Dene's Blog

Taking the Time

6/4/2015 0 Comments

Lucas manages in a supermarket deli. He had to run to another store, one he had worked in a year and a half before, to pick up something his store had run out of. Several customers recognized him, asked how he was, told him how much they missed him since his promotion, and asked where he was working. It made him feel good; what would have done even more for him, was for those same folks to take the time to tell the store manager the same thing or, better yet, go to the company website and send an email to corporate, or a snail mail to the district office. “Lucas Ward is a great guy. We really miss him at the Spring Hill store. He deserves a promotion.” (If you live in the area, please take careful notes!)

   Lucas tells us that for every compliment, the store receives at least 5 or 6 complaints. It isn’t because the store is so bad, or the employees. It is because we are all far quicker to complain than to compliment. When you remember that your words can make or break a career, shouldn’t Christians be far more careful about this? I have made it a point in the past few years to compliment workers who go out of their way for me. I also try to speak to a manager or send a letter. I listen for people’s names and repeat them back at some point. If you are not receiving good service, you might be surprised at how much better your service instantly becomes when the server knows you can call him by name. They know you have noticed them as people.   Isn’t that what Jesus always did, notice the folks that no one else ever paid any attention to?

   In our travels to other cities for my medical treatments, we stayed in one hotel twice within a six month period. On the second visit, the waitress in the restaurant remembered us. “You are the only ones who ever talked to me like I was a real person,” she said. “The others treat me like furniture.” That same morning I left my purse in the restaurant. Most of our travel money was in that purse, which was why I did not leave it in the room. That waitress did not know our names, but she described us to the front desk—“A couple from Florida. The wife is here for eye surgery”—and was standing outside our hotel room door with the purse before I even noticed it was missing. The hotel received a letter about her after we returned home. I hope it helped her as much as she helped us.

   Christians should never be the ones making a scene at the supermarket because we opened up the flour and found weevils in it. Christians simply take it back and quietly ask for a refund or a replacement. Christians should never be the ones ordering waitresses around as if they were slaves, or barking at every little thing that isn’t just right. Surely we can ask for something in a civil tone and say thank you when the item is brought to us. Surely we can say, “I’m sorry to cause you trouble but this steak is a little underdone. Could you possibly give it another minute or two?” How much does it hurt to be kind instead of mean? How much does it hurt to be like Jesus?

   And think about this: What if that waitress walks into services Sunday morning because she has seen a sign or a tract, or a neighbor has invited her, and there sits the biggest grouch she ever waited on? What is it the Lord said about millstones and stumblingblocks?

   If instead, she sees some of the nicest people she has ever served, I bet she will be more likely to listen and then to come back. I had much rather be in that situation than the other.

Give no occasions of stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God: even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved, 1 Cor 10:32,33.

Dene Ward

As the Butterfly Goes

6/3/2015 0 Comments

My big flower bed on the south side of the shed attracts butterflies by the score. Every day I see both white and yellow sulfurs, tiny blue hairstreaks, huge brown and yellow swallowtails, and glorious orange monarchs and viceroys flitting from bloom to bloom. Sometimes it’s hard to tell where the bloom stops and the butterfly begins amid all those big yellow black-eyed Susans, multicolored zinnias, and purple petunias.

   But have you ever watched a butterfly? If you and I decided to go somewhere the way a butterfly goes, it would take all day to get there. We have a saying: “as the crow flies,” meaning a straight line course. A butterfly couldn’t fly a straight line no matter how hard it tried—it would always fail the state trooper’s sobriety test.

   Some of us live our spiritual lives like butterflies. We seem to think that waking up in the morning and allowing life to just “happen” is the way to go. No wonder we don’t grow. No wonder we fail again and again at the same temptations. No wonder we don’t know more about the Word of God this year than last, and no wonder we can’t stand the trials of faith.

   Some folks think that going to church is the plan. That’s why their neighbors would be surprised to find out they are Christians—Sunday is their only day of service. Others refuse to acknowledge any weakness they need to work on. It rankles their pride to admit they need to improve on anything, and because they won’t admit anything specific, they never do improve.

