Enter into the Rest in These Troubling Times

This passage from Phillipians 4:7 is beautiful, but, as well I want you to consider verse 8...

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Rest Homes

Resting in What?

There was a time, back in the day, when nursing homes were called "rest" homes; indicating that it was a place for old folks, who had come to a point in life where they needed nothing more than rest...probably 24/7. Nothing has changed much, aside from the name. These bodies that we live in start to show signs of wear, over time, at varying degrees, depending on how we take care of them or not. The famous excercise guru, Jack LaLane(I think he is 91) is still excercising, but he admits that he hates to exercise; he only does it to maintain his body. Our bodies do get old and break, and along with that, our spirits get weary, and some of us break down spiritutally and emotionally. Getting away from life's problems in one way or another, can renew our energy, restore our spirits, and even change our attitudes. Vacations are great for this, but all of us can't take a vacation on a whim, or sometimes, we can never take one. Where is the relief? Where is the help? Where is the rest?

I DARE NOT TRUST THE SWEETEST FRAME, BUT WHOLLY LEAN ON JESUS NAME

ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND, ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND,

ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND.

Hebrews 4:3 KJV
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said , As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Hebrews 4:4 KJV
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Hebrews 4:5 KJV
And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Hebrews 4:8 KJV
For if Jesus had given them rest , then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Hebrews 4:9 KJV
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Hebrews 4:10 KJV
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Hebrews 4:11 KJV
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

As you read this, our world as we know it is on a fast track to self-destruction, and as Christians, our ONLY hope is in the peace of God that passes all understanding. As Paul said,

2 Timothy 1:12 KJV
For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed : for I know whom I have believed , and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

So do I care who is the president? You can count on it! Do I worry if it's not the one that I think it should be? No, well sometimes, but I shouldn't! Am I concerned if the economy is in the toilet? No, for all of the money in all of the world is God's...he is just allowing us to make a mess of it for now.

I can rest in the peace of knowing, just like Daniel and the three Hebrew children that God will take care of me, even if someone kills me and even if they try to eat me alive! They will find out that I am like a carp, or a skunk. NOT FIT TO EAT! haha

For those of you from the north, NOT FIT TO EAT(a southern term) means inedible!

Hebrews 13:5 KJV
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have : for he hath said , I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that I may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will NOT fear what man shall do unto me.

I will be editing this writing more in coming days, but until then I want everyone who reads this to think about a couple of things.

• In the old testament, the people cried out to God to give them a king; they wanted a king; they somehow thought that God was insufficient to meet their needs, or guide them...but God gave the people what they wanted...his name was Saul! Saul was a disastor, and God knew this...God allowed demons to enter into Saul; you know the rest of the story, right down to the end of Saul's life, who committed suicide by falling on his own sword. In effect, it was not about the people or Saul, it was about all of the events that would lead to God's man being king...David, who was called(even with his flaws), a man after God's own heart.



• If we will be a people after God's own heart, we cannot go wrong, and it won't really matter who is the president, for all of this is truly in God's hand, and God is never asleep at the switch.




• In a huge way, this nation has turned its back on God, time and time again; God, being God cannot allow these things to go unanswered. The time may have come! He promises, however, to take care of His own, US!




• Let not your heart be troubled! Enter in to the rest, knowing that Jesus gave us a very simple command....two words.............FEAR NOT!


• The word says in Proverbs 23:7 Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, so IS he. Remember... Phillipians 4:8 tells us to think on these things! What are we thinking about???

Learning to Swim

There are many true stories that I could tell about my late father, Hatley Wiseman, if I could simply remember them all. Sometimes, things from our childhood return to us, and it is fun to recall them. The other day, I was thinking about how I learned to swim, and maybe some of you will remember how you learned, but my experience was, at least interesting.

The family down the street from us had a swimming pool, and I was invited to their house one summer day to take a plunge. They asked me if I knew how to swim, and I told them"Oh yeah, sure I know how to swim."...knowing all along that I could not swim much better than a rock. That's exactly what happened, as one of the neighbor's son had to drag my limp, water-logged body out of the deep end, after I sank like a lead weight. Thankfully, I did not drown, but I think that I swallowed about a gallon of water.

The next week, my Daddy paid for me to have swimming lessons at the local recreation dept. I did really well, learning how to float; how to do the dog paddle, and a few other things, all in the shallow end. But then the day came to go off the diving board in the deep end. As I approached the end of the diving board, I froze in fear; I could not jump. One of the instructors tried to coax me off, and ended up peeling me off the board like fly paper, and they had to extract me from the water, as I could not swim. After they dragged me out, I looked over at the gate of the pool, and there stood my dad. All the way home in the car, he scolded me about how he had wasted his money on lessons for me, and that he just could not understand my fear. I was embarrassed and humiliated, and I was very sad that I had let my dad down, and after all of that, I still could not swim...very sad.

For some reason, Daddy took this on as a challenge, partly, because he did not want me to drown, and he also did not like failure; he wanted the best for me, like he always wanted for all of his kids. Ironically, our family loved the water; we had a ski boat, and a place on the lake, and I wanted to learn how to water ski, but I knew that Daddy wanted me to learn to swim first.

So the next time we went on a trip to the lake, my dad announced to me. "You are going to learn to swim!!!" I said, "Oh yeah, right?" Daddy said confidently, "Oh yeah, you can count on it"

I awaited the moment with trepidation, for I did not know what his method be. Well , sometime in the middle of the day on the day that I learned to swim, we went down to the boat dock, and my father jumped into the water, and gave me a demonstration on how to swim. I watched, and enjoyed his demo, but I did not enjoy the next part, because he climbed out of the lake, walked over to me, and literally threw me into the deep water, I came up, spitting, flailing, and screaming that I could NOT swim. He yelled at me, and said, " I taught you what to do, now swim...swim! I am not going to jump and help you...swim!" I had a decision to make...sink or swim. Well, I guess that I must have made the right one, because I am here to write this story.

The fact is, that when I tried the techniques that my dad had taught me, which really were simple, I swam for the rest of the day like a fish, and every day for the rest of the summer; I was one happy camper.

As I was reminiscing this event in my life recently, I was comparing it to our Heavenly Father, how he has given us everything that we need to know for life, and He even throws us into the lake at times, so that we must depend on Him; He loves it when we call on Him, for God loves us, and even when we think that He might let us sink, He won't let that happen, when we trust Him, and guess what He knows all along that we can depend on Him, just like my Earthly father knew that he could save me from drowning, but he also knew that I could swim.

This story is dedicated to my good friends Ann&Hank Clark. Ann has been thrown in the deep end, but don't worry Ann, God has you in His Hand!

The Four Chaplains

I recently read about these brave men, and I want to share the story with you here...

THE STORY

ALEXANDER D. GOODE	GEORGE L. FOX	CLARK V. POLING	JOHN P. WASHINGTON
Click on images above to read bio

THE SAGA OF THE FOUR CHAPLAINS

It was the evening of Feb. 2, 1943, and the U.S.A.T. Dorchester was crowded to capacity, carrying 902 service men, merchant seamen and civilian workers.

Once a luxury coastal liner, the 5,649-ton vessel had been converted into an Army transport ship. The Dorchester, one of three ships in the SG-19 convoy, was moving steadily across the icy waters from Newfoundland toward an American base in Greenland. SG-19 was escorted by Coast Guard Cutters Tampa, Escanaba and Comanche.

