One Pilgrim's Path

    I attended my mother's funeral last Friday... it was a beautiful service.  It was beautiful because I know Jesus, and so did my mother... and because we both are a part of a family of Christians who love us. 

    Though I wasn't raised in a Christian home, my parents were... and though we didn't go to church... my folks taught me right from wrong.  Mother and dad had fallen away from the teaching of their youth, but it was always there, waiting to be born.  I myself, accepted Christ at 36 years of age... which was largely due to my grandparents teaching that came through my parents... and because of the teaching of faithful bible school teachers in my community, which mother always insisted that we attend as children.  Thank God for that... for those teachings stayed with me, even when I was in rebellion to them.

    One day... it seemed out of nowhere, the Lord began to bring those teachings to mind and I fell under such strong conviction that I could no longer run anymore.  That's when I began my eternal life with God.  My family and my parents were taken aback at this sudden and drastic decision... and the change in my life.  I am one of six siblings, some embraced my decision... and some still have not, but all could clearly see that Jesus had made a change in me,  for the better.

    Mother and dad watched intently, but didn't follow the Lord's lead through me, though my two sisters did.  Why is it that women are so much more  open to the Gospel in our culture?  Well, that's another blog altogether.  I prayed for my parents, I encouraged them to come to church... and they did, every once in a while... but, never a decision... never a profession of faith in Jesus.  One night I even went over and talked for several hours with them, but... for some reason... my words seemed to bounce off... and I didn't see them in church again for several weeks.  

        I was beginning to loose hope...

           Then, one Sunday, there they were, sitting in the sanctuary as I came out of Sunday School.  That day, mom went foreward after the service and accepted Jesus... and dad went foreward the following Sunday... all in God's time I suppose.    Mother was 71 and dad was 81... what a miracle!

        My folks were always good people... they were Godly people... but now they were God's people!  They were so happy to have finally made that decision... they were so happy to be a part of God's family.   They prayed together... read their bible together... and never missed church.  We talked about Jesus... and discussed the bible together.  They kepted going to church as long as they could... then we lost dad when he was 87.  And in only year and a half, just the other day... mother passed.

            1st Thessalonians 4: 13 reminds us that we should not greive as those who have no hope.  I watched some of those' reaction during this time... those who have no hope... and I am sorry for them.  Though I will miss my parents for a time... I celebrate their reunion with each other, and anticipate my reunion with them, sometimes in the future when my time comes to take my flight.  I celebrate the fact that my wife will be with me... and my daughter... in that great and eternal reunion, where there will be no more good-byes.  And I pray for those that I love... and those that I don't know... hoping for them, that they my experience this peace.

         We  should never loose hope... it may be our prayers that keeps those people's hearts soft... soft enough that the  Holy Spirit can do His work.  Someone was praying for me... and I'm so thankful.  There were many praying for my folks... some had been praying for decades... then, in God's time... mom and dad accepted Jesus.

      Romans 15:13 reminds us that God is a God of hope... and that, if we have faith, He will fill us with hope and peace... in the POWER of the Holy Spirt.    Never give up... keep praying... we serve a God of Hope... I have experienced that Hope first hand...

            Amen
 

    Oh my!  I have just returned from a week vacation in Red River, New Mexico, and what a vacation!  I have driven through the mountains before, but this time, we went with some friends from church with some 4-wheelers... and we experienced the mountains up close.  It was wonderful... to be up in the mountains... in the center of God's awsome creation, with the smell of the pines and the Rocky Mountain streams all about... wow!  

    We went up one trail, on the last day of our vacation... this trail led us all the way to the top of a mountain to where there was a comunication tower... it was fantastic!  We had a 360 degree view at probably 11,000'... looking down a Questa and Taos, NM as well as a Molybdenim Mine... I had no choice but to stop and lead our small group of 4 in a prayer of worship and thanksgiving.

