SUPERSTITIONS

            Over Halloween a T.V. segment reported that 52% of the U.S. population is superstitious. These are people who will not walk under a ladder, who will not sit on seat 13 or row 13, who avoid black cats, who knock on wood to drive away evil spirits, etc. etc. . There was a time, however, when I was among them. I wouldn’t have admitted to it, but I avoided walking under ladders, stepping on a sidewalk crack, etc. After all, why take a chance?

            Searching online reveals dozens and dozens of superstitions.  Some are familiar (i.e. lucky four leaf clovers, lucky horseshoes, lucky rabbits feet, some of spilled salt tossed over the left shoulder to avoid bad luck, breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck). I was reminded of the old one that it was unlucky to light three cigarettes on one match.

            But, many years ago, when I began to examine such things in view of what I claimed to believe, I saw that such superstitions are a denial of faith. In Proverbs 3:5-6 we are told to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path.” Our days and each moment are in the hands of God, not subject to luck, spirits, or superstition.

            Now I walk under ladders without a second thought. I don’t have any prejudice against black cats and consider the number 13 as no different as any other number. When something good happens I praise the Lord. When something bad happens, I turn to the Lord for help and understanding. I seek to trust Him with every event, with every moment.

            Living this way gives one confidence and peace of mind. So let us trust in the Lord with all our heart. 

Grace and peace. 

CHANGING TIME(S)

             Remember to set your clocks back Saturday night. Otherwise you will be at Church an hour before everyone else. Daylight Savings Time is fairly well accepted now. But some still complain about changing times.

            A lot of people in my age bracket would like to change the times more drastically and go back to the 1950’s. For us that was a golden age. After World War Two people were prospering, buying homes and automobiles, going on vacations and sending their children to college. Rock and roll ruled musically, and T.V. shows were family oriented like “Father Knows Best” and “Ozzie and Harriet.”

            The emergence of the flower children and hippies in the 1960’s challenged the morals and lifestyles of our youth. Vietnam anti-war demonstrations and the civil rights movement further changed things.

            But, honestly, would we really want to go back to the 1950’s? For much of our population those were not a golden age. Instead, they were days of poverty and struggle. Besides, think of all the advances which have been made in 60 years. Because of medical advances I, and many more like me, am still alive. Medical discoveries, advances in care and changes in lifestyles have advanced the average lifespan by almost 20 years. Also, in spite of the current economic downturn, a greater percentage of the population has been able to achieve the “American Dream.”

            True, 2012 has some drawbacks and problems, but this is our time. Paul exhorts us “See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time…” (Ephesians 5:15-16)

 

Grace and peace. 

HEART CHECK

            This week I had my quarterly heart check. Actually it isn’t a heart check, it’s a pacemaker check. It’s amazing to me how they can check the thing over the telephone. And I am grateful to benefit from one of the miracles of modern medicine, an implantable battery device with wires into the heart sending impulses to keep the heart beating sufficiently fast to maintain activity.  I’ve depended on it for four and a half years now. It is predicted to have another ten years of battery life before it needs to be replaced. (I hope to have that many years and more left.)

            But all of us do have heart checks, not every quarter, but every day, every moment of the day. The Holy Spirit keeps a constant monitor on the heart of every living person on this earth. He measures, not beats per minute or physical strength, but the spirit contained therein. We can conceal impure, hateful, selfish or other shameful thoughts from other people. No one can really know what we think. They cannot know the condition of our spirit. But we need to be constantly aware that we cannot hide these things from our God.

            King David cautions his son and heir to the kingdom, Solomon, “know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts.” (1 Chronicles 28:9) Now that’s good advice for all of us. Indeed, we should do our own heart check each day or moment by moment.

 

Grace and peace. 

BRIEF REPORT

              So many have asked us about our trip to Alaska I need to share a little. Our biggest impression was the size of the state. It is difficult to imagine its vastness.  It is two and a half times the size of Texas. Denali National Park by itself is as large as the state of Vermont.  One road is built into the park and we toured only a fraction of it. Alaska has as many mountains as the rest of the other 49 states combined and over a thousand sizable lakes, so many that some of them are not even named. We saw the inside ocean passage with the glaciers and the railroad and highway between Whittier, Anchorage and Fairbanks. We saw whales, moose, bear and caribou (reindeer). We visited Native Americans and were introduced to their lifestyles, both past and present. Many of them still live off the land as hunters and gatherers. We were on a cruse liner, railroads (both modern and ancient), a small boat for whale watching, a rear wheel river boat, motor coaches (buses) and, of course, numerous airplanes. We saw the Trans Alaska pipeline, and panned for gold. (Together we got a few microscopic flakes of gold which assayed for seventeen dollars).

            Going in mid-September we encountered both fall and winter. In the southernmost area the leaves had turned and were falling. In the northernmost area the deciduous trees were already bare and they were expecting the first major snow the next week. Fairbanks and Denali Park will be snowed in for six months. We were on the road where the TV show about ice road truckers is filmed, but before the snow covered it. We had to wear several layers of sweaters and jackets part of the time.

