I enjoyed being a guest on the Voice of the Valley program with Ric Cochran today, the show is heard on all seven radios stations of the West Virginia Radio Corp. Southern Division. It was great chance to talk about everything from my Drive Time Videos to Theology. I was on to promo Bible Center's Backpack project and the upcoming Fresh Grounded Faith Conference. To hear a segment of the program use the link below.
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Both Julie and I have been helped so much by the services of Dr. Jody and Heather Eastwood with Healthsource here in Charleston. I would recommend them to you! Their approach of Chiropractic & Progressive Therapy is truly the way to go with back and neck problems. As a bonus Megan and Grant are the best massage therapists in the valley! Thanks guys.
Beginning Sunday night August 16th elementary aged children can participate in the evening Bible Study by using a Trail Map, this interactive Bible study sheet will bring them into the study of God's word. Many parents use Sunday nights as an opportunity to worship with their children and with this added resource it can be even more fun and valuable for your family.
I thought I would give a heads-up to a new teaching series I am working on. If you can participate in person you can listen or watch online via the podacast or video podcast available at www.BibleCenterChurch.com, here is the description of the series:
Children do seem to grow up fast, this year my youngest crossed the line into being a twenty-something. This has happened in a blur of time. In fact, I now find myself telling young parents to enjoy every moment with their little ones because they will blink and the kids will be heading out the door.
June 14 is Flag Day, while not an official Federal Holiday it does commemorate the day in 1777 that congress adopted the United States Flag. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day and in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress. The week of June 14 is designated as "National Flag Week." During National Flag Week, the president typically issues a proclamation urging U.S. citizens to fly the American flag for the duration of that week. I never tire of seeing the Stars and Stripes flying and so appreciate all that our Flag represents of our great nation.
When we express size we often use comparisons to do so. Expressions such as "big as a whale", "small as an ant", or "the size of a breadbox" all communicate size. But if we can make it a little more personal, what comparisons do we use to determine our size? If you have stared at an amoeba through a microscope you no doubt felt quite huge; while peering into the Grand Canyon or viewing the ocean will make you feel quite small. Such experiences tend to put us back into our place.
Webster says that a reward is something given in return for good or for service or merit. In our lives we are motivated by rewards. The most obvious is the paycheck we receive for work. There are three major kinds of employee payment. The first is a salary. This is a fixed payment at regular intervals for work performed. The second is hourly, whereby a person is paid a fixed rate per hour worked. A third is piece work where payment is made strictly on the basis of production.
I have recently been reading The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers, edited by Arthur Bennett. Whatever you think of the puritans you cannot fault their sincerity and personal devotion. I have been challenged in my own prayer life as I have read these. To see what I mean here is a sample from a prayer entitled Kept by God.
We are commanded in 1 Tim. 2:2 to pray for those in authority. We usually apply this to include praying for our elected leaders. I would assume that most of us likely spend more time complaining about our leaders than we spend actually praying for them.
If I were to ask you, what is your favorite basketball team, I am sure of one team you would not pick. That would be the Washington Generals. They were in town playing at the Charleston Civic Center last Tuesday to add to their impressive string of losses to the Harlem Globetrotters. Since their founding in 1952, the Washington Generals have lost to the Globetrotters in excess of 13,000 times! I don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, but just perhaps the odds of winning are stacked against the Generals. After all, does anyone pay to see the clown princes of basketball lose? No, the losing falls to the Washington Generals.
Growing up in the hills of West Virginia, fishing was just part of life. As boys we fished in creeks, rivers, lakes, and ponds. We would dig up worms in the backyard garden, net minnows or catch assorted other critters for bait. Fishing was big stuff. I must admit fishing is an infrequent activity of my adult life; perhaps this is due to the pace of my life or my lack of patience, but I am safe in the knowledge that there are enough fishermen in the Bible Center family to keep the fish population of West Virginia streams in check.
1. Mary – Marveled
During my years of ministry I have preached many times on the death of Christ. Having covered the same territory so many times, I am always on the lookout for a fresh way of looking at the same events. Recently, I ran across a book edited by J.C. Squire and published in 1931 titled "If It Had Happened Otherwise." This genera of writing is known as counterfactual history, and this work is a series of essays by various authors (including Winston Churchill) imaging what the world would be like if a particular event had not occurred. Such questions are considered as: What if Booth had missed Lincoln? Or what if the Confederacy won the Civil War? Interesting mental exercises to be sure, but none of the authors of this book dared to ask "What if Christ's crucifixion had never happened?"
