LESSONS FROM THE DEARLY DEPARTED

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."  (I Corinthians 12:12)

I fancy myself to be a pretty good writer but I'm at a loss as to how to begin this piece.  There really doesn't seem to be any "good" way to begin it, and yet my phrase:  "...I'm at a loss..."  is most appropriate because over the past few weeks there have been so many deaths which have rocked my world!  I feel like I'm living in a season of death.  Each time the phone rings I wonder if I'll hear that someone else has passed away.

These words may seem strange coming from a "Bible-believing minister" who truly embraces Jesus' words from the tenth verse of the tenth chapter of John's Gospel, 
"... I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
I truly believe that Jesus does bring abundant life and, in the words of the old Gospel chorus, "Joy unspeakable and full of glory".  Yes, I believe in all of that, but I'm also mindful of the shortest verse in the entire Bible which is found in the very next chapter, in John chapter eleven.  That verse is number thirty-five which simply says,  "Jesus wept."   Even Jesus wept at the grave of his dear friend Lazarus.  Yes, "Heaven's sounding sweeter all the time," as the old country Gospel tune proclaims, but the whole death and loss thing is, well, sad and painful.

Just two weeks ago, I conducted the funeral service of little David Magorian who died at the young age of two months.  It's only through the prayers of the saints and the anointing of the Holy Spirit that I was able to do that.  It seemed like hardly any time had had gone by when I was shocked to read the obituary of "Danny".  Danny was seventy-three-years old.  I think the last time I'd seen him was in 1995.  Yet, in the late seventies and early eighties he'd been a close friend of mine and I'd spent a lot of time with him.  Then, I was notified by a Facebook friend of the death of "Shirley".  Shirley was (I'm guessing) about "eighty-something".  She and her husband were living in Florida.  I had not seen Shirley in at least ten years, but back in the eighties I saw her almost every day.  She was the senior pastor's secretary at the large church where I served for several years as one of the assistant pastors.  Shirley was both a friend and a mother figure.  She truly had a great impact on my life.  

The thoughts of this piece were "germinating" in my heart and mind for several days when I sat down at a public library computer yesterday (Thursday, March 19) morning.  I was all set to start writing when I was jolted to learn that "Michelle" who'd been one of my co-workers at my answering service job had been shot to death by her boyfriend on Wednesday.  That news had such a profoundly sad impact on me that I just couldn't write what I'd been planning to write.   I don't want to share anything that might tarnish Michelle's memory, but let's just say Michelle and I were about as opposite as you could possibly imagine when I met her several years ago.  It was both my surprise and delight to watch the subtle yet real and positive changes in Michelle's life as she accepted Jesus Christ as her Personal Lord and Savior and began studying the Bible, attending a good church, and taking her responsibility and disciplines involved in her own "recovery" process very seriously.  No, I wasn't the one who led her to Christ or discipled her.  It's usually best for men to work with men and women to work with women at that stuff.  I will say that whoever led Michelle to Christ and was leading her in discipleship was a real hero in my book!  No, Michelle wasn't perfect, but watching her learn to walk with God was like watching a one-year-old learn to physically walk.  Sometimes they fall down and bump their heads or skin their knees, and maybe they cry a little, but they get up and they learn to walk and eventually they learn to run.  Michelle had a great life ahead of her.  That's why her murder at the age of thirty-one is so hard to accept.  But the great news in this tragedy is that she's with the Lord and I'll see her again one day.  The last time I saw Michelle was at the Framingham (MA) WalMart store just a few weeks ago.  As always, she gave me a big enthusiastic greeting, as though I was her best friend and the greatest guy in the world.  Honestly, I wish I could thank her for being so affirming and that I could congratulate her for making that important decision (as Billy Graham and his son Franklin would put it) to follow the Lord.  From Michelle I was reminded that the person who seems the least Godly can turn around and become extraordinarily Godly!  That's one important legacy she's left for me.  She may have been in the early stages of her Christian life, but she was an important and vital part of the Body of Christ, nevertheless.

Now, back to Danny.  In so many ways, Danny's life was a paradox.  I guess part of why I really connected with Danny is that people either absolutely loved him and considered him a great man of God or they couldn't stand him and considered him a persistent problem and annoyance.  As difficult as this may be to understand, Danny was both.  Danny came from a pretty rough background.  A nominal Catholic, he had no real relationship with God until a small group of born-again Christians "witnessed" to him in the mid-1970s and he gave his heart to Jesus.  Danny had one of those "Damascus Road" sort of conversions!  Suddenly he was reading the Bible all the time, preaching the Bible to friends, family, and co-workers constantly, up to his eyeballs in evangelical Christianity and driving everybody crazy!  There's a bittersweet aspect to the conversion of people like Danny.  They join a local evangelical church and pretty soon they're the first ones to show up and the last ones to leave every Sunday.  They arrive for every Bible study.  They even show up for every "church work day".   Danny and his wife Cathy began cleaning the church building where they attended (as volunteers) every Saturday.  The problem is, the Dannys can't understand why not all of the born-again Christians are as committed and enthusiastic as they are.  Then they can't understand why their brothers and sisters are not all as eager to pray or study the Bible.  After a couple of years, Danny became disillusioned with the church he'd been attending and he left.  Danny attended a few evangelical churches off and on, but his disgust with American evangelical churches became so strong that he pretty much stuck to Christian television and personal Bible study.  It may surprise you that I liked and appreciated Danny, but I did.  Of course, we did not agree about the importance of the Church.  As far as I'm concerned, and as far as the New Testament is concerned, each Christian is to be faithful to a local church and its ministries, whether he or she likes everything about that church or not.  Danny was (sadly) wrong about that area.  Yet, Danny who had been a very average, blue-collar guy went back to school.  He attended college for four years graduating with a B.A. degree, and then he went to graduate school and earned a Master's in Counseling.  Danny worked for years as a staff member of a recovery program.  He touched many lives and led many people to Christ.  He was a valuable member of the Body of Christ, albeit a disobedient and independent one.

