Hey gang!
Starting to work on my 2015 Major League Baseball previews. Should be fun among the NFL playoff season. The reason that I decided to call it "Sports Edition" rather than "Baseball Edition" is that I may want to talk about other sports occasionally. The posting should begin soon. Let me know which teams you want to hear about, so that I might start with those.
Thanks for reading!
Frank
Friday, January 2, 2015
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
The 9/11 blog! 13 years and We Will Still Not Forget!
Hey gang!
Today is September 11th and I don’t need to tell you what happened 13 years ago. Every year I get asked where I was. I can tell you easily. I had just finished the night shift at SunTrust’s call center and drove home. My friend Alvin was visiting because Night of Joy was the previous weekend. He was still asleep when I got home and I told my grandmother that I was going to sleep for a few hours.
Before I fell asleep, I decided to watch some TV. The local area had a tire plant that had recently caught fire and when I saw the smoke, I thought it was just more pictures of the scene at the plant. I had no idea that the smoke they were showing was from the World Trade Center. I flipped off the TV and slept for about two hours.
Alvin woke me to tell me what had happened. For the next three hours, we were glued to the TV. I couldn’t watch any more. We knew that Disney and Sea World were closing or had already closed so we figured to drive around and see what we could do. We stopped at a mall out near Disney and they decided to close at 3pm. Not much time for shopping.
That night, I still had to go to work. We were surprised that work was still going on, but I think all of us needed it to know that the world was still going on. Most of the night, we were able to talk because other than people checking balances occasionally, it was pretty quiet.
I remember in the days after that we decided to visit the Holy Land Experience. While other theme parks were closed or having limited hours, the Holy Land was on schedule and it was busy. One of the positive things that came out of the experience was that some of the population had a hunger to understand God more than ever.
I also remember the number of flags and flag decals and all the pro-USA stuff that was on cars, houses and businesses. There was such a unity of pride for our country. It is the likes of which I have not seen before or since. One bumper sticker said it all, “Don’t Mess With the U.S.”
Before long, we saw Congress pass a bill to proclaim the day Patriot Day. America began to use the day to take pride in country and another time to honor the veterans that protect and serve to give us the freedom that we have.
As citizens here in the United States, the slogan of the day has become We Will Not Forget. I think that has positive and negative connotations though. The positive remembrances are easy. We remember the 3,000+ people that gave their lives that day. Almost everyone I know either lost a family member or a friend, or it seems that way. These people are remembered for the differences they made in the lives of those that were left behind. They are loved.
The negative connotations are also easy, even though most of us really don’t want to talk about them. First, the United States now understands that we are no longer secure in that terrorism won’t happen to us. It was a wake-up call. A bitter, nasty reminder that the world does not all love us.
September 11th also reminds us that whether we want to believe it or not, racism still exists. While we united as a country, every person that is Muslim in America or looks like one is looked at differently. There is that look of “Can I really trust them?” out the corner of peoples’ eyes. While it might be somewhat good to be skeptical, it isn’t good to go full tilt and say things like, “Can’t trust a Muslim, period.” Many Muslims wish that the terrorist acts never happened. I think both sides of the equation realize that what this small number of overzealous crazies try to do make everyone look bad.
But this celebration of what is now Patriot Day and our slogan of We Will Not Forget leaves me with one question that should make us all uncomfortable. Before I ask it, let me say here first that I know that most Muslims do NOT think this way and I am speaking of these extremists that love the acts of terrorism that was done here and everywhere else in the world.
The question is this: Knowing that we commemorate today, do you think that there are some that treat today like a holiday in the other way? That the extremists treat today as some High Holy Day of victory over the evil USA and/or Christianity? Are there parties going on somewhere in Afghanistan, Iraq, or even right here in the U. S. of A. celebrating that America and/or Christianity had their hat handed to them today?
I know that’s a scary thought. We Will Not Forget, however, I don’t think they will either.
I love you guys!
Frank
Today is September 11th and I don’t need to tell you what happened 13 years ago. Every year I get asked where I was. I can tell you easily. I had just finished the night shift at SunTrust’s call center and drove home. My friend Alvin was visiting because Night of Joy was the previous weekend. He was still asleep when I got home and I told my grandmother that I was going to sleep for a few hours.
Before I fell asleep, I decided to watch some TV. The local area had a tire plant that had recently caught fire and when I saw the smoke, I thought it was just more pictures of the scene at the plant. I had no idea that the smoke they were showing was from the World Trade Center. I flipped off the TV and slept for about two hours.
Alvin woke me to tell me what had happened. For the next three hours, we were glued to the TV. I couldn’t watch any more. We knew that Disney and Sea World were closing or had already closed so we figured to drive around and see what we could do. We stopped at a mall out near Disney and they decided to close at 3pm. Not much time for shopping.
That night, I still had to go to work. We were surprised that work was still going on, but I think all of us needed it to know that the world was still going on. Most of the night, we were able to talk because other than people checking balances occasionally, it was pretty quiet.
I remember in the days after that we decided to visit the Holy Land Experience. While other theme parks were closed or having limited hours, the Holy Land was on schedule and it was busy. One of the positive things that came out of the experience was that some of the population had a hunger to understand God more than ever.
I also remember the number of flags and flag decals and all the pro-USA stuff that was on cars, houses and businesses. There was such a unity of pride for our country. It is the likes of which I have not seen before or since. One bumper sticker said it all, “Don’t Mess With the U.S.”
Before long, we saw Congress pass a bill to proclaim the day Patriot Day. America began to use the day to take pride in country and another time to honor the veterans that protect and serve to give us the freedom that we have.
As citizens here in the United States, the slogan of the day has become We Will Not Forget. I think that has positive and negative connotations though. The positive remembrances are easy. We remember the 3,000+ people that gave their lives that day. Almost everyone I know either lost a family member or a friend, or it seems that way. These people are remembered for the differences they made in the lives of those that were left behind. They are loved.
The negative connotations are also easy, even though most of us really don’t want to talk about them. First, the United States now understands that we are no longer secure in that terrorism won’t happen to us. It was a wake-up call. A bitter, nasty reminder that the world does not all love us.
