The Gardener and Easter

In simple humility, let our gardener God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

(James 1:21)

Christianity is not turning over a new leaf, its starting a new life. The goodness of the gospel at Easter and every other day of our life, is not what we can do for Jesus but what Jesus has already done for us. What is the greater threat to the Gospel? The self righteousness of good people? Or the unrighteousness of bad people?

When this writer was younger and more energetic, I would walk the five blocks from my townhouse in the city where I lived to the church where I was a member. One beautiful Sunday morning on my walk down Front Street, a girl was sitting on a stoop across from the notorious bar called The Barbary Coast. Now there was no doubt that I was on my way to church, suited, carrying my bible. It is unusual for anyone to ask a blind man about anything, but this girl asked me if I could give her a dollar. I said: "Of course I can, here is a dollar for you and I want God to bless you." Of course I knew she was planning to go across the street and spend the money at the bar.

Later, at lunch with some members of the First Baptist Church, I relayed the incident. They felt that I should not have given her money for a drink. Perhaps not, but as I said to them, "This girl knew her condition, today in the church house we had people sitting all around us who I honestly believe, are deceived about theirs." We simply have no idea how much baggage most people carry around, both inside the church and out.

It is at Easter that we share our blessed Lord's agony, the wrath of his father-- sin of the world, which he carried to the cross. Easter is a time of new beginnings. Hidden foliage, coming forth in full bloom. In my city, we have beautiful azaleas, lilacs, dogwood.

The thrill of springtime, Easter; always brings the memory of my grandmother working in her garden, An old lady, Miss.Ida, working in her garden. Like my mother, grandmothers and most of the worlds population, people love the beauty of flowers as well as vegetables growing. How better could God show his love for beauty to us?

There are two Gardens mentioned in the bible. Of course, this world traveler has seen beautiful gardens all over the world; but just think of the beauty of the Garden of Eden: everything perfect there... Every thorn-less flower, beautiful in color and smell. I imagine just miles of God tending to flawless landscaped beauty. You know that when he looked over it and called it good, it was beautiful. (Gen 1:31)

The problem that still exists: God showed us that he is boss, that he has certain parameters. There was just one tree in that beautiful garden, "don't touch that tree." In the garden of Eden, Adam failed, chose the spirit of death instead of the spirit of life. In that other garden, Garden of Gethsemane, ugly-nasty-flies-stray dogs, Christ was crushed. The first man Adam failed, the second man Jesus triumphed; both in a garden... God the gardener.

The Romans crucified thousands of human beings every year. At the time of Jesus, a large percentage of the worlds population were slaves. He delivered us from our slavery and took on all of our rotten sins. The second Adam gave humanity the spirit of life... a free gift.

The best memory I have of my maternal grandmother, returning from her garden carrying a hoe... always with her large apron carrying vegetables which she had picked from her garden. In God's marvelous grace and mercy, he created on this earth every chemical we would ever need for anything. There is no excuse for the multiplicity of sicknesses which afflict our population. There is no excuse for the epidemics involving food intake such as diabetes. When I was in school, cancer and diabetes were rare diseases. It is all a matter of treatment from the Supreme Gardener... The great position. What better time than Easter to center our thoughts on self control? God has supplied our every need, Jesus has supplied our every escape.

Just as 16.4% of our population between the ages 16-64 has sexually transmitted diseases, life is a matter of liberty in Christ, but recognizing that we "wrestle" against the power of evil.(Ephisians 6:12)

The two greatest events in the Gospel message, have been so distorted... Christmas with its spending, spreeing, tinsel and decorated trees. Easter with its rabbits laying colored eggs. The greatest sound in the history of the world was a baby's cry in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. The greatest event in the history of the world was the resurrected grown body, having been crucified for the sins of the world on that first Easter. All history-beauty-intelligence revolves around this one solitary life, God putting on a tent of flesh and dwelling among us. Jesus must have enjoyed, although God, living on this earth with his friends (It give this writer joy to think that Jesus enjoyed good food with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, fishing with his disciples). After suffering cruelty beyond belief, he was still willing to ask his Father to forgive them, for they didn't know what they were doing. (Luke 23:34)

On this Easter and everyday, those of us who bear his name, who have a personal relationship with him, should rejoice in our knowledge of what happened in these two gardens supervised by the gardener who created the world and everything in it.

#1717

God's Biochemistry

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe (Cor, 1:20-21).

Unbelief is the basis of all atheism, weak-pitiful mankind depending on self instead of depending on God. Most of the people I know want God in their image instead of them in the image of God. Christians beaten down by a pagan world, God becomes an antiquated idea. Even the inconceivability of real men having real wives and children. No one, even the wildest science fiction writer could have convinced my parents-grandparents that in this writer's lifetime, people of the same sex would get married, some in a church. Most of the people I know have their hand on the doorknob of the door of faith but never open the door enjoying the grace, salvation of the Creator of the universe. " I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (John, 17:4-6).

