The White Hanky

Maria was waiting for me when I showed up at our test site this morning to set up.  She is from the Dominican Republic and speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish but my un po keet toe has been enough to navigate hundreds of tests without a translator over the last dozen or so years.

Our office had informed me earlier that Maria had taken the test before with another organization and she felt that she had been discriminated against.  When she asked if we had someone who spoke Spanish they remembered that I was willing and mostly able to do tests by myself in Spanish and they routed her my way.

With tears in her eyes Maria hands me a handwritten letter on white notebook paper written in English by her school age daughter which says in effect - My mother is very nice, she needs a driver's license, she gets very nervous, she really is very nice, we don't have a lot of money, she needs a license to drive to work, please pass my very nice mother.

I read the letter and hand it back to Maria and she then explains to me in Spanish what is in the letter and what most every immigrant says after they have struggles passing their driver's test.  Only bits and pieces of what she is actually saying are clear to me, but they are enough.  "Mucho Nervoso" means she is very nervous.  "No carro No tra ba ho" means she can't get to work without her car and she can't drive her car without a driver's license.  And "Mucho dinero" while rubbing her two fingers together means that all of this testing business is taking money that she really doesn't have in the first place.

In response I spread out my arms and say:  "Everyone says Mucho Nervoso.  Everyone says No carro No tra ba ho.  Everyone says No Dinero."  I put my hands on an imaginary steering wheel, turning it left and right and say:  "Bien Bien, Si.  No Bien, Mass Mass, No."  Through her tears Maria nods her head.

Before she gets into our rental car Maria has me stand next to her while she says a very long, expressive and emotional prayer in Spanish, ending with something like "In nombre Patre e Filio e Spiritu Santo.

Maria ends up passing the parking maneuvers so I get into the passenger seat to start the driving portion of the test.  Maria is still crying.  We pull out of the parking lot and turn a few streets later into a residential area.  Maria is still crying.  Being the gentleman that I am I offer her my handkerchief which she takes without hesitation.  Maria rubs her teary eyes with it and then each time we stop at a light or a stop sign Maria uses it to blow her nose, emitting a loud honk each time.  This goes on through the entire test.

It turns out that Maria does well enough to earn a passing grade.  I have her park the car and then pressing my body against the passenger side door because I suspect what might happen next I inform Maria that she has passed her test.  Her puffy red face and nose seem very happy with the news and she reaches over to hug me but I extend my arms to give her a more long distance hug.  I do this because I once was hugged by a very large African American woman and it took me several minutes to break free.

I point to the center drink holder in the rental car and tell Maria that she can put my handkerchief there.  "Oh no!" was her reply.  Holding the wet and limp hanky in the open palm of her right hand she places the palm of her left hand on top of it, then moves both hands and hanky to her heart and says that she must take it home with her.  I say OK because I know that I really have no choice in the matter.

I say goodbye and God Bless You in Spanish to Maria and once again the tears come.  I'm hoping that my hanky gets washed and finds a good home and that she's not the type that would put it as part of a little shrine in her home that honors nice people like me.  After all, she did earn the passing grade.     

You Must

YOU MUST

If I have a joy in my life that would far exceed anything else I would say it's that all of my five children came to ask Jesus into their hearts at a young age and that even now grown they know how to go to the Father in prayer for all of their concerns, praying in the name of their Lord.

I was thinking and chuckling one day about some things daughter Becky wrote after my mother's funeral and so I wrote a poem that shares some of her observations.

A young girl at nine

as she sat by my side

thought about life

and the changing tide

of promise and hope

and much more besides

while we wept cause my mother

her grandmother died.

It was Easter when Heaven

swung opened it's doors

to the woman who cancer

had sent to the floor.

And my father knew well

what had severed the cord

Twas the smoking that got her

on the way to the Lord.

While there in the church

it was hers to make sense

of vestments and flowers

and rising incense.

Of uncles who talked

and pews like a fence

from the grandmother loved

and a heart that was rent.

So she poured out her feelings

onto paper with trust

what she heard say the preacher

with words that were just:

"Ashes to ashes

and dust to dust

when it's your time to go

you must, you must."