Hans J. Danielsen, the ship's captain, was concerned and cautious. Earlier the Tampa had detected a submarine with its sonar. Danielsen knew he was in dangerous waters even before he got the alarming information. German U-boats were constantly prowling these vital sea lanes, and several ships had already been blasted and sunk. The Dorchester was now only 150 miles from its destination, but the captain ordered the men to sleep in their clothing and keep life jackets on. Many soldiers sleeping deep in the ship's hold disregarded the order because of the engine's heat. Others ignored it because the life jackets were uncomfortable. On Feb. 3, at 12:55 a.m., a periscope broke the chilly Atlantic waters. Through the cross hairs, an officer aboard the German submarine U-223 spotted the Dorchester. The U-223 approached the convoy on the surface, and after identifying and targeting the ship, he gave orders to fire the torpedoes, a fan of three were fired. The one that hit was decisive--and deadly--striking the starboard side, amid ship, far below the water line. Danielsen, alerted that the Dorchester was taking water rapidly and sinking, gave the order to abandon ship. In less than 20 minutes, the Dorchester would slip beneath the Atlantic's icy waters.

Tragically, the hit had knocked out power and radio contact with the three escort ships. The CGC Comanche, however, saw the flash of the explosion. It responded and then rescued 97 survivors. The CGC Escanaba circled the Dorchester, rescuing an additional 132 survivors. The third cutter, CGC Tampa, continued on, escorting the remaining two ships
.
Aboard the Dorchester, panic and chaos had set in. The blast had killed scores of men, and many more were seriously wounded. Others, stunned by the explosion were groping in the darkness. Those sleeping without clothing rushed topside where they were confronted first by a blast of icy Arctic air and then by the knowledge that death awaited.

Men jumped from the ship into lifeboats, over-crowding them to the point of capsizing, according to eyewitnesses. Other rafts, tossed into the Atlantic, drifted away before soldiers could get in them.

Through the pandemonium, according to those present, four Army chaplains brought hope in despair and light in darkness. Those chaplains were Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist; Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish; Lt. John P. Washington, Roman Catholic; and Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed.

Quickly and quietly, the four chaplains spread out among the soldiers. There they tried to calm the frightened, tend the wounded and guide the disoriented toward safety.

"Witnesses of that terrible night remember hearing the four men offer prayers for the dying and encouragement for those who would live," says Wyatt R. Fox, son of Reverend Fox.

One witness, Private William B. Bednar, found himself floating in oil-smeared water surrounded by dead bodies and debris. "I could hear men crying, pleading, praying," Bednar recalls. "I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage. Their voices were the only thing that kept me going."

Another sailor, Petty Officer John J. Mahoney, tried to reenter his cabin but Rabbi Goode stopped him. Mahoney, concerned about the cold Arctic air, explained he had forgotten his gloves.

"Never mind," Goode responded. "I have two pairs." The rabbi then gave the petty officer his own gloves. In retrospect, Mahoney realized that Rabbi Goode was not conveniently carrying two pairs of gloves, and that the rabbi had decided not to leave the Dorchester.

By this time, most of the men were topside, and the chaplains opened a storage locker and began distributing life jackets. It was then that Engineer Grady Clark witnessed an astonishing sight. When there were no more lifejackets in the storage room, the chaplains removed theirs and gave them to four frightened young men. "It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven," said John Ladd, another survivor who saw the chaplains' selfless act.

Ladd's response is understandable. The altruistic action of the four chaplains constitutes one of the purest spiritual and ethical acts a person can make. When giving their life jackets, Rabbi Goode did not call out for a Jew; Father Washington did not call out for a Catholic; nor did the Reverends Fox and Poling call out for a Protestant. They simply gave their life jackets to the next man in line.

As the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four chaplains--arms linked and braced against the slanting deck. Their voices could also be heard offering prayers.

Of the 902 men aboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester, 672 died, leaving 230 survivors. When the news reached American shores, the nation was stunned by the magnitude of the tragedy and heroic conduct of the four chaplains.

The Book of Remembrance [Names of most of those who perished]

"Valor is a gift," Carl Sandburg once said. "Those having it never know for sure whether they have it until the test comes."
That night Reverend Fox, Rabbi Goode, Reverend Poling and Father Washington passed life's ultimate test. In doing so, they became an enduring example of extraordinary faith, courage and selflessness.

The Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart were awarded posthumously December 19, 1944, to the next of kin by Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell, Commanding General of the Army Service Forces, in a ceremony at the post chapel at Fort Myer, VA.

A one-time only posthumous Special Medal for Heroism was authorized by Congress and awarded by the President Eisenhower on January 18, 1961. Congress attempted to confer the Medal of Honor but was blocked by the stringent requirements that required heroism performed under fire. The special medal was intended to have the same weight and importance as the Medal of Honor.

Copyright © 2007 The Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
1201 Constitution Avenue, The Navy Yard, Bldg. 649
Philadelphia, PA 19112-1307
215-218-1943 «» email fourchaplains.org «» 1-866-400-0975

No Man Can Serve Two Masters...Knowing God's Will?

click on the photo to enlarge

Do You Know God?

I won't go into a long tirade about your relationship with God, but I have posed this question for the purposes of asking all of us to do a self-examination to determine if we truly have a one on one relationship with Jesus. The little illustration above is not meant to insult anyone either. I found it in a old book, from the 1930's, and it's theme is based on the scripture where Jesus states that no man can serve two masters; he will love the one and hate the other. It is very simple, when we come to Jesus, we cannot be tampering with the things of the world any longer, for after our surrender to God, we are not our own, we are bought with the Blood of the Lamb. Take a few minutes to study the picture, and see how that with Jesus in our "driver's seat", we can and will have a victorious Christian life. With satan in control, we were going nowhere but a "dead-end" street.

With That Being Said...

Now that we are living for God, then how do we know what His will is for our life? Well, there was a time in my life that I didn't feel comfortable going forward with anything, until I had a clear picture from God as to what I should do next. I found out that even though God wants us to seek His will, that we "see through a glass darkly", and with our eyesight, we don't always see clearly, even when God is trying to tell us something; so I began to step out in faith more and more, and do what Proverbs teaches us to "trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

We are really pretty stupid, especially when we think that we are smart. I find that I am smartest when I ask God to think for me. When I get in that mode, many times miraculous, supernatural things happen. So, to me, it is just that simple. I have had people (even really good, well meaning Christian ones) try to tell me and even dictate to me what God's will is for my life, and I have even tried to make my plans fit to God's Word, and visa versa(making God's Word to comply with my plans) This is called manipulation.

On Our Own?

Jesus said that He would not leave us alone, but would send us a comforter, the Holy Spirit, oh yeah, that's God, too! Well, if we ask God to go with us, He promises that He will, and not leave us floundering in a sea of helplessness. So that's really how I determine God's will...I don't...He does, and I try to follow, when I am awake(alert) enough to hear His voice(that still quiet one), and then, that peace that passes all understanding comes, I walk through the doors that He opens.

Oh yeah, sometimes He provides a window that I have to crawl out of...oh yeah, sometimes, He knocks down a whole wall for me ...thank you Jesus! Oh yeah, many times, God directs, protects, leads, and does things for us that we don't even know that He does, and we may not know about those things this side of Heaven. So the key element here is total trust in God.

So if you want to know God's will, ask Him; He will show you, but not always in some "crystal ball" visionary way. Guess what; He is not obligated to show us the entire painting; he is the artist, we are the canvas; if we could know all of the answers, we would not need God, but we do need Him, and that's a good thing! There are also very obvious things that we know are or are not God's will. Those are the "givens" in life; we know the basics of right from wrong, and we must adhere to those principles.

Keep praying, keep trusting, keep believing, keep dreaming. Love God, praise Him for who He is. Praise Him for all the mighty things that he has done. Love everyone, even when it hurts, the pain will subside! Be joyous!

"Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God"
I Corinthians 10:31

A Special Message to Everyone That I Know

Hello everyone...that is, all of you that know me. This message is written especially for all of you. Most of you have been around me for many years, you have probably seen me at my worst and best; hopefully you have not ever seen me at my "very" worst, or you would have never wanted to be in my presence, ever! Most people who associate with me know that I really try to be a nice guy, but fail miserably, at times.
Some of you have really been angry with me at times, and some of you have really been nice to me, as well. I probably earned your anger, and appreciate your kindness, and forgiveness for the times when I behaved badly.

It is No Secret
Of course, it is no secret that I am a born again Christian, and again, no secret that I am far from perfect. Guess what, that Bible that I believe in tells me that one day, I will be perfect, even as Jesus is perfect. Until then, you will just have to put up with me, I guess...my apologies! Before I became a Christian, many people tried to shove "religion" down my throat, and I vowed many years ago that I would try not to be obnoxious when I tell people about Jesus, and the salvation that only He can give. At the same time, I must be a real man, and be willing to stand strong for the fundamentals of the faith.

So Why Am I Writing This?

Good question...I just wanted to tell you all how much I care about you and your life, and how much your friendships have meant to me over the years. I think the thing of utmost importance here is that I want to convey to you a truth about what I believe to be our last days on this Earth.
OK...you can laugh, and I am not making any predictions here, but after many years of study, I have come to the conclusion that we could possibly see the end of this Earth as we know it in our lifetime. No one really knows but God Himself, but His Word does teach us how to recognize some of the signs. Either way, I am very happy about it all.

This Is Not All There Is
Well, with the exception of all of the bad things that happen daily on this Earth, I am, for the most part, really enjoying my life. I also know that many of you are really enjoying yours, too. One thing that I am sure of is that this life, as we know it, will come to a screeching halt one day, either to death, or the end of the world! When people hear the end of the world spoken of, they think many things. Some think that it is a bunch of "wacko" stuff; some think that it is a bunch of "overly religious" stuff, and just refuse to talk to anyone about it, because, well, it's all just a little too weird. Well, I, for one, am really happy that this is NOT all there is; there really is a life after this one; there is just too much evidence to think otherwise.

Religion or Relationship?
I have heard some of you say that you respect the fact that I am a very religious person...and I am sure that you mean that respectfully, while some of you actually are thinking that I am a religious "nut" that has gone "too far" with religion in my life. I have a surprise for most of you...I don't
consider myself to be a "religious" person at all!!!
You might ask,"How could this be?" Well, I will tell you...try to understand that my beliefs are not part of any religion, but totally in regards to a personal "relationship" with the one and only Jesus Christ, and furthermore, that I firmly believe that HE always "was" for eternity past... and always "is" for eternity future. I really don't care what other "religions" may teach; I know the truth, and the truth is this... God, the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit always were, and this eternal God is NOT three gods in one, BUT... One God, with three distinct attributes. The human mind cannot really conceive of this, but that fact does not make God any less than what I just decribed for you.
This God, this incredibly, amazing God has always had a plan; a plan that involves you and me. We are able through the study of His Word to understand many of His ways, and many aspects of His plan, but because we are still simply humans, we cannot begin to comprehend the whole picture.

Proverbs
I want to share one verse from the Bible, inspired by God, and written by a very wise man named Solomon. It is Proverbs 3:5&6
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding; in all of your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
I would say that this verse is my "theme song", and I can tell you some true stories of how trusting God has really blessed me many, many times. Who do you trust? Yes, I know that there are people in our lives that we feel are trustworthy, like our husbands and wives, best friends, etc., but we all let each other down from time to time, to one degree or another. God on the other hand, is always God, and He can't lie or fail.
Many have said to me that if God were real, that He would not allow all of the bad things to happen in the world to people, but I say to them that since God, being God, the creator of the entire universe, knows all things, sees all things, understands all things into the past, that has no beginning, and the future, that has no end. God can see millions of light years into space, and can look onto the deepest parts of the ocean's floor, 12 miles down, and see creatures that we may never see, and He can think, and they will cease to exist. An awesome God like this truly does know best, and He also knows the "whys", when we may never know this side of Heaven. That's where my "lean not unto your own understanding"comes in. If I acknowledge Him in all of my ways, He promises to direct my paths.

So What is the Point?
Many of you know and understand me, quite well, but the rest of you wonder what I am really all about. To those of you who really don't understand me, that's cool, but know this, I care about what happens to you, especially when you leave this Earth. The old saying "here today, gone tomorrow" is not a fable. No one is ever guaranteed another minute! Please don't ever think(like I once did, as a foolish young man) that you are invincible.
Here's the deal; everything that we see happening all around the world, even in your town, is all part of a real story that is playing itself out. God is in control of it, even though there is a battle going on between good and evil. God will prevail, He always has, and always will. So if you don't understand all of this, I at least do understand enough of it to help you. I am not any better or "holier" than anyone. But for the amazing grace of God, I am just a man, and a real loser, to boot. You can always talk to me about any of this. I will help you any way that I can.
There was a time in my life that I really thought that God, Jesus, and the Bible were all some "fairy tale". KNOW THIS! One day, long ago, in Heaven, a beautiful Angel named Lucifer was thrown out of Heaven, and cast down on this Earth; his name was changed to satan; he took control of this Earth, including the people, in many ways. One day very soon, God is going to take it all back; the Earth, the money(all money, or anything of value is really God's, none of it is ours)...everything! God does not want any person on this Earth to perish. God did not create Hell for people; He made it for the devil and his rebellious angels. God does not send people to Hell; they send themselves! Remember, this is NOT about religion, it is about relationship. Please come to me and we can talk; if you disagree with me, we can still talk. My point here it that I care about you...end of story.
p.s. Oh yeah, to all of my Christian friends...please pass this on to anyone you know who has not seen or talked to me in a while. I care about them, too.

Driving Me Crazy

What Drives Me Crazy!

My friends(hopefully not in name only), say that am already crazy, but I contend that I am only at the precipice of "crazy". Yes I have, and continue to do some crazy things, like when a telemarketer calls, and he or she has an accent, different from mine, I do have a talent for impersonating their accent to the point that they don't want to continue the conversation; that's how I get rid of them, and it gives me some entertainment, as well. I also have been known to respond to a telemarketer with a language that no one can understand, yet actually seems like it is a legitimate language...a type of "tongues" that confuses the caller to the point that they are dying to end the conversation. It's fun for me, but drives my wife crazy. "Why don't you simply not answer or hang up on them?" she asks. I say,"Well, I would, but I just have SO much fun playing with them, that I can't resist sharing my insanity with them."

Oh well...I guess I could say telemarketers drive me crazy, but not anymore;I drive them crazy. A friend of mine loves it when they call him, for it gives him a opportunity to ask them if they know Jesus as their Savior, then he shares his story with them. He has had some interesting conversations, and some real conversions to Christ as a result. I think I will try this approach, too.

I have a picture of the infamous Mr. Magoo here because I think the one thing that still drives me crazy is stupid people who drive an automobile like a 5 year old in a bumper car. It drives me crazy when I go out in my car because most of the time, I feel that I am truly the only sane person on the road. People are driving(I use the term loosely) up and down the road like a bed of ants that someone has set fire to their mound.

I get so upset about it that it just makes me crazy, and what makes me crazier is that I refuse to get into a "road rage" confrontation with them, so I just sit in my car and quietly lose my mind. I used to rant and rave about it, and in years gone by, I too have been known to wave the fickled finger of fate at the morons who do all of the ridiculous things that they do, but one night many years ago, before I became a Christian, a man much crazier than me, shot out my back window with a .45, after I tried to show him that he was number one in my life with that one finger. This taught me that no matter how crazy I may be, that there is always someone out there completely insane, and not just a little crazy.

What Makes You Crazy?

I can go on and on about the crazy, "nonsensicle" things that others do, like the lovely ones who act like a big shot with their cell phones out in public, blurting out all of their business, including "airing" all of their dirty laundry, and sometimes "soap-opera" lifestyles, even trying to talk their trash, and drive a car, too...makes me crazy.

