I have learned a lot of things over the years, among them these:  No matter how well you keep your house, the morning that you get busy with something early on and decide to finish before you dress and do the usual morning chores, will always be the morning the neighbor stops by and finds you still in your bathrobe at 11, the breakfast dishes scattered over the countertop, and the bed unmade—and the more you try to explain that this is unusual for you, the more unbelievable you will sound.  When someone tells you a joke you don’t “get,” you will suddenly comprehend the punch line and laugh raucously the next morning while standing at the checkout behind a woman who has just told the cashier that her mother has a terminal illness.  And your baby will always choose the moment after the preacher reads Hab 2:20, Jehovah is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him, to fill his diaper as noisily as possible. 

            Part of learning how to live is learning how to cope with annoyances and embarrassments on an every day basis, realizing that you are not the only one this happens to.

            So why do we let disappointments ruin our faith so easily?  Yes, the church is God’s perfect institution, but as long as it is filled with people like you and me, it will not always behave itself perfectly.  Even the chosen twelve had a Judas among them.  Even the first Christians had a couple like Ananias and Sapphira, who gave for the praise they would receive rather than from a heart of love.  Even the first church had instances of social bias that caused uproar over the care of widows.  Yet they got over it, continuing to work and grow by leaps and bounds.  Why can’t we?

            It is good to have ideals, but be realistic as well.  God will never disappoint you, but His people will.  Until you can present to them a perfect example of righteousness, don’t expect them to do so for you.  Rather, understand that we are all growing together.

            Someone someday will lie about you, perhaps even a Christian.  Realize this—most of the time they don’t even know they are lying.  For some reason or other their attitude of depression or bitterness at that moment has put a winding road in their ear canals that twists everything they hear into something hurtful.  By the time they tell someone else what they “heard,” they really think that is exactly what you said.  You know what?  It won’t kill you.  People who know you (or the other person) will either dismiss the comment entirely or ask you about it, giving you a chance to set the record straight.  Anyone who believes it has their own problems to deal with.  In ten years, no one will care, because no one will remember.  I know.  These days it only costs me one night of sleep instead of a year’s worth of worry.  Progress!

            Stop expecting perfection where there is none.  Stop blaming God for the sins of His children.  Remember to whom you were converted—to the Lord, and not to a group of forgiven sinners who sometimes backslide.  Learn not to expect more than you can deliver yourself.  It’s a whole lot easier on your faith.
 
And he said unto his disciples, It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come; but woe unto him, through whom they come...For there must be also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you. Luke 17:11; 1 Cor 11:19.
 
Dene Ward

This time of year we stuff a lot of things—turkeys, stockings, and all too often, stomachs.  However, there is one thing we ought to be stuffed with all the time—the Spirit.  Yet we too often judge one another about this very thing.  Is he filled with the Spirit?  No, you can just watch him during the services and tell, right?

            A long time ago, when Keith was still a young preacher, he caught sight of one of the elders frowning during his sermon.  Afterward, he asked the older man if he had a problem with the lesson.  He was surprised at Keith’s query.  “Of course not.  It was fine,” came the reply.  When Keith told him he had been frowning the man laughed and said, “Oh that.  I just had a little indigestion tonight.”

            We are too quick to leap to conclusions about one another when we ought to be paying attention to ourselves.  Was that elder filled with the Spirit?  Well he was obviously filled with something, but whether or not it was the Spirit had nothing to do with how he looked.  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of Jesus’ admonition in John 7:24--Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. 

            We are also too prone to judge ourselves this way.  When I see people with ebullient personalities, who hug everyone in sight, who sing loud and pray long, whom everyone gushes over as the “best example of a Christian I have ever seen” precisely because they are so “out there” with it, it makes me wonder about myself.  I don’t bubble, I am not demonstrative, and, though I often sing loudly, it’s more often because I am getting older so my range is shrinking, and I can’t get that high note on pitch at anything less than 80 decibels.  What is wrong with me?  Why don’t I have a Spirit-filled life after all these years?  Am I nothing but a fact-filled shell of a Christian?

            Paul tells us in Eph 5:18-21 how to tell if we are filled with the Spirit, and it has nothing to do with how loud we are and how many people we hug.

