How’s your memory

Exercise Your Memory

In 1863 some women in Columbus, Mississippi went out to the local cemetery to place flowers on the graves of the Confederate soldiers. They noticed a section of the cemetery had graves for Union soldiers. They placed flowers on those graves also.

A couple of years later, Henry C. Welles in Waterloo, New York, closed his drug store on May the 5^th and invited the entire community to honor the soldiers who had given their lives. They also placed flowers on graves and flew the flag at half-staff. This was first known as Decoration Day. At the end of World War I, the memorial emphasis was shifted to people who had given their lives in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a National Holiday by an Act of Congress.

Memorial Day is designated to remember those who have paid the supreme price in their military service. It is not just a legal holiday where people enjoy family outings and barbeque bashes–it’s a day to remember. Remembering is something many of us are not very good at doing. It takes no effort to forget–it takes a lot of energy to remember (Tweet this).  

For many years, Frank Harrington served as senior minister of the Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.  He once told about a friend who was traveling in England. His car broke down, and while he was waiting for the car to be repaired, he decided to walk around the small town.

In the corner of an old quaint cemetery, he noticed a stone wall. In that enclosed area were 50 graves of young men between the ages of 17 and 25. The young men were from New Zealand, and they had died in that village during World War I. At the entrance to the area was a marker with this inscription–“We shall never forget in this village their sacrifice.”

This triggered the imagination of the visitor, so he wanted to find out what these young men had done. He walked around the village seeking an explanation for their valiant service. Nobody knew!  When he asked, all the villagers looked at him with quizzical expressions on their faces. The village–which had promised to remember–had forgotten.  

Moses talks a lot about all the blessings of God. He tells about how we drink from wells we did not dig and eat fruit from trees we did not plant. Then comes a stern warning–“Be careful lest we forget” (Deut. 6:11-12).

The 2016 graduating class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point received special graduation rings. Each ring contained small amounts of steel from the World Trade Center. It will be a graphic, constant reminder to them of the 9/11 terror attack on this country. The ring will help them remember.

Freedom isn’t free. We stand on the shoulders of over one million people who have given their lives for our freedom. No greater sacrifice has been given for us than for those brave men and women, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, who have paid the ultimate price with their lives. Celebrating Memorial Day shouldn’t be just one day on the calendar—but every day!

2 Peter 1:12, 15 says, “I plan to keep on reminding you of these things even though you already know them and are really getting along quite well . . . hoping to impress them so clearly upon you that you will remember them long after I have gone.”

How good is your memory?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

I’ve always been enthralled with the sovereignty of God. I think I understand it. God made everything and every human and is in control of everything.

I like looking into a clear night sky and marvel at the shower of stars that blanketed the deep blue sky. And then I thought about Almighty God who created all those stars and then hung each one of them in the sky.

Have you ever wondered how many stars there are in the known universe? We know that God created the universe and its size is something we can’t even imagine. But what’s even more bizarre is that even though the universe is so massive, the universe can’t even be accurately measured. The best the scholarly scientistific community can do is offer a scientific guess of 93 billion light years.

And how many stars do the astronomers say are in the universe. The best they can do is a very educated estimate. They estimate there are approximately 200 billion trillion stars in our universe. You do the math, I’m not touching that.

Do you know what is unambiguously incredible about our Almighty God? If you could nthrough some supersonic magic carpet ride navigate 93 billion light years t o the edge of the known universe you would see Almighty God further past the edge of the universe working his mighty purpose.

Do you have a mustard seed I can borrow?

Does anyone have a mustard seed I can borrow?

I won’t be giving it back for about twenty years. And it won’t be the same seed I borrow from you now. I hope that’s okay?

Mustard seeds fascinate me.  They start as a tiny seed, one of the smallest seeds in the world. The seeds grow into huge trees big enough for birds to nest in. Jesus taught the parable of the mustard seed in all three synoptic gospels.

“Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.’ ”Mark 4:30-32 NIV.

And again in Matthew 17:20b Jesus said, “. . . if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Even though the mustard seed is a little-bitty seed, it’s a big deal in the Bible. Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven as like one. He also used the mustard seed to describe to his followers how faith works.

The parable teaches many lessons. That’s one thing I love about the Bible:its richness and depth. We can take a passage like the mustard seed parable and apply it in many ways in our lives. I read a blog recently about a Bible Study teacher who challenged his young students to grow their faith in practical, tangible ways, using the parable of the mustard seed.

When I read this parable I’m reminded of something I learned in elementary school about plants and seeds. Before the mustard seed can grow, or produce other mustard seeds, it must die.

When growers plant the mustard seed in the ground, the germination process begins. Only after it dies does it start to grow. It begins the process by growing roots into the soil to anchor the plant to a firm foundation. As the roots anchor the plant we begin to see tiny shoots, then a leaf, then more shoots, then some stems, then more shoots then more leaves. Eventually we see branches and eventually a sapling, that grows into what will eventually become a huge tree that produces more fruit.

