Pondering Today's events

Many events to cogitate over today:

• On the anniversary of John Wayne's death, I'd like to talk about the need for heroes in today's world. Manly men, patriotic, hard-working, sacrificial, and dedicated to the American ideal. Feminine women, teaching and molding children, strong and self-sufficient, dedicated to the American ideal.

• But then there is the matter of a report out of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where the President of that institute, Dr. Akin, is calling for larger families. His premise that the downturn in SBC baptisms is a consequence of smaller families is, I believe, misplaced even if accurate. The premise for larger families should be that God wants Genuine Believers to raise up families who will be a light to the world. If the larger families are simply to increase baptisms, there are much easier ways to do it. One could offer $1,000.00 per family to each family which joins the church and stays for a year. Surely some of them would stick around longer. And it would certainly not cost the individual family as much as having a child. Better still, each young family could spend $5,000.00 every five years and get five families. That would certainly be easier and cheaper than raising a child.
  

• Today's Drudge Report links to a news report headlined: California Nears Financial Meltdown...". http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE55974820090610 I wonder just how long those on the left coast are going to continue to overlook the obvious. Begin drilling for oil off your coast. The influx of money will be almost instantaneous as people jocky for position and purchase land for building support industries. The working people of California will be heartened by prospects of new found wealth, and the rest of the country will have a reason want California to not fall off into the ocean.
  

• Then, of course, there are the Lakers. Kobe failed to deliver in the last close game, so he must be losing it. I wonder if sports writers have any idea of the intense emotional drain high intensity sporting events have on people. There are inevitable let downs in anything where one must be at his best continually. However, when the Lakers win he will once again be hailed as "the greatest." Amazing.
  

• Why do people who have wronged you, feel such a need to denigrate you? When people or groups lie and fail to follow through on promises, they tend to try to justify their own failure to act by manufacturing offenses by you. Then, of course, they want to break off all contact. Perhaps that is to lessen the guilt which comes to them when they think of you. It is worse when the group or individual is Christian based.

• Just not sure I trust Newt Gingrich. He is a great thinker, and has some terrific insight, but he appears, to me, too willing to make the Republican Tent inclusive of vastly divergent concepts. He invokes Reagan's appeal to a wide range of people, but seems to forget that Reagan didn't accomodate such divergent views, he won people to his view. That is the profound difference between Gingrich and Reagan.
  

The Wake of Johnny Davis

The Wake of Johnny Davis

It wuz the Sprang before my eighth birthday that Jack came to live with us. During those days there war’ many Jacks trav'lin the southern route of Highway 80 through Meridian. It was the time of the Great Depression and nobody seemed to thank much of a stranger show'in up at our place thar’ along the Sowashee Creek.

Now Pap didn't thank anything just happened. He believed the Almighty wuz working things out to benefit those what b'longed to Him. So, since him and Uncle Will wuz figuring on clearing that new ground south of the creek and Jack was willing to work fer feed and found, it seemed to him that this was the Almighty's way of saying to git started..

I‘as always jest a little scart’ of Jack. I thank maybe it was cause of the scar that started at the corner of his left eye, curved back in front of his ear and ended right on his adam's apple. He said once that he'd got it from a gator down in Lou’siana. Pap said the gator was mor'n likely a Cajun frog sticker.

But, in spite of my fear, I’as drawn to him like a tack to a lodestone. He had a queer way of looking at ya, almost like he’as pulling your leg. And that twinkle in his eyes, devilment Pap called it, seemed to say, "Sump’um's ‘bout to happen." Well I just couldn't get enough of him, er his stories either fer that matter.

He told stories about every kind of thang imaginable, but most of them wuz about practical jokes. Like the time he found a bunch of boys and girls skinny dipping in the creek over near Montgomery. He took all their clothes and left town. You found yourself wondering if such thangs really could happen. Yet, there always seemed to be ‘nough truth in’em to whur they just might have. But nuthun he ever told topped what actually happened one August Night.

Johnny Davis had been coon hunting down on the Valley Road and he died when he fell out of a tree and broke his neck. Well, Pap took all us over to the Davis house whur the body was laid out in the parlor. In them days people would come to the home whur the body was laid out and set up with the body all night, ever’ night until the funeral.

As the evening wore on, the sweltering August heat influenced nearly everyone to work his way out to the front porch and into the front yard with the hope of catching a good breeze. Jack said that he'd stay in the house with the body while er’body cooled off.

The mosquitoes began to find the range as the evening wore on and people started to head back inside. Somebody asked where Jack had got off to, but nobody thought much about it until one of the wimmin went back into the kitchen to fix some coffee. After a few minutes a bunch of high pitched, hysterical screams seemed to rattle back and forth off the walls and throughout the rooms. Er’body was tripping over er’body else as we all tried to crowd through the door to get to the kitchen. By the time we finally reached her, the screams had trailed off to a kind of pathetic wail.

