All the stories my mother told me have come rushing back to me that past few weeks since her death.  One of the most special was the story of her conversion.  We could all learn a few things from this.
              Nearly a century ago, preachers often traveled from city to city and town to town, setting up tents and preaching every night for a week or more, depending on how things were going.  One of those preachers was Byron Conley, who toured Central Florida.  He was responsible for the beginning of many of the churches in that area.  One of those congregations was in a small town called Winter Garden, about 10 miles west of Orlando—at least in those days.  Now you can't tell where one ends and the other begins.
              All of my grandparents lived in Winter Garden, the typical Southern town with a train track running down the middle of the main drag, and diagonal parking in front of storefronts like Piggly Wiggly, McCormick 5 and 10, a barber shop, and a drug store complete with soda fountain.  My father's mother, Thelma Ayers, attended one of those tent meetings and was converted to the Lord, and eventually became a member of the new congregation there.  Although her husband, my grandfather, was never baptized, she taught her three sons and all of them followed in her faith.
              My daddy was the oldest.  At 17, he took his high school sweetheart to church with him.  She had been raised a Methodist, mainly because it was the closest church to the house and they could all walk.  She told me that all she heard were slow dirges on Sunday morning, so that morning when she went to church with her boyfriend Gerald, she was in for a shock.  "They sang happy music!" she exclaimed.  The first song she heard was "Heavenly Sunlight," and the day she told me that story she added, "And I want that sung at my funeral."  And we did.
              So let's consider a few things this morning.  This was a small Southern town.  As is our custom and belief, they sang a capella.  It may have been "happy" compared to the slower organ pieces she was used to, but I imagine there were a few places, especially by the end, where the music dragged a bit.  I imagine there were a few flat Southern altos and a tenor or two that stuck out like a sore thumb.  This was not a performing choir, certainly not a pro or semi-pro praise band.  So why did the singing impress her so?
           Because it wasn't just a happy song.  It was sung by happy people, people who knew they were saved and pleasing to God, people who believed they were going to Heaven, people who, despite the trials of life, knew it was all worth it.  I have heard it said that our singing can be an evangelistic tool.  It certainly was for my mother.  But if the people do not match their songs, it is just another form of hypocrisy. 
           "Heavenly Sunlight" isn't as deep as some of the other older hymns but it certainly doesn't sit in the wading pool with the babes either.  It takes a mature spiritual mindset to see the "Sunlight" even in the "deep vale" and to have the faith to know that no matter what happens He will "never forsake thee."  She could see that faith in the faces of those people and eventually it became her own faith, a faith she passed on to children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
            Many of these thoughts ran through my head that afternoon as we sang for her the song that made all the difference in her life.  A small town southern church sang it like they meant it, and she wanted to know more about how they could do that when so few other places did.
           Would your singing begin the journey of conversion for a visitor?  It does not have to be ear-catching, toe-tapping, and rhythmically complex.  You just have to sing it like you mean it, and then live it that way too.
 
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.  (Ps 5:11).
 
Dene Ward

One evening as we sat with our grandsons in the family room of their home, two year old Judah found three small bins, about the size of the largest coffee cans these days, and summarily emptied them one by one.  Small figurines, farm animals, blocks and other toys covered the family room floor.  He stood there looking around with obvious satisfaction, lifted his hands in the air and, with a big grin on his face, proclaimed, “I made a mess!”
              Then, surprising us both, he began to pick up each and every tiny toy and place them in the back of his dump truck, the big one he can sit on and push with his feet, until every toy was off the floor.
              “What a good boy!” I exclaimed.  Naively, as it turned out because he immediately knelt before the truck and began tossing the toys over his shoulders with both hands until once again they were scattered everywhere.  Again he looked on his work with satisfaction, then began picking them up and starting over.   This must have occurred five or six times before it began to bore him, but for a while there, “Making a Mess” was the game of the hour and he was quite good at it.
              Do you know any mess makers in the church?  You know, the ones who ask questions in class that are deliberately designed to foil the teacher’s carefully laid out lesson and confuse the newcomers; the ones who enjoy starting a discussion they know will end in arguments; the ones who delight in pulling people aside, especially teachers and preachers, and “setting them straight” about some detail that doesn’t even matter; the ones who pride themselves on taking the opposing view, not because it is the right one, but because they enjoy a stir.  They might as well stand in the middle of the room with my two year old grandson and proclaim, “I made a mess.”
              What does Paul say about them?  They “quarrel about words to no profit.”  They participate in “irreverent babble.”  They engage in “foolish and ignorant controversies.”  They have “an unhealthy craving for controversy”—indeed they can hardly control themselves when they see certain subjects coming up.  That lack of self-control comes because they are “depraved in mind.”  In short, these people thrive on making messes.  They live to cause trouble.  They even brag about their tendency to do these things. 
              And why is it so bad?  Their actions “subvert souls.”  They “lead people to more and more ungodliness.”  Their foolishness “eats like a gangrene.”  It “genders strife.”  It serves only to “produce envy, dissension, slander, suspicion…and constant friction.”  It troubles the new Christians and “unsettles minds.”
              At least my two year old grandson’s activity did not hurt anyone.  It was entirely appropriate for a child his age.  What excuse does a middle-aged mess-maker have?  He might as well go play with the babies.
 
