lets boycott the bus

People are planning on boycotting four Fort Worth buses because some group called The Coalition of Reason has paid for signs saying "Millions of Americans are good without God". Well, speaking as a Christian myself, so far I don't see anything offensive. I know lots of good people who don't believe in God; I just didn't know how many to pray for. Well now that question has been answered.

Come on guys, is this new news? Did we just lose our blinders and wake up to reality? Non-christians are all around us and are the reason we're still here. God doesn't plan on his triumphant return until we Christians have reached every lost soul with the gospel. We do mission work in some of the roughest countries in the world yet we can't board a bus in our home town because all of a sudden we realize there is the possibility of sitting next to an Atheist, a Buddhist, a Wiccan, or an Agnostic? Somehow I don't think boycotting buses will reach the lost, nor do I think firing back with Pro-Christian signs is a way to bring souls to Christ. As I read the gospels and follow Jesus's outreach program, you know, where he went to the mountains to proclaim the good news, I don't recall he used sheep dogs to round us up and corner us, nor do I recall where he boycotted groups that believed differently from him. In fact, if memory serves me right, he actually went into the homes of those that had opinions differing from his. He ate with them, healed their sick and washed their feet.

If we truly want to boycott those with differing opinions we have to leave the world, but that's not exactly feasible is it. Thank heaven Jesus didn't boycott this world. He knew there were millions of people down here that "were good without God", yet he left heaven to come and live here so we can learn what we were missing, that there is something better than good; and we can't get on a bus! Give me a break.

Just like the Scribes and Pharisees tried to get Jesus' goat, (and failed), non-believers try to get our goat, and since we fall way short of the righteousness of God, some of us let them. I'm reminded of the song "There ain't no mountain high enough," by Diana Ross and the Supremes. People will do anything for love, supposedly, but they walk around a water puddle in the street before they help someone. Christians are dying for their faith in hostile lands for love of the lost and yet we can't get on a bus. It's just a sign, folks. It's a personal opinion, folks. Its freedom of speech, folks. The same freedom we want, but shouldn't expect according to the gospels that predict we’ll be at odds with father, mother, brother and sister and most of us don’t leave home if our family are non-believers! If we want to post things we believe in, we must be fair and allow others to do the same, barring hate speeches and obscenities.

And the suggestion of Christians firing back with signs of our own agenda; Phooey. That will create an unending cycle. Somehow, in this economy I feel like the money spent on one upping the Coalition of Reason would be put to better use being donated to homeless shelters, Habitat for Humanity, Image no Malaria, The Union Gospel Mission, Safe harbor, to name a few. Why throw money down to show our difference of opinion with non-believers? Aren’t we suppose to love and forgive? Doesn’t God expect us to be good stewards of our resources? Can’t he fight his own battles? After all vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. If he’s offended by the signs I think we should be praying harder than ever for the Coalition of Reason, not boycotting their bus.

Boycott: to cease or refuse to deal with something such as an organization, a company, or a process, as a protest against it or as an effort to force it to become more acceptable. Please show me a scripture to support this!

P.S There are two places in eternity you won't find atheists, heaven or hell.

Psalm 37:1
Luke 23:34
John 17:18
mathew 10:34
Mathew 24:9-13
1 Cor. 5:10
1 peter 3:9-11 the face

Phoenix

Every morning at work we would plug into a wildlife cam and follow the daily life of one small bird. We were first introduced to it as a trivial white egg then a blob of … bobbing white fuzz? Then it grew dark feathers. We would enthuse every time it moved by lifting a wing or sitting on its butt and spreading its tiny perfect little wings. We count to see if our babies have ten fingers and toes, mommy birds count wings. When it strutted to the nest’s edge (an edge enforced with twigs by devoted parents to prevent their youngster from falling out) we all held our breaths, without being aware we were, till it backed away and safely re-centered itself in the nest at a safe distance from the death defying fall it would take to the forest bottom where it would become prey to carnivorous wildlife. We awed every time mom appeared with food. Oh what we learned about parental love! Even birds have it. In fact, sadly, they may abound in it more than some humans.

Mom, or dad, would hold the food with strong talons, take a bite of flesh, lean down and gingerly place the nourishment between small beaks. Such large birds, such a small baby, such gentleness! Occasionally the food would be alive and we’d see a fish flopping around on the floor of the nest. The cycle of life. One life for another.

