Happy Valentine's Day

The best decision I ever made was to marry the girl who stole my heart when she walked into Mr. Brost's History class at the beginning of my senior year of high school. I know that high school romances are not supposed to be forever and that when kids get married in their teens, the marriages aren't supposed to last, but we have proven those things wrong. It is still awesome to go through each day with my best friend.



This girl took my breath away when she walked into class that morning. I was too shy to talk to girls, so it was almost a year before she knew I was interested. I think the good Lord knew that I needed all the help I could get, so he made our paths cross in several ways that year. Mr. Brost selected five students to work together weekly to produce learning packets for History class. Gina and I were both in the group. We both worked at the Harris Pine furniture factory. I worked on the dresser jig, and she made drawers. I would spend my breaks with the drawer makers, but she still didn't catch on.

It came time for our High School graduation, and I still had never gotten up the nerve to ask her out. Finally, I mustered up every ounce of courage and asked her if she would march with me when we graduated. She told me she would like to, but she had already told Russell she would march with him. If I talked to Russell, she would march with me. Once again, summoning up every bit of courage, I talked to Russell. He was very gracious and bowed out. I was on cloud nine.

The rest is history. There hasn't been a dull moment since.

Grow old along with me

The best is yet to be

When our time has come

We will be as one

God bless our love

 

Grow old along with me

Two branches of one tree

Face the setting sun

When the day is done

God bless our love

Spending our lives together

Man and wife together

World without end

World without end 

Grow old along with me

Whatever fate decrees

We will see it through

For our love is true

God bless our love

Virtual Reality

My An Arkie's Faith column from the February 8, 2023, issue of The Polk County Pulse. 

"Come on over to our condo," my niece said. "We are having a technology show and share." My niece loves new technology and always finds the latest cool and exciting gadgets. At the show and share, my niece showed us several recent purchases. First, she had us try the Oladance open-ear headphones. Unlike traditional in-ear headphones, Oladance features a completely open-ear design that rests gently and securely on top of your ear. The sound and comfort were great, and some ambient sound still came through, so you could hear if someone spoke to you.

The next item in the show and share was the ThermoPro wireless meat thermometer. With its Bluetooth connection, this wireless thermometer can monitor your cooking or grilling up to 500 feet away. It provides an easy way to keep track of the cooking progress and ensure that the meat is cooked to the proper temperature. 

When my niece passed the  OCOOPA rechargeable hand warmers around, I was impressed by how warm they were. They had three temperature levels to keep your hands warm. The high heating level works for eight hours on a charge, medium for 12 hours, and low for 15 hours. One of the useful features of these hand warmers is that they can also be used as an extra power bank. They can provide more than two charges for a cell phone and easily fit into any pocket or bag.

After showing several smaller items, my niece brought out her premier attraction, the Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset. This strange-looking bulky headset was a life-changing experience when strapped onto your head. Virtual reality uses computer technology to create simulated environments and places you inside a three-dimensional experience. Instead of viewing a screen in front of you, you are immersed in and interact in a 3D world.

I do not think I have ever had such a bizarre experience as seeing a virtual world with the Meta Quest 2 headset! Here I am learning the controls through a tutorial game, and I can reach down onto a table and pick up blocks, hit a ping pong ball with a paddle, and throw paper airplanes while standing in the middle of my living room. This artificial environment makes it possible to experience anything anywhere! I explored Jeju Island in Korea, where a K-drama I had recently watched was filmed. 

As I played with the headset's possibilities, I swam with sharks, traveled through strange rock formations in Russia, and found myself in the middle of a Cirque du Soleil performance. I rode a roller coaster and felt nauseous by the end. With the virtual reality headset on, it was as if my living room no longer existed and I was thousands of miles away. The whole experience of being immersed in an exciting virtual world is incredible.

As I explored the virtual world in front of me, I remembered a book I read many years ago in high school. In the book Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, there is an advanced form of technology called the feelies that is like a movie theater in many ways. However, on top of sight and sound, smell and touch are added to the experience through vents pumping in various scents and two metal knobs that allow the viewer to feel what is happening on screen. While most people enjoyed this cheap thrill, the protagonist John hates it and believes the feelies are a base, lesser art form than reading. The feelies don't exist today, but virtual reality devices resemble Huxley's feelies. They distort the concept of what is real.