   Some folks make their life decisions with no consideration at all for their spiritual health, or the good of the kingdom. The stuff of this life matters the most, and only after that do they give the spiritual a thought, if at all, and it is to be dismissed if it means anything untoward for their physical comfort, convenience, status, or wealth.

   The only plans they have for their children is their physical welfare—how they will do in school, where they will go to college, what career they will pursue. They must get their schoolwork, but their parents don’t even know what they are studying in Bible classes, much less make sure they get their lessons. It’s too much trouble to take them to spiritual gatherings of other young Christians. And have you seen how much those camps cost?! Probably less than a year’s worth of cell phone service and much less than the car they buy those same kids.

   Where is the plan for this family’s spiritual growth? Where is their devotion to a God they claim as Lord? If their children do end up faithful, it will be in spite of these parents, not because of them.

   God expects us to have a plan. The writer of the seventeenth psalm had one. “I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress,” he says in verse 3, and then later, “I have avoided the ways of the violent, my steps have held fast to your paths,” (4b,5a). He made a vow and he kept it. He mapped his life out to stay away from evil and on the road to his Father.

   How are you doing as you fly through life—and it does fly, people! Are you flitting here and there, around one bush and over another, out of the flower bed entirely once in awhile, then back in for a quick sip of nectar before heading off in whichever direction the wind blows? Or do you have a plan, a map to get you past the pitfalls with as little danger as possible, to the necessary stops for revival and refreshing, but then straight back on the road to your next life?

   Do you know what the term social butterfly means? It’s someone who flits from group to group. Perhaps not so much now, but originally the term was one of ridicule. I wonder what God would think of a spiritual butterfly who has no focus on the spiritual things of this life, but flits from one thing to other and always on a carnal whim rather than a spiritual one. I wonder if He would think that butterfly wouldn’t be able to appreciate an eternity of spiritual things either.

…And [Barnabas] exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith... Acts 11:23,24.

Dene Ward

Sage Advice

6/2/2015 1 Comments

I get these questions so often, let’s kill two birds with one stone today.

    Q. How do you use all those herbs you grow?

   A. Dill is good in any mayonnaise based salad—potato salad, tuna salad, macaroni salad, etc. I use it in a great cucumber salad and also in my own homemade tartar sauce and deviled eggs.

   Basil is good in anything with tomatoes. Throw the leaves of red basil leaves whole in a salad for color as well as taste. When using basil in long cooking items like marinara, be sure to add another sprinkle fresh at the end, just before serving. And anyone with a basil plant needs to learn how to make pesto, the ultimate basil sauce.

   Rosemary goes with poultry, pork, and lamb. Sage goes with poultry, pork and beef. Thyme is good with chicken and beef. Tarragon is good with veal and chicken, particularly chicken salad. Use chives when you want a mild onion flavor but not the sharpness of a raw onion. Parsley goes just about anywhere, and not just for garnish.

   At Thanksgiving, think of Simon and Garfunkel when you season your bird: “parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme,” but I usually leave rosemary out of the dressing. And the best potatoes you will ever eat are small red potatoes, steamed about twenty minutes with butter, salt, and pepper only, and finished with a heaping handful of mixed chives, parsley, and dill. That will get you started using herbs, and you can experiment to discover more.

   Q. How do you take care of herbs?

   A. Generally speaking, herbs do not like wet feet, so use well-drained soil. During our recent drought years, I have never gone wrong by watering several days a week, and fertilizing at least once a week with a liquid fertilizer for house plants or vegetables. Better soils might not need so much.

   When you harvest, cut the thickest stems near the bottom. In fact, cut chives at ground level to insure continued growth. Most of the time you only use the leaves. With rosemary and thyme, pull backwards down the stems to remove the leaves easily. If the stem is so tender that it breaks, then just chop it along with the leaves. For other plants, the leaves will easily pull off.

