"Testimony 

to The Brave”

Memorial Day 2010

In the tangle of the fast pace...

and rat race...

of even a day off.

Let us make a celebration of courage...

one marked red, white and blue.

Even if fdonly a short moment of reflection

held for those who...

have found freedom’s door

and live no more...

in the shadow of tyranny.

A respite of peace

provided for us fortunate ones

by the deceased brave.

A concave

of all we stand for in America.

A testimony to a fortress of loyal spirit

that allows us choice...

that provides for us a security and sense of pride.

Even that we present ourselves this morning

as believers in the God of all nations...

let us be thankful for those who have preserved ours.

Those for whom flowers

can be laid..

and prayers relayed.

But mostly ouru hearts can be released.

Thanks Be to God

for those men and women of conviction and courage.

Amen and Amen

Take Heed...Our God is a jealous God ?

  Psalm 94:8-11 New International Version
 Take heed, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?
 ⁹ Does he who implanted the ear not hear?
       Does he who formed the eye not see?
 ¹⁰ Does he who disciplines nations not punish?
       Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?
 ¹¹ The LORD knows the thoughts of man;

  he knows that they are futile. 

 
Has wisdom along with our recognition of God's part in the establishment of our country
eluded us? Have we not heard the message of hope in the Son of God who died for us? Have we not seen evidences of our God's past work and his work today?  As the Apostle Paul announced in his "treatise" to the Romans; we have no excuse for God has been revealed to us in His Creation and our conscious..


We have gone so far as to let a minority rule the very sanctity of our worship and to rewrite the history of our great land.  God granted a few men the courage and devotion necessary to declare independence from worldly king rule and to pursue a heavenly King
in quite a proper fashion.

This is not a political offering but one of major consideration for how we intend to proceed in this move to a new world order which shreds to freedoms for which are forefathers founded this country and so many have died to protect.  Do we not expect discipline from God for our lack of  "discipline".? Do we not believe in an Omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God whose sovereignty is without question; just as His Grace is without end?  The Scriptures are replete with examples of God's forbearance.  There is another side, however. It is His Wrath.  Our God would that not even one of His children be lost, but He will allow us to choose our own way and leave us in our own depravity.
Far be it from us to presume on our God, but to recognize His sovereignty over the entire universe and to repent of our futile effort to control.  It would not be the first time that power, prestige, fame and pride has led a country down a path of ruin.
 Our thoughts are known by God  and He desires a relationship with us through His Son.  "Knowledge is Power"  is a common phrase used, especially in the corporate environment, over the past few years.  I submit that true knowledge when touched by God becomes wisdom.  To that end, I would  edit this phrase  to " the sharing of knowledge is power.  There is no better sharing than that of the Gospel Message, the Good News, of salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ.

Psalm 92:6-8 (New International Version)

⁶ The senseless man does not know, fools do not understand, ⁷ that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed. ⁸ But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.

 Those who have taken aim at the foundation of our republic and the center of our hope
are many and they flourish by worldly standards.  We can rest assured that ours is a just and mighty God who shall reign forever and each knee will one day bow.

Psalm 14:1 (New International Version)

For the director of music. Of David.

 ¹ The fool ^[a] says in his heart,
       "There is no God."
       They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
       there is no one who does good.

 The problems of our nation and our world are complex for sure.  They require

an urgent acceptance that it will take a unified effort with all the expertise available

to extract us from the path of destruction.  If we are wise the avenue will be filled with

courageous and devoted men and women guided by a belief in the one true God... Jehovah.

By continuing the path of excluding God from our society and  replacing our Constitution with expedient political correctness; we shall hasten the day of a fallen USA.  

Handling a Personal Journey...

Yesterday, I happened upon a speech being given by Ted Leonis, owner Washington Wizzards, Capitals, and a minor league team.  His emphasis was on each person's personal life journey into a search for what is truly important and what really is success?
Speaking to the National Press Club, Leonis offered six areas for consideration.



1. Manage Multiple Areas of Interest
How many times have we heard the term "multi-tasking. Been there...Done that.
In this instance Leonis refers to areas of personal fulfillment and not just projects
assigned in normal corporate functionality.  Many times our fulfillment is augmented
by avocational areas of participation...i.e. those which make our lives balanced.

2.  A High Level of Self Expression
It is a must to handle the you that requires expression in your own personal way.
Many paint, do sculpture, write and other facets of personal expression.  I relate to the Michelangelo quote "there are no poets without audiences.".  The poet, as Dees says,
releases the voice within and looks to the reader/listener to make it special to his or hers, own experience.

3. Tune up empathy.
Work hard to understand others connecting in many ways.  Today's technology offers so much information to so many in so many different modes of transmitting. It all still requires thought, the need to relate, and has to be initiated.  Our concern for our community, our church, our charities leap beyond only personal gratification to provide
the special feeling of doing one's part.

4. Giving Time
What is needed many times can only be met by giving one's self.  Money is not always the answer. If it was...so many who are overwhelmed with drugs, alcohol, and devious plots
would return to the bank for peace of mind.

