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As I speak internationally to English speakers as well as through an interpreter, some of my greatest joys have been speaking to groups where participation from the audience is possible. Not only do I value the input of those in my conferences, but if they are actively involved (share testimonies, participate in prayer, read Scripture aloud), it is obvious that everyone is with me. I am interested in theological study, Christian writing, historical application of Biblical principles as well as writing as a craft and the current status of the publishing industry as a whole. As a result, I find myself following blogs of those whom I have learned to trust who contribute information in those fields. It occurred to me that blogs are the internet equivalent of audience participation in a conference setting. So, this blog is a result of that discovery. As much as possible (sometimes when I travel I do not have internet access), I will be making weekly posts of how everyday life is related to what God has revealed about Himself in His Word - maintaining one focus on that most important relationship. I would welcome your participation.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Door Jam


Occasionally my husband has been asked to teach a Bible study at the United Nations in Vienna, Austria. As might be expected, the facility is very secure. It takes special permission to get in. There are security guards when you leave.

After he finished one day, I followed him out through the revolving door. Revolving doors are comprised of three or four panels. I think this one had four. My mistake was that I followed him into the same panel. The spacing in these revolving door panels must have been designed for just one person. I should have known that since the security is so tight. I barely fit behind him.

Unfortunately, my big bag did not fit. I was able to get out of the building myself, but my purse was hung in the revolving door. You can imagine my chagrin at having to make my husband wait for me while I asked a guard for help. The guard tried unsuccessfully to retrieve my purse from the inside. He finally had to go to the control room and ask the engineer to release the control on the door. Then he reached in, got my purse and told me to come back through and retrieve it.

I made an embarrassing mistake, but I got over it. I was much more fortunate than 492 people who perished in flames in a 1942 fire in the Cocoanut Grove, a popular night club in Boston, Massachusetts. One of the reasons for the large number of deaths was the single revolving door at the entrance. As the panicked mob attempted to use the door to escape, it became jammed, trapping many of them between the door and the crowd pushing toward it.

Jesus is the Door to Heaven. There is no entrance except through Him. There is no possibility of a door jam because He greets us one by one as we come to Him in faith.

If we don't go through the Door, we would spend eternity in everlasting flames. When the end of time has come, there will be no need for security. There will be gates of splendor but they will never be closed. 

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband....It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates...In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 21:2,12, 25).

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Ladies and Gentlemen

The British television series Downton Abbey has been an overwhelming and surprising success. Not only is it extremely popular in England and America, but it is one of the most viewed exports in Australia, Norway, Belgium, Israel and Iceland and is also a hit in Sweden, South Korea, the Middle East and many other countries. The writer and actors of this series have been blown away by the response.

Richard Munckton from Windsor, Melbourne, Australia posted to Flicker
The New York Times described Downton Abbey as a "British dramedy of manners." Could it be that one of the reasons for its popularity is the refreshing reappearing of good old-fashioned manners - something that has become rather scarce in this day and age?

I know I appreciate it when manners are practiced - when men hold open a door for a woman, when children say "please" and "thank you." Unfortunately, because it is not as common as it used to be, when someone is practicing good manners, they stand out.

Speeches and formal announcements still begin with Ladies and Gentlemen - a greeting considerably more distinguished than Women and Men. When a man is called a true gentleman, that is meant as a compliment. When a woman is referred to as a lady, her gentle characteristics are recognized. Not every woman is a lady, nor is every man a gentleman.

Ladies and gentleman are people of character. Every young female is a girl and every adult female is a woman, but it takes effort to be a lady. Every young male is a boy and every adult male is a man, but it takes work to be a gentleman.

God wants His sons and daughters to be people of good, gentle character. He can even take people with very rough, crude backgrounds and transform them into ladies and gentlemen.

Iris Blue's testimony is a wonderful example of what God can do. She was a very rebellious young person, ran away from home, got involved in drugs and was sentenced to eight years in prison on armed robbery charges. Her attitude in prison was so bad that she had to serve an even longer sentence. After leaving prison, she continued on her path of rebellion until a young man told her about Jesus Christ and how He loved her. She responded to His love and her testimony is that she "knelt down a tramp and stood up a lady."

God's design for Iris was to transform her so she could share HIs love with others, which she does.

True manners are not pretentious. Ladies and gentleman practice manners because they are considerate of others and have a gentle spirit. That is how we should represent our Father. It is part of the the fruit of His Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:23). Let your gentle spirit be know to all men. The Lord is near (Philippians 4:5 NAS).





Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Reboot

I am not high-tech savvy, but I have discovered one thing. Rebooting solves a lot of problems. When your computer or e-reader is frozen, when the electronic camera on either doesn't work or if an accessory plugged into your device decides to stop functioning, reboot.

I have read that rebooting becomes necessary when your computer develops system problems because of running into an endless program loop or your internet connection breaks down. Shutting off your computer and restarting it can stop the loop or repair the connection.

Life is like that as well. Sometimes we allow negativity to loop over and over in our minds until we become non-productive.

