In the course of writing this column over the years there are many different things I have shared about myself. I have shared my favorite snack is a pretzel. Actually I am thinking specifically of a good ole Hot Sam’s. I can remember well saving pennies, because you could buy a hot pretzel for a nickel when I was a kid. I love R.C. Cola, Squirt, and Wink as my favorite drinks. My Aunt, Bobbie Jean Hicks and her Coca Cola Cake is still number two as my favorite cake, this of course only because my Grandmother Stella’s skillet cake remains at the top spot in that category.
The Fall Season is my favorite time of the year. I love watching the leaves turning into the colors of fall and to me there is nothing like feeling a breeze of a cold air with the warmth of the hot sun shining down in the fall. When it comes to the category of fruit, my choice is easy as my favorite, I love pumpkin! The late President of Oneida Baptist Institute, Dr. Barkely Moore, was famous for saying that at O.B.I. they grew potatoes, and he loved potatoes. He would then break out into that great preaching voice he had and in southern preaching fashion deliver their usages such as; Fried; Baked; Scalloped; Hashed; Boiled & Mashed; until you got the message that at Oneida there were being good stewards of what God had provided for them.
For me, I love pumpkin, everything from pumpkin soup and pancakes, to pumpkin sloppy Joes and by all means let’s have some seeds. You always risk the chances of hurting feelings when you say things, but my favorite gift of Christmas 2009 was a hand complied book of Pumpkin Recipes that my sister Bridget Baker put together for me. I’ve been waiting all year for my favorite fruit to arrive, as I love stewing pumpkins too. Canned pumpkin produced in some manufacturing plant is not my idea of pumpkin anyway, if you’ve never stewed a pumpkin and made your own pumpkin you’ve just missed a blessing. Especially if you let your children, grandchildren or nieces and nephews help. That is what you call memories of a lifetime they will never forget.
One of the reasons most folks don’t mess with pumpkins and they select the option of professionally produced canned pumpkin is the work that is involved in doing it the old fashion way. On top of that fact, the truth is the deal is messy too, but that’s the fun for me. The recipe I am using for my seeds this week is a Toasted Pumpkin Seed with Sugar and Spice. The task involves cleaning the inside of the pumpkin which means sticky, wet, and slimy. Washing the seeds multiple times, and then comes drying time, which this will fill at least a day and a half of time and I haven’t gotten started with the 45 minutes of baking and frying time this recipe calls for. Don’t forget, you will need to bring together all the ingredients necessary too. Sure it’s a lot of time consuming work, but the answer is umm, umm, good.
Having to work through a mess is not what most folks would call fun or enjoyable, but the memories you will build with those little ones and even yourself will be priceless and last a lifetime, I know from experience. Often times our individual lives become a mess, and honestly, it seems easier to through up your hands and quit, because the mess is messy and seems like way to much work. The almost unbelievable news is that Jesus Christ has already worked out the recipe for our lives. He has a plan, which is abundant, he has all the necessary ingredients and directions required for success already written out for us. We are required to pick up our “pumpkins” if you will, and bring them to Him if we want all the good that comes from such brought out.
Until then
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Conversation with Russell Zik, about the church and our role.
The world in which we live currently seems to be filled with questions and doubts about almost everything. The uncertainly of situations, events and even people have created a state of uneasy and a state of no trust in about all things.
If you are a conversationalist, you know immediately what I am talking about as even the debate about ideas is not longer a plausible discussion. This is true because we hear, almost everyone, protecting their position, their interest, and they seem to also be closed minded to any direction other than their own. With all these questions, doubts, and wonders about how “the mess” the world seems to have invented will ever straighten out has many throwing their hands up in the air, but I am not one of those.
The skill of disagreeing yet maintaining a true and respectful appreciation of others is a characteristic that individuals have discarded and no longer being sought after or developed in our mindset or skills. As a Christian, one of the foundations of our belief system is respect for people and their decisions. Thus I would propose that the leadership of our churches repositions themselves as the Ambassadors of the Creator of the Universe, Jesus Christ, and that we begin to re-establish the church as the library of resources for seeking, searching and just exploration. The most difficult trait to develop as a Christian is that of allowing people to say yes and no. The Bible is filled with the example of Jesus alone in allowing people to seek, search and explore, and yet still respecting them in their decision to walk away. The key for the Church is that while respect people’s decisions, we continue to demonstrate the love of Jesus for them even through rejection.
