Materialism - Dene's Blog

Pallets on the Floor

4/3/2015 5 Comments

When I was a child we often visited friends and family, all the kids sleeping in the living room floor on piles of quilts. It was fun because it was different and exciting, and not one of us complained. Dinner was never fancy because none of us were wealthy, but all my aunts could cook as well as my mother and we knew it would be good whatever it was. We practiced the hospitality shown in the Bible to our families, to our neighbors, and to our brothers and sisters in the Lord. What has happened to us?
   Even if we aren’t particularly wealthy, we have fallen for the nonsense that because we cannot offer what the wealthy offer, we should offer nothing at all. How do we excuse it? I don’t have a spare room. I don’t have a bathroom for every bedroom. The spare room I do have is too small. The bathroom is too tiny. My grocery budget is too small and my time too little for cooking. I work. I have an infant in the house who still wakes up at night. And the perennial favorite, “You know, times are different now.”
   Not so much, folks. Lydia worked, yet she made Paul and Silas an offer they couldn’t refuse—she told them they would be insulting her faith if they did not stay with her. Unless I am reading something into it that isn’t there, Priscilla worked right alongside her husband, “for they were tentmakers.” Yet Paul didn’t stay with them for just a night or two—he lived with them for a good while. Abraham was a very busy man—he had more employees than some towns in that day had citizens, yet he not only offered hospitality, he actively looked for people who might need it.
   “But they had servants!” some whine. If you don’t think your modern conveniences fill the place of servants, you have never thought about what it took back then to cook—they started with the animals on the hoof, people! Their cooking involved building a fire from scratch, sometimes in the heat of the day. And here we sit with the meat already butchered in our electric refrigerators, ready to put in our gas or electric ovens. We clean with our vacuum cleaners, pick up ready-made floral arrangements at the grocery store, make sure the automatic shower cleaner and the stuck-on toilet cleaner are still in service, and stop at the bakery for the bread. Then, when it’s all done, we put the dirty dishes in our dishwashers, and we do it all in our air conditioned homes.
   Part of the problem may also be the expectations of guests these days. It isn’t just that people are no longer hospitable—it’s that people are spoiled and self-indulgent. They don’t want to sleep on a sofa. They don’t want to share a bathroom with a couple of kids. They will not eat what is offered. We aren’t talking about health situations like diabetes and deadly allergies. We are talking about people who care more about their figures than their fellowship; people who were never taught to graciously accept what was placed in front of them, even knowing it was the best their hosts could afford, because, “I won’t touch_______________,” (fill in the blank).
   We once ate with a hard-working farm family who had invited us and two preachers over for dinner. Dinner was inexpensive fare--they had five children and had invited us six to share their meal. Later that evening, when we had left their home, we heard those two preachers making fun of what of they had been served and laughing about it. I hope those poor people never got wind of it.
   When we raise our children to act in similarly ungracious ways, when we consider them too precious to sleep on a pallet on the floor, as if their royal hides could feel a miniscule pea beneath all those quilts, what can we expect? Do you think it doesn’t happen? We once had a guest who told me she had rather not sleep where I put her. It was the only place I had left to put her. I already had four other guests when she had shown up at my door unannounced. She was more than welcome—I have taken in unexpected guests many times--but where were this one’s manners?
   Do you know how many times we have been told, “Do you know how far it is out there?” when we invited someone thirty miles out in the country to our home for a meal. Excuse me? Of course we know how far it is—we drive it back and forth at least three times a week just to the church building, not counting other appointments.
   This matter of hospitality worries me. It tells me we have become self-indulgent and materialistic when it comes both to offering it and accepting it. God commands us to Show hospitality to one another without grumbling, 1 Pet 4:9. What has happened to the enjoyment of one another’s company, the encouragement garnered by sharing conversation and bumping elbows congenially in close quarters, and the love nurtured by putting our feet under the same table, by opening not only our homes but our hearts?
   What has happened to the joy of a pallet on the floor?

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us, Acts 16:14,15.