I Almost Won The Lotto

As I'm writing. the multi-state lottery amount is up to $540 million.  The time to buy tickets is over and someone may or may not hit the big jackpot tonight.  A guy on TV at about 6:30 tonight said that the after tax haul would be about $234 million, which sparked my interest because I once prayed for $234 million.  It was a number that popped in my head some years ago after I thought that if I could pray for any specific amount of money then I might as well pray for - How much? - $234 million.

There is a big lottery billboard that I pass on the way to work and it gives the running jackpots for both the Michigan lotto and the multi-state lotto.  When I pass it I've prayed, Lord if the time is right let me know and I'll plop down a buck or two at the corner gas station.  He hasn't yet said the time is right but when I heard that TV guy say "$234 million" I thought, hmm, maybe that's a sign.

I was about to get off my butt and drive a few blocks to a local lotto outlet when I remembered another guy on TV say yesterday that my odds of getting hit by lightning were 1000 times greater than winning the big bucks.  The odds of course would not be a problem for God and the odds of winning are obviously zero per cent if you don't play, but apart from the number being right I didn't have a strong feeling about it and I was a little worried about that lightning.

Thinking about the odds and getting hit by lightning I remembered something I heard on the radio earlier this week.  In 1859 there was something called a "Coronal Mass Ejection" or CME for short.  An English astronomer by the name of Carrington spotted flashes of intense light coming from some sun spots and 17 hours later the Earth was hit.  The night skies were lit up by intense Aurora lights and so much energy was transferred via telegraph wires that one guy had a arch of fire that jumped from his head to the telegraph equipment.  If we got hit by the same thing today it would take out all of our satellites, destroy most of our power grid, ruin anything electronic, cost trillions of dollars and leave us without communication and power for years.  The odds of another Carrington Event are thousands of times higher than me cashing in my $234 million.

Well, good luck to you guys who have those hot tickets.  If you win please buy me some candles and a box or two of freeze dried food.

The Day Of The Lord

Jesus came into my heart 40 years ago near the end of November. One of my interests since then has been the study of End Time theology. Are we now close to the time period know as The Day of the Lord? Perhaps. We certainly are a lot closer than we were 40 years ago!

It can be difficult to comprehend what Sacred Scripture says about the end times because, like the Thessalonians, we get a lot of how we shape our viewpoints either from church tradition, traveling preachers or even the secular world.  If I was still Catholic and believed in the teaching authority of that Church my understanding of Biblical prophecy would be much different.  If I belonged to a mainline Protestant denomination and studied faithfully the writings of our esteemed theologians I would still not have a clue as to why Israel has been reborn in this day and age.  I respect the wisdom found in so many areas of both traditions, but I look at Scripture from a literal viewpoint and that makes a big difference in my understanding of the end times.

"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the Day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness (the Antichrist) is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God". (2 Thessalonians 2: 3-4)

The Day of the Lord is a time when God will remove the spiritual blindness from the eyes of the Jewish people and as a nation they will call upon the name of the Lord. Jesus will descend from the clouds, returning to Jerusalem and defeating the armies of the world gathered against Him. At this time the unholy trinity; the evil one, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, will be bound and Jesus will rule on the Earth, which will then be unaffected for about a thousand years by the rebellious leadership of the evil one. At the end of the thousand years the evil one will be released to once again deceive the nations and gather them together to wage war against Jesus, the saints and the holy city of Jerusalem. This time God will bind and seal away the evil one for good. There will be a resurrection and a judgment of all mankind who did not have a reborn spirit and then God will end the world as we know it, creating a new Heavens and a new Earth. Those whose names were written in the book of life will go into eternity with the Lord Jesus and those whose names were not will suffer eternal separation from God and His people.


The beginning of the Day of the Lord will be a time of great trouble in the entire Earth, but especially in Israel. There will be wars and earthquakes, giant hailstones and meteor impacts, demon armies and famine, and depending on how one calculates scripture one quarter to three quarters of the world population will die within a seven year period. Death by martyrdom will be common for all who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and lawlessness will be everywhere.


