tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25288585359333427662024-03-15T18:10:30.363-07:00Reflections ColumnsWritten by Bill Tinsley - Reflections appears in multiple newspapers each week. The column reflects on current events and life experience from a faith perspectiveBill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.comBlogger760125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-69456705829219467022024-03-11T18:28:00.000-07:002024-03-11T18:28:18.642-07:00Something About That Name<p> When my daughter was little, I rocked her to sleep every
night and sang the same song: <i>Jesus, There Is Something About That
Name. </i>One line in song says, “Kings
and kingdoms shall all pass away, but there is something about that name.” My daughter is now the mother of three. When her
children were little, she sang the same song to them. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>A few years ago, my wife and I chose to launch our 50<sup>th</sup>
year of marriage with a trip to Israel. We spent several days in Jerusalem,
walking through the Garden of Gethsemane, looking on the Holy City from the
Mount of Olives, visiting the Pool of Siloam and the Western Wall. We sat on the Southern steps to the temple and
walked the Via Dolorosa. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Everywhere we went we were shoulder to shoulder with people
from all over the world, tourists who had come to walk where Jesus walked. We met a young man from New Zealand, another
from Colombia, entire groups from Indonesia, China and Korea. They came from
Africa, South America and Europe. They
were Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Non-denominational. They came from everywhere. Tour buses lined up on the streets of the
city, in spite of the political tensions reported in the news. They came
because “there is something about that Name.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>We visited the Trans-Jordan site, just above the Dead Sea,
the most likely place where Jesus was baptized by John. A barbed wire fence runs down the middle of
the Jordan River separating Israel from Jordan.
Armed guards are visible. On the
other side of the river, beyond the barbed-wire fence, a group of Orthodox
believers were baptizing, joyfully and with passion. Separated by politics and
boundaries, we could not speak to them or touch them, but, like us, they were
drawn to that site because Jesus was there.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In Jerusalem most of the actual places where Jesus walked
are buried, beneath many layers. The
temple of His day, built by Herod, was destroyed in 70 AD. Only the supporting walls remained, including
the western wall where hundreds gather to pray every day.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In the 2<sup>nd</sup> century the Roman Emperor Hadrian
rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city with a temple to Jupiter. After 325, Emperor
Constantine rebuilt the city as a Christian center. Islamic rulers conquered
the city in 638, the Crusaders in 1099. It was conquered by Saladin in 1187.
Its walls were destroyed in 1219 then repaired in 1243. It was taken over by
the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Jerusalem
has been conquered, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>According to Thomas L. Friedman in his book, <i>From Beirut
to Jerusalem,</i> Neil Armstrong visited Israel and stood on the steps to the
Temple entrance. He asked his guide,
archeologist Meir Ben Dov, if these were the same steps Jesus walked on. Ben Dov confirmed that they were. “I have to
tell you,” Armstrong said, “I am more excited stepping on these stones than I
was stepping on the moon.” </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The very stones of the city, with the numerous archeological
digs, bear witness to history. Kings and
kingdoms have come and gone. But the name of Jesus remains. 2000 years after Jesus first walked the
streets of Jerusalem, His name continues to transform people of every language,
culture and nation who trust in Him. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-78854908570275968242024-03-05T07:04:00.000-08:002024-03-05T07:04:51.966-08:00What Time Ya Got?<p> Next Sunday, March 10, we will spring forward for Daylight
Saving Time. On Monday, March 11, the Sun
will rise an hour later and delay its setting until 7 PM for an extra hour of
light. Well, of course the Sun will rise
and set as it always does. But we won’t.
For we are creatures of the clock.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>For most of human history we have measured time by natural
phenomena, usually the movement of the Sun: dawn and dusk, shortening and
lengthening shadows, and, at night the movement of the stars. Mechanical clocks
did not appear until around 1300 in Europe. Pocket watches did not appear until
the latter 1600s and were limited to the wealthy. They were relatively inaccurate, gaining, or
losing an hour a day. They did not
become widespread or accurate until the mid-19<sup>th</sup> century with
advances in technology. Wrist watches
did not become common until the 20<sup>th</sup> century. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Today we live by the clock: school, work, meetings,
deadlines, travel, entertainment. Almost
everything we do is dictated by the clock.
The rising and setting of the Sun have become incidental, except for
March 10.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>An open space with tall grass sits behind our house. Some
would call it a meadow, some a marsh,
and a few might refer to it as a drainage ditch. On most mornings I sit on our deck overlooking
this grassy area at dawn. In the last
few weeks, a peculiar thing has occurred. The black birds have chosen it for
their sleeping place. In the pre-dawn darkness, they are silent. You would not know they were there. But with
the first gray light, they begin to chirp to one another. As the light grows, they
crescendo into a loud chorus of chirping. Then, at a precise moment, as if a
conductor waved his wand, they fall silent for a few seconds. Suddenly, with
the first light of day they take flight: hundreds of them, in waves, filling
the air with the sound of their wings. They make a few circles and disappear to
distant places to spend the day. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Each morning, they fly a little earlier as the days lengthen.
A few weeks ago they flew at 7:15 AM ,
then 7:00, then 6:45. This morning the
precise time for Sunrise was set for 6:30 AM.
They flew at 6:26 AM. For them, day light saving is constant and
daily. Every day they fly within minutes
of the rising Sun. And, in the evening they return, a noisy reunion in the bare-limbed
trees above our house. This evening official sunset was 5:55 PM. They began
their descent back to the tall grass at 5:54, by the hundreds. They use every waking moment of the day with
precision.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The Bible encourages us to make good use of time. It reminds
us that we are mortal, that time is fleeting and that we must choose to use the
day efficiently, as the birds do. The
oldest Psalm is Psalm 90, a Psalm of Moses, written hundreds of years before
King David was born. The Psalm reminds
us, “The days of our lives are but 70 years, or if by strength, 80. So teach us to number our days that we may
present to thee a heart of wisdom.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Jesus reminded us, “We must work the works of Him who sent
me while it is day. Night is coming when
no man can work.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Tinsley's Civil War Novel, Bold Springs is free as an eBook on Amazon March 5-9. Chosen Best Christian Historical Fiction by Reader's Favorite 2022. </i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-88486644090939685762024-02-27T10:49:00.000-08:002024-02-27T10:57:17.565-08:00Miracle of Life<p> All of the debate about in vitro-fertilization
has made us question again, “What is human life? When does it begin?” We know that each of us
is the result of a single egg from our mother being fertilized by a single
sperm from our father. The basis of our
existence is amazingly mysterious and beautiful. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 274.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>My daughter was born the year I turned forty. With two sons
already thirteen and eight, we were not expecting another child. In fact, the doctors had told us that having
more children was impossible. But the
impossible happened. The doctor’s first
question was, “Do you want to terminate this pregnancy?” We were stunned. Such a consideration never entered our
minds. Nine months later my wife gave
birth to a beautiful little girl who has blessed our lives immeasurably. I
often thought of that doctor’s question when I rocked her to sleep and felt the
weight of her slumbering body against my
shoulder. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Our daughter is now thirty-seven. Fifteen years ago, I
walked her down the aisle. I then
performed their wedding ceremony and danced with her at the reception, one of
the highlights of my life. Three years later, they came home and excitedly told
us they were expecting a baby, our fourth grandchild. When they gave us the news of her pregnancy,
her baby was no bigger than a small marble. We listened to the baby’s heartbeat
as she grew and watched her dancing in the womb. She now dances around the room with her
little sister and brother.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Before retirement, my wife worked with pregnant and
parenting teens in the public schools.
She constantly sought to help them have a healthy pregnancy, healthy
birth, learn how to become a good parent, and stay in school to have a better future. With children and grandchildren of our own
and my wife’s occupation, you would think that the process of pregnancy and
birth would have become commonplace. But it hasn’t. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The more I witness the miracle of life by
which children are born into the world, the more I stand in awe. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>David expressed it best in Psalm 139: “For you formed my inward parts; you wove me
in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well. My
frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret, and skillfully
wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
and in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as
yet there was not one of them.” To the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “Before I
formed you in the womb, I knew you.”
