Flight Paths

I was raised that way and I bet you were too.  I imagine my boys remember that when guests were present we used different dishes, different towels, different manners, even different tones of voice.  We were more careful in our personal habits and ate not only “fancier” food, but more of it.  A meat and two sides was fine for a weeknight family meal, but when guests came Mom added more sides and a dessert, sometimes two.  Instead of the plastic pitcher, we used the glass one.  Instead of everyone’s favorite glass that didn’t match another, we got out the good set that did.  The meat was sliced neater and the mashed potatoes piled higher, and we put a tablecloth on the table.  We always treated guests as more important than ourselves. 

            It is not an un-Biblical way of thinking, not only in how guests should be treated, but especially in how God should be approached.

            Our culture has become far more casual than ever before.  Even in the days when everyone in the neighborhood was poor, they all had one pair of overalls that was saved for special occasions.  They may have been denim.  They may have been patched.  But they were cleaner and the holes were all mended.  Nowadays you buy them with the holes already in them and leave them that way.

            And in all this casualness I wonder if we haven’t lost something, especially our sense of reverence and respect.  Ezekiel said it this way of the priests who had neglected their duties:  Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Ezek 22:26.

            Can we even comprehend the meaning of this passage?  Are there really things that are holy and things that are not?  Under our new covenant it may no longer be a matter of a holy building, but on the other hand it is a matter of a holy spiritual edifice.  So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Eph 2:19-22.

            So as part of that spiritual and holy building I must be aware of keeping it holy.  When God’s people profaned his physical Temple, he left it.  Do you think He won’t do the same to us if we cannot even define holiness, much less recognize it?  So how do we keep it holy, how do we make a distinction between the holy and the common?

            Peter tells us that our conduct can keep us from being holy.  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1Pet 1:14-16.  That ought to be obvious.  But how about things not quite so obvious?

            Ezekiel tells us that it is possible to profane the name of God by the gifts that we offer (20:39).  In his day the people were guilty of worshipping God on the Sabbath and then worshipping the idols the rest of the time.  That made their Sabbath service “unholy.”  What do we worship?  On what do we spend far more time, money, and energy than we do serving God?  When God is neglected, the things that fill our time, even things that might not be wrong things, make our service profane.

            Here is another example:  You shall not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a dog [a male prostitute], into the house of Jehovah your God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination unto Jehovah your God. Deut 23:18.  If the gift I give comes from an unholy place or method, God will not accept it.  It matters what we do for a living.  It matters where our offerings come from. 

            Consider all the things that God designates as holy—His Temple the church, the offices in that church, the commandments, the Word, the scriptures, the Law, the priesthood and nation (also the church), our greeting to one another, and I could go on and on.  Just run a search on the word “holy” with a Bible program as I did and you will find all these and more.  We are to show somehow that we understand the difference between these sacred things and the ordinary things of the world. 

            So what does that mean in daily life?  I think it might mean something different in each culture.  It might not mean that I must put on a three piece suit to bring my offering, but it certainly means I must clean up my heart before I even attempt to offer it.  Didn’t Jesus say to leave one’s gift at the altar and first make amends with a brother?  Surely the state of my heart affects my gifts in several ways. 

           As for the gifts of worship themselves, it may not mean we must sing four part harmony in straight quadruple rhythm at a constant adagio (slow and somber) pace, but maybe it means I must be careful about singing the Holy Word of God to something that sounds like it came out of a jukebox on the “Happy Days” set.  Here is what worries me the most:  can we even see that some things might be inappropriate?  If Ezekiel told us we were no longer making a distinction between the holy and the common, would we have any idea what he was talking about?  Do we make the arrogant and presumptuous mistake of saying to God, “Your thoughts are my thoughts and I’d like this gift, so surely you would?”  Did that work when you bought your wife a vacuum cleaner for your anniversary?

           When I bring my sacrifices to God, whether it is a life lived in holiness or my songs of praise or the gift of my increase, I must realize that this is something special in the eyes of God, that He expects me to bring it with holy hands and a holy heart and the seriousness that speaks of recognizing my obligations before a holy God.  Moses was told to take off his shoes because he was standing on Holy ground.  What are we willing to shed to show God the reverence He has always required of His people?
 
