Month: April 2020

As the warning sirens wailed, I shouted to my crew who were huddled in a concrete ditch near the cooling structure, “It is not safe here, we need to get into the containment bunker!” The wind was taking my words away, but everyone seemed to understand what I had said.

It was the third time in less than a month that there was a tornado in the area only this time it was traveling directly toward us. There was little time to make our way to safety. Above us the sky was swirling like an angry sea and the wind was already blowing small objects into the air. There was only one route to safety, and we needed to take it immediately.

My crew had been working on the outlying structures of the cooling system for the Marble Hill Nuclear Power Plant for the last three months. Normally it was good work. Not stuck in the middle of all the hectic construction that surrounded the containment and reactor building. But now it was those very structures that would offer our best hope of survival. To get there we would need to follow the labyrinth of causeways that made up the cooling structure. It would take five minutes or less if we moved quickly, kept our heads down and nothing had been blown into our path. We had little choice.

Moving as a group we stayed to the protected side of the six-foot-wide and six-foot-high canal that would lead to the steam release channel and eventually into containment. No one was speaking or if they were, I could not hear a thing over the now train-like sound of the wind above us. More debris was being tossed and thrown but so far nothing to block our path.

Within a few minutes we were in the steam release channel and I could see the entry to the containment structure. At that moment it sounded as if a bomb went off where we had just been a few moments before. There was a tremendous gust of wind then it felt like we all were being sucked back. Stuck against the wall of the SRT I was sure the tornado had touched down not far from us. There was nothing left to do but stay where we were and wait it out. I knew our safety was no longer in our hands.

Today do you feel safe. I guess that is a question each one of us ask ourselves probably more now than ever before. We look around us and see natural disasters, a disease that has frozen most of the world and questions if our financial wellbeing will ever be back within our own control again. I know that it has bred a new kind of fear that most of us alive today have not experienced.

It really does not matter how you view what is going on. Some believe that this is a conspiracy and maybe even a shift in the world order. Other see it in a more simplistic view. It is not the cause and effect that make the difference. It is more where you stand moving forward. You can view this all with a worldly mindset that will always lead to anger, fear and a feeling of loss. No longer safe to live the life we were so secure in just a few months ago. Or you can view this through the eyes of the One who sees the beginning from the end. When you look at this through God’s eyes there is no room for fear, there is only the safety of knowing He has a plan, an escape route, if you will. It might not be easy to see right now but it is there in His promises. You just need to believe.

Some of you might ask, “how do we see things through God’s eyes?” For me, the clearest answer is the Bible, which I truly believe is God’s Word. We do not have to search hard or long in that book to find promises that will guarantee that He has control and that our safety in times like these are secure. Here are a few just to give you a little hope this day:

Proverbs 2:7-10 “He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.”

Psalm 16:8-9 “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure.”

Genesis 28:15 “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Psalm 138:7-8 “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me. The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.”

Folks, our safety is guaranteed!

Years ago, a group of men huddled against the wall of a concrete canal as a tornado passed about 500 yards away. I am sure a few of those men were praying and claiming their safety in the Lord. I neither prayed nor believed.  But today I know a safe place in this world where the winds of change and turmoil exist. I have a Savior that promised this: “…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) You do too, he offers you the safety of his love today!

Blessings

John

4/27/20

“Would you like a drink of water?” the bartender asked as my coughing fit would not subside. I shook my head and raised my hand in protest and in a spasmodic voice said, “No water… never drink the stuff… give me another beer!”

The bartender shook his head but did as I asked, and as I slurped down the beer the coughing subsided. Very pleased with myself I said to no one in particular, “I told you I do not need water, a good cold beer and a shot of whiskey can cure anything that ails ya!” And, of course, I continued to order both in copious quantities for the rest of the night.

I can truly say that I have hated drinking water all of my life. I think it stems back to my childhood. I don’t think we ever drank the stuff. For most of that era there was always a pitcher of Kool-Aid in the fridge. You know it if you grew up anywhere from the 50’s thru the 80’s. For those of you who do not, it came in a small envelope, in various flavors. I would say, orange and grape were my favorite. In the early days you had to add about 2 cups of sugar to every pitcher of water, of course. In truth it tasted terrible normally but, in my world, it was mandatory for everyday consumption.

So, it is little wonder that as I became an adult, I rarely drank water on my own volition. Yeah, while I was working in the hot sun every day there was a container of water and I drank it. Maybe because of that my body was able to be sustained even as my addictions fought against drinking a pure drop of it. God is good, even to fools and idiots. I have fallen under one of these categories most of my life. So, why do I write about this today?

