Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:4
My friend Kevin and I are volunteers at a National cemetery in Oklahoma and put in a few days a month in a ‘slightly larger’ uniform. Today had been a long, long day and I just wanted to get the day over with and go down to Smokey’s and have a cold one. Sneaking a look at my watch,
I saw the time, 16:55. Five minutes to go before the cemetery gates are closed for the day.
Full dress was hot in the August sun Oklahoma summertime was as bad as ever–the heat and humidity at the same level–both too high.
I saw the car pull into the drive, ’69 or ’70 model Cadillac Deville, looked factory-new. It pulled into the parking lot at a snail’s pace.. An old woman got out so slow I thought she was paralyzed; she had a cane and a sheaf of flowers–about four or five bunches as best I could tell.
I couldn’t help myself. The thought came unwanted, and left a slightly bitter taste: ‘She’s going to spend an hour, and for this old soldier, my hip hurts like hell and I’m ready to get out of here right now!’ But for this day, my duty was to assist anyone coming in.
Kevin would lock the ‘In’ gate and if I could hurry the old biddy along, we might make it to Smokey’s in time.
I broke post attention. My hip made gritty noises when I took the first step and the pain went up a notch. I must have made a real military sight: middle-aged man with a small pot gut and half a limp, in marine full-dress uniform, which had lost its razor crease about thirty minutes after I began the watch at the cemetery.
I stopped in front of her, halfway up the walk. She looked up at me with an old woman’s squint.
‘Ma’am, may I assist you in any way?’
She took long enough to answer.
‘Yes, son. Can you carry these flowers? I seem to be moving a tad slow these days.’
‘My pleasure, ma’am.’
(Well, it wasn’t too much of a lie.)
She looked again. ‘Marine, where were you stationed?’
‘ Vietnam , ma’am.. Ground-pounder. ’69 to ’71.’
She looked at me closer. ‘Wounded in action, I see. Well done, Marine. I’ll be as quick as I can.’
I lied a little bigger: ‘No hurry, ma’am.’
She smiled and winked at me. ‘Son, I’m 85-years-old and I can tell a lie from a long way off.. Let’s get this done. Might be the last time I can do this. My name’s Joanne Wieserman,and I’ve a few Marines I’d like to see one more time..’
‘Yes, ma ‘am. At your service.’
She headed for the World War I section, stopping at a stone. She picked one of the flower bunches out of my arm and laid it on top of the stone.
She murmured something I couldn’t quite make out.. The name on the marble was Donald S. Davidson, USMC:France 1918.
She turned away and made a straight line for the World War II section, stopping at one stone I saw a tear slowly tracking its way down her cheek.
She put a bunch on a stone; the name was Stephen X.Davidson, USMC, 1943.
She went up the row a ways and laid another bunch on a stone,Stanley J. Wieserman, USMC, 1944.
She paused for a second and more tears flowed. ‘Twomore, son, and we’ll be done’
I almost didn’t say anything, but, ‘Yes, ma’am.Take your time.’
She looked confused. ‘Where’s the Vietnam section, son? I seem to have lost my way.’
I pointed with my chin. ‘That way, ma’am.’
‘Oh!’ she chuckled quietly. ‘Son, me and old age ain’t too friendly.’
She headed down the walk I’d pointed at. She stopped at a couple of stones before she found the ones she wanted. She placed a bunch on Larry Wieserman, USMC, 1968, and the last on Darrel Wieserman, USMC, 1970
She stood there and murmured a few words I still couldn’t make out and more tears flowed.
‘OK, son, I’m finished. Get me back to my car and you can go home.’
Yes, ma’am. If I may ask, were those your kinfolk?’
She paused. ‘Yes, Donald Davidson was my father, Stephenwas my uncle, Stanleywas my husband,Larryand Darrelwere our sons. All killed in action, all Marines.’
She stopped! Whether she had finished, or couldn’t finish, I don’t know.
She made her way to her car, slowly and painfully.
I waited for a polite distance to come between us and then double-timed it over to Kevin, waiting by the car.
‘Get to the ‘Out’ gate quick.. I have somethingI’ve got to do.’
Kevin started to say something, but saw the look I gave him. He broke the rules to get us down the service road fast. We beat her.
She hadn’t made it around the rotunda yet.
‘Kevin, stand at attention next to the gatepost.
Follow my lead.’ I humped it across the drive to the other post.
When the Cadillac came puttering around from the hedges and began the short straight traverse to the gate, I called in my best gunny’s voice:
‘TehenHut!
