Bs

 He was a housepainter.

At least when I met him, he was painting a house.

A former Lutheran pastor, brought up in the church, he left, finally tired of 'policy'.  Not all Lutherans were so inclined.  Yet, for some, a regulated structure replaced church function.  This affected how people expressed their faith.  Leftist dialog usurped parishes, leaving behavior filtered through its socio-political lens.

B revolted against this.  He chose conscience and quite actually imitated Dr Luther many centuries ago.  

He chose an independent group.  This, by no means eschewed education.  

He simply didn't 'put on airs' and preached and ministered to many.  

When I met him, he simply was painting houses.

He never abandoned faith.

The man had remarkable reach and inspired many to walk in Jesus' ways.  

He had his own business and a full family life as well as making many friends.

B was quintessential humility for he accepted his work whether painting a house or counseling the troubled.

He never basked in his vast educational achievements.  They were simply part of him and coalesced.

Certain denominations could learn a lot from this.

Decide what's important and do it.

Not me, me, me.

But Thee, thee, thee.

Cs & Ws

 I remember the 'screening' process for 'candidacy' for the ministry.  

The future bishop questioned certain folks who decided to minister.  They did so outside what he considered a legitimate organization.  He sarcastically exclaimed anyone could set up a storefront and preach.  This was w/o the benefit of socalled apostolic succession.  No laying on of hands.

I said how can you question someone if they are truthfully drawn to ministry and are preaching the Word?

He huffed and puffed and said I lacked humility.

That meant I questioned him and didn't kowtow aka kiss his keester.

My brother from another mother had done just what he questioned.  Oh he did achieve a doctorate in education eventually.  Laying hands?  God's hand was on him.

I dated a girl for a bit whose Dad became a fundamentalist pastor similarly.  That was C.

W was the bishop who preceded the pompous one.

Both were great men of God who preached and taught the Savior.

Different guys, yet the same God guided them.

Humility?  They both humbly accepted the responsibility of preaching and counseling.

The Church consists of many types all with the same goal.  Methods vary.

To the pompous Pharisees I say look to Truth. Accept or deny.

It is what was done 2,000 years ago.

All together in the Light.  

Ties

 Not the cloth round the neck nor connectedness.

Just simply tying one's shoes.

Imagine a kid who wouldn't tie shoes.

It was so bad his Mom got special clip on shoes.  So tying was avoided and not tying was indulged.

His brother got fed up with such indulgence.  He sat the kid on the couch and wouldn't let him up til he tied some shoes.

Kid tried to get up and bro shoved him back down.

The kid knew how.  He was just spoiled.

Bro knew that the kid would eventually suffer in years to come.  He knew there were things one has to do oneself.

Sweat broke out but the kid finally tied his shoes.

Bro just walked away.

That was that.

The kid can wear loafers and ties both -s-.

No clip ons.

Ties go beyond shoes.  

Knots and other attachments might follow.

And independence rises.

Stars

 We think of gold and blue stars.  We honor our military.

This is about something else spurred by a passing thought.

Remember those little sticky stars pinned by our names in the lower grades?

Good conduct and achievement.  I don't remember if I got any lol.

Guess I didn't pay attention.

Anyway, I thought about how we anticipate rewards and, yes, punishments.

Do we do right just for stars?  And are we just trying to avoid punishment?  

What's underneath?

A sincere wish/will to do good for goodness sake?  Or only to look good?

My Dad taught me content of character.  Doing what's right, even though it's often painful.

This is what was fervently taught in the New Testament.  Dare I trip a bot?  Jesus.

Let us live accordingly.

God knows our hearts.

Ruts

 I remember a saying that made the rounds when I was a student minister.  'But we've always done it this way'.  And this was supposed to lead us to fresh thinking/methods.

Well, it didn't.  It blew over.  People were safer doing it the old way.

There are patterns in life we get used to.  Some are ok for day to day routine.  Others stifle us.

We go on and get something done.  Then suddenly another way dawns on us.  

Inspiration?  Serendipity?  Nah.  There are no coincidences.

The lingering thought with a new method is 'this is so simple so why didn't we do it before?

Leads us back to the rut we fall in.

Newness pops up.  Rarely do we search and find it.

So, breath, stay calm and let circumstance refresh you.  

Don't let the winds of fate bat you around.

Ride the waves of destiny.

Envy

 When I see the success of decent honest people, I salute them.  I pray for their health and all good things.

There are always those who have a negative opposite attitude.  They are lazy.

Instead of working and earning whatever the goal, they would rather steal.  It's an abysmal substitute.  

Obviously the fallen and their ilk are rife with this.  Delusional.

Success is very subjective.  Individual, local, national, world are just the surface.  

Whatever the goals of success, it is the proliferation of the Light that counts.

Decent?  Honest?  Yes.  Truth above all.

Be grateful.  Strive for success and Freedom.

Our destiny awaits.

24....

 Another fave series.  Spoken of before.

Hard justice and very grey areas.  Watch it yourself and see.

There is truth in the fiction.  I'll let you find it.

When it was running, 24 seemed to appeal to both libs and conservatives.

Is there a tendency to fight?  Yes but that's where the comparison ends.

Are you fighting to preserve Freedom or tyranny?  Justice or injustice?

You see what you want to perhaps.  Or you have a clear grasp of what you fight for.

War is hell.  It's messy.  Yet, we try not to be like the enemy.

That is both simple and rough.  

We fight an enemy who wants to control.  We seek Liberty.  We value people to be themselves and we get together to affirm this.

We can be brutal but we help heal.

Vigilance never goes away.

So it's beyond 24.