Reunions

I just noticed on my calendar that we have a family reunion
coming up very soon. It will be the first one we will be able to attend in
about 10 years, so I'm looking forward to being reunited with many of my (extended)
family. Yes, we exchange the occasional email and share pictures and family
events on Facebook, but there is nothing that is better than being face to face
with folks.

That's not something new! We still have around us something
which has picked up the name "Snail Mail" or actually writing a
letter with pen and paper and mailing it to someone. But again that's not the way
that touches us in our hearts the most. The apostle John wrote about doing
this. In 2
John_1:12 he wrote: "I have much to write to you, but I do
not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you
face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

I believe that contained within
those sentences is the key to what reunions give us. John wrote: "I
hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be
complete". Our joy is made complete, we share our love of one
another and our spirits are renewed and refreshed, in the presence of those we
love, our joy is made complete.

We have many family members in our
lives who are not blood relatives, but who are made brothers and sisters
through the blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Many of those we have not seen
for many years and may never see in this life, but they are no less missed and
loved.

Of course there is the great
reunion yet to come for Christ and His children. Several hymns come to mind
with phrases such as: "Face to face with Christ my Savior,"
or "What a happy day it will be when my Savior's face I see."
I'm sure you could list many, many more, but these express the basis of our
faith don’t they? It's all about reunions. Reunions with loved ones, reunions
with other Saints we have never met, and the great reunion with our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ and His Father.

I don't know about you, but I'm
looking forward to that reunion. 1
Thessalonians 4:13f gives us some insight into the reunion with those who
have gone on before us. But we will only attend the reunion if we first accept
the invitation to come. Jesus said in
Revelation 22:17, "The Spirit and the bride say,
"Come!" And let the one who hears say, "Come!" Let the one
who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life." And in verse
14 Jesus said, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that
they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into
the city."

Do you want to attend the reunion?
It's all about being a blood relative in Christ. Another old hymn reminds us,
"There is power in the blood," and asks, have you been cleansed by
the life giving blood, washed and made part of a new eternal family? I'm
planning on going to my family reunion, the one at the local pizza parlor and
the one in heaven that provides for all of my needs for eternity. What about
you?

IF THE CREEK DON'T RISE

I had a conversation with my oldest son this past week about
the meaning of the phrase, "The good Lord willing and if the creek don't
rise." I've heard that phrase all of my life and never really thought
about it. For us it always meant that if the water in the creek (crick or
stream) got high it would prevent you from traveling.

I did quite a bit of searching and found there is no
agreement as to the source of the phrase, nor what is the true meaning of the
phrase. One of the more colorful claims is that Colonel Benjamin Hawkins
(1754-1816) first penned these words. It is said that he wrote in response to a
request from President Washington to travel to the capital. It is supposed to
have been written in reference to The Creek Indian Nation; so if The Creek rose
up, he would be unable to leave his post. I like this explanation, but there
doesn't seem to be enough evidence to prove it conclusively.

To tell you the
truth I think I still prefer the local concept of the saying referring to the
local streams (creeks) raising and preventing travel, especially in the times
of storms. Living in the Mid-West we have seen many of those this year and
many, many creeks overflowing their banks.  

Of course it is
the first part of the saying which is really important isn't it. It follows the concept
found in James 4:13-15 of God being
in control of our world. Notice what James writes:

"Now
listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend
a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what
will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a
little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the
Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"

There
is no questioning of the fact that storms often come into our lives. The thing
about storms is that you can never completely plan for them in advance. Their
intensity varies greatly with each occurrence; they are simply never the same. The
truth of the matter is that the only way you can survive is truly trusting in
The Lord. We live in an uncertain world and as James says, you ought to say, 'If it is the
Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'"

I
don't know about you, but I still have a problem in putting that into practice.
So often I plan my plans in infinite detail and then pray that The Lord will
allow things to work out as I have planned. We (and I) need to learn to involve
God in our plans from the very start, before we put the first line on our to do
list or our itinerary.

I
pray that things go as you plan in your life, "The Good Lord willing and if the creek don't rise!"

YOU ONLY LIVE....

I was talking with a man today about some of his life goals.
I told him many of those sounded good and someday, perhaps I would get to do
some of the things he mentioned. He replied with the well know American cliché
"Do it now, after all you only live once!"