(Jeremiah 1:5).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Every birth, every child and every person is a miracle of
God. We are all more than mere flesh and
blood, brain, bone and sinew. We are
made in His likeness, with the awesome freedom to choose good and evil, to
bless others or to curse them. We have infinite possibilities and an immortal
soul that will one day depart this mortal body. We are eternal beings living in
a miraculous universe that astounds our senses. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-42680903039187385422024-02-20T07:07:00.000-08:002024-02-25T17:39:44.283-08:00Alexei Navalny<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alexei
Navalny’s death in Russia’s maximum-security prison in the Arctic Circle reminds
us that this generation is like all those that preceded it. Always there have been despots and regimes
willing to commit murder, even genocide, to secure their power. Putin’s chief
rival joins a long line of potential adversaries who have met an untimely death.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
public reaction in Russia is muted.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Everyone knows the dangers of resistance.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">According to news sources about 400 people in
8 cities were arrested by state Russian police when they attempted to attend
vigils or lay flowers in tribute to Navalny.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A priest was arrested for planning a public prayer vigil. Russia is not
the United States.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Freedom of speech and
public assembly is not protected.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
visited Moscow shortly after the Soviet Union dissolved. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was a bleak place </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I viewed the corpse in Lenin’s tomb and
descended into the depths of the subway system, the deepest subway in the
world, built to serve as bomb shelters during the cold war.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Navalny’s
death reminds us of events almost a century ago, June 30 through July 2, 1934
when Adolf Hitler consolidated his power by killing adversaries who would
oppose him, an event that would come to be known as the Night of the Long
Knives.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
few years ago, my wife and I spent the summer in Nuremberg, Germany.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">While there, we toured the </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dokuzentrum, </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the
Document Center that was constructed in post WW II Germany at the Nazi rally
site that drew millions during Hitler’s rule.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Center was built to document the atrocities of Nazi Germany,
including the Holocaust. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We must not
forget the depths to which governments can sink and the need for every
generation to protect human rights and freedom.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Cross of Jesus Christ casts a dark shadow across the landscape of human
history. The Cross bears witness to the depths of human depravity, the
injustices to which individuals and governments can sink.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bound up in the Cross is the innocent
suffering in every generation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All of
our sins are there, in the darkness that descended upon Golgotha.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Resurrection of Jesus dispels that darkness.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The eye-witness accounts of those who saw Jesus, who spoke with him, ate
with him and touched him after he rose from the dead bear witness. Life overcomes
death. Righteousness triumphs over evil. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Two thousand years of testimony by believers
in every age and every nation affirm this truth.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
Isaiah wrote, “<span class="text"><span style="background: white;">Do
you not know? Have you not heard?</span> Has it not been declared to you from
the beginning?</span> Have you not understood from the foundations of the
earth?</span> It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out
the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to
dwell in. <b><sup> </sup></b>He it is who reduces rulers to
nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
Scarcely have they been planted,
s<span class="text"><span style="background: white;">carcely have they been sown,</span>
scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,</span> but He merely blows on
them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like stubble.
... Yet those who wait for the <span class="small-caps"><span style="background: white; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Lord</span> w</span><span class="text"><span style="background: white;">ill gain new strength;</span> they
will mount up with wings like eagles,</span> they will run and not get tired. They
will walk and not become weary,” (Isaiah 40). </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-10638221706114467742024-02-13T07:20:00.000-08:002024-02-13T08:20:24.600-08:00Why So Lonely?<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">More
people live in the world today than at any other time in history, more than 8
billion with another 200,000 added daily.
More people live in the United States today than at any other time in
history, over 335 million with 80% living in cities. We are more connected than ever before, by
cell phone, text, email and social media. And, despite all this, we are lonely.
<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A
recent headline in USA Today, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">proclaimed, “Americans are lonely and it’s
killing them. ”The article went on to say, “ America has a new epidemic. It cannot
be treated using traditional therapies even though it has debilitating even
deadly consequences. The problem seeping in at the corners of our communities
is loneliness.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps
our drive to gather in huge numbers is a symptom of our loneliness. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stadiums and sports venues are
overflowing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Taylor Swift Eras tour has
packed out stadiums worldwide, averaging 72,000 per concert in the US. Swift
jetted home from Tokyo to join more than 61,000 at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas,
while more than 200,000 packed the Waste Management golf tournament in Phoenix.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At
one time or another we all feel lonely. Even though we are surrounded by other
people.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes it stems from a
feeling that no one seems to understand, that no one knows who we really are “inside.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes it stems from having no one in whom
we can confide.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes
we feel like we just don’t fit in.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
can be especially acute for teenagers trying to find their way, searching for
their own identity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The urge to dress
alike, look alike, talk alike and act alike can be overwhelming and leave us
with a feeling that, for all our efforts to be accepted, we don’t belong.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At
other times, loneliness is the result of isolation. This can be especially true
for the home-bound, the disabled and the elderly, widows and widowers.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Days may pass without having a visitor or
someone with whom to talk.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So,
how do we respond in this age of loneliness.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There are several simple starting places.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">First,
know that God knows you. He knows you better than you know yourself. “Before I formed
you in the womb, I knew you,” (Jeremiah 1:5).
“<span class="small-caps"><span style="background: white; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Lord</span></span><span class="text"><span style="background: white;">, you have searched me and known me.</span> <b><sup> </sup></b>You know when
I sit down and when I get up;</span> you understand my thought from
far away.</span> <b><sup> </sup></b>You scrutinize my path and
my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways, (Psalm
139:1-3). “</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second,
seek out a faith community.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Go to
church.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Participate in a small group
where you can be known and loved. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Not abandoning
our own meeting together but encouraging one another, and all the more as you
see the day approaching,” (Hebrews 10:25). </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Third,
be there for someone else.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Seek out the
isolated, the ostracized and the rejected.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Be a friend to someone else.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Visit
the homebound.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pick up the phone. Call
someone.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God
never intended that we should be alone or feel lonely. From the outset of creation
God saw that “It is not good for man to be alone,” (Genesis 2:18).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span class="text" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background: white;">A father of the fatherless and a judge for the
widows,</span> Is God in His holy dwelling.</span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><sup> </sup></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God makes a home for the lonely,” (Psalm
68:5-6).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Order Bill Tinsley's newest book, We Beheld His Glory, a Novel, FREE eBook on Amazon Feb 13-17.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-52600348384427823322024-02-06T10:05:00.000-08:002024-02-06T10:08:05.942-08:00Accepting One Another<p> Most of us know what it is to lose a pet: cats, dogs, birds,
hamsters, others. They are all short
lived compared to our own life expectancy.
In our lifetime we will likely experience the emotions of
burying one or more of our furry and feathered friends. Two years ago we laid down our tri-color
Corgi, Buddy. We never forget these
special friends who share portions of our life-journey.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>When we found Buddy at Corgi rescue, he had been picked up
off the streets. He was skinny and sick.
They called him, “Tex.” But he quickly
informed us that his real name was “Buddy.”
In fact he has a children’s book, <i>Buddy
the Floppy Ear Corgi</i> that tells his whole story, not just about his name,
but how he was lost, picked up by the “dog police” and rescued. I wrote it “just the way he told it to me.” According
to the story, he learned to accept himself and others just the way God made
them. Throughout his life, he continued to teach me lessons. Those lessons included trust, patience, and
perseverance.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>But one of his most important lessons, however, was “acceptance.” In an era when humans are increasingly aware
of their differences in race, language, culture and national origin, Buddy
ignored all of those. He just saw people,
and he accepted them all.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I took him for a walk through the park. An entire group of teenagers interrupted
their volley ball game and rushed over to greet Buddy. They surrounded him, laughing and smiling as
they stroked his Corgi coat. We went to
Estes Park. Four times in the space of
two blocks, teens, children and adults asked to pet him. We passed a homeless person. Buddy stopped and
waited until a smile spread across the person’s face as they patted his head.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>It didn’t matter to Buddy.
He just grinned his Corgi grin, and accepted them all. Young, old, white, brown, black, homeless,
handicapped, straight or gay. He didn’t
care. It is a lesson humans have to work at.
