My non-phony testimony

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3    

Here's how it has gone. I was sprinkle baptized at a very early age. What followed was
sporadic church attendance, including some Sunday School teaching. Amazingly
enough I entered my sixth decade on this earth totally ignorant. Ignorant of simply
the most crucial information out there: information about God, Jesus, Redemption, the
gospel...you get the picture.

God, in His amazing grace, tapped me on the shoulders in a house church in Oxford, Ohio,
where my sweet daughter and eventual husband were going to college. Then events led
to those two getting married, moving to McKinney, Texas and I followed eventually.
I attended the little church (big things come in small packages!) where Matthew's family
attended and the journey began.

Now, Bruce, one of the elders, was rather adamant about my being baptized, so adamant
that it was quickly scheduled and completed. My son-in-law did the honors and there
I was, baptized. I repeated the words that I believed in the Jesus, the Son of God and
wished to give my life to Him. And I did.....

But where were the bells and whistles? Where were the fireworks, streamers, party
horns... those feelings, inside, that would lead me to believe that a change had been
made? They weren't there. I was a bit shocked and disappointed. I really, in my heart,
had no faith at that point...did not know Jesus at that point and just felt weird.

Well... what followed was a slow progression of blessing. I began attending a Sunday
school class, led by a wonderful friend who loves donuts, and he began to teach me many
things that I found myself wanting to learn. I attended the services on Sunday and
was blessed by a great "pastor," began attending men's Bible sessions on Wednesday
evenings and found myself more and more comfortable. 

Let me cut, here, to the chase. As this progression continued, the Holy Spirit was
at work within my heart. Still no bells and whistles; yet, I could tell in small, subtle
ways that things were changing. 

From the moments after a baptism, that may have happened too quickly, to where
I am now, there has been a great change. Suddenly, I have NO doubt that I love and
adore my Lord and Savior Jesus. I have NO doubt that I have been forgiven my sins
and NO doubt that the words of the Bible are the truth and those of God, Himself.

No bells and whistles but lots of wonderful joy, assurance and "faith." Yes, faith.
And all of this happened in God's good time and with God's love and grace. How very
very lucky am I! All of these wonderful folks who have guided and cared for me are
my family and I will, one day, dwell in God's house with them for a very long time.

It's a story that may be like others; the point is that it's a story that is waiting for
anyone who kneels down and asks Jesus to come in. I hope you will do so, today, if
you haven't already. That's a fervent hope!

Praise God!

Humble Pie...We are the clay!

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2

Pride is one very difficult thing to swallow. It has been called the source of all sin; it
certainly gets in the way of perceiving God correctly. A lot of folks want their turn
at the potter's wheel when it comes to fashioning God in the way they wish Him to 
be. They pick and choose attributes that fit their own perception of what their God
ought be like. "Well, my God is a God of _____."  How could your God allow that
to happen?" Where was God when this or that crisis occurred?"

The tough-to-swallow news is that "we" are the clay. We are part of a creation
spoken into existence by the almighty God. He is the artist, the greatest creator of
them all. We are the material He chose to fashion into human beings created in the
image of God with certain characteristics that reflect the very different being
called God.

For us to attempt to limit or to define Him as some sort of prerequisite to our
willingness to "accept" or "believe" in Him is very dangerous. We have a hard time
accepting ourselves as raw material, if you will. We want to be the master of our
existence and we are very willing to nudge a God in that fits our conception of what
he ought to do and be like. 

Accepting the gospel of salvation requires us to see our vast limitations. To make
any sort of commitment to Jesus, we have to see ourselves as the sinners we are;
we have to realize our need to be lifted up and changed by the presence of God in
our lives. We have to call on Him to continue to mold us from what we have been
to what only Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God can make us be.

Once one sees the truth in the mirror, or at least perceives a bit of that reality,
one can go on to submit to the glory and grace of God. He is the King of the
universe, worthy of our worship and praise! He is God, not the God we think He
ought to be, but the artist who created all there was, is or ever will be.