Dene Ward

Common Sense

3/9/2015 0 Comments

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-sided 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

Catching A Dream

1/19/2015 0 Comments

When we kept our grandsons last spring, twenty-month-old Judah usually climbed into my lap every evening as we sat at the table for a final cup of coffee. It took me a minute the first time his little hand reached out in the air, but finally I realized he was trying to catch the steam wafting over my mug, and was completely mystified when it disappeared between his little fingers.
    A lot of people spend their lives trying to catch the steam, vapors that seem solid but disintegrate in their grasping hands. They do it in all sorts of ways, and all of them are useless.
    Do they really think they can stop time? Over 11,000,000 surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures were performed in this country in 2013, and we aren’t talking medically necessary procedures. The top five were liposuctions, breast augmentations, eyelid surgeries, tummy tucks, and nose surgeries.*
    Then there are the folks chasing wealth and security. Didn’t the recent Great Recession, as it is now called, teach them anything? Others are striving to make a name for themselves. These are usually the same folks who tell Christians how pathetic we are to believe that some Higher Power would ever notice we even exist on this puny blue dot in the universe. Yet there they all go looking for fame, fortune, notoriety, beauty, or even their version of eternal life. All of it is nothing more than a dream. It will disappear, if not in a natural disaster or an economic meltdown, then the day they die—and they will die no matter how hard they try not to. They are the ones grasping at dreams which are only a vapor that disappears in a flash.
    Our dream isn’t a dream at all. It is a hope, which in the Biblical sense means it is all but realized. Sin and death have been conquered by a force we can only try to comprehend, by a love we can never repay, and by a will we can but do our best to imitate. Yet there it is, not a wisp of white floating over a warm porcelain mug, but a solid foundation upon which we base our faith. Heb 6:19 calls it “an anchor.” Have you ever seen a real anchor? If there is anything the opposite of a wisp of steam, that’s it—solid and strong, able to hold us steady in the worst winds of life. Tell me how a pert nose and a full bank account can do that!
    The world thinks it knows what is real while we sit like a toddler grasping at steam. When eternity comes, they will finally see that they are wrong. Spiritual things are the only things that last, the only real things at all.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal, 2 Cor 4:6-8.

*Information from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Dene Ward

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Sensitivity Training

1/13/2015 0 Comments

If there was ever a new church that struggled with its spirituality, it was the church at Corinth. Paul scolded them: And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. [Read that: “you are acting like a bunch of big babies,” and you will get the picture.]   I fed you with milk, not with meat, for you were not yet able to bear it, no, not even now are you able, for you are still carnal, 1 Cor 3:1-3. We have a tendency to think of things sexual when we see that word “carnal,” but Paul tells us in the next phrase or two what it really means: “walking after the manner of men,” in other words, being physically minded instead of spiritually minded. He then spent most of that first letter telling them how to become more spiritually minded.
   Their struggle over spiritual gifts surely has to be the most obvious example. They actually rated them as to importance, using, of course, carnal measurements--the flashier and showier the better. So Paul spends most of chapter 12 telling them that no one is more important than anyone else. Everyone is useful in the body of Christ, and if any one of them was not there, something would be obviously missing. In chapter 14, when their sense of importance is leading to a confused and disorderly assembly because none will yield his “gift” time to another, he actually gives them specific instructions about how to order things, all of which are pure common sense if you have the correct object in mind, the edification of the church rather than the glorification of the individual. He even spells it out several times: if there is no edification, let them keep silence.
   And of course, there is the pitiful business with suing one another, letting things of this physical life effect how they dealt with spiritual brothers and sisters.
   Those poor Corinthians at whom we so often shake our heads are not the only ones with these problems. We are beset by the same weaknesses, and the same feelings. In fact, as I was reading and thinking about these things it suddenly struck me that almost any time I take an idle remark as a personal attack, it falls right into the same category.
   I believe there is such a thing as being sinfully sensitive. Think about it. How many times could Jesus have “gotten his feelings hurt” or “felt insulted?” You could make a list as long as an entire book in the Bible, but he did not allow his feelings to keep him from completing a mission that was more important than anything else in the world.
   When I commit myself to being his disciple, don’t I promise to follow his example? The problem with being too sensitive is that it causes me to stop what I am doing and spend time on nothing but myself, usually moping or pouting, or even beginning a campaign against the other person. Nothing anyone says to me or about me, or that I might even possibly construe to be about me, is an excuse for setting myself up as more important than my mission as Jesus’ disciple. As a mature Christian, those things should roll right off me, because my concern is God’s glorification, not my own. That is what spirituality is all about. And if we cannot even begin to get a handle on it here, why should we be allowed to live in that exalted state for an Eternity?
   Something to think about as we interact with one another today.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves, Phil 2:3.The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult, Prov 12:16.