   As a general rule, don’t let your herbs bloom. Pinch the buds off as they appear, as well as any leaves or stems that get past their prime and turn yellow. Blossoms will take away from the leaves and will turn some herbs bitter.

   Now what is all that advice worth? Well, if you don’t live in Florida, it is not worth as much as if you do. If you live in South Florida, it might not be worth much either. For you to be sure my advice will work for you, we have to live in the same place. I am in Zone 9 on all those gardening maps, a zone unto itself. We have frosts and freezes fairly often in December and January, and even as late as April or as early as November. On the other hand, once the nighttime temperatures stay above 72, which can happen in early June, the tomatoes stop setting their blooms, and by late June tomatoes and melons may boil in the afternoon sun.

   We all understand that you should think about where you get your advice. I use the Union County (Florida) Extension Office. If you live anywhere else, you shouldn’t. As many questions as I get, it seems to me that many people are anxious to receive advice on this subject. Why aren’t we that smart with spiritual things? I think the answer is a five letter word—pride. How much sense does that make? Wouldn’t it be a shame if that kept us from finding help with things much more important that growing and cooking with herbs?

   Consider for a moment, the young teenager who was told that she would give birth to the Son of God. Think about the difficulties she was about to face—perhaps the most difficult ones of telling her parents and her betrothed husband that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit; even if they believed her, the rest of the community could still count to nine and Gabriel was not likely to visit them all. Where did she immediately turn for support and advice? She went to her older, wiser relative Elizabeth, herself a mother-to-be under miraculous and difficult circumstances. She had already dealt with whispers for six months and became an example of reward after long endurance. They shared faith in a common destiny, evidenced by continuing miracles, including the silence of a miraculously stricken Zacharias. Even at her young age, Mary was wise in choosing to whom she would turn for advice.

   On the hand we have Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, who, instead of listening to the older wiser counselors who had been there with his father, listened to his young hot-headed friends and wound up losing the majority of his kingdom for it, 1 Kings 12:6-11.

   God knew we would need help as we lived our lives. That is one reason he set things up as he did—families with older generations to help the younger, and churches with the wisdom of elders and older brethren. Look for people who have more knowledge of the scriptures than you do. Look for people who have had success, who have come safely through the same trials you are facing, who, in other words, live where you do. God has given us ample help if we will only take advantage of it, so much, in fact, that ignorance will be no excuse. It will simply be a mask for pride.

Aged women likewise be reverent in demeanor, not slanderers nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good; that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed: the younger men likewise exhort to be sober-minded…likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, Titus 2:3-6; 1 Pet 5:5.

Dene Ward

A Handful of Wildflowers

6/1/2015 0 Comments

Every afternoon following our midday meal, we walk our property, counting new blooms on the roses, smelling the jasmine, looking beneath those large scratchy leaves for new squash blossoms. Usually I end up with a handful of wildflowers, blooms so tiny I cannot see them until Keith hands me one I can pull up close.

Do you know what I see? Blooms of all colors--red, pink, blue, white, yellow, orange, purple in all shades and combinations—and shapes—bells, tubes, bowls, cups, stars with five or six points, some flared, some rayed, some as complex as orchids. And did you know that even the stems are different? Some are wiry, some are leafless, some are hairy, some sprawl and others stand up straight, and some are square! Some of these flowers are exquisite, but most of us don’t know that. We’ve never taken the time to bend over and really look.

   A long time ago a woman who has since become a close friend, told me that looking across the pews at Keith had made her think he was stern and unapproachable, and so she had decided to make it a point to get to know him. It wasn’t really Keith’s fault. He has large, piercing blue eyes that look like they’re boring into you, a strong Roman nose, and a voice that, because he is profoundly deaf, is always in projection mode. Even when he isn’t, he often sounds disapproving, and is always loud, which is often translated “angry.” A lot of people just go with that first impression. This woman did not, and she proclaimed that year of getting to know him “delightful.”   I wonder how many others have missed out on that delight, how many have formed an opinion, and kept it despite what others might have said.

