PastorTim

THE LOOK, THE SMELL…… OF LADYBUGS!

They’re baaaaack I’m afraid! It was inevitable I guess, but so soon? No I’m not talking about political ads on television although I’m not sure which I dislike the most. What I am referring to are those precious little red bugs that we have so missed during the cold weather. Scientifically known as Harmonia axyridis. They are actually an Asian lady beetle. So anyway here I am sitting in my office at the house, minding my own business by the way, and I saw him, or her, whatever. There it was. Scootin up the wall toward a vintage wall light fixture. While I saw only one, I knew, I just knew there were thousands or millions may be just behind the wall (Below, what my imagination saw!), waiting to spring forth from every available opening ready to….to do whatever they do. What do they do? Where do they come from? Why are they here?
Well, according to Colorado State University “The multicolor Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis, is an introduced biological control native to Western Asia. It was first introduced into North America in 1916 in California, and again in many states in the Eastern United States between 1978 and 1982. It was not recorded as collected until 1988 in Louisiana. Since that time it has proven to be a voracious feeder on soft-bodied homopteran pests, (mites and such I believe). Additionally, it has acquired a bad reputation stemming from its autumn habit of aggregating on, and invasion of houses and buildings in search of over wintering sites.” NO KIDDIN! Now me personally, I’m not so much concerned about how they came, but how do I get them to go! This next bit of info is to say the least disheartening. According to Cornell university.. “If beetles still gain entry into living spaces, they should be removed using a broom and dustpan, or vacuum cleaner, and released outdoors. When using a broom and dustpan, gently collect the beetles to avoid alarming them. If alarmed, they may discharge a yellow fluid that can stain walls, paint, and fabrics, and that has an unpleasant odor.” Gently collect them? I want a more manly way of showin them fellers the door! "Ar least I don't have it as bad as the hotel below with LadyBugs as big as cows!"
All this to do about a harmless, “still not sure about that” little critter? Sure, you see sometimes them little critters can cause big problems. Listen to the loving words of Solomon regarding his relationship with his love, “O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.” Song of Solomon 2:14-16. Did you catch the line about little foxes? You see Solomon was concerned about the little things that can invade a relationship and cause it irreparable harm. The same is true of our relationship with the Savior we Love, or profess to love. We need be careful of every influence that comes our way, even if it looks as harmless as a ladybug.
The New Testament writer in Hebrews reminds us, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” Little weights, little foxes, little bugs, whatever. We must be careful of the influences that shape our lives. This was how Susannah Wesley defined "sin" to her young son, John Wesley: "If you would judge of the lawfulness or the unlawfulness of pleasure, then take this simple rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and takes off the relish of spiritual things--that to you is sin."
Now mind you, don’t try to fix sin problems without the help of God. I read of a man who purchased a white mouse to use as food for his pet snake. He dropped the unsuspecting mouse into the snake's glass cage, where the snake was sleeping in a bed of sawdust. The tiny mouse had a serious problem on his hands. At any moment he could be swallowed alive. Obviously, the mouse needed to come up with a brilliant plan. What did the terrified creature do? He quickly set up work covering the snake with sawdust chips until it was completely buried. With that, the mouse apparently thought he had solved his problem. “Kind of like the vacuum cleaner solution to the ladybugs eh?” The solution, however, came from outside. The man took pity on the silly little mouse and removed him from the cage. No matter how hard we try to cover or deny our sinful nature, it's fool's work. Sin will eventually awake from sleep and shake off its cover. Were it not for the saving grace of the Master's hand, sin would eat us alive. Whether the little things are ladybugs or whatever you face in your life. Seek God’s help, God’s grace and God’s forgiveness.

PASS THE COFFEE, GUM, OR WHATEVER!

