Baby Izzy

On Friday, Grandpa "Pooh" got to hold baby Isabella "Izzy."

It's a very beautiful day in God's world.

friendship

A friend is someone who knows the song of your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

The Book of Revelation

Is Covid-19 a sign of the end of time? Are we in the last days? I have heard several fundamental folks say that we are. One suggested that you won't be able to buy or sell unless you get the vaccine.

In response to these silly speculations, I want to provide a video of a presentation that I did on Revelation in 2014.

If you like it, feel free to pass it along. It is Revelation and Baptism from the view of one Methodist. Your fundamentalist friends won't care for it.

click the link below to watch or cut and paste it into your browser.

click here to watch


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTvlF5X07P4&fbclid=IwAR1d1J-M2Xo2yBLwb_RqGs2WNWk3uCU483Tm2U_0MGXJo7eTnApqOQP2-gc

the uncut grass

A man offered to pay a sum of money to his 12 year old daughter if she mowed the lawn. The girl went at the task with great zest and by the evening the whole lawn had been beautifully mowed – well, everything except a large uncut patch of grass in one corner.

When the man said he couldn’t pay the sum agreed upon because the whole lawn hadn’t been mowed, the girl said she was ready to fore go the money, but would not cut the grass in the patch.

Curious to find out why, he checked the uncut patch. There, right in the center of the patch, sat a large toad. The girl had been too tender-hearted to run over it with the lawn-mower

Where there is love, there is disorder.
Perfect order would make the world a graveyard.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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sermon audio and video

This sermon is about caring for others

here is a link to the audio
https://clyp.it/n0ovgth5

here is a link to the worship service video

https://www.facebook.com/fumcoffortpierce/videos/321847865537312

you may have to cut and paste the link into your browser

your thing

 I am preaching today at Fort Pierce First UMC.  Last week someone asked me what I was preaching on.  I told them that I was assigned the topic of caring for others.

They said, "Oh perfect, that is your thing."

I did not say anything at the time, but as I reflected on the conversation, I thought, No, it's not my thing, it's not one of the Christian things, it is THE thing.

Take caring for others out of Christianity and nothing is left but dogma and theology.

Caring for others is all of our thing.  It is the only thing.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Grandparent advice

Having announced the birth of our first grandchild, I received many well wishes and advice from all of you. Thank you for the kind words.

One really interesting thought was sent in my by friend Di. She suggests that we can learn a great deal about God's love for us by having a grandchild.  For example...

1. We think about her all the time, as God thinks of us all the time.

2. Even though we know that she is not always thinking about us, we think about her and love her just the same.

3. We do not measure our love for her according to her attention given to us. We just love her all the time.

4. When we do hear from her, we are absolutely thrilled.

A small picture of God's love for us. It is always there, whether we see it and acknowledge it, and return it or not.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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Be Gooood

In the 1982 film E.T. the Extraterrestrial, the alien, E.T. at one point says to Elliott, "be good."

I never took that he meant being good vs being bad. I always took that as the alien telling him to be "ok."

Be OK.  Feel good about yourself. Live your best life. Be free of guilt. Be happy. Be free. Be good.

Beeeee Gooood.  Be ok.

That is good advice for all of us.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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Welcome my new Grand baby!

Please join me in welcoming to this world, Isabella Avery Lascon. My daughter Allison went into labor on Sunday night August 9th at 11pm. Izzy was born on Tuesday August 11th at 3am.

Mother and Baby are fine!

This is our first grandchild. Cathy and I have been talking for months about what we want to be called.
Grandma? Granny? Grandpa? Grandfather Sir?
Cathy has landed on CeCe. I have decided that I want to be called Pooh.
Yes, you know that I am a big pooh.

Anyway, celebrate with us and be happy!

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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old addage

Here is an old addage from my friend Grace L....

"It's what you learn after you're sure you know it all that really counts."

or another way to say it... When you finally wake up and realize that you don't know it all, your mind is finally open and you can learn some things.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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Kool-aid

Too many Christians drink the Kool-aid.

Just as 909 followers of Jim Jones drank the Kool-aid and died in Guyana in 1978, far too many Christians just swallow whatever their church leaders tell them.  I don't think that bad theology sends people to hell, but I do believe that unhealthy theology can provide a person with a life filled with guilt, fear, and constant worry about if they have it "just right."

As a Christian, you don't have to check your brain at the door.

When you go to a party or an event, you often have the opportunity to check your coat at the door.  In some old West saloons, you had to check your guns at the door.

