Saboteur

Saboteur

"The Master comes! He calls for thee—
Go forth at His almighty word,
Obedient to His last command,
And tell to those who never heard,
Who sit in deepest shades of night,
That Christ has come to give them light.

The Master calls! Arise and go;
How blest His messenger to be!
He, Who hath given thee liberty,
Now bids thee set the captives free;
Proclaim His mighty power to save,
Who for the world His lifeblood gave.

The Master calls! Shall not thy heart
In warm responsive love reply,
“Lord, here am I; send me, send me,
Thy willing slave, to live or die—
An instrument unfit indeed,
Yet Thou wilt give me what I need”?

Hymn: Joy Forever

It is a fortunate person indeed, who never has never had problems-troubles. If you had not had problems-troubles, relax, they are on the way.

We do what we do because we believe what we believe. What do people do who do not have the "wait" of instruction found in God's word?

In the marvelous book, Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis said, "I am what I am before God, no more no less."

At best, a man is just a man. This is why a man needs to know the best, Jesus.

I learned to depend on the promises of God at a very early age. Then, came college, trusting his mercy to see me through. I still remember as if it were yesterday, the stone fence behind Wilson Library, Chapel Hill. I had not eaten for several days, still several days before I got paid from my job. There was much food on the farm, back home, should I call for them to come get me. Back then, there were no grants, loans, student aid. God whispered to me that in that medical school library where I was working, the large chairs, money had fallen out of the pockets of those who sat in them. I found enough money in those chairs to get me through the next days until I was paid. Satan, his demons, power of the air (Eph 6:13) are the best saboteurs the world has ever known. Satan makes the Nazi saboteurs look like amateurs. Most Christians have never realized that you are a constant target, He wants the joy of your salvation, particularly the promise of eternity.

In the Muslim world, when a dark cloud comes over, it is referred to as "al-zulumat." In the Jewish world, the present world of emergency, dialing 9-1-1, we find our help in Psalm 91:1: "Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." The ancient fathers of sons paid large amounts for their son's wives. Two of Jesus' ancestors, Jacob, left the wrath of his twin Esau, his hand pegged father, Isaac's wealth and was forced to work 14 years for "Uncle Laban" to get two wives, Leah and Rachel and their handmaidens. King David, "whom God loved" wanted King Saul's daughter for a wife. King Saul required the skins of 104 Philistines. Their descendant Jesus, endured the shame of the cross for his bride, the church. I wish saboteur Satan would find some "fresh meat" leave this old man alone for awhile. It seems that everyday there is a new problem-trouble. This hot summer, it seems that every air conditioner in every building I own, is failing. This spoiled nation wants comfort, air conditioning and I have no choice but to go through the expense of the repairs-replacements. Most people do not realize the unhealthiness of air conditioning. The worst, a plane, a test tube-Petri dish, flying through the air, producing germs, affecting everyone breathing the re-circulated air. Everyone reminds me that it is a new world. My cousin was telling me that one year when his father was sick the only money that came into their house was the 13 dollars and 50 cents from him driving a school bus and a small amount from his mother selling butter and eggs. Yet recently, as his wife shopped in a grocery store with coupons, he saw that most minority customers just handed the clerk a plastic card-modern welfare. In their shopping cart paid for by the tax payer, beer-wine, choice cuts of meat.

This writer was one of the first visitors to China after the Nixon re-opening. Like ants, all dressed the same, all living in the same conditions, all riding bicycles. Today, most Chinese have moved into the cities, world's greatest car market. China has 271 billionaires.

When my problems-troubles come up, when I want to quit, when I know the inequities of life, I realize there are many in much worse condition. Even the Democrat Secretary of agriculture, Milsap, stated that he is praying for rain, as most of the nation is in draught, crops drying up in the fields. God will always have the last word. At the time of the profit Joel, locusts devoured the land (Joel 1:14). Saboteur Satan just has the ability to target individuals but God can target nations and has done so many times. Do we think for one second that God will allow America to escape the murder of so many babies? It takes 2000 years for a taboo such as the shame of homosexuality or giving birth to children without marriage. In the present politically correct, humanist, secular, tolerance, all has changed over night. Total sabotage of family, fidelity, integrity.

"There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High" (Psalm 46:4) In this same Psalm 46, twice, verses 7 and 11, "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." When God says something twice, particularly in the same chapter of The Bible, it would be good to pay attention. The Bible, the only source book of truth.