September 11th also reminds us that whether we want to believe it or not, racism still exists. While we united as a country, every person that is Muslim in America or looks like one is looked at differently. There is that look of “Can I really trust them?” out the corner of peoples’ eyes. While it might be somewhat good to be skeptical, it isn’t good to go full tilt and say things like, “Can’t trust a Muslim, period.” Many Muslims wish that the terrorist acts never happened. I think both sides of the equation realize that what this small number of overzealous crazies try to do make everyone look bad.
But this celebration of what is now Patriot Day and our slogan of We Will Not Forget leaves me with one question that should make us all uncomfortable. Before I ask it, let me say here first that I know that most Muslims do NOT think this way and I am speaking of these extremists that love the acts of terrorism that was done here and everywhere else in the world.
The question is this: Knowing that we commemorate today, do you think that there are some that treat today like a holiday in the other way? That the extremists treat today as some High Holy Day of victory over the evil USA and/or Christianity? Are there parties going on somewhere in Afghanistan, Iraq, or even right here in the U. S. of A. celebrating that America and/or Christianity had their hat handed to them today?
I know that’s a scary thought. We Will Not Forget, however, I don’t think they will either.
I love you guys!
Frank
Ray Rice and How the Bible Speaks of Domestic Violence
Hey gang!
This morning, I was having a hard time deciding which topic I wanted to talk about. The two issues are both fairly significant to us on this 10th day of September. The one I won't go over much is today is National Suicide Prevention Day. I talked about this in a lot more detail about five years ago after a friend of mine committed suicide and I think a lot of that material is still active, meaningful and spot on about the subject. If you'd like to read that article, you can go to the article here.
So the other topic is one that is receiving a ton of thought because of the Ray Rice incident. For those of you that have been under a rock, or absolutely abhor everything that is the National Football League, Ray Rice abused his wife on the night before they were married. Maybe abused is a soft word here since he punched his wife unconscious, then dragged her out of the elevator of a casino without even checking to see if she was breathing.
The rest of the story is that the commissioner of the NFL suspended Rice two games for the offense. He was not charged, put in jail and/or served any prison time for the incident. However, many felt the suspension was a "slap on the wrist" to Rice. On Monday, internet video sensation TMZ released footage from the casino showing the incident in full form. By day's end, Rice was released by his team, the Baltimore Ravens, and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
The change of heart by the NFL was that not only could they see what happened, the entire world that owns a television or computer could also see it. When the public saw the video, he was guilty by a jury of the nation, turning into a public relations nightmare for the NFL, commissioner Roger Goddell and for the Rice family.
I think all of us can agree that domestic violence is bad, but I was actually stunned a little when I heard a couple of my Christian friends yesterday discussing the fact that God really doesn't say anything about domestic violence in the Word.
Before I do that, let's define and throw out a few statistics on domestic violence. These are all from the Safe Horizon website.
Domestic violence definition:
Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and/or control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence. Domestic violence can include physical, emotional, psychological, economic or social abuse. Abusers use threats, intimidation, isolation and other behaviors to gain and maintain power over their victims.
I do want to make a point clear here. This isn't just physically beating someone up, what most people think is the normal word for domestic violence. There is a verbal abuse as well. Some use tone of voice and their words to abuse people.
I found all six of those statistics horrifying. I have three daughters and the idea that even one of them could be abused makes me ill. The idea that my son could also be abused by his spouse equally so.
The idea that the pattern is likely to continue into the next generation is not nearly as shocking when you place this Bible verse next to it: Exodus 34:6-7, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, wickedness and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
Think about that. God is so displeased with our sin that He can punish the future generations because of a man's sin. If you are letting your children witness abuse, there is a strong likelihood of it continuing on. That shouldn't surprise any of us. If the younger generation sees us sin as if it is OK, then they are likely to keep it in mind to do it also.
The idea that abuse leads to homelessness is outright scary. I know this stat probably doesn't apply to Rice and his wife, but how many times do you think that "normal, everyday families" that have domestic violence in their homes leads to homelessness? People finally get tired of being treated that way and the only place they have is the street.
Finally, $37 billion spent because of domestic violence is something that should make us sick. Just the manpower to keep domestic violence in check is staggering. The sad truth is that it isn't in check. Domestic violence continues and will continue to happen until Jesus comes back.
So, let's talk a little about what the Bible says considering domestic violence. Some of these verses may talk more in general sin, but they apply here.
Psalm 11:5, "The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence." David goes on in verse 6 to share that God will rain fiery coals, sulfur and a scorching win to the wicked. God wants us to act right. Things happen in our lives and not all of them are good. In these times, we should not turn to violence to correct a matter, whether that be a spouse or anyone else.
2 Timothy 3:1-5, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." I don't see it is as a stretch when you take all of that into context that we are likely in the last days, but let's be totally honest here in saying that all of these sins have always existed. They just may be worse now than any other time in history. I will also say that some of the other evil listed here may cause abuse, not just that someone is abusive. There are no excuses though. Finally, when talking about having nothing to do with people like this, let's remember this is concerning the unrepentant hearts. If someone repents and stops doing these things, that we need to walk with these brothers and sisters to help them stay on the holy path.
Romans 12:17-18, "Do not repay evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone." This is a tough verse for everyone. I have rights to be mad, angry, etc. However, it does not give you a right to abuse people, period. I'm not saying to act as if nothing happened, if you think you are provoked. What I am saying is that there are more responsible actions, such as walking out of the room, voicing concerns rather than being accusatory and forgiving offenses that are minor.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17, "Don't you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, He will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple." This is a great pair of verses for people who have been abused. Understand that you belong to God. God doesn't take kindly to having what is His being hurt in any way, shape or form.
James 1:19-20, "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." This is the most common sense of all the verses to this point. However, most people don't think. They react rather than think about what is being said. If we as a people thought more before we reacted, most of any kind of violence would eliminate itself.
Last one, Galatians 5:21-30, "Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives, as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--for we are members of his body."
Since that was a long set, I moved to another paragraph to talk about it. The bottom line is if we treated each other as God intended us to, a lot of the problems of violence would go away. If husbands treated their wives the way they treat themselves, wives would be more inclined to listen to what they had to say, even if it wasn't pleasant. So men, think about how you want to be treated and do accordingly.
