Some fun with growing old

So I'm really freaking out about turning 50. I know ... some of you are saying "But preacher, you've often said 'Age is mind over matter, if you don't mind, it don't matter.'" I knew some of preaching would come back to haunt me. Well anyway, a friend here at Eastwood sent me something funny today that I laughed out loud as I read some of these things ... I hope you can laugh too!

Perks of reaching 50

1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.

2. In a hostage situation, you are likely to be released first.

3. No one expects you to run ... anywhere.

4. People call at 9 PM (or 9 AM) and ask, 'Did I wake you?'

5. There's not much left to learn the hard way.

6. Things you buy now won't wear out.

7. You can eat supper at 4 PM

8. You can live without sex but not your glasses. (oh come on you know it's funny)

9. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.

10. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.

11. You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.

12. You can sing along with elevator music.

13. Your eyes won't get much worse.

14. Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

15. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.

16. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.

17. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.

And the most important thing to remember as a 50 year old: Never, ever, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill, and a laxative on the same night!

So many posts on blogs (mine included so far) are serious. I think at times we need to lighten up and have a little fun. I hope maybe I brought a smile to your day.

His,

Tom

Winter, snow, and my walk with the Lord

With a tad of frustration I awoke this morning realizing it had snowed again here in Bowling Green. I can vividly remember as a child wanting it to snow; a day out of school was seen as a God-send. And believe me, I saw my fair share of snow growing up, after all I spent from the beginning of my 7th grade year to the Christmas break of my 10th grade year living in Anchorage Alaska. As a kid, there was just something about sledding, snowball fights, hot chocolate, and snow angels that made snow so wonderful.

But as I’ve gotten older, I find my “desires” have changed. I long for the “dog days” of Summer. I don’t know if it’s my age or what but I love hot dry days. Oh I can still participate in a good snow ball fight and have been known to sled a hill or two, but my body (I’m fast – really too fast approaching 50) always seems to remind me that while the mind in many ways is still that of a child, the body sure isn’t. Or maybe it’s the grime that always covers my truck after a snow that gets to me. Or possibly the gloominess of Winter days, but for whatever reason I find that I like Winter less each year and find myself dreading the forecast when the weatherman says “we can expect 1-3 inches of snow by day break.”

Sitting here at the office today I found myself looking out my window at the white and wonder of last night’s snow fall and began to see some spiritual lessons in all of these “feelings” I’m having. I realistically realize that my days of hoping to make a spiritual impact for the kingdom of God are quickly passing; unless I live to be 100, I have passed the mid-point of my life. I look back and see so many wasted opportunities, open doors if you will that the Lord placed in front of me that for whatever reason I never walked through. Why is it that we never see these opportunities until they are past? I remember the wonderment of being a young seminary student, spiritually making snow-angels so to speak in the safety ofthe campus as I delighted in the thoughts of where I was, and thoughts of changing the world. Oh, I still think I can impact this world, but now I see that it only happens one heart at a time.

Winter also serves to remind me of the times when I have allowed my faith to grow cold. As a pastor I find it so easy (I actually think this is easy for every Christian) to get caught up in “doing” the work of the ministry that we forget to spend time with the One who called us. I find myself sacrificing that which is "best" on the altar of that which is "good." An example of this is how I will often sacrifice my time with the Lord because of the need to make one more hospital visit or attend one more committee meeting. I can’t think of a single time when it was the Lord’s fault for my faith growing cold. In fact I believe His desire is for me to spend daily time with Him, to be made more each day into the image of Jesus. I wish I could honestly say that I have fully learned this lesson of not sacrificing my daily time with the Lord, but I find it’s really a daily battle to prioritize my time with Him.

Staring out the window at my white F-150 Ford truck (man do I LOVE Ford trucks), I find myself irritated as I look at the grime up the sides of my beautiful precious truck. In all honestly I haven’t washed the truck for a few months because it seems futile. Every time I think about taking it through the car wash, I hear a forecast of snow. But as I find myself so frustrated by the “dirtiness” of my truck, I suddenly ask myself if the grime of sin upon my soul bothers me as much as the grime on my truck, and, if I’m honest the answer is no.

So here’s what I think I will do with the rest of my day. First, I think I’m going to spend some time with the Lord and experience a spiritual “washing.” I’m going to spend a little time staring into the “Son-shine” of glory and hopefully then reflect a little of His light and warmth to others. I’m going to hopefully learn (again) the lesson that it’s not a matter of how many days, months, or years I have left on this earth that matter, but rather will I make them count for the King and His Kingdom. Then I’m going to go home, call Aaron outside, and plaster him with a snow ball (grin).

