Friday, January 29, 2010

War Close To Home


Luis Draco formerly KBR IT and currently ITT recently died at the hands of cowardly terrorists. Cowards who lob mortars and rockets (aka Indirect Fire-IDF) into camps congested with unarmed civilians. I lost a friend this way in the Green Zone. I can’t think of anything else so cowardly! C3 Warhorse is located approximately 35-45 miles northeast of Baghdad on Baquba Airfield.

The above was information from a friend of Luis', Darick Knight. When Luis was killed his daughter, Nev, became an orphan. Nev's mother, Hope, passed away in 2003. Hope was my niece and Nev is my great-niece (grandniece). It is now up to the courts to determine where this little 12 year old girl will live.

It reminds us that the tragedies of grown-up wars too often end up being devastation for the innocent children who have no idea what's going on. It's also a reminder that each of us is only a phone call away from finding out someone we know is a victim.

We don't know where Nev will end up. We must trust in the wisdom of God to help those decision makers make the choice that is best for this little girl.

When you go to bed tonight, say a little prayer for Nev.

Next time you pick up the paper and see that someone has been killed in a war or accident, or that someone has died from a disease or sudden illness or for any reason for that matter, remember that somewhere someone is hurting because they have lost a loved one. Too often they are the tears of innocent children.


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Greatest College Bowl Game Ever...

If you had to choose one college football bowl game as the greatest one ever which one would you choose? Maybe it would be the 1963 Rose Bowl when Wisconsin almost made a great comeback to beat USC, scoring 23 points in the last 12 minutes to close in on a 30 point deficit. Then there was the 1979 Sugar Bowl where Alabama has a fantastic goal line stance keeping Penn State out of the end zone from first and goal at the 8 yard line and hanging on to a 14-7 victory. Then again it could be the triple overtime win in the 2006 Orange Bowl when Penn St. beat Florida State or even the 2006 Rose Bowl where Vince Young led Texas to a win over USC.

But as exciting as these games were as were many others there is one that stands out among all the others. In my opinion that honor goes to a game played on Thanksgiving Day in 1961 called the Mercy Bowl. On that day, Fresno State beat Bowling Green 36-6 before 33,000 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

But it wasn't the game that made this one great. In my view it was why it was played. Today there are over 30 bowl games involving millions of dollars in proceeds to the schools. The teams are playing for the prestige of being a bowl winner and the top ones to be crowned national champions. But not the Mercy Bowl, this bowl had a much higher purpose in mind.

On October 29, 1960 a leftover WWII C-46 Arctic-Pacific charter taxied down the runway of the Toledo Express Airport. Whether the plane made if off the ground in zero visibility is uncertain, but before it left the airport the plane hit and broke apart killing 22 people, including 16 Cal-Poly football players, a manager and booster. It was the first plane crash of an American sports team.

The following year the Mercy Bowl was held to raise money for the medical costs, funeral expenses and families of those on the plane. In a act of kindness and love over $230,000 was raised, the equivalent of over $1.6 million dollars today. What a great game, one played not to honor self but to help those in need. Wouldn't it be great if every year there was at least one bowl game that was played for a cause! A game where the winners were not on the field, but in the hearts of the people. A game where something mattered more than just winning a trophy.

Jesus was a man of compassion. He was always thinking of others more than himself. One of my favorite verses is Mark 10:45, "For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Barnabas once sold a field and gave the money for the poor. Acts informs us how the early church would sell things from time to time and bring the money to the Apostles for those in need. People not only like to help but want to help when there is a need.

The Mercy Bowl is not in the record books as an official bowl game, but it is in the record books in my opinion as the greatest bowl game ever played, not because of the score, not because of the fantastic plays, not because of a fantastic finish, but because it was played out of love for our fellow man. "Carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Gal. 6:2

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Story of the Two Suitcases


If you've ever sent your kids off to summer camp you know the apprehension that comes from releasing them to be basically on their own that first time. I remember the story of a mother who sent her daughter, Janie, off to camp for the first time and after the return home she was complaining to the mother of her daughter's best friend, Mindy.

"When Janie came home you should have seen her suitcase. Every piece of clothing came back filthy and smelly. It took me forever to get all the sand out of her bag and I had to air it out for two days because of mildew from wet towels. It was just terrible."

Mindy's mother listened to her friend then stood in silence a few moments before speaking.

"When Mindy came home", her mother said, " I opened her suitcase and nothing had been touched for the whole week!"

Now ask yourself which was worse, a little girl trying to keep clean ,but at the same time getting all her clothes filthy or a little girl staying dirty all week without trying to be clean? I think it's obvious that as parents we'd much rather have a dirty suitcase arrive back from camp than one untouched!

Sin and prayer in our lives is much the same way. We do wrong, then go and ask God for forgiveness. He forgives us. Then we do wrong and go back to Him again. Again and again and again we go through the process throwing our dirty laundry in and getting clean again.

Then there are those who continue in the wrongful ways of the world, never taking the time to repent and turn back to God. Eventually their lives become so dark that they forget that God is still there to cleanse them.

Which do you think God would rather see? The answer is obvious, He wants us all to keep coming back to him. And every time we do we can leave our dirty laundry with Him and He'll send us away clean. Peter wrote in his second letter 3:9 that "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

So now let me ask you, "How does your suitcase look?"

Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Journey of Charles Coghlan

Charles Coghlan was born in 1841 on Prince Edward Island to a poor Irish family. Neighbors helped him get a good education, but after school he decided that he wanted to be an actor.

Infuriated, his father disowned him and Charles left home to pursue his career. One day he visited a fortune teller who told him that he would be very famous but die in the prime of his career. His soul would never rest until it was buried on his home land of Prince Edward Island.

