This past Thanksgiving we had our traditional game of Ultimate Croquet.  If you have been with me awhile, you know what that means.  It is far more difficult to play in a field instead of a table-top, bright green, freshly mown lawn!  Somehow paper-plate sized sycamore leaves, wads of gray Spanish moss, truck ruts, and armadillo holes wreak havoc with a rolling ball.
            This year both Silas and Judah were able to play their own game without help.  With 6 of us it was an interesting, if long, game.  Judah and I brought up the rear but we still had fun and cheered for each other.  At least twice both boys had little mishaps with their mallets.  Once the head of Silas's mallet hit the ground before it hit the ball and since all the impetus was gone, the ball only rolled an inch.  Another time Judah had a similar problem caused more by the fact that his arms are shorter than the mallet handle.  So almost at the same time with one voice, we adults cried, "Put it back and do it again."  They were much happier with their second chances.
            I suppose it is age that does it to you.  Several times lately I have had the thought, "This is it.  It's nearly over and you don't get another chance to do it any other way."  Every time, my stomach has done a little flip and I don't really know why.  It's not like I didn't know that already.  Maybe it's just having your nose rubbed in it by the early death of an old friend, or wanting to share something with your parents before realizing they are no longer there, or maybe it's just that you look in the mirror one day and, maybe due to illness or a bad night, it's really obvious how old you are now!  And when this is over, there is no going back.  Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass (Job 14:5).
            The only thing even close to a do-over is today.  If you opened your eyes this morning, you have another chance to be a better spouse, a better parent, a better friend, a better servant of God.  You have the opportunity to heal a broken relationship or confess a wrong.  You have one more chance to put down the mending and play with a child on his level, with ears open and welcoming to his words and thoughts.  Today is the only second chance you get.  And you never know—it may also be your last.
 
No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death… (Eccl 8:8).
 
Dene Ward

It is winter, even here in Florida, and we are once again drinking our last cup of coffee by a fire in the mornings, instead of under a fan.  Florida is not always hot.  It's not always even warm, especially in the northern parts.  On February 13, 1899, a Canadian cold front pushed a blast of arctic air into our state in what became known as the Great Arctic Outbreak.  Tallahassee woke to the coldest temperatures ever recorded in Florida, -2 degrees F.  Yes, that's a minus in front of that single digit number.  We have been here in north Florida for other amazing things, like an inch or two of snow on the ground and a white Christmas both in 1989, but never a negative temperature.  I hope we don't experience it any time soon.
            With the first front this winter, I was reminded of a basic fact.  Cool, crisp air behaves differently than hot, humid air.  Hot humid air is also hazy air.  You cannot see as far and the sky is a duller, almost muted, shade of blue.  Cool air is clear.  Even my weak eyes can see farther.  And a clear winter sky is one of the prettiest blues you will ever see.
            Hot humid air will also mute sound.  Not enough that you will notice it in the summer.  You only notice it on a cold morning when suddenly the traffic on the highway a quarter mile through the woods sounds like it might just be coming through the trees right at you.  You can always hear better in the winter.
            And that may very well mean that we need to keep a cool head about us in spiritual matters.  When your spiritual vision is clouded by the heat of emotion, you will inevitably make the wrong decision.  In almost every Bible narrative you will see the difference between wrong-headed emotion and cool, clear logic.  Look at Joseph and Potiphar's wife as a simple example.  Which one was guided by hot, wanton desire and which by a decision based on a cool, careful consideration of right and wrong?  And that process plays out over and over, not only in the Bible, but in our own lives.
            The difficult part of this, at least in a culture so steeped in emotionalism, is teaching these things to our children.  I told mine over and over, you have to be a little cold-blooded when it comes to choosing a spouse.  You have to be willing to ask yourself the hard questions.  Will she be a good mother to my children?  Will she be a help or hindrance in my chosen career?  Are her aims in life the same as mine?  Does she understand a lifetime commitment in the same manner I do?  Will she help me get to Heaven, and will she let me help her?  Too many times I see young ladies who are blinded by love, falling for exactly the wrong guy, and who will not listen to their friends who quite clearly see an emotional, and possibly physical, abuser.  And I see young men who refuse to understand that attraction should come from knowing one another and sharing spiritual ideals, not good looks and shapely figures.
            There are any number of decisions we make in life, some having nothing to do with right and wrong, and some everything, that require clear thinking.  Some things hurt, and hurt badly, but must be done for the good of oneself, one's family, and people we are trying to serve.  Some of those things are things God has said to do.  You would be surprised how many times I have heard God's commands completely dismissed because someone might be "hurt."
            And so, as you notice how clear things appear this winter, remember that a little cold logic can be an excellent thing.  You will see better.  You will hear better.  And you will make far better decisions both for this life and the next.
 