Nothing dramatic, just day to day survival at its most boring. We watched her progress from white downy chick to dark feathery eaglet, we were there as she learned to walk, stand, hop, jump and perch (hop, jump and perch is not the name of a dance!) We didn’t know we were falling in love. With scientific accuracy we eagerly awaited the climax. The day our baby, the world’s baby, would step off the edge of the nest and fly. We knew what day that would be. July 18th, 2010. Experts knew that it took eighty days exactly till the loving parents escorted the fledgling to the precipice and….pushed her out! Really, it does take love to push our babies out, it’s a natural act and shouldn’t be avoided.

Things had been going on so predictably boring for seventy five or so days we didn’t expect the unforeseeable. One day we turned on our computer, plugged in the website and found….Its hard to say this, we found ….our baby wasn’t moving. She was laying face down, wings spread out, body cold. She had died without apparent reason, just days before she was to soar on the wings of the wind. Just days before her live become more challenging. Just days. And we all saw it. We all cried. We all prayed for her to rest in peace. RIP. We all got on Facebook to seek answers, comfort , support. To share YouTube moments of her transitory seventy five days of life. We were anxious about her parents, twenty-six year old bald eagles. We witnessed them grieve, we watched them observe, perched on another tree, the tree climbers retrieve their child’s lifeless body from the nest. We watched the rescuers lovingly handle the small body. Small? I didn’t realize it was about the size of my Shih Tzu.

The point being we followed an insignificant bit of nature, way in the treetop of a tree way in the wilderness of a country hundreds of mile away from some of us, continents away for most of us and we fell in love and got our hearts broken. That’s what love does to us.
Let’s put this on a bigger scale. Imagine a cam recorder in, let’s say, every house, tent, igloo, RV, hut, trailer, car, office, castle, ditch, cave, farmyard…are you getting the picture? I said imagine, but guess what? This isn’t make believe, we are all being watched in our humdrum day to day activities of daily living. We are all being monitored as our parents care for us, as we care for our children, as we care for our pets, as we turn over in our sleep, when we stub our toes, when we get a splinter in our fingers.

And guess what else? Someone is falling in love with us. No, let me take that back, he’s not falling in love with us, he’s always loved us, without reservation. Guess what else? He cries when we hurt, he grieves when we stray and he’s tuned in when we die. And just like science, he knows what day that will be, that day we step to the edge and take to the air, even though we don’t and shouldn’t! And on that day, just like when our little baby bird was handled lovingly by it’s rescuers, we will be held in strong tender hands and we’ll soar forever with the eagles!

The final Independence day

The final Independence Day

Something like thirty centuries ago a man named Moses, anyone ever heard of him, fought for his people’s independence from the Egyptian government that was placing hardships on his people. You know, killing new born male babies and forcing slaves to build more and more buildings, cities and pyramids with less and less material that they had to provide themselves! If you aren’t familiar with the story rent or buy the great movie The Ten Commandments. (Or just read the book of Exodus, right behind Genesis, in your bible, assuming you know where you put it last!) Moses was aroused to action by God, you know, a guy some Americans believe is some mythical figure in the sky, to free his nation, the people of Israel. How many mythical figures do you know that can persuade million of slaves to follow them through the dessert to a promised land? Well there have been false prophets arise over the years but where are their followers three thousand years later?

And we celebrate yearly that day of independence, first as the Passover, the night when the angel of God passed over Egypt, killing its firstborn child, calf, colt, kitten, puppy, piglet at the same time passing over Israel protectively sparing every living thing. Then latter, a few millennia ago as Easter, the day God in the persona of Christ died on a cross for our freedom from the tyranny of Satan, the prince of the power of the air, the prince of darkness. You know, that other mythical figure that has enslaved us with drugs, delusions, and addictions, making us build more and more webs of entanglement with less and less resources. People at the start of these events set a day aside yearly to remember what God has done for them and us. People who witnessed the actual events and passed the stories, not fables, down to us, people who didn’t believe God was a mythical figure because they saw him in action, felt his breath on their necks, touched his wounds!

Fast forward to the American Revolution where several men heard the call of God. Our God given rights to freedom were once again being slowly removed by another country that was binding us with the yoke of slavery. During the American Revolution the battle cry was, “No King but King Jesus!” and the biggest campaigns for enlistment in the army were done in the pulpits. Preacher after preacher preached “there is a time to preach and a time to fight.” Pastor John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg preached such a sermon; pulled off his clerical robes to reveal his revolutionary army officer uniform and marched off to join General Washington. It’s not a crime for Christians to fight for freedom, the banner of Christ and Old Glory can wave together in harmony!

