Spring Thoughts

There is a large wood dining table
and a spacious window
where one sits alone at breakfast
looks out at trees and shrubs
and wonders as the day begins
where things will lead

My juice is the same all these years
funny that I still love it's taste
really, if we ran out I would panic
somethings change but not my juice
no sir
my table has changed
my view has changed
my need for juice has not

Someone wrote just the other day
that prosperity would usher in the end
it's Truth they said, you can look it up
and, the world is actually quite at peace
more so than ever before
it's Truth they said
well, I must be Stupid I thought
looking at the barren spring trees
and the rather large pile of limbs and leaves
and other debris our neighbor has piled along the road

If I were a betting man
I would say that the dow will hit 20
just before it drops to 10
I don't have any stocks
so I won't jump out any windows
although my window's on the ground floor
across from the pile of debris
on the other side of the road

It is always much more pleasant
those mornings when the sun shines
even when it's quite windy which it was today
a thought came forward from my memory
a dear friend once said that he had worked by the water's edge
every day the wind would blow, every day
after a couple of weeks it can make you go crazy he said
CRAZY

Eventually it is time to go
pick up my glass and get on with life
for years our best friend
orange juice and me
was the daily word
fresh each morning
kick start the day
my way not to go crazy
now the word is my evening companion
ice water and I like it
it calms my anxious soul
and helps me know
where things will lead

There Is A City

There is a city
on the other side
where hope is free
and love abides
her rivers flow
both deep and wide
from the center of that city

There are no sick
or suffering
and healing trees
beside it's stream
to enter in
the nations dream
outside that awesome city

There reigns a King
of great allure
none doubt the will
His heart so pure
all bend the knee
proclaim for sure
living in that holy city

There is a way
to journey close
gaze at the walls
and hear the host
sing day and night
though night is toast
throughout that radiant city

There are twelve pearl gates
walls of precious stone
but you must enter in
alone
you're invitation
will be shone
proclaimed in that glorious city

There will be joy
and things to do
a dwelling designed
just for you
family friends
both old and new
chill'n in that welcome city

There is a city
on the other side
which will be there
when the world has died
the beasts are chained
and sinners tried
all hail that righteous city

There Is A Star Traveling At Incredible Speed Out Of The Milky Way Galaxy

Psst. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I know you. At least I know enough about you to say with confidence that what goes on in your brain is not unique to just you. There is something inside that asks from time to time - Why am I here? What is my purpose? How can I know?

I was blog trolling today and came across a story from Cambodia. A woman originally from South Africa was doing mission work in several countries of South East Asia and was scheduled to give a talk to some area churches. To prepare for that she had lunch with a local pastor who looked much younger than his years and was known for his great joy and wide smile. When prompted he shared the story of his conversion.

He was born Buddhist and was raised by his uncle in a Buddhist temple and eventually became a leader there. When the Khmer Rouge came to power (they butchered over 2 million people in a 4 year reign of terror) he took up Communism and was sent to spy on a Christian gathering. He was supposed to get the names of the local leaders in attendance so he could report them but when he got there he heard the speaker asking some simple questions. Who made the stars and put them in place and arraigned everything so perfectly?

At this point he couldn't concentrate any further. He had to know the answers. His heart longed to understand. He was confronted with logic so simple that it destroyed his Darwinian philosophy. Soon after he became a believer and subsequently spent several years in one of the Khmer Rough concentration camps.

As the missionary heard more of his story and witnessed his tremendous humility and wisdom she wondered what the Holy Spirit could possible add through her to the people she would be talking to. And yet the pastor was thrilled to have her there.

I often struggle with this thought. How can I present the truth about the Father, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a way so simple yet so clear that it will cut through to the core of those whose hearts are wrapped in thick callouses, layer after layer, year after year of hurts and lies and the muck of this world?

It was reported in the news that astronomers from Queen's University Belfast have discovered a white dwarf star (US704) leaving the Milky Way Galaxy traveling at 746 miles per second. According to my trusty solar calculator that comes out to 44,760 miles per minute or 2 million six hundred eighty-five thousand six hundred miles per hour which apparently is pretty fast. This is important because it provides astronomers a constant brightness on it's route that will help scientists more accurately measure distances in our galaxy.