The Thessalonians were going through a great period of persecution and hard economic times. They had been taught by Paul on one of his previous visits about the Day of the Lord and evidently after Paul was gone they came under the impression from other sources that they were now in The Day of the Lord. Paul wrote to reassure them that The Day had not yet begun and also that those in their community who had recently died had not missed out on being gathered to meet the Lord. "Now we request you brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you not be so quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has begun". (2 Thessalonians. 2: 1-2)


Paul goes on to say that the Day of the Lord will not come until "the apostasy" comes first, and the man of lawlessness, who is called elsewhere in scripture, "The Antichrist", is revealed. The word "apostasia" has been translated into English in our current bibles as "apostasy". The word has the sense of "falling away from" or "being removed from", and so the understanding we get from the word apostasy is that of a falling away from the faith. But English translations before the King James version rendered the translation as "the removal". This is interesting because if that is the proper rendering of "apostasia" Paul is telling the Thessalonians that the Day of the Lord cannot begin until something is removed that is restraining the coming of the Antichrist, an idea consistent with verse 6; "And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed".


There are different opinions as to who or what that restrainer is. Some early church fathers believed it was human government as represented by Rome. Roman law prevailed throughout the world known to those early theologians and the might of Rome kept lawlessness in check. Others believe that it is the archangel Michael who is holding back the spirit of the Antichrist until the proper time. A third opinion is that the presence of the Church, or the Body of Christ, being indwelt with the power of the Holy Spirit, is now restraining the worldwide lawlessness that will accompany the arrival of the Antichrist, a condition that must precede the return of the Lord. "And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work . . . that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish". (2 Thessalonians. 2: 6-9)


In my opinion it was the third one that Paul was telling the Thessalonians. The Church (which included them) must be removed before the revealing of the Antichrist and the resulting worldwide rebellion against God that he would help bring. God had been patient with rebellion and lawlessness but He will not let it go on forever. Just as the evil one was allowed to deceive one third of the angels to follow after him, so would the evil one, with the help of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, be allowed to deceive the nations. This must first happen so that truth could finally conquer falsehood and light could finally roll back the darkness. The Holy Spirit will be present in the hearts of those who become reborn after the removal but the intercession of believers will not hold back the culmination of rebellion that God will now allow. Because of rebellion the world and all who lived in it had been subject to fear, corruption, pain and death. But Jesus was going to return as Redeemer King, and all rebellion would be dealt with. Although the condition of the Thessalonians was harsh, the world wide condition of lawlessness, as led by the Antichrist, could not begin until they are removed. And they can know that God's promise for their removal, as well as for the resurrection of their loved ones, was still valid because the Antichrist would exalt himself above every so-called god, and place himself in the Jewish temple to be worshiped, and that obviously had not yet happened.


As I said previously, all English translations prior to the King James rendered the word apostasia as "the removal". This was not done by the translators to further a "rapture" theology since at that time the early reformers still favored Roman Catholic doctrine on the interpretation of what would happen in the last days and what was the timing of the return of Jesus. Fourth century Catholic theologians had a world view that did not include the rebirth of Israel or the regathering of the Jewish people into that land, or a physical return of Jesus as the longed after Jewish Messiah, finally accepted by them, who would rule the Gentile nations from Jerusalem for 1000 years. The book of Revelation was not to be taken literal nor were the numerous end time prophecies found in either the Old or New Testament.  That view point remains the same even today.

Catholics do teach that there will be a future apostasy, or falling away from the Roman Catholic faith, with a coming of an Antichrist, who may even be a false pope. But God will protect the true "institutional" Church during that time until the Antichrist is bound by the archangel Michael.


Catholic theology views it's institutional Church as having replaced Judaism as God's pattern of worship, sacrifice and moral teaching. Theirs is the new priesthood and Jesus will not physically return until the final judgment (just prior to the new Heavens and the new Earth) because He is already present on the Earth through the sacraments, especially communion and the display of the host. Although most Protestants have a historical rejection of the pope, the apostolic priesthood and the sacramental system, they have still retained a theology that transfers God's unrevokable promises for the Jewish people and nation upon the Church, although Protestants define what is the Church differently. The majority of Protestant denominations still do not take literally many parts of scripture, including most or all of the prophetic passages.


