Good Golly, Miss Molly!

Good golly, Miss Molly; this is the last day of 2008 and I ain’t near finished—not even close! I mean, heck, the clothes are still hangin’ on the line; the hogs ain’t been kilt the yards ain’t been swept; the cemetery ain’t been cleaned; the barn ain’t been painted; the pigs ain’t been cut; the wood ain’t been chopped; the fence ain’t been mended; the soap ain’t been made; the eggs ain’t been gathered; the hay ain’t been kevered; and of all things the cow ain’t been milked, so we ain’t got no milk, cream, or butter. Shoot, I ain’t hardly got time to finish by the end of the day. I shore am glad that someone else done figured out that “what don’t get done today, will still be there a waiting tomorrow (although I do feel sorry for the cow)!” I shore hope the sun will be a shinin’; otherwise, I ain’t never gonna get all caught up!
Even so, I am trusting that, during 2009, you will not allow all the stuff of life to distract you from the simplicity and purity of knowing Christ, whom to know is eternal life; that you will find yourself consistently resting in His finished work and, thereby, avoiding spiritual burnout; that you will have ears to hear what most miss—His still, small voice—and, thus, be clued-in to what really needs to be heard; and that you will have eyes to see what many cannot see—the miraculous truth of the one True Gospel—and, thus, not be deceived by the well-intentioned religious, who would rob you of the joy and freedom of knowing Him!
I have truly enjoyed writing these perspectives this year and, even more, I have appreciated all the comments you have made (both positive and negative!), but most of all, I appreciate you and your love and friendship!

May He continue to bless your life with the riches of His lavished grace,

Mac Goddard
12/31/08

Blackberry & Facebook

Well, I have finally arrived—almost: I upgraded my cell phone to a Blackberry AND I joined Facebook; all I have left is to figure out how to use both (I am old but I am doing the best I can, so be patient with me!).
This Blackberry thing is quite something! It is almost like walking around with your Desktop attached to your side (might even be better). Amazing. indeed! My Daddy would have loved this thing; He bought the first gadget ever to go on sale and everyone that followed, until his death. He carried a pager long after he had any reason to be paged; he just liked gadgets, and he kept hoping that he would get one more page (Now that I think about it, we probably should have put a pager in his casket, so we could have paged him from time to time; he would have liked that). I don’t think I am quite the gadget enthusiast that he was, as is evidenced by the fact that I wasn’t brave enough to get the new Storm (too hard to type on it), but I must admit that this thing is more-than-fascinating. Why, I’ll bet it signaled me ten times during last night that I had received an email! Most days I would have had to wait until morning to find that out, but not any longer! Imagine!
Now this Facebook thingy is really an incredible self-esteem lifter; it allows you to connect with other people who willingly identify themselves as your friend! Heck, I thought I had almost run out of friends, but either lots of folks are pretending, or I am rich in the friend department (which is probable the most valuable department!). Anyway, if you haven’t tried this gadget out, you should; I mean, you even get to see pictures of friends you haven’t seen in a long time (the names are included, so you will be able to recognize them!) and some of those you saw just yesterday, even some of friends you have never seen, e.g. Tamera and Kelly and John.
To add more amazing to the already amazing: my Blackberry came with this Facebook thingy already installed, which means that all during the night and day, I get sounds, aka “ringtones” or “vibrations”, alerting me to the fact that one of my friends is writing on my Facebook wall. Now, if that ain’t the stuff! I mean, this is wonderful, especially for those of us, who thought we had almost run out of friends! Why, I even have one friend who lives in California! Heck, I am now thinking about inviting all of my friends (which you can do on Facebook!) to a party in Hawaii or some such place. Now that I know I have them, I feel sure we would have a grand time!
And then I remember: God has always had a Blackberry (the Holy Spirit) and Facebook (justification comes with it installed), and one day soon, He is going to send a simultaneous message to all of His friends (already invited friends!) and it is going to say something like this: Your place is ready and the party is about to begin; so, come on Home!

Take a Deep Breath!

