Saturday, July 7, 2012

A Welcome Respite

While doing the weekly marketing Friday, I came upon a long forgotten occurrence: actual kindness by doing the right thing!  Let me explain.

I was in my local Costco warehouse getting a few things - I avoid getting a shopping cart when I can hold them in my hands, which in itself is countercultural, keeping me focused on just what's on the shopping list - and in line with others at a checkout register stand.  Probably a good two thirds of the registers were manned by the employees. . . a typically busy Friday. 

The checkout lines were on the long side, and I knew that in time another register would open up in all likelihood.  I was right. . . one did to the right of me and the woman ahead of me, who had a cart.  We were asked to move to the newly open checkout stand by the clerk, Patty S., and we proceeded to do so in an orderly fashion. 

This did not suit one Costco member with a cart that insisted on having their own way, however.  This particular woman aggressively barged right in to take the first spot in line in front of us at this newly opened checkout stand.  I sighed. . . and then. . .

"Ma'am, I asked the woman in back of you to come over to my register.  Please allow her to be served and get in back of the gentleman in back of her,"
 Patty S. crisply, but unemotionally stated.  Patty looked directly at her eyes to communicate "I'm not going to check you out until I get the woman I asked to come over to me checked out, and the man behind her."  She never flinched.  What courage!  What chutzpah!  She never took her eyes off the offender of the store's protocol. . . and the opportunistic woman backed down after several tenuous seconds of debating in her mind if she, in fact, could get away with it. 


I thanked Patty S. in person as she checked me out.  I also took the time to let the front end staffers - the people who supervise the checkstand clerks - know just how "by the book" and "old school" this particular action by Patty S. was.  So old, rare and ancient an act, it actually made me think I was transported back into the days of my youth!  I was, of course, enraptured at the proper and gutsy treatment Patty gave the offending woman.  I still am as I'm writing this. 

My encouragement to this retail establishment, Costco, is simply this: be consistent.  Have all clerks do this kind of action in the face of such rudeness as what was on display from the offending woman Costco member.  Over time, and with such united resolve, I believe it is possible to get the general membership of such a place as Costco to change their behavior to one that is less pushy, less shoving and demanding, and frankly, more safe in the physical sense. 

You see, I have a balance problem due to a neurological difference I've had all my life - but was only finally correctly diagnosed in my later adulthood - which makes it difficult for me to keep standing up.  I'm easily knocked down, compared to others.  So from that vantage point, following proper and safe procedures such as the ones Patty S. followed that day reassure me that as I move about, I'm not going to be physically run into by shovers that put me off balance, causing me to fall. . . and quite possibly, get injured.  So major kudos to Patty S. and Costco!  Well earned and deserved praise. 

Then, at my next stop at my regular grocery store, Winco, I encountered a young mother trying to get her young recalcitrant son to get in the shopping cart. . . due to his running around without regard to other shoppers' safety or need to select their own grocery items in an unencumbered manner.  I see far too many kids running around without regard to other shoppers and causing a safety hazard at this store, much less reducing the kindness of allowing each shopper to find their own items hassle free.

"Son, did you hear your own mother?" I asked the boy.  He looked at me quizzically as If I were a space alien from some distant planet. 

"Well, did you?" I repeated to him. 

He dutifully climbed in the shopping cart his mom was using. 

"See, mom!" I chirped back to the now happy mother.  "There's folks who care about your kids here.  I'm old enough to be his grandfather.  Since his dad isn't here, I took his place.  Hope you don't mind. . . "

She smiled and expressed her thanks.  Another moment of bliss on this present Earth.  