“There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. 1Sam 2:2
 
Dene Ward

He never gets any attention; she gets it all.  Any sacrifice on his part is not mentioned.  Any responsibility placed on his shoulders is not recognized.  You would think he was unnecessary to the plan, but you would be wrong.

            In a Jewish family, the man was definitely the head of the house.  He was responsible not only for providing for his family, but for their protection and their religious upbringing. This man did it all, without complaint and without receiving any glory, other than an almost casual mention.  He evidently died young and never even saw the promise come to pass, even after a lifetime of bearing ridicule or shame, depending upon who was talking about him, in order to help it happen.

            Like another Joseph before him he was the son of Jacob (Matt 1:16).  He thought he had chosen well, a young lady--very young by our standards--from a good family, also in the lineage of David.  The kiddushin had begun, the year of betrothal, and suddenly his world turned upside down.  His wife, for so his betrothed one was called though they as yet were not married, had turned up pregnant, at least three months by the time he found out.  Now what?

            He was a kind man who would not shame her, so he was ready to seek a quiet divorce (1:19), the only way to end a betrothal.  But God sent the angel Gabriel to reassure him.  Mary was not lying, she was not hallucinating.  She really was pregnant, but not by another man.  She had not been unfaithful to him.  God was the father of this unborn child, and he was putting that child’s safety and well-being into the hands of Joseph.

            So Joseph was faced with this horrible shame for the rest of his life.  Either people would think he had no self-control, that he and Mary had committed fornication as many were still saying thirty-three years later (John 8:41), or they would think he was a cuckold, too weak to put her away.  Joseph could have been consumed with pride in either case and simply said no, but he didn’t.  He took Mary as his wife.

            Almost immediately he found himself in danger of King Herod, a cruel and ruthless man who had no problem killing his own sons, much less someone else’s.  Joseph found himself fleeing to a land several hundred miles distant to save the life of a child that not only delayed his marriage but put his own life in danger, a child that was not even his.  Yet he fulfilled his duty to protect and provide, finally returning to his home town Nazareth, where all the gossips lived, and working his whole life to provide food, clothing, and shelter, and teaching this child a trade, just as if he were his own.  Somehow he managed to overlook the problems this woman had caused him, and raised a large family with her, at least four more sons and uncounted daughters (Mark 6:3).

            They tell women that men have fragile egos, that we should be careful of the things we say and do, things that might make him feel less a man.  No one watched out for Joseph’s ego.  He took it all, evidently without a word, simply because he was a righteous man who lived by faith.  He fulfilled his duty, never expecting and never receiving any glory in this life.  He took care of a child who changed the world.  He kept him safe, and helped raise him to be able to fulfill his own duty, one even harder than Joseph’s. 

            We often point out the great humility of Jesus.  Seems to me he “got it honest” as we so often say.  He had a great example in his “father.”  What kind of example are you leaving your children—that of someone who needs praise in order to feel manly, or someone who simply fulfills the obligations God has laid on his shoulders, regardless the inconvenience and pain, and whether anyone else notices or not?
 
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned, Rom 12:3.
 
Dene Ward

“By Christ Redeemed” is a Lord’s Supper hymn, specifically designed for that purpose by the author of the words, George Rawson.  Rawson was born in Leeds, England on June 5, 1807, and practiced law there for many years.  He wrote several hymns and helped compile at least one collection.  His hymns are known for refinement of thought and propriety of language.  In today’s atmosphere of informality in every place and circumstance, that may be why we seldom sing them any longer.  And it is our loss.

            We did sing this particular hymn not long ago, the first time in years, and I noticed a somewhat puzzling phrase in what was our third, and last verse (he originally wrote six verses).

          And thus that dark betrayal night
          with the last advent we unite,
          by one bright chain of loving rite,
          until he come.

With what “advent” do we “unite” and how?


            An advent is an arrival or a coming.  The disciples were told as Jesus ascended, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11.  Paul adds in 1 Cor 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” It is the coming of the Lord that we are speaking of and we are to take the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis until that happens.

