Like a Good Neighbor...

“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:29)

This is the famous story of the “Good Samaritan” about a man who cared for a total stranger who had fallen among thieves and been left for dead. It has great lessons about caring for our fellow man, whether it benefits us or not, and even if we are inconvenienced. In our society, most of us don’t even know our neighbors. It is a shame to live next door to someone and never actually meet them or know their names, but you cannot compare today’s world to several generations ago. Many of us drive 20 miles to work every day. The “community” in my youth consisted of the households within walking distance of our house. A person’s “community” today spans the globe, and his “neighbors” can live hundreds of miles away. The point of the story is to help people out when the opportunity presents itself and you have the means to do so.

I say all of that because it is a blessing when you get the benefits of a neighbor who is also a real neighbor. We bought a house in Shawnee 17 years ago this month. Our next door neighbors to the south, Carl and Donna Phillips, immediately made themselves friendly to us. We couldn’t have asked for better neighbors. Our son Jeff was 9 years old at the time. There were a couple of other kids in the neighborhood his age, but he really didn’t have “neighborhood” friends. Instead, he made friends with Carl and Donna, who are a generation older than his parents. He hung out at their place often, and they loved it. Sometimes we would look up and ask, “Where’s Jeff?” Carl and Donna had a wooden ginger bread boy that they would put in the window when Jeff was over there, and all we had to do was look at that window, and sure enough, Jeff would be at their house. He drew them a “map” to his “fort” in our back yard. They still have that map 17 years later. We have shared a raspberry patch between our houses for years. Whenever we are both out in the yard at the same time, we stop for a while and stand at the fence at chat about life and stuff, just like they did in Mayberry. Carl has some great stories. He was one of the very first soldiers to enter the Dachau concentration camp at the end of WWII. Carl and two of his fellow soldiers were the first three men to step foot on the property that had been abandoned by the Nazi troops as Germany fell. He saw firsthand the suffering and plight of those who lived in that hell on earth. Carl retired a while back from Merriam Sign Co., a local sign business he owned for many years. Even after that, he would still make signs for people, and you would see him out in the back yard many nights sanding and painting. He made a couple of signs for our church and refused to take money for them. He screen printed 200 cloth children’s “backpacks” for one of our missions trips to Belize, and again would not hear of being paid for it. He was happy to be able to participate in the work of bringing the light of Jesus to others. Carl and Donna are faithful believers in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we often share the bond of life in Christ that God gives to those who have placed their faith in the risen Saviour. When we talk about “life and stuff”, it often includes real life; the eternal kind in Christ Jesus. They have their own home church, but the last year or so they have come to our Wednesday night Bible studies to fellowship with the great folks of Crest Bible Church and learn more about our Lord. It took less than a nano-second for the gracious loving personalities of Carl and Donna to endear them to the people of our church. A kinder and more “classy” gentleman and lady I have never met.

Early Thursday morning, September 15, 2011, Carl Phillips went home to enter into the joy of his Lord and Saviour. Working around paint and chemicals all his life finally took its toll, and lung cancer ended the life of this dear man at age 88. His obituary was in the paper, but other than friends and family, no one will notice. Men like Carl Phillips are the true definition of “salt of the earth”. You will be greatly missed, my friend, but it will only be temporary. I hope our mansions in heaven are next to each other so we can pick raspberries and stand at the fence and praise our Lord. Someday soon, we will join together around the throne of God to praise him forever.

The Final End of Social Media

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (I Corinthians 13:12)

Once again, I am going to spout off about technology, while I am using it to write this blog. We all have fallen in love with social media like Facebook and LinkedIn, and texting is all the rage. At last count, I have 321 friends on Facebook, and this blog is posted there, so I guess it is a good way to stay in touch with a lot of people at one time. But I just prefer the personal contact more than the mass media method. It amazes me how people can be sitting right next to each other and sending texts. I am not even a big fan of chatting it up on the telephone. I have so many irons in the fire and studies and “projects” going on at the same time that my mind tends to wander unless I am sitting face to face with the subject at hand. Of course, there is no telling what is going on between my ears. It races 190 miles per hour nonstop whether I want it to or not. They say you can sometimes ask a man, “What are you thinking about?” and he will say, “Oh, nothing” and he will actually be right. The only time I ever can honestly respond that way is when there is so much running around up there that I can’t sort it out enough to tell you.