   How many do we overlook? The elderly because we think them dull and uninteresting? The teenagers because we’ve branded them all shallow and naïve? The disabled because we think they have nothing to offer? The scholarly and intellectual because we think those dry old men can’t possibly know how to have any fun? The ones who seems so well put-together because we think they wouldn’t possibly want anything to do with “someone like me?” None of these judgments is fair.

Jesus told the Jews, “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment,” John 7:24. Maybe I should take the time (sacrifice) to bend over (be humble) and examine (make some effort) a few wildflowers out there, instead of passing over them (negligence) as if they weren’t worth my trouble (arrogance). When I think of it that way, I finally understand why judging by appearance is NOT righteous.

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1Sam 16:7                                 Dene Ward

Addicts: Everyone of Us!

5/29/2015 0 Comments

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

“Remember not the sins of my youth” -- These are words from a currently popular song, in turn taken from David’s words in Psa 25:7.

Now why should we or David either be worried about sins of long ago –long, long ago for some of us? We and he repented, we/he confessed, we/he prayed. We were forgiven—long ago.

But, I confess that the temptations that BESET me are those same sins that started in my youth. Perhaps in that time of hubris, Satan finds our weakest character trait and attacks and lodges arrows whose tips bedevil us with the pain of sin all our lives.

To illustrate: The popular kids in high school cussed and so did I. (Shame on me). I kept that world separate from home and Mom never knew—provable by the fact that the only scars on my hide are bullet holes and various self-inflicted accidental wounds. I got to college and waxed worse, still leading singing and making talks. Then I obtained a master’s degree in bad language in the USMC. I went to Florida College 3 years, preached full time for 10 and part time for years, and have been a deacon for decades. I cleaned it up. But when frustration builds up, I still fight the battle over, when multiple things go wrong in a short time and I am tired and, and, and….the words are at the tip of my tongue, in the edge of my mind. Shame on me.

I wish I could say that is the only sin that began in my youth, battles I still fight too often. I suspect David was warning young people—don’t start. It never stops. The appetites that you do not learn to control now will haunt you all your lives.

For that same reason, Paul warns a middle-aged Timothy, “Flee youthful lusts.” Old people are bothered by the same temptations that plague young ones. Problems may vary from vulgar language to pornography to covetous materialism to sexual fantasies to lying to envy, or a host of others, but the principle remains that it is easier to never begin than to stop, easier to stop when you are young than later. Now is the time.

So, with David and Paul, I would also warn: Learn now to control yourself. Every indulgence will weaken you and haunt you all your life. Not because it is unforgiven but because it never goes away. Like an addiction, sin/Satan never leaves you alone. You can control it, but you are never over it.

So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. (Rom 6:11-14, NET)

Keith Ward

Pot-bound

5/28/2015 1 Comments

In our quest to diligently teach our children, I think we often overlook something. We care for our children, nurturing both body and soul. Our task, though, is to work our way out of the job. If my thirty year old child still cannot dress himself, or needs to be reminded to brush his teeth, I have failed miserably. In the same way, our children cannot make it to Heaven on our spiritual coattails.

            It is often difficult for a parent to realize that his child’s faith should be his own, not an exact replica of his. A child who does nothing but ape his father’s opinions has, like the Jews of Isaiah’s day, a faith which is a commandment of men learned by rote, Isa 29:13, rather than learned by personal study, meditation, and conviction.

            Both of my sons have slightly differing views from mine about some passages of scripture. I’m glad. It means they have taken root on their own and, though there is never any guarantee, I feel much more optimistic about their remaining faithful when I am gone. If you remember the story of the orange tree my mother-in-law gave us, which rooted itself while we were trying to find a place to put it, here is yet another application: children need to have a little freedom in their quest for spirituality, freedom to spread their own roots. Parents who demand exact conformity, treating any difference as a sign of disrespect, are spoon-feeding their children’s spirituality while at the same time stunting their growth. They might as well be carrying them off the ground in a black plastic nursery pot so their roots won’t branch out. Sooner or later they will become pot-bound and die.