And, then there's Shirley.  Shirley meant just as much to me as Danny did, but she was exactly the opposite of Danny.  Shirley was the epitome of a Christian woman who was committed to the local church "through thick and thin" as some would say.  She and her husband Dick were the types who'd show up for church no matter what!  They loved God and they loved the local church.  Most pastors would not hire a Member of their church to be their employed secretary.  This is because the secretary learns so many secrets of people in the church.  The secretary often knows what families are in crisis, what person is struggling with depression, or serious illness, or doubt.  The secretary may know of things that are going on in a church that even the Board members don't know about!  There are very few people who would have the maturity and character and Godliness to be able to (frankly) handle a job like that.  Shirley did, and she did it well.   I learned a lot from Shirley.  In my early days as an assistant pastor I was so naive and so, well, green!  There was so much "practical stuff" that she taught me!  For example, one day an older woman walked into my office.  I said "hello" and made small talk with the woman.  Later, Shirley came in to correct me!  "You didn't stand!" she admonished, "You didn't stand!"  She carefully explained to me that proper etiquette calls for a younger man to stand when an older woman comes into his presence.  I honestly did not know that.  I never forgot that.  I won't tell you all the faux pas that I was guilty of as a young assistant pastor, but Shirley made sure to set me straight, and I'm glad she did!  Please don't misunderstand.  Shirley always gave me respect as a minister and valued what I had to say about Scripture, etc.   Upon learning of her death, I wished I'd have thanked her for the impact she made in my life.  The next best thing is to public acknowledge her, as I'm doing now.  Yes, she too was a very important and vital member of the Body of Christ.

None of us is perfect.  We all need each other.  I learned from Michelle, I learned from Danny, and I learned from Shirley.  I benefited from kmowing them.  I'm sixty.  It seems like yesterday that I was in my middle twenties and just "getting my feet wet" in ministry.  The years have gone by so quickly.  In closing, I also remember another line Christians of yesteryear often used:  "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last!".

PLEASE DON'T BE A PERSON WHO CRIES OVER SPILLED MILK!

 "And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."  (Luke 10:41-42)

You may recognize that the above Bible verses are from the account of Jesus visiting the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.  Martha was upset that Mary was not helping with meal preparations and household tasks, but Jesus essentially told her that sitting and listening to His teachings at that moment was the far more important thing to be doing.  Jesus was not condoning laziness or irresponsibility here.  Rather, He was giving an important lesson in priorities.

I want to be careful in sharing a fault of my father's here because some may interpret it as me being hostile and disrespectful to him and as not honoring him.  That's not the case.  I miss my father and I learned a lot from him.  He was so talented and gifted.  He was a pilot,  a law enforcement officer,  a mechanic,  and very much a leader and take-charge kind of person.  He had a great sense of humor and was a fabulous public speaker.  My father also often had some wrong priorities in his life.  He was the kind of guy that would be furious about a little scratch on the floor, or a tiny mark on the wall.  One of my siblings has said that no one ever got more upset about spilled milk than he did, and that's true.  A cup's spilled milk at the kitchen table would ruin his day and really set him off.  One would think the end of the world had taken place!  I wonder if this behavior had something to do with having lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s.  His family really didn't have it that bad during that time.  I'm told they were about the only family on their street that owned a car and had a telephone.  Nevertheless, the care and treatment of material things meant a great deal to him.  

Now, I'm not advocating that it would be great to be a slob and just dump milk and coffee and soda all over the place in one's residence!  I'm not saying that breaking windows and bashing holes into walls, and damaging furniture is a good thing.  But I am saying that there's got to be a balance with this kind of stuff.  My father could leave you feeling that the floor or a wall or a kitchen table were much more important to him than a person was.  I don't think that was his intention, but it contributed to him making me very nervous and not being particularly close to him.  Honestly, what tripped this thought off recently for me is that there's a friend of mine who constantly says to me, "Don't slam the DOOR!"  almost every time I open and close his car door.  I want to tell him that a jury of my peers who might hypothetically watch and listen to the door closing would overwhelmingly rule that I was not slamming the door and that he is overreacting;  instead I have just chosen to keep that thought to myself.  But each time he's said that, I've thought of my father and his (seeming) priority about material things, and that's been painful for me.

