Graduation Is Happening!

Yes, it is that time of the year again when so many of our young people will receive their first, or second, or even another higher degree. It is also that time of the year when many of our youth will celebrate this momentous occasion and in the process die as the result of circumstances not unlike those we all faced at a similar age. The thing is, if we could foretell the future there are choices none of us would make. I'm assisting a neighbor prepare for her daughter's graduation celebration. This one is High School. My own HS graduation was stained by the vision of those who did not make it past the night. Since that time I have followed news reports, first in our own state out here on the Great American Desert, and then from others. I didn't think it could be like that all over the states. Sadly, I was mistaken. Every year we lose many of these bright young people to the "celebration" that ends all possibilities of future celebration. I pray with parents, I pray with youth, but the one thing I cannot do is change their actions once they are chosen. I praise God that there are so many that survive, and I give thanks for those that have come down the ancestral lineage I carry. I have a lot more graduations to look forward to, but there are many who do not. I would submit to you tonight that we need to be in prayer for those who are about to matriculate. Pray for their choices. Pray for their safety when they make poor chices. But most of all I would like to pray for their salvation to be a reality before realities end on this plane.
Everyone of us, more than likely, has a horror story they could share about personal experiences with graduations. Reflect these coming Sundays on how we as a believing nation can help to impact the number of youth who will not make it back from the "party" that someone provides. We are, every one of us, only as strong in the God whom we serve, as our helplessness we become aware of in the lives of those close to us. Put the ones in your communities on your list, and pray with me, with us, with all the believers in Christ Jesus, that none of the young are ever lost without the knowledge of our Savior. I think that is one of the things my paternal grandmother prayed the most for, that I would live through the "fun" and become what God would have me be for the sake of His Son. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Just Getting Back!

It has been far too long for me to ever wish to be back painting full time. I did a short thing for a friend this past week. We are both pleased with the results. There was a time between preaching and outreach engagements that I worked high(as in on the outside of buildings), up to 20 some stories. I loved those times of being out in the open on a fourteen inch plank riding a "skywalker." We always worked as a two man team and never had to worry about anyone else getting out there with us to examine our work.
During that period of time I had the opportunity to personally experience the super, or should I superstitious side of humankind. My partner and I always did our own rigging. That part goes with the territory. One has to learn\earn a long time trust before letting another person tie your knots! One fellow in particular tied 7 knots on every lashing. No real reason other than he thought 7 to be a lucky number. I must admit I found it to be a good number, also, and I am still here. The thing is, each one of us has numerous choices to make when it comes to our personal safety and our salvation. I believe that I have searched mine out as fervently as one could ever hope to do and have placed my claim on Christ Jesus as personal Savior. What I would like for my readers to do is examine the knots they have tied. Or did you let someone else tie them for you in hopes that they will hold when the final moment of truth arrives? Not a good choice. My Bible teaches that each of us is to work out their own salvation in "fear and trembling!" Scary thought, huh? But, it makes sense. Just like the 7 knots way up high made some sense because even in my own mind I would not have trusted just one, or two, or even three, but ya gotta stop somewhere with tying the knots and go over the side to do the job.
I like painting even less down here on the ground than I did up above. People are always wanting to look over your shoulder to check up on where you're at and how you're doing. Nobody can check on your salvation, though, but you. You have to be absolutely certain that you have gotten things right. Otherwise, it is going to be a very long fall into a most uncomfortable place. By the way, I never wear a safety belt unless I'm under 40 feet off the ground! I'd hate to fall and get hurt! In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Wooden Ya Know It!

I love engines! Big or small, I love them all! The internal(infernal)combustion engine is one of the finest inventions of humankind. It powers my Harleys down the road. It gets me around in the winter when motorcycling is not an option. It also powers the small engines that keep our property manageable. What with all of the road construction going on and the endless mornings of buzzing chainsaws(the city removed 8 100 year old trees to make way for the new street)I had the urge to fire up my own miniature(22 inch, 2 cycle)gas powered saw to remove brush from the front. Some of the brush was 8 inches in diameter! I had not used this particular weapon of destruction for a few years so just getting it to run was a major chore. Two days and about 200 pulls on the cord later(plus some dinking around with the screws and stuff)it fired up. Several hours later after felling a dozen of the view(soon to be new)obstructing(we want to be able to see the new street, for sure)it suddenly hit me! After the trees are down, the real work begins, disposing of the small branches and cutting the rest into logs for the fire next year. I think I forgot that part while I was having fun chopping through the timber. That's a thing about living on the Great American Desert. One has the opportunity to hone those early settler skills, even unto the 21st century.
Here we are some 2000 years after the time of Christ, and we are still striving to get it right. Faith is the key, persistence is the stubborn lock that each of us must open in our own inimitable fashion, and the reward that awaits us is uncomprehendable.
The picture above is not of me or anything that I have done. It was sent in by one of my readers on the east coast. From there it is anyone's guess where it may have been taken. The unexpected is what we prepare for and probably what we fear the most. That is life! Unfolding, day to day, fraught with all of it's ups and downs, and the opportunities to surmount the difficulties and persevere. I sort of like that word, "persevere," it is a good portion of what comprises this life we live. I pray this day that there are no calamities the size of this one falling on your ride. Know that God loves you, and He has a wonderful sense of humor. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Something From The Heart! 