            Paul says this in a context of unity that begins earlier than chapter 11—we are all one body and therefore we partake of the one bread.  If you follow carefully through several chapters, you will see that the “body” we are supposed to be “discerning” is the Lord’s body, the church.  We are communing not just with the Lord, but with each other.  Why else would it matter that we are to do it “When we are come together?”  When we tuck our noses into our navels and ignore one another as the plates are passed, we are missing the point.  Taking the Supper should unite us as we consider that we were all sinners and we were all saved by the same sacrifice. 

           And far more profound is this:  we are also connecting with our spiritual ancestors.  Each of us, as we take the Lord’s Supper, unite with a long chain of believers, hundreds of thousands—perhaps even millions by this time--in showing our faith that he will indeed come again.
 
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1Thess 4:16-18
 
Dene Ward

I remember visiting my grandmothers when I was a child, sometimes just a day, sometimes a weekend, and once or twice a whole week after we moved away.  It was usually summer and neither of them had air conditioners, and though I know it was as hot as it is nowadays, I don’t remember it.  I sat on their front porches much of the day, the swing making its own breeze as I dangled my bare feet over the cool, smooth, gray-painted plank floor.  One porch was out in the country next to a grove of oranges and kumquats with horses grazing in the pasture behind it.  The other was in the middle of town, its steps fronting on Main Street, and we would watch people go by as we hid in the cool shade behind a morning glory vine growing up and across the porch columns and over the roof.

            My grandmothers never tired of talking to me, answering every question I asked, telling stories of “the olden days” that fascinated me because they seemed so foreign to my life.  I couldn’t imagine a house with no electricity and no running water.  I couldn’t imagine life with no television set droning on in the background. 

            I enjoyed those times with my parents too, their stories of playing without real toys, Christmases that brought an orange and some nuts and maybe a little hard candy in a stocking, and washing clothes with a wringer washer.  I remember my mother telling about her grandmother, a woman who rose before light to make a breakfast of pork chops, eggs, grits, gravy, and biscuits every morning while the men were out doing the first chores, a meal filling enough to last them through a day of hard farm work in southern Georgia. 

            My own boys liked to ask about our childhoods while we sat shucking corn every summer.  Silking was their job, tedious work that invited a lot of talking and listening just to keep yourself going until it was done.   Their dad grew up on the side of a hill in the Ozarks in an old stone house without running water, only bare light bulbs in each room, and a bucket of drinking water in the kitchen on which his mother would sometimes have to break a layer of ice on a cold winter morning.  He could tell stories about milking cows before school at the age of 6, a small school where two grades sat in each class, about pushing his bed up against the chimney in the unfinished attic to stay warm, and taking baths on the back porch in the summer.

            Sharing these things is important.  This is the way one generation connects to the next.  Knowing where we came from answers many of the natural longings we all have, and helps us to find meaning in our lives.  I worry about the children now, who scarcely have any time with their parents at all, much less enough time for stories about their pasts and the questions that should instantly follow.  It also leads to questions and stories about more important things, and makes them far more willing to listen to you when it counts.

            God has always expected his people to make time to talk to their children.

            And when in time to come your son asks you, 'What does this mean?' you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.' It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt." Ex 13:14-16.

            And Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever." Josh 4:5-7.

            When your son asks you in time to come, 'What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?' then you shall say to your son, 'We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Deut 6:20-21.

            What happens when a generation arises that doesn’t know these things? And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah, nor yet the work which he had wrought for Israel. And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, Judg 2:10,11.

            That’s why this is so important.  Talk to your children today, or your grandchildren, or even your neighbor’s children.  Make a connection to them that will bring them closer to you and through that, closer to God.  If you think you don’t have the time, then give something up.  Providing them a physical inheritance isn’t nearly as important as providing them a spiritual one.

            Find yourself a “front porch” and make use of it before it’s too late.
 
Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah, And his strength, and his wondrous works that he has done. That the generation to come might know, even the children that should be born; Who should arise and tell it to their children, That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments, Psalm 78:4,6,7.
 