In a recent conversation with Russell Zik, who is a student at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, we explored the opinion when folks say, “everything works out”. Now the Bible certainly teaches that there is a purpose for everything, but the scriptures do not teach that everything works out. There is a condition to such and most individuals do not quote the scripture just a paraphrase of their desire for how things should be. Roman’s 8:28 clearly states things only work out for those called according to His purpose. This is a great place to being ones search for answers and seeking of solutions. The church is also the perfect place to facilitate this exploration just as Columbus set sail out on the ocean blue.
Our conversation also included a discussion of the often quoted conditioned response to “how are you”. Folks everywhere mostly say just fine, even when the world maybe in pieces around them. I shared that people give this type of response because they don’t believe our question or inquiry is sincere or genuine. Unfortunately many people just consider that to mean a method to use to find out gossip, or to be “put our nose” where it don’t belong. As Christians and church leaders, we could change that. We could demonstrate the real love and concern that Christ has for people, and that could lead to an eternal difference.
The scriptures talk of the church as the salt and light of the world. By the way, when I say church, I am talking about the body of Christ, we the people. The buildings that the body has erected are instruments that we should use to tell His story but to often they are just on display through out the week as landmarks for folks needed earthly driving directions. What a difference could be made if those who profess the name of Jesus, believed He was who He said He was…
Until then
If you are a conversationalist, you know immediately what I am talking about as even the debate about ideas is not longer a plausible discussion. This is true because we hear, almost everyone, protecting their position, their interest, and they seem to also be closed minded to any direction other than their own. With all these questions, doubts, and wonders about how “the mess” the world seems to have invented will ever straighten out has many throwing their hands up in the air, but I am not one of those.
The skill of disagreeing yet maintaining a true and respectful appreciation of others is a characteristic that individuals have discarded and no longer being sought after or developed in our mindset or skills. As a Christian, one of the foundations of our belief system is respect for people and their decisions. Thus I would propose that the leadership of our churches repositions themselves as the Ambassadors of the Creator of the Universe, Jesus Christ, and that we begin to re-establish the church as the library of resources for seeking, searching and just exploration. The most difficult trait to develop as a Christian is that of allowing people to say yes and no. The Bible is filled with the example of Jesus alone in allowing people to seek, search and explore, and yet still respecting them in their decision to walk away. The key for the Church is that while respect people’s decisions, we continue to demonstrate the love of Jesus for them even through rejection.
In a recent conversation with Russell Zik, who is a student at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, we explored the opinion when folks say, “everything works out”. Now the Bible certainly teaches that there is a purpose for everything, but the scriptures do not teach that everything works out. There is a condition to such and most individuals do not quote the scripture just a paraphrase of their desire for how things should be. Roman’s 8:28 clearly states things only work out for those called according to His purpose. This is a great place to being ones search for answers and seeking of solutions. The church is also the perfect place to facilitate this exploration just as Columbus set sail out on the ocean blue.
Our conversation also included a discussion of the often quoted conditioned response to “how are you”. Folks everywhere mostly say just fine, even when the world maybe in pieces around them. I shared that people give this type of response because they don’t believe our question or inquiry is sincere or genuine. Unfortunately many people just consider that to mean a method to use to find out gossip, or to be “put our nose” where it don’t belong. As Christians and church leaders, we could change that. We could demonstrate the real love and concern that Christ has for people, and that could lead to an eternal difference.
The scriptures talk of the church as the salt and light of the world. By the way, when I say church, I am talking about the body of Christ, we the people. The buildings that the body has erected are instruments that we should use to tell His story but to often they are just on display through out the week as landmarks for folks needed earthly driving directions. What a difference could be made if those who profess the name of Jesus, believed He was who He said He was…
Until then
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Cupcake Message
Not sure about your position on cupcakes and how they relate to the current spiritual condition of some individuals but I can clearly see the rising in the oven as they bake. A friend of mine and his family recently stopped in for a visit. Being someone who likes to entertain, this was a perfect opportunity to throw out the red carpet and make a great memory of road trips for his wife, kids and family.
Upon their arrival I thought why not fix corn dogs and grilled cheese for the evening snacks, and for breakfast the next morning I could fill the table with gravy, biscuits, fried potatoes and all the necessaries. Good idea so far, right?....until I realized he and his wife were the loving parents of a picky eating child. After a very short, “let me get the facts straight”, it was understood that cupcakes would do, and she was fully prepared for my lack of understanding and with regards to her personal disposition.
It was at that moment my mind went racing in two fast track road trips. First, I thought of my grandparents, the rules were simple, if you didn’t like what was on the table that was fine with them, you just didn’t eat. I will give them credit for me eating everything, and I guess I can just blame them too for any weight issues I might have. After all they didn’t cater to my special needs which should be a violation of something right? The second fast track was on Acts 4:12 which states, “There is no other name given among men, whereby we must be saved,” and thus cupcakes began to speak to my heart about the stubbornness of many when it comes to Jesus Christ.
Now certainly eating cupcakes will not send you to Heaven or Hell, but this is a perfect example of caution so we do not become caught up in our world, blinding us from His truth and blessing. Certainly as a child there were things I too didn’t like to eat. That memory is amazing today because I will eat most everything I refused to eat back then. I love liver & onions, green beans and even salads. Who would have imagined right? It is one of those important lessons one can gleam from life if we allow ourselves to try new things. In this situation, the cupcakes were brought along for the trip, knowing that on the road ahead there maybe things one doesn’t like. It’s a good thing when you can have another option, as a cupcake, but there are some issues where there are no other options. Salvation is one of those issues that some folks just bake up and swell over.
Acts 4:12 clearly states that Jesus Christ is the only way, but I ‘m certain there are other roads many will try. No one likes that medical conversation in which there is only one way or one direction you can go to find answers. We all want options, but in some situations, that’s not possible. Salvation is one of those positions in the Christian Faith that there is no other direction according to The Bible.
It is possible that today in many things you maybe able to say, no, I will just eat a cupcake, but there are some matters that require a real decision and direction. From some issues there are no deviations. For Christians, Jesus Christ is the only answer and if you want to eat the full meal you will need to pull up a chair to the table.
Until then
Upon their arrival I thought why not fix corn dogs and grilled cheese for the evening snacks, and for breakfast the next morning I could fill the table with gravy, biscuits, fried potatoes and all the necessaries. Good idea so far, right?....until I realized he and his wife were the loving parents of a picky eating child. After a very short, “let me get the facts straight”, it was understood that cupcakes would do, and she was fully prepared for my lack of understanding and with regards to her personal disposition.
It was at that moment my mind went racing in two fast track road trips. First, I thought of my grandparents, the rules were simple, if you didn’t like what was on the table that was fine with them, you just didn’t eat. I will give them credit for me eating everything, and I guess I can just blame them too for any weight issues I might have. After all they didn’t cater to my special needs which should be a violation of something right? The second fast track was on Acts 4:12 which states, “There is no other name given among men, whereby we must be saved,” and thus cupcakes began to speak to my heart about the stubbornness of many when it comes to Jesus Christ.
Now certainly eating cupcakes will not send you to Heaven or Hell, but this is a perfect example of caution so we do not become caught up in our world, blinding us from His truth and blessing. Certainly as a child there were things I too didn’t like to eat. That memory is amazing today because I will eat most everything I refused to eat back then. I love liver & onions, green beans and even salads. Who would have imagined right? It is one of those important lessons one can gleam from life if we allow ourselves to try new things. In this situation, the cupcakes were brought along for the trip, knowing that on the road ahead there maybe things one doesn’t like. It’s a good thing when you can have another option, as a cupcake, but there are some issues where there are no other options. Salvation is one of those issues that some folks just bake up and swell over.
Acts 4:12 clearly states that Jesus Christ is the only way, but I ‘m certain there are other roads many will try. No one likes that medical conversation in which there is only one way or one direction you can go to find answers. We all want options, but in some situations, that’s not possible. Salvation is one of those positions in the Christian Faith that there is no other direction according to The Bible.
It is possible that today in many things you maybe able to say, no, I will just eat a cupcake, but there are some matters that require a real decision and direction. From some issues there are no deviations. For Christians, Jesus Christ is the only answer and if you want to eat the full meal you will need to pull up a chair to the table.
Until then
Sunday, October 4, 2009
90 Days Remain in 2009!
It is hard to believe but October is here, fall is official, and our opportunity of choices continues daily as we are granted another day here on planet earth. My personal scripture focus for 2009 has been I Corinthians 4:8-9. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; Perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not abandoned; Struck down, but not destroyed.”