Wives, I am not asking you to submit. Submit is a dirty word to many women in the church. Submit means to them to be less than a man. That is not how God wants you to be. God does want you to listen to them, realizing if they are striving to live as Christ loved the church, that they are loving you that way. I heard some finger-pointing, "but Frank, my man don't treat me like he loves Jesus." My response is yes, that is true sometimes. I won't counter with "maybe you ought to have thought about that before you married him" because many men do the same thing. They marry women they are unequally yoked with. However, your job is to listen to him, help him "make sense" on your own and encourage him to talk to other Godly men that will see it God's way, not necessarily your way.
Finally, I would not be doing my full duty as a teacher of God's Word and Way if I remained naive and thinking that domestic abuse will stop because I ask nicely for it to do so. If you need help, I give a few pieces of advice. First, talk to someone. Find a friend that will offer Godly wisdom and talk over the situation. Gain understanding on how to deal with strife in the home before it becomes domestic violence. Second, find a good church that teaches God's Word and has people that are "walking with Jesus" rather than just showing up to look religious. Finally, if you need help, call the local authorities or call the National Hot Line for Domestic Abuse at 1-800-621-HOPE (4673). I don't have all of the solutions, but I do care enough that I don't want anyone to suffer from abuse.
My final piece of advice is to keep seeking God during this time. You may feel God has abandoned you, but He has not. He will never leave you or forsake you. Keep praying for help as well. Allow God to help make your spouse into the best person they can be, one that lives for Him, loving you in His ways.
I love you guys!
Frank
This morning, I was having a hard time deciding which topic I wanted to talk about. The two issues are both fairly significant to us on this 10th day of September. The one I won't go over much is today is National Suicide Prevention Day. I talked about this in a lot more detail about five years ago after a friend of mine committed suicide and I think a lot of that material is still active, meaningful and spot on about the subject. If you'd like to read that article, you can go to the article here.
So the other topic is one that is receiving a ton of thought because of the Ray Rice incident. For those of you that have been under a rock, or absolutely abhor everything that is the National Football League, Ray Rice abused his wife on the night before they were married. Maybe abused is a soft word here since he punched his wife unconscious, then dragged her out of the elevator of a casino without even checking to see if she was breathing.
The rest of the story is that the commissioner of the NFL suspended Rice two games for the offense. He was not charged, put in jail and/or served any prison time for the incident. However, many felt the suspension was a "slap on the wrist" to Rice. On Monday, internet video sensation TMZ released footage from the casino showing the incident in full form. By day's end, Rice was released by his team, the Baltimore Ravens, and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
The change of heart by the NFL was that not only could they see what happened, the entire world that owns a television or computer could also see it. When the public saw the video, he was guilty by a jury of the nation, turning into a public relations nightmare for the NFL, commissioner Roger Goddell and for the Rice family.
I think all of us can agree that domestic violence is bad, but I was actually stunned a little when I heard a couple of my Christian friends yesterday discussing the fact that God really doesn't say anything about domestic violence in the Word.
Before I do that, let's define and throw out a few statistics on domestic violence. These are all from the Safe Horizon website.
Domestic violence definition:
Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and/or control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence. Domestic violence can include physical, emotional, psychological, economic or social abuse. Abusers use threats, intimidation, isolation and other behaviors to gain and maintain power over their victims.
I do want to make a point clear here. This isn't just physically beating someone up, what most people think is the normal word for domestic violence. There is a verbal abuse as well. Some use tone of voice and their words to abuse people.
- 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.
- Women experience more than 4,000,000 physical assaults and rapes because of their partners.
- Men are the victims of 3,000,000 physical assaults.
- Children who live in homes of domestic violence also suffer neglect or abuse at higher rates (30% to 60%)
- According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, domestic violence is the third leading cause of homelessness among families.
- Domestic violence costs more than $37 billion a year in law enforcement involvement, legal work, medical and mental health treatment, and lost productivity at companies.
I found all six of those statistics horrifying. I have three daughters and the idea that even one of them could be abused makes me ill. The idea that my son could also be abused by his spouse equally so.
The idea that the pattern is likely to continue into the next generation is not nearly as shocking when you place this Bible verse next to it: Exodus 34:6-7, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, wickedness and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
Think about that. God is so displeased with our sin that He can punish the future generations because of a man's sin. If you are letting your children witness abuse, there is a strong likelihood of it continuing on. That shouldn't surprise any of us. If the younger generation sees us sin as if it is OK, then they are likely to keep it in mind to do it also.
The idea that abuse leads to homelessness is outright scary. I know this stat probably doesn't apply to Rice and his wife, but how many times do you think that "normal, everyday families" that have domestic violence in their homes leads to homelessness? People finally get tired of being treated that way and the only place they have is the street.
Finally, $37 billion spent because of domestic violence is something that should make us sick. Just the manpower to keep domestic violence in check is staggering. The sad truth is that it isn't in check. Domestic violence continues and will continue to happen until Jesus comes back.
So, let's talk a little about what the Bible says considering domestic violence. Some of these verses may talk more in general sin, but they apply here.
Psalm 11:5, "The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence." David goes on in verse 6 to share that God will rain fiery coals, sulfur and a scorching win to the wicked. God wants us to act right. Things happen in our lives and not all of them are good. In these times, we should not turn to violence to correct a matter, whether that be a spouse or anyone else.
2 Timothy 3:1-5, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." I don't see it is as a stretch when you take all of that into context that we are likely in the last days, but let's be totally honest here in saying that all of these sins have always existed. They just may be worse now than any other time in history. I will also say that some of the other evil listed here may cause abuse, not just that someone is abusive. There are no excuses though. Finally, when talking about having nothing to do with people like this, let's remember this is concerning the unrepentant hearts. If someone repents and stops doing these things, that we need to walk with these brothers and sisters to help them stay on the holy path.
Romans 12:17-18, "Do not repay evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone." This is a tough verse for everyone. I have rights to be mad, angry, etc. However, it does not give you a right to abuse people, period. I'm not saying to act as if nothing happened, if you think you are provoked. What I am saying is that there are more responsible actions, such as walking out of the room, voicing concerns rather than being accusatory and forgiving offenses that are minor.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17, "Don't you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, He will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple." This is a great pair of verses for people who have been abused. Understand that you belong to God. God doesn't take kindly to having what is His being hurt in any way, shape or form.