Social media is a good thing because it keeps up connected to friends and family on a much larger scale than we could ever do without it. But it also has a downside. We get so enthralled with our “one eyed square headed friend” that social media often produces the exact opposite and actually makes people anti-social. Many people in the technology generation have gotten to the point where their entire lives are lived in a dark and dank basement sitting in their jammies staring at a computer screen, either with endless video games or in cyber relationships. What is presented on those sites is almost never what is real. People can make themselves to be anything they want in cyberspace, and by the time it gets verified, it is often too late.

Our relationship with the Lord is somewhat like that now. As the passage above says, right now, we see through a glass darkly. We have the truth of the word of God to tell us about our Lord, but we are confined to our tangible world and cannot see him. It is almost like we are stuck in the basement, viewing our relationship with our Lord through the lens of a “text message” called the Bible. Not only that, we feel as if we are often “standing in line” with thousands upon millions of others trying to get in to the throne of grace. I have 321 friends on Facebook. Imagine how many Jesus would have! John 15:13 says he laid down his life for his friends. Revelation 5:11 numbers the church age saints at “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” and many passages describe it as a multitude no man can number. If he tried to set up Facebook with that many friends, it would blow the system.

But the verse above continues with the truth that someday I will see him “face to face”. WOW! The notion of getting one-on-one “face time” with the God of the Universe is staggering, but then to think that it will be eternal and individual for each of us is even more impressive. What Jesus presents to us in his word is real. His “Facebook profile” contains 66 books that tell us all we could ever want to know about him. Yet we still can only scratch the surface. Revelation 22:4 says someday I will “see his face”. I John 3 says we will “see him as he is.” Unlike cyber profiles we have today that are “fluffed and puffed” with all sorts of untruth, God’s word tells us exactly like it is. In fact, when we finally do see him, the reality will so far exceed our finite understanding that we will fall on our face before him. I can’t wait!

Spend face time with those you love. Use technology as much as you can; it is a great tool even though I spit about it all the time. But always remember that one day very soon, our Lord will return, and our personal relationship with him will find its ultimate fulfillment.

Change of Seasons

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:1-3)

This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. Of course, those who know me well know what an odd statement that is. ALL of the Bible is my favorite. Someone once asked me what my favorite cookie is. The answer: whichever one is on front of me at the time. There is no such thing as a bad cookie. If I am eating a cookie, it is my favorite. It is the same with the Bible. The list of genealogies in I Chronicles is my favorite passage when I am reading it. Exodus 16:36 says, “Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.” Isn’t that awesome? That’s my favorite verse in the Bible right now (because I just read it). But truly, Psalm 1:1-3 stands out as a great challenge and blessing to those who walk with Christ and not with the world.

This time of the year, the seasons begin to change. We see the days getting shorter and the sun is not scorching us with 100 degree heat. We are approaching harvest time for the farmers, and the NFL season begins Thursday night. Living in this part of the country enables us to experience all the seasons of the year, and although we curse the heat and the snow, there is a benefit and an object lesson to each. Probably the most important lesson is to realize that seasons come and go. Each one has its own unique challenges and blessings, and fruit is borne in any season of life.

The passage above says that a man who walks with the Lord, “bringeth forth fruit in his season.” God has given each of us the privilege and the responsibility to do something for him that will yield a crop of eternal fruit. We have a “season” to accomplish that. In the larger context, that season is our life. From the womb to the tomb, we get one shot to serve our Creator and put down a footprint on this earth for him. Then within that larger season, our lives get broken down into segments. When we are young, it is like the spring. Everything is fresh and new. The idealism and enthusiasm of youth is refreshing. They have all the energy in the world, but not always a lot of wisdom. Then summer comes. It is the time when the fruit grows the most because there is no chance of a freeze that can kill the entire crop. This would be like the “young adult” time of our lives from about 25-40, when we are at the peak of our physical and mental health. People in this stage have lived long enough to have figured a few things out, and they are still plenty strong enough to do something about it. Then the fall begins to approach. The colors change. Your hair starts to turn a different color. This is harvest time in the natural world, when the bumper crop comes in. People in this stage of life have the best chance at peak production. They have experienced a full “cycle of life”. They have raised children and are working on the next round of grandchildren. They have the wisdom of life, yet they are still young enough that their walker does not get in the way of their ministry. Finally, there is winter. The real wisdom of age of the elderly is still an abundant source of rich blessings if used wisely for God.

