October 15, 2023
I’m Still Searching
I was wondering about speaking out and then saw the billboards on a church in Hood River, Oregon, which the Muslims are demanding be taken down which says on one side the Koran is a book and the Bible is the Word of God and the front side warns Christians to wake up, Allah is not our God, and Mohammad is not greater than Jesus Christ.
I would say the Mayor and a liberal do gooder do not know the truth and have not been set free as they couldn’t believe a pastor would put up a billboard like that. Pastor Michael Harrington basically said he might not be politically correct but he was Biblically correct. What are we, as Christians, more concerned with, being Biblically correct or politically correct or maybe even friend correct?
How many of you know about SB 357, which Grusome signed into law last year and goes into effect January, 2024?. Amanda Prestigiacomo in the Daily Wire describes the bill in this way: “SB 357, which was authored by Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener and backed by the ACLU, decriminalizes “loitering with intent to commit prostitution.” Critics say the law effectively decriminalizes prostitution in California.”
The article also quotes a few mayors and police chiefs who basically say the same thing. Wiener’s premise for the bill is we can not arrest people for how they dress, with the result being the women are walking the streets in g-strings and bras. San Franciscowas a place where a free love movement started in the 60’s and it appears this is just the Democrats allowing capitalism to work its magic, in spite of the mothers complaining about what their children are being subjected to.
The White House has a planned “Release and Reporting Management” (RRM) program in the works which offers free food, housing and medical care for illegal aliens, (which there misinformation uses the term migrants), with ICE sayiny they supervise 5.7 illegal aliens, with the program obviously being funded by US Taxpayers as Joe is not sharing any of his money received as the Big Guy. What a generous guy with our money. Take a look at this breakdown for where your tax dollars are going in the illegal alien pot:
https://youtu.be/IyBRNZB1fcs
You can check out SB 673, the Ebony Alert Law, which is an alert being broadcast for any “ebony” person under the age of 25 when a missing person report is made. The author of the bill and the sponsors claim racism is so strong we need an alert to cause the police to do something when a black child is missing because they never do anything when a report is made on a missing black child, only when a white child is reported missing. You probably did not know it but there already was a “feather” alert on the books.
Section 8594.13 of the California Government Code, i,e., the Feather Alert Law has been on the books for a little while now and was used as a basis for the need of an ebony alert law. The penalties are pretty severe, as they should be for the abduction of any child. Everyone knows you better not go to jail for harming a child as that is a really big no-no and you can not be put into general population for that crime. All we need to do is capture the Hamas army that harmed the children and put them in general population and their punishment will swift and sure and there are no virgins where they are going. And anyone who condones the beheading of babies is one sick puppy and needs the new life Christ offers, which, if the new life is rejected, should also go into general population with the Hamas terrorists. You know about that statement concerning birds of a feather, flocking together.
The class on Thursday night has allowed me to remember more of my childhood than I usually find in the recesses of my memory bank. I shared at one point that I remember very little of my childhood, not because it was so tramatic but probably because it was lacking even the basic trama everyone deals with. I never had to collect the switch that would keep the child from being spoiled but I did get a two hour lecture for climbing over a fence rather than going through the gate. I wonder if the time has lengthened over the years like the size of the fish that got away keeps getting longer each time you tell the story?
But bits and peices float in and out, yet they seem to be the same bits and pieces, without any new features arriving, so it is rerun after rerun that keeps looping across the screen. And yet even the reruns are not that exciting. You would think I could find at least one spaghetti western or “Die Hard” story line in the mix.
Then, to my amazement, Ali inadvertently gave me a compliment, saying I was more even-keel in my responses to adversity than her and others in her life. I wanted to get my hearing aids inserted and the recorder going so I could capture the moment but I knew that exuberance would spoil the moment, so I just basked in the memory all night and will treasure it until the second coming. I hope and pray she is not present when the old me takes over before I can remember my mantra about who reacts to who and why.