Dene Ward

If you have been with me long, or in any of my classes, you know that I do my best to make my lessons practical.  Too many sermons end up short of the mark.  They are all theory, all concept, all theology, and fail to tell the listener how to apply those ideas to their lives in a concrete way.  “It’s up to the listener to apply it,” I heard one preacher say, which misses the most obvious point in the world: if it were easy to do, surely we would have done it already.  And then there is the big stumbling block for us all:  Applying the scriptures to my life means I must examine myself for faults that need correcting, and who is eager to do that!?   

Read the prophets sometime.  They were specific in their catalog of sins. 
Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined. Amos 2:6-8.

Do you think that was specific enough?  Read Micah, Hosea, and Malachi.  They are all that way, and they were not the first.  “Thou art the man,” Nathan told David, leaving no room for doubt in David’s mind.  Concrete applications should be part of every lesson if for no other reason than to help people learn how to make those applications to themselves.

I recently sat in a hospitality “workshop” given by a wonderful sister in the Lord named Patricia Miozza, the very ideal of hospitality herself.  Yes, we studied the scriptures and talked about the sacred obligation that hospitality is and always has been.  But after that we put feet to the lesson, learning exactly how to offer warm hospitality.  We talked about excuses and how to overcome them.  We talked about the various methods of showing hospitality.  Then we even talked about making guests comfortable in our homes in an extremely practical way.  Patricia called it “The Hospitality Challenge,” and since I will be using her material, far be it from me to change the title.  Besides, it fits because for many of us it is a challenge, but one I hope you will take.

For the next few Mondays I will share with you Patricia’s eminently practical suggestions for us as we all do our best to practice this God-given duty.
 
Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Heb 13:1-2
 
Dene Ward

Imagine my surprise when I went to a workshop on essential oils and the speaker opened her presentation with that statement.  Quickly she went on to explain, and I have appreciated her even more as a sister in Christ since then.

            This young woman uses the oils.  She enjoys them in her bath, on her skin, and diffused in the air around her.  However, she does not believe that they imbue people with spiritual powers.

            “I am a Christian,” she said.  “What some people claim these oils do for you is done for me through Christ and the Word.  Period.”  Once she began to list the claims, and once I did my own research, I have uttered a hearty amen.

            So what do they claim?  The following is only a partial list, and remember, each of these things is supposed to be “spiritual,” so, for example, when it lists “strength,” it means spiritual strength, not muscular strength.  Keep everything in that context.
            Fennel—perseverance
            Grapefruit—generosity
            Helichrysum—patience
            Myrtle—ability to forgive
            Palmarosa—faithfulness
            Parsley—purification
            Sandalwood—unity
            Pine—humility
            Juniper—sincerity and enlightenment
            Myrrh—spirituality
            Cedarwood—regeneration
            Agrimony—protection
            Chamomile—spiritual awareness, inner peace
            Bay laurel—confidence
            Bergamot—joy
            Cinnamon—love
            Angelica--comfort
            (www.mauldinfaily1.wordpress.com, “mama bear musings”)
This isn’t even half the list, but it contains most of the “spiritual blessings” these oils are supposed to impart. 

            Some people also ascribe “magical” powers to essential oils.  Magic?  Yes, as in potions to protect you and grant you good health and good luck or to put a hex on one’s enemies.  This is exactly how the pagans used oils in ancient times, as indicated by many of the Bible verses that condemn the practice of such “magic.”   Remember too, that most of the verses used to claim Biblical authority for using “essential oils” at all are referring to plain old olive oil, the stuff you and I cook with.  Yes, other oils are mentioned by name, but with the exception of the table of incense in the tabernacle and the Temple, I could find none used in the worship of God.  (Please show me if I am wrong.)

            Before we get to this matter of spiritual benefits, let’s clear up a couple of other things.  Proponents of essential oils say that they were used in Biblical times and were even found in King Tut’s tomb.  Let me quote:  “…aromatic materials were used in Biblical times…but these materials would not have been essential oils, at least not by today’s definition of being steam distilled products.”  Steam distillation was not even invented until the 11th century, over 2000 years after King Tut’s death.  (www.weedemandreap.com, “10 Essential Oil Myths vs Fact” by Dr Robert Pappas)

            Others lean heavily on the fact that the wise men brought frankincense and myrrh to the house where the toddler Jesus was living in Bethlehem.  Besides these gifts having more to do with the nature of the Messiah as the future king, priest, and sacrifice, it probably financed, along with the gold, the flight to Egypt the poor, newly married couple had to make to save their child’s life.  And, as quoted above, it wasn’t even the same thing as those two materials today.