*  *  *

I found a YouTube video clip that expresses what doing the right thing with character and integrity does to others around you and can even change the culture, if done consistently and often enough.  Here 'tis:

 
From 1 Corinthians 13 (ESV):

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Patient. . . kind. . . not arrogant or rude. . . not insisting on its own way. . . not irritable or resentful.  Such a world. . . and the World to Come, wherein dwells righteousness!  Ahhh. . . (smile)

Selah.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Pithy Postulates for finances

Time to consider the financial and material side of this present life. . . if only because we have to deal with it.  Heaven, of course, will have far different riches and objects one deals with - mansions, streets of gold, and a banqueting table I very much look forward to sitting at, for starters - and is always a wise place to store one's belongings and treasure.  Indeed!  (smile)  Eternity is what I sometimes wryly refer to as my "deferred compensation plan."

I came across an interesting fellow blogger here on blogspot who came up with what he calls "quotable quotes."  If you know me well, I do my very best to avoid trite and worn out phrases, so I have renamed this post to something far less trite and far more fresh. . . Introducing what may well become an irregular yet periodic feature here, "Pithy Postulates."  I'm reusing his oft-repeated sayings here, while the reflections will be my own.  Just another reminder that true wisdom comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow (James 1).  Those of us who are in tune with what God says in the Scriptures - and most importantly his heart - are hopefully more aware of the generous spreading around of that wisdom among his special creation, humankind.  Hat tip to Robert Platt Bell, whose original post is here: http://livingstingy.blogspot.com/2011/02/quotable-quotes.html  I'd also recommend reading his blog generally. . . from the bit I've read already, he has some sound down home tested from the trenches wisdom about financial management that so many lack.  That intro out of the way, here goes:

  •   The more complicated you can make any financial transaction, the easier it is to fleece the consumer.
Buying cars or real estate come to mind here. . . but it needn't be that expensive.  Free toasters when you open an account at a financial institution are an old ploy, as are interest rate deals at the store.  Then there are the television commercials that tell you - always late in the two minute ad - you will get two of the item (such as a magic knife) for the same "low" price if you act now. . . Here's how to order.  For calls in the United States, call 1-800-blah blah blah.  Beware.  Avoiding these could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in the transaction. 

  • They throw pennies at us, hoping we spend dollars.
This is where the "cash back" deals and the "free miles" from the airlines try to hook you into buying from them, and not their competitors.  I did a bit of calculating on the AmEx credit card offer regarding Costco purchases, especially gasoline, and concluded it was worth perhaps $10 to $20 a month max.  The downside is you pay a monthly statement, not pay as you go.  Pay as you go lets you know the exact state of your finances, if you manage them well (and believe me, I do).  You always spend more using a credit card. . . I learned that back in my marketing classes I took years ago.  Avoid.

  • Generate your own normative cues!
The advertising industry - Madison Avenue, as it's called in the trade (hey, back in the day I even took an entire college course on the subject, earning my easiest "A" ever while sleeping through class most of the time) is full of it.  Constantly trying to get you to work against your own self interest financially speaking, buying things you can ill afford.  Ignore them!  I said, Ignore them!  Who invited them into your house as a guest?  You did.  Turn off the TV and/or throw away the direct mail.  You'll be better off for it.  And. . . learn to be more like Jesus, and less like Madison Avenue.  That means you'll be spending more time in the Scriptures, and less time watching the boob tube.  Try it. . . you'll like it!

  • Any business relationship predicated on a lie, no matter how trivial, will inevitably go down from there. 
Car dealers that shout from billboards or direct mailers "$199 a month for (blank make/model new car)" are lying to you.  Lying!  Double the figure and you'll get the ballpark real purchase price.  Don't lease.  Ever.  Unless you own a business and use the vehicle in your business.  Who ever only travels 12,000 miles a year like the lease invariably states?  No one.  They'll charge you dearly for the extra miles, costing you hundreds or thousands extra at the end of the lease.  Avoid, avoid unsolicited telephone calls from pitchmen and direct mail directing you what to do with the envelope (the "urgent" marking on the outside envelope ploy or similar).  Just say to the caller, "we have a policy of not accepting unsolicited calls from people we don't have a business relationship with" will do the trick nicely.  I know from experience.  And throw the yucky direct mail away.  Don't even look at the stuff!  'Nuff said.