I did not know there was a summit which stated purpose is to keep Trump from being President again, but there is. Mr. Over the top TDS De Niro was going to speak but tested positive for Covid and sent in his speech, where he accuses Trump of being a dictator like Mussolini and Stalin. He and Meathead keep vying to be at the head of the Congo line of Morons, Miscreants, Idiots and potential lobotomy escapees. Free speech is a two way street.
Is it Sunday and I still haven’t found the fob for the car. I had it when I left the parked car and came into the house, I would doubt I have looked in every nook and cranny, (those I have checked have been searched at least 10 times), as the ones above my head do not seem like they need to be checked. The bigger issue is I haven’t found anything interesting in any of those nooks and crannies. You would think I could at least find an old $100.00 bill stuffed somewhere in those dark recesses. And so far, Chucky hasn’t jumped out at me with that gleem in his eye letting me know my minutes are numbered.
I wonder if we could get a “fob” alert law in place? It was a black fob so no one but me will be looking for it. Where or where can that little fob be?
October 16, 2023
Yes or No
No, I haven’t found the fob yet. How do you lock the car with the fob in your pocket and somehow not find the fob the next morning when you went straight into the house and believe you put the fob where you always put it? Could I have left it in my pocket and it fell out somewhere? Probably not as I wouldn’t do that.
This Weiner guy is really out there. I remember reading about him before when he and Sheila ? had some cockamamy bill they pushed through.. Grusome just vetoed Weiner’s bill which would have decriminalized the possession of some hallucinogens, including psychedelic mushrooms, the hallucinogenic component psilocybin, as well as mescaline and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). I will confess, I do not know what all those are but I am sure they are not what I want anyone in my family using on a daily basis.
Seems like the things I am working over like to come up in various and sundry ways as I decide what task is next on the list from God. I wonder if I even finished the last chore I was given. Did He even give me one? Am I just doing what I want and claiming it is from God? And where is that fob? What a way to start the week!
I am so proud of myself cleaning up my room that I am about to burst out in song. Dorothy said there actually was a floor in here. I know I can walk on water but that is ridiculous to think I could walk on air if there wasn’t a floor in here. Besides, there was some wood peaking out in spots so you could tell there was a floor.
As I sit here at the stand holding the computer, the view never seems to change. I look at a couple of shelves which have some good stuff on them, (called junk by some in this house), and I guess I should at least rearrange the items so the view will change. Maybe I can go to a garage sale and get some new good stuff and put those items in there to change the view. But what will I do with the good stuff that is there now? Even though it has been years since I have touched it, let alone used it, I need it. At least I think I do and that is my truth.
Pastor Fredy talked, (his word, I keep telling him that toastmasters talk and preachers preach), about someone saying in a discussion that what was being said was their truth and it was not very complimentary. The series is about “True Lies” so you can guess what he said about someone saying, “that is my truth”. But don’t we say that over and over and in many ways which are not always said using those exact words?
I would propose we say those words in the form of being unwilling to accept responsibility for out actions, even when we know we are wrong, When we point to the other person as the guilty party for spreading cookie crumbs on the floor, even thought we still have our hand in the jar, our truth is we are innocent and the other guy is the guilty party and they should get the punishment, not us. Or how about an accident, where you were clearly trying to make the light and that other car shouldn’t have started into the intersection just because his light had turned green? Yout truth on the witness stand will be it was still yellow when you entered the intersection and you will stick with your truth in spite of the camera saying different.
I am not going to say I never had a problem with that camera taking a picture the prosecutor claimed was me going through that red light and I insisted it was not me, I have a twin brother and he should be up here on the stand, not me. But I read in Scripture I was supposed to say my yes was a yes and my no was a no., i.e., James 5:12, “ But above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.” Mt. 5:37, “But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin.” NASB I decided I was going to try and make sure my yes and no were coming from what was true, even if it caused me to fess up to my part in the accident, take responsibility for my actions without blaming others in both big and small things, so, when I claim innocence, it is real, and probably more overboard restrictions on my enjoyment of life at other’s expense in all things than I want but so be it.