Lord have mercy, Christmas has come and gone! How did that happen? Not to worry, however, because it will be here again before we know it! In the meantime, we are in the transition period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, which is really a rather interesting time. I say “interesting” time because we tend to look backwards and forwards at the same time. It is much like driving on an interstate highway, where we look ahead through the windshield and behind via the mirrors, and we do both almost at the same time. The truth is, it is this skill that prevents us from causing highway accidents.
Because God is eternal (The Eternal Now, to use the words of Paul Tillich), I seriously doubt that He bothers with a calendar; in all probability, He isn’t too concerned about 2008 ending and 2009 beginning. Furthermore, I am rather certain that He never looks backwards, or forwards, for that matter. Why would the “I Am that I Am” look anywhere other than the eternal present? I mean, after all, this ain’t rocket science. However, the fact that God is living in the eternal now, does not mean that we are doing what He is doing. Actually, we are, but we simply aren’t far enough along the journey of the not-so-eternal-now, to realize it. When we finally get home (before dark!), I think it will all make sense, but I doubt that it will really matter then. Yes, I know that some folk say that it is the journey that matters most, but I think the destination is rather important; after all, at least from my understanding, Home is quite the place, certainly more-than-worth the journey!
Thankfully, God has an ability in His repertoire, that He has chosen to omit from our ours: He sees the entire picture and He sees it fully and completely developed, with the highest of resolutions and in living color. In other words, even though He doesn’t use a calendar, He knows exactly what will take place in every moment of our lives—clean, clear through ‘till next Christmas (even further, to be honest, much further). I say “thankfully” because I don’t think any of us really want all of the details of the next year served up to us on a silver platter. Well, I guess we would, if we could know ahead of time that everything would be A-OK, but the truth is this: everything ain’t going to be A-OK, at least not in our humble opinions, and (I might add) we all know this to be true. Knowing that can be a bit frightening (you can say it isn’t, but you might be lying, too).
So what is our modus operandi, as we face the unknown 365 days of 2009? We operate much the same as we do when we are driving down (up) the interstate: we look ahead and behind at the same time, trying to do all we can to avoid any painful experiences. Some even make New Year’s resolutions, in an attempt to perform a bit more efficiently than in previous years and, thus, decrease the “chances” of painful crashes.
Now don’t go and misunderstand me because I am all-in-favor of each of us attempting to improve; however, I guess I need to tell you that God, the One who is the I AM that I Am, has already decided in your behalf that you won’t miss a thing He has planned for your journey. So take a deep breath and trust you life to the one who knows you best and loves you most! And by the way, keep your eyes on Him, “forgetting the past, and pressing on to know Him . . .”!

Well,the day we call Christmas is almost over and we now begin the journey to New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Bittersweet is the descriptor for me. Today was good in every way, even the Standing Rib Roast (succulent, tender, and wow!)! The presents were opened and appreciated, the grands and mom were then off to another destination, Michael left to meet one of his friends, and Annis and I had a bowl of Ambrosia and whipped cream and began to clean the kitchen! Tomorrow the entire Goddard clan will gather at my brother's house (George & Jaye) in Atlanta (Kennesaw) for fellowship, barbecue, and Brunswick stew, along with many laughs and carrying ons.

Confused? Missing the point?

