Shocked again. Sunday I saw a man and woman with a small boy walk out of a
Denny's without paying. What I saw today put spoiled icing on the rotten
cake. Coming to a red light at a busy intersection I was watching young
people with containers going from car to car collecting money for the Jimmy
Fund - Cancer Research. People were putting their hands out the window with
cash as the collectors walked to their cars. Catty-cornered across the
intersection from me a window came down, a hand came out which then flicked
cigarette ashes into the container as it neared. After the light turned
and I could proceed I took special note to see the scumbag. It was a
teenage girl. I feel very sorry for the man that marries her. Without a
conversion experience this will without a doubt be someone her high school
senior class should vote to be the one destined for a life of misery. Sorry
about the derogatory term. I thought about replacing it with something less
offensive. I asked myself what Jesus would have said. Then I remembered
Matthew 23 and decided it was right to retain the word.

Is a little respect too much to ask? In Romans 12:10 Paul exhorts us to
honor others. He even goes so far as to tell us to prefer others over
ourselves. In Philippians Paul encourages us to adopt an attitude of
humility and to labor to do all we can to advance others. One of my favor
pictures of Jesus is found in Mark 1 where Jesus reaches out and touches a
leper while the man was still a leper. True respect for self can only be
real when it is a reflection of our treatment of those about us.

After years of watching I am still amazed at how long it takes my wife to
get through the fresh fruit and vegetable section of our supermarket. If
she sends me with a list I can quickly pick up the melon, the tomatoes, the
potatoes and the lettuce. It is so different with her. Each melon is
carefully fondled as she sniffs where it had been attached to the vine. The
tomatoes have to be just the right mixture of shades of red and green. Each
potato is sniffed and lettuce is, well actually I don't know what she does
with the lettuce. I just know it is done with the care of a scientist.

If God checked us out with such precision there is no way we could be saved.
Thankfully we have an advocate with the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the
righteous. I John 1. He and He alone is so utterly spotless, so pure, so
untainted, so perfect He can stand before the Father and say, "See me. I
represent the redeemed. I give them the gift of my righteousness." Don't
misunderstand. He is not a cloak that covers evil. He throws away our
filthiness and fits us with His robe of righteousness. It is all Him from
start to finish. He is the alpha and the omega of salvation.

The end result of my wife's diligence is spectacular eating. The end
result of Jesus' diligence is a wedding banquet mentioned at the close of
Revelation. Just as there is nothing spoiled on my table there will be
nothing spoiled on or at Jesus' table. He is a great fruit inspector. When
our records are examined there will be nothing there except fruits of
righteousness. The other things have been blotted out.

She was a contradiction, a walking irony. As she waited on me at the
checkout counter I could not help but notice her lack of grooming which was
accentuated by the title under her name: Beauty Consultant. She almost
hurt my eyes. I looked around to see if I was on Candid Camera and maybe I
was. There are so many security cameras these days one cannot tell for
sure.

While driving away I couldn't help but think about my calling myself a
Christian. The irony of encouraging and exhorting while failing to be that
which we proclaim is often excruciatingly painful. Almost the entire
chapter of Matthew 23 is a record of Jesus attacking the religious
establishment for their hypocrisy. I chose the word "attack" because that
is exactly what it is. There is no gentle Jesus meek and mild in Matthew
23. He pronounces seven woes upon the religious leadership for "traveling
all over the world to make a convert and then making that person twice the
son of hell as you are." Ouch. He tells them they are like white-washed
tombs, lovely on the outside and stinking rotten on the inside.

I am so thankful for Matthew 5:6 which says, "Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled." Often the desire
to be a good person is as powerful as any hunger for food. Without Romans
1:17 I would be overwhelmed with despair but Scripture is very sure on this.
"The just shall live by faith." Righteousness is not a matter of doing. It
is a matter of being. And the being is a gift. Paul assures us in Romans
5:17 that righteousness is a gift. It is a gift God is so pleased to give.

My wife and I decided to go to Denny's for breakfast this noon and play the
"Who Went to Church Game." Fifty years ago this game was much easier
because most of the men would be wearing a necktie, but that custom has
waned making the game more difficult. There was one elderly gentleman,
anyone older than me, who was sporting a nice suit and tie. He and his
wife were easy. There was another young couple with two girls wearing nice
dresses. Surely they had to be.

Then there was another couple with a boy. I hope they had not just come
from church because much to my amazement they walked out without paying. I
could barely believe what I watched. Now I am going to make an educated
guess that twenty years from now one family will have two wonderful brides
and another family will be lucky not to have a jailbird.