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD… (Isa 1:18)
 
Dene Ward

You might want to check the two previous posts if you missed the beginning of this subject.
 
            I think the bruises have healed now; dare I approach this topic again?  Yes, because I left it completely one-sided.  Now, do not take that to mean that anyone who is at fault—just as I was, oh, so many years ago—has an excuse now not to improve.  Other people’s failures never make mine acceptable in God’s eyes.  On the other hand, there are people who may well stand in line with me and take their rebuke as well.  The problem with short articles is you cannot cover every aspect at once.  So here goes:  Some people out there help create these hot messes.
            Parents!  What are you teaching your children?  When you teach your daughters that they are little prima donnas who are to be waited on hand and foot and every desire indulged, you are making it nearly impossible for them to function as the "workers at home" that God commands them to be.  Even if they want to work, they won’t know how.  They need regular chores.  They need instruction on how to accomplish those chores and what you expect of them before those chores are considered “well done.”  They need to actually sweat a little and to understand that work is not a punishment.  Work is the life God has ordained since Genesis 2.  It became “hard” work in Genesis 3 and that is totally OUR fault, not God’s.  Teach them to face the facts and deal with them.
            Don’t make whiny sissies out of them, either boys or girls.  If they get a boo-boo, give it a hug, a Band-Aid, and a mama’s kiss, and send them off to play some more.  Tell them [their favorite super-hero] would just laugh it off and keep on saving the world.  That’s exactly what the world will expect of them.
            Mothers!  Do not teach your sons that they have no duties in the home by picking up after them like a slave. Except on birthdays or other special occasions, do not cater to their every whim by cooking their own special meal even when that is not what is on the menu that night.  My mother used to tell me, “I am not running a restaurant.”  When you go out of your way, especially when it means your already stretched time and energy are spent mollycoddling him, and the grocery budget is blown because he hasn’t learned to eat what is put in front of him, you are making it extremely difficult for your future daughter-in-law.  If everything has to be just so before he is satisfied, your indulgence of him will impose far more labor on his already overburdened wife than even the Lord expects. 
            Fathers!  When he sees you requiring all these things of your wife—his mother—he will grow up thinking that’s the way the “king of the castle” is supposed to behave.  It is hard enough to overcome being a “hot mess” without the other so-called adult in the house making your life even more difficult.  Do not turn him into a liability instead of an asset to your new young daughter.
            And that brings us to young husbands.  If your mother treated you like a little prince, it’s time to grow up.  When you married, you took on the leadership of a home and the buck now stops with you.  If your overworked and frenetic young bride becomes a hot mess, you may well deserve some of the blame.
            Is she picking up after you?  Does she have to clean the things you were working on the previous evening from the table before she can even feed the children every morning?  Is she picking up adult-sized clothing in practically every room of the house?  When you leave for work in the morning, are your breakfast dishes still on the table?  Why can’t you get up early enough to clean up your own mess before you leave the house—like a responsible adult should?  NO SIR!  That is NOT what SHE is there for.  She is not your slave any more than your mother was.
            And as for the children, the last I checked, they are yours too.  It raises my hackles like nothing else to hear a young father tell his friends that no, he cannot go watch the ball game with them tonight because he has “to babysit the kids.”  You have to stay home tonight because you are a FATHER!  Parents do not “babysit” their own children!  Especially if the activity the mother is leaving the house for is a Bible class, the young man ought to be ashamed of himself.  (Yes, I have heard that one more times than I can count.) As the spiritual leader of the home, he should willing to do whatever necessary to help his wife grow spiritually.
            And you need to tell her often, not just on her birthday or Mother’s Day, that you know how much she does for the family and how much you appreciate her.  Tell her you are proud of her and her work.  Tell other people in her presence how much she means to you and that you don’t know what you would do without her.  Don’t fall for society’s disdain of a woman who is “just a housewife.”  No woman who follows the guidelines set out in the Bible is “just” anything—and “housewife” is a demeaning description.  She did not marry a house, although sometimes it becomes apparent to all that she did marry a spoiled child.
            For a couple of years in our marriage, when we had two children under the age of 3, my poor husband was working two part time jobs, preaching by appointment three Sundays a month, and going to school to finish his degree.  Yet every evening he took those two babies and bathed them right after supper so I had time to do some things I needed to do—washing dishes, folding laundry, picking up toys, and sometimes just sitting down for a moment.  He also wanted special time with his children.  I had no excuse for falling into the hot mess mentality.  That was totally on me.  I give you him as your example of what it means to be a leader in the home.
            Regardless the cause, giving in to the “hot mess” mentality is still wrong.  But maybe if all of us examined ourselves and the effects our behavior might have on our children’s long term future, from parents to husbands to young women themselves, maybe this thing would disappear altogether.  We are here to help one another—with examples, with service, with advice, and yes, even with rebuke. 
 