Thanks Lord for the lessons of Winter, they are difficult but necessary.

Why is there evil and suffering?

I have been meaning to start a blog for some time now but simply haven’t taken the time to do it. Plus, to be honest, I’ve wondered if anyone would read it or be interested in the ramblings of a Baptist pastor from South Central Kentucky. But today someone I respect came through the door I was at after church and said something that at the time seemed fairly random. This man said “For what it’s worth the Lord told me for you to put this message on Facebook.” I contemplated over lunch whether I would do that and exactly how it might take shape if I did. The end result (besides a headache) of my thinking about this and pondering if I should do it, the end result is the formation of this blog.

I’m sure there are going to be times when you read one of my posts and scratch your head and say “That’s it, the boy has flat lost his mind.” Heck, there are days when I read something I’ve written or said and wonder the same about me. But that just seems to affirm the fact that God has a sense of humor.

This morning, I attempted what I think is actually impossible apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. I tried in one message to answer the question of why there is evil and suffering in our world. With a God that is all powerful, all wise, all loving, and inherently good, why is there such rampant evil in the world in which we live? I’ll be honest with you up front and admit that I don’t have the complete answer to that question but I do want to write a bit about what the Lord showed me.

A couple of years ago our family had left after dark one night to head toward South Carolina to see our daughter where she was attending college. We had found some back roads that shave about 30 minutes off the trip, roads that stop us from having to go through Nashville. That particular night there was a lot of fog and it was difficult to see very far in front of you. Outside Hartsville, Tn a car pulled out in front of us headed in the same direction and the tail lights were amazing. I found that as long as I kept that car in front of me and could see its tail lights, that driver was actually guiding me through the windy roads. I tell you that because I think that pain and suffering tend to obscure our view of God. We don’t “see” Him clearly, especially when we are in the midst of a trial. But God in His words has provided some “tail lights”, some pieces of truth, that if we will look to them will guide us through the fog of our pain.

I’m sure there are many ways that God uses pain and suffering in our life. I don’t believe He’s the “author” of that pain and suffering but rather that He can use it for His glory. I think there are three primary ways, at least in my life, that God has used pain and suffering. First, I think God uses pain and suffering to bring others to Christ. One look at prayer meetings across our nation the Wednesday evening after 9/11 show that pain and suffering has a way of bringing people to Christ. Second, I think God uses pain and suffering to build character. Character is not primarily built from blessing but rather from adversity. Finally, I think that God uses pain and suffering to correct His children. At times when we stray God will use some painful event in our life to draw us back to Him. The times I have faced His chastening have never been “pleasant” but always have been necessary. When I was a small child my grandfather used to make me go outside and pick the switch that he was going to whip me with. I found out something pretty quickly that also has a remarkable spiritual application. Logic would tell you that when you are getting whipped to get as far away from the switch and the one swinging as possible. But the lesson I learned is it always hurt worse the further I stood from grandpa. I found that the closer I got to the one giving the whipping (my grandfather in this case) the less it hurt. So here’s the spiritual application, when God is chastening you, the closer you get to Him during the process, the less it will hurt.

So what are the “fog lights” from the Word of God I referenced earlier. I mentioned four this morning in the message. First, while God is not the author of our pain and human suffering, he can and does use it for His glory. God took the most horrendous event of human history, the cross, and made something beautiful from it (our salvation). Now if God can take the absolute worst event in human history and gain glory from it, surely He can gain glory from our pain as well. Second, we need to remember that one day all of this pain and suffering will be over. Many wonder why God doesn’t end it now in light of the great suffering around the world. The only answer I find is that He is longsuffering not willing that any should perish (see 2 Peter 3:9). Third, our suffering pales in comparison to what blessings God has planned for us. We cannot begin to even imagine how wonderful heaven will be (see 1 Corinthians 2:9). Fourth, and I’m convinced this is a difficult one, is that pain and suffering will make us either bitter or better. When we experience pain, we all become “runners.” Some will run to God and some run from Him, but pain never leaves us standing still.

So what’s the bottom line? There’s one reason and one reason alone we live in a world filled with such pain and suffering … sin. We live in a fallen world that will never be “right” until the Lord returns.

As long as He tarries or leaves me here, I hope to continue to figure out ways to live right in a wrong world. It will not be easy but it’s what God’s called us to do. Until next time … peace.

Bro Tom