Check it at the door... leave your stuff behind and enter the next thing without it.

It doesn't have to be that way with your brain.  As a Christian, you are not required to leave your brain outside of the church service or the Bible study.  In fact, I think that it is insulting to God when we just swallow everything that is told to us without thinking things through.

If you don't have to check your brain at the door, then it is ok for you to have questions.  It is ok for you to disagree with your pastors and teachers. 

Many times you can eliminate false teachings simply by thinking about what is being taught in relation to common sense.
"God will make you wealthy."  Really?  is that what Christianity is about?
"God will save you from pain."  Really? 
"If you mix these scriptures together, you can find the magic formula."  Really?  Is Christianity a secret formula?

I think that God has given us a brain and he expects us to use it.
You are entitled to your beliefs.
Don't be afraid to resist unhealthy teaching.

• Free yourself from ideas that instill fear.
• Free yourself from teaching that judges others.
• Free yourself from having to know everything.

Instead, grab the grace, grab the love, grab the joy.  You will be glad that you did.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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Many more will be in

When I was a kid, I was taught that only our group was in.  Only our denomination was going to heaven.

Thank God, over the years I have rejected that teaching.

Who is in? Who gets to go to heaven? I have heard people say that the Jews are out. Yet Jesus refers to several of the Patriarchs as being in heaven. Mt. 8:11.

I have heard people say that this group is out because they don't believe the Bible correctly. That group is out because they did not get baptized correctly.

I have come to believe that God is probably much more gracious than we humans are. That however many people I think are getting in, there will probably be more. We will all likely be surprised by the presence in heaven of a certain person, and surely there will be those who are surprised to see us there as well.

The three kings from the East were not Jews or Christians, yet they play a pivotal role in the birth narrative.  Did God do that on purpose?

In Luke 13:29 Jesus says People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. This must have been a fantastically challenging statement to people who did not travel much. I have been North to Canada. I have been South to Mexico. I have been to Russia and Nicaragua. I have been exposed to various cultures and beliefs that are much different than ours. You don't have to believe it the way that I do. People who are not like us are going to be in. 

In Isaiah 2, the prophet says that in the last days, all nations will stream to the mountain of the Lord.  Not just the Methodists, not just the Christians, but all nations.  In his later days, Billy Graham spoke about the "wideness in God's mercy."  

The embrace of God is much wider than any of us ever thought.

I have become quite comfortable with telling people that I am not in charge of who gets in. Neither are they and neither are you. God decides who is going to get in and who is not. Let's let God be God and lets just enjoy the journey of being human along the road of this life.

What we believe matters

I recently read an article entitled, "What we believe matters."

While I agree that what we believe matters, I think that we need to be honest enough to admit that we don't know near as much as we think we do.  I can take a scripture and argue one point, and you can argue the other.  We just don't know as much as we once thought.

What color is Jesus skin?
Does Jesus have skin?
Where is heaven?
Is it really our job to point out who is good and who is not?
Is there really just one way to baptize a person?
Is it our job to make others believe what we believe?

I think that we know much less than we think we do.

Someone once said, it is not what you believe that counts, but what you believe enough to do.

The greatest commandment is not about believing, it is about loving.  Love God, love others.  If we focus on that, we know within the deepest parts of our souls, that we are living God's life.

Believe, sure.  But love, for sure.  Love first.  May our focus be on loving God and loving others.  We cannot lose that trajectory in life.  Loving isn't just the first thing, it is the only thing.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

More on the Book of Revelation

Here are some questions about our understanding of the book of Revelation

Is it possible that a person could be taught something [about the book of revelation], but then realize later in life that what they learned was a misrepresentation?

[yes of course.]

Is it possible that if one generation of people is told that blue is yellow, and they tell their kids the same, that eventually the society will forget that blue is really blue, even defending the position that blue is yellow?
[yes, it happens all the time.]

Is it possible that the loudest voice is not always the correct voice?
[yes.]

Have you as a Christian, ever considered other Christian life paradigms? In other words, what do Christians in Ethiopia believe? Is it the same as what we believe?
[Most of us don't, but we should.  Not every Christian believes what you do.]

Who was Revelation written to? What was going on in their world? Does an understanding of the original setting impact my understanding of the book for today?
[Revelation was written to 7 churches.  They were historical churches of the early New Testament times.  The church was being persecuted by the Romans.] [To read a book without understanding the intent of the author is like us finding a letter from George to Martha Washington and asking what it means to us.]

