Henry Bagwell

Henry Bagwell is my dad… Most of you, who know me, know me as Buddy Bagwell but my real name is Henry F. Bagwell Jr.

My dad was there as I grew up and I knew him. I knew his mannerisms, I knew his jokes, and I even sometimes knew a question he was going to ask before he ask it so I could walk away.

When I was a teenager, running amok, I did not have a list of Henry’s rules because I knew how he felt about things, I spent time with him. At the concert I did not have to look up rule 45 to see if I should smoke that joint when it makes its way here? I knew how my dad felt about that. I won’t say if I did or not…

When I was a kid I hated it when someone called me Little Henry but it happened. You see I look like my dad. As an adult one day I was walking by a window and my dad was on the other side of it. I walked back and realized it was not my dad it was my reflection.

As a child I remember thinking when I am a parent I will NEVER say some of the things I hear from my parents. One example of this is… There would be times when I was crying and, (I am sure for a very good reason), I would hear, “If you don’t stop that crying I am going to spank your butt.” Now tell me in what universe does a spanking stop crying. That was the dumbest thing I had ever heard and I knew I would NEVER say anything that dumb. Yeah… One day my young son was crying, (for no reason), and the out of my mouth came these words… “If you don’t stop that crying I am going to spank your butt.” How did it happen? I was becoming my father…

Last week I was reading a book about our relationship with God and wondered what it felt like for Jesus as He read and discussed the scripture. Jesus taught with such authority…. Maybe like He actually knew the one behind the words.

I then thought about my relationship with God. If God is my heavenly Father then why am I trying to learn more about Him from what someone else has to say? If someone wrote a book about Henry Bagwell it would be a fun read but I would not read it to learn more about him because I know him. If I have a question about my dad I will ask him. If I ask him he will give me an answer, it may not be what you want to hear but it will be an honest answer.

That should be my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I know Him because I spend time with Him. I know what He expects of me because I know Him. I don’t need to carry around a list of rules because I know how He feels about things. If I have a question about Him I ask Him. He too will give me an honest answer and it may not be what I want to hear but I know I can trust the answer.

I want to know my Heavenly Father to the point that one day when I least expect it I hear His words come out of my mouth. I can say, “How did this happen I am becoming like my Father.” I hope one day just like the reflection in the window, I that I can reflect my Heavenly Father.

My Brother is in Jail:

I just got a call that my brother is in jail. He is charged with breaking and entering, threatening bodily harm, and the jury is out on the other charges…

How did all this start?

My brother has three daughters so that in itself can work toward an insanity plea… Sorry I digress…

He has three daughters and the youngest one has fallen in “LOVE”. She is 18, so she is at the age that she can make her own decisions.

She decided to move in with her boyfriend… I don’t know do you call a 30 year old man a boyfriend?

The whole family is very unhappy about this. My brother and his wife are worried sick. Literally, neither are not sleeping, both are looking haggard and losing weight. Her sisters seeing what it is doing to their parents are not speaking to her. The situation is just bad.

My niece decided to talk to Kim (my wife) about what has been going on. It all started as a young girl with stars in her eyes found the perfect older man. He is good looking, he knows who he is, he has a great job that allows both them to travel, he has a great car that he drives and another great car that she drives, he has money, and a nice place to live. Everything a young girl could ask for in a life.

In the beginning he was very loving and caring but as time went on he started treating her like property that he could use in any way he wanted. This included degrading her in front of his friends, degrading her in front of her friends, degrading her in public in front of strangers and hitting her in private.

It finally got to the point that one night during a drunken party he passed her off to some of his friends to use as they wanted. Kim talked to her on many occasions but when she heard this she convinced her to call her parents.

She called and told her parents everything. She then asked if they would come get her. My brother headed straight to her house. When he arrived at the house the boyfriend saw who it was and would not open the door.

My brother called his daughter’s name but it was the boyfriend that answered, “This is my house and you will not step foot in it.” “Everything in this house is mine to do with as I wish to include your daughter!”

At this point he made a big mistake. He slapped my niece and she screamed those magic words…

“HELP ME DADDY!”

My brother kicked in the door. I don’t mean he kicked open the door… the entire door frame came loose.

