We don’t get down here often enough!

The people are down-to-earth friendly, the hospitality rivals that of the deep south and the kids are quiet, respectful and….they don’t snore when I talk!

 We just returned from an all too short trip to the Arkansas Delta. The fields were ripe with cotton  and we watched  and marveled at how automation has taken over the back breaking work of  picking cotton! Lucy mentioned that  seeing cotton fields makes her happy and the next thing we  knew….we were hauling cotton back to Kansas!

We spent five days in the city of Rector. Pastor Mace Straubel graciously allowed us to speak at  the Sunday morning  service at the First United Methodist Church plus we got to do three biblical  presentations for his church family and  one story for a local retirement center. We also spent  Monday and Tuesday visiting members of his church who, due  to physical ailments, can’t make  it on Sunday morning anymore.

It was five days revolved around what is important….People!  Sometimes “Christian ministry”  gets lost in doing stuff, organizing activities, putting together programs instead of sitting and  interacting with people. It’s in the listening that you see glimpses of the journey of life. Forced  smiles of today cover the heartbreak of yesterday yet they reveal the strength to face tomorrow.  There are times I just like to gaze at people, trying my best to look past their bodies and see their  spirit.

It seemed like we just got settled in with our friends in Rector and all of sudden it was Wednesday; time to say good-bye. That’s the hardest part of itinerant ministry. We were blessed to have the added serendipity of being interviewed reporter Candy Hill of the Clay County Times-Democrat before we had to leave. We were scheduled in Diamond City, Arkansas to speak to a youth group that night. The kids ranged in age from four to seventeen. We had no idea how to address a group that widely diverse, so we decided to just have fun! The kids were great! We had a ball watching the younger kids eagerly volunteer to be called on while the teenagers tried hard to not make eye contact with us. Remember how it was? You slinked down in your chair, looked at the floor and covered your eyes with a hand like you were deep in thought….It makes me smile just thinking of it!

In the course of five days, we engaged a spectrum of humanity, all ages, educations, economic situations. There was disease and debt, divorce and death, mixed with fellowship and family, hope and faith. On the drive home, I felt like the Lord had allowed me to see a small sliver of life. It’s a process unique to each individual. Glancing out the window, I saw an October butterfly. It reminded me that each of us is moving forward in our own way….the struggle makes us stronger until we become the butterfly we are destined to be.

I thought I could hear GOD whisper “Fear not. I’m here for you. Everything is going to be alright”

I have lived more than 65 years and for most of my life I have seen billions of dollars raised to feed the hungry and house the homeless. Good people pouring good money into a good cause and yet…..65 years later….we have more hungry and homeless people than ever!

Stop caring and sharing…NO!…Not at all! ….but we have spent our time addressing the outside circumstances and have neglected the virus that infects us. Every doctor knows you need to find the cause, to be effective in curing the disease.

Why is it in America that we have hunger and homelessness, debt and despair? I suggest to you that there is an epidemic sweeping our land. It is the plague of unworthiness. People feel they never have enough and that they will never be enough.

 Enough for what? Enough for who? At four feet eight inches tall I’m always being told I’m short….Like there  is something wrong with that? I enjoy being the size I am…. I need tall people to reach the things on the top  shelf at a grocery store. They need me to reach the things at the floor level. We’re a team!  Each of us is  just  right!

My wife Lucy and I have done three 3300 mile walks across America for CHRIST and we’ve seen Americans  up close and personal. They are a good people; a kind and generous people but our men crave respect and our  women ache to be loved. The American people seek to be contributors to society; givers not just takers. Yet the  influencers of our culture (government, businesses and entertainment industry) tell us that we need to do something additional to enhance who we are.

The government says we need more jobs and health care and, though that is partially true,…there is an additional course of action: encourage our people to become entrepreneurs. They have the brains and the ability!

Big Busineses tell us we need to spend more money to purchase products we don’t need. The entertainment industry tells us we need to be thinner, blonder and have whiter teeth. Tabloids tell women to have a baby and everything will be wonderful and their womanhood will be fulfilled. Men’s magazines define manhood has having a muscular body, driving a sports car, drinking alcohol… “responsibly,” of course…with a tall supermodel or two on their arm…and our children are learning to believe this ridiculous line of thinking…or should I say, lack of thinking? It’s time to stop buying the lies!

What we need is renewed confidence in ourselves and encouragement from each other. So how do you get that? It begins with believing and trusting in something bigger than ourselves, our society and world government. GOD is the answer to every question we have; CHRIST is the solution to any problem!

  I can hear some of you saying “Is he saying we need to get religious?” NO! I’m saying we need to    acknowledge GOD as the Source of all goodness. We need to begin to understand that we are spiritual beings  and if we  want our physical world to improve and to heal…be it that of our nation, our families or  ourselves…we must begin to return to an intimidate relationship with our loving Creator.

Living without Him hasn’t worked so well!

The word “warrior” generally conjures up a picture of a muscular man, spear in hand, engaged in combat or perhaps today we would envision a military man willing to die for a cause.

But a warrior stands for more than brute force and physical strength. He is a defender, a protector , one who supports; a warrior is a standard bearer of both courage and restraint, realizing that not all battles are physical.

To become a warrior is never accidental. At some point in our lives the spirit within us must decide to stand for something. He seeks to take the higher road, doing what is right in the eyes of his GOD. A warrior is not perfect but he is constantly moving forward seeking to serve and encourage.

 There is no dress rehearsal to become a warrior. Life is the arena and today is the challenge. He greets each  day with a sword which is the Word of GOD. He is the spiritual head of his family. His wife and children look  at him as their leader. He is needed.

You, my friend are a warrior! It doesn’t matter how you feel at the moment but it does matter what you decide  right now. Let us deny our identity no longer!  Let us take our rightful place and fulfill our destiny as  sons of GOD….always remembering who we are!  Our children will live their lives mirroring  our values. Let’s give them something high to  reach for!  Let’s trade in our quest for money and possessions and model instead, love of GOD, integrity and honor.

http://www.courageousthemovie.com/themovie … food for the spirit