Present Haaaarms!’
I have to hand it to Kevin; he never blinked an eye–full dress attention and a salute that would make his DI proud.
She drove through that gate with two old worn-out soldiers giving her a send-off she deserved, for service rendered to her country, and for knowing duty, honor and sacrifice far beyond the realm of most.
I am not sure, but I think I saw a salute returned from that Cadillac.
Instead of ‘The End,’ just think of ‘Taps.’
As a final thought on my part, let me share a favorite prayer: ‘Lord, keep our servicemen and women safe, whether they serve at home or overseas. Hold them in your loving hands and protect them as they protect us.’
Let’s all keep those currently serving and those who have gone before in our thoughts. They are the reason for the many freedoms we enjoy.
‘In God We Trust.’
Sorry about your monitor; it made mine blurry too!
If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under!
You are required to pass this on NOW!!
Hosea 1:1-3:5
1 John 5:1-21
Psalm 124:1-8
Proverbs 29:5-8
While teaching my theology class last night one of the women said something I had never heard. She referred to Saturday Christians.
We were talking about the churches we had been raised in. I mentioned that I thought the church I was raised in may have stressed too much of our sin. I remember thinking that I was nothing more than a filthy rag. I think that likely came from the verse in Isaiah 64:6 that says – “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
Then I remembered a song we sang that said we were like worms. It was written by Isaac Watts and goes like this: ”Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred Head For such a worm as I?”
The true gospel of Christ has balance. There is a balance between the love of God and the judgment of God. God is both full of love and full of justice. True preaching and true gospel cannot have one without the other.
I Peter 4:17 says, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
Matthew 12:36-37 says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
God is just!
But then we also read that God is so loving.
John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
And Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God is BOTH just and loving. But then what is a Saturday Christian. A Saturday Christian is one who doesn’t celebrate the resurrection. They are stuck in the, “I am guilty” “I am a worm” “I am worthless” phase of life. They are stuck in the day before Jesus’ resurrection. They are not happy and rejoicing over the resurrection of our Savior. It is because of His death and His resurrection that we are no longer worms and filthy rags, but are now adopted children of God.
John 1:12 joyfully says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
Because of Christ’s sacrifice we are now RIGHTEOUS. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” And I John 1:9 further states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Joy came into the life of the Christian on Sunday, the third day when Jesus rolled the stone away from His own tomb. Immeasurable, unspeakable joy! In and of myself, I am a worm. I am nothing, but because of Jesus death and resurrection I am now righteous before God. He looks at me as blameless! We are no longer guilty. We are free! “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Ephesians 5:8.
So I don’t want to be a Saturday Christian, one who is struggling day to day to find joy and peace. I want to be a Sunday Christian! I want to revel in the fact that my Savior is alive! I want to be a Christian who finds great joy in the fact that I am redeemed. I want to be a Christian who knows and celebrates the fact that death no longer has a hold on me, it has NO STING! I want to be a Christian who understands the words, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” I Corinthians 15:55.
I care not to be a down in the dumps Christian walking around with a long face. I want to be a Christian full of celebration! I will sing the joyous song of redemption!
Redeemed – how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed through his infinite mercy. His child, and forever, I am!
Daniel 11:36-12:13
1 John 4:1-21
Psalm 123:1-4
Proverbs 29:2-4
via December One Year Bible Readings – One Year Bible Online.
The Bible is the best textbook, the best life instruction book ever written. Written within its 66 books and 1,189 chapters is the cure for all hurt, the remedy for all failings, and the recipe for living a life filled with joy and peace. It is up to each of us to decide whether we want to fully envelop ourselves in this great instruction book or if we want to make a go of it on our own.
Ephesians 5:1-20 teaches us how to live in the light of Jesus Christ. Stepping out of the darkness and into the light can be scary. When we see our own sin, stepping into the light can be very convicting, but this is exactly what Paul instructs the Christians of Ephesus to do. This brief text gives us six keys to living in the light.