            As for the “magical” properties, I seriously hope I don’t have to say much about that.  Those things are condemned in both the Old and New Testaments not just as sins, but as “abominations to the LORD.”  No Christian should ever believe such things or use these oils in that way.

            For those spiritual properties, let’s examine the scriptures.  In no particular order:
2 Cor 5:17—God has made us new creatures in Christ (regeneration)
Rom 12:5—we have unity in Christ (and many more passages)
2 John 1:3—we have grace, mercy, and peace through God and Jesus Christ
2 Cor 2:17—sincerity shows when one speaks in Christ
Phil 2:1—encouragement and comfort are found in Christ
Eph 3:12—we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him
Eph 1:18—Paul prays for our enlightenment, in this context, in him
1 Pet 1:22—we are purified by our obedience to the truth
Gal 5:22-26—the fruit of the Spirit (love , joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) comes when we put to death the deeds of the body and are led by the Spirit, a very good definition of spirituality.
And should anyone still be doubtful, Eph 1:3—God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.  “Every” should cover anything I missed in the lists above.

            If I need these oils in order to be able to forgive someone, why didn’t God make sure I knew about it in His Word?  In fact, He does tell me that if I do not forgive I will not be forgiven, so this is a serious matter.  If I need some sandalwood in order to have unity, why weren’t the first century Christians told to find some and use it?  Their unity, Jesus said, would make the world believe.  Are we consigning people to Hell because we don’t have any sandalwood in our assemblies?  If I need parsley for purification, surely God would have told us that it wasn’t just the blood of Jesus that purified us.  I think you can probably see my point by now.

            When the Jews started relying upon horses, chariots, political alliances and false gods, God destroyed them.  I think you can add essential oils to the list if they are being touted as “necessary to purification and spirituality.”  Even if we believe they just “help,” we are on dangerous ground.  When God supplies something, it’s enough.

            If you enjoy using essential oils in your own home, please do so.  I enjoyed passing them around and smelling them.  And it certainly was an eye-opener to me about how generous those wise men were with their gifts.  One ounce of frankincense (that’s 2 tablespoons) was listed at $97.00.  I believe they brought Jesus far more than that (and remember it was NOT exactly the same thing).

            But if you claim to be a disciple of our Lord, you need to be careful what you believe about these things.  You owe it to Him to make sure that your companions do not tar you with the same brush as those who make unscriptural claims.  They need to hear that while you may enjoy these oils you worship the Creator, not the creation. 

            Do not undermine the all-sufficiency of Christ by claiming that these oils can do for anyone what he does for those who are “in him.”  It’s nothing less than blasphemous to say that “essential oils” can impart the same spiritual blessings that He can.
 
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Heb 13:20-21
 
Dene Ward

Since late last year it has begun to look like things are on a downward trend.  Before long there may very well be more surgeries, even riskier than before.  I usually cope fairly well, but one morning the blues hit particularly hard.  I was out with Chloe and came upon the morning glories.  We saw more blooms that day than any before, at least five shades of blue and purple, and a lilac-throated white as well.

            Why I did it, I don’t know, but I began assigning names to each blossom, names of people who have been special blessings to me during this journey toward blindness.  At first I thought I would run out of names before I ran out of blooms.  Higher and higher my eyes roamed, spotting another and another, and yet another bloom ten feet above the ground.  When I ran out of blooms I still had a dozen names left over.

            Suddenly my steps became springier and my mood brightened.  Look how many people have been there for me, driving me all over, picking up medications for me, sending cards, calling, bringing meals, giving me an encouraging word, and often a hug, even helping me with some of the earlier expenses that the insurance company wouldn’t touch, and always praying. 

            “My grace is sufficient,” Jesus told Paul when he had prayed for the thorn to be removed.  “It doesn’t need to be removed; you just have to trust that I will help you through it.”  He has certainly given me ample help.   