James 1:19-20, "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." This is the most common sense of all the verses to this point. However, most people don't think. They react rather than think about what is being said. If we as a people thought more before we reacted, most of any kind of violence would eliminate itself.
Last one, Galatians 5:21-30, "Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives, as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--for we are members of his body."
Since that was a long set, I moved to another paragraph to talk about it. The bottom line is if we treated each other as God intended us to, a lot of the problems of violence would go away. If husbands treated their wives the way they treat themselves, wives would be more inclined to listen to what they had to say, even if it wasn't pleasant. So men, think about how you want to be treated and do accordingly.
Wives, I am not asking you to submit. Submit is a dirty word to many women in the church. Submit means to them to be less than a man. That is not how God wants you to be. God does want you to listen to them, realizing if they are striving to live as Christ loved the church, that they are loving you that way. I heard some finger-pointing, "but Frank, my man don't treat me like he loves Jesus." My response is yes, that is true sometimes. I won't counter with "maybe you ought to have thought about that before you married him" because many men do the same thing. They marry women they are unequally yoked with. However, your job is to listen to him, help him "make sense" on your own and encourage him to talk to other Godly men that will see it God's way, not necessarily your way.
Finally, I would not be doing my full duty as a teacher of God's Word and Way if I remained naive and thinking that domestic abuse will stop because I ask nicely for it to do so. If you need help, I give a few pieces of advice. First, talk to someone. Find a friend that will offer Godly wisdom and talk over the situation. Gain understanding on how to deal with strife in the home before it becomes domestic violence. Second, find a good church that teaches God's Word and has people that are "walking with Jesus" rather than just showing up to look religious. Finally, if you need help, call the local authorities or call the National Hot Line for Domestic Abuse at 1-800-621-HOPE (4673). I don't have all of the solutions, but I do care enough that I don't want anyone to suffer from abuse.
My final piece of advice is to keep seeking God during this time. You may feel God has abandoned you, but He has not. He will never leave you or forsake you. Keep praying for help as well. Allow God to help make your spouse into the best person they can be, one that lives for Him, loving you in His ways.
I love you guys!
Frank
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Phil Robertson and "The Truth" On Scripture, Homosexuality, Judging Others
Hey gang!
Starting to feel good again as after two postings, the blog is up to about 30 reads a day. Glad you guys are here and giving some thought and feedback, whether in comments or in emails. Thanks for the mostly positive feedback from yesterday's post.
Late last night, as I do on a lot of evenings when my wife is watching Netflix, I started looking through news stories and commentaries and I found an interesting one on Duck Dynasty guru, Phil Robertson. I have to tell you that I really like the guy. I may not agree with everything that rolls out of his mouth, but overall I like him.
The article I read was from ABC News and talked about his new book, UnPHILtered, The Way I See It. When you can throw your name into a title, you know you are cool, LOL. Anyhow, the link to the article is here.
In the article, Robertson spoke to ABC's Ryan Owens about the book and his comments from last year that got him in a little trouble with some people. In his December comments, actually from an interview he recently had done with GQ magazine, Robertson called homosexuality a sin, didn't recall any mistreatment of blacks in his growing years in Louisiana and said that Nazis needed Jesus. On the last one, I can firmly say that everyone needs Jesus, not just the Nazis. In another ABC story from that time, he was quoted as saying that he "will not give or back off from my path." He stated, further into the first story, that the comments in question were actually scripture verses, which he didn't think would offend anyone.
In the latest article, Robertson tells Owens that he'll let people read the book and decide. "So people can read it and decide for themselves, but people need to get it in their head, dude, I don't hate anybody."
Truthfully, I believe he is being sincere. You don't have to. It is your opinion, but I will, in the case of Phil Robertson, give him the benefit of the doubt. You may say that I don't know him and you would be correct. My thought on Robertson is this: He has not been caught doing anything that gives me a reason to distrust him. All of us have said things we wished we wouldn't have said, but there hasn't been a pattern of words or actions to have doubt. We see these type opinions in politics all the time. However, the difference is that some politicians cross the line too many times with both and we are forced to see why distrust is in order.
I'm not here to debate black treatment in the south in the 1960's, nor am I calling for Nazis or any other race to need Jesus any more than anyone else. However, what I want to talk about today is Phil's statement about how his words were scripture and not his own words.
I appreciate that Robertson didn't back down from God's Word when called on it. He pretty much claimed his statements. He took a stand. The only difference I might say here is that when we use scripture to paint a picture of or for people, those words become ours, even if they were first noted in scripture.
When I quote scripture, I try (and we all should) to learn where it came from in the Bible. I won't say that we always need to be saying "chapter and verse" notations at the end of a quote, but we should give people a reference point when needed. If I am going to talk about why homosexuality shouldn't happen, I could quote Leviticus 20:13, "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."
Let's branch out a little more on this though. Leviticus 20, starting in verse 10 and going to verse 21, God's Word is not just talking about homosexual relations here. Moses is writing also about other forms of sexual impurity that are not to be tolerated in his time. That includes adultery (verse 10), boys sleeping with their mothers (verse 11), bigamy of marrying both mother and daughter (verse 14), sex with animals (verses 15-16), sibling marriage (verse 17), and relational marriage (verse 17, 19-21).
My question is from this text, why in the 4000 years or so since, is homosexuality the one sin that stands out in our current culture. I hate to tell anyone sleeping under a rock that ALL of the other topics in the preceding paragraph are still happening around the world. I want you to understand that I am not beating a banner to say that one or any of these are acceptable, according to God's Word since Leviticus.
I want to be fair here in saying though that if you wish to "cast the first stone" at homosexuals, then why not the others. The casting of stones is a story of an adulterous female in John 8. In the story, a woman is brought before Jesus by the Pharisees (the upstanding people of Jesus' day) and they remind Jesus that by law, this woman is to be stoned. The Pharisees then put the ball in Jesus' court by asking Him what He thinks about that. He finally responds in verse 7 with, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
This is where Jesus begins to show us that we are to act differently than the world expects from us. After all the men left in verse 9, he asks her where her accusers are in verse 10. Once she realizes that they have all gone, he shares with her in verse 11, "Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin." As Rebecca St. James eloquently puts it, "Go and sin no more!"