The Catholic Church explicitly rejects the idea that Jesus will return to earth to rule for 1000 years. Point 676 in the Catechism Of The Catholic Church states; "The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millennial ism, especially the intrinsically perverse political form of secular messianism". (It is "intrinsically perverse" because the return of Jesus to rule on the earth would upset the need for apostolic succession, sacraments, etc.) Catholic theology accepts a tribulation period, which is defined as a period of apostasy from Catholicism, perhaps accompanied by other worldwide disasters, and led by an Antichrist. That period will end when the Antichrist is bound by the archangel Michael. This will usher in a universal Time of Peace, when the nations will flock to the presence of Christ as found in the sacraments and the priesthood of the Catholic Church. At the end of that undetermined time Michael will release the Antichrist, who will gather the nations against the Church, which is ruling from Jerusalem at this time, for the final war of Gog and Magog. It is at this time that the Church will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air. The Bride will then immediately return with Jesus to do away with all rebellion. There will be a final judgment, and finally "a cosmic upheaval of the passing world".
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I believe that there is coming a specific point in time when everyone who has a reborn spirit will be physically removed from the Earth to meet the Lord in the clouds, and thus to reside with Him in His Kingdom forever. This will be proceeded by a resurrection of the physical bodies of all those from the time of Jesus until now who had a reborn spirit at the time of their death.  There will be left many people at that point in time who did not have a reborn spirit, which comes about through faith and not through baptism or obedience to the tenants of any particular faith tradition. The day after the removal all of these places of worship will be filled and there will quickly arise false teachers and prophets, some even accompanied by false signs and wonders, who will deny the truth and confuse those who honestly desire to turn to God.
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But scripture also shows that God will have numerous ways during this awful time to proclaim the eternal gospel throughout the whole world. Many who receive that good news will be killed, choosing light and truth over darkness and lies. Paul told the Thessalonians that, although they too might have to die for their faith, they could not now be in that time of lawlessness and judgment.
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"But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification, by the Spirit and faith in the truth". (2 Thessalonians. 2: 13)
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"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word". (2 Thessalonians. 2: 16-17)

Are There Broncos In Western Michigan?

Driving with Jackie from Grand Rapids back home to Kalamazoo I notice a large billboard advertising the Western Michigan Broncos.  Kalamazoo is my current home but I've spent the better part of my life in Holland.  I realize that I have no idea why WMU would call itself the Broncos so I ask my gal from Kalama zoo, zoo, zoo.  Jackie has no idea.

I figure there must be some logical answer and so I run through the options in my head.  There were few available to this feeble mind.  Could it be that they are called the Broncos because the school is located in the Western side of Michigan?  Well then, if a university was situated, let's say in Western Maine, would they be just as comfortable calling themselves Broncos? 

There is a town in the Grand Rapids area named Wyoming and they use to have an annual rodeo so I could see where maybe an adjunct campus of Davenport or Grand Valley State might go with Broncos.  But as far as I know we have had no rodeos or wild west shows or mass immigrations from Texas or Oklahoma into Kalamazoo.  I can't remember the last time I bumped into a stray horse on one of my walks.

When we got home I saw Jackie's brother Jerry, who as it happens graduated from Western, as did some of his children.  When I asked Jerry why WMU called themselves Broncos he told me he had no idea, then asked;  "Does there need to be a reason?"

Well, maybe for a high school, no.  But most of the colleges that immediately came to mind had obvious connections to their nicknames.  I went to Aquinas College.  While I was going there the powers that be changed the teams names from the Saints (Catholic school, what we aspire to) to the Tommies (St. Thomas Aquinas).  When in the early 1970's the students heard that the new name was the Tommies we said, "The Who?" (You need to tear down that wall one brick at a time(:

Michigan's Wolverine is our state animal.  The Central Michigan Chippewas come from a local Indian tribe.  My children went to Hope College in Holland and were the Dutchmen.  Becky and for awhile Carrie went to Marquette University in Milwaukee and when there, bowing to pressure from their Native Americans, the name changed from the Warriors to the Golden Eagles, which I can kinda figure out.