I realize there have been many debates through the decades regarding nature
versus nurture. Just how valuable is role modeling versus inheritance?
Most of us have come to the conclusion both are extremely valuable. Not
only do our children arrive in this world with our predispositions but they
also watch us. Speech and behavior patterns are copied and become a
blessing or a curse to the next generation.

I have talked with many people through the years who have longed to write a
book so they could leave a legacy to the world after they are gone. A book
can become a musty old object that fills our basements with unsold copies or
sits on a freebie table at a yard sale. But a child grown to adulthood, now
there's a legacy!

One of my favorite books when I was a boy was Secret of the Cave by Uncle
Arthur Maxwell. It was about some boys who used a cave as a base from which
they secretly did good deeds for their community. I used to fantasize how
very neat that would be. Now the story has been reversed on me. My
electric lawn mower ceased to do its job. The electric motor would whir but
the blade did not go around.

Unbeknownst to me my very observant engineer neighbor absconded with,
repaired, cleaned, sharpened the blade and then returned my mower. It
appears to be brand new. Now how's that for living in a great neighborhood?

While I would like very much to do something for him as repayment, I have
come to realize that would devalue his gift. Sometimes the finest thing we
can do is to allow another to help us. We do not have to respond in kind
when a "Thank You" will be just fine.

And then there is the following problem. There is a memorable line from
the musical "Annie, Get Your Gun." It says, "Anything you can do I can do
better; I can do anything better than you." In my situation the words
would be "Anything I can do; he can do better. He can do anything better
than I." I'm not trying to be modest. He really can. He is a gifted
engineer.

Sometimes it is difficult for us to sit back and allow another to give. But
that is an important part of life. If we were not gracious receivers when
would the gracious givers have an opportunity to shine? See Luke 10.

It was one of those hot summer days when I had no control over the car. As
we drove past the Dairy Queen the lovely female voice of my GPS said,
"Turning right and stopping." Well, there we were parked in front of a
dazzling display of tempting posters. Who was I to argue? I fell prey to
the one flaunting a Peanut Buster Blizzard. One of D.Q.'s marketing tactics
is to give you a half an inch higher than the edge of the cup. That works
fine on normal days. Today was just plain hot and the instant the fans in
the car blew over that half inch bonanza, I was in trouble. Before I could
even stick out my tongue to catch the now melting ice cream I had a spray of
it all over my hands, my shirt, my pants and there was no way the napkin
could catch it. What a glorious mess and it just wouldn't stop. It kept
getting worse and worse.

I now bring new meaning to "my cup runneth over." Abundance which comes
quickly without proper preparation can often turn disastrous. Our lore is
filled with stories of lottery winners who quickly go from poverty to wealth
to poverty in a very short time. How often have we prayed for wealth? How
often have we promised God we would give huge amounts to His cause if He
would only rig circumstances in our favor? God is not a rigger. He is a
wise father who will supply our needs and sometimes add a little extra.

The Old Testament finishes with a very serious promise. Jesus tells us if
we are faithful, He will be faithful. If we show ourselves wise stewards of
a little, enough will come our way. One thing we must always remember. He
is the God of Enough.

I'm sitting here watching a mosquito buzz about my computer screen. It is
only a matter of seconds now until he discovers me sitting so very close.
I'm a nice 98.6 degree warm juicy meal. I have been known to let them eat
while I watch but I'm not in the mood tonight. Should she dare to rest on
me I am going to squash her flat. Fortunately I'm not in Uganda this
evening where a bite from her might send me to bed with fever and chills.
Tonight I'm in Massachusetts and I just do not want an itchy red spot for a
day or so. The consequences for being her supper are quite relative ranging
from annoyance to possible death.

Her bite isn't like sin. The ultimate consequence of all sin is always the
same - death. Contrary to popular opinion there is no such thing as big
sins and little sins; at least in ultimate consequences. Some sins often
seem to be little because the immediate consequences seem to be minimal or
unseen. However, something like an attitude toward others may remain
hidden and unexpressed and may seem inconsequential but we are diminished by
it. Our harboring it and thinking it reduces our capacity for having an
ultimate day. An ultimate day is a day with unhampered growth. An
ultimate day is like one of the days of creation in Genesis 1 where God came
to the close of the day and said, "That's good."

I am hungry for one of those days. Wouldn't it be so grand if at the end
of a Wednesday God could look at us and say, "That's good"? If we can get a
Wednesday then we can start praying for a Thursday.