Well, now I have to go figure out the answers to all my questions above while I continue to look for that fob, which I know Pumpkin took and has hidden somewhere because I “know” I wouldn’t lose it without some help.
October 17, 2023
Going Backwards
Today is Mr. Koon’s birthday and he is 85 years young. As I write that, I wonder where and when we started saying “young” instead of “old”. Of course I tried to find out the answer and after reading a few pages, that issue does not seem to be addressed or else I am not very good at looking up key words or questions. Or maybe, no one knows when or where it started, it just did, like the big bang theory. I just discovered how we got here and made Darwin into a quivering bowl of jello. Too bad I was not sitting under an apple tree or getting into a bath because I could become famous. [If you do not get those two references, you were not paying attention in history class]
I am back on the bus. I have not found the fob and they need the pink slip and a photo id to get the BMW reprogrammed. The guy letting me use the car is a dealer and has misplaced the pink slip so the car is parked on the street for now. What a mess I have cooked up this time, Ollie. I may have also come up with the situation where God has made a rock so heavy He can’t lift it. I guess all He has to do is have the Holy Spirit lead me to the fob. I know He “could” do that, will He?
I was planning on giving back the car but wanted to use it this weekend when I volunteered at “Spacerock” Marathon in Santa Clarita. You do not want to know how much being back on the bus will change my life. But I was on the bus for a number of years and made ti to 2023, so I should be able to make it to 2030 on the bus if I have to, although it does seem like I am returning to something old instead of going on to something new.
I would say that we are built to move forward and not backwards. Out with the old and In with the New. Isn’t that how we go about welcoming in a New Year’s Eve? And January of the new year? How about a new family member joining in the caroling with their cries to be changed and fed? Life is certainly different, no matter what number that new addition is.
Going back when it is a necessity is not always a bad thing. You make a wrong turn and it certainly is better to go back and retrace your steps so you can get on the right road. But that is going back to enable you to go forward again, so I don’t think that counts in the equation being presented this morning.
I believe We have a hard time going back to the beginning and starting over because we fell we have failed, or messed up, or any other number of bad vibes could bubble up to describe why we have a problem returning to the beginning to begin the beguine again. Did you know Cole Porter wrote that song on a cruise ship in 1935? Anyway, starting over is not what gets the vote for popularity in any circles I run around in. I guess if I get out of the circle and run around in a world without circles, it would be different. Actually, I am not good at running in the same circle, over and over, and that is probably one of my greatest difficulties in life, because there are a lot of circles we run in and run in and run in. Some are necessary, e.g., taking my vitamins each morning, but others are totally unnecessary.
Almost every one of my running friends, Jim is possibly the only exception I can think of at the moment, would be content running the same route over and over and do actually run the same routes over and over. That was why I was the one who made up the routes as on those Saturday mornings we met to do a few miles, that was the only way we would ever get off the merry-go-round of the same route every Saturday. I would compromise and do the same route on occasion but little by little I expanded the routes which qualified as “the same route”, until we had enough that we didn’t hit the same route for at least a couple of months. I would run home from Monrovia after work and tried to find different ways home, including going East before heading South instead of just going South or West and then South as the trails were on the West side of the route home.
All this talk about going forward, not doing the same route each time, works into knowing who you are, one of my mantras. There is no right or wrong, good or bad, better or best, in the different make-ups of who are until you get to illegal you or the destroyer you, or one of those you’s that does not comport with living peacefully in society. But I do believe my make-up helps me to accept different situations without having a fit because we are doing something a new way that has been done the same way for years. And who knows, I may just find the winning lane without crashing and burning.
NASCAR drivers get a groove in the track on the turns as they continue going round and round for hundreds of miles. I would be the driver that made his own groove and either won the race of wound up back in the pits with a DNF. But I could accept that as there would be another race starting soon and I would be looking to make my own groove again. Life can be fun and exciting if you live it knowing who you are, even if you are going backwards. Have you ever wondered what the groove would be like on the track if the drivers went in reverse for the whole race?