She was whiter‘n a ghost and she jest kept a’wailing and a’pointing. Soon’s we all turned towards the source o’ her distress, I felt my blood run cold, for thar’, propped up in the corner behind the door, with a fresh rolled cigarette stuck in his mouth, and his arms crossed just like the funeral home director had left him, was ol' Johnny Davis.

I don’t think I’m the only one who was scart’ nearly to death, cause someone ran back to the parlor to see if the casket was really empty. To this day, I’ve not heard such screaming and carrying on.

By the time Pap and the others finally got poor ol' Johnny back in his casket again and everybody settled down, it was pretty late for us young'uns. Pap said they hunted for Jack most of the night but didn't see hide nor hair of him. He said it was just as well cause lynching fever’d already hit some of the men and they had plenty of ropes.

It seemed to me like most of Meridian was at the funeral. Pap said that folks are just naturally curious about such strange happenings. Uncle Will said that ol' Johnny'd probably thank Jack for causing such a turn out for his burying, if he could. Everybody kinda laughed and it seemed like the anger just disappeared.

After a while people stopped talking about Johnny's wake. Everybody seemed to forget Jack ‘cept me and Pap. But now and again something would happen to cause folks to think about ‘ol Johnny standing there in that corner with a cigarette in his mouth, and er’body'd laugh.

We didn't hear from Jack for a long time, but I knew we'd see him again. And I knew I'd ner’ fergit the wake of Johnny Davis.

"The Wake of Johnny Davis" Copyright by Mike Rasberry, 1996. All rights reserved.

On Being Successful

A Word For Living
Mike Rasberry
April 15, 2009
On Being Successful

Burt Lancaster, the late Academy Award-winning film actor, was a circus acrobat before he headed to Hollywood. Several films allowed him to display his physique and athletic skills. Chuck Conners, the star of TV’s popular Rifleman, was both a professional basketball player with the Boston Celtics and a professional baseball player with the Chicago Cubs and the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was also drafted by professional football’s Chicago Bears. Ronald Reagan was a radio sports announcer before becoming a Hollywood film actor and then successful politician.

Burt Lancaster was associated with liberal Democratic causes while both Conners and Reagan were closely associated with conservative Republican causes, but all three share a trait necessary for success in today’s world. They were willing to walk away from that which they had chosen as their life’s work to pursue a new career.

Someone has said that if you’re the same person you’ve always been, then you’re not a Christian. I think that is absolutely true. When one becomes a Christian, he becomes a new person, with a new direction and a new purpose. He does not continue in the same general direction he was going, simply making corrections to his course. He makes a 180 degree turn and begins a walk in the diametrically opposite direction. Where once he was walking away from God, he is now walking toward God.

When men can leave their chosen vocation, as the before mentioned actors, to head in a totally different direction, not once but multiple times, why do those who name Christ as Lord find it so difficult to leave behind their life before Christ. The Genuine Disciple of Christ has the empowering and sustaining comfort of the Holy Spirit to assist him in his quest to live for Christ. He is not dependent upon box office revenues or public acclaim. His is not the life of finding the most palatable compromise which will enhance his career without diminishing his platform. The Genuine Disciple has, but one over-riding purpose, to follow while obeying the Living Christ.

The difference between the old life and the new life in Christ is consequential. It affects every aspect of one’s life. Yet, the Genuine Believer is not alone in his new walk. He has the body of believers as well as the indwelling Christ. He has everything necessary to make the trip successful. He can come to the end of his life’s walk and say that he has finished the course that God laid out for him. He can call his life successful.


© 2009 Mike Rasberry

Try A Little Kindness

A Word For Living
Mike Rasberry
April 14, 2009
Try A Little Kindness

In the late 1960's and early 1970's my wife, Diane, and I lived in Yuma; in the Southwest corner of Arizona. During days spent exploring the rock strewn hills, dry stream beds, and mysterious caves we came to realize that the desert environment considered desolate and forlorn by outsiders, was actually teeming with abundant life. We were continually surprised by the abundance of those shy and reclusive desert creatures.

In those days, BCP (before cell phones); as we traveled for hours without meeting another human being, we began to understand and appreciate our dependence upon one another. For that reason, I believe, “Kindness” flourished there to a greater extent than I’ve experienced in my lifetime.

It was not unusual for the unsuspecting traveler who had run out of gasoline, water, or food to have the first person who passed his way provide his needs and send him on his way without accepting anything other than the promise that should the traveler cross the path of another in need, he would likewise demonstrate “Kindness”.

Perhaps Glen Campbell, who lives in Arizona, was considering this when he sang “Try a Little Kindness”.

If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he’s sowed;
And if you see your sister falling by the way,
Just stop and say, “You’re going the wrong way.”

You got to try a little kindness.
Yes, show a little kindness;
Just shine your light for everyone to see;
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.

Don’t walk around the down and out;
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt;
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way.

You got to try a little kindness.
Yes, show a little kindness;
Just shine your light for everyone to see;
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.