All the growth and fruit from that one tiny seed would not be possible unless the seed died.

Does that remind you of someone? We would not be proclaiming the Gospel if Jesus had not died.  If he had gone on living for 20 or 30 more years teaching and performing miracles, and died of natural causes in his old age, we would have no Gospel to proclaim.  He had to be crucified and die a violent, painful death on the cross and shed His blood at Calvary for you and me to live in Him today and with Him some day in eternity. His death, burial and resurrection put to death the law and ushered us into grace. Just consider the fruit His death has produced. Can we even process that? More than 20 centuries have passed. No one can imagine the number of born from above believers his death has yielded.

Guess what. We have to die too if we are going to bear fruit for God. We can do all sorts of “good” things. We can pray, read the Bible, meditate on Scripture, go to church, serve on committees, usher, et. al. None of it glorifies God, however, if we’re not willing to follow Him to Calvary and be crucified with Him. We have to die first if we’re going to live for Him.

That’s why Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

There’s gonna be a bunch of us dead folks in heaven. How about you? Moved any mountains lately? Are you willing to die to live for Christ?

A Huge Name Name Change

Ft. Benning, Georgia’s name is being changed on May 11, 2023. It will now be known as Ft. Moore.

The military base is being named after Lieutenant General Hal Moore. His life was a great inspiration to many people. He embodied the essence of a servant leader.

My good friend, Toby Warren, was a close, close friend of General Moore. In General Moore’s latter days, Toby drove him to Mass every morning. He also accompanied him three times to West Point. Let me share one incident that Toby shared with me.

On their last visit to West Point, General Moore wanted to go to the chapel. It was a time of the day when no one else was present. He walked in the back door and Toby stood behind him. General Moore snapped to attention. He marched down the center aisle to the front where he made a 90-degree left-hand turn, went a few steps, and made a 90-degree right-hand turn, and then fell on the concrete floor. Toby did the same thing.

General Moore lay there on the concrete praying to God for leadership in his life. His falling on the concrete floor was indicative of his humble spirit. “Humble yourselves under the right hand of God so that He may exalt you at the proper time.” (1 Peter 5:6)

General Moore got up and came to attention. He marched out the front door to a stone balcony. There was a fence about four feet high around that balcony. He stood at attention facing the Hudson River. He was praying to God, asking for God’s leadership.

That’s the kind of man whose name will identify the Army installation at Columbus, Georgia.

Let me go a step further. The Catholic church in Auburn was sold to the Auburn United Methodist Church. The Catholic church moved to a new location and built a new building. Members of that congregation were invited to come to the new location during construction and sign their names on the concrete floor before it was finished.

General Moore wanted to go and sign his name. Toby drove him to the new church. The General went down to the front where there are steps leading up to the altar. He knelt on the floor, spent time praying, and signed his name. Toby also signed his name.

I pray that God will raise up more people in the military like General Hal Moore. You can read many interesting things about him and his Godly leadership.

God also wants to raise up Godly leaders in the business world, the church, the sports world, and in every aspect of life. God wants to raise up men and women who will follow God’s leadership. God can use a humble spirit that’s open to His direction. You may not be a General in the Army, but you have a sphere of influence. Use your influence for the Kingdom of God!

General Moore’s name will be prominently displayed to thousands and thousands of military people and civilians. He makes me proud to be an American and demonstrates a humble Christian lifestyle of servant leadership!

What influence will your name carry?

My Grandpa’s Notebook

Grandpa Sawyer

My Grandpa’s Notebook was the first post I wrote when I started my blog “For His Glory” on April 9, 2010)

When my mom and dad died my brother and I teamed up to sort through the years of memorabilia and divide the mementos. Sam and I never argued much growing up. At this juncture in our lives, when choices meant a whole lot more, we didn’t argue either. Our conversations went something like this, “Sam, look at this thing. You want it?”

“I don’t care. Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Okay, I’ll take it.”

“Hey, Sam, I’d really like to have this thingy.”

“Sure.”

Our only disagreements were over things we thought the other might like to have.

“Sam, I think you should take this.”

“No, you go ahead.”

“No, you take it.”

“No, you ought to have that.”

“Are you sure.”

“Yep.”

“Okay.”

One of the things I wanted for myself was my Grandpa’s notebook. I was fascinated by my Grandpa Sawyer. I still am. He was a leading businessman in our small Iowa town and the vice president of the company he worked for. The owner relied so much on my grandpa that the owner wouldn’t spend a nickel or make any company decisions without grandpa’s okay. Grandpa’s business acumen was one of his most salient qualities.