We tend to look for people like ourselves and suspect those who differ.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Like the rest of us, the disciple Peter grew up with his own
prejudices. He was a fisherman and a Jew
from Capernaum. After he left his nets
to follow Jesus he was constantly having his prejudices challenged. He followed Jesus through Samaria, a region
he had been taught to avoid as a Jew.
He watched Him visit with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well near
Sychar. He saw him touch and heal the
lepers, the blind, the lame and beggars. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>It took a miraculous vision and a visit to a Roman’s home in
Caesarea for Peter to finally understand the lessons Jesus sought to teach him
along the way. Peter concluded, “I most
certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every
nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts
10:34-35).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-50943224092049436632024-01-30T08:54:00.000-08:002024-01-30T08:54:28.702-08:00Heaven - What Is It Like?<p> Some time ago, I
assisted in the funeral for a close friend. He was older by almost twenty years, and
became my mentor more than thirty years ago.
He was a take-charge kind of guy and I always imagined him going out
like John Wayne in <i>The Shootist</i>. Consistent with his personality, he left
specific instructions for his funeral, including the passage he wanted the
pastor to preach and the three points he wanted him to make. To his friends he wrote, “I want there to be
more laughter than tears. After all, I
will be in Heaven.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I watched him age like I have watched others, the same
process I am beginning to see in myself.
As he entered his eighties his strength and vigor began to slip. The last time we went out to eat he needed a
walker to make his way to the table.
Aging is an inescapable experience for all of us who live long. But in the end, in the “twinkling of an eye …
we shall all be changed.” (1 Corinthians
15:52).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>When my mother was young she was a beauty and a fast runner who
won ribbons in track meets. But in her
last years she was feeble and almost blind.
When she was 89 years old and dying, we talked about what it would be
like when she woke up in Heaven, able once again to run through the meadow as
she did in her youth. Her body once again
characterized by energy, strength, beauty and grace. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I have often thought about Heaven and what it might be
like. Someone once said that we might
think of everything that is beautiful and good on this earth and multiply it by
two. That of course is a small number,
but anything more defies imagination. I
like to think about the sun rising in the east, its light filtering through the
leaves warming my face on a cool morning; the birds calling to one another as
the day dawns; the scent of freshly cut grass and new turned earth; the
fragrance of lilacs in spring and roses in summer; the laughter of children on
the playground; the crack of a baseball bat and the smack of a ball in the
glove; the weight of a sleeping baby in my arms. On this earth and in this world, they are
enough. But multiplied by two, or a
thousand? Incomprehensible!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, so that where I am, there you
may be also.” (John 14:3). <span class="woj">“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live
even if he dies,</span> <span class="woj">and everyone who lives and believes in
Me will never die.” (John 11:25-26).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The Bible says, “It does not yet appear what we shall be,
but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2). “If we have been united with Him in the likeness
of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5).</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-50075170949212218122024-01-23T10:57:00.000-08:002024-01-23T10:57:58.183-08:00Teach Us To Pray<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">In the Academy Award
winning movie, </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Gravity</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">, astronaut Ryan Stone, played by Sandra
Bullock, has found her way aboard the Soyuz space craft. The sole
survivor of her mission, she is marooned in space without hope of
survival. Having lost radio contact with her command center, she scans
the frequencies seeking someone with whom she might make contact.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">The only person she is
able to reach is an Eskimo in the remote tundra who speaks no English.
But the sound of his dogs and the crying of his baby touch her emotions.
She cries. And she cries out in desperation to him, “Say a prayer for me. Maybe
I should say a prayer for myself. But I have never prayed. No one
ever taught me.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">How much does the
character Ryan Stone represent the present generation? The world seems to
be spinning out of control. Evil is rampant. Death is certain. Will
no one pray for us? Will no one teach us to pray?</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Centuries ago, another generation felt the
same way. Jesus’ disciples approached him with desperation in their voice
and asked, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And He did. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Jesus taught us that prayer
does not need to be a memorized formula. There are no words that are
better than any others to address God. Prayer is a matter of the heart.
Jesus told of two men who once prayed. One was very religious and knew all the
right words. The other had made a wreck of his life. He was irreligious and broken-hearted
about his sin. The first prayed long and eloquent prayers that everyone could
hear. The second, feeling unworthy to lift his eyes to Heaven prayed,
“Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus said the prayer of the second
man was the prayer God heard.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">When we pray with a
broken and contrite heart, God hears.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Chuck Colson, special
counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969-1973, earned the reputation as
Nixon’s “hatchet man.” If there was anything cruel and dirty that needed
doing, Colson could do it. At the pinnacle of power, Colson was convicted
for his Watergate crimes and sent to prison. His world crumbling around him, he
sat alone in his parked car and cried out to God. He didn’t know how to
pray. He just knew he needed God to save him. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">God answered Colson’s
prayers. When he emerged from prison, he was a changed man. God
used him to launch </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Prison Fellowship </i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">and later, </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Prison
Fellowship International. </i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> He spent the rest of his life
proclaiming the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">It is never too late to
pray. It is never too late to believe. Our problems are never too
many or too big for God. When we pray our Father who is in Heaven will hear our
prayer and will reward us openly. (Matthew 6:5-8).</span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-42512495957764786702024-01-15T19:31:00.000-08:002024-01-15T19:31:51.828-08:00God of All Comfort<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Six
years ago, two weeks before Christmas, our daughter-in-law was diagnosed with a
very aggressive breast cancer.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Her
children were all still at home.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She
endured the chemo treatments with courage, determination, optimism and faith.
Her family and friends gathered around her with encouragement, support, and
love. Her faith and marriage with our son grew deeper and stronger.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After
achieving remission, she returned to work, and, as our grandchildren left for
college, she returned to school.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In May
of last year, she graduated with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But, again, shortly before the holidays, the
cancer was back.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She opted for a double
mastectomy and underwent surgery two days after our family gathered to
celebrate Christmas. Knowing that there are many who are entering this new year
facing personal challenges, I thought you would appreciate, as I do, what she
wrote last week:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All is good. Except for that evening
call from the oncology surgeon. Plans are derailed, and emotions are high
because now it is back to battle. Plans are different this time, previous
options are not acceptable; double mastectomy surgery planned in 2024 so that
the holidays with family won’t be disrupted. The family! How to tell them that
the silent nagging worry was real again?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Internal reserves are just not available to
care for the emotional needs of others. It all feels like too much, even to
answer a text or leave the house. This time it will be a quiet battle. It is
hard, but with prayer and support it is going to be okay. Attempts at normalcy:
meaningful work, a long-planned trip to paradise with loved ones, and
preparations for precious family time. My grandfather, the family patriarch,
hero of so many over his 103 years of life, passes away leaving an emptiness
felt by all.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then the call that the battle will begin
December 19th. That gives less than a week to completely rearrange life yet
again! Now the battle must be shared with others so that life can move forward
with additional support. The love and acceptance, willingness to accommodate
unexpected needs, complete assurance that worries from home would be attended
to without a second thought lifts and humbles. Holidays are celebrated early
and joyfully cherished. Everything is okay.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weakness and new battle scars received. Rest
and recovery are all that can be done now. Wheeling down the halls of the
battleground, looking into the eyes of those just inducted into the battle,
praying for peace as they learn their battle plans. Seeing those already in the
battle, praying for comfort and strength as they endure the daily trauma.
