Higgity, Haggity Hoggety, High…BT Article, July 30, 2017

When I was a kid a song got stuck in my brain.  It was a funny song by The New Christy Minstrels.   I found myself singing “Three Wheels on My Wagon” as I drove down 170 this morning.  It made me smile.  It made me laugh.

Way back in 1961 it was actually a hit song.  The song starts with a 3 wheeled wagon being surrounded by Indians, Cherokees to be exact.  On the second verse the wagon only has 2 wheels and the Cherokees are getting real close.  We know what happens in verse 3.  The wagon is down to 1 wheel and its on fire.  Last but not least the wagon has no wheels and the singer/driver has been captured by the Cherokees.  I can hear it right now, “Three wheels on my wagon, and I’m still rolling along.  The Cherokees are after me, they look mad really mad and I’m singing this happy song…”. I know.  I’m crazy.

The funny thing is this song comes to mind when I feel like the wagon driver.  It’s when the wheels finally come off the wagon and the Cherokees…they got me.  I wish I could be like the driver and sing a happy song.  Their song has everybody including the Indians singing, “I’m singing a higgity, haggity hoggety, high…”.  Usually at this point I’m fried.  No wheels.  Wagon on fire.  Enemies everywhere.  I’m done.

I have come to learn that most people can handle one wheel coming off in life.  Maybe it’s a problem at work.  It might be one of those bad spells at home.  We tend to survive one problem at a time.  We might spend some time in prayer.  We might do our spiritual duties and feel God got us through.  It’s when the second wheel comes off and we are still suffering the effects of the first wheel that  moves us a little closer to falling apart.

When wheels come off they tend to go faster then the vehicle.  I’ve been there.  Hopefully you have not.  Something didn’t sound right.  I looked off to the left and there it went.  The wheel was flying past the car before the rear hub slammed into the ground.

When three come off at once, it’s hard to find our God.  God hasn’t gone anywhere.  He is just as good and gracious as when the first wheel went rumbling by.  What’s really going on?

I’m not sure the New Christy Minstrels knew how accurate they were. When that forth wheel comes off all bets are off.  Crazy things happen at that point.  People do the dangest things when life has them.

Today in church the pastor uttered, “God is drawn to desperate hearts.”  Desperate hearts?  Why is he drawn to desperate hearts?  Probably since that is the only time we actually become dependent upon him.  Any other time we are thinking we can handle things.  The Christy Minstrels diddy gave the excuses.  Verse 1, reads, “a mile up the road there’s a hidden cave…”. So instead of dependance upon God we will try to find a way out.

Verse 2 continues the state of man vs dependence on God.  Instead of a mile up the road it’s down to half a mile up the road.  We just keep going and going.  Verse three has the hidden cave right around the bend.  We think we got the answers only we never make it.

For some reason we don’t turn to God when life starts to turn south.  No, we wait till  our options have run out.  We wait till out spouse is out the door.  We wait till we stand before the judge and hope he’s having a good day.  We wait till our employer has the pink slip in his hand.     When we finally get to the point our ways have failed, it’s then we become desperate for the Lord.  No happy songs (NCM’s didn’t quite have it right).  It’s more like desperate prayers begging God to rescue us.

The pastor was right.  God is drawn to desperate hearts. It’s only then we get out of the way.

Yes Sir!, Bluffton Today Article, July, 23, 2017

This week our grandson turns six.  Some refer to him as my mini-me.  It’s scary.  Two generations later and I can see me in so many ways.  That boy needs prayer for sure.  If he is anything like his grandfather there are tough days ahead.

The boy likes to challenge authority.  Often it’s not so much a mean streak, he is very aware of reactions he gets from people.  He pays close attention to all reactions.  Then he does the craziest imitation of those reactions.  Sometimes it’s quite funny.  Other times one would like to Homer Simpson him.  Homer would strangle Bart when his nerves got on edge.  When the lad crosses the line it’s time for action.

Last night I got the joy of sitting in the backseat with both my grandchildren on the way to eat.  His father asked him to cease a behavior and his reaction was not complimentary.  He was not being inquisitive; he was rude.  I turned to him and quickly reminded him he was speaking to his father who loves him dearly and the proper response was “Yes sir.”  He took a second and thought about challenging me but God must have intervened in that developing mind as he responded with a positive tone, “Yes sir daddy.”  Mission accomplished.  For now.

This morning I was facing myself in the mirror.  An incident occurred that frustrated me to death.  In Proverbs and James the power of the tongue is revealed.  Usually it’s the power to destroy that dominates such a little member of our body.  In my mind was all sorts of words that I wanted and was planning on uttering.  I was not happy.  Those words would not have been encouraging.  They would have been personal.  They were not in the category of encouraging and edifying Jesus.  They were destructive.

Suddenly, I heard an echo deep in my mind.  I’ve heard it before and often ignored it.  I don’t know if that is the past error reaching out to me or the voice of God.  I tend to think it was the voice of God through his Holy Spirit.  Why?  It was in direct opposite of my nature.  The voice said clearly, “Shut up and don’t go there.”  Now my grandkids might argue the use of “shut up” but God speaks in ways we need to hear.

