“I would just as soon listen to a gangster lecture on honesty as watch Hollywood portray the Bible.”
— Vance Havner

That statement was made over three decades ago and is as relevant for today as it was then. Movie stars, athletes, politicians, and millionaires try to promote the Word of God. I wonder if they even know how many books the Bible contains.

Great preaching and teaching by those who are unrecognized by the world have brought me closer to God. Indeed, many struggling congregations have provided the Christian soldiers for the upcoming generation. In addition, these nameless servants don’t pray for notoriety but faithfulness.

Colossians 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Serve not for the recognition of men, but for that of God.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Recorded on 21 and 22 October 1965, “Nowhere Man” describes a man with no direction in his life and with no genuine worldview.

He’s a real nowhere man
Sitting in his nowhere land
Making all his nowhere plans for nobody

Doesn’t have a point of view
Knows not where he’s going to
Isn’t he a bit like you and me?

Nowhere man, please listen
You don’t know what you’re missing
Nowhere man, the world is at your command

He’s as blind as he can be
Just sees what he wants to see
Nowhere man, can you see me at all

Nowhere man, don’t worry
Take your time, don’t hurry
Leave it all ’til somebody else
Lends you a hand

The Beetles hit the nail on the head with that one. There are so many on the planet who don’t know where they came from, what they are doing here or where they are going after this. They are waiting for something to happen as they live a life of quiet desperation.

The Bible is the only true source that addresses that situation:

Genesis 1:27

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

John 6:27

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.

You are not a freak of nature. Give it some thought.

Gary

If God has called you, you don’t need a lot. The account is found in the book of Genesis. God called Abraham to leave home and family for a land promised to him and his descendants.  His first act of disobedience was bringing his father and nephew, Lot, with him. His father never made it and took him on a side trip. Lot made it, but was a constant source of irritation in the land.

When I teach on this account, I tell believers to remember never bring along a “Lot” when God calls you. God will supply all you need in the land. It’s a lot that drains us of spiritual life.

1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

You didn’t bring anything when you came into the world, and you won’t carry out anything when you leave. Stay light and always be ready to move out without unnecessary baggage, including individuals.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Why does my imagination cause me to journey back so many times into my youth? Let me give you some answers. Many people I love and who love me are still there. My environment is safe and I can trust my friends. I have little responsibility and work isn’t demanding. I didn’t know that while I had it easy so many didn’t. Swimming the Allagash River in high water felt like winning gold in the summer Olympics. Games were for fun and I wasn’t the best, but I wasn’t the worse. My brothers and sisters are still home and the old house is still standing. Old age was only a theory, and if it did happen, it happened to others. I knew very little about loss.

The Bible is clear about moving on; however, memories are a drag on that endeavor. Busy seems to be the only cure.

Luke 2:49

And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Luke 9:62

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Grab that plow by both handles. Take aim and consider the mule’s tail as the rear sight and his two ears as the front sight. Keep it straight until you get to the end.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Opportunities Missed
Poet: Unknown

There was a very cautious man
Who never laughed or played
He never risked, he never tried,
He never sang or prayed.
And when he one day passed away,
His insurance was denied,
For since he never really lived,
They claimed he never really died.

The famous quote: ”If not us, then who? And if not now, then when?”  has been made popular by several political figures such as Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy. Its origins lie in Hillel the Elder, a Jewish leader, who stated, ”If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being for my own self, what am I? And if not now, when?” This quote has been used over the years in slightly different verbiage by several different people.

Risk and uncertainty shouldn’t stop us from trying something that might otherwise never come our way again. Step out by faith like our father, Abraham.

Hebrews 11:8

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

God will challenge us to walk by faith.

Give it some thought.

Gary

A delightful children’s story tells of a little blue engine that looked at his impossible task of pulling a train up a steep hill and said, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” Filled with determination, the little blue engine huffed and puffed and pulled up the hill. But in an amusing twist to the original story, another author wrote:

“He was almost there, when –CRASH! SMASH! BASH!

He slid down and mashed into engine hash

On the rocks below…which goes to show

If the track is tough and the hill is rough

THINKING you can ain’t enough.

People who’ve adopted the philosophy in which they think they can do anything are only deceiving themselves.

Jesus put it plainly:

 John 15:5

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

This is not referring to brushing your teeth, combing your hair or riding off into the sunset.

Going through trials and tribulations by claiming the victory that is available through the Enabler, the Helper, the Provider, the Friend that sticks closer than a brother will bring reward that will last for eternity.

Give it some thought.

Gary

With eighty hours of trucking behind me, I was empty and headed home. I topped that mountain without realizing the sun had melted the snow on the backside and it was now iced over. As I started my descent, I gazed on a frightful sight. In addition, at the bottom of this long hill was a sharp left-hand turn. I couldn’t brake and I couldn’t steer. I was completely at the mercy of gravity. It seemed like forever but within seconds that rig piled through a high snow bank that entombed the truck.

Moments before, it looked like my workday was almost over. Now, it was going to be a long day with a lot to answer for.

Strange how life is. You never know what lies ahead for you just over the next hill.

James 4:13-14 

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Slow down, give it some thought and be safe.

Think about it.

Gary