But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.  Titus 3:9-11
(Passages quoted in the body of the article:  1 Tim 6:4,5; 2 Tim 2:14,16,23; Acts 15:25.)
 
Dene Ward
 

Our guest writer, Lucas Ward, will be discussing the book of Proverbs throughout this year.  I have taken the liberty of dividing his first lesson into parts A and B.

We are about to begin a topical study of the book of Proverbs with the hopes of learning to be a bit more wise.  So, the first question I want to address is "Is gaining wisdom really an important pursuit for a Christian?"
No, really, I'm serious.  Yes, wisdom is important.  Yes, our lives are easier when we approach them with a modicum of wisdom.  We would all like to think that we are wiser today than ten years ago, but as a Christian aren't there more important things to work on?  Shouldn't I be focusing more on building my faith?  Increasing my patience and perseverance?  Cementing my hope?   Is gaining wisdom really a priority for Christians?  Let's see what the Word says.
 
Rom. 11:33  "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!" 

Mark 6:2  "And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?"

These passages show that both God our Father and Jesus our Lord are described as being wise.  Wisdom is one of the basic attributes of each.

1 Cor. 1:30  "And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" 

Eph. 3:10  "so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places."

These passages teach that both Jesus and the Church epitomize God's wisdom.  And both God and Jesus are described as having wisdom as a basic quality.  So everything that has anything to do with the religion we are following for our salvation is based on wisdom, described as wise and is encompassed by wisdom. 

To nail it down further, note that the seven men chosen in Acts 6 to solve the problem of the daily ministration were known as wise (Acts 6:3).  The power behind Stephen's preaching which confounded his opponents was the Spirit and wisdom (6:10).  Do you want to be able to serve the Lord to the best of your ability?  Learn wisdom.  Do I want my teaching and preaching to be the most effective it can be?  I need to learn wisdom. 

Paul, not a man with a lot of free time on his hands, thought wisdom important enough that he twice told churches he was praying for their increase in wisdom.  (Eph. 1:17, Col. 1:9)  He then commanded the Colossians to walk in wisdom (Col. 4:5). 

So, is wisdom important?  The God we serve and the Savior who leads us are described as wise.  The Church we are a part of and our Lord Himself are called manifestations of God's wisdom.  To best serve Him we must be wise.  To best spread his word we must be wise.  His Apostle to the Gentiles spent precious time praying for increased wisdom for all Christians and commanded that we walk in wisdom.  Yes, I think growing my wisdom is important!  How do I do that? 

James 1:5  "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."

Does that mean God reaches down and deposits wisdom in my brain as soon as I ask?  It seems He did that for Solomon; is that what James is promising for us?  I think most everyone would agree that is not what is being taught.  Rather, God will give us opportunities to grow our wisdom and all the help needed to see that we do if we truly desire to grow.  One of those opportunities to grow our wisdom has already been provided in the book of Proverbs.  Just read the mission statement of the book:

Prov. 1:1-6  "The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:  To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles." 

To know wisdom, understand insight, receive instruction, give prudence to the simple and increase the learning of the wise.  It sure seems like if I study this book I will gain in wisdom.  Does Proverbs have all the wisdom a Christian needs?  Of course not.  There is wisdom regarding God's plan of salvation that wasn't revealed until 1,000 years after Solomon wrote this book.  The wisdom of the Gospel and the Church was also yet to be revealed.  So maybe we can't rely on Proverbs as the sum total of all wisdom we need, but 31 chapters of God inspired wisdom writing is a pretty good place to begin our journey to greater wisdom. 

