Month: December 2022

Posted on

Set Beneficial, Wise Goals

An acquaintance was driving on a cross-country trip and spotted something vaguely familiar beside a barn. He stopped at the farm house to enquire about it. The farmer hadn’t thought about selling it, but gave George permission to check it out.

As George approached the car, his eyes saw a rusty, dilapidated, 1958 Buick Roadmaster. The leather seats were shredded with springs protruding, covered with animal fur and chicken feathers – in much the same condition as pictured here.. Two windows were broken with the other two down. The chrome was peeling, and all four tires were cracked like a dried up lake bed, and flat. As he managed to open the hood, the scared cat hissed and jumped off the engine, and George saw what used to be radiator hoses and electrical wiring dangling uselessly: they had long-ago deteriorated.

But in George’s mind, he saw something else.

He saw a bright, shiny, light-burgundy, 1958 Buick Roadmaster with a circled V on the front grill, and a gleaming white roof. In his mind he saw the shiny chrome all around the car with sunlight glinting off it, the electric windows working, and new soft and pliable leather seating inviting him. Ultimately, he saw himself slowly cruising through town, smiling as the men oohed and aahed over it. In George’s mind, it looked just like the one his dad owned when George was in elementary school. THIS is what he longed for.

George’s new years resolution was to make this dream come true.

George had a garage where he would do most of the work himself. He would buy the books for body, engine, and electrical work; he knew a painter in a nearby town who would paint it that beautiful light-burgundy color; and knew a man who could replace the windows.

He made the farmer an offer, and after a little negotiating the deal was done. In two days, the cat had to find a different hiding place as a truck hauled the soon-to-be-renovated-beauty to George’s garage. He was ecstatic!

That was four years ago.

How many times had his wife said, “George, when are you going to stop procrastinating.” It wasn’t a question – it was a demand. “Why did you bring it here in the first place! Will you please do something with that rusty hulk?” That last one was a plea.

What happened? Very simply, George found himself not wanting to do the work. With all the right intentions and a dream to be fulfilled, George set unrealistic goals for himself. In the vernacular, he bit off more than he could chew.

He envisioned the finished product, but he didn’t know how to go about it. He also found out that he didn’t have the desire to get out the sander and throw sparks all around the garage and smelling ozone while sanding every square inch of the rusty hulk (the title given to it by George’s wife). Every time he looked at the ghost-of-the-past, he mentally sunk lower.

Why did I ever bring it home? He wondered.

When he finally prayed about it, asking the Lord if he should start the project, or perhaps if there was something else he should do with it, an interesting idea came to him. Perhaps it was from the Lord. He made an appointment with the pastor and shared the idea with him.

“Great idea!” boomed the clergyman, and he called in the youth director.

“This could be the answer to one of my prayers.” the youth pastor said. “I’ve been looking for a project for the high school boys.”

George gave Rusty Hulk to the church as a gift, and George’s wife got her garage back. Borrowing tools from their parents, the teen-age boys had a ball removing old seats, stripping the rusty shell of everything that was possibly removable, and throwing sparks as shiny metal emerged.  

To make the story short, George wasn’t procrastinating. Desiring to fulfill a childhood dream, George attempted to do something that was not his calling. When he finally realized it, he was able to let it go.

When the church youth group was through, it wasn’t the Light-Burgundy Blazing Beauty that George imagined, but it was nice. The church sold the Roadmaster, and the substantial profit was used to set up a workshop where the youth group could do other projects. George’s gift kept on giving.

Do you find yourself procrastinating when it comes to finishing a project or reaching a goal? The solution might be to create a workable New Year’s Resolution. Pray about each project, and see if that’s what the Lord wants you to do. See if it’s something you really want to spend your time doing … or even have the skills to do. Setting goals too high might not be compatible with your God-given creativity. So, don’t do that.

May the Lord bless you as you wisely set goals this year.

Happy New Year!

Posted on

Christ Changes Lives

Caleb was puzzled. He had been training four other shepherds for a year now, and a new trainee, Micha, had been assigned to him last week. Caleb was accustomed to his helpers cooperating with him, and he was a little uneasy because they were late bringing in the sheep.