A number of years ago, I attended a prayer and fellowship meeting for pastors at one pastor's home.  The house was immaculate.  No, it was far more than immaculate.  It was sterile.  I actually attended several pastors' prayer and fellowship meetings at that home.  Each time, we were told to take our shoes off  upon passing through the front door.  The kitchen stove looked like it was a model stove at a department store.  It looked like nothing had ever been cooked on it.  The bathroom was perfectly clean.  Everything was perfectly clean.  It was too clean.   There was not a speck of dust or dirt anywhere.  One of my pastor friends who attended these meetings with me is also a professional counselor.  Following one of these meetings he commented to me, "The way their house is isn't normal."   He wondered if the pastor's wife had (perhaps) been the victim of a violent crime and this had led to such extreme behavior about having a perfectly sterile house.   We later learned that the pastor's wife had been the victim of a violent crime some years earlier.   I wondered how people from their church felt when they visited their pastor's home.  I wondered if they felt like I did as a kid when I accidentally made a mark on the floor or on the wall or spilled milk at the table.

Many of you know that back in the 1980s,  I was on staff at Christian Life Center church in Walpole, MA.  The Senior Pastor, Dave Milley was a "stickler" about a lot of things.  Something he said shortly after the church moved into their new building in mid-1980, though, may surprise you.  It surprised me!   The building was new and nice and big and beautiful.  In one of the earliest services there, Dave Milley told the congregation that over the next few years there'd be stains on the carpets and marks on the walls and woodwork and the building would cease to be "perfect".  He said that was a good thing.  Coming from Dave Milley, that comment was a major surprise, but he added that it was a good thing because it would mean that people were coming to the church and people were being ministered to.  The price of that would be wear and tare on the building and its contents and that was good.   It was good because people and their souls are far more important than buildings.

If any of my grown children are reading this, they may be as surprised as I was when Dave made his statement all those years ago.  That's because I grew up to be a guy who was a lot like my father.  I, too, got very upset about spilled drinks and marks on the furniture and things like that.  Now, I wasn't quite as extreme as my Dad was, but I was a lot like him.  In my days of pastoring,  one thing I hated was when the Sunday School teachers and childrens' ministry people had kids using paste and glitter.  Oh, how I hated glitter!  There'd be glitter in the hallways and glitter in the church sanctuary and even glitter in my office for months after they used it.  I hated it.  I thought it made the church building seem sloppy and low class.  The people who ministered to the little kids thought that the impact on those little lives was far more important.   I have not pastored now in five years.   You know what? ... they were right.  If and when I ever pastor again, I will not care how much glitter and paste residue appears on chairs and floors and other items.  I really won't.  And, now that I don't  have my own residence, I have come to the the conclusion that if and when I do, I won't care if someone makes a mark on a wall or on furniture, or accidentally turns and breaks a lamp.  I remember one time a person visiting us in our apartment in Walpole "many moons ago" sat down on our couch and one side of it collapsed.   All I could keep saying is, "You broke my couch!"  Sounds a bit like, "Don't slam the DOOR!"  doesn't it?   I wonder if Jesus would have given me a "talking to" similar to the one he gave to Martha in the Bible story I referenced above.   I think so.

I know this piece could make some people upset.   I'm sorry if I upset you, but this is something we all need to think about!   David C. Milley was correct.  People and their souls are important.  That chair or piece of wallpaper or kitchen table or sofa can be replaced.  They're just material.  They're temporal.   It's people and souls and relationships with them that are far more important.

THREE SAD REPORTS DURING ONE WEEKEND

"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)

They say, "Things happen in threes".   I'm not sure I fully buy into that saying, but I did receive three sad reports this weekend which have left me in a solemn and reflective mood.

The first sad and stunning report was received from my daughter Amy who informed me that the two-month-old great grandson of Bill and Joanne Lincoln (who were active Members and lay leaders at First Assembly of God of Framingham, MA where I pastored for over twenty years) had suddenly and unexpectedly died.   Little David Joseph Magorian passed into Heaven on the morning of Saturday, February 28.  The family is understandably shocked and devastated.  I had a phone conversation with Bill Lincoln last night and with Joanne Lincoln this afternoon.  I tend to be a very verbal and animated person; but such news left me speechless.  It was only with the help of the Lord that I was able to speak words of comfort and wisdom to them.  I have been very blessed in that up to this point I've never had to conduct a funeral service of anyone under the age of twenty-one.  Let's face it; the death of a baby is devastating.

The second sad and stunning report came when I tuned into one of my favorite radio programs.  The show is called "Says You" and is heard on about one hundred public radio stations.   It's heard in Boston on WGBH-FM and in fact the show is based in Boston.  I guess "Says You" would be called a radio program for "word geeks".  It's a fast moving and thoroughly entertaining game show featuring some very colorful panelists, including Paula Lyons who was a consumer reporter on Boston television for many years.  "Says You" has been on the air since 1997.  I did not discover it until I picked it up one Saturday evening on my car radio as I drove from my job in Framingham to my (then) residence in Webster.  In those days, I was a particularly sad and grieving person.  That show was so interesting and so entertaining that it put a smile on my face and truly cheered me up.  I became a regular listener, either on Saturday evenings or on Sunday afternoons (when the show is rebroadcast).  The host, Richard Sher, really made that program what it was, with his delightful sense of humor and schtick.  "Says You" goes on location during each year and tapes programs in various locations all over America, but always does a few shows in Boston and New England.  It was a goal of mine to one day go to a live "Says You" event.   It's unusual for me to not listen to "Says You" for seven weeks in a row, but in fact, when I tuned in last night it had been that long since I'd heard it.  What a shock I received as I heard the opening announcement telling us that this was Richard Sher's last broadcast!  It was being done in his memory.   It turns out that sixty-six-year-old Richard Sher of Weston, MA passed away on February 9.  This weekend's broadcast was recorded before a live audience at Regis College in Weston in early January.   It was surreal listening to the energetic and comical Sher last night, knowing he died just about a month after that was recorded!  I've learned  that Sher had developed the show and wrote most of its material.  I'd love to have met him sometime and shook his hand.  Instead, the best I could do was post my condolences today at the "Says You" website.