With virtual reality, the reality is defined and controlled by the user. There's a world ready to explore, and you never need to leave your house. The truth of your surrounding no longer matter because you are immersed in an alternate truth. But this alternate truth is not reality. 

I feel that many of us are living in virtual reality. We have surrounded ourselves with the reality we want to experience and shut out all influences that might change our reality. We ensure that all of the information we consume aligns with our world view and the reality we want. Our virtual reality makes it easier to shut out the unpleasant realities of life. When we live in the reality that we have invented, we cannot see injustice and the plight of people around us.

Jesus spoke to this problem when he said, "the King will say to those on his left, 'Go away from me. You will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever that was prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you did not invite me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me nothing to wear. I was sick and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then those people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or alone and away from home or without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not help you?' Then the King will answer, 'I tell you the truth, anything you refused to do for even the least of my people here, you refused to do for me.'" Matthew 25:41-45 (NCV)

The people that Jesus was talking about were religious but had been living in virtual reality. They had constructed a world in which they could not see injustice and the needs of others. And in the end, they paid with their life. "For the anger of God is unveiled from heaven against all the ungodliness and injustice performed by people who use injustice to suppress the truth." Romans 1:18 (NTE)

Gentle Reader, virtual reality may be fun to experience, but if we live in a virtual reality that we have constructed, we need to open our eyes and see the world the way Jesus sees it. "Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete. Because of the grace allotted to me, I can respectfully tell you not to think of yourselves as being more important than you are." Romans 12:2,3 (VOICE) That is the reality we should strive for.

Stand By for News

My An Arkie's Faith column from the February 1, 2023, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

Hello Americans; this is Paul Harvey. Stand by for news! For many years I tried to arrange my workday so that I could be near the radio when Paul Harvey would start his daily newscast with those familiar words. Paul Harvey's voice and style made him seem like a friend was telling you what had happened that day. His voice is one of the most recognizable in the history of radio. Over twenty million Americans regularly listened to Paul Harvey each week. One thousand six hundred radio stations carried his broadcast.

Paul Harvey was an innovator in the news business. He was a pioneer in the blending of news and opinion. Harvey never tried to hide that his "news" broadcasts included his personal views and conservative bias. While he personalized the radio news with his conservative opinions, he did it in a friendly way with heart-warming tales of average Americans, and folksy observations that made people feel at ease. 

In 1945, when he was 27, Paul Harvey began reporting the news on the Chicago radio station WENR. Soon, his broadcasts were topping the ratings in the greater Chicago area. In November 1950, the station debuted the 15-minute Paul Harvey News & Comments program. The following year the program was nationally syndicated by the American Broadcasting Company. His distinctive delivery was heard regularly over ABC for almost 60 years until his death in 2009. He was the most listened-to man in broadcasting.

"I have a strong point of view, and I share it with my listeners," Harvey told the American Journalism Review in 1998. Known for his staunch conservatism, he supported McCarthyism in the 1950s and George Wallace's segregation in the 1960s. In his later years, Harvey veered to the left by supporting the Equal Rights Amendment and abortion rights and criticizing the Christian right for attempting to impose its views on others.

The Los Angeles Times described his program this way. "Harvey's typical broadcast included a mix of news briefs, humor, celebrity updates, commentary, and the kind of human-interest stories he loved to tell in order to satisfy the public's hunger for a little niceness."

On May 10, 1976, Paul Harvey premiered a new radio series, "The Rest of the Story." The new program consisted of stories presented as little-known or forgotten facts on various subjects with some key element of the story, usually the name of some well-known person, held back until the end. The broadcasts always concluded with the tagline, "And now you know the rest of the story."