But most Christians never take their seasons of fruit bearing seriously. They will “get around to it” someday, but that day never comes. As Jesus said, the cares of this life enter in and choke the word, and the man becomes unfruitful (Matthew 13:22). Proverbs 20:4 says, “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.” Harvest time in our lives is the Judgment Seat of Christ. That is where we will reap our rewards and bring in our crop. If you refuse to plow now because of the “cold” world you live in, you will have nothing then. Get in the game. Put your hand to the plow and serve your Lord. The fruit is sweet now, and the rewards will be worth it when we stand before him.

Fire Safety Week

“But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Luke 12:5)

We are literally inches from the finish line on our Day Care start-up project. I guess it really isn’t the “finish line” though, because once we get all of our approvals in place, we actually start, and the hard work begins. We had an even larger start-up project a year ago in getting in to the new building, but this one has had its own unique challenges. With both projects, by far and away the largest expense and biggest headaches have been in the area of fire safety for the building. The school was originally built in 1947 and added on to a couple of times, with the final addition in 1965. Those were different days. You could build just about anything you wanted and no one cared much, even when housing several hundred children every day. But the new codes have required us to add the latest in fire protection equipment. All of the other renovations and updates we have made combined add up to the expense of fire safety issues. We have spent enough money to purchase a small country on sprinklers, exit and emergency lighting, smoke detectors, emergency exits, fire alarm systems, fire extinguishers, duct dampers, and God only knows what else so that in case of fire, people can safely exit the building. Never mind that it is made of brick and concrete. Let’s not argue the issue of fire safety. First, it is the law, and we are happy to do as the Bible says and, “submit to every ordinance of man” (I Peter 2:13). Second, in the event we ever do have a fire, we will profusely thank God and the fire regulators for requiring these things rather than suffer the tragedy of lost lives.

I have always been amazed at how man spends so much time, money, and energy worrying about things like burning buildings, but so little on a larger and more destructive fire – hell. I know that word and topic is scoffed at these days. But Jesus spoke of hell more than any other person in the Bible. He never one time referred to it as figurative or symbolic. Every time he mentioned hell, he spoke of a literal eternal fire that would punish the lost for eternity and never go out. Three times at the end of Mark chapter 9 he said hell was a place, “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” When he spoke of the rich man in hell in Luke chapter 16, he said he was tormented in the flames. Those who do not believe the Bible think that “hell fire and damnation” preachers like myself are fresh out of the loony bin, and that we get some sort of sick twisted pleasure in talking about hell. Quite to the contrary. I have friends and family that are probably there right now, and many more friends and family headed there. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I speak about it because it is real. I care enough about people to warn them of it.

You have insurance for every possible calamity of life. Why not soul insurance? After all, that is the most important possession you have. You have homeowners insurance, but do you have a home in heaven? You have health insurance, but what about your spiritual health? You have car insurance, but do you have a clue in the world where you are going? You have life insurance, but what about eternal life? You might even be one of the more exotic insurance customers and have long term care insurance, but what about insuring the only thing that will last forever: your soul? People in our society have every contingency covered except the one that matters the most. The lost are rolling the dice; counting on their goodness or their religion to insure them against an eternal hell. Neither of those things can assure you. How can you ever know when you have done enough good? Jesus has the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1:18). He picked them up when he came out of the grave, and he can unlock your fears if you will simply trust him.

To borrow the old line from Smokey the Bear – Only you can prevent the ultimate tragedy of eternal fire – not by how good you are, but by securing the only insurance there is against hell, a personal faith in the risen Saviour, Jesus Christ.