Enjoy a Peaceful Smoky Mountain Retreat

If you are contemplating a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains, please consider visiting our lovely three-bedroom rental cottage, Rocky Top, located in the Hidden Mountain Resort in Sevierville, Tennessee.

Love Thy Neighbor Enough to Vote

My normal posts consist of motivational and inspirational matters. Some might consider this one informational and it is. That is a field of thought deserving the optimum attention by Christians if they are concerned about these issues:

• The fate of pre-born human beings

• Freedom of speech

• Freedom of religion

• Freedom of the media

• The right to peaceful assembly

• Equal justice and equal opportunity under the law

• Personal security and public safety

• Home and family life

• Education

• Economic and vocational freedom

• Free enterprise

• Private property rights

• Foreign policies and America’s role and responsibilities in world affairs

The two candidates for President have positions on each of these issues. Do you? If so, vote for the candidate whose positions and yours are most alike.

Does your pastor ever touch on these issues? If not, share the following from the pen of Dr. Jefrey D. Breshears:
“Many Christians have been led to believe that we should be apolitical so as to eliminate any unnecessary distractions or impediments in our witness to others.” However, Jesus “when asked, ‘Rabbi, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind.’ This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” – i.e., “Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you” (Matt. 22:36-39; 7:12).

“Now my question is this: How can we possibly love others if we are unconcerned about the kind of laws and public policies and programs that regulate (and often control) their lives? How can we possibly love others unless we are sensitive to – and attentive to – not only their religious and spiritual lives, but their physical, material, emotional, social, intellectual and creative needs as well? In other words, how can we truly love others if we care little about the quality of their lives in any holistic sense?”

If you have a friend and/or pastor who might benefit from this approach please share it with them. Visit the post of Dr. Breshears for more at:  www.TheAreopagus.org.

Time Out

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90: 12).

This is an appeal for God to teach us the certainty and brevity of life. Many live as though life is unlimited and certain. Both are false. This poignant verse teaches us to prioritize wisdom and cultivate a deeper understanding.

Understanding that our days are numbered helps us to live more purposefully, making choices that align with eternal values that lead to a more fulfilling life. God wants to partner with us in this. With Jesus Christ in control, life is an adventure, a challenge, and an investment for eternity. A knowledge of Scripture, meditating on it, prayer, and the Holy Spirit are means of guidance.

Pray: “Lord, help me by Your Spirit and Your Word to grow in wisdom throughout the days You give to me. Amen.”

So, the question is what are you waiting for?

Tomorrow is the chain that binds people to loathsome habits. Tomorrow is the barred and bolted door that shuts people out of the house of their dreams. Tomorrow is the downward path that leads people into the land of regret. Tomorrow is the siren’s song that seduces people from the path of duty. Tomorrow is the sleep that paralyzes the energies of people. Tomorrow is the sword of self-destruction on which people fall. Tomorrow is the word carved over the door of the realm of the lost.

Today is God’s time for action.

“Today if you hear My voice…”

“Boast not yourself of tomorrow.”

“Behold NOW is the accepted time…”

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. You might enjoy it so much today you will want to do it again tomorrow.

Albert Schweitzer, who had four PhDs, said, “The only one among us who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

So getter done! Commit yourself to finding and following God’s will every individual day. You can subscribe to doing whatever you do as to the Lord.

As of this day it is my day number 33,791. I know my number is fewer than ever. It matters little. What matters is that every remaining one be lived as unto the Lord. Join me in that resolve.

“Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).

“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4: 14).

Therefore, enjoy today to the fullest. May it be pleasant and productive.

Imperfect People Make a Difference

There are some things I don’t like about Donald Trump. He is curt, caustic, rude, abrasive, terse, self-ingratiating, egotistical, he calls people names, and dozens other reasons, BUT…

There are things I do like about Donald Trump, things not found anywhere else, anywhere. I like his stance on the borders, energy (drill baby, drill), the economy, foreign affairs, justice, taxation, education, and dozens of other things.

For me the latter grouping trumps the former grouping. The first grouping relates to his personal traits and the latter grouping his political positions.

For which do you think we will be electing a president, personality or positions? I may not like the way he does things, but I like the things he gets done. Even though they are not perfect, but they are done better than anyone else, repeat, anyone else on the ballot.

A flawed character isn’t a commendable character trait. A prudent political posture is preferable.

Could the two groups above be transformed into material substances and put on a balancing scale the political assets would outweigh the personal liability.