The tagline, "the rest of the story," reminded me of a story about my granddaughter. One day, while I was at work, the phone rang. When I answered the phone, my granddaughter said, "Papa, do you remember when we went to Colorado?" "Yes," I replied. She continued, "do you remember when you preached the Friday night, we were there?" "Yes," I answered. "You didn't finish the story. I was wondering what happened to the boy in the story."

In 2018, the Alumni Association of Campion Academy in Loveland, Colorado, asked me to speak on Friday night of the alumni weekend. My wife and I were graduates of Campion Academy's Class of 1973. We planned a week-long vacation in Colorado, spending time in Denver, Cedaredge, Leadville, and Loveland before attending the alumni weekend. We invited our granddaughter on the trip. 

My wife and granddaughter were in the audience Friday night when I gave my talk. I opened and closed my speech with this story. One night a house caught fire, and the flames forced a young boy onto the roof. A fireman stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to the boy, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As you can imagine, he was afraid to leave the roof. The fireman kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "I can't see you." The fireman replied, "But I can see you, and that's all that matters."

Much later, my granddaughter was worried about the boy on the roof. She wondered what had happened to him. She was so curious that she called me. In my sermon, I left the story open because the boy represents each of us, and we have to decide what we will do.

In the book of Acts, there is a story about Paul and Silas. They were in prison for preaching about Jesus. "Suddenly, the ground begins to shake, and the prison foundations begin to crack. You can hear the sound of jangling chains and the squeak of cell doors opening. Every prisoner realizes that his chains have come unfastened. The jailer wakes up and runs into the jail. His heart sinks as he sees the doors have all swung open. He is sure his prisoners have escaped, and he knows this will mean death for him, so he pulls out his sword to commit suicide. 

At that moment, Paul sees what is happening and shouts out at the top of his lungs, Wait, man! Don't harm yourself! We're all here! None of us has escaped. The jailer sends his assistants to get some torches and rushes into the cell of Paul and Silas. He falls on his knees before them, trembling." Acts 16:26-29 (VOICE) When the jailer realized that the prisoners were all accounted for, he brought them out and asked Paul and Silas, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." Acts 16:30,31 (NLT)

When my granddaughter asked me what happened to the boy in the story, I told her that the boy trusted the fireman and jumped, so he was saved. The question I need to ask is, what must I do to be saved? I need to believe in Jesus so much that I will trust him and jump into his arms. He can't save me if I don't trust him enough to jump. He can't save me if I am busy trying to save myself. It's time for us to really believe in Jesus Christ: Believe enough to surrender our will and jump into his arms.

Gentle Reader, we are in the same situation as the young boy on the roof. If we stay in our current situation, fire will destroy us. The most critical question in our lives is, what must I do to be saved? In the little boy's situation, the answer was to jump. What is the answer in your life? Will you make that leap of faith? "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." Acts16:31 (NLT)

Corrupted Data

My An Arkie's Faith column from the January 25, 2023, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

I rode the elevator down to the motel lobby and walked into the breakfast area. The few options on the breakfast bar were mainly mediocre-tasting carbs. I tried to make a meal even though the selections were minimal. I was heading to the airport and wanted to avoid the overpriced food there. As I was eating, I looked at the television on the wall. The morning news was playing with the sound muted. The headline on the bottom of the screen read, "FAA Grounds All Flights From Taking Off."

I almost choked on my cereal as I read the headline. We were supposed to be at DFW for our flight to Portland in an hour. "What is going on," I thought. I took out my phone to see what I could find out and soon learned that there was an outage of an FAA computer system that sends safety notices to pilots. The outage triggered the FAA to halt all US departing flights. As I read further, I found that the FAA planned to resume flights in about an hour. I checked with American Airlines, and it showed that our flight was still on schedule. Maybe this would still work out okay, but I felt anxious as we headed to the airport.

After going through the TSA checkpoint with only a minor delay, the TSA agent couldn't tell what our selfie stick was on his x-ray screen; we made our way to our gate. We learned that the airline had delayed our flight for one hour. "That's not too bad," I thought, "I feared it might be longer." We contacted our family in Portland, that was going to pick us up at the airport, to let them know of the delay.