While in the process of going through the day's activities, a young woman came to the door and stated she was a friend of ours from Tennessee.  We're in California. . . and so that raised my wife's and my own suspicions as to her trustworthiness (lying to us).  Sure enough, she was here to sell us some kind of subscription to get her a scholarship for college - heard that before for many many years.  Told her we as a family policy don't do unsolicted business with folks we don't ask to see. . . she walked away.  See!  Works like a charm! 

  • If someone tries to sell you "Peace of Mind," keep one hand on your wallet.
I once worked for an automobile extended warranty company in Tustin, California.  Shady characters.  They "gamed" the company to favor those dealers who sold the most contracts, and favored customer payouts to those who bought extended warranties from these dealers. . . while stonewalling and denying legitimate claims from those who bought their contracts from dealers that didn't sell enough extended warranties to suit the company's liking.  Lawsuits invariably ensued.  If you can't afford the item, do without it.  Don't be a materialist and seek life through your posessions.  True peace, of course, comes only from knowing Jesus.  Not from buying some insurance plan or something. 

  • So when someone asks you to cheat, chances are, it is because they want to cheat YOU. 
Don't be involved in a crooked deal.  The only one benefitting from the deal will be the crook!  Don't fall for the car deal that's "too good to be true."  It is. . . and when you wire that money to the person who never showed you the car in person, you can bet your bottom dollar it's never going to be shipped to you.  So don't be a sucker.

  • Using the tax code as an investment guide is a bad idea. 
Making purchases or doing things just because there's a deduction or credit in the tax code is just plain stupid.  The tax code changes all the time, and is "gamed" to favor those in political power anyway.  Don't have a K Street lobbyist?  You're not named Warren Buffet or Oprah Winfrey?  Then don't play their game!  Remember, it's not about the abundance of things you possess on this present earth.  It's not about getting the lowest tax bill.  It's about pleasing God while obeying the government taxwise.  Spending money to save money always results in spending money in the long run.  Which reminds me. . .

  • You can't deduct your way to wealth!
Oh yeah, some years ago there were these electric golf cart vehicles like the ones Lee Iacocca was involved in that were supposed to pay for themselves via tax credits.  The tax credit was good for the first year, then the government closed that loophole.  Those that fell for this ended up with golf carts that ended up being far from free.  Whatever happened to all those golf carts?  Were they such a good buy after all was said and done?  You be the judge. 

Similarly, lately we've had "Cash for Clunkers" and new car tax credits to spur new car sales.  Those who bought cars then got a better deal than I did, who bought my new car 15 days after the credit expired.  Sigh.  But both of us ended up spending money for new cars, new car purchase tax credit or not.  Spending money is not saving money.  Don't let the tax code rule you. . . let Jesus be your kindly, gentle benevolent ruler and live life according to His will, not the tax code's.

  • Act Rationally in an Irrational World
Whatever the hype is, go the other way.  Be like a salmon. . . swim upstream, not with the crowd.  The crowd takes the wide superhighway. . . the pilgrim takes the Road Less Traveled. 

I remember getting sales pitches via the telephone and direct mail telling me now was the moment to buy into real estate.  Buy a house, rent it out for a while, and "flip" it for the easy profit with house prices rising.  Funny thing is. . . as with any purchase, there is a downside risk.  What if you become "upside down" in the rental house's mortgage?  It's happened a lot these days.  We all know how the real estate market is now, right?  Considerably down from where it was a few years ago.  Stay a step ahead of the get rich quick schemers.  Ignore them!

  • All advertising is based on the simple premise of persuading a consumer to act in a manner that is NOT in their own financial self interest. 
In other words, why listen to advertisers?  No reason to, unless you like ads for entertainment purposes.  They are acting at cross purposes with what you are trying to accomplish in life.  