            While you expect to shape their values and instill basic concepts of spirituality and faith, God expected that they would ask, “Why?” and that you would give them real and sensible answers. “Because I said so,” does have an appropriate time and place in teaching them authority, but not in teaching the word of God. If you cannot tell them why, then when you are gone why should they continue?

            Encourage them to study and develop on their own. Treat their discoveries as equally interesting as yours. You may think Paul wrote Hebrews and they may not. You may believe the three-person interpretation of the Song of Solomon and they may prefer the two-person. You may look at Romans 7 as any man without Christ, while they believe Paul is talking about himself before his conversion. Isn’t it great? You will most likely have an eternity to discuss these things together and with the authors themselves, while the parents who demanded absolute conformity and automaton feedback, may find themselves looking around, wondering where their children are.



And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, did Joshua set up in Gilgal. And he spoke unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until you were passed over, as Jehovah your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were passed over; that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Jehovah, that it is mighty; that you may fear Jehovah your God for ever. Josh 4:19-24.

Dene Ward

The Natural Reaction

5/27/2015 0 Comments

I recently came across an article titled “How to Avoid the Natural Reactions that Affect Good Decision Making.” It is too long to go over here, but it did make me realize that natural reactions can be controlled. How? The author, who was not interested in spiritual matters at all, listed several ways, but they all boiled down to this—control yourself and do not let those “natural” reactions rule you. The Sermon on the Mount is full of exactly those kinds of statements.

            Rejoice and be glad [when others revile you and persecute you] for so persecuted they the prophets before you.

            But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

            But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

            And that’s only a few from Matthew 5. This is not easy, but I think the key is this: God doesn’t expect us to control our natural reactions—he expects us to change what comes naturally to us. And He expects us to do it during the most difficult times of our lives. His people have been doing it for thousands of years.

            Jesus went to Peter’s house one evening and found his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. What did she do the moment she was healed? And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them, Mark 1:30. How many of us would have taken the next few days off to recuperate, expecting a little more sympathy too?

            The apostles were arrested and put in prison, then brought out and beaten. What did they do? Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name, Acts 5:41. Rejoicing at being beaten? That certainly wouldn’t be my natural reaction.

            Stephen was stoned for what he preached and what did he do as he lay dying? And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep, Acts 7:59-60. Impossible, you think, to forgive your murderers, but not for Stephen, a man “full of grace” Acts 6:8.

            Aquila and Priscilla were run out of Rome, forced to leave their home because of persecution. What did they do? They set up shop in Corinth and offered Paul a place to stay for as long as he needed (Acts 18:1-3). Me? I probably would have pleaded a need for time to get organized and put my life back together before I put my home in the upheaval of a long term guest.

            Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison. What was their reaction? About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, Acts 16:24. They were aware that “others were listening to them.” I’m not sure I would have been aware of anything but my own aches and pains, and completely unconcerned about what others were going through.

            And what did David do immediately after his child died? Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped, 2 Sam 12:20. At this most horrible time for any parent, David worshipped. Is it really surprising? Job did the same thing, and he had lost all his children. Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped, Job 1:20.

            It seems that the natural reaction for a true child of God who undergoes any sort of trial is to turn to his Father, to serve, to worship, to pray, to sing, even to forgive. I am usually more interested in my own welfare than anyone else’s. I tend to forget anything spiritual and concentrate on my own physical or emotional pain as if it were the most important thing there is. Is that what a Christian should do? These people tell me otherwise, and I could have found many more examples.

            Truly I have a long way to go, but this maybe I can remember: If I have become a new creature, then what is “natural” about me, including my reactions, should have changed too.

Now the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he that is spiritual judges all things, and he himself is judged of no man, 1 Cor 2:14,15.

Dene Ward

Putting Down Roots

5/26/2015 1 Comments

Keith’s mother once gave him a tiny orange tree, maybe six inches tall, which she had planted from seed into a coffee can. He brought it home, transplanted it into a black plastic nursery pot and set it next to the shed, continuing to water and feed it until he could find a permanent place for it.