Another of his salient qualities was his ability to write–not just with his polished prose, but with the best penmanship I have ever seen, from a man or woman. We learned cursive writing back then. Grandpa wrote most of his poetry and some of his personal letters in cursive. Cursive, now there’s a word I’ll bet this generation and their parents don’t have in their vocabulary. His handwriting looked better than some script fonts I’ve seen. His penmanship looked quite similar to the original handwritten Bill of Rights and the Constitution. It was that good.

My Grandpa was also a prolific writer. He wrote lots of letters and original poetry. My dad and Uncle John both served full four-year terms in the military, Dad in World War II and John in Korea. My grandpa wrote each one of them a personal letter every single day they were in the service. He typed some of them and some of them he wrote in his beautiful hand. None of them were just short notes. Each was at least a page in length. My Uncle John still has his collection in four binders, one for each year, displayed in his bookcase. One day I’ll get them. My brother and I have already agreed on that.

But, back to the notebook.

Grandpa Sawyer liked poetry. Rudyard Kipling was one of his favorites, but he wrote poetry as well. The sample page from Grandpa’s notebook is an original poem he wrote about his neighbor’s house.

My neighbor’s house stands next to mine

and peeks at me through shrub and vine;

A large elm sheds its welcome shade

Along the path our feet have made

In going to and fro to see

That all is well with him and me.Grandpa Sawyer’s Notebook

No fence or wall you’ll ever see

Between my neighbor’s house and me;

His tulips, iris, and roses red

Are mine; his is my peony bed,

And all things else of this and that

We shared each day in friendly chat.

My neighbor’s house is large and sleek

While now and then my roof might leak;

But friendship counts not wealth or power

We’ve kindred souls like shrub and flower,

And so we live, as neighbors should

Walk down life’s path – and all is good.

The last entry in Grandpa’s notebook goes like this . . .

Each has 24 hours in the day to do with what he wishes, none more, none less.

Each has 26 letters in the alphabet to form the written or spoken word to communicate with his fellows, none more, none less.

Each has 10 digits with which to measure the value of his tangible assets or his services, none more, none less.

Each has but 3 primary colors with which to appreciate the beauties of nature or paint his masterpiece, none more, none less.

Each has but 12 notes in the musical scale with which to express himself in song, none more, none less.

I don’t know if he finished writing this entry or not. The rest of the notebook has about a dozen blank pages. Of course, I will preserve their blankity.  What else would I do?  Write on them?  What?   Mar this pristine reader, this magnificently preserved piece of a man whose legacy I hold in my hand? A man I loved and admired? Who wrote with such unmatched, beautiful penmanship? I would sooner throw myself in front of a raging Amtrak train. Well, maybe a slowly moving bus. With a flat.

The reason Grandpa’s notebook is so magnificently preserved is because everything he touched was orderly and well-kept. I never saw a scrap of paper on his desk, at his office or in his home. I never saw anyone ask him to borrow or use anything that Grandpa couldn’t walk right to or tell us exactly where to find it.

Grandpa knew where everything was in his notebook as well. He made little tabs for each section and taped them to the pages. Of course the tabs were perfectly spaced and written in all caps. You can still read the tabs easily, but the tape is now a brittle, light brown. The pages have yellowed considerably in Grandpa’s more than 50-year-old notebook.

My goal is to preserve it in its current condition for the next 50 years, keep it close and refer to it often, then eventually pass it on to my children. Now, though, I like to thumb through the tabs and stop on one of Kipling’s poems Grandpa copied perfectly, or read one of Grandpa’s own poems again.

One of my biggest regrets in my life is not maintaining my grandpa’s notebook. It was a treasured possession and I planned on keeping it and treasuring it into my old age.

The Savannah Bananas

Baseball season is underway. Montgomery has a fine professional class AA baseball team, the Montgomery Biscuits. We are only a couple of hours away from the Atlanta Braves.

But our season began with a different brand of baseball. The Savannah Bananas came to play at Riverwalk Stadium. The stadium was totally sold out for two nights of baseball! I tried to use my influence, but couldn’t get a ticket.

The Savannah Bananas are like the Harlem Globetrotters. They have some very talented ball players, but the whole purpose of their playing is not to excel in real baseball, but to entertain the crowd.