I am not going to sit here and debate whether homosexuality is sin or not. The Bible has spoken. However, the Bible has also spoken on many other things as sin. What bothers me most about sin and it's lack of being forgiven on earth by people is that we judge which sin is worse than another. We tell people that this sin makes you unlovable by people in our community, in our workplace, in our schools, even in our churches. I might be able to forgive you for speeding and running over my foot. However, I might not be able to forgive you if you shoot my head off with a semi-automatic rifle.
One of my high school English teachers once told me of a phrase she liked to use, "We don't smoke and we don't chew and we don't like boys who do." So in her world, if you smoked or chewed, you were outcast from her world. ALL of us do the same thing. We may not give it a mantra, but we all decide where the sins rate in our minds and we judge people.
James gives us a standard which we should all strive for in the fourth chapter of his book of the Bible. Starting in verse 11, "Brothers, don not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?"
If you have ever read "The Scarlet Letter" for English class, you know the story is of a woman caught in shame of adultery and is forced to wear the letter "A" on her garment as a reminder of her sin. The sin itself was not the reminder, but every day when she put on her clothes, it was there. The memory of the sin was there. Have you ever felt like, whatever your sin is today, you are being forced to wear it, by your memory or by someone else continuing to be unforgiving to you because of that sin? It doesn't have to be that way.
Jesus does not want you to walk through your entire life feeling like you can't be forgiven. He wants to take our sins, as David says in Psalm 103:12, "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." He wants us to throw that letter in the trash and let the garbage man take it to the landfill, never to be seen again. He wants to forgive whatever your sin is. Ask Him and walk away from the sin. Go and sin no more!
I can't promise you that people are anywhere near as forgiving as Jesus is. Someone used to say all the time, "I can forgive what you did, but you still have to deal with the consequences." You see that happen over and over again in the Bible. The sin was removed, but people still had to live with the decisions. David in his adultery, Moses in not getting to see the Promised Land, and the list goes on. Just remember that Jesus is with you and as I said in the last post, go find people that will help you stay away from sin and encourage you on the road of righteousness.
I love you guys!
Frank
Starting to feel good again as after two postings, the blog is up to about 30 reads a day. Glad you guys are here and giving some thought and feedback, whether in comments or in emails. Thanks for the mostly positive feedback from yesterday's post.
Late last night, as I do on a lot of evenings when my wife is watching Netflix, I started looking through news stories and commentaries and I found an interesting one on Duck Dynasty guru, Phil Robertson. I have to tell you that I really like the guy. I may not agree with everything that rolls out of his mouth, but overall I like him.
The article I read was from ABC News and talked about his new book, UnPHILtered, The Way I See It. When you can throw your name into a title, you know you are cool, LOL. Anyhow, the link to the article is here.
In the article, Robertson spoke to ABC's Ryan Owens about the book and his comments from last year that got him in a little trouble with some people. In his December comments, actually from an interview he recently had done with GQ magazine, Robertson called homosexuality a sin, didn't recall any mistreatment of blacks in his growing years in Louisiana and said that Nazis needed Jesus. On the last one, I can firmly say that everyone needs Jesus, not just the Nazis. In another ABC story from that time, he was quoted as saying that he "will not give or back off from my path." He stated, further into the first story, that the comments in question were actually scripture verses, which he didn't think would offend anyone.
In the latest article, Robertson tells Owens that he'll let people read the book and decide. "So people can read it and decide for themselves, but people need to get it in their head, dude, I don't hate anybody."
Truthfully, I believe he is being sincere. You don't have to. It is your opinion, but I will, in the case of Phil Robertson, give him the benefit of the doubt. You may say that I don't know him and you would be correct. My thought on Robertson is this: He has not been caught doing anything that gives me a reason to distrust him. All of us have said things we wished we wouldn't have said, but there hasn't been a pattern of words or actions to have doubt. We see these type opinions in politics all the time. However, the difference is that some politicians cross the line too many times with both and we are forced to see why distrust is in order.
I'm not here to debate black treatment in the south in the 1960's, nor am I calling for Nazis or any other race to need Jesus any more than anyone else. However, what I want to talk about today is Phil's statement about how his words were scripture and not his own words.
I appreciate that Robertson didn't back down from God's Word when called on it. He pretty much claimed his statements. He took a stand. The only difference I might say here is that when we use scripture to paint a picture of or for people, those words become ours, even if they were first noted in scripture.
When I quote scripture, I try (and we all should) to learn where it came from in the Bible. I won't say that we always need to be saying "chapter and verse" notations at the end of a quote, but we should give people a reference point when needed. If I am going to talk about why homosexuality shouldn't happen, I could quote Leviticus 20:13, "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."
Let's branch out a little more on this though. Leviticus 20, starting in verse 10 and going to verse 21, God's Word is not just talking about homosexual relations here. Moses is writing also about other forms of sexual impurity that are not to be tolerated in his time. That includes adultery (verse 10), boys sleeping with their mothers (verse 11), bigamy of marrying both mother and daughter (verse 14), sex with animals (verses 15-16), sibling marriage (verse 17), and relational marriage (verse 17, 19-21).
My question is from this text, why in the 4000 years or so since, is homosexuality the one sin that stands out in our current culture. I hate to tell anyone sleeping under a rock that ALL of the other topics in the preceding paragraph are still happening around the world. I want you to understand that I am not beating a banner to say that one or any of these are acceptable, according to God's Word since Leviticus.
I want to be fair here in saying though that if you wish to "cast the first stone" at homosexuals, then why not the others. The casting of stones is a story of an adulterous female in John 8. In the story, a woman is brought before Jesus by the Pharisees (the upstanding people of Jesus' day) and they remind Jesus that by law, this woman is to be stoned. The Pharisees then put the ball in Jesus' court by asking Him what He thinks about that. He finally responds in verse 7 with, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
This is where Jesus begins to show us that we are to act differently than the world expects from us. After all the men left in verse 9, he asks her where her accusers are in verse 10. Once she realizes that they have all gone, he shares with her in verse 11, "Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin." As Rebecca St. James eloquently puts it, "Go and sin no more!"
