t-shirt in public.

To solve this drooping drawers problem I have dipped into my nearly 3 decades of parental experience. I am convinced we can stop saggin’ without any legislation or police involvement. If we, the middle-aged and saggy, agree to start wearing our pants to reveal our ancient boxers and briefs then the young men will hitch up their pants immediately. Nothing makes cool disappear quicker than the uncool joining in. So let’s do our part to stop this trend. The movie “Oh Brother, Where art Thou?” featured the Soggy Bottom Boys. Now we can reverse a disturbing trend by forming a defiant group of aging saggers…the Saggy Bottom Boys. You go first.

• A tragedy on so many levels

The Dallas Morning News also reported the sentencing phase of the trial of Pastor Terry Hornbuckle. This is a devastatingly sad story.

Pastor Terry Hornbuckle’s gospel of prosperity finally took away both his ministry and his freedom, state District Judge Scott Wisch said Monday.  After the pastor was sentenced by a Tarrant County jury to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting three women, Judge Wisch said the pastor’s fall from grace shows the danger of abandoning Christian self-sacrifice for self-gratification.

“You manipulated … [religion] for the worst possible purpose,” he said.

Mr. Hornbuckle’s Agape Christian Fellowship church was known for its emphasis on financial success, and he bragged about his celebrity friends and influential contacts. Eventually, that turned into drug use, womanizing and rape.

My heart aches for the victims of this man’s sin, for his family, for his church, and for those who were wounded by him. And my heart aches for him. He had a chance to do Kingdom work but instead he did damage. What a tragedy. I visited the church website and looked at Mr.Hornbuckle’s three beautiful children and I thought about the impact on them. The wages of sin are so ugly. There are no winners in this story. The victims face a difficult journey to healing. The sad consequences of sin should make all of us shudder.

Oddly the statement from a district judge sums it up quite well. We all tempt a fall from grace when we forget that this journey is about self-sacrifice for Jesus and not self-gratification. Pray for all involved in this sad story.

• Me thinks thou dost protest poorly

One of my biggest blogging frustrations is the person who does not read the context of a statement and especially those who lack the humor gene. I think both may have entered into a little exchange in the Religion section of the Dallas Morning News recently. The notes column ran a piece about Jessica Simpson doing a version of “Amazing Grace” at a club in Los Angeles. Here is an excerpt from the article.

You wouldn’t know it to watch her bump and grind on MTV, but Richardson’s own Jessica Simpson is the daughter of a former Baptist minister.

The preternaturally platinum singer may have been returning to her roots last week when, at a Los Angeles dance club, she gave an impromptu performance of three songs from her soon-to-be-released CD, capped by an a cappella rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Her appearance was captured by at least one amateur videographer. Normally, we’re happy to tell our readers how to find such things on the Web, but in this case, our love of that old hymn simply won’t allow it.

Not everything can be forgiven.

I read that and chuckled at the obviously tongue in cheek comment about forgiveness set up by the previous sentence. I found the video at YouTube.com and I understand why the writers love of that wonderful hymn kept him from linking the performance. The writers comment about not everything can be forgiven was clearly a joke. Cue up the angry letter writers. I will not use their names because the point is not to embarrass them personally but to make a larger point.

The level of spiritual immaturity and mean-spiritedness exhibited by whoever wrote the item demeaning Jessica Simpson is lamentable. I would hasten to assure Ms. Simpson that not everyone who bears the name and sign of Jesus is quite so priggish and self-righteous. Jessica Simpson is welcome to come and worship with us on any Sunday. We would be glad to join right in with her in singing “Amazing Grace”!   From a pastor in East Texas

Never begin a letter to dispute someone’s viewpoint by questioning their spiritual maturity. I often get letters from people that start out with “I don’t know how someone who calls themselves a Christian can say that (whatever). It is very difficult to answer that person with a gentle spirit. But I try. Feel free to gracefully disagree. I am not interested in your evaluation of my spiritual condition. And I read the same article and didn’t get a whiff of mean-spiritedness. Would you welcome Roseanne Barr to sing the National Anthem in your church? The comparison is pretty close in the presentation. And as for welcoming Jessica to sing at the church…you may want to require a choir robe. I must commend the outstanding use of “priggish“ in a sentence. Nicely done!

Next letter please…

The exercise of your editorial rights in the last sentence – “Not everything can be forgiven” – must have been done without research or thought. The Bible states in many places that God will forgive. Without forgiveness, there is no hope. And without hope, there is no future. Please remember that we are living in trying times, and people are searching for forgiveness. 
From Tom writing from my own town

A lovely statement but that is not the point of the article. The writer was simply saying that she carved up Amazing Grace. I am sure the religion writer knew that theologically everything can be forgiven (except blasphemy of the Holy Spirit for the spiritual hall monitors). It was a tongue in cheek comment on how badly she butchered this wonderful hymn. I seriously doubt that anyone lost hope over this smart aleck comment.