Here are the lyrics to the song that ended the service on 9-21-08, May you find the blessing in your "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor. 12:7-9)
“Pastor, I have been praying for this for 45 years.” These were the words of an elderly Christian lady as she talked to me about her desire to see her husband come to Christ. Now he lay in a hospital bed after radical surgery for cancer and he was left unable to speak. During this conversation I was struck by two things. The first was the love and persistence of this long-suffering wife. The second was how after years of praying and years of no response she did not give up her trust in the Lord.
If you have ever played the game Monopoly, you will remember that there was a space called “Chance” and if the roll of the dice left you parked there you would have to pick up a card and do whatever it said. Sometimes the news was good. One card I particularly remember said, “Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.” This was usually not a good moment in the game. To this point in life, I have avoided jail except to be there for ministry, and I consider that a good thing. But God has allowed and used his people in some special ways behind bars. 
If you look up the name Tom Seaver in Wikipedia it will tell you that Tom was a professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets and later the Cincinnati Reds. It will tell you he is a member of the baseball hall of fame, and that he was known as “Tom Terrific” and “The franchise” Tom however did not submit to the definition of a “pitcher.” He once stated to an interviewer that he considered pitching to be a performing art! He so studied, practiced and refined his craft to the point that he saw it as elevated above a mere athletic endeavor. 
This month I want to share with you an experience from our family's summer vacation. I could share with you our stay in a mile-high mountain range. I could tell you about our hike to a rushing mountain waterfall. I could mention many other delightful experiences, but the one I have chosen to write about is our visit to a hog pen! While exploring the Mountain Farm Museum in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park we enjoyed the log structures, the cellar, the water-house and the barn, but in the back corner of the farm was an animal pen of some kind. One of our children asked what it was? I could identify it with my nose even before we could see inside. The hog-pen display was not primarily a visual or auditory experience; it was most strongly an olfactory one. The smell was horrendous!
I have always thought I had a good sense of direction. I can usually tell where I am and which direction I am heading. I am sure such knowledge comes from a semi-conscious awareness of the location of the sun (it comes up in the east and goes down in the west) or of a general knowledge of geography (If one leaves Charleston and goes to Atlanta they are generally going south). Perhaps it is some internal navigational sense similar to a biological clock. (Is there such a thing as a biological compass?) I have tended to trust my senses and have never seen the need to lay down $400 for a GPS system. However a recent experience has reminded me of the limitations of my own senses and the need to have an external reference point to keep one on track.
I grew up in the space age. Men going into space and going to the moon was big stuff back in the day. Above is one of my favorite pictures, it shows Jim Irwin standing on the moon in August of 1971. Even though He was a long way from home he was in some ways more connected to the his fellow earthmen than most of us will ever be. I tell this to illustrate a particular truth…
I am not above name dropping as witnessed by some of my preceding entries. But this week I met a very famous person. I guess we should define "met" I was in his presence, I saw him with my own eyes, I spoke to him and he to me, I shook his white-gloved hand. We didn’t have a deep conversation and I didn’t get his autograph but I did meet him. He even gave me a Christmas ornament for my tree, with some coupons on the back so I could save money the next time I was in one of his places of business. I met a person that has appeared on Television countless times, is a house-hold name around the world, I have seen pictures of this man on display in my travels to Europe and Asia as well as all over North America. He is a spokesperson for a gigantic international corporation and here he was coming to address the students at Bible Center School. Oh, and you know him too, he is easily recognizable – yellow one-piece jump suit, large red shoes, bright red curly hair, flour-white face, red nose – you know your typical celebrity type. And just so you won’t jump to this line and figure it out without reading all the gifted prose above I will give you his name spelled backward: dlanoDcM dlanoR
"Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits " (Psalm 103:1-2).These two verses are the middle two verses of the English Bible (some lists erroneously cite portions of Psalm 118). Since there are an equal number of verses (31,102) there can be no single “middle verse.” It may be of interest that the chapter and verse divisions that we are all familiar with were not in the original manuscripts but their addition greatly aids our navigation through the Bible, and today leads us to this focus on these two verses that point us to our God and enable us to express our heart to Him.