5. Always in pursuit of a higher calling
The recognition that we are not the center of the universe is a must.
When we pursue, through our God, our purpose and calling;  opportunities arise.
They have been around all along, but our focus and wants change.  We become more interested in our vertical relationship with God which leads to rewarding horizontal
relationships with colleagues, associates, friends, family and yes....our enemies.



6. Spend the time to list the things that are important to you and the plans
to make them become real.  Leonis listed 100 things to do before he dies.
He is not a young man, but he is up to #81 now. Ensure that your plans do not place others under foot or cast aside opportunities to be the multi-tasker....for free.

7.  Develop a new spirit for your community.  Look to meet your goals together.
An old Texas business man ?(per Chuck Swindoll) once said.  "Find a group of people interested and passionate about the same things you are...and then grow old together."

true

What I know of Mr. Ted Leonis I learned ..in.the speech before the National Press Club on May 24, 2010.  It is enough.  He is a man of billions of dollars and more
sense than is common.  He remains interested in the people who work for him and wishes to connect with them and others in his dailfey pursuit of expression, charity, empathy, and
understanding.  Leonis laid claim that "All good guys don't finish last..."  They may move slower through the maze of this puzzled world but along the way the rewards are great.
Strong relationships, the community of faith, the accompanying friends and a strong belief in a tomorrow of hope mark his personal journey.  How about ours...?

Lord...

O that we would be more conscious

of opportunities which come our way.

Those which may only need praying silently

or knowing just the right thing to say.

Those which may require getting involved.

Those which may even risk our comfortable seats.

if not magnificent feats

of inclusion...in spite of rejection

and in hope of encouragement against confusion.

Amen

"A Voice exclaiming: You Are the Man..."

---

 2 Samuel 12 (New International Version) 

2 Samuel 12

Nathan Rebukes David

 ¹ The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.  ⁴ "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."
 ⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."
 ⁷ Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man!



T.S. Eliot said that there is little good religious poetry being written today because the religious poet tends to write what he thinks he ought to feel instead of what he really feels.

To that end I write at times of desolation, even sinking depression, but with a sincere attempt to relate without soliciting favor:; but only the occasional encouragement. Stipulating to the fact that God is gracious and the evidence can be no better exposited
than to give a voice to each literary offering.

Matt Beynon Rees, when speaking of His Old Testament poetry, announced "I write poetry in all forms: mainly free verse, but also formal, metric poems--sonnets, sestinas, villanelles, ballads etc.  Just as a sculptor has to liberate the statue that is hidden in a block of marble, so the poet has to liberate the poem hidden on the empty page and grant it breath. Dees found power in one particular sentence that occurs right after the scene which the prophet Nathan tells King David the parable of the poor man's lamb.  David was incensed and tells Nathan that the man deserved to die.  Nathan exclaimed:  "You are the man". David does not argue but admits he has sinned.  So much of this encounter is, as other failures by King David, dried out in Psalms 51..."Create in me a clean heart...O Lord..."

The poet's duty, Rees shared, is to help each poem find it's own voice.  The reader or listener's opportunity is to reflect and redirect as needed to move further along enjoying a relationship with others founded by Grace through Faith.

Within My Heart...My Savior Lives !

He is risen.

I know He lives
He lives within my heart .

Making him the larger measure...
the sole leading part
of my life....well that has been the problem.

Paul's admonition holds clear...it's dear
to those like me.
I know the work
He has started....
in me
acording to His purposes.
I see not His face
but trace
the steps of His ministry
and look to His coming...for His own.
Amen....and ....Amen

The Tie that Binds !

Having grown together

From friendship to spouse...

From a younger couple with dreams...

To an older caring partnership

Which allows...for new sharing

of unreached dreams...

And a celebration of achievements...

Together .

Nothing can erase

The dances we shared

And the vows we made..

Together .

One...

Never to part

when we gave away our hearts

to make the big...bigger

and the not so good...

better with time.

We gather the special feeling of today

with a quiet and inner hope for tomorrow.

Days of happiness and sorrow

will follow...

but none so big as to diminish

our love

and our promise to approach

these and all other days...

Together .

Have you found that quiet place...

I hope you will.

I hope it’s quiet and still.

I hope it’s every bit as real...

as the sun.

Have you spent that special moment.

I hope you do.

With someone who

is among the very few....

who become as one.

Have you held that unique partner

I hope today

And that you’ll say

words that come the way...

Of the heart.

Have you sought the solace of morn

I hope this sunrise.

And that your caring eyes

Will thus surmise...

The canvas of the painter...God.

And then as light comes forth...

A new feeling sets within...

One you yearn to share or send...

Something special...a loving thought.

"A Quieted Spirit....A Humble Heart"

Psalm 131:1-3 (New International Version)

A song of ascents. Of David.

 ¹ My heart is not proud, O LORD,
       my eyes are not haughty;
       I do not concern myself with great matters
       or things too wonderful for me.

In

  



² But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
       like a weaned child with its mother,
       like a weaned child is my soul within me. ³ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
       both now and forevermore.

Be Still...and know that I am God.....