PastorTim

CHOOSING WISELY…

Her name is Debbie and she has been a part of the congregation that I Pastor for some years now. I want tell you as I begin, that a Sunday Morning worship service at the Plymouth Heights Church is an amazing place to be and this past Sunday was no exception. The Spirit of the Lord was blessing through song and testimony and just before I was to preach Debbie was preparing to sing a special. I had earlier in the service mentioned that this Sunday was National Right to Life Sunday and around the nation churches were remembering the 1973 Roe v Wade supreme court decision that had legalized abortion. I shared some agonizing statistics of how many babies had been killed since that day and asked that we pray for the issue of life. Then Debbie sang. I had mentioned that life was one of the truths that the founders and framers of our nation had listed as being “self evident” as they put it at the very beginning of the document that even today secures our freedom in the United States of America. Then Debbie sang. I had earlier asked that we pray for those on the front lines in the battle for life in our country and our communities such as CRADLE Crisis Pregnancy Center right here in Scioto County. Then Debbie sang.

         It wasn’t so much the song that she sang, the title, the words or the melody. The song was beautiful, but it was what she said before the song that I still remember a day later. You see, as I think about her words now I think of all that she does at the church. Her call to children’s ministry and how each Sunday Morning she teaches a Sunday school class and shares the word of God with a great group of children. I think of the class she teaches on Wednesday evenings, how it has grown and the children that are always going to remember Debbie’s care and concern for each of them.  Her involvement in Jr. Church and Vacation Bible School, all of that swirls in my mind this morning as I remember what she shared just before she sang. “Pastor Tim earlier shared a few thoughts about abortion” she said, “I want you to know that my mother had considered aborting me!” The song touched hearts and folks were blessed, but what she said still rings in my heart. It was almost not to be. I wonder how many Debbie’s we’ve missed in this world. How many Suzie’s, Bobbies, and Sam’s that we will never know until we see them in heaven? Makes you stop and think doesn’t it?

         In the United States... There have been more than 47 million abortions since 1973. There were nearly 1.3 million abortions in 2002. There were over 3,500 abortions per day, 147 per hour, about one every 25 seconds in 2002. For every 1,000 live births, there were 319 abortions in

2002. There were more than 148,000 second and third trimester abortions 2001. Every year, more unborn children die from abortion than Americans died in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf Wars combined. Why are children aborted? The Alan Guttmacher Institute states: * 1% are victims of incest or rape * 1% had fetal abnormalities * 4% had a doctor who said their health would worsen if they continued the pregnancy * 50% said they didn't want to be a single parent or they had problems in current relationships * 66% stated they could not afford a child *75% said the child would interfere with their lives. C. Everett Koop, M.D., formerly the Surgeon General, states that during his 35-plus years of practicing medicine, "Never once did a case come across my practice where abortion was necessary to save a mother's life." All these facts figures and medical opinions are still in my mind outweighed by the fact that Debbie sang. That she was alive and able, that her mother’s choice of life over death has blessed our church with a wonderful servant of God who weekly touches the lives of precious children. Charles McCarry can claim a varied career. In addition to being the author of The Tears of Autumn and The Last Supper, he served as assistant to the Secretary of Labor in the Eisenhower cabinet and has done two stints in the CIA. But he almost wasn't born. Says McCarry, "My mother became pregnant with me at the age of 39. She had nearly died while giving birth to my only sibling. Her doctor, who believed the second pregnancy was a serious threat to her life, advised an abortion. The advice made sense, but my mother refused to accept it. Just before she died at age 97, I asked her why. She replied, "I wanted to see who you were going to turn out to be." Perhaps just remembering and praying once a year is not enough as long as the unspeakable practice of abortion still looms in the shadows of our great nation. Sir Edmund Burke said it best “All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.” Pastor Martin Niemoller said, “In Germany, they first came for the Communists and I did not speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time, there was no one left to speak up.” Allow me to let God’s word end this thought today…. “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” Amen!

Terri and Stephanie.......

THAT’S GONNA LEAVE A MARK….

Scars, bumps, bruises and stitches. We’ve all had them, some just more that others. I started early in life myself. It all began with running my hand through the kitchen window when I was but a wee lad. I followed that up with a series of black eyes, stitches and bruises which I will only confess to a few as being the result of schoolyard folly. As I grew a bit older is concentrated mainly on stitches as I breezed through puberty. One of my finest moments came when I rode my brakeless ten-speed into a telephone pole at break neck speed, “no pun intended!” I walked away from that one, well, I didn’t really walk, I was carried my some nice medical personnel who I still can’t remember seeing but many told me were there. I was also told I was a talky patient confessing to many notorious crimes including the Lindbergh baby kidnapping but mainly I seemed interested in trying to convince them not to call mom! That one bought me stitches, dental rearrangement and a separated shoulder. Enough about me, what about you? Have any wounds from the past? Any stories that can be backed up by rolling up your sleeve and showing off a scar or two? Most of us do, but many the scar that cannot be seen with human eye. Many the scar that goes deeper that a friend or family member can observe. Some things really leave a mark.         