Charles did become a great popular actor of the late 1800's traveling the States entertaining audiences all over. In the late 1800's he came to Texas and ended up in Galveston. One night on stage he collapsed and died. He was buried on Galveston Island in a lead lined coffin in 1899. Then in 1900 a great hurricane engulfed Galveston Island killing thousands, destroying homes, ripping up trees and uncovering graves. One of those graves was that of Charles Coghlan. Charles' coffin was washed out into the Gulf of Mexico by the waves that overcame the island.

The coffin floated in the salty waters of the Gulf, making it's way around the Florida Keys and into the Atlantic Ocean. The coffin took an eight year journey from Galveston and up the Atlantic coast line, until one day in 1908 a ship saw a box floating in the waters of the Northern Atlantic. Bringing the box aboard the sailors noticed the plaque on the barnacle encrusted box with the name Charles Coghlan. The ship that found the coffin was just off the sandbar coast of Prince Edward Island. Charles Coghlan had come home and was buried not far from the small church where he had been christened as a baby.

Legend or fact this story does have a good point about the journey we all must take before we can truly rest. That journey is life itself. Life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns and can be very stressful at times. The one thing that a Christian has over the world is that he or she has a rest to look forward to in the future and no matter where life takes us we will eventually end up resting in the arms of God.

One nice thing to is that God takes care of us as we make this journey even though we may not know how to get there. "I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; " Is. 42:16

Monday, January 4, 2010

The People in My Church


If you're looking for a church home or just one to visit I thought I'd let you know what kind of people you can find when you come to Southern Hills. It always helps to know something about a group before you walk through the doors, so here are my observations.

When you come to my church you'll find several hypocrites. Then there is just about every sin represented that you can think of. We have liars, cheats, alcoholics, gossipers, complainers and short tempered people just to name a few. There are different viewpoints on just about anything you can think of and some very strongly opinionated folks that hang around. We have people who have been divorced and people who have been in prison. We have people whose marriages are struggling and who are having difficulty raising their children. If you come to my church you'll find a lot of imperfect people.

So if you are looking for a church to visit that is full of perfect Christians you probably should just pass us by. That's one thing you won't find here.

But if you decide to stop by what you will find are a lot of imperfect people who want their lives to be more like Jesus. You will find everyday people with everyday problems who know that the only solution is to turn their lives around to be like our Savior. They do not profess to be better than the people on the street, but do proclaim that they want to be better than they are now.

If you stop by you'll find people who will accept you and love you because they know we all have struggles in our lives. Nobody is perfect. Nobody is without fault. Nobody can stand up and say they have never failed their Lord. At my church there are people of all areas of life with all kinds of struggles who just want to do better.

So if you want to find a place where people are just like you. If you want a place where you can be loved and accepted no matter what has taken over your life. If you want a place where you will see people of various colors and races, people with suits and street clothes, people of all classes of life, people old and young and people of all education levels mingling together, worshiping together and loving each other for whose they are and not who they are then you might want to stop by and give us a try.

I remember the story of a man who had the opportunity to see what Hell was like. When he got there he saw a big long table with all sorts of food on it. Everyone sitting at the table were thin and starving. The reason was that they all had four foot spoons tied to their hands and they couldn't get the food to their mouths. The man said he didn't like this so asked to see what Heaven was like. When he got there it was the same scene except the people were well fed and happy. The difference was where in Hell they couldn't get the spoons to their mouths, in heaven they were feeding each other.

At my church you can be assured you will be well fed!

Friday, January 1, 2010

I Am Resolved...



As I stepped on the scales this morning the LED screen came on flickered a little then went blank. Maybe it needs a new battery I was thinking, but I stepped off and then on again. Nothing. But the battery isn't that old was my thinking so I tried it one more time. This time it worked but when it stopped on my weight I was positive it needed a new battery since the number was obviously inflated!

It's that time of year again. Everyone is making their New Year Resolutions. Mostly I see the same ones in some form or fashion: lose weight, get in shape, quit some bad habit. read the Bible daily, get organized, get out of debt, keep in touch with family, etc. The list goes on and on; same lists new year.

In reality they aren't really resolutions, but admirable goals. You see, a goal is something we want to achieve. It's something to shoot for and keep in our sights. If we don't reach it we'll try again. Every year I set goals, most of which are not kept to the one hundred percent level, but only in part. I can only remember keeping one New Year resolution in my life.

A resolution on the other hand is the way we approach our goals. We are looking for reSOLUTIONS to areas we feel we are lacking. We're trying to find a way to solve them and make ourselves a better individual. To be resolved means to make up your mind that you are going to be successful. To be resolute carries the meaning of being firm, stubborn, steadfast, tenacious and unwavering.

The reason we don't keep our resolutions is primarily because we don't have a resolute attitude. Many of us start out and then get the "loser's limp". You know what that is don't you? You've seen it. You watch a race and see an athlete who sees that he is going to lose usually in an embarrassing way so to save face he reaches back and grabs the back of his thigh as if he's pulled a muscle or maybe she starts hoping on one foot as if she turned an ankle. The crowd responds with empathy and the athlete doesn't look so bad for not fulfilling his or her goal. They were saved by the "loser's limp".

Paul wrote to the Corinthians "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."

As you consider your goals, if they are worthy make them true resolutions. But make the first one to be like Jesus. Then, when you have achieved them you can be as Paul when he said in a letter to Timothy "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

As I sit here writing this and sipping on my cup of black coffee, I'm reminded of the only New Year resolution I really ever kept made some 30 years ago. No more sugar or cream in my coffee. Not a biggie, but it does show that anything we set our minds to can be accomplished and stuck with.

Have a great New Year. For me, I'm changing the battery out of my scales today.