I note a couple of observations about these “middle verses” first they are words of worship directed to God. They are not primarily about the human condition, man’s destiny or the quality of our lives. The center of the message of the Bible is and our lives should be centered on Him. Truly it is all about Him. Lesson: Worship is that which brings us back to having our God truly at the center of our thoughts, intents and heart. Secondly not how these verses end. We are not to forget the benefits that God heaps upon us. All “benefits” start and end with Him, and He has a great benefit package.
Maybe this would be a good time to ask how you are doing in the worship department. If it has been awhile since you really met with God in worship make time to do so.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Five Words from Psalm 23
Contentment
It is common that buildings, monuments and landmarks be named for notable people. Most of us do not have our name in high-profile places. Note the fourth word of verse one. Substitute your name for the pronoun. “The Lord is (insert name) Shepherd.” God wants us to make such a personal connection to His Word. We need to see ourselves on the pages of scripture. Such a view will help us gain the perspective that God is totally involved in our lives.
One result of seeing God as our ever-present Shepherd is that we can find true contentment. Freedom from want is not having as much stuff as we may like it comes from having all of God that we need.
Restoration
Focus on verses two and three. As we follow our great Shepherd, notice the three places He will lead His sheep. Green pastures, a place of nourishment and rest; still waters, a place of quiet and refreshment; and the path of righteousness, a place of growth and purity. We often seek out places to go for restoration: a favorite vacation spot, or recreational activity. The context of God’s restoration is not a place but a Person. It is the good Shepherd who leads and provides. He wants us to regularly spend time fellowshipping with Him.
Fearlessness
Even if the fear you face is not death, you can still rely on God being with you. Recall His love, ability and care. You, too, can “fear no evil.”
Most floods are not positive experiences whether the flood was a river or a basement. There is one overflow that is a welcome experience. When the blessing of God surpasses our ability to account for them then our cup of blessing truly runs over. Verse five lists a trio of blessings the Good Shepherd allows to flow into our lives. These are His provision in spite of opposition (table), healing for the wounds of life (oil) and an overflow of joy.
What does one need do in order to get in line for such blessings, simply this: follow the Shepherd. The hearts attitude of a follower include: humility, obedience and devotion and these will keep us in the place of blessing.
Eternity
Someone has said there only are two things you really need to worry about: This life and the afterlife. The final verse of Psalm 23 gives us rock-solid promises that cover both. David was sure that as he followed the Lord, his Shepherd, his life would be marked by both the goodness and mercy of God. He does not expect a life of ease or one free from hardship but through whatever life would bring, he would find the benevolent character of God. In the life to come, he would live in God’s house. What blessing, what comfort.
Take a moment and release your anxieties for the present and the future as you fall back on the promises of God for both.
“For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.” (Lamentations 5:17-18)One unexpected discovery was the land we were walking over was once a thriving community. More than 3000 people live along this stretch of river and mined coal and refined it into coke to ship it downstream to power the engines of progress in the first third of the twentieth century. Once the coal was mined out, the jobs left and the people left and the wildness began to march back into this valley after a period of rapid retreat. We did see a few signs of former habitation, dozens of “coke ovens” still peaked from the hillsides and few foundations of the former time. We passed by Barbershop Falls, so name because a barbershop once overlooked the falls. The falls remain, no barbershop in sight. Douglas, West Virginia is now wilderness again.
Julie spotted a red fox scouting the trail ahead of us. (picture below) This visitor sent my mind scurrying to the Bible passage above. In these verses the prophet Jeremiah used the imagery of foxes walking in the city of God as a proof of desolation, a place of habitation that has now been pruned of people and has been left for the beasts of the field.
It is a sobering thought that some day my home, my city may become a habitat of foxes and begin the reversal to nature. The things I own, the things I build will soon be swept into the dustbin of history and be gone. Does that sound depressing? I hope not, I hope it brings perspective and a little relief. Perspective that only what is done for His glory will last, and only people who are made to last forever are really of value. And relief – why worry so much about stuff, why strive so hard for material success, it really is not that crucial. It will soon be going. Listen you may hear a fox approaching…
To day completes my 47th complete trip around the sun. I have never been a big fan of my birthdays, I do appreciate the people in my life who try to make the day special, but I don’t like being the center of attention. But birthdays do have a way of getting me thinking. As I think, certain realizations come: Some days it seems unbelievable that I am this firmly in the grips of middle-age. Other days it feels like I am getting close to what ever the next stage is (older middle age, or just old age? Yikes!). I can clearly remember my father at the age I am now (wow!). My children are all adults, no more permission slips or naming a guardian in case of my untimely demise. (ohh!). I can see lines in my face and gray in my beard (ouch!). Others my age look really old (no!). In dog years I would be 329 (glad I am not a dog!). My heart has beat 1.8 billion times (I wonder how many it has left?). And last but most profound – life is really short. I know this because I got to this point fast. I also know it because the Apostle James reached this conclusion by divine inspiration a couple of thousand years ago.