The Bible contains many types of literature- History, wisdom, apocalyptic and letters among the list. Are all passages of Scripture to be read and understood in the same way?
[no]

Are there parts of parables that are just part of the story? For example in the parable of the house on the rock and the house on the sand, is it fair to ask- where is the house? Who is the owner?

What is apocalyptic literature? What is the general point of its writing- the normal nuances of this genre of literature?
[Apocalyptic writing usually insists on the demise of the present evil age and a promise of a victorious future with God.  It is written about the writer's age, not ours.]

What is dispensationalism? Where did it come from? How long has it been around as a doctrine? Does this cause you to think differently about some of the associated doctrines?
[Dispensationalism has given rise to many false teachings in the church, including the notion of a rapture.  Nothing like this was not taught prior to 1850] 

Do the overarching themes of Scripture teach that we will be saved from difficulty, or does it teach that God is with us through the difficulty?
[We are sometimes saved, but not always saved and the point of faith is not that we should be saved from difficulty.]

Is solid doctrine built on a patch work quilt of chosen Scriptures, or on the overarching themes of Scripture?
[main themes of course.]

Americans are fixated with knowledge. Is the point of the Christian life to know everything or to walk with God?
[walk with God]

How many Bible teachers have been wrong about their interpretation of the scriptures regarding the end of time?
[all of them, but some of them made lots of money selling books.]

Where might all of these questions point us regarding our understanding of the book of Revelation and the Christian life? What is the purpose of the Christian life?

[The purpose of the Christian life is to love God and to love others.  We may find difficulty in this life, but in the end, God is victorious.]

We live in God's world, and it is a beautiful, fear free day in God's world.

Faith over Fear

Most of this came from a long time friend...

I used to be fearful of EVERYTHING. At one point in life, panic disorder overtook my mind and I couldn't work, drive, go to the grocery, a restaurant etc... It almost ruined my marriage for the first five years. When we were supposed to be young and carefree, I was knotted in a ball and afraid of the world.

Then slowly my mind began to change. I began to learn that God was a God of grace.

Today, I am free from anxiety. The peace that comes from the freedom of anxiety, worry, and fear is the greatest feeling I've ever encountered. Peace that comes from GRACE! Grace that I learned over the last 20 years.

Now, when I'm met with uncertainty like today (need full time work, need to pay off bills, need the world to heal from racial challenges and COVID), I breathe deep knowing that God is love and grace.

When I feared God, I feared life. When I came to realize that God loved me, I began to love life.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

learning about love

What have I learned about love?  Not enough.  Although I have tried to be a good person, I feel like I am a latecomer to living a life of love.  I wish I had been better about loving my children and teaching them about love.

Love. We say the word over and over. I love tacos. I love cars. I love you. How can that all be true? What is love really?

Let me begin like this.........I expect that people in relationships do things for each other. But when we begin to demand things from others, we may be leaving the realm of love. When I am so broken that I am not whole unless you do such and such, then I have a problem. Friends should not have to buy us dinner or loan us money to remain our friends.

If I want something from you, its not love. That is not to say that people should not be there for each other in a relationship, but if it is constantly about what I am going to get from you, something is wrong with that.

We are so selfish, so self absorbed. If you catch yourself being nice to someone so that they will do something for you, well, then you are busted. That’s not love.

Love means that I care about you whether you give me anything or not. It means that I value you and enjoy you and you don’t have to do anything for me. It means that I seek your highest good. I do everything I can to help you and support you, period. My treatment of you is not conditioned on your treatment of me.

Now sometimes we need to practice tough love with teenagers. Sometimes abusive spouses need correction and direction. What I am saying here does not apply to these situations.

All of us know people who have the ability to help us, or to do something for us. I love hanging around with them and just enjoying them. They are not used to it. They are used to being used.

If I am your friend, I don’t need for you to buy me a pizza. In fact, I don’t want you to go out of your way for me. On the contrary, I want to help you. I want to do something or say something that will make your day go better.

If I need something from you to be happy, then I am not whole. I need to stop, sit down and remember that God loves me and I am ok. I am ok even if you don’t do such and such for me. When I am ok, then I enter the relationship whole. I don’t depend on you to solve my problems. The love that I offer you is pure and clean. It has no conditions attached.

It''s a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

the end of time

A friend told me about a large church in Kansas City where the sermon last Sunday was about the mark of the beast, the end of time and Covid.  Somehow Covid is so bad that some Christians feel that this must be the end.

I shudder.  I cannot believe what some people are teaching out there.  In the name of God!

First of all, the Book of Revelation is not about today or tomorrow, it is about the time in which it was written.  It is about the Romans and what they did to the early Christians.