The third sad and stunning report came this morning when I learned that Denny and Debby S. (good friends of my wife and me) who are Assemblies of God missionaries in Central America were victims of a very serious crime on Friday evening.  At the large church we attend in Westminster, MA, the service was opened with special prayer for Denny and Debby.   (Their photo was displayed on power point for all to see as we prayed.)  When I think of Denny and Debby, the words that come to mind are "Godly", "generous", "classy", "talented", "gifted", and "humble".  I don't have the words to express how sorry I was to hear the news of their suffering! 

Clearly, each of these situations needs prayer.  I've also found myself doing a lot of thinking and reflecting about each situation.  Regarding Richard Sher, it reminds us that we are never sure of tomorrow.  Any one of us could die at any time.  I'm also reminded that Richard Sher used his talent and personality to the fullest.  He really taught  a lot of "stuff" (which admittedly many would say was trivial) on "Says You".  He also brought some cheer and happiness to me during some very down times, and he probably did so to many others.  You know what, God wants us to use the talents He's given us and to touch the lives of others.  Richard Sher did that.  Regarding Denny and Debby, it's absolutely true that "bad things happen to good people".  Missionaries have suffered persecution and martyrdom going all the way back to the first century church.  This is something we don't like to talk and think about, but it's true.  Denny and Debby could be selfish and lazy Christians if they wanted to be.  But they have made a choice to follow and obey the Lord, no matter what the cost.  They're real heroes!  It's easy for me to think, "Well, I'm no Denny or Debby Seler!   I'm no hero!"  Yet, God calls me and God calls evry Christian believer to humility and service no matter what the cost.  Am I willing to serve the way Denny and Debby do?  I honestly need to do exactly that, no matter what the cost!  Finally, the loss of a baby is deeply painful.  As of this writing, I've been asked to conduct the funeral service.  I'm not sure exactly when that will be.  Such a loss is confusing.  We don't understand it.  I think of a great teaching C.D. that some friends sent me last year.  The Bible teacher on that C.D. said that Christians should never ask, "Why?"  That's the wrong question.  Instead we should ask, "What does this mean?"  and  "What must I do?"   I've never experienced the death of a child or of a grandchild.   My parents did.  Following the death of my brother Eddie in 1983, they were never quite the same.  But, I will say, there was a bit more vulnerability and sensitivity in each of them after that terrible loss.  The Rev. John DeBrine says, "Difficulty will make you either better or bitter."  Eddie's loss was terrible for all of our family, but in some ways, I think it did make all of us "better".  I think of the story of King David in the Old Testament.  His little baby was deathly ill.  King David fasted and prayed.  He was distraught.  Yet, the baby died.  The King's aides were shocked that following the child's death, David got up, cleaned himself up (we'd say "took a shower") and went about his business.  They asked the King how he could possibly accept the death so calmly when he'd previously been so despondent and upset.  The King essentially said, "I thought that perhaps my fasting and praying would result in the baby's healing.  But now that he's dead, he cannot come to me, but one day I will go to him." (see 2 Samuel 12:23).

This weekend, the sad reports came in threes.   I am a writer, so I thought sharing this with you would be a good thing, and I hope it was exactly that for you.

RACHEL & MINNIE'S "LOOK ALIKE/SIDE BY SIDE" HOUSES

"...Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it... (from Psalm 127:1)

A few days ago as I walked along the small one-way street in a residential neighborhood just outside downtown Framingham, Massachusetts, I saw them:  The two "look alike/side by side" houses.  They're painted very different colors from the colors that adorned them thirty years ago.  And, they've been "fixed up" quite a bit.  They've been changed and they've been updated.  They don't even look quite their eighty-three-years of age!  There are "new" people living in those houses; well, they're relatively new people, compared to the long term residents who'd previously occupied them.

I'm no architectural or home design expert.  I couldn't tell you the name of the style of these houses.  Each is a two story house, and that doesn't include an attic at each edifice.  Each has a basement.  Each house has a very nice porch.  They're definitely "porches" and not "decks"!  What's unusual is that each has a side porch.  On each house, the porch is on the right side as you look at the house from the street.  And, the front door is really not a "front door" at either residence.  In each case, it's a side door accessed through the porch.  [Each house does have a back door.]

The house's numbers are seventy-three and sixty-seven.  I know, it seems weird that they're side by side yet there's a gap in the street numbers.  I'm not sure why that's the case.  Today, seventy-three is painted beige and sixty-seven is a very pretty yellow.  Today, each house has a nicely paved driveway.  That's possibly the most radical change to the houses.  For most of these houses' lives, they not only had no garages but they had no driveways.  I don't think either even had a "curb cut" from the sidewalk.  Today, seventy-three has a driveway with no curb cut!  I'm not even sure if it was legal to put in a driveway that way,  but whoever owns seventy-three did just that!  As I recall, sixty-seven does have a curb cut for the driveway, but there's a telephone pole awkwardly almost blocking the driveway.  Pulling into or out of that driveway has got to take a little skill!