   It had grown to a height of three feet when he finally decided where to put it. Bending down, he grabbed the pot with both hands and tugged. Nothing happened. The tree had made its own decision, its roots bursting through the bottom of the pot and digging their way firmly into the ground. It’s still there, now over twice as tall as the shed and bearing fruit nearly year round.

   Our children are like that little tree. Wherever you leave them is where they will put down roots. The atmosphere you raise them in, the people they spend the most time with, the friends they make and the activities they participate in, whether you are aware of them or not, will all have their effects on your children and will influence who they eventually become.

   Children are growing every minute of every day, not only in body, but also in mind. You cannot set them aside until you have more time, you cannot leave them on their own without guidance, you cannot give them into the charge of another whose belief system does not match yours and still expect your children to follow in your footsteps. You cannot tell them, not even with all the sincerity you can muster, “Just wait till I finish this degree; just wait till my career is more established; just wait till I can pay off all these bills I ran up, then I will be a good parent to you.” If nothing else, you are teaching them exactly what is most important to you--career, status, “things.” Meanwhile, they may put down their roots in places you wish they never knew of, with people you wish they had never met, and develop a character that may appall you.

   “Where did they learn that?” you might wonder. In the place where you left them while you were too busy to be a parent.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate,
Psalm 127.

Dene Ward

Shortening

5/25/2015 0 Comments

I was utterly confused when the older lady asked me about the bread recipe I had mentioned.

“Is it short?” she wanted to know.

   The reply on the tip of my tongue was that it was about an inch high, but intuition told me that was not what she meant. Someone else came to my rescue then and I gradually realized over the first few years of married life that “short” in cooking had nothing to do with height.

   Shortening does exactly what its name implies. It shortens the strands of gluten in a bread dough. In a quick bread, which doesn’t take hours to rest and rise, that is important. If it were not “shortened” it would be too tough to chew. So biscuits, cornbread and other un-yeasted breads are far shorter than yeasted ones.

   Which shortening you choose makes a world of difference too. Butter, oils, meat fats, and plain old shortening are the most commonly used, and the texture and flavor you want determines which one. If you want a sandier texture, use oil; if you want a flakier texture, use shortening. If the flavor makes a difference, choose olive oil for Mediterranean breads and bacon fat for cornbread—if you are from the south, that is.

   Some recipes call for a mix of two or more shortenings to produce the best of each. You want a great cookie? Click on my recipes on the left sidebar and then click on Almond Crunch Cookies, which use both oil and butter—great flavor plus sandy texture.

    I prefer to keep my pie crusts plain so they won’t detract from the filling. To that end I use shortening only. It also makes a flakier crust. Others mix butter and shortening, but I can tell you from experience that an all butter pie crust is difficult to work with and tends to be heavy.

   Then there is cornbread. I can tell from a recipe whether the cook is from up north or down south. Northerners use less cornmeal, a good bit of sugar, and either oil or melted butter as their shortening—except maybe some Midwesterners who live where pork is king. I nearly flipped when a television chef based in New York used 1 cup of cornmeal to three cups of flour. To a southerner, it’s called cornbread because it has both the taste and texture of dried corn, plus that wonderful yumminess of bacon in the background.

   I have been trying to figure out what we Christians use as our shortening, and I think it has to be love. Love can change both the texture and flavor of what you do. Notice Mark 10:21: And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto him, One thing you lack… Love made Jesus tell this young man, the one who had done well at keeping the law all his life, exactly what he lacked. Try doing that without love and see how far it gets you.

   Sometimes love is tasty and easy to get down. Sticking your finger in cake batter is a whole lot nicer than doing the same with pie crust. One is far sweeter and has much more flavor than the other. So pats on the back, compliments and pep rally encouragement are easy to stomach. It doesn’t take any maturity to handle it well.

