A Pile of Rubble

With folks missing at work, and one very important night shift gentleman going on vacation next week, I began last week to feel somewhat like the Israelites did when they were in the process of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 4:6 says "So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart." But the time came when opposition, through agitators, ridicule, criticism, and outright hostility came into play in the form of a group of renegades who did not follow God's way, and the Israelites began to be worn down. Fear came into play, the magnitude of the job seemed greater than they could bear, and their enthusiasm began to wane. It all looked like "heaps of rubble", and they became discouraged. Their work suffered, and they were compelled to take inventory of what they had available to them, and this drove them to turn to God.
Though I had no hostility displayed toward me, and my fellow workers have been more than kind to me, there was something inside me that was eating away at my "heart". I was beginning to be disheartened because of the "pile of rubble" (backstock) that was building up. I had to take inventory and I realized that I had more on my side than I had thought. God was answering my daily prayer that I might "honor and glorify" him in all that I do. My surroundings hadn't changed (I was still working in a cooler at an average temp of 43 degrees), my fellow workers had not changed (they were still cordial, helpful, and cooperative), the work load hadn't changed (I was still moving about two tons of milk, cheese, yogurt and juices a day--a veritable 'heap of rubble'), but my attitude had changed (I was once again 'shining forth Jesus Christ') and that made the difference.

Planting Trees

A couple of weeks ago a young couple (and they do look young to us now!!) presented their baby for dedication. Those of us who have participated in such a ceremony know that the dedication is, however, a Parent Dedication.

Pastor Felber's challenge that morning was a call to plant shade trees. He suggested that parents (and I see this as extending to grandparents) need to plant at least three kinds of shade trees in our children's lives. These are:

• The truth of God's Word. He pointed out that to plant this kind of tree: (Ps. 119:105 & Deut. 6)

1. --We need to be consistent in our personal devotions.


2. --We need to be consistent in family devotions.


3. --We need to be consistent in teaching God's Word to our children.

• The discipline to do right. (Prov. 23:14,15)

1. --We must practice discipleship (modeling and training)


2. --We must teach them to obey immediately and happily. (Eph. 6:1-3)


3. --We must help them learn to honor and respect others. (Mark 12:30,31)

• The right atmosphere in which to learn. (Col. 3:21)

1. --In order to do this, we must win their heart.

a. We dare not embitter them by changing the rules of the game constantly so that they become disheartened. ("lose heart") This would cause them to have a listless, moody, sullen frame of mind.

b. The twig is to be bent into shape and it must be done with caution, lest we break it.

2. --We are responsible for our own attitude. It must be just as good as that which we demand from our children.

He concluded by challenging us to consider what kind of shade we will provide, and how we will shape the little twigs that are our responsibility.

Though my children are all grown and on their own, I had to think seriously about what this meant to me as a grandfather and a role model. A huge challenge indeed!!

Surround Sound

One of Michael's desires, even when we lived in Acworth, was to have a "man room". He had something of the sort there, but there were also many other things in there, such as two large bookcases filled with Mary's books and mine (mostly mine).
In this house in Monck's Corner, he has a room specially dedicated for that. He just recently purchased a "surround sound" system, and today the installers installed it. It is amazing. We thought "stereo" gave us the feeling of solid sound, but with five speakers and a "subwoofer" this is truly unbelievable sound. Watching a DVD (Marley and Me) tonight I was amazed at the realism and the sense of being in the middle of the action.

This got me to thinking about the announcement of the rapture in I Thessalonians 4:16 "...for the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God..."

This loud command will come at any time. When you are watching a movie, you have a good idea when the loud sounds are going to come, but the coming of the Lord Jesus will not have the visible signs to go with it. True, there will be many events that will happen and are already happening which let us know that it can happen at any time, but even the Lord Jesus did not know the exact time when this would happen because, as a man who had laid aside the independent use of his divine attributes (Philippians 2:6-11) he only knew what the Father revealed to him while he was here on earth.

The loudness and the commanding nature of the announcement of His second coming for His saints, together with the element of surprise, will be far and away more impressive than "surround sound."

It is for this reason that it is important that we be ready at all times to present ourselves before the Lord, not so that we may be worthy of being in His presence, for that is already taken care of by the cross work of Christ, but in order that we might be able to stand before Him unashamed.

My constant prayer is that this may be my state of preparation. It would be so much better than to be saved but "so as by fire". May that be the desire of each of us who call ourselves His children.