As I travel, I often  visit with someone undergoing a problem, they are often frozen in that endless loop of negative thinking. Sometimes he can't see a light ahead because present circumstances are so dire. Often she can't forgive herself for something she has done. Maybe he believes his life is useless because he had not been able to accomplish his dreams. She may tell me how her parents, husband, co-workers give her such negative input that she believes that she has nothing to contribute to her family or her job.

It may be hard to believe, but these conversations are with Christians - people who should know better. It is Satan that wants us to believe the negatives in that endless program loop and be incapable of stopping the loop and repairing the connection.

I listen with a heavy heart to these conversations, pray about any advice God may have for them and without exception have told them that what they need is to go back to the place where they met God in the first place and remember the joy they encountered when they first met Jesus and made Him Lord of their lives. Sin can for a time disturb our connection with God. It is up to us to recognize it and ask Him to restore the joy we once knew. We often need to reboot.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (Psalm 51:12 NIV).

Thursday, May 9, 2013

When The Construction is Done

National Construction

I travel quite a bit in Europe. There are cities I return to time and again and lately have noticed construction everywhere. Road construction, new skyscrapers, remodeling - you name it. Many European cities are currently under construction.

Even though it sometimes makes getting to my destination more difficult (construction crews
slow traffic down, roads are rerouted, sidewalks are blocked because of building cranes, etc.), I am thrilled to see construction in these cities I have come to love. It speaks of prosperity and growth.

Much of this construction has been possible because of the investment by the European Union. The EU invests, rightly so, because the pay off will benefit all of Europe. Where there is construction, there is progress. Inconveniences experienced during the period of construction will be worth it.

Home Construction

I have watched my husband do remodeling and construction work on our home. Skill and patience is required for the process can be very labor intensive. When construction is completed, not only is there a great feeling of accomplishment but we are able to enjoy the benefits of the completed project.

Personal Construction

Ruth Bell Graham, driving through an area where construction had finally been completed, came upon a sign - "End of Construction. Thank you for your patience." She told her husband, Billy, that she wanted that inscription on her gravestone. And so it is.

Author Billy Hathorn/ Comment: I took photo at Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, NC with Canon camera/Date 7/12/2012/ source Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, NC

When I am able to return to the European cities where I have observed construction and when my husband completes a building project, I take great pleasure in the result. The projects were worth the wait and the investment of time and money.

Believers in Christ can only glorify God when we yield ourselves to His patient construction work. He does it all. His investment includes our creation, our salvation through Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit working in and through us. 

God continues working with us until He has completed the goal He had in mind. Certainly, we must try His patience during the process. We should thank Him for His long-suffering toward us. When the work is complete, He will call us home - just as He did Ruth Bell Graham. 

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

When Killing is Necessary

I love my home state of Texas. It is a land of plenty with an amazing array of beautiful landscapes and a large variety of wildlife. That includes snakes - lots of them. I do not love snakes.

In the years I have lived in Texas, I have encountered all four major poisonous varieties of snakes indigenous to our state: rattlesnakes, coral snakes, copperheads and water moccasins.

When our sons were young, we lived in a city that was also home to all four of these snakes. Within a block of our home was a lake. One of the largest water moccasins I have ever seen was found in front of our house. He was dead by the time I discovered him. He had been run over by a car.

While I was mowing one day, I encountered a coral snake in our back yard. Both the snake and our dog were headed for the shaded area underneath our deck. Before our pet saw him, I was able to kill the snake by running over it several times with the lawn mower.

Our sons were taught by their Boy Scout leader to watch for beds of rattlesnakes in the woods behind our house. I warned them to never pick up a stick without checking to make sure it was not a snake. I didn't take my own advice. I was cleaning around the base of a tree one day and the "stick" I was about to pick up moved. Thankfully, I had a hoe in my hand and was able to kill the baby rattlesnake.

We no longer live in that city and my sons are grown now with children of their own, but they must continue to heed my warning about snakes. In the area where we live now, I am still finding snakes. I found a dead one by a wood stack in our back yard. We are also clearing a piece of land outside of town and I have encountered two copperheads there. Both were hidden underneath a pile of leaves that I was raking.

I had been working the better part of the day and was close to quitting when I saw the first one. It was motionless but very much alive. I had my wits about me enough to say a prayer. "Lord, do I leave it and go home or should I kill it?" Immediately, I heard Him say,  "If you leave him, he will be here when you get back." I didn't want to see him again, so I killed him with the shovel I had close by. Several days later, I uncovered the other one and didn't have to ask that time. I killed him too.

I have wondered about the way the Lord answered my question. Instead of saying, "leave him," or "kill him," He said, "If you leave him, he will be here when you get back."

I believe it is like that with sin in our lives. We shouldn't just ignore temptations and walk away - imagining they will not continue to hang around. We must be just as diligent to get rid of sin as soon as it rears its ugly head as I was with those snakes.

In each case, when I encountered a snake, God had provided a tool for me to use to kill it. He has given us the sword of the Spirit, which is His word, to confront temptation and sin. Just as Jesus responded to Satan with the Word of God when He was tempted in the wilderness, so should we.

John Owen, who wrote a little book called Mortification of Sin in Believers (based on Romans 8:13), put it this way: "Be killing sin or it will be killing you."

for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Romans 8:13).