Dene Ward

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A Fine Whine

7/8/2014 0 Comments

            Americans used to admire “the strong, silent type”—not someone who was uncommunicative, but someone who endured the hardships of life without complaint, a man who always kept a sane head on his shoulders when things got rough. I don’t know what has happened, but nowadays strength seems to be measured by how loudly a man can rant and rave about his lot in life and anyone he can blame for it.

            Our culture has made whining a world class skill. No, we do not call it whining, but that’s what it is. We whine about our jobs, about our neighbors, about our families, about our health, about the government—they give all our hard-earned money to other people, but let them cut one of our entitlement programs and we whine even louder about that. We whine about rising costs, about having to wait in line, about our lifestyles, about the driver in the car in front of us. We whine about the church, about the singing, about the length of sermons, about the preacher, about the elders, and about how hot or cold the building always is. Sometimes I feel like getting out Nathan’s violin and accompanying the dirge. At least it would be easier on the ears—and I don’t even know how to play!

            Look at Numbers 11, the classic example of complaining in the Old Testament. Every place it says weep, weeping, or wept, substitute whine, whining, or whined. That is probably a perfect word for what was going on. Look at Moses’ reaction in v 15. Please allow me to paraphrase: “If this is the way it’s going to be, then do me a favor, Lord, and kill me. I can’t take it any more.” Why anyone would think that whining is a measure of strength is beyond me.

            Whining impugns God’s goodness. Think of all the things God does for us and gives to us, and still we whine. Blessed is the man whom you choose and cause to approach unto you, that he may dwell in your courts.   How can we complain when we have that blessing? We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy Temple, Psa 65:4. Because your lovingkindness is better than life, I will praise you. So I will bless you while I live; I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips, Psa 63:3-5. A far cry from whining, isn’t it?

            I may think that I am above the effects of my culture, that I am not influenced by the rampant materialism that often motivates this whining. All I need to do is make a list of things I consider “necessities” to find out otherwise. All I need to do is keep track of all the times I complain during the day to become thoroughly ashamed. God destroyed those who whined against Moses. Why will he accept my murmuring? The poorest among us is wealthier than 90% of the rest of the world. Imagine that. And far beyond that, life is good, if for no other reason than I have a Savior. In fact, do I need any other reason?

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are you; and fear not their fear, neither be troubled, but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord…1 Peter 3:14,15

Neither murmur as some of them murmured and perished by the Destroyer, 1 Cor 10:10

Dene Ward

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A Life of Luxury

5/15/2014 0 Comments

            A couple of years ago we had one of those weeks to end all weeks. Besides the tropical storm that dumped 13 inches of rain over us and left us without power for several hours, the pump on the well went out, the phones, and thus the modem, went out, the satellite dish went out, the air conditioning in the car went out, and we each had a respiratory virus.

            As I was sitting in the mechanic’s air conditioned waiting room, leaning back on his padded couch with a television droning on should I care to watch and a cup of free coffee between my hands, bemoaning all my misfortunes, I suddenly realized what a luxury it was to do so. A tropical storm had moved almost directly over us, yet we only lost power for a few hours. Thirteen inches of rain had fallen, yet we could still get up and down our road to a dry home; we just couldn’t use the telephones and modem for four days. The air conditioning in the car, something I never even had as a child, was out, but I could still drive it to the dealership, sit in comfort while they fixed it, and my warranty covered it completely. The pump was out so I had to do without running water for five hours. A hundred years ago I wouldn’t even have known what I was missing. What a luxury to be able to complain about such things.

            I saw a promo on television the other night. Some rich, show biz personality was “going ballistic” because the $100 lipstick she bought did not match her evening gown, and she had broken a nail right after a $300 manicure. I remember feeling outraged and downright disgusted with her, but am I any better?

            Compared to most people in the world, we live lives of luxury and don’t even realize it. I am sure many of those impoverished people would have felt the same outrage at me had they heard me complaining.

            In the Old Testament, Israel became so wealthy that all they cared about was living lives of ease. They stopped being concerned about the things a true people of God should be concerned with, like sin and evil in the world. While many did not actually partake of those things, they simply let them keep on existing. The important things to them were building large, comfortable homes, entertaining in style, and having others wait on them. That is one of the reasons they were destroyed, as Amos plainly put it. The elite, the “first” in the nation, were the first to be carried away captive.

            The next time we start our “poor little me” lists, we need to take a good look at them. Let’s at least realize what a luxury it is to have such things to complain about and be grateful, and let’s save our real complaints for things that truly matter.


Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria…Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the middle of the stall, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harps and like David, invent themselves instruments of music, who drink in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away. The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts, I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up his city and all that is in it, Amos 6:1, 4-8.

Dene Ward

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For Mature Audiences Only

4/10/2014 4 Comments

            Keith and I have wondered out loud lately, how a word that should be a compliment, “adult,” has come to mean something bad--adult bookstores, adult movies, adult shops. If a person knew no better, and walked into one of those places what would he see that could be described as “mature” the way the scriptures use the word? It reminds me of Isaiah’s warning: Woe unto those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put sweet for bitter, and bitter for sweet, 5:20.

            I think there should be a new movie rating: AM. It stands for “adolescent mentality.” Any movie that uses such a meager vocabulary that most of the words have only four letters, that has no dramatic, tension building dialogue lasting longer than ninety seconds before throwing in an explosion or gunfight to get the audience’s attention again, and of course, one that attempts to satisfy the prurient interests of the hormonally-explosive adolescent would get my new rating. Then those of us who want to behave like real adults, who have larger vocabularies, who don’t need voyeurism to get our kicks, and who have an attention span longer than a minute or two can actually enjoy real adult entertainment.

            The problem with having an adolescent mentality when it comes to entertainment is that it is not confined to that arena. Can I sit still long enough to pray? Make yourself pray at least ten minutes today, by the clock. Can you? You see, once you get past the standard phrases, two minutes at most, you can really open up to your God, and talk to Him. If you cannot sit still that long, you may have never really prayed.

            Can I follow a rational argument long enough to study the first 11 chapters of Romans, arguably Paul’s greatest thesis? Can I study without being led by the hand, or do I simply rely on someone else to do it for me? Do I have the maturity to honestly examine myself and actually try to do better? Being a Christian may mean fighting some important battles, but the biggest are usually fought inside yourself and against yourself, with quiet implosions, not loud explosions.

            When we start out, we are all babes in Christ, but He expects us to grow up eventually. That means some tedious work listening to sermons, attending classes, doing our own Bible study. Adults understand that not everything can be fun. It means some long, quiet moments with God.   It means some painful moments of self-discovery. Are we adult enough to handle it? Our society’s brand of entertainment speaks otherwise, and unfortunately, society usually winds up worming its way into the body of Christ.

            When Paul told the Corinthians to Act like men, in 1 Cor 16:13, he was bringing the epistle to its logical end. While Act like men refers to courage under fire, maybe it can mean something else as well. In chapter three he calls them “babies,” but now perhaps he is also saying, “Act like adults.” Would he say the same thing to us?

But I, brothers, could not speak to you as spiritual men, but as carnal, as babies in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with meat, for you were not able, and even now you are not able, for you are yet carnal…For everyone who partakes of milk is without experience in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. But solid food is for full-grown men who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil…Be watchful, stand firm in the faith. Act like men, be strong. 1 Cor 3:1-3; Heb 5:13,14; 1 Cor 16:13

Dene Ward

The Whole Tomato

7/3/2013 0 Comments

Keith loves tomatoes, which accounts for the fact that we have 95 tomato plants in our garden. In the summer, his supper is not complete without a heaping platter of sliced tomatoes, assorted colors and varieties—Better Boy, Celebrity, Big Beef, Golden Girl, Golden Jubilee, Cherokee Purple—all full sized, some even the one-slicers: large enough for one slice to cover a piece of bread.

So when the first tomato ripened this year and he let me have the whole thing to myself everyone was amazed. “What a generous husband!” some exclaimed. Then I told them the rest of the story. It was a Sungold Cherry tomato, more like a grape tomato, less than an inch in diameter.

“What a generous husband!” they again exclaimed, with a slightly different inflection on the “generous.”

It was a joke and everyone knew it, including Keith. How sad that so many do not see the joke when it’s the tomato they’ve been offered.

Do you want wealth and fame? Here, have the whole tomato.

Do you want career, status and power? Here, enjoy this, it’s all yours.

Do you want pleasure of every kind, fun, and excitement? Here, it’s ripe and ready and yours for the taking. Eat every bite.

Isn’t life wonderful? Isn’t the world an amazing place? Isn’t the ruler of this world the most generous being there is? Don’t bet on it.

Look at the size of that tomato again. Now look at what you lose when you accept it: family, love, redemption, hope, your soul. My, how generous that offer was—one measly little bite that is gone in an instant for the price of everything eternal.

That tomato may taste pretty good. It may be the best one that ever grew in any garden anywhere. But I’d rather take my Father’s offer—He has a whole garden to give me.