Ever notice that companies about to go out of business or are poorly run often do the most advertising?  Why are they advertising in the first place?  Because they don't have good "word of mouth."  They have to recruit folks who've never tried them, the young, the new immigrants, the unaware, the unsuspecting.  And they do it with great precision, let me tell you. Circuit City, Hollywood Video, Blockbuster Video and Montgomery Ward (!) come to mind.  Only one of these is still in regular business anymore.  Two of them are with new owners selling via the Internet.  Don't get me started. . . (grrr. . ..)

  • While it may be safer in the center of the herd, the grass is all trampled down and pooped upon.
Don't let the world squeeze you into its own mold; be willing to take appropriate risks in life.  It's hard to eat grass the other cows have eaten.  Get some elbow room - take risks to earn an income and grow your financial situation by not always following the crowd. 

Consider the real estate market from say, 1995 to 2005.  In 1995 most people were risk averse to buying - always a good signal to check out and see if it makes sense to buy (because many folks took their losses in the immediate years prior).  Conversely, in 2005 I had letters and phone calls begging me to sell my property - a good sign that the market was becoming overheated and unsustainable, and yes, about to collapse - a signal to get out of the market.  And it did of course collapse.  As we know now, everyone else was buying at the top of the real estate market in 2005 when that was the time to actually sell.    

Another mistake some people make is to buy every insurance policy covering every circumstance known to mankind.  This include buying extended warranties on things like garbage disposers and home computer printers.  Do yourself a favor: keep your hard earned money and just say no.  Cover the true catastrophic sitations that would bankrupt you, and for the things that you typically go out and replace, don't even consider buying an extended warranty!  Please, folks!  Don't make me beg. . . 

  • Never confuse getting lucky with being brilliant.
Don't be overconfident just because you've made some decisions that have panned out financially in a short period of time.  Everyone eventually lucks out and makes worse decisions. . . the law of averages kicks in, you know.  "Take heed where you stand lest you fall," the Apostle Paul said.  Apropos not only spiritually, but financially as well.  Good advice.  Don't overplay the hand God gives you to play.  

  • If someone can't explain what they do for a living in ten words or less, they are probably lying to you.
If you hear buzzwords, politically correct talk, or lots of technospeak that sounds really good but doesn't make any sense to you, raise your red flag.  Check it out!  Probably not worth your while to invest in them, employ them, rent to them, or (ahem) marry them.  Who wants to lose from a liar, anyways?  "Let your yes, be yes, and your no be no," James wrote in his letter to the twelve tribes scattered abroad.  Makes good sense, and excellent advice.  Be honest and to the point wherever possible, even if it hurts.  

Please feel free to continue the discussion via the "Comments" hyperlink below.  It would be nice to hear your thoughts as well.



Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Words (and music) from a fellow Pilgrim

No, I didn't say it, but I wish I had.  Guess who is our guest blogger?

*  *  *

We get awfully big when we have all that assurance, and all that confidence, and all that jazz.  It's just hard to give it up and get in to where you really want to go.  If you're a very brave person, I highly recommend a serious reading of the scriptures, and instead of always trying to understand it, so that it fits your theology, I would just really like to challenge you to read it and say, "That's what it says; of course it doesn't make sense, it's true!"  And Truth very seldom makes sense. 

We want to become healthy and prosperous and unaffected by the world, and He wants us to encounter the world in such a way as He did, which is a way that will eventually kill us.  So we ask for all the wrong things and we get all the wrong things.  That's why I think it's hard for a rich person to get into heaven, because they've been going the wrong direction for so long it's hard to turn around. 

*  *  *

These words are from the late great Rich Mullins, who may be gone from this present Earth but not forgotten in many a Pilgrim's heart, including especially mine.  Rich spoke them during one of the last concerts he ever gave two weeks before he died in a tragic Jeep/commercial truck accident in Illinois in 1997.  The story of how he came to give this concert and stay with a family there, plus the concert, words, music and all, are on the following YouTube video.  Enjoy!