Praise Him!

Not even a cameo appearance

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.    Ephesians 2: 8-10

So many questions, aren't there! It's difficult to understand why it is that there are issues
and questions that, quite likely, will not be answered in this lifetime. Once saved, always
saved? Predestination? Sola Fide? Works? Apostasy? While a lot of these and other
issues are different, there seems to be an overlap.

I am going to take a blogger's stand on the importance or relevance of our own part
in the processes of being transformed once we establish Jesus Christ as our personal savior
and Lord. First, I believe that this very act of choosing to follow Christ is done To us, not
By us. I'm not buying that we even have a choice once God reaches out and "plucks" us
into His hands. So our very justification, assumed righteousness (0f Christ) and
salvation are, in my eyes, totally passive. We aren't involved in these life altering
changes; GOD is!

So taking the stand that we have been changed out of the very grace of God, I also
do not feel that we are "actors" in the saga of our sanctification. The very process of
being sanctified, has as its goal, the removal of all sin. It is a process that ends after our
death; a process that is on-going through the work of the Holy Spirit who is challenged
by our corporal sin abiding flesh... we simply aren't up to the task of doing the process
ourselves. To believe that we can change ourselves from within, is, as I see it, prideful
and mistaken.

Will we strive to live lives more closely resembling the Jesus we love? Yes, I believe
we will do so through our appreciation and God's support. Will others see a change
in us and surmise that we have changed?Yes, I believe we will look and live
differently: I believe we will have no choice because that will also be done To us.

Are we really weak and in need of a wonderful savior to make the changes necessary
to reach everlasting life with God? Well, that's exactly what the gospel message
shouts at us!

We are human. That's okay. We need God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to do their
saving, graceful, miraculous transition to our lives. 

Praise our Holy God!

Well Marcus Welby...Father Knows Best!

And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Matt 23: 9    

You know you are getting older when you reference TV shows that aren't even played
anymore on the 'Old TV' Cable Networks! I thought of Robert Young and the rolls he
played, especially pertaining to the idea that 'father knows best.'

You remember, don't you, when your parent angered you by answering the universal
child question.."Why?" with, "Because I told you so!" Debates with parents, especially
when a child is young, are really meaningless and probably cause this type of
parental response. Obviously, there are a myriad of things that older folks know
in terms of what is best for their children. I am going to suggest that God, our
Father, knows at all times what is best for His children...us!

He knows, for example, the difference between 'What we want,' and 'What we need!'
What an important distinction. Because the Father is sovereign and in control, He may
very well choose to 'give" us something that we didn't ask for or something 'instead of'
what we asked for. Most of us would readily admit that we really don't know what is best
for us a lot of the time. How fortunate we are to have a Father who knows all things.

He knows all that we think, say and do. Not gonna sneak an obtuse, unkind or sinful
thought past this Parent, He is aware. This becomes especially important in our
daily battle against our sinful nature. We can 'use' His complete knowledge of our
nature to lean on when we feel that temptation begin to overtake us. It's a lot like
using our human parents as an excuse..."My dad will tan my hide if he catches me
doing that!" ( I know, I just dated myself, again!)

I think it's probably a natural condition to want to please our parents. We don't
want them to be upset or disappointed in us if at all possible. Well that becomes
magnified when it comes to our Heavenly Father. It's our job to glorify Him by
our actions and behavior... a full time job for sure!

So Father really does know best, and that, it seems to me, is comforting and reassuring!
We LOVE you Father God! Praise be to You, always!

Is it really YOUR life?

..Oh, we are not as strong, as we think we are!
  Rich Mullins

You would have to be pretty old or a fan of British early 60's rock to remember the
Animals' song, "It's my life."  I remember it most vividly being played in a subterranean
bar on the campus of the Ohio State University called the North Heidelberg. The song
is a blues/ rock mantra about being able to do what we want with our own life. That
theme is still prevalent in our society especially in ads that suggest that something will
improve our lives if we eat, use, drink... it.