When it was five minutes from the new boarding time, and passengers were beginning to line up to board the plane, the information screen at the gate flashed a new departure time. Everyone sat back down to wait for the new time. Two more times, the airline pushed the departure time forward at the last minute. Each time we contacted our family in Portland with the updated information. Finally, after a couple of hours, the boarding time came, and the information screen didn't change. In a few minutes, the airline employees announced that it was time to board the plane. We were finally able to board the plane and find our seats. In a few minutes, we were in the air, headed for Portland.

That evening, I was curious about the cause and severity of the nationwide stoppage of all plane departures. As I read, I learned that over 10,000 flights were delayed and over 1,300 canceled in the first national grounding of flights since 9/11. I felt fortunate that even though we had to wait several hours, we still made it to our destination the same day. Our trip to the Oregon coast the following day was not affected.

The computer failure that led the FAA to halt all US flight departures was caused when a data file was damaged. According to a Fortune article, "unspecified personnel" were responsible for corrupting the file, which led to the outage of an FAA computer system that sends safety notices to pilots, the agency said in a statement. That triggered the FAA to order a halt to all US departing flights, causing thousands of delays and cancellations Wednesday.

The preliminary indications are that two people working for a contractor introduced errors into the core data used on the system known as Notice to Air Missions, or Notam, according to a person familiar with the FAA review. A complete shutdown was required to restore the system, leading the FAA to halt all flight departures for roughly 90 minutes Wednesday morning."

As I read about the computer shutdown required to repair the issues caused by corrupted data, I thought about how much data we consume and dispense daily. When we receive corrupted data, it affects our actions and decisions. All too often, we disseminate corrupted data. Sometimes it is accidental, but many times it is intentional.

It seems to me that lying has become acceptable in our culture. Every day, newscasters put their spin on stories; adults cheat on their spouses or income tax forms; students cheat in school. Many people tolerate or even applaud lying if it benefits them or their agenda. As our culture has accepted lying, so have many Christians. I have felt the sting of fellow Christians spreading lies about me. But God has made it very clear how he feels about lying. In Psalm 34:13 (NLT), the Bible tells us to "keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies!" And in Proverbs 12:22 (NLT), we read, "the Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth."

Proverbs 19:5 (VOICE) teaches us, "A false witness will not escape punishment, and one who breathes lies will not go free." Knowing this, it is incredible that we, as Christians, would continue to lie and promote lies. It seems that we don't only lie but dismiss it as if it was not a sin at all. 

Lies are like masks we wear to conceal the inside, and we all do it! Sometimes we think that it is to our advantage to lie. But we all have been a victim of deception, fooled by other people's lies. We don't like it when others deceive us. We live in a distorted world where we lie to others, and they lie to us. But what can we do about it?

To begin with, be honest. Stop deceiving yourself and others. Lies will make you feel good for a moment but, eventually, become a heavy burden. And be careful about the information that you choose to pass on. Are you sure that the juicy story you heard about your neighbor is true? Is the social media post that you are sharing factual? Remember, "liars take no pity on those they crush with their lies, and flattery spoils everyone it touches." Proverbs 26:28 (VOICE)

Gentle Reader, let's make sure we are not disseminating corrupted data. Sometimes that corrupt data can have widespread consequences. We need to listen to the advice of the Apostle Paul; "stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body." Ephesians 4:25 (NLT)

The Tide Rises. the Tide Falls

My An Arkie's Faith column from the January 18, 2023, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

As soon as we parked the car in the condo parking lot, I got out and headed down the path to the beach access. Steep wooden steps led down the cliff to the ocean below. It had been forty eight hours since we drove away from Mena towards Dallas to catch our flight to Portland. After flight delays caused by a FAA computer malfunction, we were finally on the Oregon Coast.

The ocean looked angry as huge waves created an almost deafening roar. I was looking forward to walking on the beach, but the tide was high and occasionally the water and foam would roll in all the way to the cliff banks. As I was standing on the cement landing at the bottom of the stairs to the beach, a huge sneaker wave crashed ashore, and I realized that the water and foam were going to cover the landing. I headed up the stairs and although I made it up several steps, the sea foam licked at my heels.

