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. 

CODE OF ETHICS?

             A news article reports that the National Association of Evangelicals has issued a code of ethical behavior for pastors. When I read this my first thought was “Duh…!  Isn’t the Bible pretty clear how a Christian should act, much more so a pastor.”  After all, Paul wrote to the young Timothy, “A bishop (pastor) then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous…” (1 Timothy 3:2-3)

            News stories from time to time report on clergy who have defrauded their congregations financially, engaged in illicit sexual relationships, or have broken the trust of others in a multitude of ways. But I question if signing a code of conduct will really mean much to a person who is not willing to abide by the scriptural code of conduct.

            Evidently some pastors are like some other Christians who feel their special circumstances exempt them from one or more of the Bibles injunctions.  I have counseled with some who have used this argument with me. Under their circumstances, they did nothing wrong.

            Anyway, I applaud any effort to get pastors to behave.  In the article it was reported that the NAE is now working on a code of conduct for churches. Wow!  I’ll be interested in knowing what areas they address. I could give them a bushel full.

Grace and peace.  

OLYMPICS

            As of this past week the summer Olynpics are gone once again for four years.  I watched the highlights on the news reports, but not much of the actual competitions. But not only the games and competitions were covered. The stories of many of the athletes were highlighted. Some overcame great odds to become Olympians. Also highlighted was the extreme training some of the athletes endured to get into their best physical shape for the competition. I’ve never been an athlete, and never endured athletic level training.  But my brush with training was in physical education in high school.  So I know what it is like to exercise until you think you are going to drop. I know what it is to have muscles so sore that you can hardly move. Therefore, as I watched the potential Olympians going through their training, I had great sympathy for them along with great admiration for their willingness to undertake it.

            As I watched them, I was reminded of Paul’s words to the Corinthians. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”  (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

            Christians often think that the race is over, we already have the prize, i.e. new life in Christ.  But we must still present ourselves to our coach and judge. We need to “run in such a way as to get the prize.”  That prize will be the commendation of Christ, “well done good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)

Grace and peace.  

COMPUTERS

             I was dragged kicking and screaming into the computer age in the early l990’s when the church staff in Pensacola took away my typewriter and put a computer on my desk.  In order to work with the office staff and prepare my columns and other materials, I was forced to use MS DOS, the operating system for the computer.  A few years later the church went to Windows and I had to learn it.  Then the church logged on to the internet, and again I faced a learning curve.  When I moved my major office to my residence, I took my computer with me and subscribed to an internet service to enable me to still participate with the office staff.

            My children and grandchildren carry a computer in their pockets, their iPhones.  They browse the internet wherever they are, send and receive email, text messages and I don’t know what all else.  The advancement of computers and the internet over just two decades is truly amazing.

            I am still behind the curve.  But last weekend, during the sales tax free holiday, I invested in a lap top computer.  It is on the lower end of the cost and power spectrum, but is equal to or greater than the three year old computer on my desk. I’m still working on understanding everything about it, but I’m getting there.

            The computer age has been revolutionary for everyone, including preachers.  I can hardly prepare a sermon now without the internet. The internet has a plethora of Bible dictionaries, concordances, commentaries and other Bible helps, all available with a couple of clicks of the mouse.  Of course I could always go back to the old books again, but what a drag.  Also, with search engines you can find information you need on any subject, information which is more up to date than any printed encyclopedia.

            Considering what man has accomplished, there is no room to doubt all the many things that God has made or accomplished.  “Many, O Lord, are Your wonderful works which You have done.”  (Psalm 40:5)

Grace and peace. 

THE MONKEY TRIAL

             July 21, 1925, 87 years ago, the Scopes Trial, commonly referred to as the “Scopes Monkey Trial,” in Tennessee ended with John Scopes being convicted of teaching evolution in a public school against a Tennessee law forbidding it.  This debate has not gone away.  The advance of science continues to challenge those who believe in a “Young Earth” creation, that God created the earth in six twenty four hour days within the last 10,000 years.  The current edition of Christianity Today, marking the anniversary of the Scopes trial, contains an article about two contemporary scientists, one who advocates a young earth and the other who advocates an older earth which came into being through evolution.

            The bottom line is that both are committed Christians.  Both believe that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  Both agree that someone who holds the opposite view of the length of creation is still a true believer.  Both agree that there are a lot of questions that still have no answer.  And both agree God is the reason the universe is here, and the reason you and I are here.  And, although they do not mention it in the article, I am certain that both agree that God will redeem this universe and you and I.

            In this debate I fall on the side of an old earth.  As one of my seminary professors said, “God didn’t make fossils to fool us.”  The earth has been around a long, long time.  On the other hand, I am not convinced of the evolution of species.  Although the DNA of chimps and humans is virtually the same, I am not convinced that one evolved from the other.     

            Of course, I am not a scientist and would not pretend to know all the answers (as some of my friends claim to know).  I am content to know and believe that “God created man in His own image” (Genesis 1:27) no matter how He did it. And He has created me anew into His image through Jesus Christ."Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation."  

(2 Corinthians 15:7)

           

Grace and peace.  

BE CAUTIOUS IN THE HEAT

             During the last few weeks a heat wave gripped most of the country.  Great effort was made to help people, particularly the elderly, cope with the temperatures.  Cooling stations were opened, water was distributed and many organizations sponsored drives to provide widow air conditioning units or fans for those who needed them.  Yet, with all these efforts, almost one hundred persons are reported to have died from the heat.

            This situation can sneak up on someone.  The first heat related death where I knew the victim personally was a tennis playing mate in Pensacola.  He was a retired military man in his sixties.  Like many of the retired military in the area he owned a boat.  One day he was at the dock working on the boat, a day that was not unusually hot for the season but sunny and hot out in the sun.  He collapsed and was rushed to the hospital with a heat stroke.  He never regained consciousness and lived only a couple of days.  The lesson to me and others was to be aware of the danger of heat and take precautions for it.

            Having played tennis with him and talking of religious matters as a group on occasion, I was aware that he was not a church attendee and wondered about his relationship with God.  Attending his memorial service I perceived that his wife and family were not church oriented.  I regretted not taking time on the court to discuss with him his personal relationship with God.

            This lends another lesson.  Take opportunity to talk with others in every setting about their relationship with God. 

            Also be sure of your own salvation.  Death often comes suddenly and in a multitude of ways.  “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14)

             You and I need to be ready.         

           

Grace and peace.