Funeral For An Old Friend

There is an old anecdote about walking through a cemetery and looking at all the headstones, and realizing that there is one thing that each headstone has in common.  There may be all sorts of different shapes and they all say something a little different about the person who is buried there.  They all have a different date of birth and a different date that the person died.  But the thing they have in common is that little dash between the two dates.  That little dash, although it takes up the least amount of space on that stone, is the most important part of the story.  You see it is that little dash that represents the entire life of the person who's name appears at the top.  I want my dash to be worth remembering when my days are all used up.  I lost a couple of good friends this last year, and it really has me thinking more and more about the legacy I am leaving behind.  It was really driven home when I attended the ...

Funeral For An Old Friend

I went to the funeral

For an old friend today

With so much in my heart

Yet so little I could say

To console a grieving widow

Or the kids he left behind

No thoughtful words of wisdom

Or sweet refrain that could unwind

The deep pain of loss

Or the fear of the unknown

No way to quell the yearning

For all the love that he had shown

But there is just one thing

That I really wanted to say

The thing that impacted my life

About my friend who’s gone away

If I can be remembered

When it comes my time to go

Just the way that he was

Then for certain I will know

That my life has been successful

And my time has been well spent

If I have been found faithful

When to heaven I have went

So then to be a man of faith

To be faithful kind and true

Just like my friend was remembered

Will be the best that I can do

For Clint Moore 1-3-15

1Co 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

  It has been said that the best ability is dependability.  Yet the day of a man's word being his bond seems to be a thing of the past.  No longer is it just expected that a man will say what he means and mean what he says.  The biblical truths of integrity, stewardship and faithfulness are undeniable.  So why then does it seem so rare that men today, even in the church, are characterized as faithful?  The older I get the more I want that to be the thing that is remembered about my life...faithfulness!

 

       A Tribute for Ruby...

  I think it must be a byproduct of getting older, but it seems that I have attended more funerals and memorials the last couple of years than in any other period of my life.  This was true again this past week.  We lost another dear friend last Saturday, after a decade long battle with a myriad of health struggles.  We attended her Memorial yesterday and I was impressed with what a legacy she left behind in not only her children and grand children, but in so many friends that she had made an impression on.
   Ruby was a sweet lady in our church that we had known for the about 20 years or so.  She had always treated me like I was one of her sons, so much so that I affectionately called her Mom.  Whenever we would visit, no matter what she was dealing with or how much obvious pain she was in, she would always smile and tell me she loved me and remind me that she was praying for Karen and I regularly.  And when I would ask, "Mom how are you doing?" Her response was almost as predictable as the sunrise.  She would get that familiar grin on her face and say....

Just Praising Jesus

"Just praising Jesus”

I would always hear her say

And I just can’t help but think

How much more true that is today

She was a real prayer warrior

An encourager to all she knew

And she always had a smile for me

No matter what she was going through

With all her pain and struggle

Human frailties and strife

If you asked her “how are you doing?”

“Just praising Jesus” was her life

So today she’s in the Glory

All the trials finally past

Still just praising Jesus

But now face to face at last

Yes she will surely be missed

But her impact will be to remind

Me to just keep praising Jesus

Whenever she comes to mind.

  It seems that anytime I lose someone from my life, two main things dominate my thinking;  First, I wonder if I told them enough just how much I loved them and how I appreciate the impact they have had on my life.  And second, I wonder how many people I have had a positive impact on, and how will I be remembered when it comes my time to go?

   If you have someone in your life that has had a positive impact on you, be sure you let them know how much you appreciate them.  Don't wait till it's too late.

Ps 22:25-26 My praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear Him.

The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek Him: your heart shall live forever.

Ps 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

For “Mom” Self, thanks for your impact on my life.

10.24.2015

What Easter Means to Me

    I absolutely love, pretty much, any and every Holiday.  Any excuse to take a day off and get together with family and friends will always get my vote.  Obviously Christmas rates way up there on the Holiday hit list.  The 4th of July with it's BBQ, fun in the sun and then fireworks always rings that patriot bell in my spirit. But for me, there is something extra special about Easter.  If you are a Christian, the circumspection that it demands is very sobering.
However, it goes much deeper than that.  On the grand timeline of human history, this one historical event is literally the hinge pin of not only the overall drama of mankind from beginning to end, but the individual destiny of each person that has ever or will ever live.  The enormity of that is mind boggling to me.  Then when I consider the Divine love the held Jesus to the cross, something explodes in my heart.  But ultimately it is the power of the Resurrection that gives me hope and purpose, and that is ....

What Easter Means to Me

The history and the destiny

Of all of man kind

Revolves around this one event

So it’s important that we remind

Ourselves of the pain of the cross

And the power of the resurrection

And how the beauty of the gospel

Can change the whole direction

Of a life if one will open up

His heart to the Holy Spirit

The blinders will fall off

And his mind will begin to hear it

The story of redemption

Framed before the world began

How God would break the curse of sin

And buy back fallen man

It’s nothing we could ever work for

But a gift to be received

Eternal Life bought by the cross

Is the truth to be believed

Not posturing for religion

But a passion for the Christ

A relationship with the Savior

That will overhaul a life

So I’ve written down this little rhyme

In hopes that all will see

It’s more than just a holiday

That’s what Easter means to me

Isa 53:5 ... But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Mt 28:5-6 ... And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

   It seems that every time I consider the Easter story, I am taken with another aspect of it.  Whether it is the betrayal by Judas or the denial of Peter.  The attempt of Pilot to get the Jews to have Jesus released or the drastically different responses of the two thieves hanging by him on that hill.  And what was it about the resurrected body of Jesus that caused Mary and the disciples not to immediately recognize him as their Risen Lord?  So much happened there within such a very short span of time.  But then, why shouldn't there be a virtual bottomless well of things to examine and ponder in the Easter story?  After all, it really is the single most important event in all of  history.