It's fantastic to live in a community with people who care. This evening we
were unaware that the thunderstorm heading our way housed a tornado. That
is we were unaware until friends south of us who were watching television
saw the threat to us. Our phone rang and Paul Ravina's caring voice said,
"Turn on your television you are in a tornado warning zone." Thank you,
Paul.

The next few minutes were filled with getting birds into the basement and in
general preparing for the worst. Thankfully after much thunderous noise and
lots of water the storm moved east. Hopefully those people also have
someone to call them.

In I Peter 5:7 we read that God cares for us. If we are to be imitators of
Christ, as we are urged to do in Philippians, we must indeed be watchful to
see need and to be quick to offer and supply what is needed. Thankfully, I
not only have people who call me I also have people who enable us to quickly
reach out when we perceive problems. Just last week I overheard one of my
grad students say quietly to another student, "I don't know how I am going
to feed my four children lunch. I don't have any food or money." Needless
to say because so many of you on occasion send offerings to our Spring of
Life ministry her problem was cared for immediately. It is very rewarding
to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. God gives to us that
we might be streams of blessings. And when we are a stream we are the ones
with the biggest smile.

By now I'm sure many of you have seen Alex Trebek selling Colonial Penn Life
Insurance. In small print at the bottom of the screen are the words
"Compensated Endorser."

"That's me," I thought. "Compensated Endorser." For over twenty years I
have been attempting to write at least five devotionals each week endorsing
Jesus. Some weeks, like last week, I don't make it. (Shingles again. -
Getting better. - I think.) What an amazing privilege it is to be an
endorser for Jesus and I must say the compensation is amazing. It has to
be far better than anything Alex Trebek gets from Colonial Penn. All they
can give him is money. Jesus gives me forgiveness of sins, cleansing of
guilt, peace of mind and best of all eternal citizenship in God's
magnificent kingdom. I am most assuredly the best compensated endorser in
the history of promotion.

Paul certainly caught on to this. He started out as a persecutor of those
who followed Jesus and when the light came on Paul became the world's most
famous traveling salesman for the very product he had hated. He wrote, "I
know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him against that day." 2 Timothy 1. He even
speaks of never being ashamed of his product. It was the finest anyone ever
had to present to any customer.

I want to recruit you to join Paul and me and the host of others who have
come to know that Jesus offers something literally out of this world.
"Compensated Endorser" I like the sound of that. I especially like what it
means.

For the past couple of months we've been parrot-sitting for our son. He is
very quickly learning our voices. Using my wife's voice he now calls the
dog. "Annie, Annie" echoes through the house. The problem is Annie has now
started to come when he calls. What's interesting is Annie doesn't go to
him she comes to my wife. It is my wife's voice so my wife gets the
response.

I found myself wishing I could call people to Jesus using His voice. I have
no desire to have people come to me. I really have very little to offer but
Jesus has everything to offer from short-term forgiveness and stress-relief
to long, long term care - eternal care. I want them to come to Him. I have
found this to be more difficult than it sounds. There are so many voices
calling to people. If people watch any television at all about one third of
broadcast time is fillied with voices calling to people. Come and buy our
car. Come and use our toothpaste. Come and drink our cola. It goes on
and on. Our invitation is often lost in the cacophony of calls.

Advertisers tell us the best possible invitation comes from a satisfied
customer. If we are to be heard, if we are distinct from the worldly
competition we need above all things to be satisfied followers of Jesus.
Our lives need to shine with happiness, health and joy. If we are continual
complainers our call will fall flat if heard at all. The world is looking
for something to satisfy their longing for something truly valuable. We
have it. With the accompanying power of God's Spirit we will be heard.

For about two or three weeks we had workmen doing home repairs and some
remodeling in the kitchen. We have been in this home now for sixteen years
and it was time to give it some tender loving care. Three of the workmen
were a father, the boss, and his two grown sons. Those two young men were
amazing. If my wife or sister arrived home and started to take things from
the car they dropped everything and rushed to help. They even had a fit
when they saw me carrying something fairly heavy. I received a lecture
about my age! These fellows remind me of Romans 15:1 in the Message
paraphrase, "Strength is for service, not status." While it is true Paul
is talking about our strength in the Lord, the idea does transfer over to
physical strength.

God gives us blessings so we can be a blessing. We are to be conduits
through which God can funnel His strength, His riches, His health and His
happiness to the world. While it is true He could send angels to distribute
good things He knows how much joy can come to us if we allow Him to use us.