I stood there and tried different methods to avoid such wise counsel.  I tried deflection.  I tried ignorance.  I tried absolute disobedience.  I sounded like my grandson.  I wanted my way.  I wanted to be out front.  I wanted things fixed and I wanted to fix them.  I demanded control!

Again I heard words.  They literally said, “Enough, I got this.”  Quickly my mind was searching for an answer.  It was one of those moments that time had no bearing.  I was on fast-forward.  My guess is that is exactly what goes through my grandsons mind.  I bet we have all had those moments.  My shoulders slumped.  My pride was conquered.  “Yes, sir.”  End of game.

Our culture is moving more and more away from submitting to an authority.  That is the natural evolution of a world based on relative truth.  Eventually the only authority is ourselves.  We pick and choose what we want and what we are going to do.  If it works for me, great.  If something else works for you, great.  Just, leave me alone.  No need to say “Yes, sir.”  The answer based on relativism has to be “Yes, me.”

This is nothing new.  Solomon in his wisdom said correctly, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  The creation struggles with following the Creator and his way.   So we  thank the Good Shepherd who takes the time to come and find us and bring us back to the flock.  We are that valuable in His eyes because of His sacrifice on the cross.

Lord, be that still small voice that has me reply, “Yes sir.”  Remind us who is the Creator.  Remind us who is the King of Kings.  Speak so we can hear you.  Speak  our name as a father would his son reminding us of your great love and care.  Last but not least, be with that grandson of mine.  I’m trying and so are his parents.  He needs to hear the voice of Jesus as I do every day as well.

That’s Nice, BT Article, July 16, 2017

The elderly gentleman and his grandson lifted the lawnmower to the ground.  There was work to be done.  The owner of the home, a young lady abandoned by her husband, was not home.  It was a good time to get the lawn cut and get back home.  Reaching back into the car for the trimmer a neighbor suddenly appeared.  We all have them.  Neighbors that are always around till you need them.  He asked if they were going to cut the grass.  No, there were going to build a swimming pool (I once again apologize for my sarcasm).  The lawn cutting duo explained to the neighbor that they were there to assist the homeowner who was in need.  The inquiring (see I’m getting better) neighbor replied, “That’s nice” and scampered back across the street.  Off to work they went.

The grandfather and grandson labored most of the morning getting the lawn in decent shape.  Grandma made sure they had plenty of water and kept an eye on them.  She had to.  It was one of the hottest days of the year.  It often amazes me that a neighbor can stop by and ask questions but they don’t show up when there is work to be done.  There was no offer of a cold drink of water or my personal favorite, iced tea; the southern kind.

After all was said and done the neighbor showed back up.  They seem to have great timing.  Again they talked about the family in need.  It had not been a good year for them.  Granddad had the opportunity to turn the attention to our Lord, humbly taking the attention off of himself.  He explained he wasn’t there primarily to cut the grass for the lady.  He was there to serve our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Hoping the neighbor might inquire more about serving Jesus, all he got was a second, “That’s nice.”  Once again the neighbor turned and left quickly.

It was time to go home.  The trio did their “nice” duty of the day.

Their nice story points to a problem we have in our culture.  Jesus is seen as being a nice guy.  Let’s not get into a discussion about the brutal death, burial and resurrection of the nice guy.  We want to leave him as being a nice guy.

Can you imagine if a world wide religion was based on a “nice” guy.  It reminds me of the movie “Talladega Nights.” Ricky Bobby played by Will Ferrell says grace over a meal.   He prays to the “baby Jesus.”  Ricky Bobby and several of the characters discuss how they see Jesus.  Not a one of them saw him as the Son of God.  Not one of them saw him as a sacrificial lamb.  Now, I understand the movie was a satire poking fun at everything.  Got that!  However, it makes the point just like the inquisitive neighbor did.  If we can see Jesus in our eyes and make him what we want him to be, we don’t have to see him for who he really is.  “Nice baby Jesus” has no authority.  Jesus, the Son of God demands our attention, our hearts and our submission.

There it is!  The word we despise.  “Nice” Jesus doesn’t require submission.  Babies don’t demand submission.  The King of Kings and Lord of Lords commands submission to the point the Scriptures say “every knee will bow and tongue confess that he is Lord.”  Whoever wrote Talladega Nights forgot that the Magi from the East “fell down and worshiped him.”  Even “baby Jesus” demands our worship.

I often wonder if we as believers have made Jesus into a “nice guy” more than those who don’t believe.  Jesus said some hard things.  Seldom does any preacher point out the imperative statements of Jesus.  Imperative means “crucial and of vital importance.”  It’s use in literature and speech means “giving an authoritative command.”  Jesus the one full of grace and love spoke in the imperative over 300 times.

His grace called us to Him.  Yes, the unmerited favor forgives but it also restores.  It restores our relationship to God through Jesus.  In that relationship we are not called to be nice people.  We are called to follow (submit) Jesus.