Searching the faces of those with shared battle scars, praying for hope and
health. The atrium is just ahead, and glorious sunshine is pouring in. Eyes
closed, face lifted to the light like a sunflower, kaleidoscopic shapes of
yellow and orange dance beneath eyelids while warming rays saturate skin. A
wave of peace and assurance that God is in complete control washes over this
space. All is well!”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I read these words from my daughter-in-law I
thought of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “</span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Blessed <i>be</i> the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,<b><sup> </sup></b>who comforts
us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in <sup>]</sup>any
affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”</span></span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-2980778279841233202024-01-09T11:07:00.000-08:002024-01-09T11:07:55.661-08:00Back to the Moon?<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
January 8 the first lunar rocket since 1972 was launched from the United States
at Cape Canaveral, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is an unmanned, robotic, mission. Only the
US has ever landed a man on the moon and that was over 50 years ago. This could
be the year we return. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">NASA hopes to
launch the first manned mission to the moon in November and hopes not just to
visit, but to live there by the end of the decade. China hopes to have humans living
on the moon by 2040.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
remember those first manned missions, launched long before personal PCs, smart
phones and the internet were thought of. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">By today’s standards that world looks
archaic. But the accomplishments by NASA and a group of astronauts with the “right
stuff” is still impressive.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My
wife and I married on December 21, 1968, the day Apollo 8 was launched to carry
the first men to orbit the moon.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They
reached the moon 3 days later. On Christmas Eve, just before they disappeared
to the other side of the moon and lost radio contact with the earth, Borman and
his crew read the Genesis account of creation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Genesis 1:1-10). </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the distance
the earth appeared as a fragile planet on the moon’s horizon. Six and ½ months
later we sat in front of our black and white TV and watched Neil Armstrong leap
from the last rung of the lander to take “one small step for man, one giant
leap for mankind.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">On board the lander,
while they waited, Buzz Aldrin observed Christian communion.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">James
Irwin served as the commander and pilot for the lunar lander on Apollo 15.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He became the 8</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> astronaut to
step foot on the moon.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After his return
Irwin founded the High Flight Foundation as a non-denominational evangelical
organization based in Colorado Springs.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He said, “Some people make light of it and ask. ‘How can a technical
person, an astronaut, believe in the Bible?’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I guess I also was a skeptic in my early days, but I have come to
believe what the Bible says as being true.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
last man to walk on the moon was Gene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17 in
December 1972.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As he departed the moon
he said, “We leave as we came, and God willing, we shall return, with peace and
hope for all mankind.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cernan later described
his experience. “I felt the world was just too beautiful to have happened by
accident.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There has to be something
bigger than you and bigger than me. … There has to be a Creator of the universe
... .”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
do not doubt that God welcomes us to explore His universe, to experience the majesty
and mystery of </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the moon and beyond.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But, when we do, it is important that we do
so with the humility and faith demonstrated by these men who accomplished what
no one has been able to do since.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Scripture says, “</span><span class="text" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background: white;">When
I <sup data-fn="#fen-NASB-14016c" data-link="[<a href="#fen-NASB-14016c" title="See footnote c">c</a>]">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%208&version=NASB#fen-NASB-14016c" style="box-sizing: border-box; min-width: 0px;" title="See footnote c"><span style="color: #4a4a4a;">c</span></a>]</sup>consider Your heavens, the work
of Your fingers,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">
<span class="text"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">the moon and the stars, which You have set in place;</span>
<b><sup> </sup></b>what is man that You think of him,</span></span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span class="text"><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">and a son of man that You are concerned about him?</span> <b><sup> </sup></b>Yet
You have made him a little lower than God,</span> and You crown
him with glory and majesty!</span> <b><sup> </sup></b>You have
him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put everything
under his feet, ... <span class="small-caps"><span style="background: white; font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span></span><span class="text"><span style="background: white;">, our Lord,</span> how majestic is
Your name in all the earth!</span>” (Psalm 8:3-9). <o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-81267846957113839502024-01-02T10:18:00.000-08:002024-01-02T10:18:32.170-08:002024 New Beginnings<p> <span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
have officially celebrated the beginning of a new year. Thousands made the trek
to New York to watch the ball drop at Times Square. Others went to
Pasadena for the Rose Parade and the thrilling playoff game between Alabama and
Michigan while the Longhorns and the Huskies fought it out in New Orleans. Most
of us gathered with family and friends to welcome 2024 with hugs and
kisses. It is time to look forward. To engage the year to come. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If our minds are open to new
things, and our hearts are open to God, 2024 can be the start of something
special, a new beginning!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">New
beginnings are always exciting: weddings with candles and flowers, beautiful
bridesmaids, handsome groomsmen, laughter, toasts and dancing; the birth of a
baby wrapped in blankets, showered with gifts; graduations with speeches about
dreams and possibilities followed by posed photos that will hang on living room
walls; a new job; a new home. Starting anew stirs our
imagination. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">New beginnings are filled with excitement, optimism, and hope as
well as fear, doubt and worry. Weddings are </span>fun but<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> making a
marriage can be hard work. Babies are cute, but raising a child can
be difficult. Graduation marks a significant achievement, but finding a job and
advancing in a chosen career can be daunting.</span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
cannot predict our future. Not all newlyweds who leave the marriage
altar showered with rice, petals and birdseed will experience a life-long
relationship of love and fulfillment. Not all babies will grow to
maturity. Not all graduates will find career positions for which
they prepared. But we are all called to something new, something
significant.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God
always calls us forward into new beginnings. He beckons us to leave
the old and familiar to follow Him on a journey of discovery into places we
have never been. He encourages us to calm our fears and exchange our
doubts for faith. He challenges us to trust in Him for a better
future and a better day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
God called Abraham, He called him from his familiar home to follow Him into a
strange land. God said, “Go forth from your country, and from your
relatives and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you; and I
will make you a great nation and I will bless you, and make your name great,
and you shall be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:1-2). Abraham’s step
of faith to follow God into a new beginning changed history.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To Isaiah, God said, </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new
thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am
making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isa.
43:18-19). Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; the old has gone. The new has come.” 2 Cor. 5:17).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My hope and my prayer for you is that 2024 will
be the start of something new, something special.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">May each of you be blessed, as Abraham was,
and may God make you a blessing to others.</span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-92144157447416147692023-12-26T08:27:00.000-08:002023-12-31T09:55:56.426-08:00Imagine a New Year<p> If this New Year’s Celebration at Times Square follows the
pattern set since 1986, just before the ball drops and we turn our calendars
forward, someone will sing John Lennon’s classic song, <i>Imagine</i>. It is a good thing to close out the past and look to the
future by imagining the world as it could be. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p> John Lennon sat down
at his piano in Berkshire, England one morning in early 1971 and composed the
song that became his most popular single. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named it
the greatest song of the last 100 years.
Australians chose “Imagine” as the greatest song of all time. But for
many of us, there is a greater vision of how the world could be.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Every time we quote the Lord’s Prayer we are invited to imagine
the world as it is meant to be. Jesus
taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth
as it is in Heaven …” What would the world look like if that prayer were
answered? How would the world differ
from the world we know? </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>If God’s will were done on earth, there would be no more
crime. Theft, violence and murder would end. Prisons would empty. Neighbor would no longer sue neighbor. Court dockets would clear.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Employers would forego extravagant profits in order to pay
higher wages to their workers. No child
would go to bed hungry or unsheltered.
Those who possess the food and resources of the world would share with
those who have none.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Corruption, graft and greed would disappear. Wars would
cease. Politicians would serve the best interest of others with honesty and
integrity. Fairness, kindness, forgiveness
and generosity would prevail. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Husbands would love their wives seeking what is best for
them and striving to please them. Wives
would love and respect their husbands, building them up and encouraging them.
Children would honor their parents and obey them, trusting them in the knowledge
that they want what is best for them.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Racial, cultural and sexual prejudices would vanish. Discrimination would disappear. Every human
being would treat every other human being with respect. The strong would help the weak.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>None of us are in the position to effect such a whole scale
change for the world in which we live.
But we are each able to change our little corner of the world. We can put into practice the answer to the
prayer Jesus taught us to pray. His Kingdom can come and His will can be done
in us and through us. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">In 2024 we can be a part of the answer to the
prayer that has been prayed for more than 2,000 years.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">What if His kingdom were to come and His will
was done on earth as it is in Heaven this day? Just imagine!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>A Christmas/New Year gift: Bill Tinsley's children's book, Buddy the Floppy Ear Corgi, free eBook on Amazon December 26-30.</i></span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-28968703350729581102023-12-19T10:13:00.000-08:002023-12-19T10:13:04.095-08:00When the "Most Wonderful Time of Year" Becomes the Most Difficult<p> For most of us, the holidays are a time of joy and
celebration, stretching from Thanksgiving through Christmas and the New
Year. But for some, it can be the most
difficult time of year. We may feel the
keen absence of a loved one, the anxiety of measuring up, the pressure of
trying to please those we love with gifts we cannot afford. We are constantly
bombarded with images of perfect families and happy faces exchanging perfect
gifts. All of this can lead to “holiday depression.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Depression is widespread. For most of us it is temporary and
seldom. For some, it is a lifelong and constant companion. It affects the rich
and poor, the unknown and the famous.