October 18, 2023
Don’t Ask
Mr. Koon’s birthday party was attended by the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, or maybe the Misfits. We had one member who has been sleeping in her car for over 20 years, a client who is dealing with oil well problems, a secretatry who is homeless, a 2023 high school graduate who hasn’t made up his mind what he is gong to do with his life, an attorney in shorts and a tank top who claimed he had been working at the office just before coming over, a gentleman who admits he is worse than Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory, yours truly, and an 85 year old Mr. Koon. Describing the events would easily make a Seinfeld meeting of the minds tame. And we even had pizza and chocolate cake!
I could never claim or even come close to thinking I could be a Democrat and even allowing the mention of becoming a squad member gets such a violet reaction I have to rush to the emergency room for treatment. But I must admit, I wonder who left the door open for some of the people in the Republican party to wander in. And it is not always the same person. I know what I will get with Mad Maxine, Flactuant Swalwelll, and the man from the big eye county, Shifty Shiff but the elected officials with an “R” after their name are really stupid at times. We have a majority in the House and they can’t get a speaker because of, I don’t know why. And the group rotates around on who will vote nay and who will vote yay. While I don’t think we should goosestep like the those with the “D” after their name, we should be able to resolve our differences and get something done while we have the majority.
Do you think the Christmas decorations should be up before November even arrives? I saw a house with a manger and a Santa in front of it and we haven’t even had the Veteran’s Day holiday yet.
I notice myself becoming a little short with a few people who have an inability to hear anything but their own voice. These are not people who I just met but people who have been in my life for years and unfortunately, I would say they are basically the same today as they were when I met them years ago. There may be more but there are at least two different individuals I have seen the same reaction from me when dealing with them, i.e., the conversation is going along and I finally tell them to stop and listen in the most unflattering tone available. I am probably at least 100 decibels louder than my outside voice.
I have learned over the years that when I am dealing with individuals who exhibit the, “I have the right answer, thought, etc., no matter what”, doctrine in all they do, to just let them be who they think they are as my input is not going to make any difference. I imagine if we are honest, we all have a little bit of that attitude lurking around inside of us but it only comes out on special occasions. To these two, everything is a special occasion. I am sure you know that one person who asks what you think should happen and often will not even let you finish as the moment you pause to take a breath, they think you are done and start talking about why their position is the one that will give the greatest results.
As I stated, I seem to be stopping these individuals when they break in on my intake of breath and moreover I believe I am moving towards this event happening with more than just the two know-it-alls. Everyone knows it is almost impossible if not totally impossible to offend anyone in the know-it-all camp. But that is necessarily true for those in the intern stage of moving into full into the know-it-all village. I will admit I must live pretty close to that village as I do have more than my share visiting me, other than the two which stop in on a regular basis.
One would think that with all the practice I get with my two regulars, I would be able to handle all the other visitors like water off a duck’s back. Alas, maybe my exterior wall needs some repait and that water seems to be stuck in crevices all over the wall and is causing the wall to become so weak and porous that I find outbursts happening with people not even in the intern program yet, and that is not good. Why is it I have to be reminded to follow my own mantra, which I was just preaching to Ali the other day about her using my mantra in a situation she was going through at work.
The really enormous problem is how long has my wall been broken and cracked? What if I have had a see through wall for a long time, maybe years, which everyone but me could see through as my side looked solid? But guess what, I am not going to ask anyone because I don’t need advice from the know-it-all camp as I already know what they will say.
October 19, 2023
The Dream
I have to start my bus trips at a little after 8 this morning in order to get to the VA by 10. I alluded to how my life would change without a car again but I didn’t realize how drastic it was going to be. That means I have to get Joshua around the route he chooses this morning in order to get back, get cleaned up and out the door. I may have to finish today’s grist after that two hour bus adventure coming home from the VA. Good thing I can finish reading chapter four for tonight. See, there is always a silver lining in every cloud.
I am not a person who dreams a lot. But I had a whooper last night. I also do not always try and figure out if this is one of those dreams from the Lord, one from what has been influencing me or I have been dealing with, or just from the salsa I ate that night on my half gallon of ice cream.