He ran to his daughter, picked her up into his arms, and headed out the open hole that was a door. The boyfriend made one move as if he were going to stop him but saw the look in my brother’s eyes then looked at the door frame and thought better of it. He did however call the police.

My brother got his daughter safely home and into her mother’s arms. The police came and took my brother away.

My brother is very worried that the guy will come after his daughter while he is in jail. I have a couple of cousin’s back home that are making sure that does not happen. Her sisters are still not speaking to her because their dad is in jail (because of her).

The boyfriend has been calling and trying to talk her into coming back, telling her of all the good times, the trips, and the love they shared. I don't know if my niece is listening or not.

This is very much what God did. He saw His children seduced by one who offered everything the world saw as important. They felt warm and safe and secure with all those “things” but as time went on the one who seduced them used them for his own purposes. He abused them, demeaned them, and took them to their lowest point.

God sent a rescuer who lived with His children as one of them. He saw what was needed to take them away from the seducer but it meant He was going to have to sacrifice everything. When it came down to that moment He made that sacrifice.

He then put the seducer in his place and kicked open the door so we could escape.

Many of us are like my niece, after the sacrifice our Father has made for us we still take the calls from our abuser, we still listen to the lies and sometimes get back in bed with them…

Some are like her sisters when my niece came home they did not welcome her back but reminded her of her mistakes and what she has cost the family.

Some reflect God... they are long suffering, just like her parents never giving up and grieving over the lost relationship.

I think about the sad place my niece found herself but I know when we find ourselves in that place…

We too can say those magic words, “HELP ME DADDY!”

Just don’t stand in front of the door...

Paraplegic

Paul knows more about football than any person I have ever met so… every Sunday I study under the master. Paul does not watch football he studies it. He knows every play as it starts and knows when it was a busted play. He always knows what they should have done or how they could have won. He even knows what should happen when the unexpected happens and all hell breaks loose. He out thinks the coaches and the players and I hate to admit it but 99% of the time Paul is right. Paul is a millionaire thanks to football. He created and sold a fantasy football league for over a million dollars. That is my friend and football mentor Paul.

Paul’s room is full of football diagrams, playbooks and the pendants of his favorite Pro and College teams. I will not give the names or some of you will argue that if he knew anything he could not pull for that team but would pull for my favorite team.

Paul knows everything about football except how it feels to play football. You see when Paul was young he had an accident and now he is a paraplegic. After the accident the doctors worked with Paul, ran hundreds of tests but can find no “physical” reason why Paul cannot walk. After time passes the muscles atrophy and will not or cannot work anymore.

Paul has a great attitude about it all he spends 8 to 10 hours a day studying football films, on internet chat rooms chatting about football, reading books on football, and calling his friends and talking about… well football.

Paul knows all this "stuff" about football but has never caught a pass. He has never had a football hit his freezing ear while playing in the park with friends. He has never crossed the goal for a touchdown or fumbled at the end of the game and caused his team to lose. His record is perfect he has never lost a game. The problem is he has never won a game either.

There are many Christians just like Paul. Every Sunday they are at church. They study the sermons, they know all the doctrines, they have great theology, they read their Bibles, they talk to their friends about church and pray for the lost but…

They have never been on the field. They don’t have any lost friends because they have no one outside their circles who are not Christians. They use the internet but only on the proper Christian sites. They would never go to “Jamie the Very Worst Missionary” or “Tamara Out Loud” because those “Christian site” sometimes have bad language or ask the wrong questions. They would never go to a bar because of the type of people that hang out in them. A club… please do you know what happens in clubs? Meat market!!!

Christian paraplegics have never gotten into the game. Like Paul if you don’t walk your muscles atrophy and there is no walk. The good thing is if you don’t walk you don’t fall. If you don’t take a chance the bed becomes your home and it is a comfortable bed.

I have heard so many sermons about Peter’s failure when he tried to walk on the water with Jesus BUT took his eyes off the Lord, sank and nearly drowned…

“At least he got out of the damned boat!”

Stories are Easy, Life is Tough.

