Honor Them

Memorial Day in the US is when we honor all those that have gone before us. It is a special and somber time.

Honor Them

“Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
we will also live with him;

…Keep reminding God’s people of these things.”

(2 Corinthians Verses 11 & 14)

Celebrate Memorial Day, pray for all who served; who went before us and all those that we love.

            For several years my son-in-law Rick played in the 451^st Fort Smelling Army band. We went to a lot of parades and concerts and had a lot of fun. At each concert they traditionally played the military anthems of the Coast Guard, Army, Marines and Navy while the veterans in the crowd stood and saluted. Each time my eyes teared up with emotion when I thought what these people had done for all of us.

            There are places in the world where my writing these messages would be prohibited and criminal. That is not the case here. What makes America great is our freedom of speech, the ability to express ourselves and to hear from the other side in a common language. Abraham Lincoln said it like this:

“I am nothing but truth is everything.

I know I am right because I know that liberty is right,

for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God.”

Thought for Today: Today let us remember all who have gone before us and be thankful.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord and Father, today we give thanks to all of those who have gone before us; those who have contributed to our lives today. First all of those who fought in our military that contributed to our freedom; second to our family ancestors who built or traditions and lifestyle; and last to Jesus who gave us grace. Amen

Temptations?

Temptations?

Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
 (Proverbs 4:vs.23)

           

            Oh yeah, here we go again on being good, not succumbing to temptation. We sure get tired of that don’t we?  In twelve step programs there is a lot of talk about the goal of spiritual growth rather than spiritual perfection.  I guess that means we will never be perfect. I am OK with that.

            This proverb goes on and on about being good by mentioning “…guard your heart, your lips, look straight ahead etc.” I did not print it all because WE ALL KNOW THAT!

            I ask but do not want to know your specific temptations and I have no intent on sharing mine. The bad news is we all have them. The good news is that the Lord is with us. . Purity, ethics, commitments and standards begin in our hearts.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

(Mathew 6:21)

Thought for Today: Each day we need to be the best that we can be. Today we will make choices. Let us make them from our heart- in purity with ethics, commitments and high standards.

Prayer for Today: Today we give thanks for your presence in our lives and the way that you guide us. Today we pray that we will rise above our temptations and represent your will here on earth.

Amen

The Navigator

Note: June and I are on the final day of our annual trip to visit our family and friends in the UK and New England. We have been travelling since April 24^th, flown back across the pond, drove 1127 miles in a left handed six speed, helped our grandson at Boston college move from his dorm, planted flowers on mom’s family resting place and attended church with friends in Sterling Mass. With all of that we have missed seeing many of our friends along the way who we would like to see. Tonight we arrive home to Minneapolis and get the best treat of all: The best part of any vacation is the first night home sleeping in your own bed!

Bless you all for being our friends!

The Navigator

"The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail."
(Isaiah 58:11)

            Often when we wake up in the morning we do not have a plan. Sometimes we are energized and happy other times we are stressed and depressed. Many times we need to adjust our thoughts to the spiritual side of the balance scale. We need to open the windows to our mind and allow God's fresh breeze to liberate us when we are down. This morning June and I are in Massachusetts on the twenty second day of a long trip that included the UK and I am waiting for the breeze.

        When waiting for the breeze, there seems to be a need. In my case that need is often met with strong coffee, sugar and perhaps some Ibuprofen. That is not the best solution. It has a physical and temporary lift, but the need is better met spiritually.

        This morning the need was met through prayer. The breeze that arrived came through Isaiah 58:11. Sometimes we forget what we need. We forget that God is with us; we leave Him in the back seat rather than use Him as navigator for the day.
As navigator He will take us to places that we would not have gone on our own.

Thought for Today: Today there will be stress, problematic decisions and times of anguish. We need to focus and remember that "God is with us" and we need to let Him lead. We need to pray over the tough decisions and focus on following His will.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we pray for your guidance. We need to understand our immediate world and area of control and also understand the happenings around the global World. Neither seems very well organized today. We pray that we can find a way to contribute through you to help your will prevail in tough situations.
Amen 

Finishing Again

Finishing Again

"It is better for you to finish now what you began last year.
You were the first, not only to act,
but also to be willing to act.
On with it then and finish the job."
2 Corinthians 8:10-11

         In the spring my thoughts gravitate toward the good old days when my friends and I trained 10 -14 hours a week for endurance events. The camaraderie or the group, the support offered by the group when one of us was having a bad day and the feeling of spirituality in the early mornings as we traveled on our way was priceless. In 2008 on June’s and my 40^th anniversary celebration many of my former training buddies came and the warm feelings were instantly present. There was an interesting bond.

        As an unranked runner but former elite masters swimmer and Triathlete, there were many times that finishing a running event near the bottom of the pack was more rewarding to me than a swimming or triathlon trophy. A trophy is a nice memento, but over time becomes unimportant dust collector. As an elite you are supposed to be near the top, but that really is not what it is about.

        In the early 80's my friend Billy and I ran a half marathon. He finished a good half hour ahead of me and felt great. I was not ready and thought I was going to die out there. The following year, Billy was again a half hour ahead of me but I met my personal goals and expectations. I fondly remember that day and have that finishing picture on my office wall. It reminds me that being at the bottom of the pack is not a bad thing when you are at the top of your game. The goal is personal, to be the best YOU can be.  Neither of us won that event or our age group. Both of us were proud winners because we finished. Life is like that- when we finish what we start, we win.

