A manmade disaster that occurred when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by the Exxon Shipping Company, spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. It was the worst oil spill in U.S. history until the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

Captain Hazelwood, who was widely reported to have been drinking heavily that night, was not at the controls when the ship struck the reef. Exxon blamed Hazelwood for the grounding of the tanker, but he accused the corporation of making him a scapegoat.  He was only convicted of spilling some oil.

Forget the drunken-skipper-fable. As to Captain Joe Hazelwood, he was below decks, sleeping off his bender. At the helm, the third mate may never have collided with Bligh Reef had he looked at his RAYCAS radar. But the radar was not turned on. In fact, the tanker’s radar was left broken and disabled for more than a year before the disaster, and Exxon management knew it. It was just too expensive to fix and operate.

He was never really held accountable. In the history of man, the same type of story is repeated over and over again. Accountability is defined as an obligation of willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.

You and I are to be held accountable, according to the Book of Romans:

Romans 14:12

So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Maybe Joe got away with it for a while, but it is not over with him or us.

Don’t drink, stay awake during dangerous times, and have your equipment working properly.

Give it some thought.

Gary

It has been stated that 98% of top executives say they prefer employees with a sense of humor, and 84% of bosses believe those employees do better work. I concur with that statement. In my life, I’ve really appreciated people with a proper sense of humor. I believe some of my Irish ancestors survived the potato famine because they had a sense of humor.

Did you know that God laughs?

Psalm 2:4

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 

The nations believe their laws are much better than God’s law, and they can do just fine without Him. The major problem with that philosophy is that God gets the last laugh.
Men erroneously believe they can harm others, and God will not hold them accountable.

Psalm 37:13

The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming. 

Whether a nation or an individual makes a derogatory statement about the Creator of the universe, we can almost hear a chuckle.

Don’t laugh. Give it some thought.

Gary

George left the ministry to become a funeral director. He claims that during his ministry he tried to straighten out the Joneses’ marriage and never made any progress. He tried to get Bill off of alcohol and drugs and that proved to be a failure. Now he says when I straighten them out, they stay straight.

George couldn’t do what the Holy Spirit is good at doing. Case in point:

1 Peter 4:3-4

For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 

Do you desire to be straightened out? There is a Great Physician that has a 100% success rate for the willing.

Mark 2:17

When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

If you need the Great Physician, His office is always open, plus He makes house calls.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“Hey, where is everybody?”

VanWarmer was inspired to write “Just When I Needed You Most” by two events: his old car, that he loved and used for years, broke down on his way to work in Denver, Colorado, and he experienced a “devastating” breakup with a girlfriend.

I don’t understand what happened to the Apostle Paul, but it seems he experienced something similar, except for the girlfriend and the car.

2 Timothy 4:16

At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.

That stuff hurts but, as with Paul, there is the one thing we must always keep in mind. It is found in the following verse:

2 Timothy 4:17

But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear.

Our focus must be on what we are called to do and we are never alone.

Give it some thought.

Gary

We can’t wait to start school, yet we just turned four. We can’t wait to be a teenager, yet we just turned twelve. We can’t wait to graduate from high school, yet we just started our junior year. We can’t wait to finish college, get a job, get married, have the kids grown, retire, and what? Die!

The Bible addresses this phenomenon and the best way to deal with it:

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

To get the most out of this very short life, trust God to deal you out one divine day at a time.

There is one appointment about which most people never say, “I can’t wait.”

Hebrews 9:27

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

Don’t wait. Give it some thought.

Gary

I was a teenager out drinking and just playing the fool. My brother showed up and said, “It’s time to go home.”  No reprimand, no lecture and no anger- that’s what he had to do that night: rescue his brother.

He is eighty years old now and calls often. I guess he is still concerned for his brother and some mess he might find him in. If he was in a mess, he’d just take him home. Time didn’t change his relationship with that brother and that brother was high maintenance.

I stand here today because of so many like him who never gave up on me. I wish I could name them all and tell the world, but they would be embarrassed. But those who fit in this category and are reading this, “Thank you.”

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.

With a little help from those who love me, I think I can make it to the finish line.

Give it some thought.

Gary

New employee: “I put these documents in the fax machine, but they didn’t come back out.”

Old employee: “That’s a paper shredder.”

New employee: “Oh! Can you set it to reverse? Those papers are important.”

A learning curve, a lack of training and confusion about the world around you can lead to some monumental mistakes that can’t be corrected. The writer to Hebrews addressed such a group of individuals:

Hebrews 5:12

For though by this time, you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Never put people into a position they aren’t prepared for. This is especially true in handling the Word of God.

Give it some thought.

Gary