            Too many times, instead of looking up to count the blooms, I am looking down to count the weeds.  Do you know what?  There were far more blooms than weeds that morning, and it is so in my life as well.  In fact, some of those blooms once were weeds, but through the grace of the Lord working in our lives, the two of us managed to make a new relationship that we both count as blooms now.  In some cases, the grace that made this happen were the very trials we prayed to have removed.

            So today, as you walk through your life’s garden, don’t look down and count the weeds.  Look up and count the blossoms that hang from the vine of Christ’s grace, the grace he promised would help you overcome, would make you stronger, and would cover any weaknesses you still might have after giving your all.  Put a name on every one of those blossoms.  I imagine you will have names left over too, names you forget about when your mind stays too long in the weeds, people who have made the hard times easier to bear, and who will hold you up when life beats too hard for you to stand on your own. 

            God is the reason those blooms are there, as He sheds yet more grace into your life, promising that nothing will happen that is too hard for you to bear, and that you will never have to bear it alone.        
 
Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand,  Isa 41:10.
 
Dene Ward

A few mornings back Keith and I took our last cup of coffee to the carport and sat in our nylon lounge chairs, the kind with the attached pillow you can flip over the back if you do not care to use it. We did use them, both of us, and leaned back, watching the mockingbird flit back and forth to its nest in the bloom-laden rose trellis and the hummingbirds guard their two feeders like Fort Knox. A couple of squirrels ran along the “highway,” a route they use every day from one live oak top to another, down the limbs and across the fence.  Off in the distance a hawk screamed, a rooster crowed, and a wild turkey gobbled.  Occasionally we flipped a treat out for Chloe to chase.  It was still the middle of spring, cool and bugless, humidity low for a Florida morning, low enough that the scent of jasmine reached us from the vine a good 75 feet down the drive. 

After twenty minutes or so, we got up to start our morning. As soon as Keith stood, a snake slithered out from under his pillow, down the back of the chair and dropped onto the carport. Our chairs are only six inches apart. If that thing had stuck its head out between us from under the pillow, judging by the roar when he saw it, Keith might have had a heart attack, and I might still be running.  Talk about “Flight Paths”—I would have made a good one.

Guess what we do every morning now?  That’s right. We flip those pillows back and look under them before we sit down.  People say habits are hard to break.  We didn’t have a bit of trouble breaking ourselves of sitting down before we looked.  Depends upon the motivation, I guess.  Maybe that’s why we have such a hard time breaking ourselves of sinful habits—we enjoy them too much, or we just don’t think they are that important.

From another perspective, we didn’t have a bit of trouble creating a new habit either.  Same reason—motivation.  I really do not want to think about a snake lying under the pillow I am leaning my head against, or the possibility of it slithering down my back, do you?

So why can’t we make new habits to rid ourselves of that besetting sin in our lives?  Can’t I learn to pray for self-control before I leave the house when I know I have trouble behind the wheel?  Can’t I learn to recite a few passages about longsuffering and kindness just before I walk into a meeting with that particularly obnoxious colleague?  Can’t I learn to avoid situations that I know will tempt me instead of purposefully putting my soul in harm’s way?  Of course I can, if I care enough, if I believe God would want me to do so, if I think of Him instead of me and my stubborn will. 

AND, if I believe that Satan is real, that he is out there trying to find a way to make me fall.  He is, you know.  He is right under that pillow, waiting for you to sit down without a care in the world and lean your vulnerable neck back into reach of his fangs.

Change a habit today.  LOOK! before you sit down.
 