“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away?” (James 4:14)
I am not quite ready to be known as a wise old sage. Or even a wise sage. But a few bits of wisdom considering life is short would include the following: 1. Make every day count. 2. I don’t have time to waste feeling sorry for myself. 3. Every experience is an opportunity to learn. 4. People are more important than anything else, they last forever. 5. Laugh more, complain less. 6. Life is not about me. 7. Life is about bringing glory to God.
If you want to add your own bits of sage advice – please feel free to leave a comment.
Blessings…
I have been a keeper of fish for more than 30 years. Currently there is 55 gallons of water in my office housing a few swimming friends. At home are three more. One is I have learned this over the years. That fish outside there natural habitat require significant, maintenance, supervision and care. Some of the required items include:
A few years ago in
Christians are also not in their native environment. Spiritually we are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20). Positionally we are in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6). Practically we are camped out on planet earth. It takes a great deal of care on God’s part to keep us healthy and flourishing in this non-natural world. He must limit the amount of temptation we receive (1 Cor. 10:13 ). He must provide us with proper nutrition (1 Pet. 2:2 ). And He must constantly monitor our condition (Matt. 28:20).
As God pears into my little cross-section of a world I hope he finds a grateful, growing part of His creation.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20)
There is a side of me and you that we present to the public. It is a carefully crafted image, one that is constantly refined, reviewed, tweaked and tended. We want to appear better than we really are. I was reminded of this by the following…Brian and I recently attended the WV State High School Basketball Tournament at the
Don’t we also hide the ugly strips of stuff hanging on us? We are trying to protect our image for the masses who, for the most part, really don’t care. It might be better strategy to work on who we really are. The part that God sees clearly. The part that no makeup, clever phase or insincere smile can cover. I want to seek God’s help to strive to be authentic with others and particularly with Him. By the way could see if there is any duct tape on my back?
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” (Heb 4:13)
Brian recently had a birthday and for his birthday, his dear ol' Dad gave him two tickets to the Monster Jam - Monster Truck Show at the Charleston Civic Center. We arrived in the arena ready with our hearing protection (a must if you go) to enjoy the show, yes there were monster trucks crushing cars, there was Grave Digger (the greatest monster truck of all time) spinning donuts in the imported dirt of the civic center floor, there was even Dragonator - the fire breathing, car eating dragon! There was much noise, much hype, much dirt, much fumes and at for one father-son combination-- much fun. As an added attraction there was demonstration by four professional moto-cross riders who did wheelies and tricks and jumps on their bikes. The picture above is of one rider demonstrating one of the most impressive manuvers - the superman seat grab. The rider zooms up a short, steep ramp and while he flies through the air he slips off the bike until he is only holding onto the seat and fully extends his body and flys - superman style. If you want to see for your self take a look at this Video Clip (real media). I have never met a real professional moto-cross rider but when I do and we get to talking about the superman seat grab, I really only want to ask one question: Why?
I feel like I should introduce myself to a support group and say …”Hi am Jess and I am a 24 addict.” In case you are not aware “24” is series on the Fox Network that features the adventures, trials and exploits of Jack Bauer. Jack is an agent for the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU). One of the unique aspects of the drama is the fact that each season consists of 24 hourly episodes all of which take place over the course of one 24 hour period. There are twists and turns and cliff-hangers and multiple overlapping plots that add up to an onslaught of intense, gripping drama. I am hooked. Thanks There are times that one must suspend belief to enjoy any work of fiction especially one that has such grandiose themes as 24 but there is one area that takes a major amount of suspension. It seems as if every terrorist (at least in the days I have seen so far) resides in
We certainly understand this limitation for ourselves and our fictional heroes. Only our God is beyond the bounds of the time, space, matter continuum which we inhabit. Theologians call this God’s transcendence. He is above, beyond and apart from His own creation. He can be everywhere at the same time, He equally occupies the past and future as He does the present. I can’t say I understand all of what I have just said but how can a man who is so limited understand One who has no limits.
