September #1

PERSONAL ITEMS: Betty had a chemo treatment last week, the first after several months and is having some side effects from it causing some head pain and swelling. We do appreciate your prayers for her. / As for me, after attending all church services for years of ministry, I now feel a bit guilty of not attending any. The various problems I am having makes it difficult being out and getting around. The fuzzy headedness and diabetic neuropathy I’ve mentioned before keeps me in.

REMEMBERING A FRIEND; I met Henry while working at Boeings in Seattle. He had graduated from a Bible College and wanted to get into full time Christian work. We held lunch time Bible studies whenever we could find any interested parties. I was working to maintain my family along with starting my first church. Wanting an opportunity to preach I invited him to come and preach for me on a particular Sunday. He came and I introduced him to our little flock and turned the preaching time over to him. He had difficulty delivering his sermon and in less than ten minutes sat down and I got up and finished his message for him. It was quite an embarrassment for him. Though he couldn’t handle preaching, in time he was a lifesaver to us. The time came when I could no longer manage working at Boeing and keep the church going so I quit Boeing, taking a step of faith not knowing how I’d provide for my family. A man in the church told me of an older couple that needed their house painted which I did but the profit from that didn’t last long. About the same time Henry quit Boeing also and got a job that paid better by installing insulation in new homes. Whenever I needed help paying the bills, etc. Henry would let me work with him, being paid per foot of insulation installed. Though he was better and faster at it than I was he would split the days earnings with me. Many times Henry’s generosity saved the day for us. Sad to say, Henry is missed, having gone on to his reward early. It is amazing how God has raised up people to make our ministry possible. The list is long, many of whom are those who receive these “Musings.” Thank you for your prayers and support.

GOD IS IN CONTROL: As I listen to the news there are many troubling things going on and I wonder how it is all going to turn out. There is high governmental indebtedness, with more coming. Hardly a day goes by but what someone is murdered right here in Columbus. Whenever I get started thinking about such things, I have to remind myself that God is in control.

July 2009 #1

PERSONAL: Betty is presently undergoing radiation each day for ten days to shrink a brain tumor that was causing severe headaches and affecting her left eye. The eyelid stays closed and hopefully this will correct as the tumor shrinks and no longer presses on a nerve that causes her problem. It is amazing how much she has had to go through. It seems there is no end to treatments, one thing after another. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.
SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE: Several times I have heard about “Christian homosexuals.” This is an oxymoron if I have ever heard one. How can these people claim to be Christians when they are practicing what God so clearly forbids? If God destroyed Sodom for the wickedness of homosexuality in the Old Testament why would anyone believe it is acceptable in the New Testament as a part of Christianity? A homosexual can repent of his or her sin and accept Christ and put their sin behind them but they cannot find the practice any more acceptable during this church age than it was in Old Testament.
SOCIAL SECURITY: Greta Van Susteran (spelling??) has reported on Fox a $700,000.00 dance and party in Phoenix, Arizona held for Social Security managers from all across the country having been flown in for this and put up in an expensive four-star hotel. How can this sort of thing be justified by our government in these economic times when so many are out of work and many others spend nine to twelve months trying to get signed up for their benefits. Someone needs to be fired.
LIFE AS A HOME MISSIONARY: If God should call you to be a home missionary plan to make many moves. As I look back over the years there were many moves to start churches and to minister to need works. Some moves were for short periods and others lasted two to five years. It is hard on the wife and the children. Wives like to put down roots and children don’t like having to make new friends. There are always adjustments to make. Thankfully I had a wife that stood behind me in those many moves. She use to say, “Blow in my ear and I’ll follow you anywhere.” And she did. As hard as moving was we had the joy of many friends in many places across the country and when we traveled their were place to stop and spend a night. In time we were able to purchase a small motor home and latter travel trailers. They helped, giving us our own bed to sleep in wherever we traveled. Perhaps I’ll add to these thoughts another time

June 2009 #1

PRAYER FOR BETTY: Betty is presently going through radiation on her back & tailbone. She has had six days and has a total of twelve treatments, going into the oncologist each day. She has a lot of pain laying on the radiation table but it is a short treatment. Hopefully this will ease the bone pain she has been experiencing.