Please share some of your "crazy" stories with me, but please keep it clean. One more of mine is that of people who go out in public when they are half dead with a cold, or a cough, and they blow their germs all over everyone without a tissue or hanker-chief to cover the mouth...makes me crazy; especially when I am trying to eat.

So check this out...one night my wife and I are sitting in a restaurant at a booth, and there is this elderly man behind me with a bad cold; he let out this "ripping" sneeze right on the back of my head. I wanted to belt him...then he does it about three more times. I was just before turning around and asking him to please stop this hurricane of viral slobber, when he whispered in my ear,"I guess I could get up and move...heh heh heh" I wheeled around, and it was a co-worker of mine who had seen me sit down, and he had taken his water glass and every time he would fake a sneeze, he would throw a handful of water on my neck. Of course my ever-faithful wife kept silent and held a straight face while he had his fun...the joke was truly "on" me!

Is there a cure?

Maybe the insanity will never stop, but we have a choice how it affects us; I don't handle it well, admittedly, but I am thinking of a change. I would like to hear your stories first, though, and then after we have some fun, we can decide how we will learn to absorb the insanity of mankind. Please let me hear from you.

ANGELS...PART ONE

God's Angels are Real

Unlike the elusive, beautiful painting above, angels are real, but most of the time, we don't even see them, and for a very good reason; for they are God's messengers sent to do His work and to protect us from danger including danger from ourselves. This journal is not about making pretty pictures, or sculpting images of angels, but a study of who they are, and why God has them as His "secret agents". But first, I must describe our relationship to God and the situation that we are in, here on Earth.

Who (whose) are You?

OK here is the deal; it is time for us to understand and realize who we are in Christ...that we are truly NOT our own; we are bought with a price, the Blood of Jesus, and that with that purchase, God Almighty has endowed us with the right to be called HIS; the right to go Heaven; THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN THAT! While we are here on this Earth, we have things to do, that are to Glorify God, and to further His Kingdom to come, and to lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven; when we get saved, and give our whole hearts and lives to JESUS, we are then enlisted in God's Army.

CLAIMER/DISCLAIMER

I call this a claimer/disclaimer because in my writings, I make certains claims (this is the claimer part), namely, that God's Word says this or says that...I claim it to be true. but (here's the disclaimer part), if anyone who reads my writings, thinks that I have mis-spoken, then by all means feel free to challenge me, and I will take a second look; to see if I have (misspoken). Many times, I will not quote the chapter and verse, but I will tell you where it is located in the Bible...call me lazy if you like; it is just my style. If I am challenged to say where I got something from God's word, I will be happy to explain myself.

GOD'S ARMY

Historically speaking, when a general or even a king sends people into battle, he usually sends the warriors equipped to win the battle, for only a fool would expect victory otherwise.

By the same token, God has never sent leaders of old into battle, unless He planned for them to win...if they lost a battle, it was because they failed,miserably, to obey God's commands as to "how to" go about fighting the battle.

God sent Joshua and the people into the battle of Ai, and they were being slaughtered; Joshua asked god "Why?" God clearly explained to Joshua that there was sin in the camp...a man named Achin had stolen gold from the enemy, and hidden it in his tent; when the Lord had explicitly instructed them to take nothing; Achin confessed what he had done, and Joshua herded Achin and all of his family together, and they were all stoned to death. How do you like that for accountablility?

Who are the members of God's Army today? What is the nature of the battle? Who is the enemy?

The old hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers", pretty much answers the first question:

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war

With the Cross of Jesus, going on before

Christ our royal master, leads against the foe,

Forward into battle, see our banners flow.

You see, when you become a Christian, you are then enlisted in the Army of God. Now to some, that is only a symbolic existence, not to be taken too seriously, but to others, it means a life that is never the same again, dedicated to bringing in more souls for Jesus, and living a victorious life that is full of the Love of God, and free from the bondage of sin, which answers the second question; the nature of the battle is clearly spoken of in the book of Ephesians.

satan's angels are DEFEATED

" Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness, in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Praying always in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perserverance and supplication for all saints." Ephesians6:10-18

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 2Corinthians 10:4

Now, the question is "Who is our enemy?" Well, it was certainly not meant to be people, although people have made enemies of each other since man made himself an enemy of God in the garden of Eden. But God loved man in spite of this; that is why He became a man named Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sin.

Once upon a timeless in Heaven, there was a beautiful angel named Lucifer, who was actually in charge of the music in Heaven; in fact the Word says that he had a musical instrument inside of him. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, this angel decided to rebel against God. Who did he think he was, rebelling against God, the creator of everything? God could not tolerate such a thing, and He threw Lucifer and ONE THIRD of all the angels (the ones that rebelled against God) in Heaven, OUT of Heaven, and onto the Earth.

Now, I don't know how many that was, but I am sure that it was a LOT. Let's just be conservative in guessing that there were 3 million total angels in Heaven at the time; that means that at least 1 million were cast down with Lucifer(who became satan at that time) to the Earth. Well what happened to them? I don't think that they just disappeared; no, they remained here with satan, reeking havoc in the lives of mankind. They will continue to try to reek havoc in the lives of mankind until one day when God throws them all into Hellfire, where they will remain forever!

People who are living under the Blood and resurrection of Jesus Christ, make it difficult if not impossible for those demon-angels to hurt them or affect their lives. But those demon-angels have plenty of other people to work with; just look at all of the wicked things that people do, every day!

A sober person generally has a very strong level of bio-feedback in his or her brain, and he or she is usually in total control. A drugged or intoxicated person, on the other hand, has a very low bio-feedback level, and his or her mind is an open door for demon-angels to work. They even like to work in the minds of crazy or demented people. The "Son of Sam" was a very famous serial killer; he went through the streets shooting people with a .357 magnum. After he was eventually caught, it was known that he had a terrible drinking and drug problem; he said that voices, namely a black dog named Sam, told him to kill people. Several years ago, a woman drowned all five of her children in the bathtub; she was over medicated on anti-depressants,and also taking psychotropic drugs, and NOT following doctor's orders; she told police that voices told her to kill the children. I could go on and on. The fact is that these demon- angels still live on this Earth, and they have little or no effect on a Christian who is sold out to Jesus, especially those who wear the armor of God. In fact the Bible says that we can cast those devils out, and that they have NO power over us! When Jesus said from a cruel cross "It is Finished" it was finished, and when he arose from the dead, it was and is finished for the demon-angels in the lives of Chritian believers; we just have to reckon it so, and live like it. Satan and his angels are defeated!!

God's Angels

God's Angels are all throughout the Bible, and in part two of this series, we will talk more about them, and how REAL they can be for us, because they are real! I have a friend named Benjamin, who is possibly the most studied man in the Word of God that I have ever known; I am asking him to help me in teaching the reality of God's Angels, and how He has placed them in our lives to protect us, and how if we simply believe, that God will send them where we need them to be. Just believe it!

In closing, I want to share a true-life angel story. My friend Eddie was changing the battery in his car one weekend, and his small son was following him around "watching Daddy". Eddie had charged the battery overnight in his house, so he brought it out to re-install it in his car. He hooked it up to the terminals, and went around to the front seat to start the car. His little boy stood in front of the car about eye level with that newly charged battery, just watching. As Eddie tried to turn the key, he said that a force, much greater than his, would not allow him to turn the key. He tried really hard to turn it, but it would not budge; he then took his hands off the switch, and asked his small son to come around and stand next to Daddy, which he did. Now Eddie and his son are in the car while Eddie tried the ignition key again. This time he could turn the key. As soon as the battery was energized from the key, it EXPLODED into a thousand pieces; Eddie said that he found pieces of battery in the front and back yards of his home; his son would have been killed instantly, had something not stopped Eddie's hand. These things don't happen by accident! You will learn as you read more of my writings that I personally don't believe anything happens by accident.