Well, we are born here into this world with a set span of years and each of us has
been granted a path of life which makes us individuals unlike everyone else, unique, as
it were. We have also been granted the ability to makes decisions, some call it free
will. Society establishes points in our years when we become independent of our parents
and strike out on our own paths.

However, we are created beings. This life that we live belongs, if you will, to our creator...
we are His. I think this calls into question the whole concept of our ownership of this body,
this soul, this life. 

When an artist paints a landscape and the work comes to a creative end, he or she will
sign that piece of art, usually in a bottom corner establishing who it is who brought this art work into existence. 

Our lives are embossed with the signature of our sovereign God. He is the one who created
us, breathed life into our nostrils, began the beating of our hearts. We have been given a
name known only to Him that we will hear and recognize when we are brought into His 
holy presence. Yes, "our" life is really His life. 

This realization establishes some very different goals for one who understands the reality
of the life we live. Suddenly it becomes important to acknowledge and be thankful for
each day we live, to actively praise and glorify He whom we belong to, to live this
life gratefully in light of the grace and love He has shown for us. We are His because this
is the way life is supposed to be lived.

So throw open your arms and accept the reality that you are a cherished member of the
family of God! Embrace Him and Love Him with all your heart and soul. The way it is
supposed to be! God's way!

I wrote this blog on purpose!

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  Rom 8: 38  

Let's assume, if we may, that you who are reading this little blog have reached the
point of realizing that apart from the guidance, grace and love of God, our lives
really are purposeless. Part of worldly-centered purposes is the problem that such
purposes are both un-fulfilling and temporary. 

That raise at work, that promotion, the bigger house, faster car, bank balance, even
that family that we love, will someday be cast apart by marriages and eventual death. 
The things of this world that we sometimes strive for will not pass the test of time. We,
also, can have all or most of these things and be left, at the end of the day, with hearts
and souls that are incomplete... missing something.

So, that being said, what are our purposes?

Enjoyment of God's creation....   We have been born into a world created by God, a
world that He called Good. Despite the emergence of sin and the fact that the world remains
broken, it is a beautiful place with many things to enjoy. The blessings we enjoy are 
plentiful: places of beauty to visit, a world full of plants and animals that amaze, a
family structure also created by God that permits us to enjoy and value loved ones
and friends, the list goes on. 

Bringing glory to God...  In appreciation for these blessings and especially for the
grace of salvation given to us by a loving God, we are here to glorify God by our
actions, words and deeds. He is an integral part of  our lives, drawing enjoyment
from our dependence upon Him, our prayerful communications with Him and our
journey toward being transformed into the likeness of Jesus. He is totally worthy
of our constant efforts to glorify Him and love Him.

Causing a ripple....  We are here to love each other as commanded by Jesus. We,
through the way we treat those around us, can create a ripple effect that can
lead those who are lost toward redemption. Little things, that some might see as
insignificant, might bring light into lives as we shine the love of God in our walk.
Bringing a lost soul to God represents an event that could lead on to unknown
benefits of an exponential nature,

So live life fully. You have a purpose in the days that you live. You definitely can make
a difference..an eternal one!

How, then, could we NOT pray?

9 And I tell you, rask, and sit will be given to you; tseek, and you will find; uknock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for4 a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, wwho are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father xgive the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11: 9-13

Prayer is an interesting subject for us all. It is, obviously, a direct communication with

God that is a personal involvement with Him. The bible, God's word, suggests that God

welcomes and desires to hear our prayers; He is glorified by the fact that we are dependent

upon Him and aware that He is sovereign and in control.

At our church, Crossroad Christian in the McKinney area, I started to send out bi-weekly

prayer request lists, mainly because I found myself unable to remember who I was

wanting to pray for. Old age, again. So this was a way to not only remember prayer needs

but also to share them with others and track the apparent success of prayer 

from the standpoint of positive answers. I am amazed at the number of prayer 

offerings that seem to have been answered in a positive way! I would have to say that

prayer works.. big time.