If you're looking for the song Rich sang after saying the words I quoted above, here it is:




Sunday, July 1, 2012

Is Death a friend?

Yesterday my wife and I attended a funeral for a friend's husband.  He had suffered from Alzheimer's Disease for several years before the moment of death occurred, and his memory departed, leaving his wife, a jewel of a woman, with someone whom she knew. . . but he no longer knew her. 

I give great credit to her for staying with her husband and caring for him in the Alzheimer's facility he was cared for at, even in the face of cross words and unkind thoughts verbally expressed.  Great, great credit.  Difficult to keep with such an unlovely person. . . but by the Grace of God, she did.  The easy approach is to run from and disown such a one. . . and again, to her great credit, she relied on the Grace of God to allow her to love her unlovely husband in the midst of the trial and heartbreak that is Alzheimer's.  That is a great story that she may be proud of to tell others for the rest of her life!

So we attended the funeral at her church.  The pastor there, whom I've not ever met, stood up and offered some words.  Considering what trials her husband went through, and that of the surviving wife present, thinking of the "slow goodbye" which is Alzheimer's, where one's memory eventually fades and is no more, he offered the following thought: "Death can be a friend," the pastor confided to the assembled friends and family in attendance.  He proceeded to say other words in the vein of comforting those present, considering his audience with certain care and forethought.  No words chosen at the last minute from what I could see.  Again, I'm giving this pastor the benefit of the doubt.  I really believe his aim was to be of comfort and encouragement at that moment.  This particular church has gone through a lot of change of late, not much for the better either.  It is now comprised of elderly women as its mainstay, with not many men in attendance anymore.  Not many in their younger years go there anymore, either.  So this church probably deals in death more often than it would like, I would hazard.  Again, I'm seeking to be charitable, especially since this pastor and I have never met or discussed the content of his words spoken yesterday. 

After a nap, my wife and I left for a Gospel Quartet music fest in Bakersfield.  Delightful evening, and loads of unity in the Spirit and hand clapping to boot. . . with moments of funnin' and letting one's hair down!  Wonderful time there.  But I digress.  

As I was driving down the road, I asked my wife, "did you hear that pastor talk about death?"  "Yes," she replied.  "Did you hear what he said about death, though?" I shot back.  "What?" she quizzically mumbled as she relaxed in semisleep with the seat laid back for rest.  

"He said death can be your friend, or death is your friend. . . words like that.  Remember?" I recalled to her.  "Uh, huh. . . I remember that, yes," she said.  

"Now think a minute.  Death is your friend.  What kind of person thinks that kind of thought or says it?" I warbled my forming thoughts out to her.  

"I dunno."

"How about folks overdosing on drugs, suicide victims, people like that?" I pointedly zinged back.  

Ouch. . . 

"You mean. . . " she began as she sleepily formed some thoughts.

"That's right, dear.  This pastor we heard probably meant to say words like 'God was merciful to him by allowing death to finally occur,' but instead it was less precisely said. . . to a point where if one didn't listen closely or know the situation of this man's life or know this pastor well, you might reasonably conclude he believed that death is your friend.  Nothing could be further than the truth, though, right?" I convincingly proffered.  

"Right, honey," she swiftly vocalized to me.  "Death is never good.  How then could it be your friend?"

"Exactly!" I exclaimed.  "You've got it!  Death is never your friend.  In fact, the Scriptures say that Jesus is the victor over Death.  If Jesus defeated death, and Jesus abhors death, how could a state of being that Jesus hates ever be our friend?"

*  *  *

"The thief comes only to kill and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it abundantly," Jesus told us in John 10:10.  "I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?" Jesus asked Martha in John 11:25-26.  I get chills up my spine when I remember these verses from John 11.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:6-10, ESV)

The King James Version renders 2 Corinthians 5:8 as  ". . . to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."  Rather countercultural, that.  Yep, this present world isn't all what it's cracked up to be, for sure!  Note that the believer is taken from the body, which dies, and is immediately in the Lord's presence.  Pretty neat, eh?  From death to life. . . Jesus is about life!