1 – Follow the example that Christ God gave for us in everything we do. (vs. 1)
2 – Live a life full of love for others. We must love others just as Christ loved us. Christ loved us so much that He laid Himself down as a perfect sacrifice. John 15:13 states – Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (vs. 2)
3 – Let there be not a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed in us. We should not speak obscenities; we should have no foolish talk or coarse joking. But rather we should be filled with thanksgiving. Paul continues that we can be sure of this: “no immoral, impure or greedy person – such a person is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (vs. 3-5)
4 – Don’t be deceived by the empty words of those who sin around you, who try to justify their sin in an attempt to make it seem right. Don’t be partners with them. My concordance says – Do not partake with them in their sins, that you may not share in their punishment. (vs. 6-7)
5 – You were once in darkness but now you are in light. Live in that light and show the fruit of that light which is goodness, righteousness and truth. Have nothing to do with those who seek to do wrong but rather expose them. (vs. 8-9)
6 – Be careful how you live,” not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do all of this with thanksgiving to the Lord (vs. 10-20)
The instructions for living in the light are clear. God wants to make things clear for us. He does not want confusion in our lives. So if you wish to walk in the light, to live in the light, follow this simple recipe – Follow Christ’s example, live a life full of love for others, stay away from immorality, and even those crude jokes you may like to tell, don’t be greedy, don’t be pulled into doing wrong things by people who are still living in the darkness, live a life full of goodness, righteousness and truth, and be wise, making the most of every opportunity. And do all these things with thanksgiving on your lips.
If you live each day with these six points as your model, your life will be free from confusion and drama, your heart will be full of joy, and you will experience immeasurable peace granted by none other than the King of the Universe!
Tim Tebow’s relationship with former Miss USA model Olivia Culpo is over. Because,according to reports, Culpo is upset that the couple isn’t having sex, since Tebow has decided to remain abstinent until marriage.
So long story short, a report that should have come as no surprise since Tebow has already had one relationship end because of his moral stand and maybe, just maybe, God-forbid engender some sense of begrudging respect from the media elite for at least having the courage of his convictions, has instead triggered a few juvenile headlines and one-liners from a legion of sports reporters who would never be allowed in the same room as a Miss USA, current or former. Unless they bought a ticket.
First up is the New York Daily News, who ran with this ultra-original header:
“Tim Tebow still can’t find the end zone as girlfriend Olivia Culpo breaks it off over lack of sex”
Followed-up by this quip:
“For once, it’s not Tim Tebow who’s having trouble scoring – it’s his girlfriend.”
At the risk of being graphic here, the report wasn’t that Tebow “can’t find the end zone,” the problem was that Tebow would not enter the end zone. Nor, was he having “trouble scoring.” He chose not to score.
CBS continued the yuck-fest with this gem:
“Apparently an NFL job isn’t the only thing Tim Tebow can’t hold onto.
The New York Daily News reports former Miss USA Olivia Culpo broke up with Tebow because he wouldn’t have sex with her due to his abstinent lifestyle.”
Well, again, he didn’t really lose her, so much as he let her go in order to stay true to his pledge. It’s called making a choice based on deeply held religious beliefs. Something the liberal sports media might know about if they would ever even attempt to make any choices based on deeply held religious beliefs.
But here’s the thing, why is it hard to just report that Tim Tebow and his girlfriend broke-up because he doesn’t want to have sex?
Isn’t that the journalistic news piece here? Isn’t that the critical information? Is this what CBS and others have come to, that they can’t report an abstinent athlete parting ways with his girlfriend whom, he apparently deeply loved, without indulging in playground mockery? As if Tebow was some kind of sexually awkward clutz who couldn’t entice a woman into the horizontal if he was the last man on Earth?
I would accept that this was mere Tebow mockery because Tebow’s NFL career flamed out, if the same sports media hadn’t treated Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson the exact same way when news of his abstinent relationship became public earlier this year.Instead, I’ll have to see it for what it is. Yet another smear of a Christian athlete.
LifeNews Note: Dylan Gwinn writes for Newsbusters, where this originally appeared.
Media Mocks Tim Tebow for Getting Dumped Because He’s Committed to Abstinence
Daniel 11:2-35
1 John 3:7-24
Psalm 122:1-9
Proverbs 29:1
via December One Year Bible Readings – One Year Bible Online.
As Christians we are told that it should be our goal to live as Jesus lived, to act as He acted. When my children were growing up it was all the rage to where bracelets that contained the letters WWJD, standing for What would Jesus Do? But it is pretty hard to act as Jesus would act if we don’t even know what He was like as He walked this earth or who He still is today.
First and foremost we must understand that Jesus, the man who walked this earth some 2000 years ago was indeed God. There are few people who deny that Jesus existed. It is accepted in nearly every religion and among many non-believers that Jesus was indeed a real figure in history. But this is where it stops for many people. They want to say that Jesus was a great man, a kind and loving man, or maybe even a prophet but they don’t want to profess that He was God.
C.S. Lewis says this about this suggestion, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.”