Secondly, this is not the end of time just because we have a pandemic.  People get scared and make it about them. All heartfelt sympathies to those whose loved ones have passed from COVID. Please remember that the bubonic plague killed 30-50% of the entire medieval population.

We are wasting our time when we talk of Revelation and the end of time.
Religion should never be about scaring people.
Religion should not turn people's minds toward speculative thinking about the end of time.

True religion, real spirituality is about loving God and loving others.    There are people out there that are waiting for our love and care.  Let's go do it.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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Wisdom from C.S. Lewis

I thank my friend Pat for sharing this with me...

C. S. Lewis. It was written in 1948 after the dawn of the atomic age.

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

— “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) 

It's a beautiful day in God's world be sure to see the good.

Kip

Kip is a cool name.
Kip is also a new reader.

I met Kip over the phone.  I needed a part for my truck and Kip was the salesman.  I could tell that there was something special about him over the phone.  He talked about what a gift today was.  That of course struck a cord with me.

When I went to pick up the part, I met Kip.  I was so pleasantly surprised that he was younger than I expected.  How exciting to see a young person that is aware, that is appreciative, and that sees the good.

We talked about how when you are good to others, they almost always treat you well.  The lover creates the love.

Here's to Kip.  Here's to all of us seeing the good, being the good and sharing the good. 

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

reward

When I graduated from high school I got a card from a friend.
On the cover it said, "For your graduation I was going to give you cash."
On the inside it said, "But wisdom is it's own reward."

I think that the card was meant to be funny, and it was, but the phrase "wisdom is it's own reward" has always stuck with me.

There are a number of things in life that are their own reward.  But I often think that kindness is it's own reward.  Doing something good, gracious or kind for someone is enough.  Just the act fills us up.  I don't need the server to say thank you for a large tip.  I don't need my neighbor to say thanks for me hauling off their trash.

Sometimes we may wish people were more appreciative, but really, kindness is it's own reward.
We were created for the purpose of treating each other with kindness.  That's why it feels so good.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

Fish hook

I thought of this story and I just have to share it.

I am 6 years old.  My family is getting ready to go for a Sunday drive in our 1950 Green Packard.  On the way out of the house, we go through the garage.  I notice in the corner of the garage, a fish hook on a leader.  It was over in the corner on the floor.

This is sick, but I was just a kid.  We did not fish, so it has been in the corner of the garage for a few years, left by the previous owner.  For some reason, I notice it that day.

I pick it up and we get in the car.  Dad is driving, mom is in the passenger seat up front.  I am in the back seat with my sisters.  I am sitting right behind my dad.

I decide, for reasons that only a 6 year old would understand, to put the fish hook into my mouth.  Pretty soon, it is stuck between my teeth.

I say, "Dad, I have a fish hook stuck in my mouth."

Now this statement must seem like gibberish to him.  Where would I get a fish hook?  Why would it be in my mouth?

Dad and I  begin to argue.
I have a fish hook stuck in my teeth.
You do not.
Yes I do.
Mother, what is he talking about?

My mom turns around and to her horror she sees the leader sticking out of my mouth.
She tells Dad to pull the car over.

Carefully, Mom removes the fish hook laparoscopically.

My parents have gone from disbelief, to horror, to determination, and now relief.
And so the scolding starts.

What is wrong with you?
I don't know.
Where did you get that?
I found it on the garage floor.
What!!!
What in God's name made you put that in your mouth?
I dunno.

And that's the way it was on one Sunday afternoon in 1965.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
[and don't put any fish hooks in your mouth]

Paul Glinn died

Oh my.  Oh my.
Paul Glinn died.

Paul treated me like a son.  He treated me like a Pastor.  He called me Pastor.
Paul Glinn was a prince of a man.

Paul built a church building with his own hands.
Paul built a congregation with his own heart.

Paul loved people.
Paul loved me.

I did not know that he was ill.
The news came to me like a shock.

I don't wan't Paul to be gone.
I want to have an appointment with Paul tomorrow to sit and talk about the church and the Raytown Campus.
I don't want him to be gone.
Tears. Tears. Tears.

Somehow, the soul of this great man, reached into my soul.
I am not ready for him to be gone.

He lived a long and full life.
He will be missed.

What do you want?

Someone asked me the other day what I wanted out of life.
After thinking about it, I have come to this...

I want to wake up every morning and say, "Thank you."
and I want to help everyone else wake up in the morning and say "Thank you" too.

If I can get that done, I will have no regrets.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.