Week 16 2013 Hospitals, Caskets, and Life?!

We made our way into Batesville, Indiana this week.  Both the Batesville Casket Company and the Hill-Rom hospital bed manufacturer are headquartered in this town.  I was amazed at the size of the Batesville Casket Company’s manufacturing site.  It is enormous!  As part of my constant practice of taking pictures wherever we travel, of things and sights I find interesting, I took some pictures of this facility.  Una was not nearly as impressed as I was.  In fact, she thought it downright silly that I would waste my time taking pictures of something so ghoulish as a casket factory.  She explained that as she is getting older, the thought of dying is not very pleasant.  Talking about graves and caskets and funerals make her a little uneasy.  Death is just not a very pleasant subject for her these days.  Imagine that!

Of course, I’m being a little facetious.  However, when I place these two manufacturing plants in one place I find it difficult to not reflect on our mortality.  In the early seventies one of my psychology professors made the statement that death is a part of life, and that we simply can’t go through life without experiencing death, that there has only been one person that he has known of who has gone through life without experiencing death.  Therefore, since death is an inevitable part of life, should we not be able to openly discuss it without fear or anxiety?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I suppose it depends the value you place on life, or the faith you have in the afterlife.  Yet, I am convinced that death is a personal matter.  It isn’t a shared experience.  We must face it alone.  Oh, sure, a loved one can hold our hand while we expire.  But, to actually experience death is left to the one who is dying.

Scripture tells us that our life is but a vapor.  We are here today and on the morrow we are no more.  While it is true that in the scope of eternity our earthly existence is minuscule, but in our finite state, this short life is all we know.  Life, then, takes on extreme significance.  What do we do with these numbered years?  How do we maximize their effectiveness?  During our earthly years we have few boundaries.  We live life large, so to speak.  Our bodies are not confined to a two by six-foot box.  What about our spirits?  Do we live as large in the spirit?  Are there spiritual boundaries?  I’m pretty sure that our spirits are not confined to a coffin when we die.

I don’t have the answers.  I’m just supplying the questions for your consideration.  Hospital beds and caskets remind us of our mortality.  As for me, I would rather be reminded of my immortality.  For this to take place, I must be assured that my spirit does not, will not, experience sickness and dying.  With this knowledge, the thought of death doesn’t really concern me.  It seems to me that it is just necessary portal to a much fuller life in the spirit.

Week 15 2013 I’m a Travelin’ Man

Do you remember that old Ricky Nelson tune, “Travelin’ Man?”  You probably do if you are a baby boomer.  It’s a catchy little tune that speaks of a man who travels the world, leaving a different girl in each port.  That was the mantra for the worldly man of that period.  Unfortunately, the relationships were one-sided.  The double-standard was that if was alright for a man to have multiple women in his life, while it was shameful for a woman to do the same with men.  In fact, such a man was supposedly sought after by women.  However, if a woman demonstrated such voyeurism she was rejected.  Such attitudes gave rise to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine and others of the same ilk.

The feminist movement changed everything.  Women are no longer held to that old double-standard, or are they?  While it is true that the modern woman can now have as many men as she wants with very little shame, she is still being exploited by the very same chauvinistic views that once held her down several decades ago.  The flaw in fixing the double-standard was in women adopting the darker side of man for themselves, instead of demanding that men turn from their sinful way of living to the wholesome manner God intended.  Instead of exalting those who would have multiple partners, we should be honoring those who are strong enough to stay with one for life.  For women and men to be truly liberated, we need to lift one another out of the miry filth of public exhibition.  We should demand that our mates, be they male or female, reserve themselves for marriage where we can honor one another, without exploiting that which could be beautiful by making it ugly and cheap.

Rather than being a travelin’ man, leaving a different woman in every port, I choose to be a travelin’ man, sharing different memories with the one I love.  The rewards are greater and the memories richer.  We honor each other, and we honor our Lord, when choose to take this path instead of the one that depends on denigrating another.

“Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.”  Ecclesiastes 9:9

Week 14 2013 Dream Car

I have several “dream” cars, that is, cars that I would love to own.  For instance, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, or a 1956 Chevy Nomad or two-door hardtop Belair.  Although a purest at heart, if I could have it my way, the dream car would look completely stock, with a modern paint job, nice rims and tires.  However, the running gear would be converted to modern Toyota.  With a car built this way, I could have the best of all worlds.  It would be a classic American beauty, with the reliability of Japanese technology, the safety of updated systems, and the comfort found in today’s vehicles.  Alas, since I am not a mechanic, and I have no experience in building a car, I would have to have all the work done by others.  Thus, my dream car would probably be a very expensive venture.  However, as my wife is always reminding me, dreams are free.

While dreaming of cars, I suddenly realized that my dream has been reflected in my life.  The Master Mechanic took my shell, replaced the old parts with new ones, making me a more reliable version of what I once was.  He took what was there, and transformed it into His “dream” version.  Outwardly, I am still the classic me.  He placed Christ in me.  Thus, I am no longer the rusty bucket of bolts I was when He found me.  I have been made new, in His image.  What He has formed will last through eternity, and shine like the stars of heaven!  The cost was great.  It required the sacrifice of His only begotten Son.  However, the dream is no longer a dream.  It is reality.  Praise God!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  (2 Corinthians 5:17

Week 13 2013 Forgiven

Before Christ I was a very sinful man.  I lead a very dark life, pursuing self-interests that often hurt others, both those I loved and those I hardly knew.  My conduct wasn’t malicious.  It was never my intent to hurt anyone.  In fact, even in this sinful state, I thought I was living by the “Golden Rule,” do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Looking back on it, I was self-deluded.  I would never have wanted family, friends, and acquaintances to treat me as I had treated them.  My sinful behavior was nothing but destructive, hurting others and myself.  I wasn’t completely evil.  There was a positive side to my being, just as there is in everyone else. My pursuit of self-gratification was actually not very gratifying.  Ultimately, my sin brought short-lived, temporary, shallow satisfaction.  At the time, I didn’t realize how much I was missing by avoiding sin instead of pursuing sin.  I only came to see this after I came to the Lord.

At the age of twenty-seven I decided to follow Jesus.  The decision was a scary choice for me, because I didn’t know what life would be like on the other side of that decision.  Furthermore, I knew that once I made that decision, I could never turn back.  This would be a lifelong commitment.  Had I known how wonderful life in the Lord would be, I would not have been frightened.  After accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior, He forgave all my sin – past, present, and future.  It took awhile for me to realize it, but He also removed the guilt for these sins.  He paid the only price that could possibly atone for my sins and guilt.  His death, burial, and resurrection set me free from the bondage of sin, releasing me from the chains of the law, providing an abundant life through Him.  This life has been more fulfilling, providing greater satisfaction, gratifying body, soul, and spirit in ways I never dreamed of in my former life.  The only thing I had to give up was the shallow, self-deceptive, sins of which I had been engaged.  The only down side is one that I would have suffered no matter what, the consequences of my sin.  There are scars from the healed wounds, relationships that were harmed and are still less than what they could have been.  Yet, the affects of my sinful activity have been diminished because of my transformed life.

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”  1 Corinthians 6:9-11

I once was lost in sin, but now I am forgiven.  This is a gift that is offered to anyone who will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  If you are reading this, and you haven’t made that decision, let me encourage you to do so today.  There is no sin that cannot be forgiven by the Lord, and your life in Him will be greater than you can possibly imagine!