Lucas Ward

The only newspaper we ever bother to buy, mainly because of the coupons, the crossword puzzle, and the sports page, is the Sunday issue.  The coupons pay for it so it isn’t even a guilty pleasure, not that the press is ever much of a pleasure anyway.  But the business page one recent week sounded like something you might read in a church bulletin—or at least hear from the pulpit or a Bible class lectern.   Notice:
              “A start [to reduce our stress] is to mitigate the desire to acquire.  Folks with a high net worth are frequently coupon clippers and sale shoppers who resist the urge to splurge…Many times the difference between true wealth and ‘advertised’ wealth is that those with true wealth are smart enough not to succumb to the lure of what it can buy.”  Margaret McDowell, “Lieutenant Dan, George Bailey, and Picasso,” Gainesville Sun, 12-14-14.
              When I turned the page I found this:  “Dress appropriately [for the office party].  Ladies…Lots of skin and lots of leg is inappropriate…Keep it classy.” Eva Del Rio, “Company Holiday Party Do’s and Don’ts for Millennials,” Gainesville Sun, 12/14/14.
              Jesus once told a parable we call “The Unrighteous Steward.”  In it, he took the actions of a devious man and applauded his wisdom.  He ended it with this statement:  For the sons of this world are for their generation, wiser than the sons of the light, Matt 16:8.  Jesus never meant that the man’s actions were approved.  What he meant was he wished his followers had as much sense as people who don’t even care about spiritual things.
              We still fall for Satan’s traps in our finances, believing that just a little more money will solve all of our problems.  We still listen to him when he says that our dress is our business and no one else’s.  It isn’t just short-sighted to think that accumulating things will make us happy—even experts in that field will tell you it’s not “smart.”  It isn’t just a daring statement of individuality to wear provocative clothing, it’s cheap and “classless.”
              If we used our brains a little more, there would be less arguing about what is right and what is wrong.  We could figure it out with a little reason and a lot of soul-searching. 
              Why is it that I regularly overspend?  Because I am looking for love and acceptance from the world?  Because I trust a portfolio in hand instead of a God in the burning bush?  Because I have absolutely no self-control? 
              Why do I insist on wearing clothing that is the opposite of good taste and decorum?  Because I do not care about my brothers’ souls?  Because I do care about the wrong people’s opinions?  Because I am loud and brash and think meekness is a sign of weakness instead of strength?  Or maybe it isn’t any of these bad motives—maybe it’s just a lack of wisdom.  Is there any wonder that the book of Proverbs is included for us, and that so many times it labels people with no wisdom “fools?”
              Not just wealth and dress, but practically everything we struggle with could be overcome by being as wise as at least some of the “children of this world.”  Isn’t it sad that they so often outdo us in good old common sense?
 
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, Eph 5:15-17.
 
Dene Ward

Church shootings have become too real for me.  The one in Fort Worth in December was only 4 miles from the place where my sister and her family were also worshiping that day.
              I am not a professional, but I am married to one.  I have picked up a lot of things from sitting next to him while I try to watch a crime drama on TV as he systematically picks it apart.  Maybe some of what I have learned will help you too.  (And he will add things to this to make it more legitimate.)

              1.  First, to get this little matter taken care of, we are not talking about people coming to persecute you for your faith.  We are talking about law-breakers.  I am not going to argue that point.  My point is saving lives not arguing theology.

              2.  Leave it to the professionals, if your church has any.  We are blessed to have a couple of troopers, a deputy, and some retired law enforcement officers, including my husband who has actually been in and won a firefight himself.  I know many of you are licensed to carry, and I have no problem with that.  I have heard too many validated stories of people saving their own lives because they carry, not to mention that where we live there are always poisonous snakes, packs of dogs attacking the livestock, and rabid foxes, possums, and coons.  The right to carry is perfectly fine with me, and I wouldn't be surprised if a good 20% of our congregation do so.