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Rom 13:14
 
Dene Ward

I have three bluebird houses.  I wondered one day what made a bird house a bluebird house and got an education I didn’t expect. 
            Did you know that bluebirds were once on the brink of extinction?  Their habitat was slowly disappearing.  Orchards with carefully pruned trees meant no more cavities in the trunks and branches, their preferred nesting sites.  Pesticides meant fewer insects for them to eat, and many of the bugs that survived were tainted with poison that killed the birds that ate them.  Encroaching civilization meant more house sparrows (which are not true sparrows) and starlings to steal their nests.  Bluebird houses put up by interested people and their careful monitoring of the nests has, almost single-handedly, saved them.
            But still, I wondered, what makes it a bluebird house?  Bluebird houses are built in dimensions bluebirds like, shallow depth of 3½ to 5 inches.  I guess they like it cozy.  A good bluebird house has good drainage and cross ventilation.  It also has no perch outside the entrance, which keeps away predators.  A sparrow-proof bluebird house will have a slot entrance instead of a round hole because sparrows do not like slots, while bluebirds don’t mind them. 
            As for the monitoring, songbirds have a notoriously bad sense of smell, so it is perfectly acceptable to open the houses and check the nest and the fledglings every day for parasites or “squatters.”  Monitors can even rebuild the nest if parasites are found without upsetting the bluebird.  They also know the different types of nests and remove the ones that are not bluebird nests.  After a successful clutch has hatched and flown, they remove the old nest and clean it out for the next. 
            Do you think I can’t get any lessons out of this?  Watch me.
            Too many times we get picky about the people we share the gospel with.  I have heard things like, “We need to convert them.  They’d be a good addition to the church,” a thought based upon the lifestyle and income of the family in question rather than their need for the gospel.  We “sparrow-proof” the church by making it unfriendly and unattractive to the people we don’t want to deal with—who wants people with real problems? 
            We aren’t the only ones with that bad attitude.  The Pharisees thought it terrible that Jesus taught sinners.  At least four times in the book of Luke we see them approaching either him or the disciples asking why he associated with such wicked people, (5:30; 7:39; 15:1,2; 19:7).  They turned their noses up at the very people they should have been trying to save.
            The first Christians were Jewish.  Guess who they did not want the apostles to convert?  Peter had to defend himself after he converted the Gentile Cornelius, Acts 11.  Defend himself, mind you, because he saved souls! 
            Then in James 2 we read of a church that didn’t want poor people among them.  They went out of their way NOT to welcome anyone who was not obviously well-to-do.
            If you have not seen attitudes like these, you are either blessed in the congregation you find yourself a part of, or not very old.  Keith was once chastised for bringing the “wrong class” of people to church.  They came from “the other side of the tracks.”
            The Lord didn’t die just for the bluebirds.  He died for those squawking, brash blue jays too.  He died for those territorial cardinals.  He died for those common, ordinary, dime-a-dozen sparrows.  He even died for those disgusting buzzards.  All those people need salvation too, not just the bluebirds. 
            Jesus told the Pharisees who questioned him three parables.  The last, the lost son, included an older brother who obviously did not want his little brother saved.  Jesus made it plain that the older brother was as much in need of grace as the younger.  It had to be obvious to those Pharisees that his remarks were directed to them.  They are directed to us too, when we try to make his house “for bluebirds only.”
 
For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;  and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again.  From now on therefore we regard no one according to the flesh… 2 Cor 5:14-16.
 
Dene Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Keith Ward.
 
I am not noted for my patience unless you count the fact that bodies are not strewn in my wake through the day. I am no more patient with myself than with others. I have a 3 way plug on the end of the drop cord that comes to the carport from the shed. It runs the blower and, on summer mornings, the 18" fan that cools us and keeps the bugs blown away while we have our third cup of coffee. So, today, I needed it for the blower and instead of unplugging the fan, I unplugged the drop cord from the 3 way--for about the 43rd time in the last month. "YOU WOULD THINK YOU WOULD KNOW BETTER BY NOW!!” I muttered....well, given my hearing and that I had ear-plugs in to preserve some of the remainder of it from the blower, who knows how loud I was. As I plugged it back in and began blowing off the screened porch and carport, I thought that perhaps, just maybe, now and then, God feels that way about me--"He ought to know better than that by now!"
 
I can quote a lot more scripture than I can live: I have known the line, “as we forgive those who trespass against us,” for about 55 years. Yet I pray forgiveness of things I knew better than to do and get impatient with people who merely do irritating things in traffic.

I pray he just plugs me back in and proceeds with whatever chore I am suitable for.

Maybe, I need to remember that with others? I suspect I would have fired a worker who made the same mistake that many times? How about the brethren?
 
Maybe I need to quit praying or get real about being patient?
 
 
​For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, ​but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matt 6:14-15
 
 
Keith Ward