People could be recruited for the fight for freedom in church because our founding fathers attended it regularly. In fact in 1665 the New York legislature ordered that a church be built in each parish capable of holding 200 people. Our nation was built on Christian principles, the bible was the text book of school children and after the revolution Congress opened (and still does) with the prayers of a paid chaplain. On May 1, 1789 Reverend William Linn was the first paid minister to the House of Representatives, earning a salary of $500 from the federal treasury. How our fathers interpretated separation of church and state eludes me, but somehow they still expected this nation to have God as its ruler, it’s King. Warren Earl Burger, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1969 to 1986 said, “The men who wrote the first amendment religion clause did not view paid legislative chaplains and opening prayers as a violation of that amendment…the practice of opening sessions with prayer has continued without interruption ever since that early session of Congress.”

Our fight for independence was guided by God and God was very much a supporter of our independence as he was very often consulted by those who died for our independence; by educated men who feared and revered God and his principles, men who ran our country. George Washington was frequently seen on his knees (no, not by me!) praying for God’s guidance and many presidents since quoted God or referred to God in their speeches without shame or apology, in this country on public airwaves or in print for all to hear or read. When presidents are inaugurated they place their hands on a favorite bible verse for crying out loud, because they believe in the word of God and if they don’t, well God help them! Are we to believe our country was founded by a group of delusional men who died for a mythical figure and encouraged hundreds of young men and women to die by their sides! Was our country’s freedom won on a hoax! I think not, but then again, I’ve been accused of being delusional because I believe in God!

“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers,” John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Now we are fighting another war for freedom. The freedom to be Christians on Christian soil! Crosses are removed or stolen from public places and hidden, the Ten Commandments are prohibited to be displayed, (mostly because so many Americans violate every one of them daily), prayers aren’t allowed at public functions, we can’t use the word Christmas in December, and on and on the list goes.

It won’t be long now before the argument of whether God is a mythical figure will be resolved. A final war will be fought one day (it will be pretty one-sided actually) and the losers will lose big time! That mythical being will reveal himself to the atheist, agnostic, Satanist, wiccan, and all others who have enjoyed the freedom to be wrong bought for them by the blood of Judeo/Christian martyrs centuries ago, and the battle cry, “No King but King Jesus” will be realized. I can’t wait to be there to see the enlightened faces of those misinformed Americans who are trying so hard to remove God from this land as I cry, “No King but King Jesus! No King but King Jesus! No King but King Jesus!” On that day the shoe will be on the other foot as we see who gets removed from the land! Then they will get to meet that other mythical creature, Satan, now reduced to their level of torment and anguish, and wonder how they let him deceive them! So sorry, so sad, too bad! But hey, Congratulations, now you won’t have to put up with God and his symbols any more.

Gen 1:27
Exodus
John 12:31
Rom 2:12-16
Gal. 5:1
Eph. 2:2
Rev. 1: 7
Revelation 11:15
Rev 20:14-15

running with the big dogs

I know somewhere under here that life exits! I can feel it moving, I can hear it breathing, and can smell its breath, I just can’t see its face! Whoops! That was its tongue, (I hope) that just assailed my chin. It had to be a tongue; although I couldn’t locate any labels I was pretty sure I was holding it right side up! Oh the heck with it, down it goes! I placed the mass of brown, white and black fur on the patio and off it went into the melee, not the least bit intimidated by the size or ferocity of the other dogs. It intended to be a player not an observer in the fun. It may have looked like the black lab was in the lead being followed by the smaller white Shih Tzu but in reality it was being herded by the smaller canine who was being chased by the even smaller… dog I think, not being sure because it was cleverly camouflaged with fur, lots of fur.

Whenever I let Tasha, the lab, out to do her thing (can you guess what that means?), Tessie, the Shih Tzu, feels it’s her duty to dissuade Tasha from lingering about and having any free time away from her. You’d think Tasha having 35 extra pounds than Tessie would be in charge but no, there’s a reason it’s called a Napoleon (in this case Napoleona) complex, and Tessie holds a certificate in it. There they go, around the above ground pool with Tasha in the lead, Tessie close on her heels and Mikki, the newest addition, scuttling along without a clue to the objective but full of exuberance. Oops, Tasha was cornered by the back fence; no, she spun around, sailed elegantly over Tessie and changed course. Mikki halted, confused, but not for long, he had to take crucial action to avoid being trampled by the oncoming duo. He side stepped to safety; no, the wind from the racers blew him to the side since he only weighed four plus pounds! I’m not sure the older dogs even noticed that there was a third participant in the game, though Tessie considered it serious business, keeping Tasha in line and aware of whom the boss was.