New Day

Ernest Hemingway's greatest novel and his first (a first edition of this novel, if you have one, is worth much money), The Sun Also Rises, finds its title in the book of all books, God's Word.

"The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose." (Ecclesiastes 1:5 )

I never knew my father not to get up and go to work in the morning; no matter how bad things developed, he always faced the new day with optimism. Even the morning after the barn burned the night before, he got up and went to work. Even when the crops were drowning because of too much water, even when the crops were drying up due to lack of water, he got up and went to work. And, to this day, I get up early every morning for work.

Recently, a young man of limited acquaintance came to me, (an old man) seeking advice because in this depressive, regressive, economic environment, his business was failing, his wife had left to return to another state with his two children, he was having trouble paying the mortgage on his home, and amid all his other debts and obligations, he was having some medical problems. He said, “What am I going to do?” I said, “You will get up tomorrow morning, put on your socks one at the time, get ready for work as usual, and then go to work!” I told him about the first public poem I ever gave, to a Sunday School convention, at the age of 4. The title of the poem was Keep on Keeping On. One of my aunts, before she died, never stopped reminding me of her pride in my performance that day and since. She said I had on a white suit with short pants and red bow-tie. She said, “I knew then you would be a marvelous speaker.”

Many has been the time when I just wanted to stay in bed and forget the challenges awaiting me on the other side of the door. School tests, licensing boards, divorce, sick and dying parents, critical surgery, and later, for the past 40 years, the challenge of life as a totally blind person. Often times, when I hear a person give a resounding “AMEN” for a sermon or song in church, I wonder if they truly know the meaning of the word. It means, “I would stake my life on what you just said.” Talk is cheap. Until you get knocked down, until you even have a 'sucker punch', you do not know of what you are made.

After the most recent severe hurricane here on the North Carolina coast, thank God, my beach house was not damaged, even though just 2 houses from the ocean. But much sand had washed up, deposited under the house and in the driveway (it is a house on stilts). My housekeeper said, “You are going to have to get someone to get that sand out from under that house so we will be able to park your car.” I said, “I will move it.” and she said, “How?” “The way my entire life has been lived, one shovel at the time.”

It is an unusual life that does not have valleys as well as mountain peaks. We go from day to day, but few things last forever.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.
(Psalm 84 5-7)

I will never understand how those who lived before us, those who planted the flowers which we now pick, lived the lives which they lived, usually without any complaint. One man, who I knew quite well, was married to an invalid wife, totally crippled, in a wheelchair or on a hospital bed all the time. Yet, he got up every day, prepared food for his children, who left for school in a school bus, went to work at a business in town so he could take home a paycheck each week, went home at the end of the day to take care of a wife who would never get any better, children who had all the needs of normal children in and out of school, did the laundry, cleaned the house, and persevered with an attitude of love and consideration toward everyone.

One of my father's brothers was in a severe accident from which he never recovered and was house-bound and bed-ridden for many years until he died. His wife, Aunt Louetta, would leave her responsible job as Dietician at a children's hospital and spend her lunch hour each day caring for him and making sure he was comfortable.

Recently, I had a discharged sailor and a discharged Marine working for me. Both had served overseas and both thought they were really tough, but they do not know what toughness is until faced with the challenges of the terminal illness of loved ones. Both, when things were not exactly pleasant at their work for me, just got up and walked out. You can not walk away from the responsibilities of those whose very day depends on you.

This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Most of today's young people are too spoiled to work, they just want everything handed to them. I said to a young man recently, “I will teach you everything I know about real estate and the stock market, but you will have to read the books and do some studying on your own.” He said, “I would just like to get a check every month.” (referring to the fact that Congress retired me with a check for my years of service as an Army officer) I reminded him, I still work, in spite of everything, I have never given up. When you see an urn full of my cremated ashes, you will know that I have quit.


Keep On Keepin' On
If the day looks kinder gloomy
And your chances kinder slim,
If the situation's puzzlin'
And the prospect's awful grim,
If perplexities keep pressin'
Till hope is nearly gone,
Just bristle up and grit your teeth
And keep on keepin' on.
Frettin' never wins a fight
And fumin' never pays;
There ain't no use in broodin'
In these pessimistic ways;
Smile just kinder cheerfully
Though hope is nearly gone,
And bristle up and grit your teeth
And keep on keepin' on.
There ain't no use in growlin'
And grumblin' all the time,
When music's ringin' everywhere
And everything's a rhyme.
Just keep on smilin' cheerfully
If hope is nearly gone,
And bristle up and grit your teeth
And keep on keepin' on.