Too much, too late!

I’m finally getting my system back on track. For the past two days I’ve paid the price of too much coffee too late in the day. Several years ago I nearly lived on coffee, well not literally, but you know what I mean.

One day I was rushing around to take some supplies to one of the satellite sites and I had a sudden cutting and enduring pain in the bottom of my chest. I have a pretty high pain thresh-hold but this one made me stop a minute or two and notice it. I finished loading the van but the pain persisted. It was so severe that instead of going to the site I drove to the doctor’s office. I went in to the receptionist and said, “Either I’m having a heart attack or this is the absolute worst case of heartburn ever!!”

That got me into an examination room immediately. A half hour later and two hefty doses of the doctor’s special chalky goopy stuff I was feeling a little better. Turned out it was heart burn. When I asked what could have caused it at 11 AM the doctor asked how much coffee I’d had that morning….Hmm. Well I was a chain coffee drinker. You know the cigarette smoker who lights his next cigarette from the one he’s finishing….yeah. Well, I “lit up” the cold coffee in the bottom of my cup by refilling the whole cup with hot from the pot…probably 4 maybe 5 good-sized mugs that morning. THAT had caused the severe pain.

Now one would think I’d learn, but no, it took a few more months and a stomach that burned and stabbed constantly before I realized that all that coffee was not good. I cut back to one (okay, it was large) cup in the morning and another (smaller one, normal for most people) just before lunch. Then no more coffee! And basically, I’ve stuck to that pattern for I can’t remember how long and I love my coffee!

But Monday afternoon I just had a hankering for some hot coffee. It was gray and rainy and I just felt like a cup of good coffee would warm me up and brighten the day. I asked Rachael if she would drink some if I made a half pot. She said sure she would and I made the coffee while she was fixing supper. Turned out between then and eight o’clock she drank about half a cup and Vondi drank the rest! Bud-deeee! Did that get my heart pumping and my toes jiggling-until about 2:00 in the morning! I think I calmed down enough to sleep by around 3:30 and woke up again at 6:30. Of course I ran out of steam about two in the afternoon and fell asleep a couple hours which made me wide awake again when most people were sleeping, which messed up yesterday too.

For two days now my sleep pattern has been weirder than usual. Last night I finally got back to normal. I guess from now on I’ll leave the coffee alone after noon.

"Christian Rap"

A few days ago I was in a Christian discussion group where some were proclaiming the positive aspects of “Christian rap” and “Christian rock.” The proponents of this type of music say it is the message that matters and not the music. They say this is what kids are listening to and using this style of music will catch their attention and win them to the Lord. There are two problems with that statement as I can see. Laying aside the music issue for a moment, if we look at the lyrics alone, we find a shallowness in them that betrays their essence.

I quote just a portion of the lyrics form one song: “Why are you striving these days/ Why are you trying to earn grace/ Why are you crying/Let me lift up your face/ Just don't turn away” That’s the first verse. The chorus goes: “Cause I, I love you/ I want you to know/ That I, I love you/ I'll never let you go” The entire song goes on in the same vein.

There is NO mention of Christ, no mention even of God. It isn’t even clear who is speaking. Hearing it in an isolated situation, one would never guess it is a “Christian song.” It might rather be a popular love song. The total emphasis is on love. Not that there is anything wrong with talking about the Love of God, but that isn’t all of the Book. Yes, He loves us. But to experience His Salvation is such a deeper, richer process. I reviewed the lyrics of several “Christian” rap songs, just to be sure I wasn’t generalizing too much. But I wasn’t. By and large the lyrics follow the same pattern of generalization and the same shallowness of experience.
Stop just a moment now and compare that to. My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine; /For Thee all the follies of sin I resign./ My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;/ If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now……I’ll love Thee in life,/ I will love Thee in death,/And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;/ And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,/If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now. Can you see the difference?

The first has generic lyrics. You could lift them from the situation and apply them easily in a very worldly entertainment atmosphere. No one would know the difference. No one would complain. The second makes no mistake about the subject of the song. It speaks of love and commitment. It speaks of sacrifice and endurance. And it is very clear that Jesus is the center of it all. Can you imagine the effect it would have is someone were to stand in the midst of a rap concert! People would definitely notice the difference.

As far as the music goes, I can “appreciate” most kinds and styles of music. And yes in the sense that it achieves the rhythm and style intended, I can see the point of rap. But very frequently in popular rap, the words are lost in the rhythm and extraneous sounds. And that is okay, because it is the entire sound experience the artists are trying to embody. That said, I have to point out that many, many of the raps that are popular today have themes that society in general condemns, violence, sexual promiscuity of the worst kinds, racial overtones, and sin in almost any form.

When the Lord truly saves us, he takes every bit of that spirit out of us. He puts His Spirit within us. That spirit is the same one that Habakkuk speaks of in 1:13: Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: How then does the born-again child of God cling to those things of Sin?

As the people of God we are told to Abstain from all appearance of evil. I Thessalonians 5:22. When the world passing casually by our window cannot distinguish the music they hear from that of the most degraded forms in the world, we have a serious problem with the appearance we are presenting to the World.