Destruction-Construction-Instruction

A short time ago I mentioned that we were in the midst of change here on our street. Well, it began yesterday with a thunder not unlike that of anything I can remember hearing in recent years. Out here on the Great American Desert farm kids get used to the sounds of heavy machinery at an early age, but dirt doesn't make a lot of noise when you're breaking it up in the spring. A street made of concrete, on the other hand, is a whole different story. I had no idea how thick the street was, or how much sound could be generated by the machinery it takes to tear one apart, let alone the din of the pieces being dropped into the metal dump trucks employed to haul them away.
This also, shall pass. All things will be made anew in the image of the street creaters. In lives, though, there are times when the destruction becomes so complete that folks cannot recover or be made "anew" without the aid of their Creator. That brings us to this evening. Ya know, I never realized how quiet our street could be, or, for that matter, how noisy, until today! We now have 6 weeks of quiet evenings sance traffic. There are some I pray for this night that they might enjoy even one week of peace in the home and the relationship that dwells within. Again, this is where God comes into play in our lives. When we truly find Christ in the center of our being and allow He and the Spirit He brings to dwell within us, life takes on new shape and new form. It may still be fraught with destructive forces, but we are given the needed tools to deal with the frustrations and upheavals in life. I look forward to the completion of the state's little "project" in front of our home. Even more I look forward to helping others to find their way to that place of perfect peace which only God can bring. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

All Us Folks!

None of us is seen from the surface, or even by carefully examining all of the sides. We, like the picture of this iceburg forwarded in from Canada, only reveal a very minute portion of ourselves to those around us. God, on the other hand, knows us and sees us through and through. Perhaps that is another reason getting close to God makes folks somewhat uneasy. I can't imagine the size of the pictured burg, but if one was only looking at it from the surface perspective think of all you are missing. So it is for the people with whom we come in contact each day of our lives. We only see a teeny tiny bit of them, and that, for most of us is hidden as best we can. There is one part of us that we cannot hide when we're with another person one on one, though.
The eyes are the mirrors of the soul, and as such they reveal much more than the outward appearance that is often taken for granted. I suppose this, too, could be overlooked, but if you really want to know who a person it is, it is necessary to get inside their eyes. If they will allow you to do that. Many people hide their eyes and try very hard to not let you see inside them. Books on criminology teach us that a person's truthfullness can be observed through the careful observation of the movements of the eyes. Spiritual leaders from all walks of life can share with us the truth of the "spirit" that shines through. In the circles I frequent that terminology goes something like, "I could just see the Christ shining through his\her eyes!" It's true! There is something about the believer that changes how their eyes shine in respect to their willingness to share the light behind them with others. Also, I might add from years of having worked behind the walls of the South Dakota State Penitentiary, one can see evil, insanity, and a host of other human ailments by simply looking into the eyes of the person.
Out here on the Great American Desert we don't ever get iceburgs like we have pictured here. An occasional pileup of ice on a river or lake, and once in awhile in the spring as the lakes are showing the first signs of "black ice" and large chunks separate from the main body of flow we see a distant mini-scale cousin of the iceburg. I'd like to visit one of these sometime. That way I could prove out one of those old axioms, "There's more to it than meets the eye."
As we roll the road of life that lies ahead it might be a very good thing to remember that "What you see" is not always, "What you get!" Usually what we get is much better than we deserve if we are riding the highway to heaven with the Lord running point and watching our six. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

How Do We Get The Lid Back On The Box?

I've been wondering. Do you suppose that if farmers out here on the Great American Desert had not become corporate entities that life could be better? I'm not doing one of those, "I remember when," things. I'm just continuing to postulate over gas prices. 60 years ago there was a farm about every quarter to a half a mile out on the praire. If they had the electricity that we enjoy today the landscape at night would have been a vision of tiny universes, each showing the location of a family that worked hard. The Pledge of Allegiance was shared in every school every morning by every individual present. Prayers were offered at every school function, and everyone bowed their head.
That was one end of the teeter totter of life. How soon will we push ourselves up from the bottom end to recover what we have lost? Your guess is as good as mine, but I know for certain it is not going to happen until we start pushing together.
In Christ's Love, Preacher.