Don't you just love how man is able to calculate something like the speed of a far away dwarf star down to the mile per second? But truth be told understanding the vastness of it all is really beyond my pea sized brain.

Scripture tells us that every star in the heavens is counted (God probably has a different name and/or number than US704 for that white dwarf). This assures us that He is in control.

He counts the number of the stars. He gives names to all of them. Great is the Lord and abundant is His strength. His understanding is infinite. Psalm 147: 4-5

Scripture also informs us that even the hairs on our head are numbered. This assures us that we matter.

Are not five sparrows sold for 2 cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; You are more valuable than many sparrows. Luke 12: 6-7

There is another tool, a gift actually, that is more accurate than a telescope linked up to a giant computer. We measure who we are, what is the purpose of our life and how we can know by the sure light of the Holy Word revealed to us by the working of the Holy Spirit.

I realized long ago that I am not smart enough or cleaver enough or good enough on my own to accurately measure my own life, to know right from wrong or to trust my eternity to my own devices. I also discovered that through compromise comes short term gain but long term loss. I testify to the truth found throughout scripture that things simply work better, feel better and are better being in a relationship with the One who not only has a plan for my life but who also loves me and provides me with peace and joy and love as well.

I want to say that He really does love you and that you have no idea what love can be, what joy can be and what deep peace can be without knowing Jesus. I've been on the other side but when I surrendered the lordship of my life to the One who loves me and actually does have a plan for my life everything changed.

I recently finished doing a 7 day scripture challenge on Face Book. There was a theme and certain verses that came to me when I started and that's the way it went but today I was thinking about what verses were the most influential in my life. Here is the one the Holy Spirit used to tip me over the edge from confusion to faith. It is good advice and my prayer for you, if you do not yet know The Good Shepherd, is that you will find that He will never disappoint and that His words are truth and life.

So I say to you, 
ask and it will be given to you, 
seek and you shall find, 
knock and it will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives,
and he who who seeks, finds,
and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish.
He will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
Or if he asked for an egg,
he will not give him a scorpion, will he?
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

Luke 11: 9-13

She Surprised Me Again With Her Smile

She surprised me again with her smile
as I ambled aimless by
not a single word was spoken
so why

Have you been at the end of a rainbow
held a newborn baby near
laughed at nothing special
knew when you couldn't hear

Embraced when the world was falling
forgiven in your fear
cried together holding hands
life so dear

She is smarter, wiser, creative
I sometimes tag along
and entertain her with my verse
and song

We've traveled many journeys
dressed in many styles
kiss good morning kiss goodnight
hugs to mark the miles

Prayed for every precious child
worshiped side by side
said the words the other couldn't
swallowed lots of pride

Fought beneath the Christmas tree
forgave when the sun set down
always rather seen the other
wear the crown

You'd think that life'd get boring
excitement bound to end
but each time we see the ch'other
we see a friend

A friend so dear I know I'm blessed
I thank the Lord each night
amazed at how it makes me feel
to see her smile's light

Jammerloppy

a kimblelop of dophonry
into frompdox a skindely
no where else I'd rather be
all is quiet

moshy moshy quick I ran
mustent hasten when I can
garner carner watch out sam
you've been a might too toopee

met us stop skittle diddle
all was quiet on the fiddle
forme forme little little
shuss

brilliant colours cords and yarn
stossel mossel stored but darn
always hers not mine alarm
second in a minute

precious humms and quirky lips
parlor gammes wiggly hips
schoolsol loosel honey drips
such a sensal day

pried my lonset sorta phooey
whistled gisseled louie louie
ship to shore the water's gooey
guess we'd be all in

homest thomas break out the oars
runnest funnest temphest roars
soon all what's left when mr snores
catch ya again next week

"Do You Know The F Word?"

"Do you mean f f fornication?" replies Prince Albert to his speech therapist.

"Bertie, you know perfectly well what I mean."