Fall is a great time of year. It is starting to get cooler and some folks back home (in SC) are beginning to think about hunting season. My favorite person to hunt with was my cousin. One problem my cousin had when we went hunting or other outdoor activities was that he was deathly allergic to ant bites. He was so allergic that our family doctor kept the antidote in a refrigerator in his office.

It was during Indian summer that my cousin, my uncle and I were out with our shotguns taking some practice shots and looking for good hunting places for the upcoming season. We are from the country so we have great hunting land around the house. It was an awesome morning walking through the woods talking and having a great time.

One treasure you can find this time of year is a yellow jacket nest. These aggressive bees make their nest in the ground which allows us can stand several yards away and shoot into the nest with our shotguns and watch them swarm trying to find someone to sting. We are in the woods or out in a field so we are the only person in danger of getting stung which is half the fun.

We did that for a while but the sun was warm and we decided to take a break and eat our lunch. We sat down to eat and by the time we got our sandwiches out my cousin started jumping around slapping his legs and back. I thought the yellow jackets found him but when he stood up he was covered in fire ants. I grabbed the shot guns and started running for the house. I called the doctor and asked him to meet us at the office. I then ran back to help my uncle get my cousin to the car. I jumped in the car and headed down the road (John Robinson Hill) at 100 miles per hour. We ran red lights and headed to the doctor’s office next to the hospital. It had been twenty minutes between the time my cousin got his first ant bite and we stopped in the parking lot of the doctor’s office. My cousin was shaking and having a hard time breathing, ten minutes later he was in anaphylactic shock. Twenty minutes later he died. He died right there in the parking of the building that had the medicine he needed. Five minutes after my cousin died the doctor showed up at the office. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?! He DIED right here this close to the medicine he needed to live! WHY DID IT TAKE YOU SO LONG!?! If ONLY YOU HAD BEEN HERE, HE WOULD BE ALIVE!!!

Way too often we read the Bible like a story book. The people are characters in a story. They are not like us they are characters. In John 11:1-45 we read the account of Jesus and Lazarus. Mary and Martha Lazarus’ sisters sent word to Jesus that his friend was sick. Jesus showed up after he was buried three days. Calls him out of the grave ***poof*** all is great they have a party.

What we don’t see is the real human drama. Lazarus is sick, very sick and his sisters call to Jesus for help. They know Jesus can help, they have seen him heal the sick, they have seen him give sight to the blind, they have no doubt. Lazarus' fever is higher; Mary and Martha take turns staying up with him, putting wet towels on his head but he is getting worse. Where is Jesus? Lazarus can hardly breathe. Neither Mary nor Martha has slept over an hour in days. Where is Jesus? LAZARUS IS DEAD!!! WHERE IS JESUS? They bury Lazarus, his friends are there and he is dead. Where is Jesus? Three days he is in the grave and still no Jesus. Finally after three days Jesus shows up… A heartbroken Martha sees Jesus; she still loves him but has to say, “If you had only been here he would still be alive!” Jesus calls for the tomb to be opened and calls Lazarus to come out and he does.

If we just read the accounts as stories we always expect a happy ending. As you can see after 45 verses there is no more sickness, no sleepless nights, no waiting for days, no other side stories, just a happy ending.

Funny thing is life does not work that way. There are sleepless nights, there is waiting, we don’t know Jesus will raise the dead at the end of 45 verses…

Our 45 verses do tell of pain, our 45 verses do tell of the wondering where Jesus is, and in our 45 verses we do not know there will be a happy ending. That is the way real life works. In life we live past the 45 verses. In life the next thing happens and we are wondering what now. So the next time you read a Biblical account don’t just read the verses but read about the human drama. Read about the people not the characters. By the way, in the next verses the religious leaders plot to kill Lazarus.

The Restaurant

What if I owned a restaurant that had the greatest food in the world? In this restaurant I have perfect vegetarian dishes, melt in your mouth meat dishes, barbeque that puts Memphis to shame, side dishes that could be a meal by themselves, perfect bread that will not make you fat, and deserts that are so good they make you want to cry. 

