Egypt and the Middle East

In light of the unrest in Egypt and the world's eyes again focused on the middle east, I thought I would share a few simple statements that I believe.

Israel is still precious to God.
Israel will play an key role in His future plans.
Israel is an important ally to the United States.
The United States must defend and support Israel.
Arab people are not the enemy.
They are simply blinded by false religion.
Arabs, like all people, are set free only by the Truth.
The Truth can be found only in Jesus Christ.
Political unrest is a symptom of deeper spiritual issues.
Our leaders need wisdom and courage during this crisis.
Our leaders must to be clear, bold and decisive.
We must pray for our leaders.
I am not worried!  God is sovereign and will never be moved.
He has the whole world in His hands!

The Greatest Gift - Life

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written; the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. Psalm 139:13-16

Snow Day

Snow days are Magical!  I've spent most of my life in the south, where snow days are treasured like precious gems.  The anticipation usually begins a few days out with the mention of possible snow on the 6:00 p.m. news.  That starts the buzz.  Will it really snow?  How many inches?  Do you think we will get out of school?  Kids (and teachers) begin to imagine the thrill of seeing their school's name on the ticker of school closings.  As each school name scrolls by in alphabetic order all eyes are watching . . . and waiting.  Finally, there it is!  We get a snow day.  And the rejoicing starts.

Snow days are also bothersome!  Daycares close, so parents have to miss work or scamble around and find suitable care for their children.  Tests get postponed and lesson plans get scrapped.  Church services, ball games, and civic activities get canceled.  Parking lots have to be cleared.  Vehicles get dirty.  Back yards get soggy.  Roofs leak.  Well . . . you get my point.  Did I mention that . . .

 . . . Snow days are Magical!  Even with all the inconveniences, they really are special..  Even at 53 (yep I am on the other side of the half century mark) I still love snow days.  To me, they are still magical.  Last Monday was the first (and maybe the only) snow day of the year.  Since Hutch's daycare was closed, Jan kept him.  At lunch I want home, picked him up and we drove through the country looking for deer, bears and alligators.  You should know that it was his idea to look for the gators.  We then made our way to Burger King for some lunch.  Finally, we came home and played in the snow.  Mostly, he played and I watched.  I did need to get back to work.  It was a great day.

Snow days are Magical!  So . . . bring on the snow.  We need at least one more snow day this year.

Violence against Christians

The middle east remains one of the most volatile regions in the world. And it is arguably the most important, especially from a spiritual, prophetic perspective. If you would like to stay up-to-date on important developments in that area I want to commend to you Joel Rosenberg's blog. Here is a short portion of his most recent post.

It is not receiving nearly enough attention in the mainstream media, but a disturbing development is underway in the Middle East: followers of Jesus Christ in the epicenter have endured a dramatic surge of violence and persecution at the hands of religious and political extremists in recent weeks and months.

In Iraq, Christians have been attacked and killed in their homes and in public, forcing nearly a thousand families to flee from Baghdad and Mosul to the safer Kurdistan region in the north. A separate siege on a Baghdad church on October 31 killed 58 followers of the Lord Jesus and wounded 67 others.

In Israel, extremists firebombed an Arab Christian church in Jerusalem in November. In December, Kristine Luken, an American evangelical Christian was stabbed to death not far from Jerusalem in what many believe to have been an act of terror. Her friend, Kay Wilson—an Israeli believer in Jesus—was also severely wounded in the attack.

None of this is surprising. Jesus made it clear that his followers would be persecuted and would receive the same kind of treatment by the world that He received. However, most believers in America are so insulated from these types of threats that we forget that they are real for many believers around the world.

To read his entire blog go to http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/.

Please join me in praying for fellow believers who are suffering in difficult places.

Out With the Old

Out with the old, in with the new. I've tried really hard to come up with a clever blog for New Year's Eve, but don't think it is going to happen. So, I'll keep this extremely simple (not hard for me). As 2010 comes to an end in a few hours I am reminded of one of the great gifts of God, the gift of cycles (not the motorized kind!). God has built cycles into every area of creation. I love that facet of creation because cycles bring new beginnings, fresh starts, opportunities to start over.

It is true that there is no rewind button for life, but there are multiple opportunities to start again. Though we can never undo what we have done, we can start fresh and do it better or differently. God knew we would need this. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, months years, decades . . . they are all cycles. And each offers the blessing of starting over.

So, goodbye 2010. The good, the bad and the ugly are in the books of history, never to be lived again. Hello, 2011. Here's hoping for more good than bad, more positive than negative, and more growth than stagnation. Like all who read this blog, I am clueless as to what 2011 will bring, but God is not. He already knows what will happen down to the smallest detail. I'm glad He is my partner through life.

Happy New Year to all!

2010 Christmas Day Hunt

We continued the tradition of the Christmas Day Hunt again this year. Once again the kids (adult kids) had to use their mental and physical abilities to find their gifts. The first thing they had to do was to decipher an encrypted message and follow its instruction. They had to purchase goodies, make a basket, and take it to the maternity waiting room at Baptist hospital. Last year they handed out candy canes at St. Bernard's and enjoyed the opportunity to minister to others. This year they did it in a slightly different way.

Following that, they made their way out to Ridgefield Christian School, where all of their gifts were hidden. They found gifts in dugouts, buried under gravel in the playground, behind rocks and hanging in trees. In addition to finding hidden gifts they had to make a series basketball shots and figure out a number of brainteasers. When all the gifts were collected, we returned to the house to open gifts and enjoy a Mexican meal. We started a new tradition this year by having a birthday party for Jesus, cookie cake and balloons. The girls closed out the evening with their annual Ginger Bread House contest.

It has been great having Joy home for a couple of weeks. We love having all the girls and their families here together. We had a marvelous Christmas weekend. And, we have more Christmas to enjoy, as Jan's family will be coming to Jonesboro this weekend.

We are so blessed. To God be the glory.

Sweet Little Jesus Boy

As I write this, I am listening to my second favorite rendition of "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" by Trisha Yearwood. My favorite version is the one Jan sings. I always love to hear her sing. God blessed her with an incredible voice, a love for singing and with a musical heritage. Whenever her family gets together they usually find time to gather around the piano and sing the old Gospel songs.

Sweet Little Jesus Boy. What a simple expression of truth.

Sweet little Jesus boy,
They made you be born in a manger.
Sweet little holy child,
We didn't know who you were.
Didn't know you'd come to save us Lord,
To take our sins away.
Our eyes were blind, we could not see,
We didn't know who you were.

How sad that so many still don't know who He is. My prayer for this Christmas season is that many will gain a new understanding who Jesus is.

Merry Christmas.