Funny how things dawn on me but I suppose I’m not the only one God has to apply the two by four to the forehead method. Driving to work late last year I was surprised to notice a large boulder that I could have sworn wasn’t there the last time I drove this route to work. On the South Portsmouth side of the Ohio River lying just beside route 23 heading toward South Shore was a large Humvee size piece of hillside hat suddenly appeared overnight. This mammoth size object had apparently broken loose from its moorings and descended at a rapid rate of speed and lodged just feet from the highway. Now after the shock of picturing just what could have happened, “I imagined an Impala sandwich by the way”, after the shock I went to thinking, I want a picture of this! So it was when the Kodak moment arrived I noticed the path the rock had followed in it’s decent to its final resting place. I say final because it aint goin nowhere! Talk about leaving a mark! 

All the way down the hillside you could see divots big enough to park a Cadillac in! And it was then I thought about the marks of my past. The things I had come in contact with that still left a mark in my heart. Thing I had experienced that no one else but God knew about and how deeply they affected my memory, even to this day. Here’s the good part though. As I stood beholding the large gaping holes left in the rocks wake I was suddenly blessed to remember how God had removed the guilt for my part in the events of days gone by and had also healed the wounds that accompanied long ago hurts and injury. Healed and forgiven I was able to look forward to life in His presence. Life without the chains of unforgiven sin. Life without the open wounds of bad decisions and mischief. Life without the burden of scars left by the deeds of others. You may ask do those past events ever cross your mind? Sure they do, but as an old Pastor of mine once said, “if a bird lands on your head son, you don’t have to let him build a nest there!”

 I think the apostle Paul could have testified to us today about regret and the temptation to wishing his past was different form what it was. He had done a lot he wasn’t necessarily proud of. But in one fell swoop of the pen in the letter he wrote to the church at Philippi he said, “but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” As we find forgiveness through faith in Christ we can choose to look in a different direction and not be hounded or harassed by our past! Two things here though are variables that only you control. You have to make the choice to follow Christ; no one else can do it for you. By faith in Him you can find true forgiveness from the failures and wrong decisions of years gone by. And after that decision is made you must make the choice to look away from the past to what Jesus has in store for your future. The balls in your court as they say.

          C.S. Lewis writes, “When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade, all right; but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in? This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. That will not be the time for choosing; It will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment is our chance to choose the right side.” If you haven’t already, why not choose today! There’s no time like the present to deal with the marks of the past. 

COMFORT FOOD

Books, news papers, the TV talking heads, even Dr. Phil tells us that this is a depressing time of year. Not enough sunlight, cold weather keeps us all inside day after day, makes sense to me I guess. Maybe it’s the daily waiting on the dreaded w-2 form coupled with the fear of credit card bills to come, I don’t know. But with the worries that plague our country it does seem a bit possible that some are caught in the throws of depression and sadness during the long winter months. Here’s where comfort food comes in.  I never even knew it had a name, but sure enough, somebody gave it a title and here we are being warned every January to avoid dealing with depression by reaching for the refrigerator door. What is comfort food? Why do we cherish it, rely on it and need it so? According to Audrey Kerchner “Science attempts to explain our need for comfort food as a chemical reaction in the brain. The brain releases certain "feel good" hormones into the body to compensate for all the different negative feelings that overwhelm us in every day life like: fatigue, stress, illness or, my favorite, the ickies. But, I think there is a deeper connection to feelings and peoples need for comfort foods. After all if it was all hormonally induced then we would all agree upon what is a comfort food and what is not. One person's comfort food is another person's dieting nemesis.” Stress or no stress this time of year I just like to eat! My snacking weakness I must confess is the potato chip. Not chocolate or any sweet for that matter, but chips! Not just any potato chip I may add, but in particular the Grippo’s brand and the barbeque variety to be exact. If you have never savored this chip in your life you have never really experienced a barbeque chip. Hear me know, I have traveled the world sampling barbeque chips from Spain to South America. Trust me here; Grippo’s are the best. If you don’t believe me just ask Jim Scott of Cincinnati’s WLW radio, he’ll tell ya! Being a connoisseur of said chip I happen to know the very few places locally where they can be found. I purposely avoid certain routes to spare myself the agony of driving by certain locations and not sampling a bag…. Just kiddin…. Er, uh, kind of. So with that being said, I guess Grippo’s are my comfort food whenever I am tempted to eat to forget my woes. Though I don’t have to be sad to eat a bag of em!

