Lucky Me!

 

Lucky Me!

I'm not a good shopper! This is from January 2, 2014.
Santa was good to me again this year; dress clothes, a microwave, personal grooming products. What the big guy in red delivered the most, though, was gift cards, including six from Starbucks. I have a confession; I struggle with gift cards. It isn't that I don't like them- I do. What frustrates me about gift cards is how to spend them. Let me give you an example. I was blessed with three Barnes and Nobles' gift cards totaling $35 and I love to read. But it took two visits and over an hour to decide what to purchase. I agonize over making the wrong choice. Once, I took five minutes standing in front of the salad dressing at the grocery store, trying to decide between two brands where the only difference was a nickel. (On the other hand, I once bought a car without really looking at it!) Let's just say I'm not decisive as a shopper.

One of my new students this year is Annie, a very bright and bubbly young lady. For Christmas, she presented me with something I had never been given before, an Amazon gift card in the amount of ten dollars. (Normally, I would not reveal the value but it is germane to the story.) I had no idea what to do with Annie's gift because I had very little idea how Amazon works. Fortunately, my sister-in-law Karen (Scott's wife) is a world class bargain hunter and universally acclaimed Internet shopper who in her great kindness agreed to help her helpless brother-in-law. She suggested I go to their website and browse and  find something I like. I did and after thirty minutes or so, I told her I had drawn a blank and I would just wait for an idea to hit me in a few weeks and I would call her. But after supper, Karen renewed her efforts. This time, she got on the Amazon website herself and started grilling me.
"How about some pants? How about some Nebraska gear? How about shoes?"
No, no thanks, I don't think so. But she persisted and asked,
"How about some cologne?"
Now, she and Scott had already given me a bottle of USHER Cologne which is awesome but she started calling out brands.
"Here's a $52 bottle of Lucky You for only $15! I could probably get it with free shipping."
She had me. Several years ago, six actually, they gave me a bottle of Lucky You and I really liked it. It was stolen on a mission trip to Honduras so apparently somebody in Central America likes it as well! I bit, she ordered it without shipping costs, and I only had to pay a modest addition to Annie's gift card. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow so ladies beware!

You know, I would have become irritated at most people who persisted after it was obvious I had made my mind up....but Karen is not one of them. Why? First, she loves me and second, she knows me. It's because we have, and I sometimes dislike the word, a relationship, which I leave blank on FACEBOOK. I trust Karen implicitly (as well as Sally, my other sister-in-law) and I know she has my best interests at heart when she pushes me where I might be reluctant to go. We might take note of that as Christians, remembering that friendship and trust often precede reception to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I listen to people I like and trust. And in case you're interested, my relationship status is single, but that could change when a package arrives from AMAZON in a few short hours!

Applicable quote of the day:
"Indecision may or may not be my problem."
Jimmy Buffett 

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Tagging Ben

 

Tagging Ben

This post, from January 17, 2018, is one of my weirder ones!
It started when I recently posted a picture on Facebook  of my folks and brother Scott when he was a child. I was startled to see that Facebook tagged my father, who died almost ten years ago and was never a Facebook user, as my nephew, Ben. Granted, Dad in the picture and Ben currently are within several years of the same age but to my way of thinking, look nothing alike. I was curious as several times Facebook has misidentified me as Scott so I scrolled through some of my pictures. What I found was hysterical at times. Facebook friends of mine in Vietnam who are brother and sister are often confused. Sometimes, Facebook identifies only one person in a picture although there are seven or eight of my Facebook friends in the picture with clear views of their faces. My high school cousin from Arkansas was mistaken for a twenty-five year old in  my Vietnamese church. My favorite though remains a twelve year old Vietnamese girl who was tagged as the mid sixties lady whose daughter in law is the sister of someone I used to date.... and the lady is not a FB friend of mine. I had to find her on the search bar and while both are lovely ladies, the fifty plus year age gap and different races calls into question the process. (That's the twelve year old, one of the favorites of all my trips. I'm edited out of the shot but it's the one I spoke of above.)

Look, I'm not knocking Facebook. You can't get a clear answer on google of the algorithm they use for facial recognition. I find they're usually correct and often it helps me realize who someone is who I have not seen since childhood or as teenagers. Back a few years, I had identical twins in class, the lovely Annie and Emily. I could not tell them apart except for the desks they occupied. And yet, when I looked at their Facebook posts tonight- I am friends with both of them- they are tagged in each picture in which they both appear. I would be fascinated to ask Emily and Annie if Facebook is accurate when it comes to their tags. If they miss by fifty plus years, different ethnicities, and opposite genders, I have my doubts!