When the water had receded, I watched as my granddaughter climbed off the platform, down onto the beach while keeping a wary eye on the ocean. She wanted to touch the sea foam and play in it. But it wasn’t long before a wave chased her back up onto the platform and up the steps. Playing on the beach would have to wait for another day. 

Early the next morning, I headed back down to the beach to go for a walk, but the tide was so high that I wasn’t able too. Many of the waves came all the way to the towering cliffs at the edge of the beach, leaving no place to walk. I went back to the condo and checked the tide chart. It was only an hour after high tide, but the tide was receding. Maybe I would be able to I walk the beach after breakfast.

I was at the Oregon coast for a family reunion. Family was here from Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Louisiana, and Arkansas. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law provided condos for everyone and there condo was the central meeting place. All off us crowded into their condo and where they served a delicious breakfast. After everyone had finished eating I took out my phone and began looking through my photos to choose some to post to Facebook. As I opened the app, the first post I saw sent a shock through me.

A friend had posted, “Today we struggle to find much joy. Our little family that we have formed in Polk County took a hard hit last night. We lost a pillar of the crew in a motorcycle wreck. Jason Bird Moga, or Uncle Bird to our kids leaves a big hole in our hearts.” Over the last few years, Bird and I had become friends. I had talked to him just hours before I left for Oregon. When I read the horrible news, I blurted out to those in the room, “My friend passed away last night.” A wave of emotion rolled over me and I couldn’t stay in the room.

I grabbed my coat and rushed outside. I walked down the path toward the ocean access with thoughts swirling in my head. I remembered first meeting Bird and being intimidated by his size and appearance. But when I got to know him, I found him to be a gentle giant. Our mutual love of cars brought us together, but his kindness and willingness to help others was what made want to be his friend. 

When I reached the top of the stairs leading down to the beach, I stopped and just looked out over the ocean. As the waved crashed into the shore over and over, I barely saw them. My mind was filled with thoughts of Bird as my eyes filled with tears. I remembered all of the discussions we had about the project he was going to help me with. We had planned to resurrect the 1967 Toyota Stout that had moved my family to Mena in 1981. The old Toyota was in rough shape, but Bird had a plan to get it back on the road. It seemed that every time we planned to start, his health issues postponed the project.

As I stood lost in my thoughts and blankly staring out over the ocean, my nephew came by on his way down to the beach. As I spoke to him, telling him that my friend had died, it has like a dam broke and I couldn’t hold it inside. I broke down and cried, and it seemed that I couldn’t get my emotions in check. When I was finally able to speak again, he told me that he was going to scout location for surf fishing and invited me to go with him.

We walked along the beach as a light drizzle kept us wet. My nephew explained to me what he was looking for in the wave formations that would indicate a possible place for surf fishing. The tide was still high enough that the occasional wave would send us scrambling up the rocks at the bottom of the cliff side to escape the water. As I walked along the beach, I could hear The Moody Blues singing in my head. “I’ve been searching for my dream a hundred times today. I build then up, you knock them down, like they were made of clay. Then the tide rushes in and washes my castles away.”

When the waves were once again chasing us up onto the safety of the rocks, I thought about the tides as a metaphor of life. One minute you may be excitedly visiting with family you haven’t seen for several years, and the next minute the tide rushes in and the news of a tragedy cults your legs out from under you. There is a cycle to life, and sometimes it seems that the tides are going to drown us. Even David felt this way when he wrote in Psalms 42:6,7 (NLT), “Now I am deeply discouraged, I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote about this cycle of life; “The tide rises, the tide falls, the twilight darkens, the curlew calls; Along the sea-sands damp and brown the traveler hastens toward the town, and the tide rises, the tide falls.” In his poem Wadsworth contrasts the travelers journey with the endless, ongoing cycles of the natural world. Our time on earth is so short compared to the vastness of eternity. “The little waves, with their soft, white hands, efface the footprints in the sands, and the tide rises, the tide falls.”