I am certain that neither your or my worst days are to the extremes of Jack Bauer’s worst days. I can, however, rest assured that wherever I am, whatever events are pushing me along into the future. God is there. He is all around, involved, and in control. My response is simple but profound. Worship Him. Trust Him, 24/7.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2Co 5:17)There is frog that lives in a room downstairs. It is a room that our preschool uses here at Bible Center Church. That is a picture of him above (I assume it is a him). He is an African Clawed frog (Xenopus Laevis). He came to be with us as part of teaching series with the kids and came in the form of a cleverly designed and marketed product called – “Grow a Frog Kit.” The kit consists of a small plastic box, food, decorations and a grow-a-frog tadpole. The kids got to watch as the tadpole changed into a "froglet" and on into the final African clawed frog form. This was a hit with the kids and now, a couple of years later, the frog has moved to successively bigger homes and now swims and entertains a new class of preschoolers. All of this got me thinking (a good thing to do) that if I were to measure my spiritual change - would I still be in the tadpole stage, or maybe even a "froglet?"
Wherever I may be, I can make a couple of observations: One - Change is the norm of Christian living and experience. I have been made new positionally in Christ and practically I need to continue to change. Two - just like the former tadpole needs the correct environment and nutrition to complete the change so do I and so do you. As I remind myself may I also challenge you to keep a watch on your environment by ensuring you are sharing life with other believers and you are avoiding harmful influences in your environment. Secondly may I challenge all of you tadpoles, froglets, frogs and friends with this question: how is your spiritual diet? Maybe it is time to truly feast on God's Word. It is a must for change and change we must.
Often others do not have time for us and often we do not have time for others. Even worse sometimes it is not a matter of time but of desire. We really don’t want to be with others when they really need us. On the night before His crucifixion, at this last Passover, Jesus desired to be with the followers. He expressed this in words and then demonstrated His heart for them by using the Passover elements to show His coming sacrifice. The broken body, symbolized by the bread was for them. The shed blood symbolized by the cup was for them. Even in a moment where it might be expected he would be self-absorbed, Jesus heart took Him beyond His own suffering to reach out to His needy followers.
Jesus is not a remote Savior but One who desires to fellowship with us. It would be prudent of us to so order our lives that we have adequate time to spend with Him. There is not substitute for unhurried time to meditate and commune with the Savior.
"To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." (1Corinthian 9:22)
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)I love Google Earth, if you haven’t tried it you are missing some real fun and it is free. (http://earth.google.com/). It has satellite and aerial pictures stitched together to make 3-D model of the earth and you can zoom in on any place you like. You can search using names; zip codes etc. and you can overlay road maps and other info. You can also tilt the maps to give you a 3-D look at the terrain below. The series of images above is of the Waggoner Home as seen via Google Earth. Actually from this vantage point all that own is really very unimpressive. Just another non-descript house on a little hill top among so may others. I am quite sure I am the only person who has every hunted for it. It is kind of the reverse of David’s thoughts above. Different perspective (looking down rather than up) but the emotion is still the same. How is it that man being so insignificant in light of all that is, what is the significance of man that God even notices? Why does He bother, why does He care? Why does He extend His care? The real answer is that our significance does not come from us, but from Him. We are His design, His creation, His plan, His purpose, His project, His objects of Love, His bearers of His glory. It really is all about Him.
I have been working on plans for a writing project for 2007, and one of my section titles is: “God is God, God is Great, and You Ain’t Him.” There are times when I need to reconnect with the Google Earth point of view. When I get judgmental of others, I need to remember, He is quite capable of that without my help. When I get bothered that things don’t go my way, I need to remember that His will and ways are perfect. When I get to hogging the glory, I need to remember that all glory belongs to Him. These are just a few of the ways that I tend to act like I am in charge. But I am just a tiny little creature that without Him, would be all but lost in the cosmos. It really is all about Him.
I know you get lots of Christmas newsletters detailing family comings and goings from your friends. Here is ours. At least we are delivering this one without killing any trees. If you are inclined to read about the Waggoners then use this link to get a PDF version of the 2006 Family Newsletter.