Interesting isn’t it that God likens his word to food don’t you think? Jesus is called the word of God on John chapter one and goes on to describe himself as the bread of life. Born in Bethlehem, “The house of bread” it is a beautiful picture of how the word of God is life to us as we take it into our life. An interesting fact jumps out to us as we look at comparing physical food with its spiritual counterpart. When you eat chips, uh I mean regular food, you eat so much and then you get full. You just can’t eat any more. But when you are enjoying a diet of God’s word you can eat and eat with out fear of overdoing it. And the more you eat, the more you want! In fact when we allow ourselves a consistent and healthy diet of the word of God we find that a few things just naturally happen. First, it helps us see better. The psalmist wrote, “ Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” A former park ranger at Yellowstone National Park tells the story of a ranger leading a group of hikers to a fire lookout. The ranger was so intent on telling the hikers about the flowers and animals that he considered the messages on his two-way radio distracting, so he switched it off. Nearing the tower, the ranger was met by a nearly breathless lookout, who asked why he hadn't responded to the messages on his radio. A grizzly bear had been seen stalking the group, and the authorities were trying to warn them of the danger. Any time we turn out the messages God has sent us, we put at peril not only ourselves, but also those around us. How important it is that we never turn off God's saving communication!  Not only that, it helps know and understand better as well, “Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.” Martin Luther wrote, “I study my Bible like I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest may fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. I search the Bible as a whole like shaking the whole tree. Then I shake every limb--study book after book. Then I shake every branch, giving attention to the chapters. Then I shake every twig, or a careful study of the paragraphs and sentences and words and their meanings.” Thirdly God’s word helps us to live, truly live life to it’s fullest. In John 6, listen in as Jesus disciples watch others walk away from the demands of following the Savior “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” When Life gets tough, as it sometimes will. May we be drawn to the word of God rather than simply comfort food that will only make us forget our problems. A circuit-riding preacher entered one church building with his young son, and dropped a coin into the offering box in the back. Not many came that Sunday, and those who did didn't seem too excited about what was said. After the service, the preacher and son walked to the back, and he emptied the box. Out fell one coin. The young boy said, "Dad, if you'd have put more in, you'd have gotten more out!" It’s certain to be true for us. If we put more into reading God’s word in 2009, we’ll undoubtedly get more out!  

SIGNS OF LIFE….

Some of the funniest things in life are often the most obvious. Take signs for instance. Some of my favorite over the years have been road signs. Like the sign beside the road that you see at the bottom of a very high hill in Kentucky that says “Kingdom Come”. Or the sign underneath the warning sign for curvy road ahead that some very innovative state employee strategically placed saying “Good Luck!” Church signs are great as well, like “What the economy needs is not more cash, but more sense!” Or how about “Don’t let worries kill you, let the church help”. Here’s a good one, “If evolution were true, Mom’s would have three arms!” I love em all! Signs are important whether they make us laugh or simple give us needed direction in life. Some are there to help us, some to protect us, some to lead us and some perhaps to inform us. I was in a local grocery store recently and observed a little girl who was diligently walking behind her grandmother collecting all the little red sale shelf stickers she could. She had been at it for a few aisles already when I spotted her hard at work in the cereal aisle. She must have had a hundred or so in her little play purse she was carrying! I happened to be just ahead of them when Grandma caught site of her little darling’s project. “Oh My Goodness Sally Ann, What are you doing”, She shrieked. I just crept around the corner looked up and thanked the Lord again for my deliverance from retail!

Signs are a necessary part of life; in fact signs sometimes bring life. I have been thinking of the wise men in scripture. Remember, we just recently read of their travels during the Christmas season. What brought them toward Bethlehem in the first place was a sign. The sign led them first to Jerusalem where they found the scriptures. The scriptures then pointed them to Bethlehem where they found Jesus. Did you get the progression here? The sign, the scripture, the savior. That’s how we find Jesus as well if you think about it. Something gets our attention in life, a sign. We are led to the scriptures, through preaching, teaching, or song. Then we find the savior at last. Are signs important? You bet!