This is one of the really nice things about being a citizen of God's
Kingdom. We don't have to wait to be recipients of the privileges that
accompany citizenship. The more we share the more He will give to us, so
the sharing can continue and spread. It's hoarders who don't receive much.
They get just enough to get by. Why should they receive much if all they
are going to do is to see if they need to build bigger barns?

It seemed like such a long journey. A strong headwind added another hour to
our trip from Boston to San Francisco. As we all know food on airlines has
become an endangered commodity and my complimentary bag of peanuts just
didn't do it for me. It was about four hours into the flight when I heard
the rustle of cellophane. Glancing left I watched a lady remove a bag of
licorice twists from her carryon. The fragrance of licorice wafted across
the narrow isle. Longingly I watched as she grasped the end of a twist and
slowly pulled it from the cellophane bag. She didn't just bite it, she
savored it. She slowly pushed it past her lips as my stomach began to groan
with desire. I felt like the ancient mariner who said, "Licorice, licorice
everywhere and not a twist to eat." I think that's what he said.

I want to tell you I gained a whole new appreciation for Psalm 23:5, "Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies." This time I was
the enemy. The food was on someone else's table.

Even as a boy I was concerned over what I perceived to be smugness on my
part with God caring for me and not for another. Yet I understood the
blessings for those who make God our shepherd. What a difference Jesus
made. He changed everything. Jesus helped us understand our role is never
to be smug but instead to be caring for everyone. "If your enemy is hungry,
feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing you will
heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good." Romans 12.

It's eight o'clock in the evening here in Massachusetts. It's the eighth of
July and it is eighty degrees. There is no breeze. Leaves are hanging
still. Sunflowers are starting to lose their vibrancy because it has been
many days since we had any serious rain that would concern someone with a
convertible. I was thinking about John 3 this afternoon. Jesus told
Nicodemus that God's Spirit moved like the wind among the trees. What of an
evening like this when there is no breeze? What of an era like this when
there seems to be so little of God's Spirit among the church? Hum? Perhaps
I am being too harsh and overly critical. Usually that is our problem. We
are parochial. If we don't personally see something then it isn't happening
anywhere.

This might have something to do with our desire to be at the center of
anything worthwhile. When someone tells me they were deeply moved last week
in church my response is, "Oh, that's nice." Rarely do I stop and ask,
"What was it? What was said? What was the point?" Instead it's just a
"that's nice." Since I didn't hear it or even worse because I didn't say
it, it really didn't matter much. Horrors.

But honestly I must say from my very narrow and limited view I don't see
much happening among God's people. Paul wrote in Colossians, "(I) do not
cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;" I like
that prayer. This night I pray this for you and I do so desire that you do
so for me.

Perhaps there is a mighty breeze all around me. Perhaps the dearth of fresh
air is only located where I am sitting.

On occasion it is good to reflect upon the good things God gives us. It is
even good to repeat something if it was very special. About fifteen years
ago I told the following story which occurred about thirty years ago. It is
time for a repeat.

I was the pastor in Des Moines. My wife and sons had gone to her parents'
farm in central Wisconsin. I remained behind to conduct Wednesday night
prayer meeting and I was to meet them the next day. As I was locking the
church one of my elders who knew I was going to drive that night caught me
at the door and prayed for me to have a safe journey. Thanks Dennis.
Several hours later I was driving east across Minnesota and had not seen
another car for a long time. As my eyes started to droop, my brain, which
must have already been asleep, started to connive.

I told myself I could safely take a nap if I would center the car over the
white line that divided the two lanes heading east. That would give me
plenty of zig zag space. I could drift back and forth and when I arrived at
a bridge about a mile ahead I could wake up and recenter the car. Ever so
carefully I lined up the car and then put my head back on the seat as I
began my insane plan. But wait a minute. A red light on the dash started
to flash at me. I was irritated as I reached up and pounded on the dash so
it would go out. It did. I leaned back again. The light flashed again.
"Seat belt." "Seat belt." As I reached up to once again pound on the dash,
reality dawned on me and the light went out. I stopped the car and got out
and walked awhile.

The seat belt light never again randomly came on. Never.

This evening I heard a very interesting advertisement for an upcoming show.
Tune in next Monday night for a surprise visit from (blank). They mentioned
the name of someone famous. You can fill in the blank with any name you
want. The name wasn't important. It was the concept that next week we will
be surprised to see this person. Really? Didn't they just tell us who it
is? They must have figured the only people who will be watching will be us
old guys who will have forgotten who it is but tune in because we want to be
surprised.