Others wrote in to argue that Jessica could be forgiven. Great point if that was what the article had actually said. Here are my pointers for effective communication when you disagree with a blogger/writer.

1. Do not start out by insulting or questioning the writer’s salvation. It is possible to disagree on an issue and both of us are genuinely trying to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
   
2. Do not use ALL-CAPS to emphasize certain words. This is rude and you are insuating that the recipient is too STUPID to pick up key words unless you HIGHLIGHT them. If you believe the person you are writing to is that stupid…why bother? He or she will be too stupid to understand your excellent point.
   
3. Thoroughly read the entire article and context. I often make a statement early that I later demonstrate to be not true or not what I believe. But the spiritual hall monitors read something, smoke begins to emanate from their nostrils, and the next thing I know I have an email assigning my eternal destiny.
   
4. Be courteous. I may very well be wrong. I often am. A gentle rebuke may help me in my ministry and walk with Jesus. Calling me a false prophet who will burn in hell will generally not lead to careful consideration of your arguement.
   
5. Read other material from the author. You may disagree with me on one issue but realize we agree on many others. Then you can simply pray for my misguided views on the one I disagree with you.

I chuckled when I got this guestbook post from Keith a few days ago.

 I agree with some of your statements, and am not sure about others. I will keep with your site until I decide it no longer instructs me or makes me think.

I am not sure about some of my own statements Keith so we are kindred spirits there. I hope you find enough here to stick around for awhile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans. That quote came to us from John Lennon. Tragically he learned that death also happens to you when you are making other plans. One mad gun man ended the life of the gifted musician. Today I learned of the death of a colleaque and friend in the television business. The truth of James is rocking my world today. “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (NASB) May I challenge you today to consider those words?

Jay Stinnett was a very talented camera operator. We have shared many laughs and covered a lot of bad baseball together over the years. He lived in Milwaukee and he often worked games with me at Comiskey Park in Chicago and County Stadium in Milwaukee. Both of those stadiums are gone and now my friend Jay is gone too after a tragic accident late last week. Unlike the song, not all rainy days and Mondays get me down. But this one does.

How do you reconcile the death of a 48 year man who loved his family and his friends? I have been knee deep in the mortality of my fellow human beings recently. My dear friend Trisha died in early January. Another television associate died unexpectedly in February. And now Jay Stinnett will no longer be lighting up dreary baseball games with his smile. That is what I remember most about Jay. That wonderful smile. And he was a pretty darn good camera operator as well. But we rarely talked about camera coverage and production. We talked about family and kids and life. And now he is gone. I had no idea that when I saw him a few weeks ago at Ameriquest Field in Arlington that I would not see him again on this earth.

Yesterday 50 souls boarded a plane for a routine flight to Atlanta. Forty-nine will never have a chance to see loved ones again. Even in the midst of Joni’s cancer journey I still take so much for granted. What does the tenuous nature of life mean to me? When we face the reality of our mortality how then should we live? I am trying by faith to live like Paul and Peter and John and the rest of the early followers of Christ. With an air of expectancy that tomorrow (or the rest of today) is not guaranteed. To live with a sense of priority and passion about what really matters. Do you have someone that you want to tell that you love them? Tell them now. Is there a relationship that needs repairing? Repair it now. Someone that you know you have to forgive? Please forgive them now by faith and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Still angry with a parent or sibling? Deal with it now. Have you slipped away from God for some reason? Come back now. And if you don’t know Jesus please ask Him to be real in your life.

What if I told you that you have exactly one week to live? Write down what you would do and what you would say in those precious seven days. And then start doing those things now. I know that not every recipient of such communications are receptive or even civil. But at the end of the day we are accountable before a Holy God only for our actions. They are accountable for theirs. Do the right thing and trust the rest to Jesus. In the time frame of eternity all of us will be going home very soon.

Part of the great comfort I felt when my Father died two years ago was knowing that everything that I wanted to say to him had been said. I believe that if something happened to me before I get to write another word that my sons would have that same peace. They know they are loved by me and I know I am loved by them. They know how proud I am of them as men and as followers of Jesus.