I realize that the more I learned about them, the more I saw a parallel to how life is lived today. Let me share seven similarities for you to think about:

1. The Savannah Bananas don’t play by any set of rules—they make their own rules. If a foul ball goes in the stands and a fan catches it, it’s an out. God gave us some rules in life that are very clear and concise—but many people don’t follow the rules. They prefer just to make up their own rules. Life leads to a different result than a Savannah Bananas baseball game!
2. The players are very talented, but their talents are not used to play the legitimate game of baseball. They can catch fly balls in the outfield between their legs. They can do cartwheels going down the baseline. Life is composed of very talented people, but some folks never use their talents for which they were created.
3. The umpires are a part of the entertainment. They intentionally make bad calls. They do interesting dances between pitches. Their purpose is to entertain, not to be in charge. God is the Chief Umpire in life. He doesn’t play games. He has the best interest of every person at heart, and He is always right, just, and merciful.
4. The Bananas play strictly for entertainment. Their paychecks don’t depend on their batting or fielding or how many runs they score. They are judged on how well they entertain. A lot of people see life strictly as entertainment. Anything goes as long as it is fun. That’s vastly different from the productive, humble, disciplined, meek life to which God calls us to live.
5. The game is very entertaining but leaves a person empty. Jesus didn’t come to make life entertaining, but to make life full, fresh, and forever.
6. The Savannah Bananas perform well in order to get a good paycheck. God didn’t create life to be all about making a living. That’s important, but our vocation ought to be used as a platform to serve God’s people and to share the Good News. The purpose is quite different.
7. The Savannah Bananas always win. I’m sure sometimes it takes a lot of new rules and help from the umpires, etc., but they do win. In life, God’s team is always going to win. The Book of Revelation makes it clear who will win, but there will be no rule adjustments and God has already offered His help through Jesus. To win or lose is your choice.

I plan to get myself a ticket early next year when they return to Montgomery, but I’m focusing more on life every day and being a part of God’s team who does entertain, but who gives to each one of us a purpose to make every day count. When you live with Jesus Christ living in your heart, every day is a winning day!

Play ball!

What happened on the Road to Emmaus

It was Resurrection Sunday. Shadows were starting to break across the Judean landscape. Two of Jesus’ disciples were walking along the road to the village of Emmaus seven miles from Jerusalem.

They were both in awe of all that had taken place between Jesus’ crucifixion on Friday and his resurrection early that morning. They heard that women had gone to the grave with spices to wrap the body, which was the Jewish custom; but the grave was empty and an angel had told them he had risen.

The disciples were almost giddy chatting with each other about all that had happened. Trying to figure out if it was all true or5 not. And what was the resurrection all about. They wondered if it were true, where was Jesus now?

Suddenly another man was walking along with them. They did not recognize him He asked what they were talking about with each other. They asked him if he was the only one visiting Jerusalem who didn’t know what had happened.

As they made their way on the road to Emmaus, beginning with Moses Jesus opened up all the Scriptures pertaining to himself (they were still kept from recognizing Jesus.)

They continued on until they reached the house where they were staying

As they were eating the evening meal, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and started to give it to them, then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. And they said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us as he talkedto us along the road and he opened the scriptures to us.

“Christian” Is A Lousy Adjective

A Jewish lady answered a knock at her door. The young man asked her if she wanted her house painted. It needed painting, so she took his card. She noticed a fish symbol on the card and asked him what it meant. “It means I’m a Christian painter,” he said.

In my opinion, calling yourself a “Christian” anything presents two problems. First, no one has ever explained to me what a Christian is in Biblical terms. Any definition fails to capture what Jesus taught us about following Him.

And second, using “Christian” to describe a “painter” does not help me learn anything about the person holding the brush and ladder. Does a “Christian painter” paint differently from a “Catholic painter” or a “Muslim painter” or, “atheist painter”? The woman wanted her house painted. All she cared about was whether or not the guy could paint.

Too many times I think folks use “Christian” to describe their business to persuade their customers they’re more honest or ethical than “non-Christian” businesses. That somehow their “Christian business” ethics or integrity or quality of work is superior to their competitors who don’t flash a “Christian” label in their front window or on their business cards.

Too often we hear stories of bad experiences some consumers have with “Christian” businesses who flash their fish symbols then act just like the world in the market place. Those “Christian” business folks drive people away from The church and away from Jesus. One bad “Christian” business deal can destroy dozens of potential good business deals with authentic followers of Jesus who take Jesus to work every day.

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men. Colossians 3:23

Authentic followers of Jesus don’t have to flash a “Christian”‘ label to attract more business. The way they live and treat

A big mistake in the Garden

Adam and Eve made a monumental mistake in the Garden of Eden and all of us are still paying for their mistake today.

The first man and woman decided they’d rather follow their own will rather than the perfect will God created for them and all their offspring on earth.

The folks today who choose to follow their own will for their lives and families probably number in the gazillions.

Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty of righteous surrendered, folks who live upright obedient lives and follow God’s will every single day. Unfortunately they are vastly outnumbered by all the folks who choose the self-willed life.

The self-willed folks decided they’d rather make up their own minds about how to live their lives and follow their own will rather than follow God’s perfect plan for their lives.

Self rule rather than God’s will. And we’ve all been paying for their sel fish self will ever since.

