Who's is that following me?

I am very happy to report that I have not spent a lot of time in the wonderful judicial system of our county. I haven't needed to simply because I, for the most part, am a law abiding citizen. Ok, so I don't come to a complete and full stop when no one's looking. From what I understand, a restraining order is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. Stay with me....

It seems that Wesley Fitzpatrick of Kansas City was granted a restraining order against a woman who Wesley claimed was stalking him. I quote, "I was scared and in fear for my freedom." I don't know about you, but having someone stalking me would probably un-nerve me too.

However, the restraining order did not last vey long and I'm sure you'd like to know why. It was discovered that the woman stalking Mr. Fitzpatrick was in fact his parole officer who was just trying to perform her supervision responsibilities. Wesley was arrested and taken into custody for failing to keep his appointments with his parole office.

I wonder how many individuals have a restraining order issued against God? They feel and sense His presence, and get this uncomfortable feeling that Someone is watching every move they make. Everywhere they go It's there. They can't hide. They can't run. They can't get away. (Cue the music from "Jaws".

Just as Mr. Fitzpatrick discovered, a restraining order against God isn't going to work either. Does God want you to keep your appointments with Him? Absolutely! In prayer, in His Word, in devotions, and in quiet times. I wonder, if there was a penalty for not keeping our appointments with God what would it be? Just sayin'.....

When It's Over It's Over

I think you'll agree with me that 30 years is a long time. It's especially a long time when you're under the constant threat of attack. In 1944, during WWII, a Japanese soldier by the name of Hiroo Onoda was sent to a small island named Lubang in the Philippines. He was ordered to do all that he could to hamper enemy attacks on the island, including destroying the airstrip and the pier at the harbor. His orders also stated that under no circumstances was he to surrender or take his own life. He faithfully stayed at his post, continuing his guerilla type warfare until 1974. That's right 1974.

Now wait a minute, I thought the war in the Pacific was over in 1945? And you would be right, but it seems that Hiroo never got the message or refused to believe it. On 20 February 1974, Onoda met a Japanese college dropout, Norio Suzuki, who was traveling the world and was looking for "Lieutenant Onoda, a panda, and the Abominable Snowman in that order". Suzuki explained to him that the war had ended, but Onoda still refused to surrender saying that he was waiting for orders from a superior officer. That came when the Japanese government located Onoda's commanding officer, who had since become a bookseller, and had him flown him to Lubang Island and ordered Onoda to lay down his arms. Now that's what I call dedication, diligence and dumbness.

I wonder how many of us are still fighting a war that has been won almost two Centuries ago? This weekend we will be celebrating the greatest event in human history: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! One of the last words spoken by Him was this: "It is finished". He wasn't just talking about His own life or the future of His ministry on earth, but the battle over the power of hell, sin, death and the grave. That also includes guilt, fear, doubt, regret, remorse, and sin.

The battle is really over. This is no joke. This is reality. Really. Just sayin'....

Dead or Alive?

Unless you are living under a rock as suggested in the Geico commercial, you've probably noticed that the price of gas is sky rocketing. A fill-up can cost you $100. This escalation has also affected the airline industry. In response, many of the airline companies have graciously passed this increase of the price of gas to the price of a ticket. Thank you very much. As a result, individuals have resorted to some pretty clever ways to ease the pain. I happened upon a news report out of England, where two ladies were arrested for attempting to smuggle something on board an airplane. I know I sometimes forget to take an item out of my carry-on luggage that the TSA had declared illegal, but nothing like this. These two ladies were attempting to sneak on-board a dead relative. Seriously?

The 91 year old man, wearing a hat and sunglasses, propped up in a wheelchair was being pushed through the airport when security got a little suspicious. The article did not say why, but I'm gonna guess it was the difference in the price of shipping a dead body verses an economy seat for a living body. Got to hand it to them for their ingenuity. They were charged with failing to give notification of a death and released on bail.

I distinctly remember reading something in the Book of Revelation, where a church attempted to disguise itself as being alive when it was in fact dead. That didn't work either.

Bottom line? It takes much more than just the appearance of life to make you alive. That is so true whether you're a church or an airline passenger. Just sayin'...

Dead or Alive?

My "undo" button

If you use Safari or Word or Power Point then you are probably familiar with the "undo" choice in the edit menu. It is the command icon and the letter Z hit together. The command key kind of looks like a square with loops at the corners. It is referred to as St. John's Arms or the Cross of Hannes. I use it quite a bit when writing a note, a letter or working on my power point for Sunday's and Wednesday's sermons. With one stroke from the keyboard the letter, word, statement or comment is gone forever. Just that simple.

There are times in my life that I'd sure like to have an "undo" button. Just think, with this button in my life, in an instant, I could take back a look, a tone of voice, a word spoken or an action forever. The damage, the hurt feelings, the misunderstandings, the words I regretted saying, the harm I caused would be wiped away forever. No record of it. Gone!

I think the reason we don't have one of those buttons in our life is due in part because God gave us a brain so that we could think before we speak or write. If we could only just take a few seconds before we make a statement or respond to something, there would not be a need to have an "undo".

Remember, your words can bring life or death.