C.S. Lewis knew that our Lord Jesus Christ was and still is God! People who try to say that Jesus was just a great teacher are certainly deluding themselves.
But if we are to follow Jesus, to emulate Him, to act as He acted, we need to know about who He was when he walked this earth. GotQuestions.org and some great insight into the question “What was Jesus like as a person?”
Jesus was not a good looking person like so many of the pictures we see of Him. Isaiah 53:2 says that he had “no beauty that we should desire Him…” It wasn’t His good looks that drew people to Himself, it was His personality and His character.
Jesus was intensely compassionate. His compassion found Him feeding 5000 hungry people. It was His compassion that caused Him to intercede for the woman accused of adultery.
Jesus was serious and focused. He knew what His mission on earth was. He knew why it was that he came to earth and His whole ministry was centered on that day when He would die for our sins. Jesus had a servant’s heart. Mark 10:45 says that, “He did not come to be served, but to serve.” Jesus was kind and selfless. Jesus was constantly thinking about the feelings of others. He cared about little children and their parents even when His disciples didn’t want the children bothering Him.
Jesus was submissive to the will of His Heavenly Father. In His final hours, while in deep anguish Jesus asked His Father to “take this cup of suffering from Me: but let what you want be done, not what I want.” Jesus was even submissive to His earthly parents. Luke 2:51 says that “He continued in subjection to them…”
Jesus was full of mercy and forgiveness. He asked His Heavenly Father to forgive those who put Him to death. He called the disgusting tax-collector Matthew to be one of His disciples. He showed mercy to the centurion when He healed his servant.
Jesus cared for the most wretched and despised of people. He cared for the Samaritan woman at the well. He cared for prostitutes and adulterers. He cared for children and lepers. Jesus was the epitome of caring and love.
Jesus was not afraid of confrontation but was most condemning of people who professed to know God but were more about religion than they were about love and service. Jesus often confronted the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Jewish leaders of the day. Jesus confronted the money changers in the temple who were defiling God’s sacred house. And Jesus even confronted his friend Peter when Peter tried to interfere with His mission. Matthew 16:23.
Jesus spent much time in prayer and fasting. He fasted and prayed for 40 days and 40 nights as He prepared for His ministry. Jesus prayed at His baptism, He prayed before He selected His disciples, He prayed before feeding the 5000, He prayed before raising Lazarus from the dead, and He prayed many, many more times!
Jesus was honest and truthful. He never told a lie, He never stretched the truth, but rather spoke the truth everywhere that he went. Jesus was patient. He was patient when His disciples failed to understand Him, He was patient when Peter all too often spoke before he thought, He was patient when they argued about who would sit at Jesus’ side in heaven. Jesus was patient.
So there we have it. If we want to live like Jesus lived, these are things to strive for: Compassion, serious focus, being submissive to God and those in authority, have mercy and forgiveness, be caring for those who appear to be unlovable, do not be afraid to confront when evil exists, spend time in prayer and fasting, be honest and truthful, and be patient. That is our recipe for happiness and joy. If we live in this way, completely surrendered to Christ, we will have great peace and immeasurable joy.
 Written by Bill Federer of American Minute
Prior to the Civil War, America was divided into 5 categories:
1. Radical Northern Republicans said slavery is wrong – end it now. They believed all human lives, on or off the plantation, were equal, created in the image of God. This group even included the fringe John Brown who shot a slave owners. 2. Moderate Republicans said slavery is wrong but the country should transition out of it gradually over time. 3 Practical Neutral Voters only cared about jobs, wages, tariffs, taxes and the economy. 4. Moderate Southern Democrats said slavery is wrong but the nation should live with it – just treat your slaves nice. 5. Extreme Southern Democrats said slavery is good and should be expanded into new Territories and States. They wanted Northerners who were morally opposed to slavery to be forced to participate in supporting it through the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Interestingly, these are similar to the categories America is divided into today: 1. Pro-Life Republicans say abortion is wrong – end it now. They believed all human lives, in or out of the womb, are equal, created in the image of God. 2. Establishment Republicansreluctantly agree to gradual limitations on abortion. 3. Practical Neutral Voters avoid social issues – “It’s the economy, stupid.” 4. Pro-Choice Democrats want abortion to stay legal, just have it be safe, rare and few. 5. Extreme Democrats believe that abortion is good and want to expand it globally through United Nations’ initiatives, include it in nationalized healthcare, sell aborted baby body parts, and force those morally opposed to abortion to participate in supporting it, even suing the Little Sisters of the Poor. |
The Christian Conservative 