I think, personally, that my praying has greatly increased my trust and faith in God. I

haven't "heard" from Him personally, by voice, but I have the increasing assurance that

He is listening and that He will answer in his own way, in His own time. It's so

comforting to understand that, despite what I encounter, problems, hopes, dreams...

He is there to listen.

Obviously, God is true to His own directions, promises and answers. He is willing
to listen and consider, but, as we would expect, he will be true to His own decisions.
Sometimes He will answer our prayers with a "Yes!" Sometimes, He will answer
them with a "No." We need to go to Him humbly with appreciation for all that He
has done and is doing in our lives.

Pray enthusiastically, pray frequently and pray with the expectation that the King
of the universe is not too busy, amazingly, to listen and consider. Praise God!!!

Seeking a "degree" of Thank-ology

Love to mess with the titles. No..I won't be going back to my beloved Ohio State
University to earn a new degree. Been there and done that. No need to return to worrying about mid-terms, finals, papers, being on time, etc. No dissertation or oral exams
to contemplate. 

By degree, I mean amount, in this instance. I am looking to increase, exponentially, my
conscious appreciation for the blessings given to me by my God. They are so many,
it's difficult to imagine the number. They are magnanimous, unearned, gracious
loving examples of the generosity and love that I receive, daily, from the God of the
universe.

The problem, and I am sure I share this with many who may be readers, is taking
the time to remember to be thankful. I am in the real retirement mode, at this point.
I have stopped working part-time and am not actively seeking employ. My career
has long been a thing of the past so I am left with exercise, taking care of my cat, trying
to avoid over stretching my relationship with the daughter I love: translation... I have a
lot of time. So no real excuses; I have the time to concentrate on thanking Him for
everything. It's a conscious decision, one that I am making more frequently, but, still,
I have to remind myself to speak these thanks to Him.

One thing I have done is to take the thanks down to the basic level. I am thankful
for each and every heartbeat, each and every breath I am blessed to be able to take.
I am thankful for each day spent out of hospital, each day filled with the realization
that life is tenuous, fleeting and temporary. 

I use my walking time to remind me to thank Him for this beautiful created world I
live in. Sure, it is broken, but it still is a representation of the greatest creative force
in the universe. 

Believe it or not, I thank Him for my brokenness. It helps me to keep humble when I
realize that I am sinful and very much in need of a savior. It keeps me grounded in
the knowledge that I need to use the awareness of my rebellion to seek to repent
in earnest and turn, with the Spirit's help, away from temptations and sinfulness.

Then there is the Gospel; what a blessed reason to give thanks. Thanks to the
Lamb of God who became corporal and walked toward death, the only thing that
would establish a way for me to be forgiven and seen as acceptable to God.

Finally, I am thankful for a future of hope. A future complete with the upcoming
residence in the presence of God, Jesus and all others who will live in an eternity
of blessing. THANK YOU, GOD! (Did I remember to say, "THANK YOU?")

Gospel 1.0 God's Operating System

There won't be a 2.0! No need for tweaking or updating this operating system. Won't
need the Geek Squad, no problems with viruses. No need to call to talk to a representative
in Calcutta. Won't even need to turn it off and on again- it is quite simply an ingenious, 
perfect system of Grace.

It works on the following bases:

-God is Holy and cannot accept sin; it is an abomination to Him.
-We aren't so holy! We are sinful and, on our own, cannot stop sinning and are,
therefore, in rebellion against God.
-Long before God spoke things into creation and breathed life into Adam, He
created the plan for salvation. One plan only. Atonement through the blood sacrifice
of His only, beloved Son, Jesus
-Through His grace, He sent Jesus to live on earth, a God-man, who was to
live a perfect sinless life so that He could be the great high priest necessary for the
forgiveness of sin
-In exchange for this gift, God requires those saved to believe in Jesus, accept Him
as their savior and Lord and trust Him, totally.
-This gospel of grace is not earned nor is it deserved; it is a glorious redemptive gift

This gift isn't and never was FREE. It came at a great cost; the torture, humiliation and
Crucifixion of He who was sacrificed for the very ones who were slaying Him. It is
also priceless; the greatest gift ever given for any reason to anyone!