PREACHER OBAMA; Turn on the news (Fox) most any weekday late morning or early afternoon and you are more than likely to hear President Obama speaking. He is not preaching the Good News he is preaching more big government, a favorite topic of his. Bigger government, more power, authority, rules, agencies, czars, etc. are increasing government jobs. His stimulus package is not doing much to create new jobs abound the nation, only government jobs. The reality is that our children and grandchildren will be working for the government for many years to come to pay the tax bill. / The media is still entranced with Obama, even when his swift hand kills an annoying fly, great news stuff. If that doesn’t catch your fancy keeping watching, you will get to see the family dog or his rushing out with a caravan of limousines to purchase hamburgers. He even brought some back to those who weren’t in the caravan. I never did see who paid for the hamburgers. / The taxpayers did get to pay thousands of dollars for dinner and a play in New York. Can you imagine the flack President Bush would of received had he done the same when he was in office? / We haven’t seen anything yet, just wait until Obama gets his socialized medical plan passed that is similar to what Canada and England has. My son John was under that plan when he and his wife Ethel served as missionaries in Canada. He had gall bladder problems and writhed in pain on the floor at times because the government declared the problem related to elective surgery. It took months of agony before he received surgical relief. If you have never had a serious gall bladder attack, believe me, it is something more than just an “elective” procedure. You would take a knife and cut it out yourself if you were able.

REAL SPIRITUAL WORK: “John 6:29, Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” Too often we apply or claim wrong things as spiritual work. There is no spiritual work done by us until we start from this point, knowing first that we belong to the Savior, then we can serve him and know we will receive His reward.

May 2009 #1

PERSONALS: It has been some time since I sent out a Musings and many are asking what happened to the “Musings”?. Between Betty and I doctoring and not feeling the best I just haven’t felt up to writing or doing much of anything, other than over using my recliner night & day. Further, my vision had declined making reading very difficult. / Betty has developed double vision and been to the eye doctor a number of time and had MRI’s taken to try and find out what is causing the problem, including a minor surgery to check the blood vessels at her temple. Nothing was found so she is seeing the eye doctor regularly to keep tabs while wearing an eye patch over one eye.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: I turn eighty on the 18th and the kids planned a big celebration for me over the Memorial Day weekend. There were 24 of us sharing a joyous time together. Patty can early and stayed for two weeks that has been a rich blessing. My what a great sacrifice on their part coming from as far away as Oregon. I never expected such an honor and blessing. Nor did I expect to reach this age but God has graciously allowed it and I take things as they come.

TATTOOS: I wrote previously about tattoos and someone responded with the following: “Do you really think tattoos are a mimicry of satanic practices in modern-day culture: A lot of mandates God set in the Old Testament for the Israelites aren’t applicable – times change along with cultures. A tattoo that can spark a conversation about faith in Christ doesn’t seem like a negating thing to me.” I don’t want to give a lot of space and time to this topic but here I go. The Ten Commandments come to mind and I find it interesting that nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, with the exception of keeping the Sabbath. They were good for Israel and they are good for the present age as well. The Old Testament sets the stage for the New Testament and it is valuable for us today, else God would not have preserved it for us. Therefore we learn from it and find it applicable in so many ways. Old or New Testament, as a Christian I choose to forgo tattoos believing that my body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit and not to be so abused. Anyone who chooses differently, that is between them and their Lord but I find it difficult as a believer to do so. Further, the God of the O.T. is the same as the God of the N.T. and what was wrong or immoral in one period is wrong and immoral in the others. Culture should not amend God’s standards.

GAY QUEEN: Can you believe this: A gay male in a Los Angeles high school was voted to be their prom queen. What a slap in the face for girls of the school. I think if I had been the prom king I would have stepped down from the position. For that matter I would have skipped the prom. Sodom and Gomorrah here we come.

FEWER POLICE & FIREMEN: Economic problems are causing the firing of police and firemen, endangering our communities. We desperately need to see a turn around or we are going to see an increase of criminal activity. Do you find it interesting (or a sad day) that Obama is increasing the size of government, hiring new czars, etc. rather than a true stimulus that increases employment for society at large?

March 2009 #2

PRAYER REQUEST FOR BETTY: You would think that Betty has had enough afflictions without adding another but here is a new one. Several weeks ago she started having double vision. We took her for an eye exam and the doctor ordered a brain MRI to make sure there were no brain tumors involved, considering her other cancer problems. Thankfully no tumors were found. Apparently sets of nerves are causing the double vision. Usually after about six months or so they correct themselves. She is wearing a patch to help avoid the double vision for now. Please pray this condition will correct itself in a short time, as it is quite difficult to deal with. She doesn’t complain and takes all these things in stride.

PATTY SURPRISE: My daughter Patty gave us a pleasant surprise this month and flew in for a few days. What a joy and a delight having her help and presence from Tuesday through Sunday and returning home on Monday. Then on Thursday she & Al had to drive out to Kansas to be there for the birth of a new grandchild early on Saturday morning by “C” Section, Abigail. Lynne Lee (ALL). Pray for Laura as she heals from the surgery. She and Mark are going to have their hands full with three small children, each fourteen months apart. I think that makes my 10th great grandchild, plus two on Betty’s side.