Abraham Lincoln was well known for his bouts with depression. His law
partner, William Herndon observed, “His melancholy dripped from him as he
walked.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>According to Mayo Clinic, “Depression is a medical illness
that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.” We
all know it when we feel it: the heavy weight that seems to bear down upon us,
sapping our energy, dragging us down, emotional shackles that reduce our steps
to a shuffle, the thief that robs us of creativity and destroys our dreams.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Here are a few proven steps to combat depression, some from
Lincoln himself:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Refuse to surrender to depression’s emotions. Lincoln
learned this discipline and encouraged others to follow it. In 1842, he wrote,
“Remember in the depth and even the
agony of despondency, that very shortly you are to feel well again.” In his
famous letter to Fanny McCollough, he said, “You can not now realize that you
will ever feel better. Is not this so? And yet it is a mistake. You are sure to
be happy again. To know this, which is certainly true, will make you some less
miserable now. I have had experience enough to know what I say.”<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span>Get up and get out. Exercise, walk,
run, play. Exercise of the body somehow
releases a wind within that can blow away the dark clouds that close in on us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Get with people. Loneliness is depression’s partner. When I
was a teenager, I read a little known book by a Christian psychiatrist named
Henry C. Link entitled <i>Return to Religion. </i>Basically, the book said that
church is good for the human psyche.
Going to church is good for us. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Do something good for someone else. Guilt and depression are
common companions. The acts that make us
feel guilty often become the seeds of depression. Acts of altruism will punch holes in the
darkness and let in the liberating light.
Accept God’s forgiveness for your sins, and then go out of your way to
do something for others.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>If depression persists, seek professional medical
assistance. We are complex creatures
with a complex chemical balance that affects our moods. Proper medication, administered under the
careful supervision of a doctor, can help. Speaking of his own depression,
Lincoln said, “Melancholy is a misfortune. It is not a fault.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Trust in God who cares for you. Look beyond and beneath all
the holiday hype to remember the basic message of Christmas. God has loved you so much that He has given
His only begotten Son, just for you. God
loves you just as you are. He is
reaching out His hand to you!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-79128280151882182082023-12-12T11:30:00.000-08:002023-12-13T20:51:42.732-08:00Where Christianity is Growing Fastest<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
I were to ask you where Christianity is growing fastest in the world what would
you say? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">No, not the United States.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Most of us are aware that Christianity is
declining in the U.S. as well as Britain and Europe. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Several years ago, the geographical centers for
Christianity shifted to the southern hemisphere: South America, Africa and
Asia.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
what country is experiencing the greatest growth in the Christian faith?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Would you be surprised if I said, Iran?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Well, so am I. But that is what the reports
indicate.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the last few years
Christianity has grown </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">faster in Iran
than in any other nation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some
of us remember 1979 when the Shah of Iran was deposed and the Ayatollah Khomeini
set up a strict Islamic state in Iran.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For
the last 44 years Islam has held a tight-fisted control of the country. But
recently, while the world wasn’t watching, a surge of faith in Christ has taken
place in Iran.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A little over two years
ago Newsweek quoted Shay Katiri of Johns Hopkins University who wrote of Iran, “Islam
is the fastest shrinking religion there while Christianity is growing the
fastest.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Iran
appears to be experiencing what other nations have seen under persecution.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Christian faith goes underground.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Small cells of believers begin to multiply
without clergy or buildings.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A rapidly
multiplying network of disciples starts to spread, much like the early Christian
faith under Roman persecution. Some estimate a million new believers in
Iran.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Others think the number could be
far greater.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At
the same time, Iran remains one of the most brutal countries for persecution of
Christians. According to Open Doors, that focuses on the persecuted church, “</span><span style="background: white; color: #3b4037; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The outlook for Iranian Christians, in
particular converts from Islam to Christianity, is by no means improving.
Pressure remains extreme against Christians in all spheres of life.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lela
Gilbert, an adjunct fellow for the Center for Religious Freedom recently wrote,
“</span><span style="color: #2c2f43; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I’ve learned about the many abuses suffered by
our sisters and brothers in Iran, I have also been awestruck by their courage
and boldness — and by the remarkable results. More than a million new converts
— called Muslim Background Believers (MBB) — are reading the Bible for the
first time, praying, gathering in small groups, and sharing their new faith
with friends and family, despite the risks. Their faith is amazing,
encouraging, and inspiring.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2c2f43; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2c2f43; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As we celebrate this Christmas season, we all remember the Magi,
the Shepherds, and the angels singing. But we overlook the persecution that fell upon
Bethlehem. “</span><span class="text"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then when Herod saw that he had been
tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and killed
all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity who were two years
old or under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <span class="text">Then
what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:</span> ‘A
voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children, and she refused to be comforted because they were no more.’” (Matthew
2:16-18). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2c2f43; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2c2f43; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At this Christmas season when we freely, openly and joyfully
celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us remember the millions of Christians
world-wide who do not share this privilege.</span><span style="color: #2c2f43; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="color: #2c2f43; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">While we attend our parties, concerts, family gatherings and gift-giving,
let us pray for those who risk their freedom and their lives to embrace Jesus
as their Savior.</span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-12390367855908213852023-12-05T12:36:00.000-08:002023-12-05T12:36:13.252-08:00Sunrise Season<p> <span style="color: #333333;">I sat in the pre-dawn dark, watched the
gathering glow in the east and heard the first bird break the stillness with
song. Soon others joined him in the gathering light until the air echoed with a
chorus of calls celebrating the break of day. It was as if the birds had waited
through the long hours of darkness wondering if the sun would return, and, once
it did, they were delirious with joy.</span></p><p><span style="color: #333333;">
<br />
We sometimes feel that way, when we consider the darkness in which our world
exists: continued wars in the Ukraine, Israel, Myanmar, and Sudan; Jihadist
insurgencies in Niger, Burkina Faso and Tunisia; daily reports of sexual abuse,
domestic violence and prejudice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We sometimes wonder, as the birds seem to do,
if the dawn of light and goodness will again dispel the darkness of violence and
suffering . <br />
<br />
I have watched the sun rise over the snow-covered hills of Minnesota, painting
the landscape with crimson and gold, its light sparkling like diamonds on ice
covered limbs. I have watched the sun stain the eastern horizon with purple and
gray before penetrating the breaking clouds with shafts of gold. I have watched
the day dawn over the mountains of Montana and Switzerland. I have seen it
transform the sea into pink and purple waves. I watched the sun rise on the
first day of the new millennium, bursting above the horizon as a brilliant ball
of light in a clear blue sky. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #333333;">Sunrise is the perfect symbol for God’s
intervention into our world at this Christmas season. <br />
<br />
When the forerunner, John, was born, his father, Zechariah understood the
importance of his birth. For nine months he had reflected on the angel’s
announcement in the temple, that he would have a son in his old age. He had remained
mute throughout Elizabeth’s pregnancy. But when John was born, his tongue was loosed,
and he burst into praise. He said, “</span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black;">And you, child, also will be called
the prophet of the Most High;</span> for you will go on before
the Lord to prepare His ways;</span> <b><sup> </sup></b>to give His
people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of
their sins,<b><sup> </sup></b>because of the tender mercy of our
God, with which the sunrise from on high will visit us,<b><sup> </sup></b>to
shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our
feet into the way of peace.”<span style="color: #333333;">
(Luke 1:76-79).<br />
<br />
Every generation has witnessed the sunrise of God. Darkness cannot conquer it.