My family and I moved to Framingham in 1987 when I accepted the pastorate position at First Assembly of God of Framingham.  The church's name always made it sound rather important, but in fact, it was always a small, struggling church.  The occupants of each house had a strong connection to the church.  "Rachel",  nearing age eighty when I moved in, lived at seventy-three.  During the years she lived there, it was not painted beige but rather gray.  "Rachel" was a retired college professor.  She co-owned the house with a dear friend I will call "Pam".  "Minnie" lived at number sixty-seven.  She was about age ninety when I moved in.  Rachel and "Pam" had purchased their home in 1958, but Minnie had lived in her brown house right from its beginning in 1932.  Rachel was not a Member of our church, but she was a regular attender.  About six weeks after I moved into Framingham, I received a phone call from Minnie.  I had a bit of a difficult time understanding her, as she spoke with a thick Irish brogue.  Minnie invited me to visit her at home and told me she had something very important to ask me.  The visit to Minnie was fascinating.  I learned she'd come to this country from Northern Ireland very early in the twentieth century.   She'd been in Framingham for many, many decades, and was a very early "Pentecostal"- from the era when Pentecostals were truly persecuted and considered "people from the other side of the tracks".  Minnie had been a Member of our church almost from its very beginning.  She'd married and raised a family.  For some reason, her family was not particularly keen about our church.  So, for many, many years, she and her family attended the Nazarene Church in town.  Ironically, Minnie had met Rachel when she'd moved in next door, and had encouraged her to visit the Assembly of God and not the Nazarene Church.   That's how Rachel had started attending.  [Rachel was open to the "things of the Spirit" but was not from a Pentecostal background and was never comfortable about becoming a Member at our church.]    The important thing that Minnie had wanted to ask me is if I would conduct her funeral service when she died.  I told her that I would do that.

During my first couple of years in Framingham, I visited Minnie at least once a month.  She was amazingly hearty, healthy, and mentally sharp for someone over age ninety.  Sadly, after a couple of years,  Minnie suffered a massive stroke.  I visited her a few times at a local nursing home.  She was pleasant but she was just not the same.   One day, I noticed Minnie's obituary in the local newspaper.  Her funeral was being conducted at a Lutheran Church- where some of her children and grandchildren attended.  I thought of my promise to Minnie that I'd conduct her funeral service.  Rachel and I had a phone conversation about this.  Rachel believed very strongly that I should kind of push myself on the family and tell them Minnie wanted me to conduct the funeral service.  I felt guilty and uncomfortable, but I just didn't feel right about doing that.  I was a young, fairly inexperienced pastor in my early thirties when I'd made that promise to Minnie.  Today, if I made a promise of that sort, I'd insist that the information all be written down, and that the person make sure he or she communicated their wishes about their funeral to their heirs.  Minnie's house sat empty for many years.  The family kept it from falling into disrepair, but it was sad to see it just sitting there, looking so lonely and empty.

Rachel was still driving a car (she bought a brand new Dodge Aries in 1988) and very active during my early years at the church.  She owned a place near Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire in those days, and she went up there quite a bit each summer.  Sadly, by the late 1990s, Rachel's health had failed quite a bit.  She became legally blind, and so she had to stop driving.  She sold the summer place.  Her "house mate" Pam died.  She loved to read, and now was unable to do so.  Rachel had many happy memories of her past, but she was very unhappy in her present.  In those days (around 2000) I used to help her out by bringing her recycling bin out to the street each Thursday and bringing it back after it had been emptied.  I also once mowed her lawn.  She'd hired various people to cut the lawn, but was in-between lawn cutters and the grass was about three feet tall!  I remember I worked really hard that day, but I was glad I was helping Rachel.  She was a great student of the Bible and would sometimes talk to me on the phone for up to an hour discussing Scripture verses and passages that meant a lot to her.   Somewhere around 2003, she went into a very nice nursing home and sold the house.  Rachel died in 2007.  She was ninety-eight!  She'd had some dementia over her last couple of years.  I conducted her funeral service.  The burial was in the family plot in Lynn;  except that like "The Last of the Mochicans" she was the very last of her family.  She was an only child.  There were no living cousins.  That part was rather sad, but Rachel had touched a lot of lives during her distinguished career as a professor and many fine words of eulogy were spoken during her funeral by a number of people.  And, of course, it must be remembered again that it was Minnie who'd convinced Rachel to get involved with First Assembly of God of Framingham.  So, I did do a funeral service for one of these dear old gals, it's just that it was for Rachel and not for Minnie.

Yes, I paused and reflected as I looked at those two "look alike/side by side" houses a few days ago.  And, I thought I'd share some of my reflecting with you.

"SIGNIFICANT" OR "SUBSTANTIAL"?