Wednesday, December 24, 2008 [CHRISTMAS EVE!—a bit sunny and 470],
Maybe the entire universe is confused! As I sit at my computer, thinking about what I want to say to you today, it suddenly dawns upon me that I am watching a most unusual happening: there are about 50 robins pecking around in my backyard, looking for worms. Folks, this ain’t springtime; it’s Christmas Eve and 470F!
As if that were not enough, as I watch the robins, I also watch as a golfer walks to the edge of the small lake on #16, to approach his ball. In order to hit it, he has to stand in the edge of the water and he does (he can only be my friend, Travis; no one else loves golf that much)! Folks, this ain’t springtime; it’s Christmas Eve and 470F!
Today is Christmas Eve and that means that tomorrow is Christmas Day, and unless I am confused (which is entirely possible!) this is the time we (Christians) celebrate the Birth of our Savior, aka Jesus; however, the part of the population I can see is just about as confused as the robins and the golfers. Yes, I realize that not everyone “celebrates” His birth the same way I might celebrate it, but Robins in December seems a bit strange to me. Surely, golfers standing in water in December is more than a bit strange (well, for everyone but my friend, Travis).
Yesterday afternoon, I took my granddaughters from our house to their paternal grandmother’s house in Byron, via Gray, which meant that I was privileged to travel the highways for quite a spell. Trust me on this: it seemed that everyone was taking somebody someplace and they all chose the same time I chose to make the trip. In other words, the traffic was horrendous!
As you might imagine, I was in no hurry, as I just don’t hurry much anymore, espe-cially at Christmas. At this point in my life, I am designed more for comfort than I am for speed, or so one of my friends told me, so I was just tooling along, enjoying Sydney and Caroline, as we sang various Christmas songs—celebrating Christmas—and wondering why everyone was in such a rush to get someplace. Didn’t they know it is Christmas?
Later in the evening, Annis, Michael and I decided to go out to eat, as no one wanted to cook, and Annis needed to pick up something at one of the stores at the new mall. Eating was a piece of cake, but EVERYONE in Georgia had gathered at the mall (or so it seemed) and EVERY ONE of them was in a HURRY to do what they apparently did not want to do, in the first place (or so they acted!)—buy Christmas presents for people they apparently didn’t even like.
I don’t know for sure, but it surely seemed that they were missing the point, aka confused, as to what this season is really about, namely Him, not us! Maybe the entire universe IS confused! Slow down! Take a deep breath! Celebrate Jesus!

The Forerunner of Jesus

Saturday morning, December 20, 2008 [cloudy and 670],
During this Christmas season, let us not forget John, the son of Zacharias and Eliza-beth; you probably remember him as John the Baptist (although I don’t remember reading anything about him ever joining a Baptist church!). Actually, it is probably a bit more accurate to call him John the Baptizer, but, then, that will probably make all the Baptist folk angry, because some of them really do think he founded the Baptist church. Oh, well—
Call him whatever you choose, but this is the truth of the matter: God was rather emphatic that the folk call him John: “And it came about on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. And his mother answered and said, ‘No indeed; but he shall be called John.’ And they said to her, ‘There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.’ And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. And he asked for a tablet, and wrote as follows, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished (Luke 1:59-63).
In case you have forgotten, this is what Gabriel (the angel) said to Zacharias prior to the aforementioned meeting: “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or liquor; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while he is yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:13-17; emphasis, added).
Sometimes (all the time, really!), it is best to stop arguing and fussing and making excuses and to simply do what God says do—even if it doesn’t make any sense. Heck, I have no idea why it mattered so much to God that this child be named John; as far as I am concerned, He could have named him Zacharias (at least it would have made more sense). Actually, I would have been completely satisfied with “Little Bo Peep,” or even John Calvin, but the fact of the matter is that He wanted him named John, and that is enough for me.
If you will go back and read the third paragraph, you will readily see that God had a very specific and quite wonderful purpose for John; I mean, this is awesome! Were it not for the last sentence, one could confuse him with Him! There was, however, this one drawback: “And the child continued to grow, and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel” (Luke 1:8; emphasis, added). Why would God want this handpicked “John” to live in the desert, eating locusts and wild honey and wearing leather skins, for such a long time, prior to his actually doing all those important things? Hmmm, I thought you would want to remember him during these days!

He Touched My Friend!