Her children rise up, and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying: Many daughters have done worthily, But you excel them all. Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman that fear Jehovah, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; And let her works praise her in the gates. Prov 31:28-31
 
Dene Ward

Today I am going to take my life into my hands and offer a little motherly—oh, all right, grandmotherly—advice on overcoming this “hot mess” problem. 
            If your parents never gave you any real work to do, expecting it to be done well and on time “or else,” you are at a distinct disadvantage.  Learning how to work is your first task.  You would be surprised how many business owners complain about first time employees, usually teenagers working after school or on weekends, who do not understand what it even means to work, and to keep working even when they are tired, kids who do not show up for work on a consistent basis simply because “I didn’t feel like it today.”  The world doesn’t care how you feel today.  Get used to it.  “Work” means not just accomplishing what you have been told to do, but looking for more and doing “whatever your hand finds to do” Eccl 9:10.  And when you are managing a home, you seldom get a sick day off, much less a mere “I don’t feel like it” day.
            So what do you do if you feel like “a hot mess,” not just occasionally, but constantly?  Do not use it as your excuse du jour.  The young mother I quoted yesterday, Miranda Nerland, is absolutely correct in her assessment of the life God expects of us.  From the moment of the first sin, toil and labor have been our lot.  That is the reality of the situation.  So work.  Your mother got through it and so did mine.  Our grandmothers survived and so has every generation for thousands of years.  Stop acting like there is something special about you.  In fact, those earlier generations than yours and mine got through it without all the convenience items we use every day.  They washed diapers every day and hung them out to dry.  And before that, they rinsed those dirty diapers out in wash tubs while you roll them up and throw them away.  They worked on diapers for hours every day.  If they hadn’t, their children would have been running around bare-bottomed.  That task had to be completed no matter what else was going on that day or how tired they were, and that’s just one issue they had to deal with out of dozens of absolutely necessary things.
            Second, know yourself.  If you cannot talk and work, then be quiet.  Do whatever it takes to have the quiet time you need to accomplish at least the necessary.  When I see a young mother wondering why she cannot get things done and find five posts with her answering comments in 6 hours’ time, isn’t it obvious why she gets nothing done?  Unplug the land line, turn off your cell, turn off the TV for however long you have determined you need to get the absolute minimum accomplished.  It will all be there when you turn it back on.  And be flexible about when that time is.  For me, it was my children’s naptime.  As I said yesterday, that old chestnut about resting when the baby does did not work for me.  Do not be afraid to “break the rules.”
            If you are one of those folks who is constantly making lists, it’s time to work on the list.  Take that last list of “Things to Do” that has you in such a frenzy wondering how you will ever manage it, and just start doing those chores one at a time.  Mark them off as you work. 
           I was one of those list makers.  I would write it all down then sit there and become inordinately depressed just looking at it.  No way was I going to accomplish all this, I kept thinking.  Finally I learned to just start working and mark things off as I finished them.  I had wasted more time sitting there stewing than it took to complete some of those tasks, and once I got to work I finished far more quickly than I thought possible.  Even if you do not finish the list, seeing how much you have done will be encouraging rather than the opposite.  I loved marking things off.  Sometimes when I remembered a chore I did not have on the list, I wrote it in just so I could mark it off!  Wow!  I got ten things done today, not just the nine I had originally written down.
            If your children are old enough—which is not as old as you think need be--get them involved.  If they think they are helping you or doing a “grown-up” thing—call it whatever you need to keep them smiling--they will not view it as a chore.  Yes, you sometimes have to be creative and a little less picky about how things are done, but just the fact that they are busy gives you both more work time and more time with them.
            If you find just five or ten minutes free some time during the day, use it for another chore—a five or ten minute one.  My kitchen was swept far more often and more laundry put up because of that one little trick than if I had just sat down for those same five or ten minutes.  They usually happened for me when we were getting ready to walk out the door.  With just a little practice you will find those few extra minutes in your day.  Sometimes little things make a huge difference.
            Will this make you any less tired at the end of the day?  Not really, but you will be less stressed because you accomplished more and can see the difference.  But more than that, you will know that you are “working at home,” “managing your home” (I Tim 5:14), exactly the way God expects you to.  He does not expect you to do more than you are capable of, but most of us are capable of far more than we realize, especially when we quit whining and get to work! 
            God did not call any of us to be a “hot mess.”
 