            And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; [How?] 1) speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; (2) giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; [and (3)] subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.

            Yes, singing is the first thing on the list, but remember what we discovered about the “one to another” in this passage a couple of years ago.  It is not the usual “one to another” phrase that implies reciprocity.  In fact it is not a phrase at all, but a single word, a pronoun, often translated himself, herself, or yourself.  The context is not the assembly, but rather how I live my daily life.  The better translation is “singing to yourself.”  This is the singing I do throughout the day to edify myself and to praise God.  I often do that very quietly, especially if I am in the middle of an aisle at the grocery store.  Yes, people walking by probably hear a susurration of melodic noise, maybe even a word or two, but I am doing the singing for myself, especially if I have had a bad morning and need to calm down.

            A person who is filled with the Spirit “gives thanks always.”  Do I?  Or do I only thank God “for being so good” when I get what I want, and then rail at him with, “Why me?” when I don’t?  Do I recognize my blessings as easily as my problems?  A grumbling heart is not filled with the Spirit.

            Then there is the most telling factor, probably the most difficult one.  Do I submit myself to my brethren?  Notice, this is the same Greek word used of a wife’s submission to her husband (Col 3:18), and our submission to the government (1 Pet 2:13).  It is also the same word used of our submission to God (Jas 4:7)!  Do I give in to my brother or sister’s opinion even when I think this is not the best way to do it?  Based upon what I have heard about all-male business meetings, if the men there were as subject to one another as they expect their wives to be to them, in other words, if they were to obey the command in Eph 5:21 as well as they expect their wives to obey the command in Col 3:18, the vast majority of problems in the church would disappear.

            So don’t worry if you are a quiet person with a reserved personality.  You too can be filled with the Spirit, and you can know you are if you sing hymns during the day, if you thank God for all his blessings, and if you do your best to serve others, even giving in to the opinions of others when you disagree strongly.  Those are the things a Spirit-filled Christian does, sometimes loudly, but sometimes quietly too.  It really isn’t that difficult to tell.
 
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another. Gal 5:22, 24-26.
 
Dene Ward

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire, Jude 1:5-7.
 
          If ever we need a rerun of a lesson in this age it’s this one:  Jesus absolutely, definitely, most certainly will punish.  Too many times we who “once fully knew it” fall into the false security of the world, calling Jesus the gentle, the loving, the merciful, which is all true, but it is done to imply that he would never punish anyone for a sin.  Maybe God would, especially that mean, angry Old Testament God, but certainly not Jesus.  The people Jude wrote to must have forgotten as well.  Jesus, the same one who saved the people out of Egypt, turned right around and destroyed a whole slew of them not long afterward. 

            Then Jude gives us three things to watch out for specifically.  First, in his allusion to the Israelites, he mentions unbelief.  How could they not believe in a God who spoke to them, who caused Sinai to shake, who had previously demonstrated His power in the plagues and at the Red Sea?  The Hebrew writer tells us, And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief, Heb 3:18-19.  He equates disobedience with unbelief, and it only makes sense.  If I really believe what God says, that He will do what he says He will do if I disobey Him, then I will not disobey.  Disobedience means I think I can get away with it, so it means I do not believe God, and Jesus will punish.

            Then Jude mentions the angels “who left their proper dwelling.”  This cannot be talking about being cast out of Heaven because it says “they left,” which seems voluntary.  The understanding I get from scholars is they went beyond the bounds God set for them.  If a man walks into work and begins ordering people around like he was the boss, firing, hiring, and changing orders, he has “left his proper dwelling.”  Who are you supposed to submit to in your life?  Your husband?  Your elders?  Your boss?  Your government?  How about your fellow Christians (Eph 5:21)?  Have you left your proper place in life?  Jesus will punish.

            And then there is the issue of the day—sexual immorality and unnatural desire as exemplified by the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Jesus will punish.

            Remember, Jude tells them.  You used to know this.  What happened?  Maybe the same thing that has happened to us—listening to the culture we live in turn Jesus into a weak, instead of meek, pushover.  You can make him angry (Mark 3:5).  He will punish.  Don’t give him a reason to.
 
