Someone once asked Wayne Gretzky, the great hockey player, how he managed to become the best goal-scorer in the history of the game. He simply replied, “Well, while everyone else is chasing the puck, I go where the puck is going to be.”

Simple but effective. That is not only true in hockey, but it’s also true in Christianity. Where is God working? That should be the place where we are heading.

Isaiah 6:8 

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Mark 16:15 

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Let’s not chase the world, but let’s move in the right direction.

Give it some thought.

Gary

You don’t tug on superman’s cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim

“You Don’t Mess Around with Jim” is a 1972 strophic story song by Jim Croce from his album of the same name.

Jim was the big man in the neighborhood until Slim came for revenge. The story of Jim ends and the story of Slim begins.

And when the cuttin’ were done
The only part that wasn’t bloody
Was the soles of the big man’s feet
Yeah he were cut in about a hundred places
And he were shot in a couple more
And you better believe
They sung a different kind of story
When big Jim hit the floor 

The lesson is that there is always someone more powerful and the ultimate power is God. The Old Testament patriarch Jacob was tough and cunning, but then he met God and got whipped.

Hebrews 9:27 

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

The best in the universe will always win in the end. Are you ready, Big Man?

Give it some thought.

Gary

Paula and I are walking down a narrow trail which has thick vegetation on both sides. Our dog, Missy, (so called because she’s from Mississippi), is smelling both sides of the trail. She pokes her head into the thicket and immediately rebounds in horror. A young skunk struts out behind her, obviously put out of his hiding place. At the same time, a pungent odor reaches our noses. This is not going to be a good evening.

Did you ever stick your nose where it didn’t belong? Yes, we’ve all experienced that at one time or another. Did you know the Bible warns of such happenings?

1 Thessalonians 4:11 

And to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,

Proverbs 26:17 

Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.

Make sure you don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, for you too could raise a real stink.

Give it some thought.

Gary

God answers prayers. How many times do we hear that statement? Truth of the matter: that is not a true statement as most think of it.  The Creator can be silent, which in most cases means no. With some, they have no password. (We are to come before God with Jesus as our mediator.) Then God answers some prayers, but not all are answered in the way we expect. Let me give you some cases in point.

David prayed he would be taken to a place where he wouldn’t have to deal with reality.

Psalm 55:6-8

And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”

Elijah asked God to take his life.

1 Kings 19:4

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 

The double-minded man’s reality:

James 1:7–8

For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

God has rules when it comes to answered prayer, so make sure you’re playing by the rules. The first is that you must be a bonified child of God.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Today I share memories of my kindergarten class in 1957. Seating accommodations allowed for six to a little table with four tables in the room. We each had a metal lunch pail with some cartoon character on the cover. We would trade sandwiches and sweets with each other at lunch time. There were little mats that would be placed on the floor so we could have some down-time after lunch. Wooden blocks were available for us to play with at recess on a rainy day. A free-standing abacus stood in the room for reasons unknown. I didn’t know my colors or letters and had no plans of ever learning them.

Sixty-five years ago, this fall will be the anniversary of this foundational event. I think Gram (Yeah, she was my teacher.) passed me on to first grade because she couldn’t handle me for another year. Neither one of us had any idea what kind of a hand life would deal to us. Today, I have a master’s degree hanging on the wall. I wonder what she would think of that.

Life is like a river, just moving us forward and never taking us back. We look at little ones in our lives and wonder what the future has in store for them.  At least we can try and provide this attitude for them:

Psalm 127:3-5 

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!  

Matthew 19:14 

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

When you see a child, think of yourself at that age.

Give it some thought.

Gary

This song was originally written and performed by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack to the 1973 film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid.  The song is about an officer who, having accidentally shot the kid, is wondering and hoping, while lying on his death bed that he will be let into heaven, hence “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” He knocks because he thinks he needs permission to enter there.

Although this is Hollywood which employs imagination, it does represent the beliefs of a great number of people. They erroneously believe that they have to ask permission to get into heaven. One never knows if the answer will be in the affirmative on in the negative. For some, it’s all based on a very complicated formula that no one on earth understands.

It wasn’t that way with Jesus:

Luke 23:43

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

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. 

1 John 5:13

 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

You don’t want to be tentatively knocking on heaven’s door. You need to read the Book that tells you of a grand entrance which is available for you.

Think about it.

Gary

Bernard Shaw played the “What If” game shortly before he died. “Mr. Shaw,” asked a reporter, “if you could live your life over and be anybody you’ve known, or any person from history, who would you be?”

“I would choose,” replied Shaw, “to be the man George Bernard Shaw could have been, but never was.”

“Too late” is such a sad statement. Those who profess to be self-made individuals are disappointed at the finished product. Paul was originally a self-made man until he received a “do-over” by the risen Savior. This is how he described it:

Philippians 3:7-8

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

Will you continue your vain attempt at building a life or turn the project over to the One who put you here?

Think about it.

Gary