By Faith. . .

After they left, I settled into my chair and wondered, what history will we leave behind? As a small group, we had been looking at the first chapter Daniel. An interesting character to say the least. You may remember the lion’s den and the fiery furnace. He was not to be their dinner that night or in need of the burn unit at a hospital. As I leafed through the rest of the book of Daniel, I began to wonder about all the history found, not only in the bible, but in all the history books ever written. But let’s stay with the bible just to humour me.
We start with the first one. Here is Adam, who actually had conversations with God becoming lonely. I ask, “Would God have been enough company for me?” Or how about Cain and Abel? Would jealousy ever rear its ugly head in my relationship with my brother? Would I have listened to a voice in a burning bush that was never consumed by the fire? Would I see this as God or just a apparition?
There are so many stories in the bible. They include not only the Kings of many nations, but administrators, prophets, judges, fishermen, prostitutes, beggars and outcasts of society. All have their story and all of us have three things in common.
First, we are all born which includes our family. I wonder what the parents in the bible thought about when they first laid eyes on their new born child. Moses mom may have thought, don’t get attached as the government is going to kill him anyway. Or did she think, this boy will one day lead us out of slavery. What was going through the mind of David’s rich farmer father Jesse when Samuel showed up looking for a heifer to sacrifice to God?
The second thing we have in common is the influence we have on other people. Parents, “train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are older, they will . . . ” Many of us believe it is our God given right to tell our children what to do and be. The problem is we try to direct our children into a profession we missed out on. We always wanted to be a. . . so we encourage our children in that same direction. Doesn’t work. Farmer David wrote poetry and played the guitar. Jesse probably wanted him to take over part of the farm. Or how about Eli encouraging his sons to become priests, didn’t turn out well, they both died the same day as their dad and a son was born and given the name, “The glory is departed from Israel.” Not the best name to carry for the rest of your life. Reminds me of the Johnny Cash song about Sue.
This is not what God meant. He wanted us to train our children in proper living including respect of others. Just read last week of some Tim Horton’s staff dreading lunch time when students are coming in. They are described as rude, disrespectful, noisy, disruptive and foul mouthed. It is so bad at some places close to schools that students are now banned from these fast food outlets during school hours. If you have watched “Brat Boot Camp” you know what I mean.
Lastly, we have what we leave behind. All of the stories we read in the bible happened at least 1940 years ago. And we are still reading them and getting something out of them. We hear of suffering and pain. We relate to others before us who suffered abandonment and cried tears over children and parents. Please also note there are amazing stories of being lead in the right direction as with Boaz and Ruth. And then there is Samuel’s mom coming to see him once a year and the hugs and tears of those visits. Happy tears. So many stories of triumph and as the bible says, “We are more then conqueror,” Rom. 8:37.
We have a heritage we leave behind. Will we be remembered as people of faith? I want each of you to remember that you are leaving something behind. What will people remember you for? We are all part of God’s story. Part of God’s history in this world. If He were writing the bible today, would our life story be part of it? And if it was, would we be the example of God’s love and example, or would He be using our story to warn others of what not to do?
Only you can answer that. And God writes, “and they were . . . Or could our names be placed in a passage like Heb. 11, “By faith . . . Something to think about.
Rob

Road Signs

Something To Think About. . .
It’s disappearing one moment at a time. It hasn’t happened all at once. If you had told me, I would have noticed it. But one little bit after one little bit, it is definitely disappearing. You don’t notice it at first. We never do. One infantisamal little bit at a time.
Oh there are road signs along the way but you don’t notice them very often. In fact you usually don’t notice them until you have passed a lot of them. Most of you will not remember those Burma Shave road signs back in the 20's and 30's. The owner’s son came up with this unique way of advertising. Spaced out along the side of the road, they would put up four to six white lettered, red signs. Couldn’t do that today. Vandalism and graffiti artists would destroy them in a matter of hours. The idea was, if you didn’t see the first one you would see the others and get the message. Here is one that is close to my heart, or should I say, head;
SAID FARMER BROWN
WHO'S BALD ON TOP
"WISH I COULD
ROTATE THE CROP"
BURMA-SHAVE
One day you wake up and you get the message. What has disappeared is time. In the time it has taken you to read this article, you have used up more than one hundred fifty of them. Not much you may say but they do add up. Along with the seconds, we leave behind all the things we accomplished, all the things we once did and all the things we once said. In each of these categories we have those we are proud of and some we wish never happened.
When we realize that time has gone by, we have arrived. We no long feel it as a loss of time, but a gain of experience. We now have what we saw in our parents. Those attributes we call maturity and wisdom. This may mean saying to ourselves, “Run? What for? Climb a tree? Why?”
Remember this. All of life’s experiences have been worth the time. Without doing things, we would have never experienced the excitement of adventure and pride of accomplishment along life’s road. We may miss them but they were wonderful at one time. They were part of our growing up and getting to today. We think about, kick the can and Monopoly. We remember tiddly winks, first dates and lost loves. We sit looking out the front window of our homes and remember the fall of 19 . . . and smile. There are memories of skipping rope and falling off bikes. All of it is past. We have left it all behind with one exception. We still have our faith. In fact, our faith may be the only thing we have left that is growing in a positive way. There is no way to go back and right all the wrongs. Years have passed and there is no going back but there is always tomorrow with God. Alan Alda does not believe there is anything beyond this world but I do. I believe that we have had all the time in the world to get to know the one who not only created the world we live on but He created each of us. And that is why, I take the time each day to get to know the one I will meet face to face after experiencing all that the world had to offer.
Rob

You Spoiled Brat!