Corrie Ten Boom and Dietrich Bonhoffer saw it during the dark days of Hitler’s
holocaust. Louis Zamparini discovered it after surviving the Japanese POW
camps. Rachel Scott and Cassie Bernall bore witness to it during the massacre
at Columbine. The light from on high refuses to be extinguished by the violence
and suffering of this world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
This is what John meant when he wrote, “In him was life, and that life was the
light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has
not overcome it. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We
have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the
Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:4-14).<o:p></o:p></span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-26402781522430799642023-11-28T07:20:00.000-08:002023-11-28T07:20:03.631-08:00The Master Potter<p> A few miles north of Waco, Texas on the east banks of the
Brazos River sits the Homestead Heritage, an agrarian Christian community
committed to preserving nineteenth century craftsmanship. The community offers shops where visitors can
observe “artistry-in-action” complete with a pottery barn, blacksmith forge,
grist mill and a carpentry shop. George
and Laura Bush commissioned the Homestead to construct and furnish their house
at the Crawford Ranch. This year the annual Homestead Heritage Fair has been
extended to 3 weekends through December 9.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>When we lived in Waco, Homestead was one of our favorite
places to visit. I especially liked the
pottery shop. I marveled at the talent
of those who worked there. The artists applied water and shaped the clay spinning
on the potter’s wheel in front of them. With nimble fingers and just the right
amount of pressure, they brought the clay to life and shaped it into the form
they desired.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pottery is an ancient art.
For thousands of years the trade was passed down from generation to
generation in cultures around the world.
Communities developed around clay deposits in India, China and the
Middle East. Archeologists continue to
excavate pottery from the earliest sites of civilization.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Jeremiah must have marveled, as I did, when he visited a
potter’s house in ancient Jerusalem.
When he watched the clay spin upon the wheel, he saw the potter’s
ability to change the shape of the clay in an instant. He sensed God speaking to him, “<span class="text">Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?”
declares the </span><span class="small-caps"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Lord</span></span><span class="text">. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My
hand.” (Jeremiah 18:6). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="text"><o:p> </o:p></span>Isaiah made a similar observation. “Shall
the potter be considered as equal with the clay?</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<span class="text">That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make
me”; or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”
(Isaiah 29:16).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="text"><o:p> </o:p></span>God has made each of us unique. We are, each and every one of us, special in
His sight. He never abandons us or gives
up on us. Like the clay, we continue to
be molded in His hands. With every
pressure, whether success or failure, joy or sorrow. God is fashioning us for
His purposes so that we can reflect His glory, bless others and be filled with
joy. He wants us to love ourselves and one another just the way He made us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="text"><o:p> </o:p></span>This is what Paul meant when he said, “God
causes all things to work together for good to those who love the Lord, to
those who are called according to His purpose.”
(Romans 8:28). All things work
together for good when we realize the Master Potter is shaping us for His
purposes on the earth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="text"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like
Me, <sup> </sup>Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient
times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isaiah 46:9-10).</p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-87587702386358099192023-11-22T10:20:00.000-08:002023-11-22T10:44:38.867-08:00Thanksgiving 2023<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">When we think of Thanksgiving, we usually think
of Pilgrims and Indians gathered for a harvest feast at Plymouth, but it was
Abraham Lincoln who gave us Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Prior to Lincoln,
each state celebrated Thanksgiving on different dates according to the
discretion of each state’s governor. In 1863, in the middle of the Civil War,
Lincoln issued a Presidential proclamation for a national day of Thanksgiving.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="background: white;">After noting the many blessings of God in spite
of the Civil War with all its suffering and severity, Lincoln wrote in his
proclamation, “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked
out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who,
while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered
mercy.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">We must never take the blessings of God for
granted. He holds every nation of every age accountable.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">We cannot descend into the chasms of
corruption, deception, anger, prejudice, arrogance, greed and immorality and expect
God’s blessings to remain upon us.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Thomas Jefferson’s words are inscribed on the
Northeast Portico of the Jefferson Memorial: “Can the liberties of a nation be
secured when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of
God?</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Indeed I tremble for my nation when
I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Jeremiah counseled, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do
justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the
power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger,
the orphan or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood … Did not your father
eat and drink and do justice and righteousness?</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Then it was well with him.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">He
pled the cause of the afflicted and the needy; then it was well. Is not that
what it means to know Me?’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 22:3,5, 15-16).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just over two weeks before his death in
1963,</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">John F. Kennedy issued a
Thanksgiving proclamation on November 5.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">He wrote, “Today we give our thanks, most of all, for the ideals of
honor and faith we inherit from our forefathers – for the decency of purpose,
steadfastness of will, for the courage and the humility, which they possessed
and which we must emulate.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">As we express
our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to
utter words but to live by them.” </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">In an interview with Jeremiah Greever, Eric
Metaxas, author of </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bonhoffer </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">and </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">If You Can Keep It,</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> reflected</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">on the failure of the German church to
confront and oppose the rise of totalitarianism under Hitler. He referred to
Alexis de Toqueville’s</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">assessment
concerning America in 1835, “Liberty cannot be established without morality,
nor morality without faith … despotism may govern without faith, but liberty
cannot.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">As we enter the 2024 Presidential election year,
it is important that we approach this Thanksgiving with humility, gratitude and
prayer that as individuals and a nation we might fulfill God’s will in our
treatment of one another and the nations of the earth.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><i>For Thanksgiving, my newest book, We Beheld His Glory, free eBook on Amazon November 23-26.</i></span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-84694404064450910442023-11-14T08:01:00.000-08:002023-11-14T08:39:15.123-08:00November 22<p> Next week will mark sixty years since a rifle shot echoed
in Dallas altering the course of history.
It left John F. Kennedy dead and a nation in shock. For those of us who are older, it is a moment frozen in time. Each one who experienced it remembers where we
were and what we were doing when we heard
that President Kennedy had been shot. This week will be filled with
documentaries, flashbacks, stories, and remembrances of that event. But
something else happened on that date that the world little noticed.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>On the same day, November 22, 1963, C. S. Lewis collapsed at
5:30 PM in the bedroom of his Oxford home and died one week before his
sixty-fifth birthday. Sixty years later,
C. S. Lewis’ death is little noted. But
his writings may be more popular and more widely read than ever. Both events marked by November 22 continue to
shape our world: the traumatic assassination of President Kennedy and the
writings of C.S. Lewis.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>An avowed atheist in his youth, C.S. Lewis came to faith in
Christ in 1931, partially influenced by his friend and colleague, J.R.R. Tolkien. By some estimates he became the most widely
read Christian writer in history. He is
perhaps best known today for <i>The Lion,
The Witch and the Wardrobe</i>, a Christian allegory written for children in
1950. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I expect both Lewis and Tolkien would be shocked to discover
their fantasies, <i>The Chronicles of Narnia
</i>and <i>The Lord of the Rings </i>have
become blockbuster movies in the twenty-first century. And, I expect C.S. Lewis
would be even more surprised to learn that he is one of the most quoted authors
on social media. Here are a few of his
most famous quotes:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span>“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to
worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word
'darkness' on the walls of his cell.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span>"Relying on God has to begin all over again every
day as if nothing had yet been done."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span>"God has infinite attention to spare for each one of
us. You are as much alone with him as if you were the only being he had ever
created."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span> "When Christ
died, he died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only
person in the world."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Millions who have struggled with doubt and disbelief have
found a path to faith through his best known book, <i>Mere Christianity.</i> I first
read <i>Mere Christianity</i> when I was a
college student 55 years ago, along with
<i>The Screwtape Letters</i> and <i>The Four Loves</i>. Later I added his science fiction books, <i>Out of the Silent Planet</i>, <i>Perelandra </i>and <i>That Hideous Strength. </i> Like
many others my faith and my thinking have been shaped by Lewis’ writings.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>As the world pauses to reflect on that fateful day in Dallas
sixty years ago, we are afforded opportunity to reflect on faith in Christ, as
described so beautifully by C. S. Lewis. A faith that can carry us through any
crisis, global or personal. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-16317305968893659092023-11-07T07:12:00.002-08:002023-11-14T08:03:21.411-08:00Changing the Rules<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is always important to know the rules in anything we
do. We have rules at school, rules at
work and rules at home. We establish laws to govern traffic: speed limits, stop
signs, turn lanes and signals. We pass
laws for family, marriage, commerce and civil conduct. We spend billions of dollars to employ law
enforcement officials, judges and lawyers to make sure the rules are obeyed. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>We even have rules for play. Every sport has its rules with
umpires and referees to insure that the rules are enforced. We have added instant replay to make sure
their rulings are fair and objective.
Still, arguments erupt and tempers flare when either side believes it
has been unfairly judged. Many OU fans are miffed today because of several
penalties and a missed call in their loss to OSU on Saturday. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Some rules are unwritten. We assume we know them from birth.