Thought for Today: It is spring, a time of renewal. God brings us flowers, green grass and warm temperatures. It is easy to be busy enjoying it all and put a few serious issues on that famous "back burner". Today let us identify what we need to finish; who we need to help; who needs our prayers; who could use a visit. Let us complete the tasks that the Lord has put before us.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, we need your guidance on how to use your love to succeed. In our cities, our neighborhoods and the world we pray that we can find a way to contribute so that your love will somehow "finish" the race for peace and security.
Amen 

Pride and Humility

Pride and Humility

“Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud,

but humility comes before honor.”

(Proverbs 18:12)

            My mom used to use some interesting terms and expressions when describing humanity. One of her favorites was “fool hardy” when someone did something out of line. Another was that “It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Somehow, when we are proud in the context of today’s text, we are not paying attention. When we kid ourselves with false pride, it helps us grow to have an appreciation for the realities of life.

            We are often overconfident. It seems that the younger we are the more likely we are to suffer from “cockiness”. Somehow that is God’s way of teaching us. We constantly have to monitor our pride and confidence. The elders of society have knowledge and experience but are not always correct. Technology and society are changing faster than fifty years ago. Therefore many of the rules of life have changed.

In our spiritual lives, the rules have not and will not change. We need to take inventory on our pride and be real. The ethics, love and traditions taught to us by Christ will endure regardless of technology changes and cash flows. We need to hold up our values to serve the Lord in an ever changing world.

Thought for Today: Every day is the first day of the rest of our lives. The mistakes and experiences of our past are nothing more than learning experiences and enable us to move forward with confidence. Today let us focus on being humble and dealing with the realities of our individual worlds.

Prayer for Today: Heavenly Father, today we give thanks for the lessons we have learned and the great loves that we have. Through all that Jesus taught us and what we learned from the past, thank you for putting it before us.

Amen

Our Fortress

Our Fortress

“God is our refuge and strength,
   an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
   and the mountains quake with their surging.

The LORD Almighty is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

(Psalm 46 vs. 1-3 & 7)

            Folks, there certain beliefs that were instilled in me by my dad who was an engineer. His thoughts were reinforced by many of my instructors at engineering school. One of them was that engineers are not writers because we think in numbers and theorems. Everything in an engineer’s life is parallel or perpendicular to something! They do not teach us in geometry that the prettiest distance between two points is a curved line!

Today’s message is do not believe that stuff. Good news friend and spiritual mentor of mine, George from Minneapolis wrote the following poem. He is an engineer. Remember the punch line.

Psalm Forty-Six

By George Ewing

With the rising sun God starts our day

We check our schedules and are on our way

In our hearts we may feel a twinge or a prod

Be still, and know I am God!

As we look to those with lives in doubt

Many homes are lost and families shut out

We bring them in with a prayer and a nod

Be still, and know that I am God!

The phony games of life we choose to play

We do not seek to know God’s will for our day

Strange voices about Jesus may seem very odd

Be still, and know that I am God!

Now as I kneel down before the cross

Has life passed by leaving me at a loss

Then Jesus’ arms pick me up from the sod

Be still, and know that I am God!

Thought for Today: God is our rock, our fortress and our love.

Prayer for Today: Today Lord we give thanks to people like George, the contributions they make to our lives by helping us to remember You.

Amen

Patriot's Day in America!

Tomorrow is Patriot’s Day in Boston. There will be a marathon and sad memories of two young mid-easterners with bombs. My focus is not on the bombers, it is on the 120^th Boston marathon and our future,

 Patriots Day

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,

but only one gets the prize?

Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.

They do it to get a crown that will not last,

but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

(1 Corinthians 9 vs. 24& 25)

            Growing up in Boston we celebrated Patriots day. That gave me two choices to write about today; Paul Revere’s ride or the Boston Marathon. There is a similarity and it is not direction!

            The marathon involves over 30,000 participants, one lady and one male will make a six figure pay check and be declared winners. As many as twenty others will receive appearance money and have a good pay day. The majority will receive personal gratification, be the recipient of a great engine for their body from their training and recognition for a great effort. That is all they want. They do it out of the passion that endurance runners have and the feeling of accomplishment.

            In 2013 two young terrorists interrupted things a bit at the finish line. That was a sad day for all involved and it infuriated Americans and the free world. It pointed out to us that there is a world war in process and that somehow we need to function normally through it. There are 32,000 registrants today doing just that!

            In 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes raced out of Boston with a message that the British were moving out. Their message to the people of greater Boston was the call to arms. Unfortunately, Paul did not get very far because he was picked up in west Cambridge by a British patrol. However he did get the poem named for him, I guess William Dawes did not rhyme as well! They were both on a mission to benefit humanity, both were unselfish and both are American heroes.

            I talk a lot about being fit; in spirit mind and body. Life is not a sprint. It is a marathon. We need to race it and live it with our eye on the ultimate prize that is promised through our faith.

Thought for Today: For today let us focus on our race for the prize. Let’s take a step closer to perfection.

Prayer for Today: Dear Lord today we pray for the safety and success of the many runners in Boston. May they be blessed with fitness and great memories.

Amen