It reminded me of people who will be surprised by the sudden second coming
of Jesus. While we have not been told when He is coming, like the TV
announcement, we are assured by so many people He is returning. It should
not be a surprise. He tells in Matthew 24 He is coming again. He tells us
in John 14 He is coming to take us home to be with Him. In Revelation He
tells us that He comes quickly. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15 and I
Thessalonians 4 that He is coming again. It is not a secret nor is it a
surprise. We are encouraged, like in the TV ad, to watch. Jesus tells us
in the parable of the ten young ladies to be ready. For the young ladies in
the parable being ready meant having enough oil and for us being ready means
being filled with the Holy Spirit after accepting His gift of eternal life.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is not that He is coming but that He hasn't yet
come. And yet we shouldn't be surprised because He does tell us why He is
waiting. Please see II Peter 3 for the answer.

One of the smartest things I ever did was to marry someone who is much
smarter than I. That pretty much guaranteed my children would be smarter
than I. I truly do not mind being the dumbest person in the room. I can
come to the close of each day and say, "There I learned something new
today." When I go to church I want to learn something new from my pastor.
Give me something to mentally chew on. I am so blessed to be a teacher.
Everyday I learn new things from my students.

I am disgusted when I am with people who don't seem to know how to express
themselves with anything other than gutter language. Don't they realize how
stupid they sound using the same imagineless terms over and over? It's as
if they aren't bright enough to buy a thesaurus and add new words to their
vocabulary. Recently I sat down and browsed through HBO's comedy specials.
How very disappointing. I was disappointed with the content of the supposed
humor and disappointed with the audience's laughter when foul language is
used. The only thing I can figure is the audience is very dull or drunk or
feels social pressure to laugh at stuff that isn't really funny.

This morning we went for breakfast with two very smart people. There was a
piano and a guitar present. Before long my friends were filling the diner
with wonderful music. How grand. The other people in the diner seemed as
pleased as I. One last thought on this. If you want to be in company with
someone very smart, spend your time with Jesus. I guarantee you will get a
daily IQ boost.

With very little speech occurring I sat at the kitchen counter this evening
and watched my wife prepare our light supper. One of life's great pleasures
is watching someone you love. If being apart from a loved one and not being
able to see them is one of life's trials then being with a loved one and
seeing them is one of life's greatest blessings.

I do so enjoy being with my grandchildren. While the noise they make could
be cacophony to someone else, it is to me finer than the fruit of any
composer. Some of the best weekends I have ever experienced are not ones
filled with activity, but instead ones filled with loved ones presence.

Matthew 9:36 is an enjoyable verse, "When he saw the multitudes, he was
moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered
abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." Jesus enjoyed watching people. In
Matthew 25 we read, "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world." Verse after verse we hear Jesus say, "Come."
When we do that not only can He watch us but we can watch him.

Robert Frost once wrote, "

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring; I'll only stop to rake the leaves
away (And wait to watch the water clear, I may): I sha'n't be gone long.-You come
too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf that's standing by the mother. It's
so young, it totters when she licks it with her tongue. I sha'n't be gone
long.-You come too."

It is quite grand to watch people we love

If we have been hurt, but don't know we were hurt, have we really been hurt?
Many years ago I was the pastor in a small southern town. Pastors were paid
according to some sophisticated cost of living scale that pertained to where
the pastor lived. While I was there the conference office with all its
officialdom left the big city and came to my small town. To help the
officials absorb moving costs the living scale for my small town was raised.
When asked if the higher pay rate would pertain to the Bothwells who already
lived there, the decision was made that while those who were moving would be
on the higher scale the Bothwells would "stay on the lower scale because
they wouldn't know about it." (Did they really think we wouldn't find out?)

If you asked me if I was hurt I would most likely say, "No. It was no big
deal." However, it certainly did not make a favorable impression because
decades later I can still remember the event. Does that mean because I
remember I haven't forgiven? I hope not. A lack of forgiveness on my part
will never harm anyone except me. Perhaps that is one of life's more
difficult lessons. When we withhold forgiveness from someone we rarely hurt
that someone. It is we who are poisoned by feelings that "we" were not
treated right. We are the ones whose sleep is made restless.

When Jesus told us to forgive as we seek forgiveness for our transgressions
He struck upon a fundamental psychological law. The quality of our lives is
the fruit of decisions we make regarding what has happened to us. Over the
span of our lives we most likely have received the same amount of good and
bad. The difference at the end that determines whether life has been good
or bad is what we choose to forget.