Did you know we are all spoiled brats? That’s right. I’m not just talking about our children raising spoiled brats. They are spoiled to be sure. The electronic age children are in some way connected to an electric source. I do not presume to understand even half of it. When I was young, I knew all about stereos. Not so today. The kids come over to connect it up these days.
Most children today have their own computers. They have Leapfrogs, touchscreen chess or sudoku, iPods, MP3 players, Blackberries (and that is not food), video games, hand-held games, Wii, and so much more that I don’t even know about. Children, ages 1-6, spend as much time on video games as they do playing outside. And where do you suppose they get these games from? From parents who assume that, “All the other children have them.”
It seems that every time a child graduates from any grade, mom or pop will shell out a bucket full of money to purchase the latest and greatest gadgets. Spoiled? You bet your life on that one, but so are we with our 52" TV. Talking about graduations. What is this about having a limo to drive the grade eight students to the school and then has a major party for them after? When we kids graduated, our parents came home that evening and said, “Good job” and then went to make supper and read the paper. And that was high school!
Young adults are the same. Have you seen their newest toys? I can’t believe that someone would pay to listen to music on the radio? I only know of one young person who has purchased the base model from the car line. Sorry, that should read, the parent purchased for the “Sixteen year old’s birthday.” It scares me to hear of young people going out and buying a new house with a 100% mortgage on a 50-year mortgage. On tv just last night the real estate lady told the couple, “don’t worry about the total amount owing, just think of what the bank thinks you can afford monthly.” No wonder housing prices are so high. It is one scary world out there where the kids, just out of universities, need to have the four bedroom houses.
On Friday I realized how right King Solomon was. It happened as I visited an elderly lady. So content to have her own room, she sat there and just enjoyed the pictures of her children scattered about around. Maybe it is something about going full circle. We came into the world with nothing and go out with the same.
When we read Ecclesiastes we discover it to be saying all the things in life that we strive for are meaningless. In our world, we have grown so accustom to having what we want that we think life is not fair if we don’t get it. Throughout this Old Testament book, he tells us that everything is meaningless, except for one thing. Honour God!
As adults we think life is not fair when we do not get our way, when we are not happy all the time. We never expect to grow old and at the same time we need to be constantly entertained and have the ease and luxury of kings and queens. Just look at the sizes we call our beds. In chapter twelve verse one we read, “Remember your Creator.”
Life Sucks! - And Then You Die! With one exception, God. God alone makes the difference in life that no “thing” ever can. Remember this line, “The boy who dies with the most toys, STILL DIES.” We don’t need things. We need God. You see God gives us hope, and meaning in life. He demonstrates true love, and stands with us when we can’t stand for ourselves. And as with Solomon, when all else in life fails to move us, God is still there, blessings our lives with only, His presence.
Rob

Firsts.

As I sit here at the computer this morning I am awed by the realization that today, of all days, is a day for firsts. Some people will argue that New Years Day is a day of firsts. Not so. Today, that is, Tuesday Sept. 4th, is a day full of firsts. The biggest one is the first day after the end of summer vacation.
For our children it is the excitement of that first day back to school. And we are so happy it has finally arrived. It is also the first day back to school for the teacher. And they are so happy . . . well, maybe. First packed lunch, first time filling the new back pack, first time in new school clothes or uniform. First time on the bus. And where did last year’s driver go? First time in this classroom, First day with the new teacher, new principal at Drumbo Public, ( Welcome to our community) and in this desk and and and. It goes on and on.
But for some it is a scary moment. To the youngest ones, it is the first day away from home and mom or dad. They have no idea what is going to happen on the other side of the door. They may even be new to the area as another first was moving into the new house just four days ago. For these parents it is a new experience, especially watching as their child goes through those doors for the first time. Will they make friends and like their teacher? Mom’s sometime shed a tear and dad’s put on a stoic face. Today is life changing.
It is also, as I alluded to at the first, our first day back to our normal routine. To some this is good and some are sad to see the summer end. But then again, we have firsts as well. As adults we have many firsts to look forward to. The problem is we no longer look at things with expectant eyes. You have heard this quote many times but I will print it again. “I learn something new every day.” Do we? Do we start our day with those words and look for the newness that life presents us? Or are we so dulled by life that we use the other more known line, “Same crap, different day!” It must be how we look at each morning and each opportunity. Our kids look for the adventure. What about us? They look for something they have never seen before. Do we? They are fascinated by the butterfly and chase it. Do we?
Yesterday I had an amazing time visiting with two wonderful friends. I had learned a long time ago that you learn more if you keep one opening in your head closed and two others open. As we sat and talked and listened I noticed something going on just outside the window. Maybe it is my childish exuberance, but I stopped the conversation a number of times to have us all watch the hummingbirds come and enjoy the nectar of the flowers.
I know what you are going to say. “Been there, Done that!” No, you haven’t. Each opportunity is an opportunity to see and experience so many things that are exiting. To see them as if we were seeing it for the first time. How about last week at 5:00 a.m.? Were you there to watch the eclipse of the moon? The answer comes, “No, I will try to catch it next February.” But will you have next February?
As you would expect, I also look for firsts with God. Each day as I open His word, I come to it expecting to see something for the first time. And I do. I go to church each Sunday excited about letting God know I worship Him. He replies to me, “Did you get that?” What an amazing world He put us in. All we need to do is look for more firsts then we could ever conceive are there. He puts them there, but we just have to open our eyes to see them.
What first are you going to see today?
Rob