They are common to every culture on earth.
They are simple rules: love your
family and your friends. Do good things for
them. Love your country. If someone hits you, hit them back. Don’t break in line. Lend only to those who
will pay you back with interest. Look out for “number one.” Protect your property. Defend yourself. If
someone wrongs you, get even. Sometimes
we follow these rules even when they conflict with the law. They are the stuff of most movies and
novels. They are the rules by which the
world lives.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><o:p></o:p></p><p>When Jesus came, he changed all the rules.
His words sound strange when compared to our natural assumptions about how
life is supposed to work. "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who
mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and
whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give
to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not
demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you
love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love
those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is
that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you
expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in
order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and
lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will
be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be
merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:27-36). </p><p><br /></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-81890027346992236942023-10-31T13:54:00.002-07:002023-10-31T13:54:14.553-07:00Biker Believers<p> This week, November 2-5, half a million bikers will show up
in Galveston for the Lone Star Rally, the largest motorcycle rally in Texas.
They come from all walks of life with a shared love for the road, the wind and
the machine. Normally the Seawall hums
with the quiet traffic of tourists, the squeal of children playing on the beach
and the rumble of waves breaking on the shore.
But this week, it will vibrate with the thunder of Harley Davidsons.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I have always liked bikes.
I got my first motor scooter when I was 13. Two years later, my first motorcycle. It wasn’t much. I didn’t have much money, only a 175 cc
engine. It would only do 45 mph, that is
until I took the engine apart and cleaned out the exhaust ports. Then it would do 75. Great fun! </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>After I became a pastor, I found myself serving a church
where many of the members had motorcycles.
I bought a Suzuki. Again, not
much of a bike because, again, I didn’t have much money. But my wife rode with me and I was able to go
on some bike rides with my members. I
took my son on a ride and toured Pea Ridge, Civil War battlefield in northwest
Arkansas.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I never owned a Harley, but a few years ago I visited the
Harley Davidson plant in Kansas City with a group of church leaders interested
in Harley Davidson. I listened as a
young man introduced himself as a disciple of Jesus Christ disguised as a
Harley Davidson executive.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Of course, not all Bikers are Christian or gentle. Eight years ago, on a quiet Sunday afternoon
in Waco, Texas, my wife and I happened upon the scene at Twin Peaks Restaurant
where conflict between two biker gangs erupted into a shootout. Nine bikers were killed, and 18 others
wounded.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>A few years ago, I served as coach to a pastor who was
starting a Biker Church, a church for people who served their community and
shared their faith as biker enthusiasts. The church met on Thursday nights for worship
and participated in biker rides and rallies on the weekend. They raised money
for those in need and started a Bible-base ministry for substance abuse. Bikers
for Christ has more than 100 chapters in 20 countries and thousands of members
worldwide.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>When I turned 60, I bought a Kawasaki, again a used bike,
but by far the best and fastest bike I ever owned. I went down on it at 60 mph but my full-face
helmet and the Lord saved my life. I
survived with only a couple of broken ribs and road rash. I still love bikes.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>If the Apostle Peter lived today, perhaps he would be a
biker. After all he was a rough
fisherman when Jesus met him and he was prone to jump out of boats. Jesus loved him and made him the leader of
his followers. When I think about Jesus,
the places he went, the people he befriended, it makes think He would love
bikers. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-20780832279813639642023-10-24T08:28:00.001-07:002023-10-24T08:28:11.551-07:00Children of the Kingdom<p> When we think about being religious, we conjure up different
images. Some imagine ascetic monks
living in desert regions, emaciated and starving, bleary eyed and anti-social. Others
picture nuns wearing habits and whispering prayers as they finger their
rosaries. Still others imagine TV evangelists
with slicked-back hair. When Jesus
wanted to forge an image in the minds of his followers, he chose a child and
stood him in their midst and said, “Unless you change and become as children,
you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven,” (Matthew 18:2-3). Why would he do
this?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Jesus left the answer to that question up to us. We can all speculate about the lesson he
wanted to teach by choosing a child.
Here are a few characteristics that stand out to me when I think about children
and the reason he chose a child to illustrate the nature of Kingdom
people. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Children live in the moment.
They are not worried about the future.
They are not burdened with guilt about the past. Watch children playing
on a playground. They have little
awareness of time. They wear no watches.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Children become friends fast. Most children have not learned
to be hesitant and shy. They greet one
another as if they have already met.
“Want to play?” And the game is
on.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Children laugh. I love listening to children on the school
playground and in the park. Anywhere children gather, the air is filled with
laughter. It is their nature to laugh.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Children do not know prejudice. I’m not sure when we learn racial and
cultural prejudice, but young children readily accept each other as equals
regardless of skin color or clothing. If
they notice a difference between them, they do not hesitate to ask about
it. And, once the difference is
recognized and addressed, they move on.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Children trust. With
their father’s extended arms and a little encouragement, they will fling their
bodies into open space fully confident they will be caught. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Children are awed by God’s creation. They are mesmerized by grasshoppers,
caterpillars, butterflies, and flowers. They stop and take time to watch an ant
wrestle a crumb of bread across the ground.
They notice the spots on a ladybug.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Children have great imaginations. Give a child a sandbox, a
stick, or a can and they can construct unbelievable creations. I watched
children recently playing in the sand.
They were digging a hole. When I
asked what it was, they stared at me with a puzzled look, as if I was the only
one who did not recognize the obvious.
They patiently explained that it was a grasshopper sanctuary.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>This list isn’t complete. You can add others, I am sure. Somewhere within us all is buried the child
we once were. Perhaps if we could
re-connect with the child-like simplicity within us, we might take our first
steps toward becoming Kingdom citizens as Jesus described it. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-18297186469628526172023-10-16T10:01:00.006-07:002023-10-17T07:29:06.407-07:00Israel, Jerusalem and the End Times<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Israel
is dominating the news again with the Hamas invasion and Israel’s
declaration of war.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like
many, I have visited Israel.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have
descended the path from the Mount of Olives, strolled among the shops, lunched on falafel with hummus and pita, walked the Via Dolorosa, prayed at the Western Wall,
visited the Temple Mount and walked the ramparts of Jerusalem.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There
is no place on earth like Jerusalem, built on the southern slope of Mount
Moriah where Abraham ascended with </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">his
son Isaac beside him bearing a bundle of firewood.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was here that God provided the sacrifice,
a ram caught in the thicket over 4,000 years ago.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His descendants returned hundreds of years
later after the Egyptian captivity and the Exodus.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The young king David chose Jerusalem for his
capital 3,000 years ago and his son,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Solomon built the first temple. Jesus was crucified outside its gates
2.000 years ago. And it was here that He rose from the dead. It is difficult to
sift through centuries of warfare and reconstruction to find the original sites
and to imagine them as they were.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alexander
the Great conquered Jerusalem in 332 BC. The Romans in 63 BC. After demolishing
the city in 70 AD, Rome rebuilt it in 135 AD. After Constantine, Jerusalem came
under Roman Christian rule which included construction of the Church of the
Holy Sepulcher, which was destroyed by the Persians 300 years later. In 638 the
Caliph Omar captured Jerusalem and brought it under Islamic rule. The Dome of
the Rock was built in 691 where Solomon’s Temple once stood.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Between 1099 and 1250 rule over
Jerusalem shifted repeatedly between Muslims and Christian Crusaders ending
with Islamic rule between 1250 and 1517.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For the next 400 years Jerusalem was ruled by the Ottomans until British
rule was established in 1917 following WWI. The present state of Israel was
created in 1948 following WW II and the Holocaust. Jerusalem was a divided city
until Israel took possession of Old Jerusalem in 1967. In the light of this
long history and current events, the words of Zechariah and the words that
Jesus spoke only days before His crucifixion sound remarkably relevant.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Zechariah
wrote, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“It will come about on
that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all
who lift it will injure themselves severely. And all the nations of the
earth will be gathered against it,” (Zechariah 12:3).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus said, "Jerusalem will be trampled under foot b</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">y the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">among the nations, in perplexity at the roaring </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">of the sea and the
waves, <b><sup> </sup></b>people fainting from fear and the
expectation of the things that are coming upon the world; for the powers
of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the
Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these
things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (Luke 21:20-28).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-16689210271832803752023-10-10T08:53:00.001-07:002023-10-10T08:53:25.607-07:00Water of Life<p> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps
somewhere out there some extraterrestrials are listening to Jimmy Carter’s
greetings and Chuck Berry singing, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Johnny
Be Good</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> on the recordings launched into space aboard Voyager in 1977. Voyager
has left the solar system and is in interstellar space. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or, maybe someday we will pick up alien radio
messages like Jodie Foster in </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Contact</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.