    Romans chapter one tells us that we can see God's presence in all of His creation... so that we are without excuse, that even if we haven't any other revelation given... we know that God is there through His creation.  Now, I can see Him even when I am at home in Oklahoma... in the stars... in the trees... in the animals, but... if there is any doubt, just go to the mountains!  I pity those who don't know Jesus... who miss the most wonderful times in this short life, because they don't have a Savior to worship at times like this.

    There is no "big bang", there is no "evolution", there is only God... and if there is any doubt... go to Red River, New Mexico... take a 4-wheeler up into the mountains... if you don't believe in Jesus after that... well, I'm sorry... I think that I'd have to say... you're just not paying attention.

    I watched a very pleasant movie once called "Return to Me."  I would highly recommend it.  In the movie, Carol O'Conner plays an old Italian man, and at one time, his grandaughter asks him how he's doing, to which the old man replies... "I'm very busy... I'm blessed with work."

    Last Tuesday, my company presented me with a "20 years of service" ring.  It's really quite a ring, and I'm very proud of it.  I can hardly imagine it... being at one company for 20 years... I hope for another 20.  Now, I'm not implying that a person should get complacient and fall into a rut... but, God has "blessed me with work", and I see nothing wrong with serving Him as I work.  Though it is true that, many times when folks get a little older like me, they kind of settle in to a place of comfort, but I believe that it is also good for us to recognize it when God is blessing us.

    The Lord has blessed me with a good job ( especially for someone with no more education that what I have ) and He has given me the ability to work and perform my duties.  I look around me, in my work-place... and in our culture in general... and I see more complaining and lack of pride in work than the appreciation of the blessings that we have in this country... the fact that we can go out and make a living... and keep most of what we have worked for.  Many that I work with complain about what we don't get... they bad-mouth our company and our employer... I just don't understand.

    The bible tells me to "work as unto the Lord."  To me, that means that my work is... not only worship... but it reflects upon me as a Christian... and it reflects upon my Lord.  It also tells me that I should take pride in my job everyday... to work to put an honest day's labor in for an honest day's pay... even if no one is watching... and even if no one notices... for it is unto the Lord Jesus Christ... everyday... all day long. 

    I praise the Lord... for "He has blessed me with work," and the health and ability to do it.

    I was reading in God's Word the other day... reading about how He set certain dietary rules for His covenant people Israel.   There were rules that disallowed them from eating the flesh of animals that did not have cloven hooves and that did not chew their cud.  Fish that did not have scales, as well as certain birds... such as the condor and the hawk.

    Now, over the years, I have learned that there are several reasons that the Lord did this.  One reason was because eating some of these animals, in that day, when preparing and preserving foods were not as sophisticated as they are today, could make them sick or kill them.  God was simply looking out for His people's well being... He's fairly wise you know.  Another reason was that He had set this people apart from the rest of the world... they were to be a special people... a pure people, for He intended to bring the Messiah to the earth through this race.

    These folks were trained to understand these things, and they obeyed... but they were also trained, over time, to understand another simple precept that so many have difficulty with today.  This precept is looked upon as almost a byword... the very idea is the object of jokes in our youth... and, sometimes I think even more in our adults.

    God simply wanted His people to obey... "because He said so."  He is the God of the Universe, He was the One who had breathed life into their bodies... the bodies that He had formed and created in the most secret of places... before anyone but Him knew their names.  He was the God who had created this people out of the loins of a very old married couple... who were far past the years of child-baring, the One who had provided for them and grew them into a people whose number was as great as the sands of the sea shore, and had delivered them from a tyrant through many signs and miracles... and ultimately opened up the depths of the sea to deliver them to safety on dry ground.  And now, God asked them to follow His direction and guidance... "because He said so."

    In the Old Testament, God said, "obey Me... follow Me with all of your heart, and I will bless you."  But today, God says, "I have sent My Son to redeem you from your lost condition... I have blessed you, now, out of love and appreciation, obey and follow me with all of your heart... please don't make Me explain all of the reasons... just do it because you love Me"... and, "because I said so."