Those of you who read much of anything that I write probably know that I like a good cup of coffee. My preferred cup looks like a triple tall extra hot no foam latte… which in Starbucks speak ease is a small latte with three espresso shots, brewed extra hot so as to last longer and no foam so as to make room for more coffee! I have very few indulgences really. No real expensive hobbies, and I don’t really know how I would work one in anyway. A good cup of coffee, a good book and an hour or two to enjoy them seems like a good break for me. According to that great theologian Mark Lowry, “You know you've had too much coffee when... Juan Valdez names his donkey after you, you get a speeding ticket even when you're parked, you grind your coffee beans in your mouth, and you sleep with your eyes open, you have to watch videos in fast-forward, You lick your coffee pot clean, you can jump-start your car without cables, Starbuck's owns the mortgage on your house, your life's goal is to 'amount to a hill of beans', Instant coffee takes too long.” Now I’m not that bad, but I did finish tying this column in 30 seconds! Just kidding!
What did get my attention recently was a Time article By Sanjay Gupta, M.D., Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008 called “The Caffeine Habit” By Sanjay Gupta, M.D. “There are more than 170 million addicts in the U.S., and odds are you're one of them. You consume your drug of choice every day; you'd feel ill if you couldn't have it; you'd have a hard time quitting it. The chemical that has you hooked, of course, is caffeine, and if you think you get it only in coffee, tea, cola and—in smaller doses—chocolate, you haven't been paying attention. Food manufacturers recognize a hot market when they see it, and with anywhere from 55% to 90% of the U.S. population consuming caffeine every day, depending on the study, the stuff is now turning up everywhere. Red Bull energy drink may have the highest profile of the new caffeine-spiked products, but at every turn there are others: caffeine-infused gum, lip balm, mints, beer, candy, sunflower seeds, even soap—which is supposed to provide its caffeine boost through the skin. We have come a long way haven’t we? But soap? What caught my attention here was the plethora of ways you can get a little caffeine in your system.
For those who must have the morning Cup-O-Joe, there are a few choices, but when it comes to that must have relationship with our creator there are no substitutes. Listen with me to Jesus words in John 15, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
What caught my attention in these verses was the phrase Jesus used in the first verse, “I am the true vine”. So if He is the true vine, then there must be a few fake ones out there, and there are! There are more belief systems out there than coffee combinations on a Starbucks menu! So Jesus teaches us first that there is only one way to God, and that is through Him. Secondly Jesus reminds us that we find that true vine we must stay attached to it! Over and over in these verses He reiterates the thought, “Abide in me!” Just knowing the way to Heaven is not enough; you’ve got to be connected to Him personally. Just smelling the aroma of a coffee shop is not good enough for me, I want to taste something! Lastly Jesus reminds us that without Him, we can do nothing. Oh we can exist, we can do life and all, But nothing of eternal significance. Without Him we cannot realize the meaning of our existence, without Him we cannot fulfill the purpose for which we are created, and without Him we cannot bear real fruit. Jesus says to us that just a little sprinkle of truth is not enough, we need Him and Him alone, and we need to stay connected because without Him, nothing else matters. Klyne Snodgrass writes, “Once the Devil was walking along with one of his cohorts. They saw a man ahead of them pick up something shiny. "What did he find?" asked the cohort. "A piece of the truth," the Devil replied. "Doesn't it bother you that he found a piece of the truth?" asked the cohort. "No," said the Devil, "I will see to it that he makes a religion out of it." Don’t settle for a substitute when it comes to your eternity! Place your order now!

HIGH WATER……….

Where I live in southern Ohio we are separated from the state of Kentucky by one thing…. Water. The beautiful Ohio River to be exact. Every day as I drive to work I go around the city of Portsmouth, which sits on the mighty Ohio’s banks. Portsmouth's roots began in the 1790s when the small town of Alexandria was founded just west of where Portsmouth is today. Alexandria was flooded numerous times by the Ohio River and the Scioto River. In 1803, Henry Massie spotted a place to move the town away from the flood plains. He began to plot the new city by distributing the land and mapping the streets. Portsmouth was founded in 1803 and was established as a city in 1815. Alexandria soon disappeared and today a dirt race track (Portsmouth Raceway Park) sits where the town once stood. Today Portsmouth’s location makes for a breathtaking setting. Along with the beauty of the area and it’s surroundings everything changes when the water begins to rise, oh it’s still breathtaking, but also somewhat frightening. Some recall the floods of the Past. The city had great deal of flooding in 1884, 1913, and 1937. (an old family picture below) After the flood of 1937, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed a floodwall protecting the city, which prevented two major floods in 1964 and 1997. The flood of 1937 is probably the most remembered.
The thing that strikes me, as I looked at the rising waters this past week is its power. (Pictures from this week below) Actually I was reminded of how powerless and frail we are as we behold God’s creation. I believe that Isaiah had this feeling when he wrote, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.….. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing…….. Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” Just a few selected verses from Isaiah 40. Being reminded of God’s awesome power may be a little frightening in one respect but it is also very encouraging in another. Listen to Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:19-20 “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,” Did you catch the jist of what Paul was saying here? God’s power is not against us but is amazingly available for us to meet our needs! It is available, but only for those who are Christ followers. To those who know, love and live for Christ. As well its availability is limited only because some choose not to access it through faith in Christ.
I love this story, “In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years. Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, "Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe the only trouble is this loose cable." He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson's astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work. J.B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians l:19-20, "How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God." When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us. So let the waters flow!