NOTRE DAME & OBAMA: Notre Dame has schedule conferring an Honorary Doctorate on President Barack Obama in May. Many alumni and others are up in arms over this. Notre Dame is a highly esteemed Catholic University representing their faith as well as high academic standards. Obama’s early on decision to approve funding international abortions and lifting the ban on stem cell research is contrary to Catholic faith and is thus raising serious questions in the minds of faithful and church leadership. Without a question it is seen as hypocritical and many are having a problem understanding the Universities decision. I am sure cancellation of conferring this honorary doctorate is out of the question but certain should be cancelled as a rebuff of President Obama’s immoral stance.

FOREVER STAMPS; Be sure to stock up on the Forever Stamps before the postage rate goes up so you can save a couple cents on postage for a while. These rate increases hurt Christian mailers as well as others and speaks to the trouble the U. S. Postal service is in. They are laying off more people and are talking of ending Saturday delivery of the mail. Times are changing and the cost of living and ministry is going up

ONE WORLD MONEY; China, France and other countries are calling for new money for the U.S.A. and others that would destroy the dollar. Such a move would also move us closer to the One World Order setting the stage for the Anti-Christ. Hopefully our government is smarter than that but I am beginning to wonder. Obama has just left for the G20 Summit meeting in an effort to get other countries to go along with his plan to spend their way into a stronger economy. One British parliamentarian has strongly condemned Obama and Brown for their financial plans. Thankfully a few are crying out.

MORE ON TATOOS; My son Gary sent the following: “I saw an article about a youth pastor who encouraged his students to go with him to get “Christian” tattoos, like the ones he proudly displayed, covering his own body. I guess he didn’t know that his actions and his tattoos were a form of idolatry, a mimicry of satanistic practices, as well as an act strictly forbidden by God.”

“Moses wrote in Leviticus 19:28: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, NOR TATTOO ANY MARKS ON YOU. I AM the LORD.” (NKVJ)

“I guess he was more interested in gaining a following for himself, rather than leading his students into gaining a personal knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ.”

March 2009 #1

BAD PARENTING: A co-missionary reminded me of problem we seldom hear much about, parents who teach their children to steal. One of my “Musings” brought it to his mind which in turn reminded me of an event many years ago when I managed the Sprouse Reitz Variety Stores. I was transferred to manage the store in Camas, Washington not long after the II World War. We had a lot of junk merchandize to clear out after the war. We had a large stock of men’s sox without elastic tops. Rubber was scarce during the war. I had marked down a lot of men’s sox and placed them on an end counter. Some were marked down more than others, being of better quality. In those days we had price tags held on by wire pins. I was up in my balcony office overlooking the store when I notice a mother and her two daughters at that end counter of sox. It was obvious what they were doing, switching price tags from the lesser valued sox with those that were of greater value. The mother was having her girls help make the switch. So, I went to the register to take the place of the clerk running it and waited for them to bring the merchandise to the check out. I quickly recognized what they had done and called them on the switch and told them to leave the store and to never return. I probably should have waited until they were outside the store, stopped them and called the police but that was too much hassle at the time. It is hard to believe parents would so teach their children to steal but apparently it still goes on. Parents will stand accountable before God for so teaching their children. We teach our children by example for good or bad and if you question that just observe how early small children pick up fowl language or slang when we don’t guard our tongues. Surely you have observed that.

CHANGING TERMS: Do you remember when the term “thousands of dollars” was used as a common term? Then we thought “a million dollars” was a lot of money. That has all changed as they now talk about multiplied “billions of dollars” and “trillions of dollars.” Have you noticed the change? Sad to say, most of us can’t even begin to comprehend what these new financial terms mean. I grew up at a time when a nickel bought a double scoop ice cream cone and a quarter bought a very large hamburger, a double tall glass milkshake and left over a nickel to buy a candy bar. It is hard to imagine our government giving away billions of dollars that when it is all said and done we won’t know what it bought. Our government has lost its compass and I am afraid we will have lost the Capitalism that made us great and exchanged it for European Socialism. Hang on; we are headed down the road of weakness and despair while setting the stage for Russia and the Arabs to move against Israel and ushering in the Great Tribulation. Call me a pessimist if you like but it has to come eventually and we should be rejoicing at the nearness of the coming rapture.

RELIGIOUS TRENDS; In case you missed it in the news there is a new report out now on religion that is causing quite a bit of discussion. (1) Catholics are now the largest religious group in the United States of America; (2) Baptists make up the second largest religious group; (3) Unbelievers have increased from 8% of our population to 15%; (4) More people now prefer not to identify themselves by any particular denominational group. This should concern true Christians for we are losing the battle for souls. We are also failing to make clear doctrinal distinctions. To reject a particular denomination group also means the lack of doctrinal beliefs because the various denominations held up certain Biblical beliefs. Those distinctions or beliefs are no longer important to people. For example, Baptists had convictions relating the importance of baptism and the autonomy of the local church; Methodism held up certain biblical beliefs based on the teachings of the Wesley brothers. Various founding beliefs have now been discarded for personal likes and dislikes rather than acceptance of biblical authority. These changes are moving to conditions that will make it easier for the anti-Christ to foist his anti-biblical positions upon the world. The further the churches move away to biblical authority the more susceptible people will be to the anti-Christ’s God denying leadership. Keep looking up.