              3.  If you do not have any professionals among you, then do your best with the training you have, BUT—be aware that the training given for the average guy (or gal) to carry is minimal at best, and absolutely nothing like the intense training a professional gets.  At the shooting in Texas several who were not pros made errors that could have led to tragedy—like waving their guns around when there were still innocent people between them and the bad guy.  They must not understand that handguns are not all that accurate at any distance over a few feet.  Even allowing your wrist to veer just a fraction off-center when you pull the trigger can have you hitting something (or someone) a couple feet to the side.  And bullets go through bodies, people.  If there is someone behind the bad guy, you may get a two-for-one without meaning to.  Amateurs also have bad habits like keeping their finger in the trigger guard (as Lenny Briscoe of Law and Order was wont to do) before they have even acquired a target. 
              And think of this: what if you do accidentally hit a little old lady who just couldn't duck fast enough or a terrified child who dashed across the aisle at just the wrong moment?  Modern forensic science will find out which gun fired the fatal bullet and you will know without a doubt that you are the one who killed an innocent.  Can you live with that?

              4.  If the intruders are satisfied with the money—GIVE THEM THE MONEY!!!  In our age I have little doubt that each member could give the same amount again just by giving up a month of Starbucks or a couple Sunday dinners out.  Far better the criminals leave with the money than someone dies because of ineptitude.

              5.  Your security patrols need to be paying attention, not talking to one another.  They should also be young enough to move quickly, not some eighty year old sitting in an easy chair.  They need an eye on the parking lot and one on whichever door is within sight and there should be someone who can see each door in the place.  How do they worship, you ask?  Our sound system goes all over the building.  They can sing and look at the same time.  In fact, they are more likely to be worshiping then than when they are sitting there chatting with one another.  And alternate the patrol duty every so often so they won't become blasé about it.
              But notice—this guy got in the assembly with hidden gun because he was recognized by many as a man who had come begging several times before.  Just like Satan, bad guys don't always look the part, so always be on guard.

              6.  You need to have drills so that each teacher knows what to do if the bad guy comes into the building during class time.  We have a signal and a lockdown.  Figure out what is best for you, but practice it several times and have the procedure printed out in each classroom.
              "But won't that unnecessarily scare the children?"  I hear someone asking.  Maybe, but anyone who calls himself a parent ought to have figured out by now how to give important information to his child without terrifying him.  We had fire drills in our home.  We talked about stranger danger and even had passwords we gave out when we sent someone to pick up our children somewhere when plans suddenly changed.  I don't recall any of this terrifying my boys.  Instead it told them what to do if, which is far more comforting than leaving them imagining the worst and wondering what to do.  And who says it won't someday be necessary after all?  We can hope and pray, but don't let your children suffer because you didn't do what needed to be done.

              7.  Keep your eyes open, even while sitting in the pew.  The man in Texas knew when those people would be the most vulnerable, when he could kill more of them quickly—during the Communion.  Too many of us hang our hats on the vertical Communion we have with the Lord and ignore the horizontal Communion commanded in 1 Cor 10.  This is supposed to be a unifying act by the church when it "comes together."  We are supposed to be noticing each other.  Maybe this is one good side effect of this horrible situation—now we will get it right!  Even if you can't make yourself look around at your brothers and sisters, at least keep your head up instead of tucking you nose into your navel and thinking that makes you more spiritual than everyone else.  If all those young mothers out there can hold a squirming child, correct another on the seat next to her, and still keep her mind on the services, surely the men out there can keep their heads up and still worship during the Communion.

              Please don't even think about being a hero if it isn't necessary.  This is not a movie scripted so that all the good guys survive and "live happily ever after" with only a token "flesh wound" to show for it.  My husband will tell you, flesh wounds hurt, even 24 years later.  There isn't a day goes by that he does not have pain from one or the other of the five he suffered.
              Keith has written the policy letter for our congregation regarding carrying in services and the guidelines we expect all to follow.  We will be happy to email you a copy if you either leave your email address below or, for privacy's sake, contact Dene on the left sidebar and send her your address via her blog email.
               And let's pray together that all this is for nothing.
 