On some things, I'm not very discerning. I can't tell Hellman's from Miracle Whip. I can't differentiate between Starbucks and the Walmart off the shelf brand. ( I got some Keurig Cups for Christmas and I love the convenience! But the description of one of the flavors is  A snappy, crisp, and citrusy Central American coffee matched with the sweetness, body, and depth of an Indonesian bean and I say 'huh?' Thank goodness the Lord can tell one of us from another! Look at what David wrote in Psalm 139!
For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
You created me... you knit me together... I am fearfully and wonderfully made...I was made in the secret place.... I was woven together ... your eyes saw my informed body...
God knows me! And you! And your identical twin sister! And all six billion of us! We won't get lost in the human shuffle. He know us and loves us, and most importantly, He died for us no matter what we look like now or as infants. That's His mark on all of us.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Stop Tagging Me to Your Posts, I Have Enough Posts in My Life to Care for … Tagging is a Ridiculous Feature.” 
― Sami Abouzid

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Drew And John Tyler

 

Drew And John Tyler

This entry, from January 16, 2018, sounds far fetched but was TRUE!

I always begin my classes with a short conversation as the kids prepare for their memory verse/quiz/test. This past Friday, I did something I often do because I know it's a very safe bet. Unannounced, I announced to my third period Gospels' class that if anyone in five seconds could tell me the name of the tenth president of the US, I would give them five dollars. I immediately started counting and at three,  Drew called out, 'John Tyler!' He was correct but how he knew that quick, I've no idea. Keeping my word, I handed Drew, a terrific WCS athlete/scholar/great Christian young man, the money. If I had bumped into him at worship Sunday morning, I might have asked him if he put the cash in the  collection plate! (I should note that Drew's twin, the lovely and wonderful, Erin, is in that same class. Maybe he bought his sister a gift!)

You might be wondering why I would start a Bible class with a query about an obscure Commander-In-Chief. In my history teaching days, I would make several references to Tyler. He is best remembered for the campaign slogan, Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too as well as derisively being referred to as His Accidency after taking the oath of office. (I'll leave it up to you to google if your curiosity from high school history class is piqued!) But the reason I brought up Tyler had to do with a blurb I had seen the night before on the Facebook page of a well-known writer. The short article stated that Tyler, who was born in 1790, has two living grandsons! I thought that was ridiculous so I googled John Tyler and guess what- HE DOES! Tyler had a son at age 63 named Lyon and Lyon had two sons, at age 71 and 75 respectively! As recently as five days ago, by news reports, both are still in the land of the living! Both grandsons are very old- 93 and  89- so the odds of this being true for much longer are  shrinking rapidly. What a story to tell your grandkids! My mother's mother died when my mom was pregnant with me. The younger of the two living Tyler grandsons was born sixty-six years after his grandfather's death. All I can say is WOW!

I've just started on January 1st with my annual 365 day trek though oneyearbible.com. It's exactly like what it sounds like. Reading one section per day every day leads you through the scriptures, finishing on December 31st. The John Tyler story seems almost like the story of the genealogies of those men in the early parts of the Word of God. I'm sure some of that data seems far fetched to those who are unfamiliar with the lineage which spawned, at least on one side, the Son of God. But I'm also reminded of what Luke wrote to Theophilus in his first chapter, that he could be sure that what he had heard was the truth. I also recall the Bereans searching to make sure what Paul had taught them was true. How can we verify the truth of what we hear? Check it out. I tell my students all the time to challenge me on what the Bible says; that's why we read daily in class. They need to know what it says and not just what I say it says and I'm not minimizing the importance of interpretation, especially for the kids who come into the class blind. So, on this snowy day in Houston, I'm five dollars poorer, Drew is five dollar richer, the kids hopefully learned a lesson in truth seeking, and the blood of John Tyler lives on. More importantly, the blood of Jesus lives on.

Applicable quote of the day:
I feel happy when I look at my grandson, who is 10 months old. That relaxes me. 
Andrew Tan

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Historical Precedent

 

Historical Precedent

Each year, one of our first tests centers around the birth of Jesus and how a couple from Nazareth in Israel happened to have a baby ninety miles away in Bethlehem! The following, from March 19, 2010 discusses how that happened!

I'm official! Several minutes ago, I completed my 2010 United States Census and will place it in the care of the United States Postal Service tomorrow. It only took several minutes and was extremely simple, not always the case with government forms! I explain to my students that ours is a decennial census as defined in the Constitution, for the purpose of apportioning seats by state in the House of Representatives in a count of the population every ten years. I know this; we don't need a census to tell us that Houston is one big city.