Being a shepherd wasn’t an easy task. Learning to know each animal by name was time-consuming, but that wasn’t the hardest part. Although shepherds need to know about the growing seasons, where the best fields are for grazing, what foliage is unhealthy for the critters, what predators are lurking nearby, how to fight them off, and how to tend the newborn and the wounded, a good shepherd also needs to know how to negotiate with other shepherds who may have trespassed into “their” territory. Caleb was wondering if a problem had erupted, so taking Micha with him, he decided to go out and find out what was happening.

It hadn’t rained for two weeks, so they walked more than an hour over several rather sparse hills to where Caleb had sent the men and flocks.

Tuvia saw Caleb first and joyfully shouted, “God is Good!”

“Not so loud, Tuvia. Yes, God is good. But you must be careful not to startle the sheep.”

“Oh Nahum, you’re always trying to comfort the sheep. But allow me some fun out here in the vast wilderness. I need to let off some energy, and the animals will survive.”

Caleb walked up to them, smiling. “I truly enjoy your enthusiasm, Tuvia. Please never let it leave you. But Nahum does have a point. Where is Levi?”

Ariel responded, “Levi is over the hill tending a ewe giving birth.” Micha immediately ran to watch.

“Over the hill, is he?” mused Caleb. “Well, I suppose we’ll be spending the night out here. It will be a warm and remarkably clear night for the middle of Tishrei (early October), and the sheep seem to be settling down. Yes. tell Levi and Micha to take their time; and Ariel, will you please prepare a meal for us?”

“Yes, Caleb, I’ll have it ready soon.”

After the meal a half-moon was glowing, the stars were shining brightly, a gentle breeze was wafting across the land. And Levi reported that the new birth was a healthy ram lamb.

But Micha sat apart from the rest. His parents taught him the prophecies that the Messiah should be coming soon. He was also taught to always look for deeper meanings to life’s experiences.

Suddenly, he sat up and looked around. He sensed something in the air. The others were relaxing and telling stories, but Micha jumped to his feet and cried out, “Look! Do you see what I see?”

Startled, the others quickly looked – then covering their faces in fear, they fell to the ground. A shining angel appeared and made an announcement! We read the angel’s announcement in Luke 2:10-12

Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all people. Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. This is how you will know him: You will find a new-born baby wrapped in white cloth, lying in a manger.

Then, many other glowing angels appeared which lit up the night sky; and they were shouting, “Glory to God in the highest! Peace to all men on earth!”

Or were they singing? It was hard to tell for their voices sounded musical.

The lead angel again told the shepherds not to be afraid and urged them to go.

Finally overcoming their fear, Caleb left Ariel with the sheep. The others followed the heavenly directions, taking a one-month-old lamb with them, and quickly went to Bethlehem. It was just as the angel announced: they found the stable where Joseph and Mary were. When they saw the new-born baby, who was declared by the angels to be God, Micha slowly knelt and softly but incredulously asked, “Look, do you see what I see?”

Caleb and the others, presenting the lamb as a gift, knelt beside Micha and looked at baby Jesus with profound awe.

Joseph announced, “His name is Yohoshua (Jesus) – God is salvation. He will save us from our sin-laden existence.”

Mary gently added, “The prophecy proclaimed he will also be called Immanuel, for he is ‘God with us’.”  The shepherds joyfully returned to their flocks. But they told everyone they encountered about the newborn Christ, for their lives were changed forever!

Posted on

What is Christmas About?

Can you believe it? Christmas Day is just around the corner! People are buying gifts and are getting ready for big celebrations. But do you know what Christmas is really all about?

Christmas – Christ-mas – Christ’s Mass – is a gathering of people who want to honor the birth of our Lord: Jesus, the Christ. It’s really that simple.

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.”

What makes Jesus our Lord? Maybe we should back up and bring in some out-of-this-world history. Let’s read the first three verses in the Gospel of John (NLT).

Verse 14 says, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only [begotten] Son.”

These four verses tell us the Word (who is God) came to earth in the form of Jesus; and Jesus, before he was born as a human, actually created the entire universe. However, when the Word came to earth as Jesus, He continued to be God.

Why did I insert the King James word “begotten”? It’s important because Christians are adopted sons of God, but Jesus was born as the son of God. He was God prior to His human birth, continued to be God in His human existence, and is still God in heaven.