Dene and Keith Ward

We were once again babysitting, this time in Tampa instead of here at home.  Though I grew up there, that Tampa was long ago and far, far away.  In fact, that night, a Wednesday, we headed for a place that forty years ago had been nothing but woods.  Now it is a Chick-Fil-A, "where we go every Wednesday before church," we were told by our grandsons, and since Mom and Dad had been away for a week and a half already with three more days to go—and not just away, but on another continent—we wanted things to be like "normal," so off to that popular place we went.
              Probably because I grew up in that area, even if it did look very different back then, my sense of direction was just fine when we came out after our meal.  For one thing, I knew that turning left onto Fowler without a light, especially during the remaining minutes of rush hour, was a no-go.
              "I wonder if there is a back way," I mused aloud.
              Eight year old Silas immediately piped up from the backseat.  "Turn right out of the back of the parking lot, go to the next street and turn right again."  Of course he gets his superb directional skills from his grandma!
              So I repeated his directions to Keith who could not possibly hear him from the front seat.  He looked a little askance, but did as he was told.  But then we came to 56th Street and by then, good old Granddad was totally turned around.  He had no idea where he really was.  I recognized immediately that though we needed to turn left, there was no break in the median there to do so.  We would have to turn right, go to the Fowler light, and do a U-turn in order to be headed in the correct direction.  And that light was not even a block down the street in the middle of the thick traffic.
              "Make sure you have enough room to get all the way across," I told him.  "You will have to make a U-turn at the light to get to church."
              "What are you talking about?  A U-turn?"
              "Yes, at the light."
              "I don't want to turn there.  It's the wrong place.
              "No, it isn't.  The church turn-off is behind us."
              "Are you sure?  It's just down a block or two on the left."
              "No!  You have to turn around.  You have to make a U-turn at the light."
              "But why do I want to do that?"  he asked, thoroughly flummoxed.
              Once again the 8 year old voice piped up from the backseat.  "Because that's how to get there," he said with simple logic.
              At that point I laughed out loud.  "Yes.  That's how to get there."
              "No it's not.  I shouldn't have to make a turn at all."
              "Yes, you do," and by then the car was in a bit of an uproar because he was starting to pull out and the traffic was way too heavy for him to get all the way across into the left turn lane before he hit the light.  "All the way, all the way, all the way!" the boys and I were shouting, and that is exactly what Keith did, having given up on his idea of where we were, though I think I still hear the echo of a horn and a screech of tires behind us as he did it.
              As we sat there in our hard-won left lane, waiting to make a U-turn, Keith said very quietly, "What street is this?" and when I told him he added, "Ohhhhh," with dawning realization.  "Well, it's a good thing someone knew where we were."
              And once again that little voice piped up from the backseat, "Always listen to the guy in the backseat."  Then glancing over at his little brother he added, "On the right."
              We have laughed at that story for a year and a half now.  "Always listen to the guy in the backseat," one of us says, and then in unison, "On the right!"  And the little guy had a point.  When you are lost, when you don't know what to do, when you don't know where to go or who to turn to, ask "the guy in the backseat."  In this case, that metaphor stands for someone who has been there, perhaps several times, as Silas had, someone who knows the ropes, someone who can lead you through the maze of possible routes safely to the other side.
              Too many times we go to the wrong people.  We go to the ignorant, the naïve, the ones who are in just as much trouble as we are.  We steadfastly refuse to approach anyone who can really help us.  And why?  Could it be because we know we won't like the answer we will get?  Could it be because it simply goes against the grain to let that particular person know we are having trouble?  Could it be because, "No one really understands what it's like."  Are we really that arrogant?
              God created the church in his "manifold wisdom" (Eph 3:10), first, to hold forth the light of the gospel and save the world.  But also so we can help one another, so we never have to fight the battles alone.  Look around you some Sunday morning.  You will see a group of people who, between them, have met almost every trial of life.  You have a wealth of information and help at your beck and call, not to mention a raft of prayers going up daily if you only ask for them.
              Sometimes your life is a crazy intersection at rush hour, with cars whizzing past and a left lane far across four lanes of that dangerous traffic, the very lane you need to be in to make a U-turn that might save your soul.  Listen to the guy in the backseat and quit trying to figure it out alone.
 
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Gal 6:2).
Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (Rom 15:1).
 