Well, the truth is, as I came to the Lord in a faith that spoke of health as one of the things that God himself has promoted in his Word, I struggled with the idea of the importance of water. The abhorrence of the stuff was deeply engrained in my psyche. And also, I found that it was tied to my addictions. As alcohol was slowly removed from my life, I found myself replacing it with sodas and sugary drinks. I knew it was not good, but it was sure better than being a drunk, or so I justified. I needed help. I guess I found some in the several health courses I have taken and been involved in since my conversion. But the real transformation came as it always does for me these days, through God’s Word.

In the first three years of my journey back from my lostness, I read or listened to the Bible from cover to cover ten times that I recall and there was a theme in it that finds it’s roots in the very first book and even very first chapter of Genesis and runs all the way through until its conclusion in the book of Revelation. That theme is water and its importance physically, symbolically and comprehensively.

I cannot quote every verse here that shows the depth of its relevance but can give you a taste of it and the essence that changed my life and thinking on the topic. May these few verses help you to thirst for more:

“So, God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.” Genesis 1:7

“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

“You visit the earth and water it abundantly, enriching it greatly. God’s stream is filled with water, for You prepare the earth in this way, providing people with grain.”  Psalm 65:9

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:38

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Revelation 21:6

In God’s Word water is life. In my world I still struggle to drink of it physically and spiritually. But finally, after living on this earth for more years than I would like to admit, I know how important both are. I know each day that I need to drink the required 6 to 8 glasses of water. And I also know that this day I need an abundant dose of the living waters that I can only obtain as I drink in the Word of God.

I thank God that I am no longer that sad man sitting in that smoky bar bragging on his ability to be unhealthy in body, mind and soul. You and I, my friend, have the essence of life even if we live in a world burdened with disease and pain. So don’t miss it today, grab a bottle of water and pull down that dusty Bible from the shelf, God has this message for you: “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.” Revelation 22:17

Blessings,

John

4/20/20

Isolation or Isolated? It is a question that is bothering me this morning. Earlier I was at Houston Medical Center, in Warner Robins, Georgia. I have an outpatient procedure later this week and needed to go in for pre-op testing and instructions. Going to a hospital these days is a scary process. The thought comes, is not this hospital the center of Covid-19 treatment and where most of the patients with the disease in our county would be lodged?

So, of course, before entering I donned my mask and cleaned my hands thoroughly with anti-bacterial wipes. A station was set up outside the door and a nurse immediately took my temperature and asked if I had any symptoms. Once I was registered and was taken back for blood tests and an ekg, the nurse administrating these asked the question that got me thinking, “How are you handling the isolation?” I guess I never thought I would hear that question. I responded that my wife and myself were doing ok and that I had many things to keep me busy. We small talked some more and I was blessed to share with her about this blog and my faith, but as I left, I really had the feeling the world as we know it has changed forever.

I am sure if I talked to anyone of you, you too could share a story that was similar to this. People now masked and a safe six feet apart, talking about isolation. I mean, look at any social media platform. People are posting the crazy things they are doing to keep, well, from going crazy! RuthAnn and I laughed at a Facebook posting by someone who had spent time creating ‘Collie-flower’ and ‘Broc-collie’ dogs. Like this some posts are funny and engaging. Many posts are people trying to inspire or share their faith. And as the ‘stay at home’ orders continue to be extended many seem to be either resisting or resigning that this we as a nation and even globally will become more and more isolated. So, I guess it came to me, that I needed to decide what kind of person I should be in this new world order, in isolation or isolated.

Maybe to you, there is very little difference. But I see that there is a decision we have to make. Here is how I see it. First, isolation is a self-imposed social order in which we respect others health and ability to live the best we can in this Pandemic world. We all have a responsibility to live responsibly taking all the precautions we can to not continue the transmission of this deadly disease. Hence, staying at home as much as possible and following social distancing when out and about. But I see being isolated as a different animal, instead of living life to the fullest as we can in this strange time, we become so fearful that we begin to withdraw from life little by little until we shrink into the safety of no human contact at all. It is easy to do in this world of ours. We can shop from home even for groceries. We can visit with others using phone, facetime or zoom. Even our church services have become remote and distant. We certainly can find ourselves safe and hidden. But should we?

Again, I am not suggesting here that we should take unsafe steps to ourselves or others. But I am asking should we who have the ability and the health to be about our Father’s business should be taking every opportunity to do just that. The problem becomes how can we do this in our world today?

I think the answer to that is different for each person. But I do think that God’s Word gives us information and encouragement in several places, here are a few that come to mind:

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4: 10-11

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38

So, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, … Philippians 2: 1-11

Do you see what is in common in each of these? Each tells us that we need to have a complete connection with God. In these terrible days if we are going to be in isolation but not isolated, we need to be in prayer, and even more be able to listen. The Lord has work for us to do and he will show it to each of us. So, don’t shrink back but keep moving forward. And also remember there are those who are being isolated through no fault of their own. The poor, the sick and the elderly now trapped in worlds not of their own creation. We need to be ready for God’s answer on how to be of service to these the least of our brethren.

So, let us seek God today, our freedom, even in isolation, is complete! Be safe!

Blessings

John

4/13/20

 

I inadvertently turned on the dome light of my car when I pushed the remote garage door button on my visor and never noticed it. Results a dead battery. When it was discovered last Friday, I thought, no big deal grab the jumper cables and jump start it from RuthAnn’s car battery. First problem. I could not find our jumper cables. Where were they? After much deliberation, after all both of us take longer these days firing up the memory synapse, it was remembered that the cables had been loaned out and never returned. This led to the second problem in the age of the Coronavirus, Georgia had just been put under a ‘Stay at Home’ edict and I had read the definition declaring travel and mingling in public only for essential matters. I scanned through the order again, nope, nothing about dead batteries. I was in a quandary. I knew it was not good for the car and all its computerized stuff to remain dead until my weekly trip to Walmart four days away but could I in all good conscience venture out. This is the world we now live in.

It seems like just yesterday that minor decisions like running to Walmart for anything or maybe just to wander the store with the rest of the thrifty, took no thought at all. All of that has changed. In less than a month we have gone from the freest people on the face of the earth to being one step away from Martial Law. Let me stop right there. I am not here to discuss the pros or cons of the political ramifications of any of this. No, far from it! It is just that as I sit thinking about all of it this morning, I am realizing how for granted I have taken the blessings I and we as a people have. And that led me to think about, as I have so much over these last few weeks, those who do not have the freedoms you and I do, the poor, the homeless, the aged and those in prison. Why did it take a major catastrophe to bring this to the forefront in my mind?

Sure, I normally believed I had compassion for all these folks but did l really? To answer this question, I needed to look to the source of all God’s thoughts for us, the Bible and turn to the book of Isaiah:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” Isaiah 58: 6-9.

I have known these verses. I have even stood in the pulpit and preached about them. Yet in these troubled times, I have to admit they have cut me deep. And the worst part of it is that I realize how little right now I can do. Social distancing and Stay at Home orders have now become the wall that seems higher than I can climb the chasm to wide and too deep for me to bridge. But folks, that is how Satan is trying to mess with us even more than the virus and its complications themselves, the lie that we can do little or nothing. The truth is right now we have more opportunities than ever to live according to the words of Jesus:

“”You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5: 14-16

So, I thought I would list a few things that you can do. They will not eliminate all suffering and if you are at high risk or are sick yourself need to be smart and cautious about it, but even if you are homebound:

• Call someone you know who is alone and in need of an encouraging word. It might seem simple but sharing the love of Jesus is so important.
• Write cards or notes to a Nursing home or maybe a prison. You can call a local home and find out if they are accepting cards and how they will be doing it. RuthAnn called one the school children visit regularly, and they said to address the card to the home director with a note saying the card is to be given to a person who needs an encouragement. They cannot give out names. If you know a person in one of these homes, you can write directly.
• Make cloth facemasks. There are several online instructions for making masks. The government has recommended that ALL of us wear masks when we are in a public place like a store. Our Community Service is looking for homemade masks to put into our emergency food bags. If you are in the Macon Georgia area you can contact me at this website or call: 478-390-2173. Or contact a local agency in need of these masks
• When you are out shopping check if a shut-in neighbor or a person you know is in need. Call them and ask if you can shop for them. Take all precautions to not pass on the virus. There are many recommendations online on how to do this.
• Look for organizations that are on the frontlines caring for the homeless and needy. Give what you can to support these folks at this time. They are being overwhelmed. Again, they are easy to find for your local area online.
• PRAY! Please do not overlook this amazing tool. Ask for the Holy Spirit to lead you in how to be aligned with Isaiah 58: 6-9. Do not be overwhelmed but daily listen for his guidance what you can do that day.

There are many other things we can do. And aswWe all are struggling in this new world we live in. It is so important to be in God’s Word and believe promises like this:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10.

I did go to Walmart last Friday, masked and with surgical gloves on. The jumper cables did the trick, but I am not sure the car battery wasn’t permanently damaged by the incident. I will have to make another decision to get a replacement battery. Such is our world. Even as it is, I am happy to be here and seek this day to be willing to do all the Lord asked me to do. I pray this will spark your interest to stay involved in these troubled times. Be Safe!!

Blessings

John

4/6/20