There is another census we discuss each year in class, always in August. This was the one called by the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, requiring the people of Israel to return to their ancestral home to register. A young couple from Nazareth, Joseph and Mary, were both from the line of David and the tribe of Judah. As instructed, they traveled from their hometown to Bethlehem, the city of David, as required by Rome. You know the rest. Fulfilling the prophecy of Micah 5:2-
 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.'-
Jesus slipped into humanity virtually unnoticed only six miles from Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish faith. There was little fanfare to greet His birth, apart from the angelic announcement of the joyous event to shepherds. But, this most recent addition to the population of the people of Israel changed the direction of mankind. In his infinite wisdom, the Heavenly Father used a political tool to make the words of the prophecy come true. I find the words of Paul in Acts 17, verse 26, fascinating. Preaching in Athens, he made this point to his listeners:
'From one man He (God) made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.'
Did Paul mean only groups or also individuals in terms of times and places? My take is that he meant individuals, meaning you and me....and Jesus. Sometimes I wonder how I ended up in Houston but maybe I should be more concerned with what the Lord wants me to do here. I'm pretty sure He wanted to fill out my census form. After all, there is precedent.

Applicable quote of the day:
"The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of the cities, nor the crops, but the kind of man that the country turns out.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

The Life Saver

 

The Life Saver

Always have to be safe! This is from December 28, 2013.
Nichole is one of my favorite students. Her Chinese name is Yuanzhu and she works incredibly hard in my Bible 1 class. Right before the Christmas break, Nichole blessed me with a gift. Honestly, I was not sure what it was. The box said it was an Auto Emergency Tool and it looked almost like the one pictured above but I really had no idea of its function. Fortunately, one of my fellow teachers, Preston Hill, was standing with me and explained its usage. You see, it has a flashlight, a red blinking warning light with a magnet as well as a blade to cut off your seatbelt and a hammer to break out the window if you are trapped or submerged. So to sum it up, I received a gift I hope I never use because it has value basically only in times of emergency and duress. 

I would guess most of us have heard that phrase, "When all else fails.....pray." To me, that's kind of how I view my Christmas present from the aforementioned Nichole. You know, tucked under the seat just in case like the fire extinguisher in your kitchen you hope never has to be refilled. It's like my car insurance policy which I've never made a claim against and my agent, the one and only Randy King, hopes I never do! And yet we're told by Jesus to always pray and never give up and Paul wrote we should pray in the Spirit on all occasions. In spite of those exhortations, we treat prayer as a last gasp solution to our latest catastrophe. What a travesty that we bind ourselves and limit our own access to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In a age of connectivity, we are in danger of cutting our own spiritual channels. That's the real calamity.

Applicable quote of the day:
“Let us never forget to pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is not only aware of us but cares for us. He is our Father. He is accessible to all who will seek Him.” 
― Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Losing Forty-Five

 

Losing Forty-Five

My pride took a hit! This is from January 17, 2016!
I'm not a umbers guy but I tell my classes that I've roughly 4200 Facebook friends in conjunction with the facts I've lived in many places and how interconnected we are today. You're reading this devotional through the kindness of the good folks at blogger which in turned is manged by google. Blogger has a tool by which one blogger can follow another, similar to friends on Facebook. My number for months was static, remaining at 658. And then, one morning last month, I woke up and 658 had shrunk to 613. No explanation why my disciples had been reduced by roughly 7%. I looked in online help rooms and I wasn't the only one whose clientele had been reduced for no apparent reason. I'm not going to lie- it bothered me. Here's what's funny- I don't even know which followers I lost! My guess is that it was some housecleaning measure, maybe those with inactive accounts, but it stung. And it still does but I'm not sure why. Pride, maybe? NOT ME!

Our society and its view of success seems too often driven by numbers and counts. Nielsen ratings. Class rank. Oscar nominations. Number one in the polls. Market shares for companies. Even stats like highest attendance at football games matter. Popularity is driven by accounting practices. But things happen. Public figures fall from grace suddenly and fatally. I ask my students how many of them know President Gary Hart. Of course, they look confused so I tell them how Hart had a legitimate shot at the Democratic nomination for the Presidency in 1988. Rumors of an affair with a young lady named Donna Rice, however, sent his supporters scattering, a blow from which there was no recovery for the would be Commander In Chief. Instead, Michael Dukakis found his name on the ballot in the election of 1988 that saw the first President Bush elected. History may have been altered by indiscretion as it, I suspect, often is.