I hire a waitress that is great. She has a happy personality, when she walks into the room  faces light up. She is smart; never has to write your order down because she remembers them. Her biggest advantage is she loves my food, wants to tell people about it, and to help them experience it. This is a perfect match except… 

After I hire her she starts to have hygiene problems. She stops washing her clothes, she stops washing her body, and she just smells bad. The worse thing is, she picks up a bad habit. When she is not taking orders she sits down at one of the tables, takes off her shoes, bites her toenails, then spits them across the restaurant. 

Guess what happens? People do not want my food any more. My food has not changed, it is still the same perfect food that it always was but people have no appetite for it because of the person presenting the food. 

This is what happens when we as Christians do not follow Christ's example of loving those who are different. When we don’t love those "SINNERS", or we don’t love people who do not believe as we do, when we don't love the down and out or when we don't love the fallen. We become like the waitress, we push them from the food they need.  We may still love the food and want others to experience it but because of us they do not have the stomach for it.  
 
Look at Jesus' example; Every time He was around the sick, the hurting, the unloved, the unreligious, the unbelievers, the untouchable and those considered the lowest of His time. He was comfortable with them and they were comfortable with Him. Why... because He loved them. He loved them as His Father does. 

How often when someone feels like a failure in life do they run to a Christian for help?  How often when they need to know how to find forgiveness from God do they run to a Christian for help? Not too often because they are afraid of judgment or a reprimand from us. They can't depend on us to show the love Jesus showed when He came in contact with people in their situation. 

My prayer is that those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus or who put on that title of Christian show His example in how we treat those around us.

Standing Naked in the Mirror

My first visit to Romania had a profound effect on me. Our group came from Germany, the United States, Great Britain and South Africa. It was culture shock for all of us.


We saw beggars and street people and we saw poverty in a way I never dreamed of growing up in South Carolina.

This is where I learned about non-people. These are people who have no identification papers which means they cannot go to school, they cannot hold a real job, and they have no nationality. Without these papers they are a non-person.


Our orientation lecture warned us against giving money or anything to the beggars. We were warned they would surround us or try to pickpocket us or steal from us. The warning scared us to the point of us against them.


One lady with a terribly soft heart looking at these poor children could not follow the guidance to the letter so she gave them chewing gum. We watched the children walk way chewing this gum like… well… children. At that point, we saw them not as the enemy trying to steal from us or take advantage of us but as CHILDREN. We suddenly remembered why we came to Romania. I owe Sylvia Davenport more than anyone will ever know. That one act of kindness,  changed the Mission trip. 


At the end of that Mission trip and each Mission trip since I have done the standing naked in the mirror speech.

I was allowed to speak at a Youth Camp that I had attended for years. I also had the honor of being the final speaker one hour before we headed home. Over the years I watched some really great speakers try to make that one last point. The kids never really get their minds around one last sermon.  I decided to end the camp with "Standing Naked in the Mirror", this is how it goes.


I think about the street children of Bucharest, Romania. Street children are born without papers. This means they are children without an education, without a country, and in many ways without hope. So here is what I want you to do…


Close your eyes... imagine you are standing naked in a mirror.


Take away all your possessions; your computer, your cell phone, your iPods, your TVs, and your clothes. Now take away your education… take away your citizenship… take away your future plans… take away your parents and all of their possessions, education, and security. Take everything away your have earned or acquired…


Tell me what do you see standing in the mirror…


Can I tell you how many times I have heard in a low sad voice, “nothing”. This is such a sad answer.  Almost always it is one of the most popular of the kids but who knows how many are saying the same thing in their head. It is sad that these people see this as who they are. They are what they own or where they are from, or what they know, or what they hope their future will be.


This is the the good news! That person standing in the mirror with all that stripped away is the person God sent His Son to die for. Jesus did not come for our clothes or our possessions or our education or our nationality or our future plans, He came for that NAKED person standing in that mirror. He loves us so much He sent Jesus to die for us so He could spend eternity with us. That is what all of us are worth to GOD, to Yahweh, to the Creator of the Universe.


He did all of this for that NAKED person standing in that mirror.

Killer

When we came to Germany I talked about my dogs and how much I missed them. I told one our church members; she smiled and said that her dog had deliver puppies.

A few days later she came up to me and said “I have a present for you.”
Her husband went to her car and put something in a small box. She handed me the box and said “Be careful with this because it is really fragile.”
I carefully opened the box and there was a small mouse in it.
I said “A raaa…”
My wife said, “A Chihuahua puppy”
I said “A WHAT?”
The Lady smiled and said, “It is a registered Chihuahua puppy.” “I know how much you miss your dogs so I am giving you this puppy.”
I said, “Thank you..?”

Okay let me explain I raised English Mastiffs. My male was 200 lbs with a 34” neck. I cleaned up droppings larger than this dog will be when he is full grown. He was a man’s dog, this is a… rat.

I knew this is really expensive gift so what could I do? I took it home and made him a bed in a shoe box and named him Paco.

After a while I decide to start leash training him. He behaved like every dog he flipped, flopped, fought, and did the alligator roll. After we had been working for a week or so I decide to take him out for a walk on the street. I went early in the morning before anyone in our town was up so they did not see me with this rat on a string.

As we are walking I heard someone say, “Señor”.

I replied, “Yes” to no one

Paco: Down here!
Me: Down where?
Paco: It’s me!
Me: Paco?
Paco: Si. But Señor my name is not Paco it is “Killer”
Me: Keeller?
Paco/Killer: No Killer… growlllll
Me: Oh Killer!
Killer: Si.
Me: Paco, ugh… Killer, you are talking?
Killer: Si… you were pulling too hard on my leash and it hurts.
Me: You are speaking English with a Spanish accent where did you learn to do this?
Killer: I don’t know I just can.
Me: Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Killer: Nein
Me: If you don’t speak German how did you know to say Nein?
Killer: You don’t speak German and you knew nein.
Me: True
Killer: Oh and please stop calling me a rat it is very insulting.
Me: I know rats are bigger…
Killer: Stop!
Me: Sorry…

Now my brain starts to work…

This is great we can make a fortune! Leno, Letterman, Oh Oh, TACO BELL! Yes! I will be rich! But then I remembered the WB cartoon with the guy and the singing frog. Every time he wanted him to sing for an audience he would just make the guy look like an idiot. So I said Paco… Killer can anyone else hear you talk?
Killer: I think so.
Me: So if I were to put you on TV would you talk?
Killer: I like to watch TV but I don’t know if that is what I want to do with my life.
Me: What do you want to do with your life? I don’t know but it has to be something really special.
Me: Special?

Okay… I decided not to push but to help him along because he is really special and after a while he is bound to see how special.

One of Killer’s favorite things to do is to sit on the dash of the car and pretend he is one of those toy dogs bobbing his head up and down…

One day as we are going down the Autobahn at 180 KPH, Killer is sitting on the dash and Killer yells, “THAT’S IT!”

I said, “What?”

He said, “I will tell you later”

The next day he said, “I know what I want to do with my life.”

Me: Cool, what?
Killer: I want to chase cars on the Autobahn.
Me: YOU WANT TO WHAT?!!!
Killer: Chase cars on the Autobahn, you know extreme car chasing.
Me: Killer are you crazy they go over 120 miles an hour on the Autobahn.
Killer: Si that is extreme car chasing. It is in my nature, part of my heritage.
Me: Okay what do you do when you catch one?
Killer: I will let it go because I am a sportsman; I don’t need the car so I will catch and release.

I talked to Killer about all the things he could do that would change the world maybe even help find other talking dogs.
He would not listen; I want to do this… It is my passion, it is in my heart. It is all I can think about. Something that would make me this happy could not be bad. I have a love for this… love can not be wrong.

So I tried to go slow with Killer and not push really hard but one day he snuck out of the house and made it to the Autobahn. He lived up to his dream and caught a tractor trailer.

So I do not have a dog again. I found that I loved this dog. He could have done so much if he had only listened.

How many people have you known like Killer?
People with potential but never saw it.
People with talent but never used it.
People who were behind their personal timetable so they settled.
People who were lonely and take what is here, now.
People who were either afraid or impatient or had their dreams hijacked and settled.
People who settled for the wrong person, for the wrong relationship, the wrong career, the wrong passion, or for the wrong god.

Killer achieved his goal but it cost him everything. He could not see past the tires that called his name.

Imagine the things he could have done if could have only seen from a different perspective. If he could have found what he was really meant to do.

If only he had not settled for…

Still Small Voice

Adolescent was hard… My whole life and my self-worth revolved around… well… girls. During a particularly hard period, I was having problems with my girlfriend. She was making me crazy and I probably was not enriching her life either. One Sunday evening I took a very hard blow to my ego. At this time I am five foot six inches tall and weighed 100 lbs (wet) so ego blows were devastating. I had all I could take and decided to commit suicide. I had the shotgun in the car but really wanted one last shot (no puns intended). I drove to church to talk to my youth leader, I told him everything. His name was Jimmy Watson and he was a good man who did his best with a bunch of 1970s sex, drugs and rock and roll Youth. Jimmy did all the correct things by the book, God loves you, Jesus loves you, it’s a sin, Bible verse, platitude, Bible verse, platitude, Bible verse… All the things they teach you in Bible College. Then he made a statement… “God must have something really special planned for you or the devil would not be trying so hard to kill you.” My heart heard this message as it was straight from God.

It is funny from that Sunday evening over 35 years ago those words come back to me in the strangest times. Standing a field in Romania where we are digging a garden for a girl’s home, speaking at a Youth Conference in Switzerland, standing on the top of Skellig Island in Ireland, looking at my friends on Facebook and seeing the Youth I have worked with over the years (many of whom are now grown with families), watching my kids grow up, watching my daughter as an adult, watching my son get married and now watching my grandson…

As I write this I can see how one might think those words so long ago could have played to my ego but the truth is… God did have something very special for my life.

As we talk to those who are hurting please be careful and don’t just give them platitudes and verses, listen for that still small voice, from God.

I’m glad Jimmy did because it has been an amazing life.

Why?

Why did God bless me so?

Why did He give me the family He gave me?

Why did He give me the Spouse that helps me to be a better person?

Why did He allow me to be born in a country that has food, clean water, religious freedom, and the freedom to allow me to succeed?

Why did God give me good health and a strong body?

Why did God give me a pretty good mind and a curiosity to search out answers?

Why did He give me a love for His word and Him; to want to know more but not settling for the Church answer?

Why did I get these blessings?

Why was the little girl born to the parents with AIDs?

Why was she born in a village that did not have clean water?

Why will she be left to fend for herself when they die?

Why will she not be able to get an education?

Why is it that there is no one to teach her the love of Jesus?

Why would she believe if they did being born into the life she was born into?

Why do I not believe deeper being born into the life I was born into?

The Cost

Just bow your head and accept the free gift of eternal life from Jesus. How many times have you heard that statement or heard it alluded to that way? I was listening to a religious show one day and the speaker talked about the cost of forgiveness and I thought to myself, "What... I just bow my head and pray for forgiveness." That’s it simple, costs me nothing. I just don’t understand why others can’t do that, it is simple, and… it’s painless.


That is when I thought about… LUNCH.

I thought about a two piece meal from KFC. It is very simple and easy. I walk up to the counter, tell the guy I want a two piece meal, hand him four dollars, he hands me my food. The cost is not that expensive and I walk away, satisfied.

But in reality… he did actually have to tell the guy in back who slide it down the little silver slide, then he brought it over to me, I gave the guy four dollars, he hands me my food. The cost is not that expensive and I walk away satisfied.

But in reality… the guy I gave the order to, let the cook know what I wanted, he dropped two pieces of chicken in the oil, cooked them to perfection, put them in a box, set the box on the little silver slide, it goes to the guy I ordered from, he took it from the little silver slide, brought it over to me, I gave the guy four dollars, he hands me my food. The cost is not that expensive and I walk away satisfied.

But in reality… in the back of the restaurant a guy took the chicken out of a box, washed the chicken, rolled it in a secret formula coating, then the cook takes two pieces of chicken, puts them in the oil, cooks them to perfection, puts them in a box, sets the box on the little silver slide, it goes to the guy I ordered from, he took it from the little silver slide, brought it over to me, I gave the guy four dollars, he hands me my food. The cost is not that expensive and I walk away satisfied.

But in reality…  there was actually a guy who, unloaded boxes of chicken from a truck, put them into a cooler, then a guy goes to the back, opens the box, takes the pieces of chicken out of the box, washes the chicken, rolls them in a secret formula coating, then the cook takes two pieces of chicken, puts them in the oil, cooks them to perfection, puts them in a box, sets the box on the little silver slide, it goes to the guy I ordered from, he took it from the little silver slide, brought it over to me, I gave the guy four dollars, he hands me my food. The cost is not that expensive and I walk away satisfied.

But in reality… there was a truck driver who went to a distribution point, picked up the chicken, drove the boxes of chicken from the distribution point to the store, a guy unloaded boxes of chicken from a truck, put them into the cooler, then a guy goes to the back, opens the box, takes the pieces of chicken out of the box, washes the chicken, rolls them in a secret formula coating, then the cook takes two pieces of chicken, puts them in the oil, cooks them to perfection, puts them in a box, sets the box on the little silver slide, it goes to the guy I ordered from, he took it from the little silver slide, brought it over to me, I gave the guy four dollars, he hands me my food. The cost is not that expensive and I walk away satisfied.

But in reality… there was a chicken farm, that raised the chickens, loaded them onto a truck, sent them to a processing plant, who sent them to the distribution point, where a truck driver picked up the boxes of chicken, drove the boxes of chicken from the distribution point to the store, a guy unloaded boxes of chicken from a truck, put them into the cooler, then a guy goes to the back, opens the box, takes the pieces of chicken out o the box, washes the chicken, rolls them in a secret formula coating, then the cook takes two pieces of chicken, puts them in the oil, cooks them to perfection, puts them in a box, sets the box on the little silver slide, it goes to the guy I ordered from, he took it from the little silver slide, brought it over to me, I gave the guy four dollars, he hands me my food. The cost is not that expensive and I walk away satisfied.

But in reality... there was a chicken that DIED… so I could give the guy four dollars, he hands me my chicken cooked to perfection, the cost is not that expensive and I walk away satisfied.

The cost is not too expensive for me but for the chicken... DEATH.

This is the part we forget. This is what Jesus did. This is the cost for Jesus.

On Easter we celebrated His resurrection from the dead and it should be celebrated but… We should not forget what lead up to that.

He knew what was to happen, yet He still did it for you and me so we could quickly say, God I am sorry I messed up, please forgive me… Amen

Microwave forgiveness, painless, easy… That is what we like…

I’ll have the two piece meal.

Learning About Grace from Beau

This is Beau. Beau has taught me more about grace that I ever learned at church.


I am a dog person. When we moved to Germany we decided that due to our schedules we should not get a dog. I held strong for twelve straight years. My daughter moved back to Germany to finish school and her twenty first birthday was coming up. We really wanted to get her something special. Ideas, ideas, no real ideas what should we get her so we asked her what she would like. She said she wanted a dog.


A crack formed in my resolve but only a crack… I said, “You can look but you know we can’t have a dog.”


Have you asked the Landlord? No, so ask him… He said, "YES" Crack…


We looked at different dogs. We looked at bloodhounds and akitas and Chihuahuas and assorted squeaky dogs. No from me on the Chihuahuas, no from her on the Akita, no on squeaky dogs and we can’t get a dog on the bloodhound. CRACK…


CRASH...


As you can see by the picture I lost my resolve and the bloodhound won.


His name is “Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside”. Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside was a character from “Auntie Mame” Beau for short and Rufus when he is a dufus.


We got Beau after major paperwork and red tape to import a dog into Germany. He came into our normal smelling home and things would never be the same.


The first battle was paper training this puppy. I suspected the dog was part camel… That is the only explanation of how much water came out of him when he peed on the carpet.


The second problem was he would eat anything. This is where Beau has been a living lesson on “Grace”.


Beau has more toys than most children. Three fourths are chewy toys. Beau is not satisfied with chewing on his toys. He likes chewing, no… eating everything. He has a special place in his heart for cell phones. My wife’s pretty pink “contract” cell phone really tasted good. You can't just replace a contract phone you have to buy a new one… While we are buying a new one maybe we should upgrade to a blackberry. We did and it stayed safely in my wife’s purse except Beau loves to sniff through purses and being a bloodhound can naturally track down something good to eat, the Blackberry. We caught him before he did too much damage but now he has a taste for Blackberries. He found my daughters Blackberry on the dining room table and ate it. At this point many people would have said, "Enough! He is outta here!" I am not sure why I didn’t say that... (Yes I am… I love this stupid dog but don’t tell anybody.) We now secure things that he might eat. He still loves digging through purses. My wife was on the Mission’s committee at our church and had three hundred Euro from a fund raiser in her purse to be turned in the following Sunday. That is about five hundred dollars. He got into her purse and ate stamps and the envelope that had the Mission money in it. I am ready to spend the next week digging through dog poop looking for undigested Euro.



At this point most normal people would have sent him to doggy heaven. I did not because well you saw the above admission, I love this stupid dog. Luckily the money fell out of the purse and under a table so he was saved.



A few nights later the family was watching a movie from our bed, my wife and daughter fell asleep during the movie so they just laid their glasses on the night stand beside the bed. An hour later my wife woke up to Beau crunching his bone but it has a strange sound. She turned the light on to see both pairs of glasses in pieces and him chewing on them.



When is enough, enough? As I am asking myself that question I wonder how much do I allow this dog to mess up? How much will I allow this dog to cost me?



Then it occurs to me, “Wonder if God ever asks that question about me?” How much will I allow him to mess up? How much will I allow him to cost me? Why have I not taken him out?



Then the answer comes…



He has allowed me to mess up for over 51 years so far. He has allowed me to cost Him, His Son’s life. Why has He not taken me out…? This is the crazy part... It is because He loves a Dufus like “ME”!



I have heard this all my life in church but I learned this real lesson from Beau. The reality of GRACE is not to give me what I deserve which is death but to give me grace because He loves me. He loves me so much that Jesus died for me... That is the reality of John 3:16 as demonstrated in a way that even a dufus like me could get it. Demonstrated by a dog in a real life parable.



Beau thanks for the lesson and… “PUT DOWN THAT IPHONE!!!”

In the Desert

I have spent my fair share of time in the desert.
I played in the deserts of Saudi Arabia while the Iraqis were shooting scud missiles at me and the Americans were shooting patriot missiles at them. Both were causing the night to look like a ghost town. We knew the scuds would come after dark and be aimed at the city so many of the city dwellers were gone by dark. This was very exciting like riding a roller coaster that sometimes goes off the track and ...


The next time I spent time in the desert I was in Kuwait and guess what? You got it... The Iraqis were shooting missiles again. This time they did not even come close. They did mess up one of our Starbucks but only one.

Not only were the Iraqis shooting missiles but the locals were shooting Americans when we stopped at traffic lights so… We just stopped stopping at the lights. This was very exciting. If the missiles did not get us or the locals did not shoot us, we may kill ourselves because we did not stop at the red lights. It was very exciting.


The next three times were in Baghdad. Guess what? The Iraqis were shooting rockets at us. The first trip only had a little excitement but enough to keep us on our toes. The second trip had a little more excitement and one week after I came home a rocket blew up the truck I had been driving...

 

The last trip they got the closest yet. A rocket hit a little over a hundred feet from where I was. On my way home a mortar hit pretty close but... it missed.


I am in the desert again. This is not a literal desert. This time no one is shooting. The desert winds have dried my soul until I feel dry to the bone. I look at all I have believed all my life and wonder… WHY?

I do not doubt that there is a God. I know Yahweh is God and Jesus is His son.
I believe without a problem He was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died for my sins and rose on the third day.
I believe without a doubt He was my sin sacrifice to the Father and is at the right hand of the Father.
I believe without a doubt that I will go to Heaven because I have believed in Him and have a relationship with Him.

I believe and understand I am to love God with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind… and love my neighbor as myself.
I know I am to love others as Jesus loved me. He laid down His life for me...

Everything else is subject to question.
I have been a Christian since I was a child of five. Lived for the Lord, failed the Lord, lived for myself, and failed myself, found forgiveness from God and myself but…
That’s just it…

BUT…

There is nothing else.

BUT... God let's us know there is hope...

Just found this... 8 April 10

Deuteronomy 32:10-11
He found me in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled me, he cared for me, he kept me as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the Lord alone carried me.“

So... I am not in the desert alone...