For some reason, I couldn’t think of a dream in Scripture, even though I knew there were some. All that was coming to mind was when God was calling Samuel and Samuel would go to Eli a oouple of times before Eli recognized it was God Who was calling Samuel and that was not an event that could be called a dream. So I checked and there are 93 times in Scripture, (in the NASB), where the word “dream” is found and 33 of the 93 are in Genesis. So over one-third are found in one book. And 23 times, “dream” is found in Daniel, so over half of the times are in two books, Genesis and Daniel. The word, “dream” is only found in the New Testament, eight times.
Of course, not every time the word, “dream” comes up, it is not describing a dream that has actually unfolded to a person, e.g., Acts 2:17 says, “ ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, And your young men will see visions, And your old men will have dreams;”. NASB By the way, since I may qualify as an old man, and I had a dream, does this mean we are in the last days? I could build a theology on that one verse, get myself some followers who will give all their life savings to me and enjoy my last days. Maybe I don’t need to go to the VA today as I have some pressing business to attend to!
In my dream, I was talking to someone in a crowded area, like the area in the movie theater where you buy popcorn, except there were coolers on the walls full of items to remove at no cost. The person walked away and had to turn right to go along the line of coolers in order to reach his destination, which I believe was to the restroom. We had been talking about having each others back in this crowd and he said he could take a punch and had a good chin. He was not feeling good and was walking on unsteady legs, when he bumped into a gentleman, who was with two or three other guys. The person seemed to have moved into a posture where he didn’t know he had even bumped into the guy and just kept trying to make it to the bathroom, seemingly pressing on almost everyone as he passed them.
The one guy who was bumped chased after the person and hit him. This seemed to wake up the guy who had talking to me and he turned and struck the guy who hit him and had a look in his eye like don’t bother him. The offended guy now came at him and really hit him hard, knocking him off his feet. I remembered I had said we needed to have each other’s back and looked at the other guys that were with the guy throwing that punch and started forward to stop any further damage to my friend, whom I have no idea of his identity as I sit here reciting this crazy dream. And I am not even sure why I am reciting it and taking up valuable time I could be using to sleep a few more minutes before Joshua’s demanding and unceasing barking determines my need to rise and shine.
It was the night before when I had the salsa with the shrimp casa diaz’, so it wasn’t the salsa and I haven’t eaten my half gallon quota of ice cream for quite a while, so it couldn’t be that causing the dream. I don’t have anyone in the basement in chains waiting to be disciplined for the errors of their way, in fact, I don’t even have a basement, so I can’t be like Pharaoh, who had a dream and now I need a “Joseph” to interpret it. By the way, did you know that the word, “dream” is found three times in Genesis 41:12, “Now a Hebrew youth was there with us, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we told him the dreams, and he interpreted our dreams for us. For each man he interpreted according to his own dream.” NASB
I would say this is one of those times I need to figure out if this is the Holy Spirit gving me some information or just one of those things that happen along the pathway of life which is something I am trying to make come from the Holy Spirit, which will only lead me into a life filled with misery and bad fortune. But isn’t that how we are to conduct out lives in our everyday existence, seeking Him first and His Kingdom? Why does a simple dream become such a dominant force in my morning walk? Maybe because I want to make a moutain out of a molehill and have something to brag about with all the common folk who God does not talk to on a personal basis like He does with me?
Now, the red suited guy sitting on my shoulder, whom I never should have allowed to even pass the threshold, has shown his hand in my affairs. I just flicked him off there like the chip I flicked off years ago after I finally got tired of bending over and picking it up after losing count of how times I picked it up after I reached one million and was still counting.
I could just go about my business, take Josh out, get ready, go catch the bus, and move through the day towards my Thursday night lifegroup meeting with the people of God and see what comes next, a confirming message with directions or more passage of hot air and words which Ecclesiastes and Proverbs do not have flattering comments about. Maybe I will find a paper on the bus with a coded message? I better get going so I don’t miss the bus and my chance for fame and fortune that guy I flicked off my shoulder is offering through the open window. He never stops, do he? Wonder if he will still be there when I get ready and have my Ephesians Six armour on?