The Old Testament is chocked full of folks who chose their convoluted will over God’s perfect will. God tolerated their disobedience for thousands of years but sometimes he liked to clown around with some of the people who got too big for their britches. Take ol’ Jonah. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh because God wanted to fi x the broken people of Ninevah. But Jonah didn’t want to go where God told him to go. Jonah wanted to go in the opposite direction.

“So you want to disobey me, Jonah?”. “How about this, Jonah.” God threw Jonah overboard and he was swallowed by a huge whale. Jonah spent the next three days and nights in the belly of that whale. And when the whale barfed Jonah up on the beach Jonah made it to Ninevah before lunch and delivered God’s message of redemption and repentance

Unanswered prayers

I’m sure many or most of us have experienced unanswered prayers. Sometimes we get answers in a relatively tolerable time. We can tolerate the delay. No big deal.

Then there’s those folks with major family issues of healing or health concerns. Those folks wear out the knees of their jeans time after time for weeks and months on end without hearing any reaction from God.

At this point in the prayer process reactions vary considerably. For the dedicated followers of Christ who have cultivated a righteous level of tolerance and patience; they’ll continue to seek God’s voice in response to their pleas, no matter how many pairs of jeans they wear out.

On the other hand, some prayers live up to their reputation as prayer warriors (and not in a good way). You hear from them things like, “God’s not interested in helping me.” and “He just answers pray”ers fo”r certain people.” and “He’s not going to answer my prayers.”and”He doesn’t care about our needs.”

According to lots of people, their prayers will go unanswered. And they wind up just giving up.

Some folks believe Romans 8:28 is the answer to all their prayers,

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

But some folks stop there. They don’t even consider verse 29 as an integral part of the truth of the two verses added together.

For those God foreknew (you and me and every believer) he also predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

God is in the business of conforming his children into the image of his Son.

None of us know how or when he’s going to do that. We just know because He promised us he would. No one understands how He does what he does.

No one understands why he does the things he does. His ways are higher than our ways and way past our figuring out.Why does he allow earthquakes? Why does he allow people to suffer and die from cancer? Why doesn’t he just wipe out the evil in the world like the Taliban? Why does God allow hatred and racism and discrimination? We’ll never know.

We’ll never know the answers to all our questions down here on earth. We may not find out the answers even when we get to heaven.

After all God is God and he doesn’t owe us any explanation

We may not realize it or believe it or admit it but right now as we live and breathe God is in each of us working to transform us into the image of his Son. Now, how is he working can’t explanatioin me and my good friend Ronney in Bay Minette, Alabama and in my dear friend Eddie in Montgomey, Alabama all at the same time? I don’t understand it, do you?

God answers all our prayers. None of our prayers go unanswered:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. from Matthew 7

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Journalism — not what it used to be

Published on April 9, 2023by Steve Sawyer

What was the most popular word in 2009?

Maech madness or Maech gladness

March Madness is a time when people like to predict winners of basketball games. Millions of people fill out March Madness brackets to show their skills.

I once thought Warren Buffett was growing senile when he offered to give $1 billion to anybody who had a perfect bracket. I learned that the odds of a perfect bracket are 1 in 92 quintillion—that’s seventeen zeroes. You have a better chance of winning two consecutive lotteries than you do in completing a perfect March Madness bracket!

This year really proves the point of how bad we are at predicting. In the first round a 16^th seed upset a number one seed—that’s only the second time that’s happened in the history of the NCAA Tournament. This year was unique because no number one seed was in the final four. In fact, there were three teams in the final four who had never been there before!

We think that recruiting McDonald’s All-Americans should ensure wins. Not so. For the first time since 1979, this year’s final four did not have a single high school McDonald’s All-American playing!

This year’s March Madness just indicates that there is no way to have confidence in predicting basketball outcomes. Filling out the brackets this year was just an exercise in futility.

It’s sad how many people in life are always trying to predict and figure out how things are going to be. Life is more fickle than March Madness. Thinking that you’ve got everything figured out will turn out to be a bust. The Bible reminds us that there is a way that seems right to man, but the end of which is destruction. (Proverbs 14:12)

Holy Week is about events and principles you can count on. You will die. You will have no control over what happens after death unless you have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. You cannot earn your way into Heaven. It is by grace and grace alone that you are saved. (Ephesians 2:4-10)

Making elaborate funeral plans won’t help. I am one hundred percent sure that if you have been saved by faith, you will live forever with God. Jesus said, “If you have known me then you have known my Father.” (John 14:5-7) We know the Father because we know His Son.

Paul assured us that because Christ rose from the dead, all who believe in Christ will rise again. No doubt! (I Corinthians 15:51-58) We also know that the Holy Spirit can fill our lives and give us power and direction to fulfill God’s plan. (Acts 1:8)

You will never have a perfect bracket in March Madness—you are not that smart. You can be assured that what happened Holy Week will continue to be true today and forever. Trusting in Jesus alone for life abundant here and life eternal is never a gamble—because gambling involves a degree of chance. No chance that God and His Word are wrong!