As we began to move from 2008 to 2009 I found myself studying the story of the young nation of Israel’s progression into a new land in Joshua chapter three. Because of their unbelief, Israel was sentenced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. Those years have now expired and the children of Israel are poised to enter Canaan Land.  They are ready to claim their inheritance in the land of promise. However, before they can enter Canaan, they must first get by the one final, major obstacle: the Jordan River. Normally, this would not have presented much of a problem, since the Jordan is only 100 feet wide at Gilgal where they crossed. However, it seems God always does things in such a way that no man can boast of having done it on his own. You see, God brought them to Jordan at the time of harvest. Those who have been there during the time of Harvest tell us that during that time it swells to an impassable width of 1 mile! Kind of like the bottoms between Portsmouth and West Portsmouth when it’s flood season! There was no way they could cross this river on their own! They needed help. Let’s listen in… “ And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore” Did you catch the last line? You have not been here before! You know as we journey into a new year perhaps we would be wise to listen to God’s advice to Joshua and crew. In these four verses The Lord says to them three important things. First, he tells them to watch. “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it,”. That ark represented God in their midst, so he was saying keep your eye on me. Pretty good advice eh? Notice secondly he tells them to follow. “When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.” In other words, when you see where I am going, follow after me. So they were to watch God, follow God and thirdly they were to honor God. “Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore” A space, why a space? Because it was God that was going to perform a miracle and get the through the waters, not them. He was to receive the honor for what was about to happen and they could in no way take credit for it. God would be honored as they put him first in trust and faith. Watch, follow and honor the Lord. Not bad advice moving into a new year is it?  So what kind of signs are you following into a new year?  I think Yogi Berra had it right, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else!”

 

 

LIKE SANDS THROUGH THE HOUR GLASS…

You are probably expecting that phrase to be followed by, “These are the days of our lives”. After almost 11,000 episodes since 1965 many have heard those words during the afternoon hours throughout the land. By the way, though I don’t watch soap operas, I was surprised to see that Bo and Hope are still alive and well in Salem in 2008. I wonder how much it costs to look that good after all these years? Anyway, I digress.  Even though no one said it as well as Macdonald Carey, we all experience life! I found myself this past week sitting squarely in the middle of quite the milestone if I do say so myself. My trusty 2001 Impala made the journey from 199,999 miles to 200,000 miles of service! We were working on putting Christmas meals together at the church and on a return trip from Kroger’s I noticed the odometer coming precariously close to the second century mark as I pulled into the parking lot. After circling the block a couple of times, there it was, 200,000! Now I spend a lot of time on the road so this isn’t my first rodeo moving a car past this number of miles, probably the sixth to be exact. But I must be getting sentimental in my old age; I was like a little kid. Taking picture of the dashboard even calling Terri to celebrate. “I promise to write another column when the Impala hits 300,000!” So with that said I suppose it’s appropriate to celebrate when another year comes to a close.

I was singing an old song this morning that I am told was inspired by, would you believe it, John Wayne! It was said that the he was talking to a good friend of his by the name of Stuart Hamblen. Something the Duke said inspired Hamblen to write these words, “It is no secret what God can do, What He's done for others, He'll do for you, With arms wide open, He'll pardon you, It is no secret what God can do.” What an incredible thought as we prepare to journey from one year to the next, don’t you think? To be reminded that it’s not a secret is what stands out to me. The wonderful Grace of God is extended to everyone, and everyone is to know. From the testimony of the shepherds to you and I today, what we know, we are to tell. Listen to the verses of Hamblen’s song, “The chimes of time ring out the news, another day is through, someone slipped and fell. Was that someone you? You may have longed for added strength, your courage to renew

Do not be disheartened, for I have news for you. It is no secret what God can do, What He's done for others, He'll do for you, With arms wide open, He'll pardon you, It is no secret what God can do. There is no night for in His light, you never walk alone. Always feel at home, wherever you may go. There is no power can conquer you, While God is on your side

Take Him at His promise, don’t run away and hide. It is no secret what God can do, What He's done for others, He'll do for you. With arms wide open, He'll pardon you, It is no secret what God can do” What a song, what a message for that matter. There is another interesting side note to that tune. It was said that a dear saint who met Stuart Hamblen remarked, “Mr. Hamblen, you didn’t write that song, you just got to hold the pen!” I love that! What a truth that is. The good news of the gospel is not and was not our invention; we simply get to share the story. So with Christmas over and a new year before us, may we endeavor to share the best-kept secret that the world has ever known? Paul reminded us in the letter he wrote to a church in Corinth, “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” And Jesus mandate to every Christ Follower is clear, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” As the world turns, as years begin and end and as we each journey on through our lives we have our marching orders do we not? Tell the story, live the story, and whatever you do, don’t keep it a secret.

It was said that Fritz Kreisler the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn't able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase the beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner's home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. "Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?" he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector's emotions were deeply stirred. "I have no right to keep that to myself," he exclaimed. "It's yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it." It is no secret what God can do, if we’ll just let him. Happy New Year!