Later in the day I reviewed that conversation and thought,
"that's really not a true statement." The truth is that you only get
one life here on this earth, but if you live a life obedient to God you get a
much better second life!

Maybe that is what we have so many miserable and depressed
people in our world today. They honestly believe that if they don't get to
experience everything they want before they die, their life will be a failure. They
believe that they have missed the experience of "living fully." The
advertisers of this world make that claim everyday don't they? If you don't
drive their car, drink their beer, travel on their mode of transportation or have
not ended up at their destination, then you have not fully lived. They make
their living trying to make you believe that you are missing out on something
essential to your happiness.

It seems to me that most people in this world are miserable
and depressed because they have lost hope of things ever getting better in
their lives. They know they are not in the position to do or have all of the
things the advertisers say they need to make them happy; therefore they are
convinced that they are unhappy. They have forgotten the most important thing
about hope! Hope that is true hope is about something entirely different. The
Psalmist wrote in Psalm 62:5, "Yes,
my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him."

If
you are hoping against hope for something better, perhaps you need some
direction as to what to hope for that really matters. The apostle Paul wrote to
some folks who were having a "hope" problem. Listen to his word of
encouragement: "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to
be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like
the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and
rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have
fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are
still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not
precede those who have fallen asleep", (1 Thessalonians 4:13-15).

Jesus
said that he is the resurrection and life and for those who believe in him, for
those who obey his word, you can have a second life. You can have a life that
goes on forever with the son of God.

So
what are you hoping for? What are you planning for? What is on your list of
things to do before you die? If it's not serving God, then you will "only
live once." Why? Because the second life is one you live with God. Oh, and
just in case you are wondering, there is a "second death," take a
moment and ready Revelation 21:8 to find out more.

Russ
Lawson

The Fourth

The Fourth of July is one of my favorite of all of the
American holidays! It always has been! Even when I was a young boy I
understood, at least somewhat, the sacrifices it took to make our country what
it is. I have always loved to read and in my younger days I came into contact
with lots of patriotic writings. I actually dreamed of the day when I could fly
a flag outside of my own home and let everyone know how proud I was of our
country.

My father was a WWII Navy veteran and I followed his example
and joined the Navy also. I never had to go to distant shores as he did or walk
patrols on deserted beaches of South Pacific islands as he did, but I wanted to
keep our country great if my participation would help, I chose to do that.

With the Fourth of July celebrations we keep alive the
memory of all that it took to make our country both free and great. We remember
those who were willing to give whatever it took to make sure that their
descendants were able to live free. To have freedom of religion, freedom from
persecution, freedom from unreasonable government control, freedom to live
where they wanted and pursue career and raise their families without
intervention by the government.

In the 1942 movie, "Holiday Inn" there is a
"Song of Freedom" that has some tremendously powerful words. Notice
just a few:

"I'm singing
a song of freedom; For all people who cry out to be free;

Free to sail the
seven seas, Free to worship as we please;

If the birds up
in the trees can be free, Why can't we?

Free to speak and free to hear; Free from want
and free from fear

Sons of freedom far and near who agree, Sing
with me, That all God's children shall be free."

(If you have never watched the movie I highly recommend it).

Notice what the apostle Paul had to say about true freedom: Romans 8:16-21,
"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's
children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs
with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also
share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in
eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was
subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who
subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its
bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children
of God."

Enjoy your Fourth of July celebration, but don't forget that
our freedom, both physical and spiritual was bought by the sacrifice of
another. Of course our true freedom is only through our love of and obedience
to Jesus Christ.

Who is my neighbor?

"Who is my neighbor," is an age old question and
probably has many answers, but basically it is anyone you come into contact
with. 

We have been living in our Motorhome full time for the past
few weeks and for the most part enjoying it. The spot we have been in has been
surrounded by two families with a combination of 6 or 7 smaller children.
Melody and our little dog, Chewy, have made a great impression on them (I guess
it's the grandmother coming out). Yesterday we moved from that spot to another
location in the RV park. As we were packing up and getting ready to move one of
the little boys came up to me and ask, "Hey Neighbor, what are  you doing?" After we finished up packing
all of them gathered around and hugged Melody, petted the dog and posed for
pictures and two of the little boys picked flowers (budding weeds) and gave
them to Melody. Definitely the grandmother coming out!