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?"  (Job 38:22-23)

Today (Sunday, February 1, 2015) is not only "Super Bowl Sunday", but for those of us living in the northeastern United States, it's another day in which we're hearing numerous weather forecasts calling for a major snowstorm to begin late tonight and last until the early morning hours of Tuesday.  One report I saw on-line is calling for a "significant snowfall".  That word "significant" makes me think of something I heard on a radio broadcast several years ago.  At that time, the weather reports were calling for a "significant snowfall".  Radio talk show host Jay Severin (who is quite a purist when it comes to English grammar) pointed out that the phrase "significant snowfall" is really not correct.  Severin stated that the correct phrase should be "substantial snowfall".  I realize this information may sound quite picky, and in a sense, it is.  Jay Severin explained that "significant snowfall" means that the snowfall would (grammatically speaking) have to signify something.  What would it signify?  That's unclear.  Honestly, I do think Severin had a valid point.  So often our common usage of the English language is actually incorrect!  The sad reality is, we regularly use incorrect terms and incorrect phrases;  in time we do that so often that the incorrect phrases catch on and become the norm!  (This has happened, for instance, with the expression:  "I could care less!".  In fact, the grammatically correct phrase is:  "I couldn't care less!".  It has also happened with the usage of the words "apology" and "apologize".   Most people think that apologizing means "saying you're sorry".  It doesn't.  An "apology" is actually a defense of something!)

I know that (ecologically speaking) winter snow is actually very important.  A winter with very little snow [such as the winter of 2011-2012 in Massachusetts] is very enjoyable for people like me who dislike snow.  Yet, a snowless winter often means a drought for the summer and harm done to plants and animals.  I'm not excited about the substantial snowfall that's expected to come our way in just a few hours!  Nor am I excited about the significant snowfall that's expected to come our way in just a few hours!  In my ideal fantasy world, the calendar would jump from November 30 to March 1 and we'd skip December, January, and February entirely!  The reality is, of course, that in New England, we're all in this "snow and cold" and "winter" thing together, whether we like it or not! 

Please be safe in this upcoming storm.  Pray for the Lord's protection.  I do!  

And, what do you think?  Was Jay Severin off base?  Are you more comfortable hearing about a "significant snowfall" or a "substantial snowfall" or does it really matter?

SUBARU

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;"
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)

Much has been written and discussed over the past hundred years or so about Americans' "love affair with their automobiles".  As a committed Christian, I am well aware that this "love affair" can border on idolatry and in fact can be idolatry.   I admit that as much as I would like to own a brand-new car someday, it's possible that I never will, because I can get much too wrapped up in worrying about the slightest dent or scratch to the car's exterior, or about a stain on the upholstery.  This may be part of why the Lord has had me in very old cars for the past couple of decades!   My last two cars have been what I called my "Lt. Columbo cars".  They've been like that beat up 1959 Peugeot which was his trademark vehicle on the old "Columbo" television movies all the way from 1968 through 2003!   My cars were old and beat up, and yet sporting Massachusetts license plate #280.  It's a long story, but I inherited those specialty license plates when my parents passed away in mid-2000 (within seven weeks of each other).

I got my parents' 1989 Volkswagen Golf in 2000 and I drove that car until early 2010.  At that time, the brakes failed [totally] in downtown Framingham.  I literally drove the car right into a snowbank to stop!  It was towed to my driveway by AAA and it sat there for three months until I sold it to a young mechanic who loved fixing up old Volkswagens.  Right now, I'm without my own car, and frankly I hate it, but I easily forget that in 2010, I went for almost three months with no car of my own.  It was a little easier then because I lived withing walking distance of work, my barber, my bank, and my post office box- not twenty-one miles away like today!    

I was very blessed in May of 2010 to receive a gift of precious cargo from my daughter Amy and son-in-law David:  A 1995 Subaru Impreza sedan which they'd owned for several years.  Amy and a friend drove it all the way from Springfield, Missouri to Framingham, Massachusetts.  During the Subaru's final eighteen months, it really looked like what I call "a junk heap" but it was not too bad looking when I got it in May of 2010.  There was something very special about that car because I first drove and "experienced" the green Subaru sedan on my time of "sabbatical" there in Missouri in April and May of 2009.  The Subaru was not Amy and David's only vehicle.  They pretty much let me use the car quite a bit during that time.  I've written on the blog in the past about the "private retreat" I had at the Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center, located about an hour and a half's drive north of the city of Springfield.  I well remember the drive up there and back, and seeing the Subaru parked there during my days of prayer and reading and reflection.  My wife joined me for part of the time in Missouri and when she was there, we did an overnight in Branson, also using the Subaru.  Thus, when I registered the Subaru as my car in May of 2010 it was already sort of an "old friend".  I deliberately never removed the Missouri inspection sticker from the car's windshield.  (In Missouri, the sticker goes on the opposite side of the windshield from where the Massachusetts stickers are displayed.)  And, I was even kind of proud of the "Reliable SuperStore" dealer's decal on the trunk of the car.  (Back when I went to Bible College, that was known as "Reliable Chevrolet"!)  