But, so far, the evidence indicates that life in the universe is precious. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Quite possibly, we are it. Although I have to
agree that it makes sense there should be life somewhere out there.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Surely in God’s economy He would not create
this vast expanse of universe and only create life on our small pebble.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Scientists
are searching for water again.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not on
earth, but in far-flung places in our solar system and the universe.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In their search for life on other planets
they know that water is the key.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Where
there is water, there could be life. Scientists have discovered a vast cloud of
water in space containing 130 trillion times the water in all the seas and
oceans on earth. (Space is a big place). The only problem is that it is 12
billion light years away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Whenever
scientists search for life in the universe they search first for water.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ellen Stofan, chief scientist for NASA said,
“NASA science activities have provided a wave of amazing findings related to
water in recent years that inspire us to continue investigating our origins and
the fascinating possibilities of other worlds, and life, in the universe.”
Water is the essence of life as we know it. Without it, life cannot exist.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Most
of us think little about water. We are more focused on beverages that tease our
taste and promise a lift.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We take water
for granted.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But water is the essential
element for life. Humans can live weeks without food.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But living without water is another story. Most
wilderness guides warn that we can only survive a </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">few days without water.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
knew this when He spoke about water.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks
of the water that I will give him will never thirst; but the water that I will
give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life,”
(John 4:13-14).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
important as water is to the existence of life and to our own physical
well-being, there is another element even more important to the life of our
soul.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Millions who have access to food,
shelter, water and wealth are dying every day for lack of the spiritual water
that can nourish their soul.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In John’s Revelation Jesus
said, “</span></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I am the </span>Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring
of the water of life, without cost.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="text"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Thus says the </span></span><span class="small-caps"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Lord</span></span><span class="text"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> who made you and formed you from the
womb, who will help you, </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">…</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span class="text" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="background: white;">‘For I will pour out water on<sup>]</sup>the
thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on
your offspring and My blessing on
your descendants; and they will spring
up <sup>]</sup>among the grass like poplars by streams of water,” (Isaiah
44:2-4).</span></span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-63230635122099869372023-10-03T09:06:00.007-07:002023-10-03T09:06:53.696-07:00Finding Denouement - Tying Up Loose Ends<p class="MsoNormal">Every time we attend a play, watch a movie, or read a book,
we are looking for, and expecting denouement. Webster’s Dictionary defines
denouement as “the final solution or untangling of the conflicts or
difficulties that make up the plot or a literary work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The outcome of a complicated or difficult
situation or sequence of events.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 118.7pt;">In Shakespeare’s <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> the denouement
occurs when enmity between the Capulets and Montagues drives their beloved
children to suicide. In <i>Les
Miserables </i>the denouement occurs when Jean Valjean rescues his adopted
daughter’s fiancé from battle in the French Revolution. Simultaneously, he
spares the life of his enemy, Javert, who, in despair, casts himself into the Siene
and drowns.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>We all want denouement in our stories. Whenever we read a book that leaves us
hanging without reconciling the conflicts and questions raised by the telling,
we feel unsatisfied. Life, however, is
not like fiction. It does not always tie
the loose ends into a neat bow at the end.
Often, we are left to live our lives with unanswered questions.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet the Bible offers us help. The unanswered questions in our immediate circumstance
can find meaning in the greater narrative found in its pages. The Bible is, after all a story: the grandest
of stories, from creation to consummation of the age.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>In his early adult years Joseph would have had difficulty
predicting the denouement of his life. In
a rage of resentment and jealousy, his brothers sold him into slavery. Finding himself a slave in Egypt, he was falsely
accused by his master’s wife and thrown into prison. Through a series of events in which he continued
to demonstrate faithfulness and a gift for discernment, he was rescued from
prison and rose to prominence in Pharaoh’s court. Years later, during a global
famine, his brothers arrived in Egypt desperately seeking food. When they
recognized their brother they had sold into slavery, they feared for their
lives. But, with tears, Joseph embraced them and declared, “You meant it to me
for evil, but God meant it to me for good.” </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>While we are in the midst of life we have difficulty
predicting the outcome of the tragedies and disappointments that come our way.
But in the end, the Master Author of life will write a denouement for those who
put their faith and trust in Him. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>The Apostle Paul recognized this when he wrote, “All things
work together for good for those who love the Lord, for those who are called
according to His purpose.” As long as we
love ourselves and seek out own purposes, life will continue to be a mess. But, when we love God and are called
according to His purpose, all things work together for good.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><o:p> </o:p></i>Jesus provides the greatest example of this truth. At the crucifixion, everything seemed to have
fallen apart. Nothing good, it seemed, could come of this. But the resurrection changed everything. The empty tomb provided the greatest denouement
in the history of man.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2528858535933342766.post-51835205269684839052023-09-26T11:11:00.004-07:002023-09-26T11:11:57.804-07:00When You Are Angry<p> <span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif", serif;">Anger
doesn’t require significant issues to raise its ugly head.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif", serif;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif", serif;">Several Tampa Bay baseball fans got into an
angry fight over a foul ball that landed in a garbage can. After tempers
flared, the security guard stepped in and ruled that the ball would remain
where it landed, beneath a pile of peanut shells, beer cans, hot dog wrappers
and whatever else had been deposited in the can. If we can’t get along with one
another, nobody wins.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif",serif;">We are all acquainted with anger. We have felt the rising resentment and
boiling emotions that overwhelm rational thought and take control of our words
and our actions leading us to say things and do things that we later regret. We
call it losing our temper. It is built into us. We are born with it. Anyone who
cares for a newborn soon discovers that babies have a temper. For most of us,
age helps. We call it “mellowing.” Things that once pushed our button and
shoved us over the edge are not as frustrating as before. We become more patient;
we gain greater perspective. <br />
<br />
It is okay to become angry. When anger causes us to take action that will
result in improved environment and behavior, it is good. Jesus became angry. He
did not casually cleanse the temple. He drove out all those who were using
religion for profit, overturned their tables, scattered their money on the
stones and drove the bleating sheep, braying oxen and fluttering pigeons before
him with a whip. Later, when the religious authorities wanted to prevent him
from healing the sick on the Sabbath, the Bible says he looked at them “with
anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.” <br />
<br />
But it is not okay to lose our temper. Uncontrolled anger can be disastrously
destructive. It is not okay to live an angry life as an angry person. Angry
people alienate others, and, when their anger spins out of control, they
inflict damage and injury to themselves and others. When anger cuts off
conversation and communication that can lead to understanding and solutions to
shared problems, it is a bad thing. When anger spills over into rage that
lashes out at others to hurt and to harm, it is a bad thing. <br />
<br />
Anger is one of those human emotions we all possess that must be channeled and
controlled to produce constructive results. Left unchecked and allowed to run
wild, it can destroy us. The Bible instructs us to “Be angry and yet do not
sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger.”(Eph. 4:26). The Bible also
says, “The anger of man does not fulfill the righteousness of God.” (James
1:20). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif",serif;"> W</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia Serif, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">hen
we are introduced to the Apostle Paul in the book of </span>Acts,<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> he is an angry young
man. After assisting in the murder of Stephen, he proceeded to persecute Christians,
going from house to house, arresting men and women and throwing them into
prison. But, on the way to extend his rage to Damascus, he met the risen
Christ. His life was changed.</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">His anger
was quenched.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Later, he extended the
love of Christ to those who persecuted him (Acts 16:22-30) and authored one of
the greatest passages on love the world has ever known, (1 Corinthians 13). </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia Serif", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>Bill Tinsleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18132086833368706902noreply@blogger.com0