So begins one of the funniest and frankly inoffensive swearing rants I have ever seen, courtesy of the terrific movie - The King's Speech. I first viewed the Reader's Digest version earlier this year at a daughter's church on one of their night at the movies services (without the rant of course) but was able to see the complete movie on my telly earlier this week.

The overall message presented in both was dealing with fear. The Prince grew up without love, without close personal contacts, with a dominating but distant father who happened to be the King of England who never praised but was always critical and with a favored brother who would tease him. All of that resulted in Albert having a terrible stuttering problem, only made worse because he was a public figure.

Albert did have one soul mate, his wife, who persuaded him to seek the help of a man who had a great reputation for helping those with speech difficulties. As we find out later in the movie Lionel developed his skill in Australia during and after WWI when returning soldiers, traumatized by what they had gone through, would come back with deep communication problems. The "doctor" was a good listener. He was able to make a connection with those men, find out and expose their fears to the light of day and bring them out of their speech induced isolation.

The movie was set just prior to WWII. As things turned out the Prince's father, the King, dies and is succeeded by Edward, the Prince's brother. Edward wants to marry a twice divorced woman which is not received well by anyone in the royal family or the government and especially not by the Church of England and so he abdicates the throne thus making our Prince Albert the new King. Later on comes the point where England is going to declare war on Germany and Albert, now known as King George VI. has to address his subjects on the radio, needing to assure and inspire the nation to endure the deep struggles to come. As viewers we get to see the reluctant King courageously come face to face with his greatest fear and do his duty. Thus, The Kings Speech.

I sometimes wonder about the timing of things. King George VI represented the beginning of the rapid decline of the British Empire. On the very day he was crowned King the Irish Free State removed mention of the monarchy from it's constitution. He was the last Emperor of India which was split during his life time into India and Pakistan, both later becoming independent. His Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain thought appeasement was the way to reason with Hitler and infamously declared after the Munich Agreement that he had achieved "peace in our time." The US came in to save England's rear end and emerged from WWII as the major world power.

Now we fast forward to the day that I saw The King's Speech on the (get this) Sundance TV channel. It was March 3, 2015, a date I believe will be remembered by historians as a critical pivot point in world history.

Earlier in the day our country was visited by Bibi Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of the nation of Israel. He came to address a joint session of Congress to speak about the existential threat that a nuclear Iran poses to Israel, to the rest of the Middle East and to the West, including the United States.

Interestingly Bibi's speech occurs the day before the Jewish feast of Purim. In the Biblical Book of Esther there is the story of how the Jewish people living throughout the Persian empire are saved from sure annihilation. There are 4 main characters in the story. Esther is a Jewish woman who becomes the Queen of Persia. The King's name is Ahasuerus (better known in history as Xerxes) who rules a territory stretching from modern day Pakistan to northern Sudan. Esther was raised by a relative whose name is Mordecai who is a minor official in the royal court and last we have the King's top adviser Haman who is a classic narcissist.

A brief rendition of the story is as follows:

Mordecai discovers a plot to kill the King and the bad guys are caught and hanged. The King doesn't know about it but the account is recorded in the Persian annals. The King has a great party for all the top dudes in his empire and then at the end of the feast calls in his beautiful Queen Vasthil to show her off. She refuses to come and gets dumped as Queen. A search goes out for beautiful women and Esther is one of the gals picked. Mordecai advisers her not to reveal that she is Jewish and she becomes the top bachelor babe and is made Queen.

Later on Haman gets promoted to top prince and expects everyone to bow down to him when he walks by. Mordecai, because he is Jewish and will only bow down to God, does not which fries Haman's pants. Haman now wants to kill not only Mordecai but all the Jews everywhere. He pays Ahasuerus a huge sum of money and gets him to issue a decree to do so and a date a short time in the future is set saying that anyone who wants can kill Jews and take all their stuff.