Gentle Reader, we all witness the tide rising and falling in our lives. There are times in our lives when the surging tide rushes in and sweeps over us. Sometimes circumstances overwhelm us and leaves us gasping for breath. But God has promised us that there will come a time when that cycle will be broken. Revelation 21:4 (NCV) tells us, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain.” I long for that day.

Dont Be a Sea Lion

 My An Arkie's Faith column from the January 11, 2023, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

I will be traveling to the Oregon coast for a family reunion in a couple of days. My brother and sister-in-law provide the family with beautiful condos on the ocean. I have been to several family reunions at these condos at Gleneden Beach. I always enjoy my time on the beautifully rugged Oregon coast.

One day while we were there, we visited Newport. We spent our time in the Historic Bayfront district. Bayfront is a working waterfront that services Yaquina Bay, home to Oregon's largest commercial fishing fleet. The turn of the century historic buildings of Bayfront house shops, art galleries, chowder houses, restaurants, and tourist attractions. I enjoyed taking a step back in time and trying to imagine this bustling port in times past.

My favorite activity of the day was watching the sea lions that completely covered the docks. Sea Lions can be loud and raucous or adorably lazy. Many sea lions tried to sleep while others were barking to show dominance. A small juvenile was swimming in the water near the docks. He kept trying to find a place to haul out of the water onto the docks, but every time larger males kept him from getting on the docks.

He kept trying and trying to find a place to rest on the docks, only to be rebuffed at every turn. Finally, he could haul himself onto a cable between two floating docks. Once on the cable, he kept slowly and carefully inching his way onto the attached dock. After a while, he could get his front flippers onto the dock. He could get most of his body onto a corner of the dock by carefully maneuvering. As he was trying to get enough room to lie down, he drew the ire of a couple of occupants of the dock, slowly moving closer to the edge and forcing him back into the water.

As I watched the little sea lion trying to find a resting place, I felt sorry for him. The rest of my time watching the sea lions, he could never find a place to haul out of the water. No one would make room for him. 

Watching the sea lions and their interactions with the youngster who wanted to join them reminded me of how I have seen many people act. Many people feel shut out from society. They don't seem to be able to get a seat at the table. Sometimes Christians remind me of the sea lions who had a place on the docks. They want to keep certain groups of people from joining them. They won't associate with them.

Almost everyone remembers being excluded as a kid; I know I do. It seemed like I was excluded more often than I was included. I was the weird kid, the chubby kid, the unpopular kid. But exclusion doesn't stop as children grow into adults. People of all ages exclude others from acceptance, love, and affection. But Jesus was different. He went out of his way to extend love where it wasn't expected; to society's outcasts. Jesus consistently included the people the religious leaders had left out.

In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells three stories: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. If we read the first three verses of the chapter, it tells us why Jesus told the stories. "The tax collectors and sinners all came to listen to Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to complain: 'Look, this man welcomes sinners and even eats with them.' Then Jesus told them this story." Luke 15:1-3 (NCV)

With these stories, Jesus wants us to understand that He loves and cares for everyone. He demonstrated that all people are welcome at the table of God's kingdom. When you study the life of Jesus, you see that no one ever opened a wider door of hope and love to the human race. In Jesus, the outcasts of society have hope. Those the religious community marginalizes can find Jesus extending a hand, inviting them back into the community with dignity and affection.

"Come to me, Jesus said, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT) No invitation could be more inclusive, more welcoming. Those who customarily feel shut out are told they are welcome to come to Jesus. The love of God is inclusive. God's salvation is offered to everyone, no matter what their background is or what they have done in the past.

Henri Nouwen wrote, "For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. There are only children, women and men to be loved." Paul wrote, "In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28 (NCV) The kinds of divisions between people that are normal in human society should not be found in the church of Jesus Christ. Neither race, ethnicity, economic status, gender, or any other human distinction should exclude people from the church.