When your baby is born, you remember his/her birth every year – many times with cake, ice cream, and gifts. It’s a way to honor your child and to give him special recognition which helps establish his identity within your family.

But Christmas turns it around. As we honor the birth of Jesus, we are recognizing the fact that God loves us with all His heavenly heart and came to give US a gift: the gift of eternal life. That gives us special recognition and establishes our identity within God’s family.

And that brings us back to Christ’s Mass, or Christmas.

God created man in a perfect, sinless state; but man disobeyed. He sinned. That set the stage for all the rest of humanity to be born in sin. Was that fair? Since that took place well over 5,000 years ago, that’s not our concern. But it was, and is, God’s concern. He didn’t want to lose His special creation, so He activated the plan of redemption.

A sinless being had to die in order to redeem the one who had sinned. God took the life of at least two animals to make clothing to cover Adam and Eve’s sin, or error. That was a foreshadowing or omen of what was to come. Then in Moses’ time, God initiated Pesach, or Passover, to make the proposed plan of redemption more understandable.

All through history, the sacrificial animals had to be without spot or blemish which pointed to the Final Sacrifice who would be without sin. The reason is this: if I died because of my own sin, justice would be served, but there would be no redemption. However, if an innocent person died in my place, justice would still be served, and I would be declared innocent and could go free.

That’s why Jesus entered humanity as a baby. Every person, except Jesus, who ever lived was guilty of sin, so someone needed to come who was perfectly innocent: without spot or blemish. Only God was without sin, so only He could be the sacrifice to atone for everyone’s sin, which could set us free.

So God, the Word, entered humanity. He was given the name of Johoshua, which means God is salvation He grew up and experienced pain, mockery, and rejection as a child. He was tempted in every way man can be tempted, and suffered the most gruesome, torturous death man could experience. Yet He never sinned. Jesus was that perfect, spotless sacrifice for you and me to save us from an eternal separation from God.

Oh yes, there is one condition: I have to agree with God that I am not perfect, that I am guilty of breaking His law, and that I need to be redeemed.

So, I acknowledged my sin, asked God to forgive me, and purposely turned from a life of sin. Therefore, I am forgiven. You can be forgiven, too.

That is what Christmas is all about.

The shepherds welcomed Jesus (God) as a baby. The Wise Men welcomed Jesus (God) as a child. You and I need to welcome Jesus (God) as our Savior.

I wish you a Joyful, a Blessed, and a Merry Christmas.

Posted on

Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941

On December 7, 1941, at 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a dive bomber from the Japanese Imperial Navy flew unchallenged over the mountains on the island of Oahu. Then 360 Japanese warplanes, following closely behind, thundered over the mountains, descended on and attacked the U.S. naval base and the Army air base at Pearl Harbor. That catapulted the United States into World War II.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt then galvanized the US Congress and the nation into action with his memorable speech which started with: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

Part of our Pacific fleet was crippled. Included in the destruction were: four battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers, several other ships and subs, and almost 200 planes. Over 2,300 Americans were killed and 1,200 wounded in that disaster. That debacle could not and would not be ignored.

Interestingly, the attack was engineered to prevent the United States from entering the war which would have enabled Japan to advance her imperialistic goals.

Dad’s 1999 book was updated and in December of 2021 was released under a new title: Dead in the Water. I put in new Introduction and numerous pictures, and my brother, Paul, put in a new Afterword. You can find the book on Amazon, and you’ll be glad you bought the book.

Japan’s surprise attack – prior to declaring war – propelled this mighty nation into action. The US aircraft carriers which Japan intended to sink at Pearl Harbor were not at Pearl. Admiral Chester Nimitz, also a Texan, had sent them elsewhere, and the aircraft from those ships destroyed the core of the Japanese Imperial Navy six months later in the Battle of Midway. My father was on the USS Yorktown in that battle.

Recently we seem to have forgotten about the attack on Pearl Harbor. No, we don’t hate the Japanese, but if we forget history, we’ll forget who we are and why our nation exists.

When I worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory – where our first atomic bombs were constructed – every year well-meaning people protested on August 6 and 9. Those were the dates the US dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They thought we should never have bombed Japan.

The fact is, we didn’t want to bomb Japan; we didn’t even want to get into the war. But when we are attacked, we do respond.

%d bloggers like this: