The news reports are all in. “Black Friday” sales were up from last year, so that was good news for the economy. The second half of the report shared that while spending was up, the individual spending limits were down. For individual responsibility I am going to say that too is good news. It’s not everyday that from media reports we are able to hear and see good and bad news and in the end both reports are good.
Finding a spirit of gratitude provides two sides for reflection as well. In a moment of illness or a situation that provides with more questions then answers it is easy in providing care to others to find your own reasons to be thankful and appreciative, yet finding yourself unable to change a circumstance through your many good intentions or efforts can be frustrating and challenging. There are things that we each know about ourselves and I know that my spirit is one that finds great satisfaction in helping others. In 1984, I began a personal battle with a crippling form of arthritis. When you find yourself addressing such issues as a young person is not the dream we think of growing up. When challenging times knock on our personal door in life, many emotions will fill your life. Not immediately able to gleam great wisdom at the arrival of such, there is one thing I know as a Christian. The passing of time will prove the reservoir of spiritual life. While emotions are a part of life, emotions cannot be the guiding source of our decisions. The Bible talks about Faith is the substance of things not seen, and that blessed are those that believe who have not seen. Personally I had to come to my own understanding with my Savior, Jesus Christ. I had to come to terms with His plans for my life and not my own. I had to face never before asked questions about what I believe, not what others have told me, nor what I had heard. Learning to drop my bucket into my own well and drawing from that source is the place I found that “peace that passes all understanding”.
When the challenges of life hand us the unexpected it is natural to feel completely caught off guard, but we should not feel abandoned. Pausing to stop and slow could be the exact action that will allow you time to reflect, regain your composure and draw from your spiritual reservoir of strength. This source will be overflowing once we connect and convince ourselves we have the strength to pull the bucket up from our well. The hopelessness that seems overwhelming has a remedy. The solution is the practice of faith and thanksgiving. You will discover the need to walk to your well often. Could be your walk will be a crawl. Or even still, you may feel that you are being pulled or dragged along the wayside by a friend who is repeatedly saying, they care.
Once scripture for these good and bad news days that will allow us to be positive no matter the report is Hebrews 13:8; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Keeping a shining smile on the outside of your heart will help you to express the confidence of the inside. Trusting the scripture that says, “He does all things well in His time.”
Until then
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Thanksgiving Day!
Thanksgiving Day! The weekend of this celebration is here. It is hard to define what a normal Thanksgiving Day experience will be, or is. For many, it will include a meal that is prepared for those of the family that have joined. Just as difficult as it is to describe the normal Thanksgiving, it is just as difficult to describe those of the family.
For individuals who have lost their remaining loved one a singular season can only be filled with the memories of what you have spent building a life of experiences, places, things, and people. This does bring comfort during a time of loneliness, but yet still not filling the empty inside experience. Some on this Thanksgiving will be thinking of those that cannot be home, yet wish they were. Possibly children who are away in service to our Country how are missed by their parents, or even children missing the absence of a parent who has responded to defend freedom. Individuals are everywhere on this day. Some are in the hospital recovery from surgery, some are driving on highways because of deliveries that must make a docks call on Saturday.
Family is defined by most in America as a husband, wife and children. While this is a good definition, any couple that has planned, worked and prayed for children who has never had the experience of what The Bible says is a “Blessing of the Lord”, in my book this too is a family. Two individuals do make a family, but this is not as widely held or appreciated. For unmarried folks, some who have left their growing up community to move as a result of employment can find themselves without the comforts of their own family, and they create a new family setting, that includes a friend or two, maybe a co-worker and this is a new family to those on this day.
One goal that can be accomplished no matter the status of family, or the location of your disposition. We can find it a most appropriate time and place to say thanks. Thanks begins with remember what has entered our lives and touched our heart strings with meaning and purpose. With no employment, no insurance, and difficult times, one can still find great thanks to express. With loss of friends or acquaintances whose paths we’ve crossed, even still, there are many thanks to be expressed.
The task may involve writing things down, making a list for review, or looking at pictures or videos to remind and refresh our mind of memories. Family and friends, school mates and people who were there in days past that we had totally forgotten about, until the gentle reminder of a time well cherished.
Helen S. Rice said that she didn’t believe in “Happen Stance”, that being just the luck of the moment or a great draw. Rather, she believed that God could take any experience, any situation, and any condition and work it to a benefit if we would love Him and seek His face. When it comes to seconding a motion or agreeing with a position, I will raise my hand in support that God has a plan. Sometimes we don’t know it, sometimes in the midst of it we cannot understand how, but in ourselves we must find the faith to press on, keep believing and holding firmly to His hand.