    When Thomas demanded to see for himself the Risen Savior, Jesus allowed him to handle Him, and Thomas believed... but Jesus looked to him and said, "Thomas, you believe because you have seen, blessed be those who will not see, but still will believe."  Blessed are those who will believe because... "I said so."  John told us in his gospel ( John 20:30-31 ), Jesus had done so many things that he could not tell of all of them, but there was enough written down there for all to believe... and believing, all would have the opportunity to have life... and life everlasting.

    I praise Jesus for the gift of simple faith... the fact that I can believe just "because He says so."   I understand one thing... and that is that I will never, in this world, understand everything, but I have peace knowing that Jesus does understand everything... and that He is in control.  One day, He will reveal more to me than I can fathom, but for now... I love my Savior... and I will follow Him for that very reason.  I know that following His guidance is... ultimately for the best and for my well being, but I will follow... and obey the best I can... "because He says so."

                                                        Amen

    It is Sunday morning... about 8:20, and I am preparing for, yet another chance to worship my Lord and Savior Jesus.  I am blessed with a job that is very flexible... there are certain tasks that need to be done everyday, some days are busier than others... Sundays, well it only takes me about 3-4 hrs. to complete my work (if everything goes well).  And, it makes no difference when I do these things during the day, so I got up at about 4:45 and left for work... this will allow me to be home in time for church, and then to spend the rest of the day with my wife and family.  It's Mother's Day, so I wanted to get around early so as to free up the afternoon to be with them... especially my mother, who lives about 20 miles away.

    So, I was able to worship God in the sunrise... and now, I will go and worship with my brothers and sisters in Christ and worship as a group.

    As Christians, we are so blessed to have a Savior that accepts and blesses our worship in so many ways.  We need no priest or cleric to intercede for us, for Jesus hears us Himself... and even our simplest jestures of prayer and worship please Him as a sweet aroma to His breath.  I am even able to worship in my work each day.  So many around me don't understand this concept.  They wonder, why do you work so hard while you know that you can get along with so much less and still please the boss.  It is because I have another boss to answer to... and it pleases me, not to mention adding meaning and joy to my day, to be able to please Him in such a simple way.  So, I look foreward to worshipping Him this morning in church.  Some say that they don't have to go to church to be a Christian... I don't want to argue with them... but, I would answer, as a Christian... I get to go to church this morning... another chance to worship.

    One last thing before I have to go... we have 4 people from our church who are, as I am writing this, over in Liberia, Africa on a two week mission trip.  I recieved an e-mail this morning in which they reported that at least 2000 more people have been added to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ because of their efforts!  Praise Jesus, who is still on His throne in heaven!  

    My fellow Christians... each day, we see and hear all manner of things that relate the fact that the world is ever waxing worse and worse into what seems a dark abyss... but our Lord is still in control of everything.  So, we must choose... will we spend all of our energy cursing the darkness... or praise and worship the light?  I will choose the later... another chance to worship.

                                May God bless all of our mothers on their special day... 

    A few months ago I discovered something on the net that I thought was going to be very interesting and enlightening.  Now, I know that most everyone had already known about "Yahoo answers" for a long time, but, excuse me, I don't get out much.  Wow!  What a concept... if I had a question... about anything, I could just ask it, and someone with much insight and experience in that particular field would answer.  Unfortunately, like many things on the web, I found that most of the answers came from adolecents that camp out there because they have nothing better to do... and most of the stuff on "yahoo answers" was just the usual garbage you can find anywhere else.  It turned out to be a kin to chat rooms... at least that's the way in appeared to me.

     But I noticed something else... I could post answers myself!  So, I looked under "Culture" and found a sub-category called "religion."  Hey, maybe I could help someone out with a question.  I have been studying the Word for 11 years very dilegently... now that's nothing compared to many of those lifelong saints, but, I figured, compared to much of the world it is quite a lot.  And, after serving for three years as bi-vocational pastor, I thought that I would have at least some wisdom to share with someone.  So I began to look through the questions... and, I chose my first one... then, after posting an answer, went and looked at some of the other answers that had been posted before mine.  Oh my... what a lost and confused culture that we are when it comes to the truth of God's Word.  I was already very concerned about this problem in our homeland, but what I saw in only a few days on this sight... well, I was very dismayed.