Christ died for those who would be His people. The Bible suggests that this does
not mean everyone, which is the whole discussion that centers around election
or predestination.

Our jobs? We need to be wholly appreciative, loving God with all our being, making
it our goal to live a life centered on God and driven by the Holy Spirit to become
more Christ-like.  We need to turn over our lives in trust to be used by God for His
own good. 

We won't need any on-line classes to operate this system. It actually uses us to bring
about its work. It's truly user-friendly! Log me on and keep me there, oh God. Thank
you for your Grace!

By all means, please eat from that tree!

As usual, I am having some fun with the title and topic. It would be less than smart to
question anything that God does! Scripture assures us that God challenges but never
tempts; that's Satan's area of expertise! 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Romans 6:23

So, it would be less than fair to criticize Eve or Adam for falling into Satan's trap, for
doing that which God forbade them. On one of the CD's I have listened to recently, the
speaker commented that ALL of us, we humans, would have fallen for the same guise. 
The result of that fall into temptation set in motion events that God, himself, envisioned
before the beginning of creation, events personified in the life of Jesus, the Son of God
who came into this world to free sinners into atonement with God through the cross
and resurrection.

Now having been a teacher for oh so many years, and knowing a bit about the nature of
human beings, children and adult, it may have been better, in retrospect, to not tell
those original humans what NOT to do. It's crazy how telling folks what they cannot do
seems, frequently, to result in them doing that very thing against which they have been
warned. I actually, purposely, set up situations where I "tested' the ability of my students
to avoid what I had asked them not to do. Well, they failed... miserably. I "left the lid off
the cookie jar, and they, despite my warning, went right ahead and gobbled!" "Read
the entire quiz before you answer any of the questions...!" I could go on with a bunch of
examples. Reverse psychology? No, just the habit of folks to respond when someone tells
them not to "touch the stove!"

No one knows people better than He who created them. He knows them and loves them.
He knew that we would fail the test, that sin would enter this world and leave us
helplessly unable to measure up to His Holiness. He knew that eventual judgement
would render us "undone" before His hatred of sin. He brought into existence a plan
for the ransom to be paid by the perfect, spotless, sinless Jesus Christ, His only and
beloved Son. Propitiation through the blood of Christ hanging on a tree. He wouldn't
let Abraham sacrifice his son; yet, He gave His beloved to wear the sins of all of us
so that we could be brought into the presence of God and seen as righteous.

Want to know why He is our Lord and Savior? The gospel! Praise God!

We ALL need to grow younger!

 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

I think I'm goin' back
To the things I learned so well in my youth
I think I'm returning to
Those days when I was young enough to know the truth

Sung by The Byrds  Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King

I'm not planning a journey, soon, to the land of Bimini in search of the Fountain of Youth, but
I am thinking that there is value in paying attention to the words and actions of Jesus. It
is clear, I believe, that Jesus held a special place in His heart for children. He spoke more
than once about the need not only value children but also to be more like them. He was
unhappy when others tried to keep them quiet or away from Him. 

 "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  Matthew 19:14


We all seem so anxious to grow older when we are young. There are the "moments of 
passage," ages 18, 21, etc. Once we achieve adulthood, chronologically speaking, we are
faced with many changes that make life a lot more complicated. From where I am today,
I think it's pretty important to try and regain some of the qualities we may have lost as
we became older.

We are God's children. Children are certainly more dependent in many ways. Like a
child, we need to become more dependent upon God and less on our own ways. Children
are more likely to be trusting. Trusting God and His ways are instrumental in living
a life that glorifies Him and not ourselves. Children are more likely to be amazed at
things. Standing in awe of our God pleases Him and places us in a position of
reverence and thankfulness for the blessings He has graciously afforded us.

Childlike not childish. Allowing God to hold onto our hands as we walk in this world.
It's not so hard to work at being a child, again!