ANGELS PART TWO

Well,I have been waiting for God to give me the Part Two of this series, and have been wondering when it would come. My step-son David is presently in Iraq; experiencing some of the heaviest fighting ever in the region. My faith is unwavering, and we picture the REAL presence of God's angels all around David and all of his men. I KNOW that those angels are there, and that the enemies that he's fighting, are NOT a people who serve the true living God; so God's will be done; I am just praying for David's safety; I am not praying that he will kill a lot of people; although I know that they will have to in order to stay alive; I am also not happy that he is fighting for his life in a horrible war, but obviously, someone has to step up to the plate to protect our freedoms; I am convinced that God is protecting him every day, all day!

I pray that as you read this , that you will share your faith with us on this blog; especially in this case, if you have stories about angels. I have heard and read many; remember this...there are angels watching over you and all of God's believers. I read the story of a missionary in Africa who was with his wife in their meager hut one night, when the chief of the village brought his men to kill the missionary and his wife. He and his wife prayed all night for God's protection. The chief and his men came, and they quickly left. Two years later, while preaching in Johannesburg, the missionary was amazed to see that same chief come forward to accept Christ. When asked by the missionary about that night when the chief came to kill him, the chief replied, "Because you were winning souls to your God, we wanted to kill you, but when we came, there we saw many giant warriors with fire in their eyes, surrounding your hut, and we knew that they would kill us if we did not leave!"

There are no accidents in this life, and because I believe that, I understand why HE had me begin this series when I did...I happen to be on Max Lucado's mailing list for his weekly devotionals; his staff, nor I, knew that I would be writing about angels at the same time that they would send out his excerpt about angels. Consequently, I am compelled to include it here in this entry. God only knows, but after this, I sense an "Angels...part three" coming soon. In that one, I will probably be giving Biblical accounts of angels.

Angels Watching Over You
by Max Lucado

One of my friends recently took a heart-stopping mission trip to Vietnam. He and two companions set out to smuggle Bibles and money to Christians there. Upon landing, however, he was separated from the other two. He spoke no Vietnamese and had never traveled in Hanoi. Imagine his thoughts, then, as he stood in front of the airport, holding a bag of Bibles, wearing a belt of cash, and knowing nothing more than the name of his hotel.
Taxi driver after taxi driver offered his services, but he waited and prayed. Finally, knowing he needed to do something, he climbed into a taxi and spoke the name of the hotel. After an hour and a thousand turns, he found himself deposited at the designated place. He paid his drivers, and they went on their way.
That’s right, “they” drove off. The front seat of his taxi had been occupied by two men. Only later did the uniqueness of this fact strike him. He saw hundreds of taxis during his days in Vietnam, but not another one of them had two drivers.
Angels minister to God’s people. “ has put his angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go” (Ps. 91:11 NCV).
Billy Graham reminds us, “If you are a believer, expect powerful angels to accompany you in your life experience.”? But what if you are not a believer? Do angels offer equal surveillance to God’s enemies? No, they don’t. The promise of angelic protection is limited to those who trust God. Refuse God at the risk of an unguarded back. But receive his lordship, and be assured that many mighty angels will guard you in all your ways.
God sends his best troops to oversee your life. Imagine the president assigning his Secret Service to protect you, telling his agents to motorcade your car through traffic and safeguard you through crowds. How would you sleep if you knew D.C.’s finest guarded your door? How will you sleep knowing heaven’s finest are doing just that? You are not alone. Receive God’s lordship over your life. Heaven’s many, mighty angels watch over you.From Come Thirsty Copyright 1995, Max Lucado

The Tribute Lady Part One

Susan D. Wiseman, known on the internet as "The Tribute Lady" is shown here with our son, SPC David Dale, US Army.David is due to ship out overseas in the near future. He is an M1A, Abrams tanker. "It Is The Soldier" is one of Susan's tribute songs, written in honor of David. We are very proud of him, both as a man, and as a soldier, who is willing to risk his life for our country.










THE NAME...TRIBUTE LADY

I guess that I can take the credit for tagging Susan with that handle, but that's really who she is; The Tribute Lady. The name has stuck. People all over the world know her by that name; She has written many tribute songs, and paying tribute to people, both living, and dead, is what she does. It is a little amazing to me is that she has touched the hearts of thousands of people, but if you go out on the street, and ask anyone if they have ever heard of her, they would probably say "no". Another different aspect of Susan is that she has never made a plan or agenda to be where she is today, in the world of music, other than to make a vow to God (at a very young age) that she would go and sing anywhere that He wanted her to.

When I married this woman almost 21 years ago, I was soon thereafter exposed to her music, which I found most intriguing, to say the least; since I had a background in commercial music, I immediatedly invisioned her selling the music, or becoming a very successful song writer. Little did I know that she had already turned down more than one offer to sell her music, and was very discriminating as to the future of any of her songs.

I then became involved with her in the raising of her 4 children, and even though one left home at an early age, we devoted the next 2 decades to the lives of our children. Susan continued to write songs, but our priority during that time was strictly to our kids.The songs written during that time were mostly dedicated to the love of God, family and her children. Because I had been a professional trumpet player, I still played in churches, and also did some "gigs" with local bands to help supplement our income.

We put our kids through private Christian schools, and the cost was almost like paying fo a college education for each one; we struggled; I remodelled houses on the side, and we struggled, but we also invested in the lives of our kids; we did girl scouts, boy scouts, and church activities; we struggled; we almost starved; we almost lost our house, but we lived through it, and God Almighty never left us; He saw us through all of the tough times, and we would both do it again, a million times; maybe some things a little differently, but our family, along with God, came first.

HER GIFT OF SONG

It took a while for me to fully comprehend Susan's gift of song; I knew that she loved music, and even though she was untrained, that her talent for verse and writing really nice melodic lines was real. What I failed to understand was that she is an inspired song-writer, and unless she feels that certian leading, she will not simply purpose to write a song. In fact, she has said many times that she can't purpose to write a song; she can only write when someting inspires her, and moves her heart and soul.

HER EARS

I noticed, very early on in our relationship, that Susan probably has some form of relative pitch. A person who is born with perfect pitch can hear a tone, and instantly know what note on the keyboard it is, i.e., if you play a "d". that person knows that it is a "d". Also, their ears are perfectly in tune with music, and anything that is even slightly out of tune really bothers them.

Relative pitch is similar to perfect pitch, but that person has to hear a note and identify it first, and he or she can hear and identify all other notes played , from that point on. Although Susan is untrained, she has the inate ability to hear notes and tune her voice to them. She is not a powerful singer, but has what I call a pretty voice, that exudes sincerity. When I first heard her sing, I could tell that she had a voice in there, but she sang out of tune, and I just dismissed that as her not being a strong singer.

A huge revelation occurred to me when we purchased the keybooard/sequencer that she now writes and performs all of her music on today. Upon hearing her first song written on the instrument, I noticed immediately that she sang vastly more in tune than before. My musical mind began working "overtime" to analyze the difference, and what I believe is this...when Susan composed, played and sang her music on the old "rinky dink" piano, which was out of tune, she sang out of tune, as well. Evidently, her ears homed in on the tones from the new keyboard, which is perfectly "in tune", and her singing voice immediately improved, and her intonation is excellent. Because she is not a trained singer, she does sing out of tune occasionally, but on her recordings, you can hear her adjust an "out of tune" note. Why? Because she hears it, and apparently doesn't consciously adjust the note, but because she has a "good ear", she unconsciously adjusts the note.This indicates to me that Susan has "relative" pitch.