    My brothers and sister, our's is a people who has misplaced our standard of truth.  Relativism is inundating our culture.  It seems that whatever I believe is true... and whatever you believe is true also... everyone's belief is truth... and most of these belief's are based on emotion and preferences... preferences that are usually guided by the flesh.

     The last sentence in the Book of Judges is as follows... "in those days there was no king, and everyone did as they saw right in their own eyes."  As Solomon said... "there is nothing new under the sun."  One thing stays very constant it seems... free people, never want to answer to any authority.

    The Holy Bible was once our nation's "standard of truth," whether folks wish to believe that fact or not.  Most of our laws and national creed is based on the truth that is in the Word of God... but we are, as a people, rejecting that standard, just the way the Israelites rejected God as their King in favor of a human king.  One thing I am sure of, God's Word is true from the front to the back... whether I believe it or not.  It does not come to me... I must go to, and conform to it... as my standard for my life.  If I don't, there will be grave consequences for me.  This too applies to our nation and our people... we can reject God and His Word, but we will eventually have to pay the consequences... I believe sooner rather than later.

    Oh church, in these darkest of days for God's saints, we of all people must not compromise the standard that we have been given.  We must "hold fast," as Paul encouraged the Ephesians... hold fast to our standard, and to our faith.  There is much confusion in this world today... and the only way to make a straight line is with the "plumb-line" that is God's Word... the standard that is alway straight, true and level.  I pray that I am able to be a faithful "standard" bearer."

                                                                                                     May God bless... 

    "In the beginning"... by that I mean, my very first blog.  It was only a few months ago, I didn't even know what a blog was... now, I have my own!

    I nearly named my blog "anchored chaff", because for a large part of my life I was like the "chaff blown about by the wind," spoken of in Psalm one, but I have been blessed with the gift of faith, and Jesus saved me about 11 years ago.  I am no longer blown about this life by the whims of the world, but now, I have purpose, now I have direction... hallejulah!

     I said that I have been blessed with the gift of faith.  As I read in 1st Corinthians chapter one, I see that the Jews seek after a sign and the Greek after wisdom.  You see, so many today need proof to believe, but Jesus said, "blessed are those who will believe, but have never seen," and that's what I mean, I'm blessed to have been created... kind of simple, I guess... that way, I'm able to believe... so, to me, faith is a wonderful gift.

    Mercy is yet, another wonderful gift of God, because it was God's mercy that allowed me to live long enough to recieve His wonderful gift of grace.  For many years, until I was 36 years old, I lived a reckless life that was determined by all of my surroundings... like the "chaff in the wind,"  I don't consider myself to have been liscentious, but I did many things that could have sent me to eternity without a Savior... but God was merciful.

   But there is something I had to learn early on, I knew that God had forgiven me, but I was never going to grow any further in Christ until I had forgiven myself... I had to turn the scapegoat loose into the wilderness.  Then, one day, God showed me something in His word.  There are passages in God's Word that I refer to, in my own terminology, as "Rocks."  These are the solid stones that I can stand on in my faith when the enemy comes to place doubt in my mind... they are passages in the bible that I use to ward off his attacks... for I know him to be a liar, and that all of God's Word is true.  So, God showed me the following passage, that made it possible for me to forgive myself... and to continue to grow into the saint that He has set me apart to be.

            that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.   Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,   I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

                                                                                                Philippians 3:10-14

     This is the passage that truly freed me from years of carnal living in disobedience to God.  From that point on, I knew that there was nothing to be done about my past, but there was plenty to do in the future... and God has led me on such an adventure so far that I can hardly describe it!

    Now, this passage is starting to have new meaning to me, as God's Word is the "Living Word," it is now encouraging me, not only to forget my failures and cast then into the depths of God's forgiveness, but now I am learning that I must also forget my success', lest I become complacient and stop growing to be more like Christ.

    Oh my!  The wonderful God that we serve!  And I have so much to say about Him... so I hope to get enough time to blog... and blog and blog.

                                                                                                                 God bless...