Gentle Reader, if you study the example of Jesus, you will see that he was a champion of the oppressed. His example was unconditional love, and He was against all exclusionary practices. He did not follow his society's exclusions. He often surprised those who were familiar with being excluded. When Jesus talked to the woman at the well, "the woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, 'You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?'" John 4:9 (NLT) Don't be a sea lion keeping others from joining you in your resting place. Be like Jesus, inviting everyone to rest.

The Best is Yet to Be

My An Arkie's Faith column from the January 4, 2023, issue of The Polk County Pulse.

John sat at the piano in his bedroom. Pressing the record button on his cassette recorder, he started to play. After playing several measures, he began to sing. "Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be. When our time has come, we will be as one. God bless our love. God bless our love."

John and his wife appreciated the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Browning. One morning, she suggested he write a song using Robert Browning's poetry as a stimulus. That afternoon, John was watching TV when an old movie came on about a baseball player. In the film, the baseball player's girlfriend sends him a poem by Robert Browning. The poem was "Rabbi Ben Ezra," which opens with the lines, "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made."

John was struck by the coincidence and sat down to write. He penned a simple love song with the final verse: "Grow old along with me. Whatever fate decrees. We will see it through, for our love is true. God bless our love. God bless our love." He sat down at his piano and made a simple cassette recording.

John's simple love song was written for his wife and featured religion, romance, and commitment. Even though the only recording he made was that simple cassette on that November day in 1980, the song Grow Old with Me has become well known and is a popular wedding song. It is a very romantic song that's not about passion but about caring and commitment. When I made a CD album of love songs to give to guests at my daughter's wedding, I included John's home recording of Grow Old With Me.

John planned to record Grow Old with Me in the studio for his next album. He envisioned the song as a standard that they would play in church when a couple gets married, lushly arranged with horns and strings. But John wouldn't get the chance to record Grow Old with Me in the studio. His lyrics, "Spending our lives together. Man and wife together. World without end," would not be fulfilled.

I still remember hearing the news on that cold December day in 1980. Former Beatle John Lennon was shot to death late last night outside his luxury apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, police said. Authorities said Lennon, 40, was rushed in a police car to Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving. I, along with millions of fans worldwide, was in shock. John's death was less than a month after writing Grow Old With Me. 

John wrote many love songs in the forty years he lived on this earth. My favorite words he wrote are "love is real, real is love. Love is feeling, feeling love. Love is wanting to be loved." Another favorite love poem he wrote says, "From this moment on, I know exactly where my life will go. Seems that all I really was doing was waiting for love."

We all want to be loved, but not all of us find love. The Bible is God's love letter to us, and the greatest love poem in the Bible is John 3:16,17 (NKJV) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

"God so loved the world." What beautiful words. Notice that it is the whole world that God loves, not a single nation or race. Not just one denomination. Not just the "good" people, not just the people who love God back. He loves the lovable and the unlovable, The popular and the unpopular. He loves those who love Him and those who never think of Him.

Some people find it hard to accept that God freely gives His love and grace. They prefer to think that God only loves the same people they love and that God hates the people they despise. They want to place limits on God's love.

To put it bluntly, these people are wrong. God loves the world, including those who are just like us and those different from us. If Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn people, why should we? Jesus came to lift people up, not to put them down. Jesus didn't come to condemn us; Jesus came to offer us eternal life. We should follow His example.

Pastor Ty Gibson wrote, "I undergo the ultimate shift consciousness when I cease perceiving God as an authority figure who wants control and begin perceiving God as a husbandly figure who wants mutual love. Love alone is the agent God uses to expel sin from the heart."

In Romans 8:37-39 (NCV), we find these beautiful words. "But in all these things we are completely victorious through God who showed his love for us. Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

No matter what circumstance you find yourself in, no one can separate you from God's love for you. God wants you to know Him personally. He wants to love you and be loved by you for eternity. God says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you." Jeremiah 31:3 (HCSB)

Gentle Reader, Jesus says to you, "I have loved you as the Father has loved me. Now continue in my love." John 15:9 (ERV) In Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV), He tells you, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." And He promises that "I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." John 14:3 (NKJV) It is as if Jesus is saying to us: "Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be. When our time has come, we will be as one. God bless our love."