HER TEARS

For various reasons, Susan has cried a lot in her life; some from heartaches, some from being unduly mistreated by people, but many of her tears have been shed from the compassion that she has for others. Most, if not all, of her tribute songs are the direct result of the emotional impact that the life or death of the individual(s) have had on her. Many requests have come to Susan to write a particular song for or about a person, and she has had to politely decline them, stating that unless inspired, she cannot possibly purpose to write a song on her own. Conversely, when an event or person touches her heart, the songs literally pour out of her, along with her tears. I have seen her cry for days, in the process of writing a new song that had come on her. Until the song is completed, it is hard to empathize with her reason for crying, but when the recording is finished, I too, cry along with her many times. It is then that the heart of the matter is revealed, and Susan's incredible compassion flows through her music. One prime example of this can be seen and heard on a site called http://herhometownheroes.com

THE TRIBUTE LADY ...PART TWO

THE BLESSINGS CONTINUE

Susan's work seems to be never ending; it is not something that she asked for, but willingly and lovingly does from her heart, and God keeps working in her and through her, and I am honored to be any part of it, even if it were to just carry her bags. I think because Susan is such a sensitive person(sensitive is good...by the way) that she remains a vessel for her wonderful music to be poured into. Some people(the more ignorant ones) have a concept that if a person is going to produce music that is just "HAS" to be perfect or close to perfection to be good. Those individuals has missed the mark when it comes to ministering to people; they don't understand that making big impressions pale in comparison to reaching the hearts and souls of others who are hurting or grieving. I think that there was a time when this mindset discouraged Susan; Why? because it was meant to discourage her...over time, I think that she has become focused on her gift in such a way that what other people think... does not matter. Given that fact, she still just wants to be a blessing, and she is!!!

UPCOMING EVENTS

On Sept 9th, Susan will be performing for the dedication of two 9/11 Memorial Quilts...one for the Firefighters. and one for the 9/11 victims and their respective families. She is so humbled to have been invited to the event. When she wrote the song, her sincere prayer was that one day, she could at least place a copy of the recording of the song in the hands of the victims and/or their familes. Not only has that prayer been answered, but she will personally meet many of them, and sing the song for them. God is good ...all the time!!!

LOGISTICS

On Friday, we picked up 1,000 double CD's of two of Susan's albums, produced by Anaphora music; our first time to do business with these folks, and overall, we are very pleased. Susan will give these CD's as a gift, as long as they last in NY, next week. Our prayer is that we can get them shipped up there, safely and on time. We also have a sound system with stands, and we will have our hands full handly all of that on the airplane, so please pray for us.

WHY DO I DO THIS?

To say that I LOVE the woman named Susan D. Wiseman is a "way" mild understatement. I have met possibly every type person that one could think of in this life, from the demon-possessed, to the finest Christian, and I can attest that Susan has all of the wonderful qualities of what one would search a lifetime to find in a person. Mere words cannot describe how I feel about her both as my wife, a person of TRUE integrity, and my one and only true best friend of all time. I know that other men feel the same way about their wives(Yeah, like you Benjamin), but I am particularly blessed to know her, and be married to her at the same time. So that being said, I can honestly say that supporting her in her gift of song is not ony a priviledge, but a duty, a calling, and an honor; need I say more? I will have more when we return from NY

http://thetributelady.com

My Mission

My Mission: Let's see...I think my mission is to go to Hawaii at least 100 more times before I die(I'm being funny here), but if I don't, the times I have been there have been amongst the most wonderful times in my life.

When I started this blog, I had a concept of this wise old man who would give out free advice on everything from soup to nuts, since I have a lot of experience in many trades, including an extensive background in music.

To be honest, I really didn't know what to expect, but I did pray, and ask God to bless my efforts, and as I began to write, He seemed to take control, and what you read on the blog is the result.

I think others expected something totally different, as well. My chief desire is to help people; I obviously don't have all of the answers, but I know someone who does. Jesus Christ lives in me, and He wants to live in you.

I believe that God wants to speak through this blog; as usual, I had something altogether different in mind; He knows best, so I will trust Him for the stories for you to read. Stay tuned, and see what God has in store for us; yes, us.

My life verse is Isaiah 61:1&2

"The Spirit of theLord is upon me; because the Lord hath appointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn."

MEN OF COLOR...ALL MEN ARE COLORED!

I am blessed to be a part of this little band of brothers; these are what we all call the men of the "Upper Room". For about 5 years, we have gathered together to eat our lunch, and to study God's word. I should say that we eat a spiritual feast every day that we are at work. It is possibly the most incredible Spiritual journey that I have ever been on. Our study and contemplation of The Word is "super intense". It took us 2 years to study the Psalms. Some days, we only covered 1 or 2 verses, because we found a nugget of gold in the scriptures that needed to be digested slowly. Maybe to the chagrin of some who read this, is the fact that we are compiled of Christians from all denominations...some Baptist, some Penticostal, some Catholics, some former Catholics, and I think even a Methodist. Obviously from looking at the photo, you can see that we are also diverse in races, as well. We also pray together, and we have witnessed some awesome answers to our prayers, among which are physical healings, restored marriages, foiled satanic attacks, and blessings of all kinds. We have laughed, cried, laid hands on the sick, and grown in Love for one another in a way that is really indescribable.
The one thing that we have discovered is that we are all color blind when it comes to race. We know that there will be NO color in Heaven. I find it interesting that there is only one chromazome difference between the darkest black man and the fairest white man, and God most likely built in these differences to adjust for climate locale of the races. Obviously, no two people are identical, even twins; we all have characteristics that differ in some way, even though there may be similarities. There are, however, personality traits that are common to all, and we can have control over how these traits are implemented in our lives. The negative ones that we all experience from time to time, are all tied to hate, and have satanic ties...like anger, greed, avarice, envy, strife, intolerance, violence, deceit, and cruelty, to name a few. All human beings are capable of these things, and we are all presented with the opportunity, from time to time, to practice them in our lives, or to CHOOSE not to. Racial origin has absolutely NOTHING to do with the choice, these are common human traits that are NOT of God!
Jesus said,"For a good tree bringeth NOT forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by HIS own fruit."Luke6:42,43.
Galatians says that "the fruit of the Spirit(of God) is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith. Meekness, temperance;against which there is NO law...If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us NOT be desirous of vain glory,(NOT) provoking one another,(NOT) envying one another."
I write to you these things, because some people seem to think that there is something wrong with loving a person of another race; that their race is somehow better than another; that they may have done something good, deserving of being born white, or black, for that matter. In some cases, these people are also self proclaimed Christians. ...QUESTION: Where in God's Word does He condone such thinking? I maintain that such thinking is hate-based, and NOT of God! God IS not a God of some sort of karma, where He decides that one person gets to enter the Earth wearing a certain skin color, with better or worse living conditions than another. If you believe in the Bible, then you must understand one thing... God destroyed every person on the Earth at the great flood, EXCEPT Noah and his family, a total of 8 people. EVERYONE born on the Earth, since that great flood, is a direct descendant of those 8 people; Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their three wives. SO!!! If you could literally pour all of the blood of every human from that time until now, into one great huge pool, it would all be the same blood. Although it's weird to think of it in that way, pondering it in that manner aids in comprehending how closely we are all related, NO matter what the skin color may be.

What I have laid out here is a simple blueprint of right and wrong. It is true that as long as we live on this Earth, that we will experience "bad things" happening all around us, and that possibly the resentment and hatred between the races of humans will continue in some manner, BUT is it required? Does everyone have to participate? You may respond to me with all kinds of hypotheses, or "what ifs", or "because they did this or thats", or "they hate us, we will hate 'em back". NO my friend, that does not answer the question of: "Since many people participate in racial disharmony, should I be connected to, or participate with them in their hatred?" MY answer is NO! What is YOURS! My friend Jeff, who is a part of our group, says that dialogue across racial lines is a good thing; I agree, but even sincere dialogue is just what it is...TALK! Until positive, bridge building action is implemented, talking is futile. It is really not so hard to do; people just need to jump off the train of unforgiveness and stubborness, and make the first move towards freedom.