Thursday night, December 18, 2008 [warmer, PTL!],
This afternoon I visited someone who has lung cancer and is presently living in a rehab facility. He is trying to regain the strength that both the illness and the treatment have robbed from him. The mountain he is attempting to climb is much too high, every step leaves him almost breathless; yet, he looks forward to being released from this facility and returning to his home, where he lives—alone.
When I walked into his room, he had a visitor, but he interrupted their conversation to tell me that he had been meaning to call me, but just hadn’t done it, then he motioned for me to have a seat in his wheel chair. He obviously wanted to talk about something that was important to him. To be sure, I already knew that I was there by Divine appointment because of the circumstances that led me to him, so I sat down, waiting for the other visitor to leave, so he could say whatever he need to say. He didn’t wait; instead, he started right in with his story. Soon the visitor excused himself, and I think he did so because he knew that our friend had more to say than he was saying in his presence.
As soon as the visitor left the room, my friend got up out of his bed, took the several, labored steps necessary to reach his chair, and plopped down, looking directly at me. I knew he had something on his mind, a burden that he needed to release. He was fighting tears, as if men aren’t supposed to cry. Then these words came forth: I can’t tell you when it happened, all I can tell you is that it happened; I have truth in here (pointing to his heart), but I need to know how to pray; I need to know how to pray so that I am not sounding selfish. I knew what he meant, what he was asking.
I find it so sad that so many have been taught such erroneous things about God, things that say I am being selfish, when having been diagnosed with lung cancer, I am asking God for healing; things that say I am being selfish, when I am scared to death (not of death, but of dying), and I am asking God to take away my fear; things that say I am being selfish, when my life is completely out of my control, and I am asking God to bring some sense of hope and security to me.
As you might imagine, I told my friend not to worry about sounding selfish because God already knows that he is, and it doesn’t offend Him one bit. I told him to tell God whatever he wanted to tell Him, and He would understand. I told him to yell and to scream at God, if He needed to, and He would gather him up in His big arms and hug him. I told him to tell God that he wanted Him to heal him, that he really wanted Him to heal him, and God wouldn’t see it as selfishness, but as honesty.
Before I finished that piece of this conversation, I told him that most of my prayer life has to do with my getting to the place, where I desire His will for me, more than I desire my own will, and I told him that it was hard, very hard. Then, of all things, He asked me to pray for him. I mumbled something, probably something asinine, but I know God heard me and I know that He touched my friend! I really like it when He touches my friends!
Have I told you lately how blessed I am to be able to spend my life doing this? Talk about grace!

Believing the Unbelievable

Wednesday night, December 17, 2008 [cloudy but warmer, thank the Lord!],
After the shock had calmed a bit (a wee bit!), Mary uttered those words that most of us find very difficult, if not impossible, to utter—“ . . . be it done to me according to your Word” (Luke 1:38b). Interestingly, after this profound utterance, the scene changes and we find Mary quickly (hastily!) making her way to a city in the hill country called Judah and to the house of Zacharias, to visit Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John (the Baptizer!).
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice, two very significant things happened—the baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit! This is her response, the cry of her heart, to Mary: “Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord” (vs. 42-43).
I know you are picking up on this, but just to be sure: Elizabeth is referring to this yet-to-be-born baby as her Lord! Not bad, if you ask me! I can only imagine that the Holy Spirit whispered something in her ear and did it in such a way as to convince her of its truth. I mean, we either have to believe that or this entire thing is a farce.
By the way, have you ever wondered how Elizabeth knew that the Lord had spoken to Mary about the coming of Jesus, and not only that, but also that Mary believed what He said? If you pay attention to the text, you will notice that there was not enough time for Mary to have told her anything, much less that story. Again, we either believe that the Holy Spirit told her, or this entire thing is a hoax, a farce.
All I know to say is this: I am so very thankful that Mary was able to utter those al-most-unutterable words—Be it unto me according to your Word! Obviously, His Word was quick and active and powerful, even living!
By the way, if YOU are a believer, you are for the very same reason that Mary and Elizabeth were believers—the Holy Spirit spoke the same unbelievable truth into your ear, and He did so in such a way as to convince you of its truth. I repeat, you either have to be-lieve that, or this entire thing is a hoax, a farce. This is for certain: you did not come to be-lieve it on your own; in fact, you like all the rest, did not even want to believe such an un-believable story. Thankfully, He loves you (and me) enough not to allow us to have our own way!
By the way again, He still speaks today, even (and especially) to those who have no interest in what He is saying, and He does it in such a way as to convince them (even them) that His Word is Truth—The Truth!

A Fair Question, if You Ask Me!

Tuesday afternoon, December 16, 2008 [a bit sunny; 680; my kind of weather!]
This is Mary’s response to what the anger, Gabriel, told her: “How can this be, since I am a virgin” (Luke 1:34)?
1. A Totally New Concept: In my mind, that was a fair question. Virgins do not give birth, certainly not in Mary’s day! How was she going to give birth when she had never, ever, had sexual intercourse? I do not know about you, but I can remember several times when God told me what was about to happen and I raised the very same question (my call to preach, for example). It is my guess that you can remember several such experiences, as well. This, however, was different—really different—over the line.