Mikki, head held high, (once again, I was only guessing that was the head, he could have been running backwards!) took off behind the group, nibbling at tails, ankles, ears, or whatever. He had no idea what was going on but he was determined to let the two senior dogs know he wouldn’t be ignored; even though he was being ignored. Ignored of course until he body slammed Tessie. Wrong move. Oh so wrong! Tessie turned her brutality on Mikki, but only temporarily because Tasha was still her main objective and her main objective had dashed behind an upside down canoe where she taunted Tessie by slapping the bottom of the vessel (which of course was on the top?????)

Tasha was winded with her pink and black tongue hanging down to her navel (obviously that chow that hits every home in America had visited Tasha’s mom), yet she remained on her hind legs supporting herself upright on the canoe while Tessie yapped viciously at her from the opposing side. I would hate to translate what she was barking into English and loose my dubious standing as a lady!

Mikki, who had gone totally submissive during Tessie’s tirade - lying prone on the ground, paws over his head, tail curled around his body when she was attempting to subdue him a few seconds ago-, took advantage of Tessie’s absolute focus on Tasha prancing up to her where he courageously (or very suicidally) took a morsel from Tessie’s rear; not her tail, her rear! He would not be ignored or treated like a baby, after all he was twelve weeks old, that was old enough to leave home and start a new life. He was a man now, on his own, so to speak, exploring a strange new world, seeking out new life, boldly going where no puppy (er.. twelve week old man/dog) has gone before.

Oh, did Tessie change focus! She reinstated her full attention on Mikki! Poor little Mikki, he was a goner now. Mikki took his punishment like a man and bounced back with determination. Mikki had spunk, even if he was a foo-foo dog with a girl's name,( at least he can't read to know his name has the feminine spelling, but as determined as he is i wouldn't be surprised if he did become literate some day!)

Eventually Tessie galloped up the porch and into the back door with Tasha on her heels. Mikki made it to the steps and comically hit the brakes, as though he had smacked into an invisible barrier. I think he had psyched himself up, chanting to himself, "I can do it! I can do it!" but like Peter on the sea he looked at the steps and faltered seeing the improbability of success. I couldn't squeeze a finger between his belly and the ground so his stubby little walking sticks weren't adequate for stair stepping aerobics! He sat down on his furry behind and stared up at me; once again, that's what I assumed he was doing behind the bushy eye brows and facial fluff that had to be concealing the gel filled orbs used for sight.

Head tilted to one side, but held high, he waited me out. I waited him out. I wanted him to give it a try. Just put one little paw on the step, please. Give it a try. Nope. Nothing. He just sat there like dead weight. And just like Jesus reached down and salvaged Peter from sinking down to his demise I reached down and scooped Mikki up and plopped him into the house where Tessie and Tasha greeted him with doggy bites and head butting. They greeted him! They welcomed him into the house! They weren't ignoring him anymore! How quickly dogs assimilate into packs! All Mikki had to do to prove himself was try to keep up.

Somehow this reminded me of my walk with God. How, you ask? Well, since you asked....Reading my Bible I get overwhelmed by trying to follow the big dogs, Moses, Abraham, Joseph, Isaiah, Paul, John ect. They got their names in print. They accomplished things. They are the big dogs in history. God saw them and called them by name. Whenever I compare myself to them I feel close to the ground, barely able to step up to the mountain. Yet I keep plugging along, snipping at their heels, endeavoring to follow them, getting rebuked by them, yes, rebuked by them via my conscience as I read stories of their achievements, yet I vault back (eventually!) They were after all made of the same soil I was, molded from the same chemicals, exposed to the same Spirit who’s no respecter of persons. I chant to myself, "I can do it! I can do it!" But when I can't, I sit and wait. I sit on my jean clad behind and wait on the Lord, and he waits for me and offers me encouragement. He gives me a chance to pull myself up and if I can't cut the mustard that day he scoops me up and places me in His home where I'm greeted by Paul, John, Peter...whoever happens to be around that day. Big dogs that have had their bad moments yet didn't give up. Big dogs who lived boring everyday lives not fully recorded. They weren't always up to the mission and sometimes they had to change directions. They had down days. They had days when they mixed the colors and the whites while doing the laundry, days they forgot to take out the trash, and worst of all, days they left the toilet seat up (at last, something I’m not guilty of!)

Yes, God knows me by name and has it in print also. I am known to him and I can't wait for him to call for me when the roll is called up yonder, where all barriers are broken down and I can join "the pack" with the other big dogs. Where I won't be ignored!

Math 10:22
Acts 10:34
Hebrews 12:1
Revelation 13:8