Consideration of these closing days in 2009 continue to create questions of which I am seeking answers still, while yet I have discovered some answers to issues and questions that I have been baffled by as well. In these closing 90 days of the year I believe more then enough time remains for full discovery and understanding if you and I are up for the task.
A part of the discouragement that I believe fills many plates is our reaction to news that we hear from the political side of life. It appears the United States is now all upset that the Country of Brazil won their search and goal to host the 2016 Olympics. The City of Chicago wanted this opportunity, but the Olympic International Selection Committee eliminated our city in the first round. It has been called a “devastating blow” the City of Chicago and even the Presidency of Barack Hussain Obama. I personally am not sure how the selection of the 2016 Olympics Site trumps or scares our President but apparently to some observers and commentators it does. I’ve been to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro and I am happy there were selected, after all the Country of Brazil has never hosted the Olympics before, so I’m thinking this is a good thing. My concern is why this announcement is so upsetting. I would think the fact that no one has stepped forward with information about the beating of a 16 year old teenager in Chicago should be the real focus of our attention. If Chicago seems to far away for our concern, how about our attention being focused on finding the responsible individuals for the death of a U.S. Census worker who was hanged to death in Clay County as a more important matter?
If you want one more downside to items that bring about possible discouragements for life here in Southeastern Kentucky, how about the issue of family incomes regarding the Health Care Debate? When I hear members of the Congress and our U.S. Senators talk about income levels for families making less then $250,000.00 per year, even I can get distracted. The Congressional understanding of Middle American is way off base. Why doesn’t our Kentucky Congressman’s and U.S. Senator’s talk about families that make less then $30,000.00 per year and demonstrate their decision based on those family income levels for a real spread sheet on their decision and it’s impact on us, the average proud resident of Southeastern Kentucky.
All these issues will make us hard pressed for answers and they are perplexing, but with or without health care I am not crushed. I do have a health insurance policy that provides for a complete new body in that the City of Heaven. As for abandoned and struck down by the decisions of others, I should not be destroyed, because I have as a Heavenly home a City not make by human hands, but rather by the Master’s Touch.
There is hope still, don’t grow weary of doing good, for in due season you and I will reap, if we faint not.
Until then
Consideration of these closing days in 2009 continue to create questions of which I am seeking answers still, while yet I have discovered some answers to issues and questions that I have been baffled by as well. In these closing 90 days of the year I believe more then enough time remains for full discovery and understanding if you and I are up for the task.
A part of the discouragement that I believe fills many plates is our reaction to news that we hear from the political side of life. It appears the United States is now all upset that the Country of Brazil won their search and goal to host the 2016 Olympics. The City of Chicago wanted this opportunity, but the Olympic International Selection Committee eliminated our city in the first round. It has been called a “devastating blow” the City of Chicago and even the Presidency of Barack Hussain Obama. I personally am not sure how the selection of the 2016 Olympics Site trumps or scares our President but apparently to some observers and commentators it does. I’ve been to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro and I am happy there were selected, after all the Country of Brazil has never hosted the Olympics before, so I’m thinking this is a good thing. My concern is why this announcement is so upsetting. I would think the fact that no one has stepped forward with information about the beating of a 16 year old teenager in Chicago should be the real focus of our attention. If Chicago seems to far away for our concern, how about our attention being focused on finding the responsible individuals for the death of a U.S. Census worker who was hanged to death in Clay County as a more important matter?
If you want one more downside to items that bring about possible discouragements for life here in Southeastern Kentucky, how about the issue of family incomes regarding the Health Care Debate? When I hear members of the Congress and our U.S. Senators talk about income levels for families making less then $250,000.00 per year, even I can get distracted. The Congressional understanding of Middle American is way off base. Why doesn’t our Kentucky Congressman’s and U.S. Senator’s talk about families that make less then $30,000.00 per year and demonstrate their decision based on those family income levels for a real spread sheet on their decision and it’s impact on us, the average proud resident of Southeastern Kentucky.
All these issues will make us hard pressed for answers and they are perplexing, but with or without health care I am not crushed. I do have a health insurance policy that provides for a complete new body in that the City of Heaven. As for abandoned and struck down by the decisions of others, I should not be destroyed, because I have as a Heavenly home a City not make by human hands, but rather by the Master’s Touch.
There is hope still, don’t grow weary of doing good, for in due season you and I will reap, if we faint not.
Until then
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