            Alaska may be bigger but we still choose “Sweet Home Alabama.” And we praise God for all His vast creation. 

Grace and peace. 

GLORIETA BAPTIST CENTER

            One of the places we have loved to visit in our travels is the Glorieta Baptist Conference Center near Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It is a beautiful campus on 2,100 acres with a lake in the middle. It is owned by Lifeway Christian Resources (i.e. the former Sunday School Board) of the Southern Baptist Convention. We’ve been there as a family and have taken youth groups and others there. I never taught in any of the sessions, as I did at the Ridgecrest Center, but we loved our visits there.

            It’s been a couple of decades since we were there, and evidently that is true of a lot of people. In 24 of the last 25 years the center has lost money, draining resources from Lifeway.  As a result, Lifeway decided to get rid of the center, a move that saddened me, but which I certainly understand. First Lifeway sought to sell the conference center for $1 to the Baptist Convention of New Mexico. That body, however, decided the cost of upgrading the facilities and potential environmental liabilities made such an acquisition unattractive.

           Others, like us, hate to see the end of an era, but through Isaiah God says, “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare.” (Isaiah 42:9)  Time moves on. Former successes and glories are past. All need to hear the new things God will declare to us and follow the new paths in which He will lead us.

           There were nibbles by others to buy the property but none of them were able to accomplish it. Then came an offer from Olivet University in San Francisco (which has no connection to Olivet Nazarene in Illinois). The school has both the desire and the money to buy the property. But a problem exists. Many believe this OlivetUniversity is related to a cult like group after the order of the Moonies of the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. Olivet University, is related to Korean pastor David Jang. Jang hasn’t had much publicity. Until this story arose, I personally was not aware of him or his followers. Evidently Jang has a multitude of worldwide organizations related to his ministry. Although he and his followers deny it, Jang is considered by his followers to be the “Second Coming Christ,” the same as followers of Sun Myung Moon in the Unification Church consider him. The theology of the “Second Coming Christ” is that the first coming of Jesus (Christ) was a failure, ending on the cross and that there will be a “Second Coming Christ,” not Jesus, but pastor Jang, who will complete the work that Jesus started.

          I haven’t done a thorough study of this movement, but on the surface it is gross heresy. In his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), Peter declares that “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God….God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” Promised through the prophets and fulfilled in Jesus, God accomplished what He intended to accomplish through His Son. As Jesus declared on the cross,"it is finished."

          Personally, I would hate to see the beautiful campus of Glorieta Baptist Center in the hands of a University related to a group with such a dubious theology. 
 

Gace and peace. 

ALASKA

            For the next two weeks Liz and I will be on vacation in Alaska. We will complete our visits to all fifty states. Since we married we have visited forty nine states. Now one or two of those visits were rather short, but most of the states we have spent some time in for recreation, mission trips or conventions. The only state we haven’t been in is Alaska. Someone asked if this is part of our “bucket list.” No. I don’t think either of us has a bucket list. But I knew that if we were to visit Alaska too, we needed to get it done now, while we can still walk and still know where we are.

            From time to time I see a tag of the United States on an automobile or recreational vehicle with the states they have visited colored in; sort of braggadocios. For me, accomplishing the feat of visiting all fifty states is not a cause to brag, but a cause for which to be thankful. I thank God for the privilege. And as I look back, I stand amazed by God’s grace that allowed us to do so, and on a preacher’s salary.

            We have seen for ourselves what a grand and beautiful land is ours. And I am constantly reminded of all the wonders we have seen. The mouse pad on my desk is a picture of the Grand Canyon brought to me by my grandson returning from a Birmingham Boys Choir trip. Watching news stories from all over the nation, we remember when we were at that very location.

            As wonderful and beautiful as all the states are, Alabama with its mountains and beaches, rivers and lakes, is still our favorite. 

Grace and peace. 

FOOTBALL

             Football is back. For the next four months, millions will be rooting their favorite teams to victory. No doubt about it, I love watching college football on television.

            A couple of million or more will attend a game in person this weekend.  Stadiums accommodate more and more fans. Between Alabama and Auburn and other smaller universities and colleges in our state, on some weekends upwards of two hundred thousand will be in the stadia.

            To purchase season tickets for either of the major universities, one must make a significant contribution to their programs, Tigers Unlimited or Tide Pride. The higher the contribution or the longer one has participated gives one a higher priority seat wise. I know some who give thousands of dollars annually.

            Add to the contributions the cost of season tickets, five or six hundred dollars each, and then add the cost of attending the games themselves, i.e. travel, accommodations and or food, and a couple or family can easily spend ten thousand dollars for a season of football. Some, I am sure, spend well in excess of that.

            I would be curious to know how many spend more on football annually than they give to the Lord’s work. Quite a few I guess in that national surveys indicate the average family gives 3% of its income (less than $2,000 per year) to all charities, including churches.

            Jesus taught, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) Turn that around and it says where your heart is, there is where your treasure will go. Football is certainly not more important than God, but for some it would seem that way.

            “Go Team!” But pass the offering plate first.

Grace and peace.