I don’t know where the word bogan came from, but in my hometown it was an inlet from the river surrounded on three sides by land. Our bogan would freeze up well before the river did and made an excellent place to skate. Most of us kids had figure skates so we could do crazy stuff on the ice. Discarded car tires provided the fuel for the fires by which we stayed warm. (There might have been some not so discarded, I couldn’t say). The local merchant would provide us a little gas to help ignite the tires.

Never considering the danger involved, we would skate down to where the river flowed free and the ice stopped. That’s the thing about youth and the total disregard for safety.  Thankfully, no one ever broke through the ice because the water was deep and the current swift.

As I sit here writing this, a chill goes up my spine when I consider all the things that could have gone wrong in those days. One verse comes to mind that gives me the assurance that God was with me even in the days of my ignorance:

Psalm 23:6

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;

Take a long look back and maybe you’ll spot the hand of God protecting you in your youthful ignorance.

Think about it.

Gary

Lynda Randle is one of my favorite gospel singers and I especially love her rendition of “God on the Mountain.” This hymn is taken from the historical account of the king of Syria believing that Israel’s God was the God of the mountains but not the God of the valleys. Was he ever mistaken!  However, many a Christian needs to experience this divine fact.

For the God on the mountain
Is still God in the valley
When things go wrong
He’ll make them right
And the God of the good times
Is still God in the bad times
The God of the day
Is still God in the night

1 Kings 20:28

Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’

Life has mountain top experiences when heaven is clearly visible, but it also has valleys where the dark shadows of doubt can be overwhelming. Both sets of circumstances should find us acknowledging our great God.

Give it some thought, Job.

Gary

One of the many stories from my hometown is about two old-timers who went to camp deep in the forest. During the night, they were awakened by the terrible growl of a black bear in the distance. One turned to the other and said, “How many shells do you have for the rifle?” with a trembling voice and in a whisper his companion replied, “Only six.”

When one is confronted by terror, it just seems like there is never enough protection. There’s a verse about misjudging situations and making them more than what reality reveals.

Proverbs 26:13

The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!”

He was wrong and only making up a story. Do you fabricate lions sometimes?

Think about it.

Gary

“Blessed Assurance” is a well-known Christian hymn. The lyrics were written in 1873 by blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby to the music written in 1873 by Phoebe Knapp.

Crosby was visiting her friend Phoebe Knapp as the Knapp home was having a large pipe organ installed. The organ was incomplete, so Mrs. Knapp, using the piano, played a new harmony she had just composed. When Knapp asked Crosby, “What do you think the tune says?” Crosby replied, “Blessed assurance; Jesus is mine.”

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of His spirit, washed in His blood

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior, am happy and blessed
Watching and waiting, looking above
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long

Assurance, according to the dictionary, is a positive declaration intended to give confidence; a promise.

Insurance, according to the dictionary, is a thing providing protection against a possible eventuality.

In Christ we have both assurance and insurance.

Trust no one but Christ for your salvation and you will experience the blessing from God’s Word of both assurance and insurance.

2 Timothy 1:12

For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Think about it.

Gary

I was always after my dad to take me with him into the woods where four-foot pulp was being harvested for the paper industry. As foreman, he would travel from crew to crew inspecting their work and making arrangements for their next move. A crew would be composed of two men and a horse. One man would cut the trees; the horse would haul the delimbed tree and a man in the yard would buck it up and pile it. These men were mostly French-Canadians who could not converse in English.

Dad stopped to talk to a man and I, of course, couldn’t understand the language. This cutter took out a pack of cigarettes and offered my dad one, which he accepted. Then surprisingly he made the same offer to me, a nine-year-old who was standing there. I sheepishly refused the offer, probably because Dad was there.

As we left this scene and were out of earshot, I asked Dad, “Why did that man offer me a cigarette?” Dad said it was because he was a Canadian and in that country they got married at my age. I was reflecting on that and said to myself, I’m thankful I’m an American because I’m not ready for marriage.

Sometimes accurate information can be lacking even from those you trust. This is the reason God has given us His word about the past, present and future.

Psalm 19:7-9

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
 

The precepts of the Lord are right,
    giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
    giving light to the eyes.

 The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
    and all of them are righteous.

No, there wasn’t a Santa Claus either.

Give it some thought.

Gary

When I was still in the single numbers, I had a toy paratrooper. He was about eight inches tall with a folded parachute on his back. This model could be thrown into the air, and on his way down the parachute would deploy and he would float to earth.

Conveniently, my dad’s truck was parked in the dooryard with a bulldozer on the back. I climbed up on the truck, navigated unto the cab of the dozer and flung my paratrooper into the wild blue yonder. As he started down, his chute deployed and he stopped his descent.  He started rising, instead of falling, and didn’t stop his ascent. My friend and I followed his flight for half a mile and saw him disappear over a mountain.

One of our neighbors was logging in that area a few years later and came across the spot this unfortunate soldier landed in. There wasn’t enough left of him for a proper burial.

The lesson is that sometimes what you hold so dear can disappear because of forces beyond your control.

James 4:13-14

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 

That which you handle today might be gone tomorrow.

Think about it.

Gary

I was probably fourteen years old at the time. The moon was shining over the confluence of the Allagash and St John River. Observing the romantic scene before us, my female companion and I were sitting on a log. This was going to be the first time I kissed a girl and I was looking forward to it with much anticipation. Closing my eyes and moving my lips in her direction, I launched the move; however, the calculation of my trajectory was off by an inch and a half, and the passionate advance was placed squarely on her nose.

We both recovered from that embarrassment and my second aim was right on the money. With time and practice, I became quite proficient with the technique and still use it on occasion with my wife of fifty years.

The Bible describes this form of securing a relationship in:

Psalm 2:12

Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

We might lose a lot of relationships by misapplication of this subject; however, contact with the Son of God is imperative.

Think about it.

Gary