For the Genuine Christian, “Kindness” is one of the fruits of the Spirit of God. It is one of the personality traits which should characterize Christians. Perhaps you and I should look more carefully at ways to demonstrate “Kindness” to those we meet. Should we consider each meeting a “Divine Encounter”, an encounter orchestrated by Holy God; we will be more likely to act with kindness toward those we meet.

© 2006 Mike Rasberry

ABSALOM

A Word For Living
Mike Rasberry
March 26, 2009
Absalom

King David’s son, Absalom, was a man with unlimited potential who failed to realize that potential not subject God’s authority, is bound to bring disappointment and destruction. Absalom was obviously David’s favorite. He had long flowing locks and drew people to himself easily. His place of favor might have influenced him to believe he could act with impunity against his father’s wishes. However, his growing disregard for the authority of his father, led him to murder his brother for an act of violence against his sister.

His imprudent act resulted in his being banished from the kingdom for a time, but he soon wormed his way back into the kingdom and eventually into the palace itself. Once ensconced again at the gate of the city, a place of influence, he began to undermine his father’s regime by subtle ways. His subtlety eventually turned to outright rebellion, and he stole the hearts of the people and created such an environment that David had to flee for his life.

Those loyal to David, including his general, Joab, wanted to kill Absalom for his inciting of the rebellion, but David continued to hold out hope that the matter could be resolved peacefully. However, during a battle when Absalom was defeated by David’s army and he was fleeing, his long hair became entangled in the limbs of a tree and unseated him from his galloping horse. When he was discovered, Joab, had him killed.

David wept bitterly when he heard of his son’s death, but there was nothing more he could do as he again ascended the throne.

Several points jump out at us from this story: First, David failed to teach his son proper respect for God established authority. Second, Absalom seemed to have no sense of God’s leadership in his life. Third, David was willing to subject the kingdom to vulnerability in order to satisfy his own personal desires. Fourth, David seemed indifferent to, or ignorant of, the subversive actions of his own son. Fifth, David’s failures in regards to his son brought about his own ignominious retreat and the death of his favorite son.

It might be appropriate, in light of world conditions, for us to consider those we love and what we are teaching them. I pray that we will remember that children are an heritage of The LORD, and parents are expected, yes even commanded to train them up in such a way that they will know God’s way. More and more I hear parents lament their children’s lack of discipline, but when I ask if discipline has been taught and the “rod of understanding applied to the seat of understanding”, I am thought of as barbaric.

Dear Friends, rather we be thought of as barbaric than we allow our little ones to grow up without a sense of right and wrong. Scripture tells us to not despair when they cry, because they will not die. I’m not speaking of harsh cruelty. I am speaking of the need to exercise Biblical Discipline with love.

Following Mississippi State in the NCAA's

• The first ten minutes of the game were played as if both were afraid to take the lead.

• I'm surprised that Varnardo has been kept in check. He has to break loose in the second half.
• Unforced errors in first half made MSU look outclassed. Must get shots off.
• Beginning to wonder about those statements that Stansbury is great regular season coach, but outsmarts himself in tournaments.
• Washington seems almost able to do whatever they want at 3 minutes of the second half.
• Varnardo's block could ignite MSU and they do need to be ignited. 44-30 Still scored only two baskets in second half.
• Four fouls on Varnardo at 14 minutes. That big center, Brockman, is tough. He looks like he's about three ax handles wide.
• State makes a couple of good plays than makes four very poor one. A steal leads to a fast break opportunity only to have the player pushing the ball throw it away. A total lack of discipline.
• Back to a twenty point lead for Washington with 3:42 left. Thought when the deficit was cut to fourteen with 7 minutes left they might cut it to ten with five minutes, but made several errors.
• One thing for sure they never quit. That is the mantra of the losing team, is it not?
  

Bloom Where You're Planted

A Word For Living

December 13, 2008
Bloom Where You’re Planted

From Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” comes this tidbit: "There will always be more people willing to do ‘great’ things for God than there are people willing to do the little things. The race to be a leader is crowded, but the field is wide open for those willing to be servants."

It reminds me of the old preacher saying about eagles on hummingbird nests. The idea so many have is that they can really do something for Christ if they just have the opportunity to bloom on a great stage. Time and again preachers are confronted with those who confess to visiting preachers that they feel stifled in their environment. They need a larger arena.

The old saying, “Bloom where you’re planted” has never been more apropos. The only way we can reach our full potential in life is to be the very best we can at what God has given us to do right now, right here. In His timing He might choose to move you or me to a larger or smaller stage. However, for now, I must serve Him by serving others and demonstrating the very “mind of Christ” in all my doings.

When Jesus spoke of that one who desired the “head table” being embarrassed by being asked to move, He was pointing out natural man’s struggle for acknowledgment. Natural man’s desire to be recognized for his efforts and achievements is unbecoming to the child of God. We are not as those whose only success is the recognition they receive here on this earth from other men. Our reward is to do the work of Him who sends us daily into the morass, knowing that one day He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

http://mrponderings.blogspot.com

© 2008 Mike Rasberry