I am not going to sit here and debate whether homosexuality is sin or not. The Bible has spoken. However, the Bible has also spoken on many other things as sin. What bothers me most about sin and it's lack of being forgiven on earth by people is that we judge which sin is worse than another. We tell people that this sin makes you unlovable by people in our community, in our workplace, in our schools, even in our churches. I might be able to forgive you for speeding and running over my foot. However, I might not be able to forgive you if you shoot my head off with a semi-automatic rifle.
One of my high school English teachers once told me of a phrase she liked to use, "We don't smoke and we don't chew and we don't like boys who do." So in her world, if you smoked or chewed, you were outcast from her world. ALL of us do the same thing. We may not give it a mantra, but we all decide where the sins rate in our minds and we judge people.
James gives us a standard which we should all strive for in the fourth chapter of his book of the Bible. Starting in verse 11, "Brothers, don not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgement on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?"
If you have ever read "The Scarlet Letter" for English class, you know the story is of a woman caught in shame of adultery and is forced to wear the letter "A" on her garment as a reminder of her sin. The sin itself was not the reminder, but every day when she put on her clothes, it was there. The memory of the sin was there. Have you ever felt like, whatever your sin is today, you are being forced to wear it, by your memory or by someone else continuing to be unforgiving to you because of that sin? It doesn't have to be that way.
Jesus does not want you to walk through your entire life feeling like you can't be forgiven. He wants to take our sins, as David says in Psalm 103:12, "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." He wants us to throw that letter in the trash and let the garbage man take it to the landfill, never to be seen again. He wants to forgive whatever your sin is. Ask Him and walk away from the sin. Go and sin no more!
I can't promise you that people are anywhere near as forgiving as Jesus is. Someone used to say all the time, "I can forgive what you did, but you still have to deal with the consequences." You see that happen over and over again in the Bible. The sin was removed, but people still had to live with the decisions. David in his adultery, Moses in not getting to see the Promised Land, and the list goes on. Just remember that Jesus is with you and as I said in the last post, go find people that will help you stay away from sin and encourage you on the road of righteousness.
I love you guys!
Frank
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Open House: Beyond One Man Revival, Life Together
Hey gang!
Over the last few days, I have received some questions about the new blog. The most common is "Why are you starting over and leaving One Man Revival behind?" It is a great question, seeing that I had somewhere between 200-250 views a day and somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 followers by the end of the almost two-year run from 2008-2010.
The answer is an easy one, though. There has been no new material on the page since 2010. A lot of the end of the end of the run was promoting other people's material (books, blogs, items, and the like). I did a lot of that to try to help bring in income to the page. I wasn't working with three kids at home and trying to help the family, took it upon myself to do something with the blog to bring in the bling. Not only did it fail, it didn't really improve the quality of material being produced. Actually, it hurt the material because I was spending the time I would normally have studied what God wanted me to talk about reading material from other people to promote their product. Some were great, some not so much. Regardless, it hurt my time and the message that I was being given to put out.
The bigger part of the answer is that One Man Revival served its purpose well. The catch line, "A One Man Revival begins with you" was excellent and true. To begin serving Jesus and serving Him well, the revival has to begin in your heart. You have to want to follow Jesus. It's always a choice. The free gift of eternal life is yours from the moment you decide to follow Jesus, but inevitably it is your will of how much following of Jesus you will actually do from that moment on.
There is one problem for me to continue to use One Man Revival going forward. I guess it is not so much of a problem as a realization. The realization is this: While it is true that a one man revival begins with you, it is not meant to stay that way. In most of what I was going through toward the back end of the OMR run, I felt alone, totally alone. Whether that was reality or not, it was how I felt. While I was growing in head knowledge of God, I wasn't growing in relationship with God, or most anyone else, for that matter.
In the mid 1990's, Promise Keepers began to soar as a great men's ministry. One of their core Bible verses was Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." While I have walked with many men over the 20 years that I have been a Christian, very seldom did I feel like I was sharpening men in Christian friendship and even less frequently that other Christian men were sharpening me. Many times, the guys I should have been sharing with and baring my soul with, would end up talking with me about sports and the weather, rather than the issues that would have made us better men or kept us from being weaker men.
The truth is that, as the church, we need each other. Next to being in relationship to God, being in relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, can encourage and strengthen us. Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day (Jesus' return) approaching."
While it is easy to say, "I don't need God, or others, while things are going good," it is often times when we are going through the worst times that we don't reach out to people. While that reach is a two-way street with people, a lot of friends ashamedly don't feel comfortable reaching into you during the hard times. It's not because they don't care. It is more often because we don't know what to say or equally important, what not to say. What we fail to miss is that just being in the room with someone going through tough times does the heart good like a merry medicine.
During the back of that run with OMR, I lost my father. I didn't just lose my dad. I found my three half-siblings. Finding them was the good news. Finding out a lot of what they went through with my father was disheartening and made me emotionally ill. While my father was a different man from the days that he was with them, the pain and trying to deal with all the new information was extremely difficult for me. I went through the "I'm the oldest brother, I am a protector" thought process. I couldn't protect them then and I didn't offer much in peace from it either. I was just there.
While my church failed miserably at being there for me in that time, I was grateful to find a grief support group through my local hospital, ran by an attender of the local Catholic church. Ann, the group leader, and a group of other people faced with the death of a loved one met weekly over a couple month period. Being able to have your voice being heard during the times of trials in your life can be refreshing and was so helpful in my case. It gives you someone to help sort out whatever mess you feel like has been created. The other voices also give you the perspective that you haven't gone through this alone and furthermore, weren't the first or last person that will ever do so.
On Friday, it will mark three weeks that I lost my half-brother, Kyle. I never met him in person. I talked to him a few times a year over these last four years. It wasn't enough. I will be honest with you that it may go down as one of my biggest regrets in life to not have met him. It makes my anxiousness to meet my remaining two half-sisters even higher. It probably won't be easy. One sister is in Alaska and the other is in Oregon. I am located in Illinois. Those aren't just day trips.
I know how badly I want relationship with them. To know them and their families. It is how Paul shares his longing to see Jesus with Timothy in his second letter, "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy 4:8)." That's real longing for relationship.