Until then
For individuals who have lost their remaining loved one a singular season can only be filled with the memories of what you have spent building a life of experiences, places, things, and people. This does bring comfort during a time of loneliness, but yet still not filling the empty inside experience. Some on this Thanksgiving will be thinking of those that cannot be home, yet wish they were. Possibly children who are away in service to our Country how are missed by their parents, or even children missing the absence of a parent who has responded to defend freedom. Individuals are everywhere on this day. Some are in the hospital recovery from surgery, some are driving on highways because of deliveries that must make a docks call on Saturday.
Family is defined by most in America as a husband, wife and children. While this is a good definition, any couple that has planned, worked and prayed for children who has never had the experience of what The Bible says is a “Blessing of the Lord”, in my book this too is a family. Two individuals do make a family, but this is not as widely held or appreciated. For unmarried folks, some who have left their growing up community to move as a result of employment can find themselves without the comforts of their own family, and they create a new family setting, that includes a friend or two, maybe a co-worker and this is a new family to those on this day.
One goal that can be accomplished no matter the status of family, or the location of your disposition. We can find it a most appropriate time and place to say thanks. Thanks begins with remember what has entered our lives and touched our heart strings with meaning and purpose. With no employment, no insurance, and difficult times, one can still find great thanks to express. With loss of friends or acquaintances whose paths we’ve crossed, even still, there are many thanks to be expressed.
The task may involve writing things down, making a list for review, or looking at pictures or videos to remind and refresh our mind of memories. Family and friends, school mates and people who were there in days past that we had totally forgotten about, until the gentle reminder of a time well cherished.
Helen S. Rice said that she didn’t believe in “Happen Stance”, that being just the luck of the moment or a great draw. Rather, she believed that God could take any experience, any situation, and any condition and work it to a benefit if we would love Him and seek His face. When it comes to seconding a motion or agreeing with a position, I will raise my hand in support that God has a plan. Sometimes we don’t know it, sometimes in the midst of it we cannot understand how, but in ourselves we must find the faith to press on, keep believing and holding firmly to His hand.
Until then
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Rev William Bingham, Jr; Dr. Charles F. Jones; Dr. Leon Simpson; Dr. Harold Wortman; Dr. Sammuel Patterson; THANKS!
This annual Season of Thanksgiving that allows each of us to participate in showing our appreciation and thanks to others for what they have done and meant to us is always exciting. For me this is an official type of way that I can acknowledge the contribution my life has received because of their friendship, influence and investment.
As one ages our understanding of what is important or valuable changes, especially from, let’s say our teenage years. One great factor that arrives with age for most adults is the realization of how little we really did know growing up, yet all along thinking we knew the answer and exactly what to do.
One truth in my life that I am not allowing for guess work this Thanksgiving Season is my love for Jesus Christ. I could assume that everyone figures that without question since this column is about Jesus Christ, His scripture, and their impact on our lives and the application of His truths to our lives in the way we serve others.
Naming my mentors in Christianity are simple: Rev. William Boyd Bingham, Jr, my uncle; Dr. Charles F. Jones my pastor for 32 years; Dr. Samuel B. Patterson, Jr; Bishop AME Zion, Morristown, TN; Dr. Leon Simpson, President Clear Creek Baptist Bible College; Dr. Harold Wortman, Chairman Music Department, Cumberland College-Williamsburg, KY; There men were the base of my accountability, instruction, and confidants. From them I learned the foundation of faith I have in Jesus Christ, service to others, vision and sacrifice. From this group of men I learned to lean in the safe arms of Jesus Christ, learning from them to prepare for rough seasons, difficult times, and challenging decisions. Each of these mentors wanted me to have nothing but easy winds to navigate the seas of life, but they knew that harvesting was a tough row to hoe and if you were any value to God the devil would use his free reign to discourage you with all his strength, seeking like a roaring lion that he may devour you.
Today I continue to hold deep appreciation and respect for the men that made a difference in me for His cause, but I hold my deepest appreciation for Jesus Christ who has always held me. This past Sunday in church one of our hymns and songs of thanks said, “He knows my name, He hears me when I call”. That confidence is one that fills dark nights, rainy seasons, and difficult times. I can hear my Uncle “W” saying to me, stay positive, look for the good. I can hear my pastor explaining that we have all sinned but that God picks us up when we cannot for the weight of life. “Ben” as I called Dr. Patterson would give me a quote like, “If there prayers go up, the blessings will come down”, or he would say I think it’s time to sing, and break out into, “Call Him Up”. Dr. Leon Simpson I can hear telling me how the difficulties of life are tools we must learn to use to help others, and I can hear him say, where there is no vision, the people are dead, the perishing is just the last phase of deaths course. “Doc”, my trusted instructor of 17 years, taught me the importance of singing with passion, understanding the words that are melody to the ear, and making them the music of my heart.
My beginning Thanks this Season begins with Jesus Christ. It is He who provided me with caring mentors who saw me at my worse and easily saw the hand of God not finished. It is Jesus who gave me men to teach me His word, and to hide it in my heart. It is Christ Jesus who gave me a well of resources for different times and situations and who never allowed the well to run dry.
Until then
As one ages our understanding of what is important or valuable changes, especially from, let’s say our teenage years. One great factor that arrives with age for most adults is the realization of how little we really did know growing up, yet all along thinking we knew the answer and exactly what to do.
One truth in my life that I am not allowing for guess work this Thanksgiving Season is my love for Jesus Christ. I could assume that everyone figures that without question since this column is about Jesus Christ, His scripture, and their impact on our lives and the application of His truths to our lives in the way we serve others.
Naming my mentors in Christianity are simple: Rev. William Boyd Bingham, Jr, my uncle; Dr. Charles F. Jones my pastor for 32 years; Dr. Samuel B. Patterson, Jr; Bishop AME Zion, Morristown, TN; Dr. Leon Simpson, President Clear Creek Baptist Bible College; Dr. Harold Wortman, Chairman Music Department, Cumberland College-Williamsburg, KY; There men were the base of my accountability, instruction, and confidants. From them I learned the foundation of faith I have in Jesus Christ, service to others, vision and sacrifice. From this group of men I learned to lean in the safe arms of Jesus Christ, learning from them to prepare for rough seasons, difficult times, and challenging decisions. Each of these mentors wanted me to have nothing but easy winds to navigate the seas of life, but they knew that harvesting was a tough row to hoe and if you were any value to God the devil would use his free reign to discourage you with all his strength, seeking like a roaring lion that he may devour you.
Today I continue to hold deep appreciation and respect for the men that made a difference in me for His cause, but I hold my deepest appreciation for Jesus Christ who has always held me. This past Sunday in church one of our hymns and songs of thanks said, “He knows my name, He hears me when I call”. That confidence is one that fills dark nights, rainy seasons, and difficult times. I can hear my Uncle “W” saying to me, stay positive, look for the good. I can hear my pastor explaining that we have all sinned but that God picks us up when we cannot for the weight of life. “Ben” as I called Dr. Patterson would give me a quote like, “If there prayers go up, the blessings will come down”, or he would say I think it’s time to sing, and break out into, “Call Him Up”. Dr. Leon Simpson I can hear telling me how the difficulties of life are tools we must learn to use to help others, and I can hear him say, where there is no vision, the people are dead, the perishing is just the last phase of deaths course. “Doc”, my trusted instructor of 17 years, taught me the importance of singing with passion, understanding the words that are melody to the ear, and making them the music of my heart.
My beginning Thanks this Season begins with Jesus Christ. It is He who provided me with caring mentors who saw me at my worse and easily saw the hand of God not finished. It is Jesus who gave me men to teach me His word, and to hide it in my heart. It is Christ Jesus who gave me a well of resources for different times and situations and who never allowed the well to run dry.
Until then
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Jesus is ready, are you?
If you talk with people in conversation it doesn’t take very long to figure out the type of causes they support or believe in. Most individuals have a cause, and that includes the most selfish cause of, “I don’t worry about anybody else, I just worry about me”. I write with a bit of a smile because some of the time individuals who make that statement actually believe they are doing a good thing and are making the proper choice. They totally miss the reasoning behind believing in issues and having a belief system. I know folks who are 100% committed to the March of Dimes; some who are always pumped about Relay for Life and that experience; and still others who are sports fans and their cause is seeing their team win and they are all about wearing team colors, you know those folks when you see them.
Causes are valuable and they even provide purpose and even meaning to our lives. As a Christian, it is easy to say my cause is the cause of Christ, but for those watching and observing, a question that must be answered is what is His cause? When you look at the life of Jesus there is no debate about his interest and cause. He came to seek and to save that which is lost, and for those of us following in His footsteps, that must be the focus of our attention and interest too. The problem facing many Christians today is that our lives seem to be empty of plans and purposes to make a difference in the lives of others as Jesus seemed to do with folks he encountered in His journeys.
Johnny Hunt, President of the Southern Baptist Convention said wouldn’t it be great to announce at the 2010 Convention the number of individuals who came to know Jesus Christ personally because of evangelistic efforts conducted during that convention. Imagine what would happen if all the pastors and deacons who attend the convention alone set out to intentionally share the good news of Jesus Christ with someone they meet during that time. I am specifically calling your attention to pastors and deacons because most Baptist love to blame everything on them anyways, but my imagination includes every believer, every Christian. The most difficult question for most Christians to answer today is: “Who is the last person you shared the good news with?” You will hear answers like, well, I may not have shared the gospel directly, but they know I care about them, or something like, I do a lot around the church and that is my focus. Please don’t misunderstand the important of supportive roles, I applaud those that work to make things happen behind the scenes but all of us as Christians still have a responsibility to tell others about Jesus, no matter how many church roles will assume or how busy we make ourselves to be.
Individually sharing your story and experience with Jesus is the key to others believing what you say you believe about Him. People are struggling to see answers and to have hope, and we have the answer, Jesus.
If you are shaking your head with I just don’t know type of shakes, then let me suggestion you look inside your church and see who it is you yourself have in your field of vision, and why not ask them to sit down and allow you 5 minutes to share what Jesus means to you. I believe we can change the world, one person at a time, and I know that Jesus is ready to help us with all that is necessary, or at least He was fully available to me.
Until then
Causes are valuable and they even provide purpose and even meaning to our lives. As a Christian, it is easy to say my cause is the cause of Christ, but for those watching and observing, a question that must be answered is what is His cause? When you look at the life of Jesus there is no debate about his interest and cause. He came to seek and to save that which is lost, and for those of us following in His footsteps, that must be the focus of our attention and interest too. The problem facing many Christians today is that our lives seem to be empty of plans and purposes to make a difference in the lives of others as Jesus seemed to do with folks he encountered in His journeys.
Johnny Hunt, President of the Southern Baptist Convention said wouldn’t it be great to announce at the 2010 Convention the number of individuals who came to know Jesus Christ personally because of evangelistic efforts conducted during that convention. Imagine what would happen if all the pastors and deacons who attend the convention alone set out to intentionally share the good news of Jesus Christ with someone they meet during that time. I am specifically calling your attention to pastors and deacons because most Baptist love to blame everything on them anyways, but my imagination includes every believer, every Christian. The most difficult question for most Christians to answer today is: “Who is the last person you shared the good news with?” You will hear answers like, well, I may not have shared the gospel directly, but they know I care about them, or something like, I do a lot around the church and that is my focus. Please don’t misunderstand the important of supportive roles, I applaud those that work to make things happen behind the scenes but all of us as Christians still have a responsibility to tell others about Jesus, no matter how many church roles will assume or how busy we make ourselves to be.
Individually sharing your story and experience with Jesus is the key to others believing what you say you believe about Him. People are struggling to see answers and to have hope, and we have the answer, Jesus.
If you are shaking your head with I just don’t know type of shakes, then let me suggestion you look inside your church and see who it is you yourself have in your field of vision, and why not ask them to sit down and allow you 5 minutes to share what Jesus means to you. I believe we can change the world, one person at a time, and I know that Jesus is ready to help us with all that is necessary, or at least He was fully available to me.
Until then
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Harlan County, Pineville Community Hospital....along the way
The Southern Baptist Convention meets annually with messengers that represent the Churches of the Convention. The interim between sessions is managed by the SBC Executive Committee. The President of this Committee is Morris H Chapman while the President of the Convention is Johnny Hunt from First Baptist Woodstock, Georgia.
Morris Chapman has provided great leadership for Southern Baptist. In the September 2009 Executive Committee Meeting, he asked the members of that group which consist of pastor’s, deacon’s, and church members “when was the last time you sought to engage a lost person in a conversation about the Gospel in an intentional effort to win that soul to faith in Jesus”? His words are what I would call, ‘real preaching’ because he is walking over our toes with that question. Christians today are all caught up in the fact that our churches are in most every community in the United States and our building are normally white, or bricked, and most even have a sign out front which clearly shows when we gather to worship and what time that takes place….isn’t that enough?
Johnny Hunt is a man who speaks with great passion and he loves people. Johnny preaches from his heart and his heart directs his actions towards others. Johnny is a soul winner, believes in changes, and new beginnings through grace and mercy discovered in Jesus Christ. Often times we think of these types of leaders as big time folks who don’t understand where we are here in the mountains, or the lives we live, but we are wrong to assume such. We are wrong to think we are all alone and no one understands. Certainly Jesus understands if we would give Him the chance in our lives to prove it, and even the President of the Southern Baptist Convention understands us here in Southeastern Kentucky. His father lived in Harlan, Ky and is buried in a small mountain cemetery just off U.S. 119. He father received his medical care from the staff and employees of the Pineville Community Hospital during his last months of his life. Johnny traveled the mountains here visiting his father often during that time, who would have thought right?
The fact is that Jesus Christ loves all of us. He loves folks who attend church but He is not stuck in the church. He, the Savior, is out roaming the highways, looking under hedges and into the trees of life seeking those that are looking for an answer. He is traveling along 25e from Goldbug in Williamsburg up to Bee Creek Road in Corbin. He is up in the hollow in Rockhold and Woodbine, to Swan Pond and Old Flat Lick. He is traveling through Red Bird, Left Fork, and yes, Frakes too. He is out seeking and searching because He has a plan to bring peace to individual lives through any and all circumstances.
What would Knox, Whitley, Bell and Laurel Counties be like if each of those white or brick church buildings became lighthouses of direction and headquarters for solutions and answers? What would happen if we stopped waiting at the church house doors on the steps to greet people and individual Christians were out helping to carry folks to the church where others were ready to help in providing care to the wounded as they made their way with our help to the healing house? There are lots of ‘what if’s’, but that is not what He is looking for. He is calling those that call Him by name to stand up and be counted not just in the number, but in the active army of the Lord.
Until then
Morris Chapman has provided great leadership for Southern Baptist. In the September 2009 Executive Committee Meeting, he asked the members of that group which consist of pastor’s, deacon’s, and church members “when was the last time you sought to engage a lost person in a conversation about the Gospel in an intentional effort to win that soul to faith in Jesus”? His words are what I would call, ‘real preaching’ because he is walking over our toes with that question. Christians today are all caught up in the fact that our churches are in most every community in the United States and our building are normally white, or bricked, and most even have a sign out front which clearly shows when we gather to worship and what time that takes place….isn’t that enough?
Johnny Hunt is a man who speaks with great passion and he loves people. Johnny preaches from his heart and his heart directs his actions towards others. Johnny is a soul winner, believes in changes, and new beginnings through grace and mercy discovered in Jesus Christ. Often times we think of these types of leaders as big time folks who don’t understand where we are here in the mountains, or the lives we live, but we are wrong to assume such. We are wrong to think we are all alone and no one understands. Certainly Jesus understands if we would give Him the chance in our lives to prove it, and even the President of the Southern Baptist Convention understands us here in Southeastern Kentucky. His father lived in Harlan, Ky and is buried in a small mountain cemetery just off U.S. 119. He father received his medical care from the staff and employees of the Pineville Community Hospital during his last months of his life. Johnny traveled the mountains here visiting his father often during that time, who would have thought right?
The fact is that Jesus Christ loves all of us. He loves folks who attend church but He is not stuck in the church. He, the Savior, is out roaming the highways, looking under hedges and into the trees of life seeking those that are looking for an answer. He is traveling along 25e from Goldbug in Williamsburg up to Bee Creek Road in Corbin. He is up in the hollow in Rockhold and Woodbine, to Swan Pond and Old Flat Lick. He is traveling through Red Bird, Left Fork, and yes, Frakes too. He is out seeking and searching because He has a plan to bring peace to individual lives through any and all circumstances.
What would Knox, Whitley, Bell and Laurel Counties be like if each of those white or brick church buildings became lighthouses of direction and headquarters for solutions and answers? What would happen if we stopped waiting at the church house doors on the steps to greet people and individual Christians were out helping to carry folks to the church where others were ready to help in providing care to the wounded as they made their way with our help to the healing house? There are lots of ‘what if’s’, but that is not what He is looking for. He is calling those that call Him by name to stand up and be counted not just in the number, but in the active army of the Lord.
Until then
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