What kind of freedom are we talking about here? When I was growing up, I was raised in a Southern, white racist society. Because my father was raised in the same environment, he succombed to the typical race bating, and jokes that pervaded our everyday life; it was his peer pressure of the time, but even though he always had the usual prejudiced things to say(like almost every friend and co-worker that he had), I learned that there was something different about him that even he did not fully understand. I often think that my wonderful mother was his stabilizing factor, for she always taught me that I was not better than anyone, and that every person has feelings, that every person feels pain, that every person has a need to be loved, and that I should never mistreat anyone in ANY way, no matter what race they may be. I truly think that this thinking must have rubbed off on my Dad. It was proven to me on a couple of occasions. My Dad was in management for a major airline for over 33 years; on one occasion, a black man, who had worked there for 25 years with a near perfect work record, was left by his wife of over 20 years; she ran off with another man. Well, this employee lost his mind, and went out and got drunk for about 3 days, and did not show up for work. My dad was forced to fire the guy. When he sobered up, he asked for an appointment to see my dad. After explaining what happened, my father fought with upper managent to rehire this man, because he had such a great work record, and he had put in 25+ years of service to the company. Upper management reluctantly gave the man his job back, BUT without any of his seniority. My dad did battle, again,to get the man's seniority reinstated, as well.

On another occasion, we were eating our breakfast at 6am one morning in our nice suburban home, when there was a knock at the door; my dad opened the door to find a young skinny black boy, about 13, standing there in the cold(about 18 degrees). It seems that a white man had dropped him off to throw the newspapers for his route, and never returned to pick him up. "Pleez mista, I won't harm anyone, I just need to come in a get warm," he pleaded. My dad brought him in, and sat him down, and fed him some hot breakfast, and warm milk. My dad never even made warm milk for any of us, but he could see that this young man was in danger for freezing to death! After that, he even gave him a jacket, then took him home, on his way to work.

My dad was a really good man in so many ways, but there was always that peer pressure on him to act like a biggot. The truth is that I know that he was not like that in his heart. Once, when he was in his late seventies he was at a Christmas party at his mostly white church. He was making a racially slanted remark, when he realized that the one black man in his Sunday school class, overheard him. My mother told me later that my dad's heart was broken... with tears in his eyes, he went over to the black man, and begged his forgiveness, and told him that he loved him, and that he was wrong. I really think that Dad meant it, and that he wasn't just ashamed of being "caught".

Many people think that Martin Luther King was "all about" freedom for the Negroes, and the civil rights of African Americans. NOT TOTALLY TRUE! In 1963, it was inevitable that the Civil Rights Bill would be Law, and that integration was coming. What he sought was a much deeper freedom than that! Every man, woman , and child should read MLK's "I HAVE A DREAM" speech. I will quote to you what I consider to be his deepest motive for us all ...ALL of us!

"When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE ARE FREE AT LAST!"

For the speech in its entirety, go to http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

WILL YOU BE FREE TODAY? FREE YOURSELF FROM HATRED...FREE YOURSELF TO LOVE........aside from the bag of iron chains that will be taken off your shoulders, will come the incredible ability to have a lot more friends, and a lot more......PEACE! PEACE with God, yourself, and your fellow man. I am speaking from my own personal experience!!!

JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN...ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD.
RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE,
THEY ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT,
JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD!

MEN OF COLOR...PART 2

Balsa Bridge Building Competition

Would you please study the Norman Rockwell print to the right(it is entitled The Golden Rule), and at the same time, pray that God will reveal His will to you concerning race? What will your role be in the building of the bridges of reconciliation between the races? Will you be a bridge builder or a bridge burner?
I have not written in a while, because I have been waiting for the Lord to direct me towards something new to write, and many subjects have been going through my mind, but recently, God has shown me that I am not finished with the race issue. A few of the people that I have been sharing this blog with had loved what I had to say, until I wrote the blog entitled, Men of Color...All Men are Colored. Many people have emailed me or called me, some of them crying, and said that I had hit the nail on the head concerning love and reconcialtion between the races. Others, however, now suddenly have either nothing or no good things to say; I thought..."now that's a little odd." But I think I understand the problem, or maybe problems. You see, habits, of all kinds, are difficult to break, and we, as humans, have gotten into the habit of disliking, resenting, and sometimes dispising other people. for various reasons...either they don't act, look, or smell the way we think that we think they should, or maybe others obviously don't act right(which we should not have to tolerate), or maybe we have gotten into the habit of resenting people because they are different from us; another race perhaps; a "lower" class than us; on and on. I am so thankful that God is merciful, because if not, He would have obliterated me long ago. The problem, spiritually speaking, is that we often don't keep that "for the Grace of God" attitude about us, when we deal with other people. We somehow think that since we are "doing the right thing" in our lives, that there is something better about us than others. This thinking knows no racial barrier; it is a "human" trait. We look for reasons to latch on to this way of thinking, and many times, we hold onto it like a pit bull dog holds a piece of meat. Someone could hit us in the head with a pipe, and we would still rather find reasons to hate, seperate, snub, or any of the negative things that we do to mistreat others, because they are not in our elite club of normality.

OK, so I am irritating some people by talking about these things; my apologies! But...I have a question. When are we going to start living on this Earth together as human brothers and sisters, and realize that we are all in the same boat of life, and we must help each other to be successful humans? Weird isn't it? Here is the deal...Jesus Christ was always there in Heaven for eternity past; He created everything...what does that have to do with the subject at hand??? Here's what...when He created everything, He knew that satan would cause a sin curse to fall on all of mankind; He knew that He(Jesus) would come out of Heaven to be born a man, to live a perfect life, to die on a cruel cross, to rise again from the dead, to ascend back into Heaven, and is coming again for His children who have accepted Him as Savior; He did all of this for all races, and we are all one, one race...yes ALL one race of people... our lineage goes all the way back to the first man Adam, and guess what...so does the human lineage of Jesus; now...most likely, by the scattering of humans by the Great Flood, races as we know it came about because of climatic location. Some hold the belief that the different races of people bagan at the tower of Babel, when God confounded the languages of the people for trying to build a tower to Heaven, and thus, attempting to elevate themselves to God's level. There is much research available to prove that different tribes of humans have different physical characteristics that directly relate to survival in different locales of the Earth, and it seems that the main differences are color related. We are still just what we are...HUMAN!

We are all a bunch of "mixed breeds".
Once upon a time, I raised thoroughbred German Shepherds. I found that in spite of all the work that it takes to breed a pure bred dog, somewhere along the line, someone has mixed things up, and allowed a mixed breed dog to enter the bloodline; it is highly fraudulent, but I know that it has been done, and the fact remains that even the highest quality of pure bred dogs may have a "mut" in the family tree somewhere. An unscrupulous breeder confided in me once of his practice of "throwing" papers on a dog that had given birth to a litter of puppies. He had current papers on a female dog that had died, and the mother of the current litter looked like a German Shepherd, but in fact, was a "mut". She suddenly, on paper, "became" the dog that was deceased.

I often wonder if there are any pure races of people...do you know anyone who claims to be a 100% pure Italian, Frenchman, African, etc.? I think that all of us or at least a majority of us are "muts".