For some reason we keep trying to make Jesus into somebody attractive.  Jesus said, we would be hated because he is hated.  Hated!  That doesn’t sound like a nice guy.  He was hated as he dispenses his grace.  He calls us to life.  It’s a life in Christ with him out front not alongside having a pleasant discussion counting all our nice deeds and words.  He’s guiding us to do exactly what he did.  He laid his life down for others and gave a way of life that demanded (imperative) we love God and others as we would want to be loved.

How are you seeing Jesus?  How are you seeing yourself?  This is an important element of the Christian faith.  Since the Reformation in the 1500’s man has slowly elevated himself and lowered the view of Christ.  We are trying to make Jesus into something or someone we can like.  We are trying to make him into someone we don’t have to follow.  Last time I checked the Jesus said to love him “with all of our heart, all of our soul and all of our mind.”  That’s grace.  It forgives and it calls.  It calls us to Jesus.  Deuteronomy 10:7 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty and the awesome God…”. Can you imagine if we rewrote it in our non offensive Ricky Bobby manner.  It would read “For the Lord your God is the nice guy, the baby of all babies, the cool one, the cooing one and the One formed in our eye…”. Doesn’t quite cut it does it.  Which one would you follow?

Doc Holliday Gospel, BT Today, July 9, 2017

It’s been a long time since a classic Western movie hit the big screen.  Maybe we don’t have an actor (nor actress) that personifies the old west.  We have had a few try to match the likes of John Wayne in films such as “True Grit” or “The Cowboys.”  My personal favorite was John Wayne in “The Three Godfathers.” It didn’t win any awards and was one of the lesser known John Wayne films.  If you haven’t seen it, try and catch it around Christmas.

There is one western released in 1993 that catches my attention when it comes to classic Westerns.  Kurt Russel and Val Kilmer along with Sam Elliott, Powers Booth and Bill Paxton make Tombstone a must see old time westerner.  In my opinion Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday night be Kilmer’s best acting role of his entire career.

There are a lot of great lines in this outlaws vs. gunman American westerner.  Just about everybody who has seen it will remember Doc Holliday standing with his hand on his gun and a tantalizing smirk on his face surprising Johnny Ringo (very bad guy) with “I’m your huckleberry.”  You know right then and there Ringo is in deep trouble.  You got to see it. It’s one of those kind of flicks.

In this shoot em up, kill or be killed movie there runs a deep seated theme that rings true for all mankind.  Wyatt Earp (Kurt Douglas) is talking to Doc Holiday about evil focusing on the evil that makes a man kill, rape and maim.  He asks Holliday’ “What makes a man do the things he (Ringo) does?  Doc Holliday gives one of the best answers I have ever heard when the question of sin and evil is brought up.  He replies, “A man like Ringo has a great big hole, right in the middle of himself.  And he can never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict enough pain to ever fill it. Man’s dilemma is right there in the middle of Tombstone.  A preacher couldn’t have put it any better.

But wait a minute.  It gets deeper.  Wyatt asks “What does he want?”  Philosopher Holliday replies, “Revenge.”  Wyatt questions, “For what?”  Philosopher turned preacher Holliday hits the nail on the head and says, “Bein born.”  When those words came out of his mouth I dropped what I was doing and raced to replay and record those few lines.  Hollywood once again sets the stage for an answer to man’s on going struggle…sin.

We are all born with a hole in our heart.  Jesus is constantly pointing it out.  He said we are thirsty, hungry,  and sheep without a shepherd.  One thing philosophers cannot answer is our propensity to inflict harm on others.  Don’t think we are goody two shoes.  We might not have a six shooter on our hip but we have a tongue that can inflict enough damage to kill the heart of anybody especially those we say we love.

Johnny Ringo might have filled his hole with evil.  That same hole is often filled all sorts of ways.  We each choose our own way.  That hole is the lost fulfillment of being in perfect relationship with our creator, God.  We all crave Eden.  Add some pain and suffering to it and that hole gets wider and deeper.  On this side of heaven it won’t ever be satisfied.  No wonder The Rolling Stones, who had all the money, women and drugs they could want sang “I can’t get no satisfaction.”  Maybe Holiday had it right.  What we are really rebelling at is “bein born.”  Born into a world full of suffering, pain, brokenness, shame, guilt and fear.

No matter how we try and avoid the effects of sin they’re going to come.  We all will face the tragedy of being born into a world that “eats their own.”  We might delay it.  We might ignore it.  We might deny it.  That is the real shame.  With Jesus we should be running to it instead of away from it.  Why?  With Christ we now have hope and an answer.  That answer might not come in it’s entirety in our lifetime.  But, He promised to send the Sprit to anyone who believes providing Shalom (internal peace) as we wait to be fully redeemed in his presence.

We believe in Jesus to fill that hole.  We believe in Jesus to rejoice in “bein born.”  We believe in Jesus who in a sense is our huckleberry (forgive me if I have sinned).