2. A Concept with Much Perceived Risk: What was Mary supposed to tell Joseph? What would she tell the Jewish leaders, when it became evident that she was pregnant? Rest assured that adultery was not considered a virtue; in fact, it carried the sentence of death by stoning! I can remember several times in my life when God’s direction for me carried considerable risk, or so I thought. The truth is this: There is NEVER any risk involved when we are following His direction—never! Oh, yes, it can appear to be risky, even dangerous, but in the end (and in the beginning for that matter), He is in control!

3. An Unbelievable Concept: Truth is, I have no idea how Mary convinced Joseph that the Holy Spirit had come upon her and she had conceived the Son of God. Now, folks, this simply an unbelievable story! I can only imagine the twisted gossip! “Mary is pregnant and she is going around telling everyone that she and God had some kind of affair, and she is pregnant with God’s child!” I am telling you this story is unbelievable. The fact is, you cannot believe it, and you will not believe it! Well, you won’t until He gives you the faith to believe it. Trust me about this! It ain’t going to happen, otherwise!

4. An Essential Concept: Nothing short of this virgin birth, whereby the Holy Spirit entered Mary’s virgin womb, could have wrought about our redemption. Had any other route been chosen, we would have continued on with Adam’s corrupt seed, passing it on from generation to generation. Thankfully, however, we have been born of the incorruptible, imperishable, sinless, seed of God!


“Hail Mary, full of grace; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus!”

Let us not throw the baby out with the bath water; instead, let us honor the woman who was the mother of our Savior. To be sure, God did!

Be It Unto Me According to Your Word

Friday morning, December 12, 2008 [clear skies, and 470; too cold for me!],
To say the very least, these words of Mary should capture our attention : “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). On the surface, they might not seem like much, but the next time an angel leads you into a place where “angels, themselves, fear to tread,” try them on for size, and, then, let me know what you think.
This is the “where angels fear to tread” place that Gabriel (the angel) was leading Mary into: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over-shadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God” (vs. 35). You think about this: Mary is a virgin, engaged-to-be-married, but a virgin, none-the-less—no hanky-panky, whatsoever (what a novel idea!); although she was probably looking forward to having a quiver filled with children, who would be the sons and daughters of the man to whom she was engaged, aka Joseph, she had no idea (none, nada, zilch!) that God had chosen her to give birth to, of all people, the Son of God (her “how can this be” question evidences this!) and certainly NOT before being married (As you know, in her day adulterers were not looked upon very favorably; to say the least her “political future” would be placed in serious jeopardy, not to mention that she would be stoned to death. Can you imagine her trying to convince anyone that this conception was, well, that it was Immaculate?); and, finally, she saw herself as God’s bondslave, which was a good thing—a very good thing—otherwise, she would have “cut and run” faster than a beagle hound chasing a rabbit through a sage field on a cold winter morning (Of course, running would have been futile because God had already made His decision and His decision always stands, regardless of how fast we run!). Yes, I can see why she would have “double clutched” with “how can this be” before she came through with these words that will live in infamy (Yes, I intended to use that word!): “. . . be it done to me according to your word.”
Oftentimes, the Lord leads us (maybe it is angels!) into places where “angels fear to tread,” places where we would NEVER volunteer to go, places we know we have no business being in, places that scare the wits out of us, places that move us so far out of our comfort zones, that we feel completely out of control, and when He does, it becomes OUR time to say, “Be it unto me according to your Word.”
Don’t think you will escape this, as Jesus Himself could not! Remember His words: “Not my will but Thine be done!” Need I remind you that these words did NOT come easily for Him, it took the sweating of blood, and, I might add, they will not come easily for you, but they will come; He will see to it!
I hope you will think about this-