And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no curse any more: and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein: and his servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face; and his name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever, Revelation 22:1-5.

For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life? Matthew 16:26.

Dene Ward

Now That's Hilarious

5/10/2013 0 Comments

I have been studying giving lately and came across an interesting tidbit. In 2 Cor 9:7, when Paul says God loves a cheerful giver, the Greek word there, translated “cheerful,” is hilaron. You can see it, can’t you? Two English words we get from that are hilarious and hilarity. God loves a hilarious giver!

It isn’t enough not to grumble when we give, no matter what we are giving or when, be it money, time, goods, or encouragement, on Sunday mornings or individual opportunities during the week. It isn’t enough not to begrudge the things we are giving up when our sharing deprives us of them. One of the reasons God says we should work is so we will “have whereof to give to him who needs,” Eph 4:28, not so we can have everything our hearts desire.

Would you say a movie was “hilarious” if you chuckled once or twice? Would you call a joke “hilarious” if it simply made you smile? The word is a joyousness that bubbles over, that cannot be controlled, that you do not want to control. Vine’s describes it as a “joyfulness that is prompt to act.” You don’t need a cattle prod to make this person give; the joy he feels in giving takes care of it automatically.

I grew up seeing someone stand before our assemblies saying, “Separate and apart from the Lord’s Supper,” just before passing the basket. But no matter how much I heard that phrase, as a child I always thought there were three elements to the Lord’s Supper. And though now, as an adult, I know better, the fact that we often pass the plate within minutes of that ritual keeps me quiet and solemn when I put that check in. I wonder if we ought not to at least smile when we do it. Look at one another and share the joy of sacrificing a little something to the Lord. In this blessed country we get precious little chance to feel any pain on his behalf.

On Sunday morning, when that basket comes by, look at someone near you with gladness in your heart. And if you hear someone laughing, smile. Maybe someone’s joy has finally overflowed.

But this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Let each man do according as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful [joyous, bubbling over, prompt to act, hilarious] giver, 2 Cor 9:6,7.

Dene Ward

God's Country

4/29/2013 0 Comments

People always call places like Tennessee and North Carolina “God’s Country,” but no one says anything like that about rural north central Florida. All we have is swaths of lacy Spanish moss dripping off huge, ancient live oaks, whose wingspan is broader then my house, tall pencil-slim pines standing like silent rows of soldiers in the woods, knobby-kneed cypresses wading in the swamps whose heavy silence is punctuated only by the plop of bullfrogs in the water, rolling green pasture land dotted with grazing black Angus, and always something green and always something blooming, no matter what time of year it is. Even in January the birds flock by the dozens around my feeders, the resident hawk couple circles overhead screaming hello as they look for nesting sites, and by February, when everyone else is still in the throes of winter, the hummingbirds are back, and the azaleas flowering so heavily you can’t see a single green leaf. Not too bad for a place no one calls “God’s Country.”

But neither here nor any of those other places compare to the real “God’s country.” God promised Abraham a land He later described to Moses as a good land and a large...a land flowing with milk and honey, Ex 3:8. Abraham’s descendants waited over 400 years for that Promised Land., but even Abraham knew that the real Promised Land was still to come. That is why he could endure, stay faithful, and even pass the horrible test of offering his son.

Paul had to scold the Corinthians more than once for having “carnal” minds. Not carnal in the sense of illicit pleasures, but carnal in that they were more concerned with this life and the physical aspects of it than in spiritual things. Only carnally minded people become jealous for showy spiritual gifts, sue one another, brag about who baptized them, and bring enough to feed an army for their family’s Lord’s Supper, just so they can show off. Too often we, too, get caught up in the here and now and forget that this is merely a short motel stop on the way to a far better and permanent home.

Today would have been the 91st birthday of a man who understood that. I first met him a week before I married his son. He never lived in a fancy home or had an expensive car. He often worked two jobs to keep his family fed. He landed on the shores of Northern France in June 1944 and marched all the way to Berlin. He buried a ten year old daughter who had been stricken with a horrible disease. But he would have told you he lived a good life because he knew the physical doesn’t last. His eyes were focused elsewhere, and nothing that happened here could get him down.

We should all learn what he knew: no place on this earth should mean more to us, no person should come between us, and no thing should ever deter us from our journey to God’s Country.

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he went. By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise, for he looked for the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God…they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one, wherefore God is not ashamed of them to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:8-10, 16.

Dene Ward