I wish you health and blessings. But my fervent prayer is that you will examine your readiness to peacefully leave this planet. I pray you will have the courage to say what you want to say and need to say. Make peace with those you feel a lack of peace with in your soul. What a wonderful way to prepare to meet your Savior face to face. Paul’s words to the church at Colosse offer a few thoughts on getting ready.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.   Colossians 3  NIV

Satchel Paige was a great pitcher and a wise man. He said that we should all  “work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching.” How different would our Christian lives be if we could trust God enough to love others like we’ve never been hurt? I wrote a blog earlier this year about what matters in life called The Good Stuff.  Here is an excerpt from that piece.

Every day is a treasure. Every day that you can look into the eyes of those you love is a gift. Jesus knew what the good stuff was all about. He wasn’t a cosmic killjoy trying to keep us from pleasure. Jesus taught us what mattered.

• What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?   Luke 9  NIV

Loving your family. Having friends who will be there when things are rough. Knowing that you and those you love have a relationship with the living God. In the case of my friend Jay…knowing that you were respected, loved, admired, and that you will leave a hole that can never be completely filled. That’s the good stuff. Don’t let the world tell you otherwise.

If you wish to help a memorial fund has been established in Jay’s name and may be made out to:

The Jay Stinnett Memorial Fund
North Shore Bank
2465 Lineville Road, Suite 2
Green Bay WI 543l3

 

I have heard the phrase dog days of summer all of my life. But I never to stopped to research the exact calendar slotting of those days. According to factmonster.com, dog days is the name for the most sultry period of summer, from about July 3 to Aug. 11. Named in early times by observers in countries bordering the Mediterranean, the period was reckoned as extending from 20 days before to 20 days after the conjunction of Sirius (the dog star) and the sun.

So dog days are officially over. However, since it is still over 100 degrees here in Texas, I am declaring at this site that dog days have been extended until further notice. I thought about dog days as I watched Miss Hannah stretch out lazily on the tile floor.

                                             

This is our lab/something else mix Hannah and this is not a posed photo. At any given time around our household Hannah will come waltzing up with the three tennis balls in her big mouth, download them one by one onto your lap, and wait patiently for playtime.

Regular readers of these ramblings know that I love dogs. One of my most popular articles took a rather fanciful look at how “man’s best friend” could teach Christians a lot about evangelism. I was heartened and bit surprised at the level of response to that article (Canine School of Evangelism). Apparently there are a lot of dog lovers embedded into the Evangelical community and that gives me hope for the church!

I have learned a lot from living and loving our family dogs. But the star canine of my two books was the late, great Charlie. Our beloved Golden Retriever died last year at the ripe old canine age of 14. Here Hannah snuggles up next to Charlie.

                                                    

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about feeling really , really old.  In that blog I wrote about the depressing news that Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie) was 72! I remembered how Jeannie always called Major Nelson “master” in that show. And it brought to mind an earlier post of one of the most important lessons I learned from old Charlie. This excerpt from“Bring’em Back Alive” documents an experience I had with our senior dog citizen. Charlie’s reaction to me in this story gave me a little hint of how our relationship with the Good Shepherd Jesus should work. 

The lesson I learned from my Golden Retriever came when Charlie suffered a health crisis. He developed a large benign tumor under his front leg that made walking difficult. We took him in for what would be a rather serious surgery at the ripe old canine age of twelve. The vet did a masterful job in removing the growth and taking care of Charlie. We were called to the animal hospital to pick up the old guy. We waited as they brought him out. He shuffled slowly out and I was taken aback by his appearance. Charlie was trembling, frightened and appeared to be in some pain. His head was down and his perpetual motion tail was strangely still. He seemed confused and disoriented. Then I walked over to Charlie and simply touched him. Almost immediately he quit trembling and he made a valiant attempt to wag his tail. We carefully got him into the car and took Charlie home to heal.

As I reflected on that scene it struck me that Charlie’s reaction to my touch and mere presence was a wonderful illustration of how Jesus comforts (or desires to comfort) His sheep. When I (his master) touched Charlie he was comforted. His pain was not gone. He was still frightened. He was still a bit disoriented and unsure. Charlie’s circumstances hadn’t really changed at all. But he knew that his master was there and that made it better. What a picture that is of how the touch of Jesus enables us to respond when we are frightened, in pain, disoriented and confused. We need to remind ourselves that Jesus never promised that all trouble would vanish when we believe in Him. Jesus did promise that He would be there and that would be enough. But the tough question arises…do we truly believe that?

My prayer for myself and for you today is that we will seek, realize, and be comforted by the touch of the Master. As I learned with Charlie, it doesn’t really matter what the circumstance might be, it is the knowledge that the Master is there that makes all the difference.

I got to use that lesson just over 30 days later when Joni was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suddenly Paul’s honest pleadings written to the church at Corinth took on new meaning when God said to him;

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

When the trial comes, be still, and feel the touch of the Master. It is there. And it is real.