SPOT ON

There was a bit of innocence when it began as I recall; I mean it wasn’t really all that noticeable in the first place. I still have no idea where it came from. You see I’m a blue suit kinda guy through and through. My wife Terri’s favorite line as I leave for work is often “Oh what a surprise, Blue!” So what, blue is my favorite color to wear, dress clothes especially. Oh sure there were those disco years in my distant past that yielded me a few leisure suits that challenged the color spectrum, but those days are long gone. I do however have one or two token browns in my repatriate. A camel color suit is where this all began, another good reason to wear a dark blue if you want my opinion! Anyway, back to the problem at hand. A spot, just a small one. It had been raining when I first noticed it. It’ll dry up for sure I thought, but alas sitting on the platform I noticed it was still there. Oh drat! Well no matter, I’ll fix it later. Next time I wear the suit, “keep in mind here, I wear mostly blue remember?”, Next time I wear said suit I notice it again. Same spot, same place. So I try the age-old technique of daubing. You know, bottle of Dasani, a handkerchief and you’re on you’re way. The age-old technique although didn’t fare to well, in fact I think the spot in question got a little bigger! So on to Plan B, trying feverishly to avoid the dry cleaners which is expensive and out of my way. Plan B consisted of one of those new fangled handy dandy Tide miracle guaranteed to erase any stain pens. You know, the ones that women pull out of their purses and magically clean the most stubborn of stains from a priceless garment in record setting time. Guess what? That miraculous little space age advancement in laundering technology was no match for that aggravating stain! What did I spill on myself anyway? So now I am faced with the daunting task of delivering sad suit to the drycleaners, but as I reluctantly hung my camel colored suit in my car this morning I had to chuckle to myself. The spot won, I lost. Lesson learned here. A spot on a suit, no biggie. A spot on your life, Biggie!!!
The bible has a few things to say about spots. Listen to 2 Peter 3 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” Boyce Mouton writes “In 1818, Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis was born into a world of dying women. The finest hospitals lost one out of six young mothers to the scourge of "childbed fever." A doctor's daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there he made his way to the hospital to examine expectant mothers without ever pausing to wash his hands. Dr. Semmelweis was the first man in history to associate such examinations with the resultant infection and death. His own practice was to wash with a chlorine solution, and after eleven years and the delivery of 8,537 babies, he lost only 184 mothers--about one in fifty. He spent the vigor of his life lecturing and debating with his colleagues. Once he argued, "Puerperal fever is caused by decomposed material, conveyed to a wound. . .I have shown how it can be prevented. I have proved all that I have said. But while we talk ,talk, talk, gentlemen, women are dying. I am not asking anything world shaking. I am asking you only to wash...For God's sake, wash your hands." But virtually no one believed him. Doctors and midwives had been delivering babies for thousands of years without washing, and no outspoken Hungarian was going to change them now! Semmelweis died insane at the age of 47, his wash basins discarded, his colleagues laughing in his face, and the death rattle of a thousand women ringing in his ears. "Wash me!" was the anguished prayer of King David. "Wash!" was the message of John the Baptist. "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me," said the towel-draped Jesus to Peter. Without our being washed clean, we all die from the contamination of sin. For God's sake, wash.” So what did learn from this little spot on a pair of dress pants? First, it’s possible to be clean before God. Second, it takes God to do the cleansing. And thirdly, it’s important because we will all stand before God someday, maybe sooner than we think. So how is your life looking? Spot on, or spot off?