OBAMA’S HYPOCRISY: President Barack Obama made promises while running for office that are rapidly being denied. He is finding it easier to make promises while seeking office than to fulfill them while facing a Democratically controlled Congress. Earmarks were suppose to go with his promises to scrutinize bills line by line, yet he just signed an omnibus bill with some 8,000 earmarks in it. Recognizing his own failure he refused to sign the bill publicly but did so behind closed doors with only a few present for the signing. Keep watching, this will not be his last showing of hypocrisy, there is no way he can keep the long list of promises made to his followers prior to the election. I wonder how long it will take those who voted for him to recognize their mistake.

February 2009 #3

REMOVING TATTOOS: What in the world does tattoo removal have to do with the stimulus package? How can this create jobs and get people back to work? Congressional leaders and their followers all need to have their heads examined, especially the one who added this to the list of perks in the stimulus package. You have to know our government passes bills without reading them, something they all admitted to when things like this show up. God have mercy on us. Just think, our children and grandchildren are going to have to pay the taxes on this stimulus bill that this generation has foisted on them.

NO BEAUTY OR MANLINESS HERE: It goes beyond my comprehension why anyone would so mark the bodies with tattoos. I have seen women parading themselves with their bodies being covered with tattoos exposed in their skimpy summer apparel. God created women beautiful and only pagans could think that tattoos add to their appearance as an improvement. Nor do tattoos add to the manliness of men. Many a man, once he matured and particularly having become Christians, have bemoaned the tattoos of their youth.

THE AMAZING GRACE OF GOD: The various books of the Bible repeats the historical events of Israel. Psalm 100 is an example of this. In verses 6 & 7 we are reminded of their repeating the sins of their fathers. Then we read verse 8, “Nevertheless He saved them, for His name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.” Israel was unworthy of God’s grace and we are unworthy of God grace, yet for the sake of his covenant with Israel and his promise of eternal life to believers, He still bestows His grace upon us. Praise His holy name, we don’t thank Him enough for His grace.

LOOKING BACK TO WARMER DAYS: Cold wintery days with the snow, wind and cold rains turns the heart back to warmer spring and summer days. I did many different things to meet the needs of the family and to make it possible to minister to a little church that couldn’t afford to adequately provide for the pastor. One of the ladies who attended our church had a husband who worked for the city to maintain its parks. Through that connection I was able to get the job of mowing the several city parks. I spent many a day mowing around trees, shrubs and picnic tables and sharpening the mowers blades. Actually, it was a good job because I could enjoy the outdoors and it gave me plenty of time to think about the lessons and sermons I had to prepare. Mowing didn’t require a lot of thinking, so often thoughts relating to the sermon were dwelt upon. Being out in Gods creation and enjoying the warmth of His sun was time well spent and though I wasn’t at my desk studying the task was eventually accomplished. Looking back on that special time warms my heart. I often wonder if the people ever appreciated the many things I had to do in order to minister to their spiritual needs. God knows, it was to His glory. Pastors who are able to give their full time to minister are fortunate and no doubt able to put more into their pastorates than I was able to do. Still, the small churches and the development of new churches is an important work too. He knew I was not equipped to minister to larger churches and He had me where He knew I fit best.

THE ODD JOBS; In that same local I did a lot of odd jobs besides mowing. Here is the list: (1) I hauled manure from the fee lots to the fields to fertilize them; (2) I used a shovel digging ditches; (3) I worked in a drug store setting up new counters and shelving; (4) mowing; (5) we had the distribution of a couple different newspapers; (6) I was a substitute mail carrier; and (7) I worked in a variety store. I think I am missing something but it gives you an idea of the things I did for the privilege of pastoring one small church. This of course was before I was with a mission agency and had raised support to do the church-planting ministry. I hope this wasn’t repetitive, I don’t recall whether I shared this before or not.

ILLUSTRATIONS: As difficult as the variety of jobs was while ministering, there was an advantage. I know of some pastors who struggled with finding illustrations for their sermons and lessons. The variety of jobs did provide ample materials for illustrations. When I was less experienced I remember buying a book of illustrations and it was always difficult trying to find an illustration that would fit. It didn’t take me long to learn that the best illustrations come from personal experiences and dealing with people and the circumstances of life. You really don’t need to look any further than that. The sooner a young pastor, evangelist or missionary learns that lesson the easier his task will become. There is no better way to relate to the congregation than out of the pool of life experiences.

NEXT MUSINGS: Parents teaching children to steal.