Players – Part 1

For readers whom have joined since Blog series 3, (ok, Robin is my only new reader I know of!) here is the list of characters in my life and appearing regularly in the Blog:

Dutchman is actually Irish but married a Dutch girl, whose father is a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church.  He is now so immersed into the Dutch life - he would wear wooden shoes if he could (I seem to remember his size is 58! 15’s in America!).  We met the summer before he started at the University of Washington.  He thought I was hitting on his girl friend, it was actually the other way around, and once he understood this – we became friends for life.  He dropped ex-girl friend and I had some bruising to get over first. Extremely sharp, loves mental challenges, married, and two boys.

Swedish rocket scientist, is just that.  However, he was a junior at the University of Washington in nuclear physics when we met.  We both were at the same church, at the same time, when we made the commitment to change our lives and follow Jesus.  He, Dutchman and I have been brothers for 35 years!  He has a brilliant mind and accomplishments are never talked about – yeah all military.  He is now terminal with cancer. He prefers internet computer games involving him taking over the world…

Timothy is a close brother in the Lord.  Through working with me for a decade in the youth ministry at our church, through his divorce and the year that has followed.  He has been smacked around rather badly.  Currently on an extended trip around America photographing all of the national parks.  Wonderful photographer – however we are still awaiting Oldest Daughter’s wedding photos!  Just a subtle hint …..

Gaelic Girl, is another Irishman, however advertises herself as being Scottish.  Certainly, she can trace her ancestry directly to the first Lord of the Isles, but then again he was French!  As are the majority of her ancestors, they just all lived in Ireland or Scotland.  She had been a scientist with a company which just started its death throws and laid off their scientists as a first step.  Keep her in your prayers!  Probably in the top 5 smartest people I have ever known, understands things I never will!  Although she does know about this Blog, even erasing it once, she never reads it.  Ultimate form of criticism?

Oldest daughter is from the eastern Black Sea region of Russia.  She was 10 when she became my daughter.  She is now 20, married to a Frenchman whom thinks he is Italian, and has a pretty cute daughter.  (Aren’t all grandchildren?)  She and I did not see eye to eye on much during her teenage years but we are continuing to work on repairing our relationship.  She needs prayer (as do we all, I think she just needs a little more!)

Psalm 1

Psalm 1	Comments
1) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.	Don’t flirt with the world.  Observing the ways of the world system is fine, but admiring the world’s ways will lead to behaving as the world behaves, and then you will belong to the world and become indistinguishable from the world…
2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.	Ask yourself some questions!  Is how you live your life “correct” in God’s eyes?  Or do you have to justify yourself?
3) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.	Have you considered that trees have really good root systems?  The tree is feed by what is provided by that system, allowing them to produce fruit in their lives, sustaining them through drought and adverse conditions.  Feed on what is of God
4) The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.	Some versions use the term “wicked” here, it is someone not living in obedience to the instructions or will of God.  Lacking the root system of the trees…
5) Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.	You can only choose from two options: life or death, Jesus or separation from God.  That is all you have to go with – like it or not.  Conscious choice or not (not being separation in the end!).
6) For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.	You are making a life choice here, not like ordering lunch!  The way you chose to live your life is important not only to you, but also to your brethren and the world – which does watch you quietly from the sideline…

It is important to remember:

A “blessed” life is possible, but it does require you to not lead your life as the world does!

A person is “blessed” by what they abandon or turn away from.

A person is “blessed” by what they delight in.

What you delight in will be the direction in which you will go!

Ah-Boo!

Oldest daughter has developed some very odd characteristics having a daughter now.  One of them is that she is always saying, “Ah-Boo!” in her daughter’s face.  And grand-daughter delights in this.

But, where on Earth has “Ah-Boo!” come from?

I have tried at least seven different ways in asking this of OD, however she is never able to come up with an answer as to where she learned this from.  She does not even know if this is a Russian idiom or not!

Now, you may remember that not only was OD pregnant but so were two of her sister-in-laws, all delivering within two weeks of each other, my grand-daughter being the first to arrive.

So, I ran into one of OD’s sister-in-laws two weeks ago and did the required inspect the baby routine.  Of course, hers looks less human than OD’s, but you would never say such a thing!  Much less offer a banana…  (I bad!)

And, what was she doing?  Yeah, bent over her baby saying “Ah-Boo!” in her little son’s face!  Guess where she learned that one from.

Yeah, OD does seem to be a trendsetter where ever she goes…..

Christian Camp

One of my god-daughters is also from Russia and her adoptive mother is a single lady whom is quite overcome with having an older adoptive daughter.  I try to offer help as I can, but I have to admit this young lady is quite a handful!  And, her mother just will not do some of the suggestions which could help – like get her involved in scouting or a solid Christian youth group.

However, I was surprised this past weekend to learn via eMail that this god-daughter had indeed gone to Christian camp and was really unhappy with it.  Naturally, I am seeing visions of the problem being a Christian atmosphere versus the world of freedom she currently enjoys.