March Madness is filling out brackets and watching basketball. March Sadness is seeing brackets busted. March Gladness is understanding Holy Week and knowing who is going to win in the most important game—the game of life.

Is your March Madness, or Sadness, or Gladness?

The Last Days

The Last Days

The Bible talks about the last days when Christ and his angels come to take all believers home. In those days persecution will increase.

Kindness will be gone. So will charity and “Love thy neighbor?” The rich will horde their wealth. Hunger, starvation and poverty will spread across the landscape. Cruelty and famine will be pervasive. Relationships and marriages will fall apart. Adultery will become common.

Guess what? The last days are already dawning on us. You wouldn’t have to look very far to find all that stuff from Revelation going on in our society right now today.

And it’s going to get progressively worse. When I can stomach watching a newscast or a TV drama I get a kick out of all those “professional journalists “and talk show hosts and their expert guests and how they are going to cure all society’s problems, clean up the planet, improve education, reduce crime, lower taxes and make the earth a great place to live

What a joke. It’s all cheap talk and they’ll never stem the tide of the erosion of the last days we’re actually witnessing today.

And I will grant wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
‘The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. Revelation 21:8

And I will grant wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
‘The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. Acts 2:19-2

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. Revelation 21:8

The perfect purpose driven life

The greatest example in history of a person’s life who was totally focused on fulfilling His purpose was the life of Jesus. Rick Warren made popular the phrase “purpose-driven life.” Jesus lived the perfect purpose-driven life!

He knew and lived His purpose at every stage of His life. When he was twelve years old, His parents were leaving Jerusalem. Everybody thought that Jesus was a part of the group. Later they discovered that He was missing.

Joseph and some of his friends went back to Jerusalem to search for Him. They were amazed to find Him in the temple teaching the people—at twelve years old! Joseph probably started to scold Him a bit, but Jesus quickly cleared the air by reminding His dad of His purpose, “Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:48)

At thirty years old, He began His public ministry. He went into the wilderness and was tempted three times by Satan. In each temptation, it would have been easy for Jesus to yield to the temptation to satisfy His human needs, but His purpose was beyond His human needs.

Jesus used scripture to refute every temptation Satan threw at Him. He emerged victorious. He was always focused on His purpose. (Matthew 4:1-11)

One day Jesus told the disciples that He must go to Jerusalem. He shared that He would suffer and be killed. Peter and the group counseled against that plan. But Jesus chose to fulfill His purpose by going against their counsel. (Matthew 16:21-28)

On the last night that He lived, He went into the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed so passionately that sweat turned to drops of blood. He pleaded that His Father would not cause the things to happen that He knew would happen the next day. Then He said, “It’s not my will but your will be done.” (Luke 22:42)

Jesus was always in the center of God’s will and fulfilling His purpose for life.

On Good Friday afternoon He was badly beaten and bruised and placed on a cross in public view and died the death of a common criminal. He knew it was His purpose to die so that each of us could have forgiveness of our sins. He came to fulfill that purpose. (Matthew 27:33-51)

He was placed in a borrowed tomb but didn’t stay there long. He left before “check-out time.” His purpose was not only to live a perfect life and die a sacrificial death, but to rise from the dead so that the chains of death could be broken for all His followers. Easter morning saw the glad news that the tomb was empty and that Jesus was alive. (Mark 16)

In every step of His life, Jesus was focused on fulfilling His purpose perfectly.

How much are we willing to overlook human comforts and desires and stay focused on the purpose of God’s calling to us. Staying on track with that kind of purpose is the road that leads to victory over everything in this life and over death itself!

Is your life in the center of God’s purpose for you?Back to my blog

The Truth about Wealth

There’s not a living soul on earth that is worth $50 million dollars no matter how talented or smart they are. I read lately that Aaron Rogers, an NFL quarterback makesS $50 million playing for the Green Bay Packers. In contrast, Bart Starr was the quarterback for the Packers who won the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968,

Starr’s salary was $10,000.

NFL owners who throw around millions in salaries and players’ contracts in trade is absolutely shameful. Wealth to these super rich millionaire egoaniacs is just something for them to regale their filthy rich cronies at the country club with

Again, shameful.

In my opinion society has a distorted perception of wealth and its use.

Jesus had the right idea about wealth. After all, he created it, every dollar, every fortune, every dime, every nickle, every penny. And he taught us all the godly purpose anduse of it.

In Matthew 6 he taught us what money and wealth are all about.

“Do not for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.