50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:


“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58, ESV)

Also:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4, ESV)

And:

17   . . .  “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.  (Revelation 1:17b-18, ESV)

I think it's rather evident from the above Scripture passages that Jesus is not a friend of Death.  Instead, he put death away forever and holds the very keys of Death and Hades! 

Is Death a friend?  I think not!  Time to unfriend Death. . . it separates us from the love of God.  Jesus is the friend of sinners, but not of Death.  We need to be that same way. 

Jesus is the author of life. . . and Satan is the author of death. . . God always being good, Satan always being evil.  Goes with the territory.  Those who say, "God took (name of loved one) away from me!" are speaking from uninformed emotion, methinks, and not from searching the Scriptures with all one's heart and soul and mind.  Angry at death?  Me too!  But get angry at Satan, not God.  Satan is the originator of death.  God isn't.


Selah.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Fire!

If you follow the news you may have heard of the wildfires in Colorado, as well as adjoining western states.  Colorado Springs, Colorado has been particularly affected this week by the Waldo Canyon fire.  Over 32,000 people have been dislocated due to evacuations, two persons dead and 347 homes have been destroyed, as of this writing.  Thankfully the tide has turned to getting a handle on containing this fire, as the fire containment has gone from 5 per cent containment to 15 per cent and as of Saturday, even higher.  Prayer warriors praying and more needed! 

Colorado Springs is where I recieved my undergraduate degree, and where I worked part time at the Air Force Academy at the Cadet Store in Vandenberg Hall in the Cadet Area as well as the Commissary during those years of study.  So I'm familiar with the place.  Garden of the Gods park, Glen Eyrie castle and grounds - now the home of the Navigators Christian discipleship organization - and Flying W Ranch, home of some really great chuckwagon suppers and cowboy music singin' and funnin' with the Flying W Chuckwagon singers and band are all in the city's west side adjoining the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, next to each other.  I've mentioned them from a south to north orientation.

Flying W Ranch burned to the ground Tuesday/Wednesday overnight.  Glen Eyrie castle still stands as of this writing.  People are now being allowed back into some of the neighboring areas to these locations, but not all at this point.  Continuing need for prayer for firefighters, law enforcement (Colorado Springs Police Department and El Paso County Sheriff's Department) and citizens and visitors present.  Our first responders have been working up to twenty hours a day and need rest and strength for the fiery battle they are engaged in.  At one point there were no hotel rooms available in Colorado Springs, although neighboring Manitou Springs had a few left.  The Antlers Hotel downtown, a foundational institution in the city, resorted to opening their ballroom to accommodate guests!  10 obliged them as of 11:15 PM Wednesday evening.  Sleeping bags encouraged.  Amazing stories, all.

So please pray for these tired, worn, sleepy eyed folks.  They need it. 

Here is my debut into photo album creating and sharing on the Internet, using Picasa.  Several photos of the Waldo Canyon fire are posted for your benefit.  Enjoy! (Hat tip to the Colorado Springs Gazette newspaper online, which opened up their e-edition to the general public during the Waldo Canyon Fire.)



First smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire, Saturday, June 23, 2012.  This was taken from the top of Pikes Peak by a tourist.  He didn't know at the time this was the first indication of a major fire, but it became obvious later.


Pikes Peak looks like a volcano in this shot, but it's not.  The Air Force Academy Cadet area and Cadet Chapel are in the foreground.  June 28, 2012


Here's an earlier photo with a closeup of the Cadet Chapel.  Fire is more intense on this date.  June 26, 2012


Fire view from the Briargate neighborhood of Colorado Springs, in the vicinity of Chapel Hills Mall.  June 26, 2012


Fire view from the vicinity of UCCS.  This looks to be from the athletic fields adjoining Nevada Avenue looking west.  June 26, 2012


Fire View from Focus on the Family in Briargate.  Undated, but I found this on Jim Daly's blog Finding Home on June 28, 2012.  You normally see the Rampart Range and the Air Force Academy, with Pikes Peak to the south from this vantage point. . . and lots of blue sky.  Not today. 



Queens Canyon on fire, June 27, 2012.  This canyon is northwest of Glen Eyrie castle, owned by the Navigators, and southwest of Flying W Ranch, which had just burned to the ground hours before. It acted as a bridge allowing the fire to decimate the Flying W Ranch.  Sad.


The Colorado Springs welcome sign alongside southbound Interstate 25.  Normally the sky is blue with Pikes Peak and Cheyenne Mountain visible in the distance.  Not this day.  June 27, 2012 


Problem was, 32,000 people were all trying to move one direction - away from the fire - on the same roads at the same time.  Traffic jams ensued, both on major arterials like Woodmen Road at Academy Blvd. and Rockrimmon Blvd.  I don't know the location of this sign or the road it was on.  June 27, 2012



Hmmm. . . A rainbow!  See, God's promises are from everlasting to everlasting.  He has not abandoned his creation. . . and he forgets not his own who have trusted in Him.  He hears and answers prayer.  Just you wait and see. . . June 27, 2012

The Rockrimmon neighborhood and adjoining areas on fire at its peak.  June 27, 2012



A C-130 flies in support of fire suppression operations with a clear view of Pikes Peak in the background.  June 28, 2012


Waldo Canyon Fire Progression Map June 23 - 28, 2012.


Volunteers at Care and Share, one of the many nonprofit organizations that makes Colorado Springs the great place it is to live, take time out to say "Thank You!!" to the First Responders and other supporting volunteers.  A great deal of food and drinks was distributed by them and other organizations during the course of the Waldo Canyon Fire.  Care and Share does a lot of free food distribution to area residents year round.  June 28, 2012

Ahhh. . . a refreshing thunderstorm!  Now that's more like how the Springs is climatewise in the Summer.  June 28, 2012

One of the 50 livestock from Flying W Ranch that made it through the Waldo Canyon Fire.  Notice the burnt black udders.  This animal may not ever be able to give milk to its young ever again due to the injury sustained.  The buildings burned to the ground, but every living thing made it out alive!  Praise God for that!  June 28, 2012


Thank You Manitou Springs Fire Department, Colorado Springs Volunteer Fire Department, Manitou Springs Police Department - Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Center on Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs.  Areawide, more governmental agencies and nonpofit organizations/church and parachurch organizations to thank than just these, but for Manitou Springs, its all they had room for in the sign.  June 28, 2012


Flagstaff Fire photo near Boulder, Colorado June 28, 2012.  Hat Tip to my brother Steve Cox for this.  "Beautiful and scary at the same time!" my brother Kevin Cox responded back at Steve's emailed photo to us.  Other fires are still active in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona and perhaps more as of this writing.  A tough fire season this year and the Summer has just begun.  Pray!


Finally, I'll leave you with the link to a photo slideshow/gallery, courtesy of gazette.com:  http://www.gazette.com/sections/slideshow/?id=14914887 (Day 4/June 26) Not sure how long the free coverage by gazette.com will last, so if you are interested click around and view them while photos may be had. . . before the Gazette pulls the plug.  There's photo galleries there for every day of the Waldo Canyon Fire.  Check it out. 

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Spiritual. . . But Not Religious

How many times have you heard from others "I'm spiritual, but not religious?"  I have!  It's cropping up more and more often when I converse with people these days.  The "rub" here is that if you are "spiritual," you have it together, you're real, you're a good person.  The "religious" person, by contrast, is not together, fake, and a bad person. . . in short, a "hypocrite." 

I ran across the following dialogue lately, and thought I might share it here. 

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In George MacDonald's novel Robert Falconer, there is a bit of dialog which highlights the folly of today's conundrum regarding "spiritual, not religious" ideas. The segment is taken from Chapter 8 "My Own Acquaintance."
‘We are a church, if you like. There!’
‘Who is your clergyman?’
‘Nobody.’
‘Where do you meet?’
‘Nowhere.’
‘What are your rules, then?’
‘We have none.’
‘What makes you a church?’
‘Divine Service.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘The sort of thing you have seen to-night.’
‘What is your creed?’
‘Christ Jesus.’
‘But what do you believe about him?’
‘What we can. We count any belief in him—the smallest—better than any belief about him—the greatest—or about anything else besides. But we exclude no one.’
‘How do you manage without?’
‘By admitting no one.’
‘I cannot understand you.’
‘Well, then: we are an undefined company of people, who have grown into human relations with each other naturally, through one attractive force—love for human beings, regarding them as human beings only in virtue of the divine in them.’
‘But you must have some rules,’ I insisted.
‘None whatever. They would cause us only trouble. ...'"


*  *  *

Hat tip: the late Chuck Colson/The Colson Center for Christian Worldview 

 One of the Christian nonfiction books I read early in my Christian life was Ray Stedman's 1972 classic Body Life.  Stedman, longtime pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, brought to life just how the Body of Christ is meant to live and operate. . . then, now, and for the future.  A classic easy to read primer on what Paul wrote about Spiritual Gifts and the ekklesia, the Body of Christ, and yes. . . the worldwide, universal church.  Another way of saying it is the catholic - "notice the small "c" denoting "universal and worldwide - church.  A useful passage is Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV): 

  11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[c] and teachers,[d] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[e] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Lots to chew on in that passage!  I'll briefly point out a couple of observations.  The Body of Christ is plural.  It is made up of many persons ("saints") who the Apostle Paul refers to as "we."  So the church is plural, not singular.  Many persons, not one. 

We may start out as children in the Christian faith (v. 14), but we don't stay there.  We are to grow up!  (v. 15)  This reminds me of the famous line in the film Shadowlands, where Anthony Hopkins as C. S. Lewis declares to his church congregation, "We need to grow up!"  We do. . . and so do I.  All of us.  Staying as children is unnatural and does not become us.

As I tell my wife on a regular basis, "Ministry is a team sport!"  No "Lone Rangers" in the Christian life! 

Worshipping God together assembled as Christ's Body, the church these days and being connected and accountable to Christ as He expresses Himself through His body is so countercultural in the present day culture.  Yet it is scripturally taught.  The easy way out is to say "I'm not religious. . . I'm spiritual!"  The harder path is to - as the Apostle Paul and C. S. Lewis would say - grow up and be a willing part of Christ's Body. . . the church, warts and all.  No, the church is not perfect.  But she is still Jesus Christ's bride whom He sought and bought with His precious blood on the Cross.  Respect her - the church - at least that much.  Work to better her and let God cleanse her from her sins, not condemn her and walk away like a Lone Ranger.  Hope to see many of you in church this Sunday.  

Selah.  


Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Day in Your Courts

Time for the ultimate classic: God's Word.  Simple.  Unvarnished.  Never surpassed.  The best there is!  What my heart and yours was made for.

Without further adeiu. . .

*  *  *

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of Heaven's Armies.  I long, yes I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD.  With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar.  O LORD of Heaven's Armies, my King and my God!  What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. 

Interlude

What joy for those whose strength comes from the LORD, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become the place of refreshing springs.  The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.  They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.  

O LORD God of Heaven's Armies, hear my prayer.  Listen, O God of Jacob.  

Interlude

O God, look with favor upon the king, our shield!  Show favor to the one you have anointed.  

A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else!  I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.  For the LORD God is our sun and our shield.  He gives us grace and glory.  The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.  

O LORD of Heaven's Armies, what joy for those who trust in you.  

Psalm 84, New Living Translation   

*  *  *

I hope the above has refreshed your heart, as it has mine. 

Selah.