Dene Ward

We live in a rural county.  We have no garbage pickup.  Instead we have dumpsites at several places with recycling bins and a dumpster for household garbage.  We have to haul our own trash.  Ask yourself how much trash and garbage your family generates in a day.  How many garbage cans do you have outside and how many times can you empty the trash indoors before your outside can is full?  Now, how often would you like to drive several miles to dump your trash, and how many of those big trash cans will fit in your car?  You now know one reason most of the folks out here have a pickup truck!
              But this also explains the burn barrel.  We keep two receptacles in the house—one for wet garbage and one for burnable trash.  The more we can burn, the less often we have to cart garbage cans down the highway.  We put everything we possibly can in that box of trash—junk mail, out-of-date documents, bills, and receipts, cardboard boxes, empty plastic containers and lids, plastic bottles and bags, old rags, irreparable clothes—everything that will burn, or melt and then burn.  Don’t talk to me about recycling.  We recycle in several other ways, and this practice saves gas.
              But let me ask you this. Would you ever put anything important in a burn barrel?  Of course not.  Do you know what God thinks of this world?  He has his own burn barrel, and this world is what He plans to throw in it.
              We need to remember that.  Too often we become enamored of the very things God will ultimately destroy.  Some of our favorite things in life are sitting in God’s burn barrel.  Even when we think we have our priorities straight, we often do not.
              I remember telling my little boys that one day we would take a month long camping trip out west.  We would show them all those beautiful national parks they had only heard about.  They could look across the Grand Canyon, watch Old Faithful erupt, and stand in a place where the mountains rose peak after peak after peak with no signs of modern man—no power lines, no sounds of traffic, not even a tangled skein of contrail in the perfect blue sky--a place where a thousand years before some native had stood and enjoyed the same view.  It never happened.  We never had the money or the time.  They are grown now and can understand the pressures of life, making a living, paying the bills, meeting one’s responsibilities to others, but I have always felt bad about missing that trip.  We managed one or two other things while they were still at home, but never that one.
              But remember this, no matter how good a plan it was, how good the values we were trying to instill with an appreciation of God as the Creator of all that majestic beauty, God Himself doesn’t think that much of it.  It’s temporary.  He plans to destroy it all.  The things God meant for me to teach those boys were things I could teach any time, any place, no matter how much money we did or didn’t have. 
               The Bible is full of people who did not have the right priorities—Esau for one, who sold a birthright for one meal.  The Hebrew writer calls him “profane” (Heb 12:16).  Paul talks about having a “mind of the spirit” rather than a “mind of the flesh” (Rom 8:4).  And why?  Because Jesus’ kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36).  It is “not meat and drink” (Rom 14:17).  So many things we allow ourselves to become upset about simply do not matter.  Traffic jams?  Noisy neighbors?  Pet peeves?  Even the trials of life—precisely because it is this life we are becoming distracted with.
              For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is perdition, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Phil 3:18-20.  Yes, Paul says that when I let things of this life upset me to the point of distraction that my “god is my belly.”  I am not supposed to be minding those earthly things.
              So today, think about God’s burn barrel.  He has a place for the things He plans to destroy, just like I do, one that gets too full too fast.  God’s burn barrel holds things like wealth, possessions, awards, careers, opinions, irritations, Jimmy Choo shoes, stock portfolios, time shares on the beach, cabins in the mountains, camping trips out west—even this earthly tabernacle that so many try to keep looking young.  They all go in the barrel at the end of the Day.  And God will light the fire Himself.
 
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed…Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace, 2Pet 3:10-14.
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Warren Berkley.
 
I was the visiting speaker at a large local church in a metropolitan area here in Texas last month. As the announcements scrolled across the screen, then prayers offered, there were those words I see over and over: Cancer, Heart Attack, Asthma, Parkinson’s, Surgery, Diabetes, Leukemia, Alzheimer’s, Brittle Bone, on and on.
             When we see or hear these words, we often feel disappointed, defeated and we grieve with the “sick and afflicted” and their families. Sometimes the word “terminal” is part of the reality.
                Here is another perspective. All these conditions are temporary! It is so hard to replace the word “terminal” with the word “temporary.” But when the full scope of existence is brought into view, that there is an existence after this life, “terminal” is overpowered by “temporary,” especially for those who build their lives on the foundation of active faith in Christ.
I            I was preaching from 1 Peter 1 at this church. I read their list of conditions/diseases and told them, “these are all temporary,” then I read 1 Pet. 1:6.
 
Truth Connection: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.”
 