October 20, 2023
Writer’s Block
For a few moments this morning I thought I had wroter’s block. I sat here for a couple of minutes and was speed thinking through 100 different subjects to tackle this morning. But the first words to start each subject were not there. I wondered if that qualifies as “writer’s block”? The definition from Google is: “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.”
I guess the first thing I would have to overcome is Jim’s voice asking me if I would qualify as a writer in order to be able to claim I had “writer’s block”. After a few hours of back and forth, I think I win that battle. Now that I am bandaged and all the open wounds stitched up, (that Jim is a fierce warrior), I can proceed to whether or not what I was experiencing was “writer’s block”.
The defintion seems to be some kind of form known as ambiguos or compound, of which both objections would be sustained in a courtroom, unless overcoming the objection is answered by the suggestion that not knowing how to proceed coincides with the iinability to come up with a subject. Nevertheless, I think I would win the “writer’s block” award for this morning. I was unable to decide how to proceed, (even though that does not coincide with the definition, but I make up the rules here), so I went down this rabbit hole in order to either get started or fill up my page for this morning so I can continue down the path the Lord has for me today, with the option to either mumble and grumble or shout “Hallelujah” and “Praise the Lord” every few steps.
I was unable to attend the Thursday night lifegroup. I had read the entire chapter and was ready to pontificate like a pontificator, (maybe that word is only found in the Grist dictionary), who had been locked up for years studying and needed to get it all out or burst open. One of the main issues I wanted to address was the old saying from China referenced in chapter four about the old man who always had a negative question when something good happened or a positive question when something bad happened, e;g;, the son’s horse went across the border and everyone said how sad it was the son lost his horse and the old man said how do you know it won’t turn out to be something good? A few years later the son’s horse comes back with a beautiful mare and all the people said how great that was. And of course the old man asked all of them, how did they know it would not turn out to be a bad thing? The example goes on a few more times and unfortunately the old man only disappears from the pages of the book and not the son’s life, so he must still be over there in China, never able to enjoy a good thing or grieve over a bad thing.
How would you like to live with a person who throws water on every bad thing, making it grow and throws gasoline and a match on every good thing, destroying the joy before it gets more than one inch off the ground? I understand that we do not always know why God allows certain things to happen to us at the moment they happen. But those of us who do know and love the Lord, know that God has a purpose for our life, Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”, NASB and we always like to say that He will never leave us or forsake us. There is a detour here that I could take but only mention to arouse all those who want to only give God an attribute of “love”, which goes something like Jeremiah’s word from the Lord in Jeremiah 15:6. You who have forsaken Me,” declares the Lord, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting!” NASB The Bible does have some fire and brimstone in it and we are often want to give it a shout out on the soap box on which we stand to preach. I know Mr. Davis has to be onto this from his research on revivals as why would we need to a savior if there was nothing to be saved from?
The issue I wanted to pontificate on concerned the difficulty of either having a friend, a boss, or even worse, a parent, who can never either enjoy life or shed a tear, learn, grow and move on to the next adventure set before us to discover what steps God wants us to take to fulfill the purpose He has in mind for us. Another rabbit hole for Pat Davis and I to wander down and start the TULIP war. At least that war will wind up with no casualties as we both Love the Lord and would only take up our sword from Ephesians to plow through to victory, which will probably only come when we meet in heaven to find out the answer where we will both be winners anyway. We do both have the same goal of hearing those words of welcome and well done my faithul servants.
I better find out if I qualify as having “writer’s block” this morning because of the ambiguous and compound meaning so I can solve that question and begin writing. Oh well, I am sure I can find something to say about at least one of those 100 subjects floating around upstairs and that will at least get the “writer’s block” removed and I can start writing. Hallelujah!