…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, 2Thess 1:7-8.
 
Dene Ward

I am not a gun nut.  I don’t know a whole lot about shooting.  But I do know some things that should be obvious, yet apparently are not.  When you shoot a gun, the bullet has to come down somewhere.
 
           We live in the country.  That means we do not have to worry about the laws against discharging a weapon in the city limits.  Since we have a lot more poisonous snakes, rabid coons, and bobcats ravaging the chicken coops than they do in town, that is a good thing.  Still, we must be careful.

            One reason many people use shotguns out in the country is that the load will scatter and not do much harm after a few feet.  If you shoot a rifle, you must constantly be careful of what is behind your target and the pitch of your gun barrel.  It must be pointing down so that if you miss your target, the spent bullet will hit the ground harmlessly not too far beyond.  If you miss what you are aiming at, the bullet keeps going until it either runs out of energy or hits something else.  And yes, even those supposedly harmless shots they fire in the air in all the old Westerns do eventually come down, and can still kill someone.  Evidently people who are not gun nuts, and certainly not physicists, write all those scripts because they regularly show their ignorance in these matters. 

            Words are like that.  Too many times we become angry, carelessly “shooting from the lip” or firing a few verbal bullets into the air, unaware of how those words may hurt those who may be within earshot.  Even words meant only for ourselves can cause damage to others when spoken aloud—there is always the chance that someone else will hear.  If a target needs a well-chosen word, chances are something spoken in haste was not well chosen anyway.  I need to keep it to myself until I am certain my aim is correct, the background is clear, and no one else is in danger.

            Just like a bullet, a word can come to rest in the heart of an innocent bystander.  Be sure you don’t make a tragic mistake.
           
I tell you on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned, Matt 12:36,37.
 
Dene Ward

Unfortunately, I have a sweet tooth.  I have never understood rail thin women who complain about a dessert being, “too sweet,” “too rich,” and certainly not, “too big.”  That probably explains why I am not rail thin.
  
          I had a good excuse for making desserts with two active boys in the house.  Their favorites were plain, as desserts go—blueberry pie, apple pie, Mississippi mud cake, and any kind of cheesecake.  Nowadays, since there are only two of us and we two do not need a whole lot of sweets, desserts are usually for special occasions, and so they have gotten a little more “special” too.  Coconut cake with lime curd filling and coconut cream cheese frosting; chocolate fudge torte with chocolate ganache filling, dark chocolate frosting, and peanut butter ganache trim, garnished with dry roasted peanuts; lemon sour cream cake with lemon filling and lemon cream cheese frosting; and a peanut butter cup cheesecake piled with chopped peanut butter cups and drizzled with hot fudge sauce; all these have found their way into my repertoire and my heart. 

            But one thing I have never done is feed my family on dessert alone.  Dessert is for later, after you eat your vegetables, after the whole grain, high fiber, high protein meals, after you’ve taken your vitamins and minerals.  Everyone knows that, except perhaps children, and I would have been a bad mother had I given in to their desires instead of doing what was best for them. 

            So why do we expect God to feed us nothing but dessert?  Why do we think life must always be easy, fun, and exciting?  Why is it that the only time I say, “God is good,” is when I get what I want?

            God is good even when He makes me eat my vegetables, when I have to choke down the liver, and guzzle the V8.  God is good when I undergo trials and misfortunes. God is good even when the devil tempts me sorely.  He knows what is best for me, what will make me strong and able to endure, and, ultimately, He knows that living a physical life on this physical earth forever is not in my best interests.

            Eating nothing but cake and pie and pastries will create a paradox—an obese person who is starving to death, unable to grow and become strong.  God knows what we need and gives it to us freely and on a daily basis.  He doesn’t fill us up with empty spiritual calories.  He doesn’t give us just dessert.  Truly, God is good.
 
Rejoice the soul of your servant, for unto you O Lord, do I lift up my soul.  For you Lord are good, and ready to forgive and abundant in lovingkindness unto all them who call upon you.  There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, neither any works like your works.  All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and they shall glorify your name.  For you are great and do wondrous things.  You are God alone, Psa 86:4,5,8-10.
 
Dene Ward

Suppose someone places a blank piece of paper in front of you.  How would you feel about it?  What thoughts come to mind?  It all depends upon the circumstances, doesn’t it?
  
        If you are in a classroom on the day of final exams and that piece of paper is meant for your answers to half a dozen essay questions, it might raise your blood pressure a little.  If you were prepared for that test, maybe it would not rise quite as high.

            If that blank paper were a signed blank check, your excitement might know no bounds, unless, of course, it was a check drawn on your own meager bank account.  That could be disappointing.  

            A blank sheet might signify good news—no demerits, no criminal record, no symptoms.  What a relief!

            A blank piece of paper might mean writer’s block if it has been sitting there awhile.  I know from experience that frustration usually accompanies that problem.  It could also mean great potential if inspiration has suddenly struck.  When that happens I am eager to get to work, usually stopping whatever else I am doing immediately to do so.

            Even with God that blank piece of paper could mean different things.  It might mean a lack of authority.  Jesus said in Matt 21:25 that there are two places from which to receive authority—from Heaven or from men.  Either God authorized the action or men did, and the people he spoke to, who neither liked nor respected him, didn’t bother to argue because the point was axiomatic.  God expects every aspect of our lives to be lived according to His authority.  Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus…Col 3:17.

            He expects us to respect that authority, doing exactly what it gives us permission to do, but, in the case of a blank piece of paper, doing nothing.  When God told the Israelites that the priests were to come from the tribe of Levi, he did not have to list all the tribes they could NOT come from.  That is the Hebrew writer’s precise point when he says of Jesus, For it is evident that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, as to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priests, Heb 7:14.  The very fact that God said in the Law of Moses, “Levi,” meant Judah was excluded, and that in turn means that for Jesus to be our new High Priest the law itself had to change.  We could go on and on with this point, but suffice it to say that when God gives you a blank piece of paper, He does not expect you to fill it in with your own choices.

            But He does give us a blank piece of paper that is amazing and wonderful—a paper wiped clean of its list of sins, so clean there are not even any erasure smudges on it.  When God forgives it is as if He crumpled the old list and destroyed it, pulling out a fresh new clean sheet from an endless supply.

            Start today with that blank piece of paper.  Fill it with as much good as you can because, you see, a blank piece of paper is one thing God will never accept from us.
 
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean.  Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes.  Cease to do evil; learn to do well:  seek justice, relieve the oppressed, bring justice to the fatherless, plead for the widow.  Come now and let us reason together, says Jehovah.  Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they be red, they shall be as wool, Isa 1:16-18.    Dene Ward

I have been doing a lot of outside reading for some classes I am teaching, and find myself reading blurbs on the backs of these books at odd times, usually when my mind needs a rest from all the scholarly stuff my old and feeble brain is trying to make sense of.  I saw this one a few weeks ago and it stopped me in my tracks.

            “In Story as Torah Gordon Wenham showed how biblical narrative texts little used by ethicists, can inform Christian moral teaching.”  John Barton, University of Oxford.

            In other words, the man has written a book in which he uses the Bible “stories,” as we are prone to call them, to teach us right and wrong.  First, I do understand that the word “inform” has a special meaning in scholarly circles, but it still seems plain to me that the critic is saying that using the Bible this way is highly unusual, in fact, a groundbreaking idea. 

            I sit here wondering why they are reading their Bibles at all if they have not figured this out before.  We do this every Sunday in Bible classes.  I did it every day when my children were growing up.  I do it now when my grandsons come for a visit.  We talk about the Bible narratives and how they teach us we should be behaving in our lives.  We talk about Noah and how “everyone is doing it,” proves that “it” is probably wrong.  We talk about Daniel and how important prayer is, and how God takes care of the faithful.  We talk about Elijah and the One True God.  We talk about Judas and betrayal, about Peter and impetuosity—and then forgiveness.  We talk about Jonah and God’s love for everyone and our responsibility to share that love.  My children grew up knowing what the Bible is for.  What in the world did these people think they should do with it?