Good Morning Monday

What a wonderful start to my week. I was up early enough to fix a egg/cheese/ham muffin for Rachael..She had to leave at 6:30 this morning. Maxim came tearing downstairs as soon as I opened my door. Boy, that dog can hear. I declare I hardly breathed. Anyway I let everyone outside for their morning constitutional and fixed Rachael a bite to eat.

Then when I sat down for a few minutes until Michael would be up and moving, Notah called. Nothing terribly exciting, just saying Hi to Mom, but it's always good to hear from him. This is the longest I've gone without seeing him since he was born! Moms never change I guess. Their babies will always be their babies, no matter how old and responsible the grow up to be. What is kind of surprising is how we add our babies' spouses to the family in our heart. Now I have a second daughter and a second son. I never expected that.

I went in and fixed my second son two little mini-sausage biscuits. We talked a minute and he headed on, rushing out this morning because he had to stop someplace before work. I got myself some coffee and let the dogs back in. Everyone except me is sacked out snoozing. I've had such a peaceul day.

What a good Monday morning.

When I think about the security I have I my spiritual life, my mind always reverts to the many people I know who seem to have no assurance regarding God’s promises or any foundation in the things of God. While it is true that our security in God rests in our faith in Him, it is greatly strengthened by our knowledge of His Promises.

I have one dear friend who loves the Lord, I know, and who follows him, I know, but she is very easily swayed by false doctrines. Not that they cause her to be led astray, but they cause her much stress because she has not established the Word of God in her heart. Every false doctrine that comes across her path sends her into a tizzy of worry. The doctrine doesn’t sound right, but she is worried because the false teacher uses scripture to “prove” his points. She is never reassured until we can sit down together and look at the Word and find out what God is really saying. It always takes outside intervention to get her back on track

I don’t know where I developed the habit, from my parents I suppose, but somewhere along the line in my 60 years I learned to not just sit passively and soak up the preached word of God, but to take the notes and the scriptures and study them through for my self. That way, I wasn’t just taking a man’s word for what God said, but I was going back to Him and saying, "Lord, this is what the preacher says. Show me if it’s right and if I’m understanding it right.”

Now I’m not swayed by ‘every wind of doctrine’ because firm doctrine has been planted deep in my heart and those winds of doctrine blowing around cannot move it.

When I dealt with teaching children we recognized two kinds of learning. The first kind was “rote.” This is the way young children learn to count. They just chatter off the numbers in a long string. Or they learn the alphabet that way—all in one long string. And proud parents say, “He can count” and “She already knows her ABC’s!” But if you ask the child to count the blocks he chatters away and five blocks come out as “eleven.” The reason for this is that he hasn’t established the idea that “counting” implies a one to one relationship. To him, counting is simply rattling off a string of numbers. And if you ask the little girl to show you a ‘J’ she may point to almost any letter, because she again associates the ‘J’ with simply a string of syllables not with a specific shape or sound. These things have been learned by rote.

The other type of learning is by ‘internalizing’ the information. The best example of this that I’ve ever found is the young person who is memorizing the drivers’ manual in preparation for his driving test. He memorizes the fact that the vehicle must slow for curves and remain on the right side of the road. He knows it, he puts it on the paper and passes the test. The fact is not internalized until he takes a curve too fast, swings left of center and is involved in an accident. THEN the writing on the page becomes real to him. It is ‘internalized” He would have been ahead to not only memorize the rule but to incorporate it into his driving practices.

It is the same way with the word of God. Many people are simply memorizing the words and not incorporating them into their lives. We can’t just sit and listen to a pastor as he preaches the word to us. We can’t just memorize special passages. We must take every word and make it part of our daily practices. We must seek to understand why God said those things, what they mean in our lives and change our actions to fit them. When we have done that we are established in the Word and cannot be swayed by winds of doctrine.

I’m so thankful to have been raised by parents who not only kept me in church, but taught by example that the words of the pastor were to be studied and hidden in our hearts until they became a part of us. They taught by example that we didn’t just read the Bible but burrowed into its pages until the depths of them were so much a part of us we could not be moved from solid doctrine. That’s what my soul’s security is based on!

Security

The Savior’s Hands

As a Mother’s hands hover over her child’s first toddling steps,
As a woman cradles an exquisite and beautiful flower,
As a potter touches a most fragile and delicate vessel,
As a father’s hands reach protectively toward the wonder of his first born,
So do the Hands of God enfold His Own.

Thus we walk through all manner of trial,
Stand through bodily discomfort and pain,
Rest in the midst of the most dismal and foreboding physical surroundings,
Face uncertainties and fears,
Secure in the knowledge that our inner most vital being
Is protected in
The Loving Hands of the Savior.

Vondi Howe
For Marilyn just before Tim was born, 1979

Anecdotes from the Grocery store

The Lost Hat

One of the seniors who visit the store came in a few days ago. Everyone is familiar with her and she has her own unique way of facing life. This time she was looking for her lost hat.