The Seed of God

Wednesday afternoon, December 10, 2008 [raining cats & dogs!],
Listen carefully to these words, spoken by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary: “And behold you shall conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus” (Luke 1:31). Then, as you remember, she responded with, “How can this be, since I am a virgin” (vs. 34)? His answer was clear—very clear: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God” (vs. 35).
As you also remember, Gabriel told Mary of Elizabeth’s unexpected pregnancy: “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month” (vs. 36). I want to encourage you to read this entire story, beginning in verse 5 of chapter one, continuing through verse25, as I think it will be meaningful to you. Anyway, as you can see in verse 23, Zacharias, Elizabeth’s husband, returned home, which is key in this story. Verse 24, unlocks the door to the secret: “And after these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant . . .” In other words, after Zacharias’ meeting with his angel, he finished his priestly duties and returned home to enjoy a bit of hanky-panky with his wife, hanky-panky that proved to be productive, much to his (and her) surprise!
I said all of that to say this: there is a significant difference between these two pregnancies: on the one hand, Elizabeth conceives as the result of hanky-panky (sexual intercourse!), but Mary conceives without any hanky-panky whatsoever! The seed (spermatozoon!), that produced the zygote that became the embryo that became John, came from old Zack; however, the seed (spermatozoon!), that produced the zygote that became the embryo that became Jesus, came from, well it came from none other than the Holy Spirit! Wow! Talk about threading camels through the eyes of needles!
Why is this so significant? Simple! This means that those who are born into the family of God are born without any of Adam’s seed whatsoever; instead, we are born with the Seed of God, the Holy, blameless, perfect, righteous, imperishable, sinless, eternal seed of God! No longer Adam’s kindred, but altogether children of God!
Now you give this some thought, especially if you are a preacher, but even if you aren’t a preacher, give it some thought, as it will bless you abundantly. If you do give it some thought but still cannot see the blessing, ask the Holy Spirit to take the blinders off your eyes, so you can see. I’m telling you, this is good stuff!

Nothing is Impossible with God!

Tuesday morning, December 8, 2008 [Sunny and 670!],
An angel came to Mary and said, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:30-33). And Mary thought, “Yea, right!” Then she said (probably before she thought again!), “How can this be, since I am a virgin” (vs. 34)? Then she thought some more: “I am not married, I have never had sexual relations with anyone; truth is, I am a virgin and proud of it. Something is wrong with this picture—terribly wrong! How CAN this be?”
The angel’s response makes it evident that he (that is correct, as every time the word “angel” is used in the Scriptures it is in the masculine NOT the feminine) came equipped with extra-sensory perception, i.e., he could sense the anxiety and fear in Mary’s heart, so he said to her (my paraphrase), “You haven’t heard anything yet! Listen to this: Your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived (past tense!) a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month!”
You know, sometimes God can come up with some outlandish ideas, ideas that make all of us nervous, anxious, and afraid, and these are two very good examples! I can understand why Mary might have been just a tad nervous, even anxious. In the society in which she lived, this could only go in one direction—DOWNHILL—or so she thought.
Then the angel reveals the punch line to Mary: FOR NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD! As you remember, Jesus spoke these very same words to His disciples in response to His telling them that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. I don’t know who was most relieved to hear them, Mary or the disciples, but I do know this: THEY ARE POWERFUL WORDS, WORDS THAT BRING FAITH—INCREDIBLE FAITH—THE KIND THAT MOVES MOUNTAINS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, THE KIND THAT THREADS CAMELS THROUGH THE EYES OF NEEDLES, AND THE KIND THAT ALLOWS FOR A VIRGIN TO GIVE BIRTH TO THE SON OF GOD! To be sure, His ways are not our ways, not even close, but aren’t we all glad, as in very glad!
Now, listen up: because nothing is impossible with God, it is entirely possible and highly probable that you will make it through this Christmas season without being distracted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus, the same Jesus who was conceived in a virgin womb, who moves mountains, and who threads camels through the eyes of needles. If my prediction is true, you can say on December 26, I have just witnessed a mountain-moving, miracle!

Loss and More Loss!