    Sometimes love gets a little salty. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Col 4:6. Salt can sting an open wound, and sometimes that is exactly what we need—a sharp word to wake us up. That one is harder to handle, but what are we? Toddlers who still think that discipline means Mama and Daddy are mean, or adults who have learned the benefits of correction?

    Keith grew up in a family where compliments were rare, almost non-existent. Until the day they died I never once heard his parents praise one of his sermons or Bible lessons. They viewed criticism as a way of helping, and if they didn’t love him why would they try to help at all? Most of the people up in those hills were exactly the same way. They appreciated plain speech, people saying what they mean and meaning what they say. They viewed pro forma compliments as hypocritical, and indeed, any teacher knows when the man shaking his hand and saying, “Good lesson,” means it and when he doesn’t.

   And we should recognize the value of love in all its forms. When you know that a rebuke comes from a heart of love it is much easier to take, even a salty one—love shortens those tough strands of “gluten” and makes them tenderer and easier to chew on. Don’t ever dismiss a word of exhortation because it doesn’t taste good to you. God expects you to recognize the shortening and use the admonition to improve yourself whether you like its flavor or not.
A friend of mine once tried to sift some biscuit mix to “get out all those lumps,” not realizing they were lumps of shortening. What she produced were the toughest biscuits anyone ever tried to eat. If you try to get rid of the rebuke, even if it is shortened with love, God won’t be happy with your end product either. In fact, the comment you get from Him when you try to excuse yourself from not listening is likely to be something like, “That’s tough!”

Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it... Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy… Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent…Psa 141:5; Prov 27:5,6; Rev 3:19.

Dene Ward

Fuel for the Fire

5/22/2015 0 Comments

Magdi is getting old. Her red coat is turning white. She cannot hear as well as she used to and often sleeps through things that have Chloe up and running. Her gait is crooked and her joints stiff. Sometimes she loses strength in her hind legs and they simply fall out from under her. But pick up a tennis ball, bounce it once or twice, hold it out for her to see, and instantly the years melt away. Her ears prick, her posture straightens, and she crouches ready to run as soon as you throw it. Her eyes practically will you to throw it. When you do, she runs as if she doesn’t hurt at all, and will even jump into the air like old times to snatch it on the bounce. This dog loves nothing more than to chase a tennis ball, and would do it until she collapsed if we let her.

If you have never visited with an older Christian, you should. I am no longer surprised by their life stories. Most of these good people have lived far more exciting lives than I, and have been through suffering I hope to never experience. The wisdom in their words will stand you in good stead if you pay attention.

Their knowledge of the scriptures is like that tennis ball to Magdi. They may sit and talk quietly, or hardly talk at all, but then you mention the Bible and it isn’t just a light that shines in their eyes, it’s a fire that starts burning and gets brighter as they continue. They seem to tap into a hidden energy source, sit up straighter and lean forward with an intent look that will burn itself into your heart, along with the accumulated knowledge and experience they want so badly to impart. It is their legacy, and too often we don’t claim it because old people are “boring”--visiting with them is simply a duty we fulfill as seldom as possible. Besides, who can count on their minds to be clear anyway—nothing useful can come from them. So our society trains us, and so we continue to make the foolish mistakes of the naïve when the help is there for the taking.

We have another problem in our society—the desire for instant gratification. Wisdom comes from accumulated experiences and from taking in the word of God—the source of all wisdom—on a regular basis year after year after year. The reason those older folks have a fire burning in their hearts is because they feed it daily. We are too immature to stick it out. We want it now—read a few chapters and become a sage overnight, or at least within a month or two, we seem to think. If we are not careful, when it comes our turn to be the old wise heads, we will have no fuel to burn, no warmth and glow to pass on to the next generation.

So today’s thought is two fold. Go visit some older folks. Sit and listen and take in what they have to offer. Then go home and get yourself ready to be that older generation. It takes more smarts, more strength, and more diligence than you think.

God, you have taught me from my youth; and I still declare your wondrous works. Yea, even when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not, until I have declared your strength unto the next generation, your might to every one that is to come. Psalm 71:17,18.

Dene Ward