EASIER SAID THAN DONE

Monday, October 16, 2006

When I was a teenager I learned the truth and the value of living life one day at a time. I have believed it, taught it and tried to practice it for many years. It has been easy to believe it and teach it—it has been extremely hard to practice it.

I find that I am not alone in this experience. Most people believe life should be lived one day at a time but few are able to do it. Physically it is impossible to live more than one day at a time. But mentally we try to go back in our minds and relive the past. We also try to look into the future and live days that have not yet come and may never come.

We need to live moment by moment. For example: right now, writing this blog needs to be the only thing on my mind and I need to be giving my full attention to it. I need to be grateful for all that makes it possible for me to do this and thoroughly enjoy every aspect of it.

There would be a lot more joy in our lives if we lived moment by moment. IT IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE BUT LET’S FIND THE GUTS TO DO IT. ENJOY TODAY!

PRAISE GOD! THE KEYS THAT ONCE WERE LOST, HAVE BEEN FOUND

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Keys are an important part of life. Last week my wife lost hers. Thank goodness, she lost them at a good place—church. We thought they might be found but in the meantime we prayed and searched and searched and prayed. Almost all of life is lived in the meantime. If we don’t learn to live in the meantime we are less than half alive. So even though we needed those keys and missed them terribly we didn’t wallow in misery we just did the next thing. In the meantime we checked on the price for new keys. The programmed key for the car (like the one she lost) costs $320.00. The master key costs $185.00.

We went on with the routine of life—doing the next thing, UNTIL

THIS MORNING AT BIBLE CLASS A CUSTODIAN RETURNED THEM.

I don’t think we will kill a fatted calf but we are making merry.

THE CHERRY TOMATO THAT GOT UNDER MY SKIN

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Well, it didn’t really get under my skin. A tomato can’t do that. What it did do is bug me!

I like Chicago style hotdogs. I was making myself one when I realized that the only tomatoes that we had were little cherry tomatoes which are worthless except in salads. Since that’s all we had I sliced two of the little things and placed them on the top of my hotdog. I went over to the counter, set my plate down, and sat down to eat when I realized that something was wrong. Since I had cut two tomatoes in half there should have been four pieces on the hotdog. But there were only three. One was missing. I looked under the hotdog. I looked under the plate. I looked back on the kitchen cabinet. Finally I looked on the floor and there it was—all over the floor. It’s amazing the mess that can be made from one half of a little cherry tomato. I immediately got up and cleaned up the mess. And then I returned to eat my hotdog. I took one bite and tomato juice and seeds shot out on the counter and all over the floor.

IT’S AMAZING THE MESS THAT CAN BE MADE FROM ONE HALF OF A LITTLE CHERRY TOMATO.

MORAL: JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS SMALL AND LOOKS HARMLESS IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT IT CAN’T MAKE A BIG MESS!

STANDING OUT IN A CROWD

Friday, October 13, 2006

It may go all the way back to my childhood. I have never liked to have the spotlight turned on me. You may ask, “How did you make it through almost fifty years of preaching?” Good question. As a child, I never wanted to be a preacher. Oh, the Baptist lady who lived across the street from us when I was about three or four called me her Baptist preacher. But even as a kid I thought she was a little squirrelly. She is the one who called me across the street for a great looking piece of cantaloupe only to ruin it by putting pepper on it. I ran back across the street crying. I also cried before I gave my first three minute talk at Vacation Bible School. (I was a junior in High School then). I never gave oral book reports in High School even though they were required.

I felt like a country bumpkin carrying two suitcases through the lobby of the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas when everybody else was rolling theirs. And I do mean everybody. Yep, I felt like the spotlight was turned on bright and shining right on me.

Today, Charlotte and I moved up in society. We bought rolling suitcases. But once again the spotlight was turned on us. We were the only ones rolling suitcases out of Macy's and through the food court at Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale. If anybody who knows Charlotte saw us, they probably said, “Look, they have just returned from a flight somewhere and Charlotte had to go to Macy's before she could go home.”

I hate to stand out in a crowd!

THE KISS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Thursday, October 12, 2006

This morning I woke up thinking about a dear friend, an elder in the church in northern California. What was on my mind was what a great encourager he is. For almost twenty years he was a constant source of encouragement to me. Oh, he disappointed me at times—but never on purpose.

He took a personality test a few years back and found out he has a tendency to bully people. I could have told him that. He does bully people in certain situations. But he is not a bully! I don’t see him as what he does occasionally. I see him for who he is deep inside and what he does most of the time. I see him as an encourager. He is like Barnabus in the Book of Acts. Barnabus was an encourager.

My friend accepts you where you are. He lets the past be the past and he sees you right where you are. He gets excited about the progress of others. He gives others a second chance.

I want to be like that. I want to give all the encouragement I can. It doesn’t come naturally to me. I want to grow in this way because this old world needs all the encouragement it can get.

WE MUST VOTE REPUBLICAN

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

As a Senior Minister, I could not tell people how to vote unless they asked. For years I preached the gospel and did not get into politics except to talk about moral values. But now that I am retired I am expressing my opinions on any topic of choice anytime I feel like it.

AND I’M SAYING WE MUST VOTE REPUBLICAN!

WE MUST KEEP REPUBLICANS IN CONTROL OF CONGRESS. SO IN EVERY STATE WE MUST ELECT AND RE-ELECT REPUBLICANS. THE DEMOCRATS HAVE AN AGENDA THAT IS LIBERAL IN EVERY RESPECT. I LOVE THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO BUT WE CANNOT HAVE THE “SAN FRANCISCO MENTALITY” RUNNING OUR COUNTRY. NANCY PALOSI MUST BE KEPT AT BAY AND ON THE BAY!

IT’S JUST A FEW DAYS UNTIL DECISIONS WILL BE MADE. DON’T SIT BY AND DO NOTHING. VOTE! AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO VOTE!