Mordecai tells Esther what is being planned, that she too will not escape and that she needs to get an audience with the King to see if she can change his mind, telling her "who knows whether you have attained royalty for such a time as this?". They call on all the Jews in the capital city to fast and pray for 3 days. On the 3rd day Esther gets her meeting and requests that he and Haman come the next day to a banquet she will prepare for them. Haman. proud little man that he is gets so excited that he has been honored to a private banquet with just the King and Queen that he builds a gallows 50 cubits high to hang Mordecai on.

That night the King cannot sleep and decides to read the Persian annals. He finds the story about how Mordeai saved his life and discovers that he had not been honored. The King asks Haman what should be done to honor a really special dude and Haman, thinking that the only really special dude around is him says that the guy should be able to dress up as king and ride around the city on the king's horse. Ahasuerus thinks that is a great idea and has Haman hold the leash to the horse which leads Mordecai around the city.

Then at the banquet the King asks his Queen what she wants and she spills the beans that she and Mordecai are Jewish and that killing all the Jews was Haman's idea and that it would be nice if the King could undo his decree. The King says nope, not possible but I've got a great idea. I will issue another decree saying that the Jews are allowed to defend themselves (which they do, killing about 75,000 of their enemies but not taking any of their property) and to sweeten the pie we will see that Haman is hanged on that big gallows I see out there (along with his 12 sons).

And that is how the Feast of Purim started. In case you are not aware Persia is another name for Iran.

I have always felt since the time he first became Prime Minister of Israel that Netanyahu would be someone of special importance for the Nation of Israel. It would not surprise me in the least if Bibi himself believes that like Esther he attained his position for such a time as this. He understands what few in the West can actually believe, that militant Islam cannot be reasoned with because their belief system actually requires the destruction of not just the Jews but Western laws, culture and possessions as well.

In the West, believing that at heart all men are basically rational, we want to negotiate to prevent war not realizing that we are already at war. We also do not realize that the goals of militant Shia Islam and the goals of militant Sunni Islam are both ultimately the same. There is only one reason that Iran, run since 1979 by Shia mullahs that seek a restoration of 7th century Islamic rule, would want a treaty and that is to take the pressure of sanctions off and give them more time to achieve their goals. Those include not only regional dominance but also obtaining nuclear warheads for their long range ballistic missiles.

Ah, but here's the rub. A treaty with Iran is currently being negotiated by a man who can't even say the words militant Islam and who sees that treaty, if accomplished, as the hallmark achievement (along with The Affordable Health Care Act) of his presidency.

Our current administration has as it's king a man who has a profoundly different world outlook than the average American and most certainly a different view about what America is and was. These were deeply ingrained in him by his mother, reinforced by the writings of his father and then poured into him by a number of prominent radical leftest who watched after him from college to grad school to community activist to Illinois politics. His administration is filled from top to bottom with people holding those same views. Most I believe have an outright disdain for what is known as Judeo Christian thought.

Even though America is now a post Christian society the core of what our country was has deep foundations in Judeo Christian thought. The idea that all men are created equal and are endowed "by their creator" with certain unalienable rights was believed by men and women of faith and deist as well and is at the heart of who we are as a people. In their wisdom our founders did not want the scepter of kings or the shackles of theocratic rule and so they set up a government with 3 separate branches and a society where men and woman were free to say what they believed and were able to pursue their dreams. They created a Constitution and Bill of Rights that reflected their core principles, derived again from Judeo Christian beliefs. Those are what make everything work in an imperfect world inhabited by imperfect people.

Although we are not by any means perfect we have been the model throughout the world for a free society, a haven for the oppressed, a beacon for the downtrodden and a force for freedom and justice.

But now America has reached the pinnacle of it's power and has started it's rapid decline. This time it is by design. The Hamans of this world still want to kill all the Jews and take all their property and the Creator who endowed us with our rights does not look kindly when we turn our back on the apple of His eye.

Netanyahu says that once again forces in this world want to eliminate the Jew and for that he is called a fear monger. Fear, there is that word again. The Prince grew up without love, without close personal contacts, with a dominating but distant father he could never please. Everyone compensates in different ways. Some need control, some need love, some need courage.

Do you know the F word?  Come on Bertie, you know perfectly well what I mean.