            And we can laugh at them and think ourselves so much better than they, but are we?  We know the Bible is to be used to “inform” our lives, but does it?  Does the sermon go in one ear and out the other?  Do the Bible classes become exercises in finding yet another way to bring up my pet hobby, or to show everyone how much I know instead of finding something I need to improve on?  Do I give the right answers and then go out and live the wrong ones?

            Before we laugh at men who have become a little too smart for their own good, let’s check our own behavior.  We may know better, but are we doing it?
 
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come, 1Cor 10:6-11.
 
Dene Ward

Keith is a certified firearms instructor for the State Department of Corrections.  Whenever he has a class on the range and they run out of ammunition, he makes them pop open their revolvers, allowing the casings to scatter wherever they fall, snap in a speed loader, and start shooting again.  Any who empty the casings into their hands get a stern lecture.  Why?  Because in a state of emergency, you will do what you practice.  After gunfights, they have found dead policemen with bullet casings in their hands; men who, on the practice range, took the time to pour the empties into their hands so they wouldn’t have to crawl around picking them up later, so that is what they did under pressure, and those few precious seconds when the bullets were flying cost them their lives.  There is always time after practice to pick up the brass.

            Whenever an emergency arises, whenever you find yourself under extreme pressure, you will always do what you have trained yourself to do. 

            You will not say, “Oh, I shouldn’t take the time to pick up these casings right now.  There are bad guys out there trying to kill me so I need to reload as quickly as possible.”  You will simply do what you have always done.  It’s why schools and workplaces run fire drills, why the flight attendants tell you how to operate those dangling masks every time you get on a plane, and why the various branches of the armed forces run drills over and over and over.

            Why is it important to memorize scriptures, to sing hymns during the day, to talk to God as if He were right there with you all day long?  Why is it important to train yourself not to use foul language even when no one else is around, not to lose your temper over even the smallest matters, not to develop dependencies other than God when you are feeling down, not to return evil for evil, even when you are just driving down the road?  Because when life’s pressures rise, you will do what you practice. 

            If you curse in private, you will curse for all to hear; but if you pray at the drop of a hat whenever something does not go well, that is what you will do instead.  If you have trained yourself to turn the other cheek at the least little grievance, you will more easily do so with the larger ones.  If you have filled yourself with the scriptures, those precious words will spring to mind and bail you out of temptation.

            In case of emergency, you will do what you have trained yourself to do.  Is it time for a spiritual fire drill?

With my whole heart have I sought you: Oh let me not wander from your commandments.
Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Blessed art thou, O Jehovah: Teach me your statutes.
With my lips have I declared all the ordinances of your mouth.
I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, As much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts, and have respect unto your ways.
I will delight myself in your statutes: I will not forget your word. Psalm 119:10-16

Dene Ward

I learned when I was still in school that it is difficult to proofread your own writing.  Especially in the moments immediately after writing it down, your mind will not only supply the missing words and read the transposed lettering correctly, it will also impose the meaning you had on it when you wrote it, blissfully unaware that it might be construed differently by someone else, or that the inference you thought was so obvious is not.

            I have learned to proofread immediately for the easy things, then put it aside for at least twenty-four hours before trying again.  Then as long as a week later, proofread again.  Every time I still manage to find things to correct.  If I have the luxury of waiting a month before I need to use the writing, I will suddenly see the needed connections my mind supplied but which I left out of the writing, leaving the reader to ponder, “What in the world is she referring to?”

            No, the best way to proofread your writing is to have someone else do it.  They come to it totally unaware of your mindset and can see, not only the homophone errors and transposed letters, but also the places where you have been less than clear.  Their perspective helps them to see things you cannot see. 

            And therein is the value to having someone else proofread your life.  I may think I know my own motivation, when often I am simply rationalizing a wrong.  I think I know the situation best because I am standing in the middle of it when, instead, I am only seeing it from one angle and missing the bigger picture. 

            I often, in haste, type “there” for “they’re” or “to” for “too.”  I know better, but I am in such a hurry my hands take over for my mind and type the wrong thing.  Other times I hit the space bar in the wrong sequence and “three swings and a miss” becomes “threes wing sand amiss.”  The correct elements are there, they are just misplaced, and what a difference it makes. 

            The next time someone tries to help you proofread your life, be grateful.  They can make all the difference in your world, both this one and the next.