She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Prov 31:13,15,17-19,27
 
Dene Ward

“I've been so disheartened lately by the "hot mess" mentality. The "I-just-can't-it's-too-hard-I-don't-have-time-Oh-well-I'm-just-a-hot-mess" lifestyle that so many of us are adopting under the guise of being "real." It makes us feel good to be a part of that club, but the problem is that we aren't called to be a hot mess. We aren't called to get by. We aren't called to just do the minimum. We aren't called to just keep the kids alive. We are called to work...to be "workers at home." To go to bed tired from working hard at the end of each day, like our Savior did throughout his earthly ministry. Like she [a blogger being referred to] says...we are called to "do the next right thing." This is how we redeem the time. DOING your next right thing, whatever that looks like in your world. Don't let today happen to you. DO today.”*
            The above post showed up on my newsfeed a couple of months ago and I wanted to stand up and cheer.  If there is anything disheartening about Facebook it’s how many young women whine about having so much to do for their families and how impossible it is to get it all done.  As this young mom said, it’s almost like a badge of honor to say about such things, “Well, this is what real life is like.”  Real life is evidently having your family live in disorder and chaos and bragging about it.
            Now let me tell you that this young mother I applauded has not one but two children, and one of them is a chronically ill child who requires many times more doctor appointments than yours do, including emergency room runs for things you give your child a couple of Tylenol for and hope they won’t run around too much for the neighbors or church folks or schoolmates to think they really are sick.  This young mother has excuses for a house in disarray and an overflowing laundry hamper but refuses to use them. 
            Since I had never heard of this “hot mess” phenomenon, I did a little research.  Evidently it is applied in several different areas, some that have no business in a Christian’s life at all, but the common denominator in them all is never managing to complete the tasks at hand.  I also found several lists, some meant to be humorous, others helpful in straightening out those who have this mentality, and other lists helping people to recognize that personality and keep their distance!  Here are three things that I think we can all work on.
            1.  For people who are “hot messes,” clutter and disarray seem to be second nature.  We aren’t talking about the toys being all over the floor because the kids have been playing hard this morning, or the counters covered with pots and pans because you are in the middle of an elaborate meal for guests.  We are talking about people who don’t have the maturity to organize and compartmentalize their lives, making sure that important papers like birth certificates and car titles are kept in a safe place, that the receipt you need to return that defective whatever can easily be found, or not needing to worry about what your little one might pick up and eat off your floor.  These things matter, and they are part of your job as a homemaker.
            2.  Another characteristic of a “hot mess” is that she never takes responsibility for her own actions.  “I would have but…” becomes a staple of her conversation.  After a while you get so tired of hearing the excuses, you simply turn them off.  Bottom line:  what needed doing did not get done.   And if there is not a reason, there is always another person to blame—even one who not only does not live in the same house but whose name she doesn’t even know.  That person just had the misfortune to cross paths with her that morning and so is awarded the dubious distinction of being today’s scapegoat.
            3.  And the last one I saw that really made sense was that a “hot mess” is always a talker and never a doer.  She makes lists but it is rare she ever marks one off.  She makes plans but never follows through.  Why?  Because she is always talking.  Or posting.  Or looking at her phone to check on likes and comments and shares.  I knew a woman once who literally could not work and talk at the same time.  I went to her home to help her cook a meal for company.  Every time she opened her mouth her hands stopped moving.  I worked circles around her and cooked three dishes to her one.
            I am not unsympathetic to young mothers.  I used to be one, and not so long ago that I cannot remember it.  Not long after my first child was born something happened—I am not sure what—but suddenly I burst into tears.  “What’s wrong?” my alarmed husband asked.  I could not even answer him.  Now I know what it was—I was simply overwhelmed. 
            I had not had a good night’s sleep for several months.  I could not get anything done until nap time.  All that advice about resting when your baby does is nonsense.  It cannot be done unless you want to literally wade through laundry, toys, mail, bills, newspapers, and magazines for a year. 
            I looked at my weeping self and thought, “What in the world is wrong with you?  This should be the happiest time of your life.”  But I, too, grew up on TV shows where babies magically go to sleep when you lay them down and stay that way until you have time to play with them or feed them or show them off to your friends—another piece of nonsense.  Babies require more of you than you thought it was possible to give.  They demand your time and your attention, not out of malice but because they cannot survive any other way. 
            Every first time mother needs to know that it’s okay to cry.  Sometime in the first few months you will stand there like an idiot and bawl your eyeballs out.  It’s okay.  What’s not okay is to keep on doing it.  As my young friend said in her post, you’re supposed to be tired.  You’re supposed to feel inundated.  You’re supposed to fall into bed every night utterly exhausted.  That’s your job now, but you can’t just quit, and you certainly shouldn’t glory in being “a hot mess.”  You grow up.  You get better.  Maybe we will talk about that tomorrow.
 