We will not be electing a pastor, but a president. Few pastors would make a good president. Fewer presidents would make a good pastor.

The Bible tells of many characters with flaws that were used by God, such as Abraham a liar, Moses was a murderer, David was a murderer and an adulterer, Rachel a nomadic kleptomaniac, Aaron made an abominable idol, Solomon the world’s greatest sex addict had 1,000 sexual partners, with rare exception, all the kings that followed Solomon had mammoth issues in their lives, and the prophets struggled with impurity, depression, and broken families, Peter rebuked the Lord and denied Him three times. Yet, the days came for each when God used all of them.

If a perfect God can use an unholy cast of characters like this He can use Donald Trump.

The imperfection of these is not a license for us to sin more and abuse the mercy that God has showered on our lives. Don’t use these as an excuse for your shortcomings.

I have read biographies on a number of former Presidents and each lacks perfection. Some fell way short of the standard of perfection, yet they were used of God.

Martin Luther popularized the phrase, God uses crooked sticks to draw straight lines. It’s a clever phrase that communicates the notion that God works through imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will. Though I believe God calls us to be transformed in our thoughts, words, and actions (Rom 12:1-2), and to strive for spiritual and moral purity (1 Pet 1:15-16), the reality is that He does not wait for us to be perfect before He uses us.

God uses imperfect people to make a difference. Spiritually we are made perfect in Christ. Even then we continue to make mistakes.

When Is Jesus Coming?

“Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ” (II Thessalonians 3: 5).

Some people exhaust themselves over the details of the next coming of Jesus Christ. They search for passages that will afford them details. Much time is spent delving into minute details of His glorious coming, hoping to find details overlooked for millennia that will confirm their belief His coming is near. They search for details regarding the hour of His coming while they should search for the conduct of prepared people.

Establish the fact that His coming is imminent, though not necessarily immediate. Imminent means His coming might be imminent, but it may be another 10,000 years. Live every day as though it is the day, but don’t delve so deeply you fail to be busy serving Him when He comes.

The text noted above indicates two things for which to pray: love and patience.

Your heart is to be a contemporary citadel for these two.

Jesus is the restorer of these two.

There are more than 650 Bible verses devoted to five key euphoric words: joy, rejoice, glad, happy, and delight. This indicates the life of joy is the intent of the Father.

Holy vivacity reveals spiritual vigor and results in victory.

The Hebrew word for strength, “mazo,” refers to the inner “fortress,” the heart, the inner you, is a stronghold of the Lord. It overcomes anxiety and stress and enables one to have love and patience.

In this fortress a New Testament principle prevails.

“Let the peace of God rule in your heart” (Col. 3: 15).

Robert Louis Stevenson said: “Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in good fortune or misfortune at their own private pace like the ticking of a clock during a thunderstorm.”

The loving heart that is patiently waiting for Jesus is never stressed over minutia or anxious regarding His coming.

“Wait on the Lord, run not before Him.” Jesus said the Father had not revealed the hour to the Son. If He doesn’t know, why should we know?

The certainty of His coming should satisfy everyone. Avoid date determining and time certainty.

We don’t know for sure and can’t know for certainty when He is coming, but we do know with confidence He is coming.

Exercise the Jesus patience.

To Give or Not to Give

Consider the following in light of the proposal to give citizens money for housing and education which would entail a step toward national bankruptcy.

Following is a speech by Davy Crockett (House of Representatives 1827-1831, and 1833-1835) regarding giving government relief to the widow of a Naval officer. He said in part the following.

“Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much of our own money as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week’s pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.”

“I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member upon this floor knows it. We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money.”

“There are in that House many very wealthy men—men who think nothing of spending a week’s pay, or a dozen of them, for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Some of those same men made beautiful speeches upon the great debt of gratitude which the country owed the deceased—a debt which could not be paid by money—and the insignificance and worthlessness of money, particularly so insignificant a sum as $10,000, when weighed against the honor of the nation. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving, and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity, and justice to obtain it.”

The gist of the speech is it is not the job of Congress to appropriate funds for personal interest. Yet today members running for office are proposing such charities. There is consideration being given to give first time home buyers $25,000. Another is to give $6,000 to every person entering college.

In a different era Alexander Fraser Tytler gave the following speech. “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

Such is the depiction of a society spiraling out of control. A sure way to continue this decline is to propose to give gifts out of the public treasury. The recipients are sure to vote for those who will promise to give them gifts.

There is a choice and the time is right to make it.