Aldous Huxley's, Brave New World said we will teach people to love their slavery. For the 21st century Christian, those whom you would change, you must first learn to love and you must let them know that you love them. This applies to the physician, the pastor, the professor and most of all to the parent.

There is nothing like the power of images in changing people. Truly, "one picture is worth a thousand words." You cannot understand the horrors of abortion until you have seen one. In another article, I have described my images when I saw an abortion in the operating room of a United States army hospital where I was on staff... those little hands, little feet taken from the womb of a "mother." In my lifetime, when I was in school, we were embarrassed to even speak of abortion. Now, people sneeze and wheeze toward any healthcare facility, wanting an antibiotic or drug for anything. I can tell you that all today's major diseases were unheard of just 60 years ago: Cancer, Parkinson's, Diabetes, Autism, Vascular Diseases (the greatest cause of death), etc.

Like your automobile garage, like shopping for everything, eBay, Amazon, etc. life's activities have become a recipe book, your a slave of nanotechnology. Your doctor, he is more a dunce than a dynamo, spends more time with his hands on his computer keys than he does your body. For him, it is simply a matter of symptoms here-drugs there. When did your doctor ask you what you eat, nutrition. No one talks of cures, only treatments. In Europe, 50% of the population will die of Cancer. Just recently, the Society of Oncology in Spain, stated that 50% of all babies are born with cancer (Sputnik International, 2015). We were not there when 5,000 Jews were gassed in the death chambers at Auschwitz every few hours, everyday. Some do not believe that this Holocaust actually happened, but we are here now, when 3,000 babies are aborted each day. The Holocaust of OUR lifetime (56 million since the infamous Supreme Court decision of 1973). Just this week, I am celebrating the birth of my first great grandchild (Olivia, 8 pounds, 4 ounces). Her precious parents, grandparents, great grandparents so happy over this precious child. In 1964, Psychiatrist Eric Berne wrote the book Games People Play. This writer is so tired of people playing games... just going through the motions, whether "sick care", patriotism, political deceit or pretenders in the pulpit or pew.

I have written at length about my online selling activity. I started many years ago with marvelous items I have brought back from world travels (Dr. Morris has made 8 around the world trips, traveled every continent, passports stamped in 157 countries). I then sold my Civil War and large antiquarian book collections. Able to employ college students, etc., we enjoy going to yard sales, thrift stores, where we buy items which we can sell for profit... raw capitalism. Money from this business as well as my other enterprises has helped me to help others with college scholarships, church progress, no secret to anyone.

This past Saturday, one of my assistants told me there was a church yard sale to benefit Haiti (Grace Baptist Church, Highway 40, Wilmington, NC). The sale was held in the large church's fellowship hall. In the past, I have met members of that congregation, an independent Baptist church. I do not sit in judgment of anyone, certainly not a church, but I was amazed-surprised that my driver and I walked through the facility where much "stuff" was displayed (none of which I could resell) and not one person in that large hall spoke to us, not even to a "Good Morning." (More amazing, since it was cold, I was wearing my veterans cap, medical caduceus, rank, patches showing DAV-Korea, etc.) I was wearing a very nice overcoat. On all my coats-jackets, I wear a Christian cross. I want everyone to know whose side I am on. As my only child, son, PHD, Seminary Professor said after I told him about the incident, "low hanging fruit" (Psalm, 92).

That day, at the next yard sale, I was immediately recognized as the blind doctor who talks on the radio (Lieutenant Colonel Morris is a totally blind, 100% disabled, service connected, 85 year old Medical Officer Veteran). The matter I am trying to impress, God is honored by our Christian attitude-testimony, even in a church facility. As a poet said, "If iron rusts, what do you expect gold to do?"

The writer has two grandsons, an attorney and an engineer. Like their Seminary Professor father and his wife, both former SBC foreign missionaries all living in Fort Worth, Texas, were here visiting me. I invited several people to lunch. One pastor sitting across from me, while the grandsons were on either side of me said, "I hope you boys are as great as he thinks you are", talking about me. I wish, in God's Biochemistry, he could instill in me and others, the greatness he expects.

After my mother's death, my driver would drive my car up into the countryside to visit my father, still living at the home place. My driver, would say every time, "He will be sitting on the front porch watching for you", and so he was, waiting and watching. We would take him out to eat, visit some relatives, etc. My prayer, from a very imperfect man, people who profess will not have those who possess watching and waiting for them. Whether patients, patrons, parents, mechanics or even matrons who know how to flex the computer keys. The Christian life is not complicated, just demanding and tough. Faith is 90% raw courage, the courage to fight battles even though the war has been won.