My brother and I would leave at twelve o’clock on a Sunday nightand head into the north Maine woods to truck logs to Canada. Monday night, sometime after nine, we would be arriving at the logging camp to get some much-needed sleep. Eighty-hour weeks behind the wheel were not uncommon. We both look back to those days with fondness. I would have followed him anywhere and he always had my back.

I appreciate the experiences that God has allowed me to be a part of. The work of ministry is hard, but I always have a brother at my back making the days doable, just like in those trucking days.

Romans 12:10

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

1 John 4:21

And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Love your brother and “keep on trucking.”

Give it some thought.

Gary

I think global warming is a reality. However, I’m really not sure who caused it. Let’s see: there is man, God, and the universe with all its complexity. According to the hard-core global-warming people, we should do the following:

1. Stop burning coal and oil
2. Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds
3. Take the train
4. Carpool
5. Power your home with renewable energy
6. Winterize /weatherize
7. Drive only electric cars
8. Harness the wind
9. Build solar panels
10. Invest in energy-efficient appliances.
11. Get rid of cows

Now if God is the problem, He addresses global warming and the temperatures this old world will reach.

2 Peter 3:7-12

But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

 ¹² looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 

Now that’s hot off the press.

Give it some thought.

Gary

No person in the history of humanity has been so thoroughly examined as Jesus Christ.

Thomas Jefferson stated,” He will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”

John Lennon said, “I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right.”

 So many opinions and so little time.

Let me simplify it for everyone by stating what the Holy Writ has to say:

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Acts 4:12

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Either you believe what the Creator has to say or you go along with some figment of man’s imagination.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I was reading this article this AM:

As national conversations about artificial intelligence (AI) intensify, faith leaders and scholars are examining the potential ramifications these emerging technologies will have on worship, both its practice and its role in modern life.

My blessing came when someone responded in the comment section:

The falling away was foretold. We don’t need to worry, just continue to know Jesus, carry the cross, share the Word and prepare the bride as the wedding day is approaching.

Simple as that.

James 4:17
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Use the intelligence God gave you and artificial intelligence won’t stand a chance.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Standing on top of the hill where the Battle of the Little Bighorn took place, I was in awe. There before me were the tombstones of the two hundred and ten soldiers of the 7th Calvary who died there that fateful day. Two days after what became known as Custer’s last stand, a scouting party from General Terry’s column discovered Custer and 40 other men where they had rallied, their dead, naked, and mutilated bodies lying about. General Custer led his men into a situation of no return.

Leadership is so important in the military, business, government and, yes, even in ministry. Bad leadership can lead to disaster and the loss of many good people.

Matthew 20:26

“Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant,”  

Psalms 78:72

 “So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.”  

It didn’t have to end the way it did. The leadership was mistaken.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Walking through brush with a chainsaw in hand while the chain is turning is never a good idea. However, that is exactly what I was doing when I tripped and fell on the saw. A shock went through my left arm and I looked down to see the blood that pooled in the wound. I turned my wrist and dumped the blood which revealed an unrestricted view of tendons and blood vessels. It amazed me that neither the tendons nor major vessels were severed. A multitude of stitches from old “Doc Patch-it” and three weeks of light labor and I was good to go again.

You guessed it, the Bible does have some things to say about stumbling.

Psalm 37:23-24

The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand. 

Romans 14:13

Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

Stumbling is a subject that we as believers should take seriously. We walk through some dangerous territory in this world of ours. Protect yourself and others.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”

This was a speech delivered as the commencement address to the graduates of the University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014, by Admiral William H. McRaven. This is a must-read book or speech that can be viewed on YouTube.

The Bible speaks of accomplishments:

2 Corinthians 8:11

But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability.

Hebrews 13:21

equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Start accomplishing something first thing in the morning and continue throughout the day.

Give it some thought.

Gary