October 21, 2023
Moving Time
I had something in mind all day yesterday that I thought I would write about this morning, As Joshua and I were making our morning round, for the life of me, I could not remember what it was. The issue then became: did the Holy Spirit take it from me; did whatever stage of dementia I am in, kick in and wipe it out, [If my name was Biden, the last stage of dementia would be the stage and this would definitely be the answer]; or did whatever the thought was just not stay on the important list and was relegated to the unimportant list, only to be returned to its former list at such time as it becomes important again, if it ever does?
Now I am wondering how much time we spend on those items that should have never made it onto the important list but they do, which causes all kinds of problems and dilemmas which we definitely would not endure if the items had stayed relegated to the list it belonged to. And to top it off, I’ll bet very few ever thought you had both lists, they think there is only one list, which can make everything important, resulting in there being no peace for them or those around them.
I guess there could be short bursts of peace as every motor has to rest and get serviced at some point. Have you ever noticed someone driving in front of you and the brake lights stay on because they keep one foot on the brake? That foot on the brake is the Holy Spirit trying to get the engine to stop for a rest but just like in the ACDC song, “Highway to Hell”, there are no stop signs, [they wouldn’t heed them anyway], and no speed limits so the brakes are wore out, the engine light has been showing on the dashboard for years, the oil has pieces of carbon from the worn out pistons, the radiator has no water, and all the people pushing the car to keep it going above 80 mph are really tired and going on strike for more pay. What a mess their vehicle is! I know, this does not describe you but it could describe that pesky neighbor living next door.
What about the neighbor on who lives on the other side of you, you know, the one that has all the weeds growing in their yard, the 10 cars parked on the lawn, none of which run, and only has an unimportant list? A trimmed hedge on one side of you and dirt, weeds and broken down cars of the other side. The value of your home has sunk lower than the proverbial whale doo doo.
Even before the Lord allowed me to minister at the Union Rescue Mission, He made it clear to me that you could not use the standard message of giving your life to the Lord and receiving a life which include things like a home, a job, a family, etc. [Actually, that message can fall a little flat outside skid row, but that is an issue for another day] The reason it does not work on skid row as the starting point in your message is those on skid row have already had those things and have chosen to follow what is important to them, which may be alcohol, drugs, or a perversion of some kind in their life. That is the overriding factor of why they are there, which would include some form of mental problems, whether they admit it or not. It is impossible to live on the street for a long period of time and not develop some type of mental disorder. So how do you get the message of the Gospel to those on skid row, or for that matter, to the neighbors living on each side of you? I am going to leave the answer about skid row for another day as this morning we are dealing with the two neighbors, one on the East side and one on the West side, as you house faces North and South and the lists they live under.
I would imagine that each of the neighbors have no idea they are each one living by our two lists, one by the important list and one by the unimportant list. And to your amazement, when you took that pie next door and invited them to chuch, they said they have been members ot another local church and gave their life to Lord years ago. What?
Now, if you want to know an important fact, which even if you don’t, here it comes, your house should include descriptions from both lists. There are a few broken down cars in your back yard, weeds all over the place in the back of the house, while the front has grass that is mowed each week. You buy a quart of paint every year so you only have to paint the front and a little of the sides because who cares about the back and no one sees it but you anyway. I would argue this would be a more balanced life, as eventually the weeds get pulled in the back and the lawn wlll miss one week of mowing, a car will be repaired as one year of the painting will be passed over, and the inside of the house will gather a few grains of dust during the month you went on vacation. And speaking of dust, the verse that comes to mind is, Mt. 7:3, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” The idea is we want to change everyone into who we want them to be rather than who God allows them to be as He molds them into who He wants them to be.
You know who has the really serious problem, it is that visitor who keeps bringing his suitcase from one house to another, including yours in the middle, for a period of time as he can’t decide in which house he wants to reside. I have to go now as I need a new suitcase because it is worn out and I have overstayed my welcome here in the East and it is time to move to the middle for a while before I heed the famous words and “Go West Young Man”. I hope there are a couple of those great steaks ready to throw on the grill like we had in the last visit. And maybe, just maybe, you can help me remember what was so important yesterday that escapes me today.