The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

No one can serve two masters. Either he will l hate the one and love t he other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Your Truth, My Truth

Sometimes I am privy to conversations between folks who want to discuss the meaning of truth and its various applications. I chuckle when I hear these discussions which sometimes escalate into stubbornness and even at times name-calling when someone’s beliefs are so ingrained.

Some are so adamant about believing in “their” definition of truth they’ll reject anyone else’s “truth”. Discussions about truth become volleys between your truth and my truth.

The sad ‘truth’ is that any discussion about ‘truth’ or its definition or anyone’s self proclaimed definition of truth falls miserably short of what truth is.

Truth is there is only one “TRUTH” in the entire universe.

Truth is a man–Jesus Christ He said i t in Scripture, “I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, no one

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of the Son of God

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15-17

You see there is only one truth–the person of Christ. Every other discussion of truth, every other definition of truth, every application of truth all circle back to the one and only truth–Jesus Christ.

So your truth and my truth are the same. You don’t have a truth different from mine. And my truth is the same as yours.

U-turns are encouraged

Is your life going somewhere or is it just a repeat of the same meaningless activities day after day? If you are not going anywhere, you will get there, and be greatly disappointed with where you are. If you know God’s purpose for your life and where you are going, it will be an exciting journey!

I went to school at Young Harris Junior College in north Georgia. Not far from there was Bryson City, North Carolina. It is in the mountains and near north Georgia, north Carolina, and Tennessee.

A few years ago, a beautiful highway was intended to connect Bryson City and Townsend, Tennessee. It was going to be a scenic drive. Problems occurred when environmental concerns caused the project to stop. Even though the highway was built for several miles, it was never completed. It’s been named “the road to nowhere.”

It’s a beautiful road. The scenery is exquisite, the lines on the completed part of the road are precise, and it was built with the best materials. You will be excited when you start driving on the road, but there is great disappointment when all of a sudden it ends.

Now you can stay at the end of the road and hope that someone would come along and finish it, but you don’t have enough food, water, and time for that. Or, you can turn around—do a U-turn and get on the road going to where God wants you to be.

In one of George Moore’s novels, he details part of the history of the Irish people who had to navigate the Great Depression. People were becoming bored and discouraged because there was no work.

The Government decided to hire men to build roads. All of a sudden, there was a new excitement among the Irish men. They began to lustily sing their Irish songs. They were glad to be back at work again. But suddenly they discovered that the roads they were building led nowhere. They just went out into the dreary bogs and stopped. They realized that they had been put to work only to provide them employment as an excuse for feeding them. The men quit singing, grew discouraged, and started complaining about their lot in life.

George Moore observed that the roads to nowhere are the most difficult to build. For men to work well and sing, there must be a worthy goal in view.

If you are not going somewhere in life, you lose your enthusiasm, your strength, your attitude, and your will to live.

God lets us choose which road we take. There are options. Their initial appearance can be deceptive. Jesus said, “The road is broad that leads to destruction, and many take it…the road is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who take it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) Are you with the many or the few?

David said, “Show me the right road O Lord; point out the road for me to follow…He shows the proper road even to those who go astray.” (Psalm25:4,8)

Peter warns about taking the wrong road when he writes, “Forsaking the right road, they have gone astray having followed the way of Balaam…who loved the ways of unrighteousness…” (11 Peter 2:15)

Do you need to make a U-turn?

Men kissing men

To me the most abominable thing on TV these days is commercial or TV shows depicting men kissing other men. Social media and network television promote blatant homosexual in both male and female actors roles. They are sweeping morality under the carpet.

They MUST know that God considers male on male or female on female sexual relations are sinful, no matter how you cut it, and Scripture forbids it. The only way to avoid a death is to repent of their sin and clim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

No matter how hard they try to justify sex between men-and women-on women members of the LGBTQ+ folks can’t justify men on men or women on women. It goes in conflict with God’s law and it is sin. On Judgement Day those who practiced a life of unrepentant homosexuality will be held accountable to God for their sinful life. They will receive a one-way-ticket to hell where they will live in torture and painful torment 24 hours a day with no relief for eternity.

The only way these sinners can escape their destructive lifestyle is to repent of their sin and claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior

Jesus’ sovereignty

I am overwhelmed with wonder every time I consider the sovereignty of God. It is certainly a component of his character I’ll only vaguely ever grasp.

He is infinite, he has no beginning and no end. There is no place on earth or in the far reaches of the vast universe where he is not right now, this moment. Think of that for a moment. Doesn’t that just blow your mind?

He doesn’t judge anyone for what they believe or do now. He has reserved a special day and time when He will judge everyone.

Nothing gets past God. He knows every thought everyone is thinking before they think it.

There isn’t anything he doesn’t know. He knows the winner of the next World Series and the one after that. He knows who the next president of the United States will be.

He knows exactly what you’re thinking right now.

Second milers or quiet quitters

When life presents challenges, different people react in different ways. Some sit down, quit, and feel defeated. Others have a determined effort to overcome adversity.

This was demonstrated vividly to me in 2022. In the latter part of last year, a huge snowstorm hit Alabama. Many roadways were impassable.

There were a couple of nurses in Huntsville, Alabama who were driving to work when their car got stuck in the snow four miles from the hospital. They had a choice to make. They could sit in the car until someone came to give them a lift or they could start walking in the snow to get to work.

Travionne Ja’Nae decided to fulfill her responsibility as a nurse. She joined some other nurses who were stranded and started walking. Some people took pictures of the nurses walking through the snow. When it was placed on Facebook, the post immediately had seven thousand reactions and over three thousand shares.

Those nurses became heroes. They made a tough choice that was an endangerment to them, but a tremendous blessing to their patients. When Travionne was asked why she did it she said, “I just had to get to my patients. I took a nursing oath for a reason. I love my career and God always favors me. I’m good y’all I promise.”

She didn’t want a raise or a bonus for going the extra mile. She just said she was doing what she would want somebody else to do for her. She didn’t have to do it—but she did it.

Contrast this with Webster’s Word of the Year for 2022 which is “quiet quitting.” (Can’t Webster count—isn’t that two words?) That phrase refers to people who are not performing the responsibilities laid out in their job description. They try to do the bare minimum and nothing more.

A Gallup poll shows that the share of actively disengaged employees has increased between 2020 and 2022 up to 18%, and the share of employees who say they were fully engaged at work has dropped to just 32%. That’s a lot of folks who are “quietly quitting.” It could get worse because Webster’s Word of the Year, Quite Quitting, recorded a 1,740% increase in searches on their site in 2022!

Which category do you fit it? Are you a person who is going to do just as little as you can and get by or will you be a person who is willing to go the second mile in your job and vocation?

Being a pastor for years, I have seen this contrast in people in the church. A lot of people who are looking for the easiest way to appear that they are engaged in ministry, but really are doing the minimum to “get by.” Fortunately, I was blessed to work with lay folks who were “second milers.” They were willing to go above and beyond everything that was expected and discovered that the second mile is really the mile that means the most. Read Matthew 5:40, 41.

Quiet quitters don’t get much joy or pleasure out of their work. Second milers discover that they receive a lot more than they give. It’s just one of the strange ways that life works.

If I am in the hospital, I know which kind of person I want to have as my nurse. As a pastor, I know what kind of lay people I want to work with.

What kind of person are you?

For His Glory 2.0

A bunch of family health and personal issues have plagued the Sawyer family beginning in December and continued through January. Probably the most traumatic interruption in our lives was the death of my 41-year bold daughter Leah Stephens on January 20 after a valiant two-year battle with ovarian cancer. You can read her obituary here if you’re interested.

I am shooting for a March launch of FHG 2.0 so please bare with our family as we scramble to get back to some semblance of order in the weeks to come.

I have some exciting and interesting posts in the wings as well as some new stuff we’ll be imroducing to the website I know you’ll love. So stay tuned.

The disciples and Jesus

Those 12 men Jesus picked to be his disciples became known as “The Chosen“

You and I today probably wouldn’t have picked even one of them to be one of Jesus’ intimate followers. Like most of the folks Jesus interacted with these guys were non descript commoners. They were poor fishermen, farmers, day laborers and hired hands. There was absolutely nothing special or distinguishable about any of them.

As far as this ragtag dozen guys knew this guy was nothing more than an iterate rabbi talking to anyone who’d listen to him.

Jesus didn’t carry on a conversation with any of them To each of them all he said was, “Follow me.”And each one of them did.

Think of that for a moment Here’s 12 guys that a total stranger has invited them all to simply follow him. They don’t have a clue who he is, what he wants with them, where he wants to take them, and for how long and for how long.

And yet each of these ragtag commoners left their families and children and jobs, if they had jobs–all their worldly possessions to become revered men of the bible we love and the words they left for us to study.

Relationships

When we develop relationships with others, whether they’re with neighbors or friends on church associates or business associates or casual friends don’t we try to put ourselves out there with others who are more like us? –same likes and dislikes, same sports teams, similar values and social presence.

We want to hang with folks like us. We don’t generally associate with folks who are different from us. Why is that? For instance you won’t find too many Auburn football fans clamouring to grab seats in the Alabama section of Bryant Denny stadium Tuscaloosa. We don’t have anything in common with our football rivals.

We’re usually not comfortable associating with folks who think differently, or act differently, or dress differently or deal with conflict, or raise our kids differently than we do. Is it healthy to promote two antithetical paradigms of relationships in our society? Instead political parties, church denominations, and ideologies seem to be pulling farter apart rather than growing closer together.

Are we headed towards full-blown socialisms? Only time will tell.