Better is an open rebuke than love that is hidden.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are profuse, Prov 27:5,6. 

Dene Ward

Dear TV and Movie Producers and Advertisers of same,

    I grew up watching television.  But now I find myself completely disgusted by what you are giving me as entertainment.  May I please offer a few suggestions?

    I am not a prurient adolescent, so please dispense with the sexual innuendo and bathroom humor.  I am far more mature and sophisticated than that.  Most of the people I know are.  I am relatively well-educated, so please come up with words with more than four letters.  They have already worn out their shock value, and what other use are they?  All they do is turn me off, which means I turn the knob off.

    Please give me role models I can identify with, admire, or aspire to.  Give me a father figure who is not an idiotic doofus, one who can make rational decisions and does not need his wife, and certainly not his children, to pull him out of the messes he makes of their lives week after week.  Give me a mother figure who does not treat her husband like a child or demean him to her friends, but respects him; who is not a preacher for the ultra-liberal left, who understands that selflessness and sacrifice for her family is not a fault to be overcome, and can communicate with her family without a martyr complex.  Give me children who respect their parents and obey them without eye-rolling, sass, and deeply heaved sighs of frustration.  

    Tell my children the truth not the fairy tale of “happily ever after.”  Show my children that one talk about condoms does not make teen pregnancy a breeze.  Show them that drugs are not that easy to overcome once they are hooked.  Tell them that there is no such thing as “safe sex” outside of heterosexual monogamy, that AIDS is not the only, or even the most common, sexually transmitted disease out there, and that they could easily end up living the rest of their lives in relentless pain, unable to marry and have children till the day they die.  Tell them that the same self-control we expect of them in regard to stealing and murder is just as viable when it comes to sexual self-control.

    Teach them something called integrity and character instead of looking out for number one and doing what you can get away with.  Teach them that whatever they do affects someone else.  Do you know how many times my probation officer husband has sat across the table from inmates who were shocked to hear that their shoplifting raised the prices that their dear old grandmothers had to pay?  No one taught them simple economics.  No one told them that what they did was a reflection on the women who raised them.  “I don’t know your mother,” he often says to them, “except what I see in you.”  You would be surprised how many hardened criminals sit there with tears running down their cheeks at those words.  Too bad you didn’t say any of those things a long time before he did.  

    And tell me this—would you ever pepper dialogue with the phrase “Oh my Allah!” or “Oh my Buddha!” or “Oh my Vishnu!”?  Or would you never dare in this age of political correctness to cause offense to someone’s religious beliefs?  So why must I listen to you disrespect my God?  Or is it, as seems to be the case over and over, that discrimination against Christians doesn’t count?

    Speaking of Christians, show me practicing Christians who are neither fire-breathing, insane radicals nor hypocrites.  Show me people who live what they believe—quietly and selflessly serving others and living moral lives.  I can show you hundreds of families in just my limited circle who do.  Why can’t you find any?

    I am not the only one out there who would like these things.  A good many of us are tired of seeing sex used to advertise hamburgers and shavers and suave urbanity to advertise liquor and beer.  Let me tell you—the most interesting man in my world is not an arrogant, beer-swilling womanizer and no man should expect me to come running just because he gave me the eye across a boxing ring.  My standards are much higher than those.  My friends feel the same way.  We’re tired of having to battle an entire culture in order to teach our children how to be decent people.  Not a few have turned their TVs off.  They have made the decision to boycott businesses who promote themselves in such irresponsible ways, businesses whose only interest is the bottom line.  

    And to those who are saying amen, I am calling on more of you to do something tangible to show your displeasure--not violent, not illegal, but something that will make an impact that businesses care about—their profits.  Write a letter, using calm words, good words, not indecent ones.  Don’t become what you are opposing.  Then follow up.  Turn off that television, stop watching those movies, don’t buy those products or patronize those establishments.  You know who and what they are as well as I do, you’ve just been ignoring this issue because it would put a crimp in your style.  Maybe it’s time you sacrificed something.  You know who it’s for.  Aren’t they worth it?  Isn’t HE worth it?

 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead reprove them.  Eph 5: 11.

Dene Ward