*The post I quoted in the beginning was written by Miranda Nerland.

Dene Ward

Believe it or not, fifty or more years ago it wasn't considered rude.  In fact, after we finished our evening meal, all of us sitting at the same table discussing our day (another rare thing these days), we quickly cleaned things up "just in case."  As my sister and I played in our room and as our parents read the paper or watched the evening news, we all kept one ear for an engine, car doors slamming, and footsteps on the front stoop.  At least one night a week, often more, we were rewarded with friends or family dropping by for an unannounced visit.
            At least one night every other week we were the friends or family who made that visit.  Often it was a visit with cousins who lived in another school district or were in different grades.  Or maybe it was an elderly family member, great-aunts and uncles we only saw a few times a year.  Even more often we visited church members, and they in turn visited us.  We shored up our faith with the fellowship of good conversation and laughter, and usually a healthy dose of Biblical discussion.  Even when there were no children our age, I enjoyed sitting quietly in the corner, listening.  I doubt we ever spent a week without seeing another Christian sometime or other.
            All of that has gone the way of the manual typewriter and cassette tape recorder.  It is old-fashioned, "unfeasible," and yes, even rude.  I understand the change in a culture and the times we live in.  What I do not understand is Christians who no longer make it a point to be together any time except Sunday morning in a building where the after-services conversation is anything but deep because we all have to get somewhere else as soon as possible.
            And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:46-47).  One of the reasons the first church grew was that they made it a priority to be together as often as possible—"day by day."  One of the prime benefits of going to a one service Sunday that I have seen is those groups who then schedule regular times of special study, group meetings, or simple socializing.  Others use the time to visit shut-ins and the elderly, many taking their children along so they can learn how to serve this way as well.  Trust me, there are still old-timers who remember people "dropping by," who would not mind if you did so, though the first time might be a shock after the lack of such things in our culture lately.
            And maybe we should get used to the idea again.  After all, one of these days, the Lord is going to "just drop by."  Make sure you are prepared for it.
 