Notre Dame's Irish is no mystery.  At one time Michigan State was an agricultural college so we all know about Spartan brand foods, and that Southern Cal's teams are named after the brand name of a product dispensed from vending machines in public restrooms.

But why the name Broncos?  I Googled the question and found out that prior to 1939 WMU went by the name Hilltoppers.  Well . . . Kalamazoo is located in an area known as the Kalamazoo Valley, and for good reason.  There are a few hills around the campus so I guess Hilltoppers was a better choice than say  Valleydogs.  The football team was pretty good around then and there were two other major universities that also went by the name Hilltoppers;  Western Kentucky and the aforementioned Marquette.   To avoid confusion a name change was desired.  An assistant football coach suggested Broncos and the rest is, as they say, still confusing to me.

We Love You

We Love You

How can I escape

to a quiet place

where no one has to know

that my heart still aches

and it doesn't race

and my smile's just for show?

How can I sing

to an awesome King

when my eyes stay focused low

and each day brings

a thousand more things

that require me to go?

Necessities tug

and my love needs a hug

but my energy is only just so.

While the seasons end

I still miss my good friend

and I'm glad the healing is slow.

How can I escape

to a quiet place

where no one has to know?

I'll just find a way

while I pray through the day

letting the Spirit flow.

A Prayer For America

I was hoping for a season of grace.

Perhaps it is still coming.  God seems to do things His way in His time.  I personally think that time is running out quickly - but no one made me an expert.

I had a dream last week where I was in a waiting room in the White House.  There were some mirrors on the wall and I noticed that someone had removed the mirror glass.  I left the room and saw President Obama leaving his office, dressed in a white shirt, black pants and dark tie.  I followed him and said;  "Mr President, there is something private I need to talk to you about."  He kept walking and I followed him and we went into a conference room where there were a bunch of other people.  I noticed that this room also had some mirror frames without the glass, and they happened to be LaBarge mirrors, so I asked again.  "Mr. President, this is really very personal to me.  Our family had a mirror business and we are quite honored to have some of our pieces in the White House, but someone has removed the mirror glass, and that upsets me."  Mr. Obama and I walked over to the waiting room and I said; "See, here as well."  He told me that he would check it out.

This was a week before the election and I wondered when I woke if there was any meaning to my dream.  What came to mind was the idea that looking in a mirror without seeing yourself is like being self deluded.

We are not seeing reality if we think that the day of reckoning will never come, that things will go on the way they always have.  While there are many believers and lots of other fine people here, having the fear of the Lord as a percentage of our population grows less and less.  The overall acceptance of sinful lifestyles grows more and more, even with believers.  It's just as a saying I saw on one of those outdoor church signs - "What the parents tolerated, the children embraced."

A Prayer For America

Father, will you forgive our nation for the tens of millions of innocents that have lost their lives? Will you bless us as we proceed to murder tens of millions more?

Will you forgive us for choosing prosperity over moral truth? Will you bless us when we don't clearly teach our children your will by word and by example?

Will you listen to our prayers for this nation when we don't listen to you? Will you send your Holy Spirit when we close all doors to Him?

Will you look the other way when our government continues to try to divide the land you promised to your chosen people. Will you defend us when we abandon that people in their time of need?

Will you bless us when we worship the false gods we have fashioned in our own image or when we set up idols in our own high places?

Will you bless our land when we forget the truths by which we were founded? Will you heal our land when we don't honor you for your past blessings?

Father, do you honor those who murder? Do you bless those who lie? Do you make whole what we divide? Do you heal what we choose to corrupt? Do you look the other way when we sin? Do you restore what we throw away? Do you remember those who forget you?

Father, today I plead for your mercy on my country. I have no reason to believe that we deserve one ounce but I plead none the less. Do not put us at the mercy of the enemies that hate us. Do not leave us to suffer at the hand of the evil one. It is you Father we trust no matter what your judgment may be.

And may my Lord Jesus become known soon in a hundred million more hearts throughout this land.

Amen.