How did we get so mixed up? What about inter-racial marriages?
Maybe God originally planned for man to stay one race; read Numbers 12 in the Old Testament. Moses was condemned, by Miriam and Aaron for marrying an Ethiopian woman, but I can't find where God condemned him for it. I do read in the same chapter that God was angry at Miriam and Aaron for "bad mouthing" Moses, and God even turned Miriam into a leper! I cannot find real confirmation in the Word of God that God has steadfast rules for segregation. It's funny to me that the chiefest of all segregationalist groups, the KKK maintains that Jesus, the Jewish man, was a white man; what version of the Bible do they read? Either way, man managed to get things really mixed up, and the thing that is constant in the Word of God is that God is not willing that any should perish, including Negroes, Whites, Chinese, on and on. I was a member of a church once that over a 40 year period has moved its location 2 different times, for the specific purpose of distancing itself from African-American peoples. The membership simply did not want them in their church, and the second time, they sold their church building to Vietnamese Catholics whom they disliked also...the very odd thing about it is that over the same time period, they supported and still continue to support missionaries to countries all over the world. I suppose that they feel that they must obey God in the great commission in one way, as long as "those" people don't infiltrate their little club. After all, one of their sons or daughters might just fall in love with a black...God forbid!!! You see...we are all, or most of us are the product of an inter-racial marriage; we just refuse to acknowledge it or don't realize it. When our parents married, they thought that they were both white; true they were in a cultural sense of the word, but not in a heritage sense of the word. I asked my mother when I was small, what race I was, and she explained to me that we were French, Indian, and maybe German...we have found out since that it was not German, but English...ohhhh, I get it, these are mostly caucasian races, so that makes me a white man...who knows...I may have a lot of Indian blood in me. Recently, I saw an old photo of a woman that I believe to be my great grandmother...she looks a great deal like an Indian woman. Her husband was a native Frenchman, so if she is Indian,is that an inter-racial marriage, or not? OK, OK...I know you are saying that I have gone crazy, and that I am all mixed up about my theology...etc. NO I am not trying to promote inter-racial marriages. or demote them either. I am simply trying to make people see that we are what we are, and we have become what we are by "the traditions of men". When a man and woman decide that they are going to get married. I believe that God has a criteria that must be followed for that to happen. #1. The two people should be Christians, for the Bible clearly teaches that to do otherwise is to be "un-equally" yoked, and that is wrong. #2. The two people should confer with God personally concerning whom they will marry, and seek His approval(not man's, not a church); this will come from much prayer and supplication, and maybe fasting, to seek the peace from God that passes all understanding. #3. Their purpose for marrying anyone should be to have a marriage that glorifies God; for the initial purpose of raising a family in the fear and admonition of the Lord. #4. Their approach to marriage should only be with a life-long committment in mind...yes"til death do you part". You will notice that I did not mention race in connection with the "un-equally" yoked part...because...hello! two Christian people who follow steps 2,3,&4, might be of different races, so who, besides God has the right to tell them that they are wrong for considering marriage? I know...I have some of you really wound up now, but go back to the beginning of this blog...did you pray, and ask God, as you studied the picture? Who are we to judge anyone? Oh yeah...I have heard the "we can't judge people, but we can be fruit inspectors!" Bull...ony! Jesus said that "you shall know them by their fruits", meaning that we can tell if a person is of God or not, by the righteousness in their lives(or lack of it), like soul winning, righteous living, or walking in Holiness...not some legalistic judgement that we make, based on preferences! You know something? We are all, but for the Grace of God, a bunch of dirty rotten sinners, saved by Grace(if you are saved), and highly capable of the worst, lowest sins that anyone has ever committed, and skin color is not even in the equation.
Here's another strange, but true, story for you...I was a member of another church where there was a white man that had a beautiful Vietnamese wife. I think that he was in the armed forces in the war, and met her over there, and brought her back to the USA, and married her they had two beautiful "mixed breed" children. They were very happy, and all the people in the congregation really seemed to love them. She was very sweet, and also seemed to love God. To my knowledge, no one ever criticized them for being in an inter-racial marriage. In the same church, a story was related to me that a black man came to visit one Sunday with his white, blonde, girlfriend or wife. No one knew if they were married or not, just that they were together. During the song service, one of the deacons went over to the man, and said, "You will have to leave...we don't want your kind in here!" They got up, and walked out.
Do your own research...in the old south, there were plantation owners who forced their slave women to have sex with them, and fathered many, many children, and it was legal. Why do I bring that up...I think that there are many white men today that are angered when they see a white woman with a black man, for the sole reason that this black has one of our women, and they look down on that woman as a piece of trash. I don't mention all of this to anger anyone, but to just tell it like it is, and to help people to see that we are all just people, and we all will be
judged by God one day, irrespective of color. I understand that there are cultural differences to overcome, and maybe in America it has been mostly a black/white issue, and many times, in order for an Oriental person to marry a White, Caucasian person,for example, the differences
in religions already make the "unequally yoked" principle a problem for that type of inter-racial union. That is all I have to say about inter-racial marriages; the bottom line is that each individual must make their own decisons about it, and I don't have the right to make disparaging remarks about them, even if they are out of God's will. If I am asked, I will give my opinion, but I am obligated by God to try to love everyone.
Am I condoning evil deeds done by members of a different race than mine?
I have had white people tell me, over the years, that those blacks are different from us; they are animals; they are a bunch of drug addicts; they have babies right and left; the prisons are full of them; after all, they hate us, too;or the classic one for me is "Just wait, you love them blacks now, but wait until one of them rapes your daughter!" Again here is the deal...we are all sinners; I don't have all of the answers, but doing wrong has nothing to do with skin color; it is a natural inherant behavior for all of us; maybe there are more blacks in the world than whites; I do know that there are certainly many more blacks on the poverty level than whites, and poverty breeds crime many times, but so does the greed that breeds amongst the rich white people of the world who steal millions of dollars, time and time again; Do you think that the Enron scandal is an isolated one? NO, it just happens to be the one where people got caught; the ones that get away with it have not been exposed yet. No, I am not condoning evil or tolerance of wrongful deeds from any race of people, at all. What I am saying here, plain and simple, is that people from every race have the obligation to do what is right, and many do. Part of that "doing right" is to love thy neighbor as thyself.
What is the solution for racial disharmony?
I thought you'd never ask...you thought I'd never get to my point of all of this. What we need is the kind of love that Jesus preached and exemplified to us; loving everyone. What we don;t need more of is the kind of racial disharmony and division that people like Mr. Al Sharpton and Mr. Jesse Jackson promote;every one spewing hatred, just for the love of money, prestige, and power. By the way, of all of the black men on the planet that I know of, the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson is an awesome man who is giving his life to fulfill the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King; he's not a hater, but he is very outspoken, and stands up to those who promote hatred amongst the races. Go to http://bondinfo.org
I also know of another fine man in the Atlanta area that tells it like it is, and remains a gentleman, and has a sincere desire to see reconciliation between the races; and he is Mr. Herman Cain. Go to http://hermancain.com
I can do nothing about what any other man does or says concerning racial harmony or disharmony, except maybe try to vote him or her out of office at the polls, but I personally can do my part every day to "hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters, all over this land", as the old song "If I Had A Hammer" says. I am doing it, and I will continue to. I am a bridge builder...You can be one, too. Ask God to open doors of opportunity for you to be a bridge builder. Bridges have many parts, and they are almost all structural or important, except maybe for the paint. The abutments, girders, cables, trusses,towers, and the railings, all have a function. Remember that all bridges have some sort of passageway, like a road or rail, to communicate travel. Plan now to be a part of the bridge. God will show you...help someone of another race in some way, every time the occasion arises; I live in an almost all black neighborhood; the occasions arise for me daily. Give a helping hand, an encouraging word, a smile, and...WOW! maybe a hug. And the most important thing that anyone can do is to help someone, anyone, bridge the gap between them and God, by telling them about Jesus. Do yourself a huge favor, don't allow anyone to dictate to you as to how you should feel about other races, and if you need to change, ask God to help you. Since we are made in the image of God, then we are not made to hate anyone.