Rachael stood in the inner office listening while another assistant tried to deal with finding her hat. When did you lose it? Uuuuh, last week maybe. What color was it? Wellll, uuh. Maybe it was red..or no, blue, maybe. Yes, red or blue! Fred looked. No red or blue hats. Well maybe it wasn’t all red, maybe it was just trimmed in red. Nope, none like that either. Fred was getting frustrated and the little old lady becoming belligerent. Rachael took pity on Fred and went to help.

“Hi! What seems to be the problem?”

Well duh. Evidently the ‘young man’ just didn’t care about her lost hat. From past acquaintance Rachael pretty well knew that the lady had two hats—a black one and a white one. She was wearing the black one.

“Was it your white hat that was lost?”

Yes, yes! Maybe that was it. She couldn’t remember. Another check in the box. No white hat either. There were a couple brown ones, a gray one, and whatever. All rather nondescript, not new or especially attractive. Except for one. It was black plush with a faux leopard brim. Pretty hat. Nice hat. Nearly new hat. After a bit more discussion and confused, evasive responses from the little old lady, Rachael and Fred gave up.

“Here,” one of them said, “Do you see your hat?” And they set the box of lost hats on the counter.

Guess which hat the little old lady zeroed in on! You got it! The nice black plush with the faux leopard brim! Pretty hat. Nice hat. Nearly new hat!

Are you sure this is your hat? It isn’t red or blue and it certainly isn’t white. Yes, yes, yes. The lady remembered now. This is her hat. Rachael said, “Well, if you lost it last week, this one has only been here since Tuesday…”

Were they trying to keep her hat!? She wanted to see the manager! This was her hat! They wanted her nice hat for themselves. (oh, yes. Like Fred wanted the girl-y hat! lol)

They had her sign the lost item pick-up slip and she trotted out of the store with her nice hat.

I wonder if the real owner ever came looking for her nice black plush hat with the faux leopard brim.

The Ramifications of Peace

Well, everyone has gone off to work and peace has settled over the house. At least as much peace as is possible with two little dogs and one big brown lummox. Maxim goes out in the morning and comes in invigorated by the fresh air and his relieved bladder. Then he is ready to romp and the little dogs are ready to sack out again for a couple hours. The ensuing disagreement is very noisy. Two 10 or 12 pound terriers can’t really have much impact on an 85 pound lab, but they certainly give it their best shot. Grandma always has to step in and say, “That’s enough. STOP!” before everyone finds a nap spot and quiets down. It’s like having kids again. Sometimes Maxim even gets sent to timeout in his cave under the kneehole of the desk.

So now, Sebastian is on my lap, Gable is curled up among the bed pillows and Maxim is using one pillow in the appropriate way with his head and ‘arm’ cradled on it. The cats are sitting on their tower and the window seat looking out at something…I don’t know what. I can’t see anything, but they evidently have very good imaginations. Soft music is playing and the whole neighborhood is quiet. This really is a wonderful place to live. It is an upscale area where almost everyone in gone to work or the office by 9:oo am and there is very nearly no traffic, no kids and not even housewives walking a dog. Except for the one house I can see out my window, I could easily believe I was ten miles out of town in the country.

I was thinking this morning of the verse in Psalms, Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. (Psalm 119:165) I was focused on the thought of ‘Great Peace” and how blessed it is. When I consider the state of our country and economy and society in general it would be easy to be caught up in the turmoil and have my peace destroyed. But our security rests in the Word of God and the things He has promised us. Jesus told us, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” ( John 16:33) What a blessed assurance. And He even told us the source of that peace, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.” You know the wonderful thing about the Lord is that He prepares us for every thing we will have to face and He tells us ahead of time to be prepared. And all we have to do is love his law. Then we not only have peace but we have great peace. Fantastic.

And then in Psalms David says, “nothing shall offend them” That is those who love the law of God will not be offended by anything. I considered how often today people choose to be offended. One of the words I find overused in our vocabulary today is “disrespect” and we often hear it said, “He was disrespecting me.” (What is unfortunate is that it is most frequently used by those evidencing no traits worthy of any respect) But my point is that these folks are choosing to be offended by something someone said or did.

I used to tell my staff who became upset when a child called them a nasty name, “If the shoe doesn’t fit, you don’t have to wear it.” In other words, if you haven’t done anything worthy of the name they cannot offend you, or “disrespect” you by using it. The name doesn’t describe you. It doesn’t fit you and you need not claim it. Only if you claim it does it 'disrespect' you.

Okay, I’ve gone around Robinson’s barn, but my point is that some people choose to be offended at words; so can we choose- allow- our peace to be offended. We can choose to worry about the state of the economy. We can choose to be in turmoil about the morals of today’s society. We can choose to be radical about the political climate in our country. I’m not stupid. I know the state of the world today. And I know that many scimitars hang over the head of our country. But I choose not to allow those things to offend, to disturb, me. And all of those things, if we allow them, will offend us, destroy our peace.

Or we can love the law of God. We can focus our thoughts and our energy on the Word of God. We can rely on Christ’s words and know that even though we see and have tribulation all around us we can still have peace in Him!! But only if we choose it!

Now isn’t that mind boggling.