Let's be honest, though. Maybe today, your longing for Jesus isn't quite like that. I know mine is not on some days. We just want to get through the day, curl up in bed or on the couch and go to sleep. We're not thinking about Jesus, Heaven or anything spiritually. We just want to say we made it. We don't even ask for a "I survived it (whatever it may be to you today)" T-shirt.
I will give you slightly better news that I have had a couple friends from my church do a little better in helping me deal with Kyle's passing. They gave me an ear. One also gave me a cool dinner. Hey, I will keep it real with you here. I'd like to be all spiritual and tell you, "Hey, we don't want your money or your food or any other nice things you want to do for us," however, I like meals I don't have to prepare or a little help now and then, regardless of the occasion. Honestly, you can give me money any time you like. I won't mind at all. But it's not that which is most important. It is you being there in the trials of life with us. We want YOU!
It's why I love the concept of what a lot of people call lifegroups today. It's people meeting daily, weekly or whenever to live life with you. You share what God is teaching you at church or in your own study time or a lesson that someone in the group prepares, it doesn't matter. What matters is that it gives everyone in the group an opportunity to say what they are going through in this world called life. You get God's Word and a chance to talk to your people (friends, hopefully). One other thing I really enjoy about most of the groups I am in is food. I won't lie, if you have chocolate or cake, I am 99.99% more likely to show up. Who doesn't love sweet stuff? I know this fat guy does.
The point I am wanting you to walk away with today is this: If you are walking with Christ alone, you don't have to do it. Find a church. None of them are perfect, so don't travel around the circuit trying to find one. Find one that you can handle. Then find a friend or two or twelve or a hundred. Begin talking to them. Don't share your life story immediately. Tom Zawacki, the leader of the first group I ever attended, told me something important. "Don't cast your pearls before swine!" That means don't share everything with everybody. Share when it is appropriate. But do share. Don't just sit there and eat the cake. Guilty! I've done it before.
So next time, I'll have something else to share. Nope, I haven't decided what yet. I know God will give me something good though.
I love you guys!
Frank
Over the last few days, I have received some questions about the new blog. The most common is "Why are you starting over and leaving One Man Revival behind?" It is a great question, seeing that I had somewhere between 200-250 views a day and somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 followers by the end of the almost two-year run from 2008-2010.
The answer is an easy one, though. There has been no new material on the page since 2010. A lot of the end of the end of the run was promoting other people's material (books, blogs, items, and the like). I did a lot of that to try to help bring in income to the page. I wasn't working with three kids at home and trying to help the family, took it upon myself to do something with the blog to bring in the bling. Not only did it fail, it didn't really improve the quality of material being produced. Actually, it hurt the material because I was spending the time I would normally have studied what God wanted me to talk about reading material from other people to promote their product. Some were great, some not so much. Regardless, it hurt my time and the message that I was being given to put out.
The bigger part of the answer is that One Man Revival served its purpose well. The catch line, "A One Man Revival begins with you" was excellent and true. To begin serving Jesus and serving Him well, the revival has to begin in your heart. You have to want to follow Jesus. It's always a choice. The free gift of eternal life is yours from the moment you decide to follow Jesus, but inevitably it is your will of how much following of Jesus you will actually do from that moment on.
There is one problem for me to continue to use One Man Revival going forward. I guess it is not so much of a problem as a realization. The realization is this: While it is true that a one man revival begins with you, it is not meant to stay that way. In most of what I was going through toward the back end of the OMR run, I felt alone, totally alone. Whether that was reality or not, it was how I felt. While I was growing in head knowledge of God, I wasn't growing in relationship with God, or most anyone else, for that matter.
In the mid 1990's, Promise Keepers began to soar as a great men's ministry. One of their core Bible verses was Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." While I have walked with many men over the 20 years that I have been a Christian, very seldom did I feel like I was sharpening men in Christian friendship and even less frequently that other Christian men were sharpening me. Many times, the guys I should have been sharing with and baring my soul with, would end up talking with me about sports and the weather, rather than the issues that would have made us better men or kept us from being weaker men.
The truth is that, as the church, we need each other. Next to being in relationship to God, being in relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, can encourage and strengthen us. Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day (Jesus' return) approaching."
While it is easy to say, "I don't need God, or others, while things are going good," it is often times when we are going through the worst times that we don't reach out to people. While that reach is a two-way street with people, a lot of friends ashamedly don't feel comfortable reaching into you during the hard times. It's not because they don't care. It is more often because we don't know what to say or equally important, what not to say. What we fail to miss is that just being in the room with someone going through tough times does the heart good like a merry medicine.
During the back of that run with OMR, I lost my father. I didn't just lose my dad. I found my three half-siblings. Finding them was the good news. Finding out a lot of what they went through with my father was disheartening and made me emotionally ill. While my father was a different man from the days that he was with them, the pain and trying to deal with all the new information was extremely difficult for me. I went through the "I'm the oldest brother, I am a protector" thought process. I couldn't protect them then and I didn't offer much in peace from it either. I was just there.
While my church failed miserably at being there for me in that time, I was grateful to find a grief support group through my local hospital, ran by an attender of the local Catholic church. Ann, the group leader, and a group of other people faced with the death of a loved one met weekly over a couple month period. Being able to have your voice being heard during the times of trials in your life can be refreshing and was so helpful in my case. It gives you someone to help sort out whatever mess you feel like has been created. The other voices also give you the perspective that you haven't gone through this alone and furthermore, weren't the first or last person that will ever do so.
On Friday, it will mark three weeks that I lost my half-brother, Kyle. I never met him in person. I talked to him a few times a year over these last four years. It wasn't enough. I will be honest with you that it may go down as one of my biggest regrets in life to not have met him. It makes my anxiousness to meet my remaining two half-sisters even higher. It probably won't be easy. One sister is in Alaska and the other is in Oregon. I am located in Illinois. Those aren't just day trips.
I know how badly I want relationship with them. To know them and their families. It is how Paul shares his longing to see Jesus with Timothy in his second letter, "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearing (2 Timothy 4:8)." That's real longing for relationship.