The Subaru had just over 156,000 miles on it when I got started as the owner.  Upon being junked a couple of weeks ago, there were 270,911 miles on it!  Yes, I put 114,000 miles on that car in four and a half years!   It was especially during the year and a half of living in Webster and commuting every day to Framingham that I put about half of those miles on the car.  After about a year, the Subaru started looking a little "ratty" and after two years, it frankly looked terrible.  In several places, the exterior trim fell right off!   The metal "door" over the gas cap area broke off.  In the pre-Halloween snowstorm of 2011, a tree fell on the roof of the car, leaving several large dents!  The driver's seat had a few rips and tears in it when I got the car.  By about a year ago, it was all torn up and looked horrible.  There was "stuffing" from the inside of the seat that was coming out all over the place.  The Subaru had four "hub caps" when I got the car.  They were not factory hub caps.  I think my son-in-law must have bought some look-alike ones at an auto parts store.  One of those plastic hub caps broke in pieces when I had a tire blow out on the Mass. Turnpike on Christmas Day 2011.  One broke when I whalloped a curb a few months later (note: Mary Ann, you did NOT just read that- please disregard!).  I think another just fell off.  For the past year or so, there was only one lone hub cap on the car.  The paint was not perfect in 2010 and by 2014 "looked a little rough" to use one of my son-in-law's expressions.  One day in a parking lot, somebody drove into the left rear tail light and cracked and broke the red plastic covering.   I had to order a new one of those to pass a state inspection, and I had my friend Bill install it.  In February of 2014, as I was opening the door to get out of the car, a woman in an S.U.V. smashed into the door and demolished the window glass!   I got a replacement window put in at an auto shop, but honestly, it never quite worked as well.  On the day we moved out of the Webster apartment in June of 2012, the car's nice radio died!  Following the radio's passing, I would keep a large "boom box" in the back seat and listen to it when I drove.  Can you picture me trying to change stations and work the controls while driving?!  I can't either, and yet I did it- and it was quite unpleasant!

Somewhere around late 2012, I began noticing that at times there was a strong odor of gasoline when I'd exit the Subaru.  At other times, none.  It took me a long time to discover why that was the case.  In November of 2013,   I noticed a puddle of gasoline almost the size of a dollar bill behind the car's right rear tire.  Above that stain was the gas cap and fill area.  Yup, there was a small leak somewhere in that area.  When I bought gasoline, especially when I filled it up fully, there would be a stain and that gasoline odor.  When I had less than a quarter of a tank of gas, there was almost never any gas leak.  And, I discovered I had a power steering fluid leak.  That  left a stain the size of a half dollar coin any time I'd been parked for more than a couple of hours.  So, for the final year of the car, most of the time I had to try to park it off of pavement at my residence- not always easy to do!  One of my biggest thrills of the past couple of years was being an in-studio guest on Dan Rea's "Nightside" radio program on Boston's WBZ.   The night I was on air, my brakes were almost completely gone on the Subaru!  The drive to and from the station was frankly scary.  Just two days after I was on "Nightside" I lost my brakes completely on Route 126 in Ashland near the McDonald's.  Thank God, I did not hit anyone or anything.  I steered the car off the road and had it towed to an auto shop.

Yes, I was having a real love/hate relationship with the Subaru in 2013 and 2014.  It was like a ninety-year-old man in ill health.  I knew it was going to die at any time, but I just kept wanting to think and believe the best.  I will spare you all of the gory details, but the Subaru totally died for good on Sunday morning, December 21 and it was hauled off to a junk yard a little over a week later.   Even during the "bad" times with the Subaru, I never forgot that "we" attended that retreat in Missouri together and that "we" each had a "Springfield, Missouri connection"!   I don't miss the leaking gasoline, nor the leaking power steering fluid, nor the "ratty" appearance of the car; but on another level, there was a sentimental connection to that car- especially connecting it to my daughter, that I will never forget.

Right now, I'm "carless" and it's frankly a very difficult time.  A friend (who deserves an "A" for his effort and hard work) did a great job locating a good and inexpensive Saturn for me three weeks ago, but due to some circumstances beyond his or my control, this turned out to not be a workable plan.  We had to pass on that car, and right now we're back to square one. 

I wonder- where will my next "Volkswagen" or "Subaru" come from?   The Lord provided those cars and I am frankly trusting Him to provide another.  And, will I feel as sentimental about this car when someday it's time to say good-bye to it?

PLANS FOR THE NEW YEAR

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version)

A Facebook friend of mine posted those words today [January 1, 2015] although she left out the quotes and she left off the reference to where they came from [and that's the Book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament].  Jeremiah 29:11 reads just a little bit differently in the King James Version of the Bible and in (my favorite) the New King James Version.

In the King James Version, it says:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

In the New King James Version, it says: 
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  

[I don't want to turn this piece into something really boring and "dry" about Bible translating, but those words were originally written in Hebrew.  Translation can be a challenging pursuit.  Languages are so different from one another, and so many times there are a variety of ways a passage can be correctly translated.  Each of the above translations is "correct" albeit each is a little bit different.  The New International Version tends to be more of an "interpretative" and less of a literal translation, and it's no wonder many of us have most often heard Jeremiah 29:11 from the N.I.V.  For many of us, the N.I.V. is our favorite way to hear it.  Listen, I just wrote that my favorite version of Scripture is the New King James Version and even I like Jeremiah 29:11 best from the N.I.V.!]
  