Warren Berkley
Berksblog.net

Years ago I sang in the evening chorus at the university.  Chorus was required for my degree, and this was the only chorus that fit my schedule, a schedule that included teaching private piano lessons, running a home, and interning as a music teacher in a local elementary school.  Add to that, I was a preacher’s wife—just learning, as he was, but still dealing with extra obligations.
              We had a program scheduled and the director called an extra rehearsal.  That rehearsal did not fit my schedule.  I would have had to cancel a few lessons and more important, miss a Wednesday evening Bible study.  He made it clear that no misses would be excused short of death beds.  So I took a deep breath when I broached the lion in his den the next afternoon.
              My heart sank when I saw three others waiting outside his office.  Instead of calling us in one by one, he came out and stood in the hall and listened as the first one asked to be excused.  “Absolutely not!” he said sternly.  “You already miss too many rehearsals.  If you don’t show up, you will be dismissed from the chorus.”  The next one received a similar reply and the next.  They all left, crestfallen.
              Then he saw me at the back of the line.  “If you have to dismiss me, I understand,” I began, “but my husband is a preacher and we have a Bible study that night.  I just cannot miss it.” 
              I was shocked when a small smile twitched at his lips.  “You I don’t worry about,” he said quietly.  “You are always there.  You listen when I give directions.  You know your part.  You haven’t missed a single performance.  Go to your Bible study.  You still have a place in my chorus.” Talk about relief.  I drove home praising God in my heart.
              Have you read Psalm 123?  That psalm is classified as a psalm of trust, written on behalf of the entire nation of Israel.  Many psalms are full of hallelujahs, with shouts of Hosanna, with dancing and leaping and loud expressions of joy.  Not this one.  Psalm 123 is a quiet psalm.  It is presented as servants watching quietly from the corner of the room for the smallest sign from the master that he wants something. 
              Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us, v 2.
              Leupold says, “There is nothing powerful, moving or sublime that finds expression here.  A quiet, submissive tone prevails throughout.  It is subdued in character.”  This is simply a servant doing his master’s will in an unobtrusive manner, calmly asking for relief but going about his duty even in the midst of trial, trusting that his prayer will be answered without his further interference.
              I like this psalm.  I have never been one who needs to demonstrate my love for God loudly, yet everyone knows it is there simply from the way I live my life.  If my chorus director could know I was a “faithful student” despite the fact that I was quiet instead of boisterous, certainly God can know the same about my spiritual life.
              God, the Father of spirits, made all kinds of personalities.  And because He made them, he accepts them—just look at the apostles and all their differences.  If He will accept that varied crew, He will accept my worship, even if it is quiet and restrained, as long as my emotion and intent are sincere and obedient.
              Nowadays it seems people are quick to judge others as less thankful, less sincere, and less loving if they sit quietly and say little aloud about their feelings.  This psalm says it isn’t so.  If I sit quietly in the corner waiting for my master’s smallest cue, I may, in fact, be a whole lot more likely to see it than someone who can’t sit still long enough to notice, or be quiet long enough to hear someone besides himself.  
              We are all different, yet God accepts all worship that is “in spirit and in truth,” the brash, the boisterous, even the analytical and the subdued.  Perhaps our judgments of one another should be more subdued as well.
 
But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious, 1 Pet 3:4.
 
Dene Ward

In the midst of grief there is always business that still needs to be taken care of.  Planning funerals, going through belongings, paying final bills, and other such matters.  But this is the first time I have had to deal with death certificates.  My mother took care of my father's since they lived over two hours south of us and I could not be there for everything.  If you have seen them, you know that there are two kinds, the long form and the short form—just like taxes.  The long form lists the manner and cause of death.
              The manner could be natural, homicide, accidental, etc.  The cause will be the primary cause, such as heart failure.  Then there are "other conditions contributing to death but not resulting in the underlying cause" which might include things like hypertension or diabetes.
              I began thinking about people I know who have experienced spiritual death—those who used to sit on the same pews I do, but for some reason left, those who decided that living as a Christian was not worth the taunts or the sacrifice or the minuscule persecution we have to deal with in this country, or simply not worth giving up the pleasures of this world.  Those causes of death are pretty obvious. But how about those who just weren't careful to live a "healthy" spiritual life, watching their diets and exercising their senses to discern good and evil (Heb 5:14)?  I wondered what their death certificates might look like.
            
              Manner of death:  suicide
              Cause of death:  sin
              Other contributing conditions:  failure to assemble with the saints, no companionship with their spiritual family except at the meetinghouse, prayer and Bible study deficiency, failure to consider and counteract the materialism of our "too rich" culture,  thoughtless acceptance of society's standards instead of determining whether those standards will help or hinder their spirituality and are truly part of a holy life.

              I will keep a copy of my mother's death certificate in the file next to my father's.  But this I know—it is only the certificate of their physical deaths.  They never had, and now they never will have, a spiritual death certificate.  I don't believe I could bear it if they had.
              Do you have one?
 
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.  (Rev 20:6).
 
Dene Ward