One thing that I think surprises my students is how the popularity of Jesus would rise and fall during His ministry. Just days after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the day referred to as Palm Sunday, the Christ was executed publicly after the crowds demanded Pilate put Him to death. But that wasn't the first time the Savior was deserted. In John 6, right after He fed the five thousand and walked on water, Jesus declared this in verse 53-56:
“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them."
Then John adds this update in verse 66 after many had complained this teaching was difficult:
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
If you are familiar with this story, you know that the Apostles stuck with Him and that Peter declares there is nowhere else for them to go, while affirming that Jesus was the Holy One of God. Why did Jesus make that statement right then, when everything seemed to be going so well? Crowds were embracing Him but He said many for the wrong reason. Early in that chapter, He accused them of liking Him simply because He fed them. But when the teaching is not so palatable, the throngs disperse like the morning fog. It's easy to be faithful when things are easy. The test is when times are tough and the water on which our boats are floating  turns choppy. You know, the old coaching cliche, separating the men from the boys. It's not very hard to follow somebody on a blog. You just push a button. I'm following many blogs myself that I've forgotten. But the question is who will I follow when it matters....and who will you? That time is coming and it won't be measured on some blog counter or a Facebook timeline. We need to be ready- it could be tomorrow. Or tonight.

Applicable quote of the day:

Truth is the most bitter to accept, swallow and digest it. The moment you speak truth, you lose your popularity. But I don't care.

Bikram Choudhury

God bless,

Steve
Luke 18:1

The Shower

 

The Shower

Sometimes we make excuses! This is from December 3, 2016.
Thursday night was our annual WCS Winter Choir Concert. The kids, under the direction of David Patterson, did an incredible job! I was there- I make all the middle and upper school fine arts performances. Many of my students were on stage last night and believe me, they know if you are in the audience. A number of them even told me Friday morning what I was wearing and where I was standing! There was even an answer to one of my bonus questions this week:
In what language was Silent Night written? Answer: German (All my choir kids got it right as it was one of the selections!)
Predictably, it was a wonderful evening and equally predictably, the audience put up the chairs and cleaned up before we went home as we always do at Westbury Christian. It's just the tradition.

I have a confession to make. I did not make the 7:00 opening curtain. I came in about 7:12, missing several songs. But it wasn't my fault, even though I don't take that excuse from players or students. At least hear me out! I had my schedule planned down to the minute. I would swim at my fitness club, exiting the water at 6:45, hop in the the shower, get dressed, and drive the three blocks to Westbury Christian in two minutes arriving just as the lights were being dimmed. But something was amiss as I stepped into the very small locker room at my club. It has only one shower and it was running full steam with the curtain drawn. No problem- most guys get in for a minute and wash off the pool water and the smell of bleach. But a minute turned into three and then five and I started to get steamed. I made enough noise so he could hear me. The water kept running unabated. Finally, after at least ten minutes, I made the decision to put my t-shirt and tennis shoes back on, carry my hanging clothes which risked getting contaminated chlorinated residue, and make the 45 second walk back to the main building which has a full size shower area. But as I was about to gather my belongings for the trek to an available shower, I took a risk. I asked, "Anybody in there?" in front of the shower. No response so I repeated the question again and then once again. Silence except for the water spray. You guessed it. I waited ten-plus minutes to get into an empty shower. And I missed a couple of songs that I wanted to hear the kids sing. 

I was mad as I cleaned up and dressed. I was mad that someone would leave the shower running with the curtain drawn- my guess it was probably a little kid as they were having swimming lessons that night. But I was more angry with myself that I wasted that time on something that wasn't real in the first place, and then got mad about it again! That's like many of our problems; there is nothing there to begin with. We make issues out of  thin air. The person we fear is upset with us- they're not. The job situation we are afraid will explode- it doesn't. The health scare we are sure is life threatening- it isn't. That's not to say we don't all face real-life dilemmas and trauma but too often, we just make it harder on ourselves, draining our emotional reserve needed for the actual storms we must navigate. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches how we should handle the stresses of life, in Matthew 6, verse 34:
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Worry is useless, according to the Savior. I find His teachings here are much easier to accept than to practice. It's the perception of our mind playing out nightmares instead of pleasant daydreams, to see monsters under every bed and in every closet when we try to fall asleep as children. The infamous shower scene in Psycho was shot in black and white and Alfred Hitchcock used chocolate syrup swirling down the drain as Janet Leigh's character died. But moviegoers often swore what they saw on screen was in color and the 'blood' was red. You just can't believe those shower scenes, can you? Oh well- I learned a lesson! Next time, I'll just turn off the light and see if anybody yells at me. It's better than being late! 

Applicable quote of the day:
On an awards-show day, I can play basketball, go in, take a shower and put on a tux - it takes me three minutes to put on a tux - and be out the door in 15 minutes. 
George Clooney

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1