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness (1Thess 5:1-5).
 
Dene Ward

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

Did you read The DaVinci Code, or watch the movie starring Tom Hanks?  If so, you owe it to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to read this book!  The sub-title says it all:  Probing the Great Gospel Conspiracy, and that is exactly what the author does in what we will call a playful, rather than sarcastic, tone.  He quotes Dan Brown's book at the top of his introduction:  "The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great."  In that vein, he sets out to introduce us to all the witnesses in this so-called conspiracy, even going so far as to call them conspirators and co-conspirators, and systematically tears down not only Dan Brown's statement, but several well-known modern scholars' conspiracy theories as well.  By the time you get to the last chapter you are absolutely sure that this conspiracy theory is just like most others—a bunch of hooie.
            Here is the best thing about this book:  Professor Hill, evidently at the behest of his wife, has set out to write an "accessible" book, that is, one that the layman can read without too much difficulty.  You do not have to be a scholar to understand it.  If you can follow all the characters in one of those thousand page fictional sagas so many read, or pick up the clues in a complex murder mystery, you can follow this list of characters, moving from one to another in a logical way, each chapter building upon the previous ones.  You do need a brain in your head, but it does not have to be a particularly astounding one.
            And when you can finally answer the question in the title of this book, it will build your faith in that much more important Book.
            Who Chose the Gospels? is published by Oxford University Press.
 
Dene Ward

God did not write a loose-leaf book.  (Darlene Craig, The Worthy Woman) 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2Tim 3:16-17).

In this part of Florida we have a little bit of winter.  In fact, we have several spells each year with two or three days of gray, wet, cold that seeps into your bones and makes you wonder why anyone would ever nickname this place “The Sunshine State.”
            Then a morning dawns as clear a blue as you could ever imagine and the sun comes out in a blaze you would swear was even brighter than in summer.  The dog’s fur is warm from lying out in the field instead of burrowing under the porch, and you wish you could lie out there with her.  Now you know why it’s called “The Sunshine State,” and you also know no one up north has these respites, certainly not this degree of warmth in the middle of December, January, or February.  They also don’t have bright yellow jessamine cascading from the tops of trees, and camellias treating you to a mid-winter pink blossom that can withstand even a quick morning’s frost.
            Life is like that for Christians.  God never promised a life without trials any more than He promised a year without winter.  We do our neighbors a disservice when we tell them all their problems will go away if they just hand them over to the Lord.  Casting your burdens on him doesn’t mean they won’t affect you any longer—it means you have all the help you need to handle them.  Why would the help be promised if those problems were going to disappear?
            Paul said he served “the Lord with all tears, and humility, and trials” (Acts 20:19).  James tells us to “count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds” (1:2).  Peter goes so far as to tell us it is necessary for us to be “grieved by various trials” (1 Pet 1:6) and not to think it “strange” when we are (4:12).
            But God does give us reminders of what is to come, things we might call a taste of Heaven here on earth.  He sends it in a strong, godly marriage with two people working together, laughing together, crying together, and growing together as they help each other toward that final Home.  He gives it in that first lusty cry from your child as he enters the world.  He reminds us of that first place we lost in the spring when the azaleas explode in all their color, when the dogwoods shine through the woods like a beacon, and when the birds sing in a cacophony of trills, tweets, chirps, and twitters as they fly back and forth building their nests.  He shows us what He has in store for us as we gather with our sanctified brothers and sisters and raise our hearts in song and encourage one another with love, with advice, and with edification to sustain us during those times not quite so Heavenly tasting.
            We cannot have Heaven now.  We wouldn’t want to give up this world if we did.  So we have troubles, we have tragedies, we grow old and ache and become aggravatingly forgetful and finally learn to long for our true abode instead of being satisfied with second best.  But God does remind us occasionally of how it will be, a little nudge in the right direction so we will eventually make it Home.
 
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, Col 3:1-2.
 
Dene Ward