As I thought about that incident I thought about the few
words from that little boy, "Hey Neighbor…" We both had talked with
them and their parents, (nice folks struggling with different problems). What
did we do to earn the title, "Neighbor"? Is it as simple as being
nice, listening to small boys tell you about the birds they saw? Could it be as
simple as spending time talking with a mother with several small children and
giving her some "adult" time? Is it as simple as letting the father
tell you a little about his day and his work? Perhaps it is….

Jesus was asked in Luke
10 "who is my neighbor" and he told a story about a Samaritan,
ever heard it. It is a story of a man who went to extremes to assure the needs
of another were met; it was all about giving what was needed at the time. I
would say that it is not always about money or things. Sometimes people just
need other people to care enough to stop and listen for a few minutes and show
that you care.

Who is your neighbor?

Russ Lawson

Father's Day

Father's day is here once again. How do I know? It's the
commercials! Everything you see or hear is telling you what is the best gift to
buy for your father and frankly I'm a little tired of it. How is it that a day established
to honor fathers has become a marketing ploy?

I don't golf, don't need a new car, I have all the after
shave I can use and I don't need another tie. Whatever happened to the simple
things? The days when the kids made you breakfast in bed or gave you a handmade
card? What about the simple hug around the neck and the best words in the
world, "I love you dad". It is the time spent together sharing a meal
and talking about our lives, sharing what makes us happy or is breaking our
hearts. I don't know about you, but I've been given "things" through
the years, but have very few of them now. The things that I have held on to are
the cards and the hugs, those special words and special times together.

How did our society go from intimate relationships with the
father to trying to imitate love through the giving of money or things? Back in
the 1970's there was a song by Harry Chapin that came out called, "Cat's
in the cradle". The song dealt with the life of a father and son. The
father was so busy making a living that he never had time for the son and when
the son became an adult he never had time for the father… life got in the way
of living.

Perhaps that's what has happened with our relationship to
our Heavenly Father. Most of the surveys I have seen show that church attendance
in our nation has declined in the past 50 years. The same surveys show that
many, many more mothers attend a church than do fathers (the example to young
men). It seems that we are so busy trying to survive, trying to make a living,
trying to enjoy life to the fullest, that we just don't have time for our
Heavenly Father anymore. We try to compensate for it by giving larger
contributions so that someone else might be hired to fill our place.

The greatest commandment, according to Jesus is to love
the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37). If you don't, how will your children learn to do it
and how will they return it to you?

Another
favorite passage of mine is found in Deuteronomy
11:18-22 where God gives some special instructions to fathers. He says:
"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols
on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children,
talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when
you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses
and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many
in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the
heavens are above the earth. If you carefully observe all these commands I am
giving you to follow, to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him
and to hold fast to him…" It seems it is about relationships and
actually TALKING about what is most important…

Can
you say "priorities"? Perhaps that is the key! Oh and Happy Father's
Day!

Doing the Dance

I was talking with a coworker Daryl the other day about the
flow of the work we do behind the counter. It's a small space and we often have
to dodge one another or reach around one another to get to a particular piece
of equipment, computer or stack of papers. As the "trainee" I watched
him one day and told him that he "had the dance steps all down". In
other words, he had a pattern of movement, he knows how to move efficiently and
reach each machine or paper as it was needed.

When we serve our God we do the same thing according to a
pattern shown us in the New Testament. Paul encouraged Timothy regarding the
pattern he followed in

2 Timothy 1:12a-13 where he wrote: "Yet
this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am
convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and
love in Christ Jesus."

I
remember seeing an advertisement many years ago for a program to teach you how
to dance. You took paper cutouts that looked like shoe soles and placed them on
the floor in a particular pattern. Then you practiced following that pattern
with your own feet as you taught yourself to dance. If it worked everyone was
happy.

God's
Word gives us the pattern, the steps to follow for us to make God happy and to
be happy ourselves. If you want to know how to serve God, then follow the
pattern. Many today are telling you that the pattern of God's word is outdated
or no longer relevant, but that's not true. God has given us His Word and he
intends for it to last forever with no additions or subtractions. Now you can
argue with me about that, but how are you at arguing with God.

Jesus
himself said, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If
anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described
in this scroll.  And if anyone takes
words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person
any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this
scroll." (Revelation
22:18-19)

So
could it be that as you dance through this life you need to pay a little closer
attention to the pattern which God has laid down for us?