Sunday evening, December 7, 2008 [way too cold for me!],
On December 7, 1941, I was shaping up pretty well and scheduled for delivery on February 15, 1942. Gosh, if I had known what was taking place on that infamous day in 1941, I would have probably ducked behind my Mother’s breastbone! The Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor and they were doing one hell of a job of it (or so I have been told; I think I could hear the bombs, but it might have been Mama attempting to crack a coconut, for all I know). Anyway, I think it is safe for me to say that America was completely surprised by this attack; if we were not, we surely didn’t act as if we were expecting it. As a result, more than 2300 Americans lost their lives, while serving this country.
On September 11, 2001 America was surprised again! With all the military might of the Armed Forces of the United States, it seemed that all we could do was watch and wonder how this could happen. On that infamous morning, 19 Islamic terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in NYC, killing everyone on board and many others working in the building. Both buildings collapsed within two hours. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, DC. There are no survivors from any of the flights. Excluding the 19 hijackers, 2,974 people died in the attacks, while enjoying the American way of life.
As most of you know, very recently the stock market took a nose dive that, again, took many Americans by surprise. As in these other surprises, there was major loss, not in terms of human lives (though there were and continue to be some who chose the avenue of suicide) but in terms of a lifetime of savings. Many who were preparing to retire suddenly realized that that was now impossible. Sadly, this entire loss was the result of greed, or should I say GREED.
I don’t say this to make you nervous or to cause you to lose sleep, but I am pretty certain that America is in for some more surprises, surprises that will result in even more loss. You see, it is very difficult for me to understand how anyone who lives in this great nation can be so ungrateful. Sadly, there is a generation of people walking around on this soil today, people who have no appreciation whatsoever for those who fought to keep this soil safe and to keep America free, whose lives are completely centered in the cesspool of greed. Interestingly, most of these want and expect instant gratification and they will do whatever might be necessary to feed that desire.
We have already lost any sense of moral compass and who knows what is next. I hope you will give this some thought.

This is the Gift from God!

Friday afternoon, December 5, 2008 [sunny and still too cold for me!],
This is what Solomon had to say: “There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. And this also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So, what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind? Throughout his life he also eats in darkness with great vexation, sickness and anger. Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift from God. For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart” (Ecclesiastes 5:13-20; emphasis, mine).
This is what Jesus had to say: “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (Luke 12:15; emphasis, mine).
He also said this: “Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these” (Luke 12:27; emphasis, mine).
I really wish you would take the time to meditate upon these passages, especially during these days of our lives.

God's Economy is in Fine Shape!

Thursday morning, December 4, 2008 [cloudy and too cold for me!],
As you well-know, Christmas is upon us, in spite of the "official" declaration of recession. Can you believe it? It is Christmas and we are officially in a recession and trying to dodge a depression! I thought God was the all-powerful and good God with infinite resources, but I guess I was wrong. How in the wide-world could this all-powerful, good God, who has infinite resources, allow such a terrible thing to happen to us? How does He expect us to have a Merry Christmas when the financial world is going to Hell in a hand basket? Where does He expect us to get enough money to buy presents, when we can barely make ends meet? How does He expect those who have lost their jobs to have Happy Holidays? Bah humbug!
Actually, I have another question: Have we come to the place where the joy of Christmas is somehow linked to the size of our bank accounts? If we have (and I am afraid we have), we have really been deceived. I never will forget Ma Stumph; she didn't even have a bank account, much less money to put into one, but she did know the joy of Christ-mas—every single day! On one Christmas Eve, just before going to church, her young son told her that he wanted some supper. Knowing that there was no food in the house what-soever, she replied with, “We will eat when we get back from church.” As you might imagine, this young lad was very hungry by the time they returned, and Ma was most concerned about feeding her young son! For some reason, as soon as he walked into the door of the house, he went onto the back porch and let out a scream that scared Ma nearly to death! “Ma, Ma,” he exclaimed, “look at all these groceries! Where did they come from?” She caught her breath, walked calmly out onto the porch, looked at the many bags of groceries and replied, “Son I have no idea where they came from, but I know who sent them!” Ma died without ever knowing where those groceries came from, but she also died without ever forgetting who sent them, nor did she ever lose the JOY of Christmas!
Instead of chasing around trying to find figure out how to come up with enough money to buy presents for those who already have everything they could ever possible need, ask the Holy Spirit to show you someone who really has a need, and then ask Him to use you to meet that need. You might be surprised at what happens! I will tell you this: doing so will remind you that the JOY of Christmas is NOT tied to how well Wall Street or Main Street is doing; instead, it is tied to the fact that it really is more blessed to give than it is to fret and worry about whether we are in a recession or a depression! Just for the record: God’s economy is not in either, and He is good all the time and every time!