I paused and read my friend L.B.'s post today [I also know the plans I have for you: plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future....]  and it just stared so much flowing in my mind and in my spirit!  For one thing, it didn't mention the Lord, and it didn't give the reference.  For me, that's really important.   Do those words apply to just anybody or to any situation?   I began to think about the context of those words- to whom were they spoken and for what purpose?  If you do a little on-line research, you'll find out that Jeremiah lived around 600 B.C.  At that time, he was called to prophesy to Israel's southern kingdom known as Judah.  It's ironic that Jeremiah wrote those words because he had one of the most difficult lives of any person who ever lived!  And, even as a "God person",  Jeremiah's life was full of loss and pain.  He was called the "Weeping Prophet".  Almost no one listened to him.  He was imprisoned by the king of Judah.  When Judah fell to the Babylonians, Jeremiah was set free by them.  He spend the final years of his life in exile in Egypt.  Those words were said to the people of Judah who were being carried off to Babylon.  [If you think about the plight of the Jews being herded into boxcars and shipped to the Nazi concentration camps, this was only a step or two better than that, but not much better!]  It certainly must have seemed to the people of Judah that God hated them!  Their Temple was desecrated.  Their city [Jerusalem] was essentially destroyed.  They were marched off to Babylon.  Yet, God's Word to them at that time was Jeremiah 29:11!

In fact, the Jewish people were not wiped out!  Many decades later, under the Persians, a huge number of Jewish people returned to the land and reestablished their homeland and their worship in the Temple.   In general, Jews have been hated because as a people they tend to be much more successful than are most other people groups.   As a group, they indeed had "a hope and a future"; even after Adolph Hitler!

Now, that brings us back to why we love that verse.  Does it have anything to do with us?  I did find an blog entry today in which the author states that Jeremiah 29:11 was strictly for the ancient people of Judah and has nothing to do with us.  My opinion about that is, I disagree.  Of course, in context, it was said to the ancient people of Judah as they were being carried off.  The fact is, however, that God does have plans for His children as a group (and the "you" in Jeremiah 29:11 is plural) and also as individuals.   I remember a question that was once asked of Dr. Anthony Palma in class at Central Bible College.  A student asked about many Old Testament references (especially in Matthew's Gospel)  that the New Testament applies to Jesus Christ which in their original context have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus Christ!  Dr. Palma said that the Holy Spirit clearly cited these verses and applied them to the Lord Jesus Christ, so even though these verses are out of context and so forth, if the Holy Spirit applied them as an application to the earthly life of Jesus Christ, that was good enough for him.  Similarly, I think a verse such as Jeremiah 29:11 can apply to us today.

Now, here's the sobering part:  Remember what I wrote about Jeremiah's life above?  Did he [personally] have a hope and a future?  Yes.  Was his life a "cake walk"?  Absolutely not.  

I'm a very reflective and a very emotional person- and these characteristics can be both good and bad.  I've faced profound loss and disappointment in my life over the past six years or so, for instance.  I will admit that this morning for about an hour, I suddenly had a very negative thought.  The thought was:  I just can't face another year.   And, you know what, "in the natural"- in my own strength and abilities, I absolutely can't!  That's a true statement.  But what did I forget?  I am ashamed to say that for a short period of time today I forgot that I am not called upon to face this year on my own in any way, shape, or form.  I am called to walk through this year trusting in God and clinging to Him all the way!  In that way, we can face this year.  So, yeah, it's a good verse to remember.  

I don't want this piece to become too long, but I'm definitely feeling impressed of the Lord to share something with you.   About nine months ago a couple from the south who are good friends of mine sent me some CDs of Christian teacher Graham Cooke.  They said they felt very strongly that they were to send them to me and that the Lord wanted me to hear them.  I was not familiar with Graham Cooke.  If you research Graham Cooke on-line you'll learn that he is a very controversial and somewhat polarizing figure in evangelical and charismatic Christianity.   Some people love him and some people can't stand him.  His ministry is definitely "outside the box".  I began listening to his teaching tapes with caution and skepticism.   I will say, Graham's sense of humor and Biblical soundness won me over by the end of the first CD!   I listened to all of those CDs- some of them two and three times, and I got so much out of them!  Those teachings truly soothed my soul.  

Cooke taught that suffering is absolutely part of the life of any person who seriously wants to get close to God.  He said he "went through Hell for many years" but that during that time he drew very close to God and he came to the point that in the midst of "going through Hell" he had genuine joy because of what happened in his relationship with God.   The most valuable thing I learned from him is that no matter how bad or how confusing our circumstances are, we are never to ask "Why?"  It's the wrong question.  Cooke (citing the response of the crowd Peter preached to on the Day of Pentecost) says that when we face really horrible stuff we need to ask God, "What does this mean?" and then "What must I do?"

I will confess that I don't always remember to ask those two questions, and I want to be more faithful to do that.  [Incidentally, when we do ask those questions, we can expect God to show us the answers, but we must be obedient to do what He asks, whether it's easy or difficult for us.]

In closing, I know this did get a bit lengthy, but I hope it helps you.  It helped me a lot to think about it and to write it.  I have my own challenges and I struggle daily with the tendency toward irritability that I inherited from my father (who wasn't always irritable!) and with the tendency toward depression that I inherited from my mother (who wasn't always depressed!).  I have to remember to lay this stuff on the altar and let the Lord be the Lord of my opinions and emotions.  Yes, that's how I want to live in 2015, and forever, for that matter!   How about you?