Let's be honest, though. Maybe today, your longing for Jesus isn't quite like that. I know mine is not on some days. We just want to get through the day, curl up in bed or on the couch and go to sleep. We're not thinking about Jesus, Heaven or anything spiritually. We just want to say we made it. We don't even ask for a "I survived it (whatever it may be to you today)" T-shirt.
I will give you slightly better news that I have had a couple friends from my church do a little better in helping me deal with Kyle's passing. They gave me an ear. One also gave me a cool dinner. Hey, I will keep it real with you here. I'd like to be all spiritual and tell you, "Hey, we don't want your money or your food or any other nice things you want to do for us," however, I like meals I don't have to prepare or a little help now and then, regardless of the occasion. Honestly, you can give me money any time you like. I won't mind at all. But it's not that which is most important. It is you being there in the trials of life with us. We want YOU!
It's why I love the concept of what a lot of people call lifegroups today. It's people meeting daily, weekly or whenever to live life with you. You share what God is teaching you at church or in your own study time or a lesson that someone in the group prepares, it doesn't matter. What matters is that it gives everyone in the group an opportunity to say what they are going through in this world called life. You get God's Word and a chance to talk to your people (friends, hopefully). One other thing I really enjoy about most of the groups I am in is food. I won't lie, if you have chocolate or cake, I am 99.99% more likely to show up. Who doesn't love sweet stuff? I know this fat guy does.
The point I am wanting you to walk away with today is this: If you are walking with Christ alone, you don't have to do it. Find a church. None of them are perfect, so don't travel around the circuit trying to find one. Find one that you can handle. Then find a friend or two or twelve or a hundred. Begin talking to them. Don't share your life story immediately. Tom Zawacki, the leader of the first group I ever attended, told me something important. "Don't cast your pearls before swine!" That means don't share everything with everybody. Share when it is appropriate. But do share. Don't just sit there and eat the cake. Guilty! I've done it before.
So next time, I'll have something else to share. Nope, I haven't decided what yet. I know God will give me something good though.
I love you guys!
Frank
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
About Being Frank and introduction
Hey gang!
This is my first blog back into writing since the days of One Man Revival. (Read the archives at http://onemanrevival.blogspot.com).
So what will this page contain? Glad you asked. Like OMR, I want to do a lot of teaching about God's love and how He cares for us. A lot of what I'll talk about will focus on our Christian living. Both in how we do it right and how sometimes we get it wrong. You mean Christians mess up? Stop laughing. If you've been Christian for any amount of time, you know we do. All of us...Even me. Who am I kidding? Especially me.
So why would you follow along and follow me? Let me say this right off the bat. NEVER, EEEEVER follow me. There is one man who ever did it fully 100% right and I am definitely not Him! A lot of times, you'll laugh and maybe even learn from my mistakes. Sometimes, you'll comment and I will learn something along with everyone else who reads here.
Why did I choose Being Frank, Jenkins as my new title? One thing that I always, always want to be with anyone who reads this is real. If I can't be real, then there are hundreds and probably even thousands of people you'd rather read. In the late 70's, I grew up listening to a great radio personality named Frank Lee. His tagline was "Frankly speaking, this is Frank Lee speaking." I loved it. While Frank isn't my entire first name (given name Frankie), Lee is my middle name. I was fortunate to meet the man behind the microphone in the early 90's as a sports editor of Fairmont State's newspaper, The Columns. He was very gracious, but very honest and candid with me in the interview time I had with him. I've always wanted to be the same, as a person, and as a writer.
There might be days that you might not like what I have to say. That is fine. Comment, debate, or tell me I flat out have no idea what I'm talking about. However, if you love what I say, give me credit where credit is due. More than that, once we get rolling, share my writing with anyone you think can benefit from it.
Acts 1:8 tells us that "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." My power here is in the pen, or the keyboard in this internet age. I hope that my words encourage you and leave you with more hope than you had when you started.
Words are a powerful tool. Proverbs 12:18 says, "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." May what I say do that for you. Because I want to be a servant as Paul asks Timothy to be in 2 Timothy 2:15. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."
Come along with me and enjoy the journey. Starting September 1 and hopefully thrice weekly (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), we'll travel together on this road called Life. See you on Monday!
I love you guys!
Frank
This is my first blog back into writing since the days of One Man Revival. (Read the archives at http://onemanrevival.blogspot.com).
So what will this page contain? Glad you asked. Like OMR, I want to do a lot of teaching about God's love and how He cares for us. A lot of what I'll talk about will focus on our Christian living. Both in how we do it right and how sometimes we get it wrong. You mean Christians mess up? Stop laughing. If you've been Christian for any amount of time, you know we do. All of us...Even me. Who am I kidding? Especially me.
So why would you follow along and follow me? Let me say this right off the bat. NEVER, EEEEVER follow me. There is one man who ever did it fully 100% right and I am definitely not Him! A lot of times, you'll laugh and maybe even learn from my mistakes. Sometimes, you'll comment and I will learn something along with everyone else who reads here.
Why did I choose Being Frank, Jenkins as my new title? One thing that I always, always want to be with anyone who reads this is real. If I can't be real, then there are hundreds and probably even thousands of people you'd rather read. In the late 70's, I grew up listening to a great radio personality named Frank Lee. His tagline was "Frankly speaking, this is Frank Lee speaking." I loved it. While Frank isn't my entire first name (given name Frankie), Lee is my middle name. I was fortunate to meet the man behind the microphone in the early 90's as a sports editor of Fairmont State's newspaper, The Columns. He was very gracious, but very honest and candid with me in the interview time I had with him. I've always wanted to be the same, as a person, and as a writer.
There might be days that you might not like what I have to say. That is fine. Comment, debate, or tell me I flat out have no idea what I'm talking about. However, if you love what I say, give me credit where credit is due. More than that, once we get rolling, share my writing with anyone you think can benefit from it.
Acts 1:8 tells us that "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." My power here is in the pen, or the keyboard in this internet age. I hope that my words encourage you and leave you with more hope than you had when you started.
Words are a powerful tool. Proverbs 12:18 says, "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." May what I say do that for you. Because I want to be a servant as Paul asks Timothy to be in 2 Timothy 2:15. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."
Come along with me and enjoy the journey. Starting September 1 and hopefully thrice weekly (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), we'll travel together on this road called Life. See you on Monday!
I love you guys!
Frank
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