But nooooooo, what was bothering this GD was the other girls at the camp.  Ok, I came up blank.  Teenage girls are mostly psychos; maybe they were mean to her?  Nope, guess again.

It turns out that the after hours dorm time was spent with the girls and counselors ALL involved in cutting!

Yeah!  One sick bunch of young females in desperate need of real mental health assistance!

And thankfully GD did not join in because she knew, from middle daughter’s example, just how sick this activity really was!

If you have a teenage girl or work with them, please address this issue with them and do not be embarrassed to take an ultraviolet light to their arms and legs looking for scars.  Catching this as early as possible could save both you and them from the trauma MD and I went through two years ago….. and continue to deal with…..

In Whose Image?

Baldur Von Schirach, was the Reich Youth Leader prior to World War II.  A relative of Himmler, he was selected to organize this massive effort of indoctrinating German youth with the concept of the Reich and supremacy of the German State.

At the massive Nuremburg Rally he said:

“My Fuhrer,

My Comrades,

Again we experience the love that makes us proud and happy.

By your order, my Fuhrer, here stands a youth,

A youth that knows no class or caste distinctions.

The young generation of our nation is fashioned in your image.”

As you stare at the sea of youthful faces, think on what this man was saying.  These children were raised to the ideals of Adolf Hitler.  These children were to almost all be dead within eight years.  These children had no idea they had no choice but to serve and die for the State - because this was what they had been Programmed for!

Being German, this may affect me more than it might affect you.  These hundreds of thousands of young men – are all gone.  As a German male in the 1950’s and 1960’s, you were spoiled rotten by everyone (except the police!) because we were the future of Germany!  And the absence of youth, even adults between 20 and 50 was visibly apparent.

So I have been thinking on this, this past week…

Who would not want their children to know love?  Children whom can treat ALL as equal, regardless of their own background or race or even creed?  Children fashioned by the examples of our own spiritual heritage…

As a father of four, how have my children been programmed?  I know I have struggled to point them in the right direction, but the world has a strong and more immediate draw.  They have evidenced to my satisfaction they all want to be on the right path, but the ways of the world constantly are side tracking them.

At the face of it, our youth reflect all of our values, but often are like ping-pong balls – letting their lives go completely out of control, returning eventually to what they know is right, settling down, getting comfortable and then off on their next bounce! 

What are we to do?  Prayer, lots of prayer…

Benched

It would surprise those whom know me for the sports hater I am - that I played tennis, soccer, baseball, football, basketball and volleyball!  Still, I can not stand to watch anyone play!  No fun in that…

When I played two years of varsity tennis, the coach hated me so much he never even told me when the team photographs were taken!  Instead he sent me for towels!  Years later, I got a clue when he was retired for dementia.  I just accepted as fact - little German boy was just not wanted.  Instead, it was not personal.

Most of my high schools’ teams loved me because I could run like there was no tomorrow.  A handy talent in soccer, baseball, football and basketball.  But, as the reigning king of klutz, I had my “issues”…  I often over ran the receivers in soccer, and in football this happened instead of tackling him.  Landing on my butt was just an accepted end of any play in any sport!

In basketball and volleyball, I had an advantage over everyone in the school district – I was 6’3”, the next tallest might have made it to 5’11” – in any district!  Eventually, I was banned from doing layups due to this height advantage, then I could only shoot fouls and finally playing at the net was banned because no one could get past me in volley ball.  Even when I tried out for the 1972 Summer Olympics in volleyball – I was passed over because I was just “too big” at the net.  Yeah, 6’3”, 7’6” reach and all of 110 pounds wet…

So, Kris spent a great deal of time on the bench.  I loved to play but mostly I had to sit out because of “special” rules to make things fair for others.  Yeah.

But life is not like that!  Those special abilities or advantages are what allowed me to succeed where others could not even have a chance for success!  And yet those of lesser talent are often the ones to sideline achievers to the bench – so that everyone appears more or at least equally talented.

What am I thinking of?  Ministry.  I am frustrated because I feel like I am continually on the bench in my church.  I was a strong player for a decade for them, had a winning youth program – and yet the control has been given to someone without the ability to coach or play.  And Kris is benched because younger, more enthusiastic players are on the scene.  So, from numbers in the 40’s our church often has only 8 or less in the youth programs today – and three of those are mine!

Being on the bench is good too.  It gives one time to reflect on what they have done, observe other players, and learn from other’s mistakes.  But you still want to holler, “Coach, coach, send me in, send me in, while there is still time on the clock!”  But, of course the coach is deaf to all but his own voice…

I really wish that the church could be run with its eyes on the clock, using its peoples’ gifts where they are of the most advantage towards the spiritual growth of the membership and the community.  Instead of continuing in blindness, making the same mistakes over and over, never learning.  But, the problem here is that my church COMPLETELY ignores that there are spiritual gifts – and yet this is what God has given for the success of His church!

For instance, imagine not bothering to worry about whether or not someone has the gift of administration – they look good, talk good and have passion.  So, they are brought on and royally make a mess of things – just as their predecessors had done…  Of course this rarely happens because the running of the church is taken seriously by most and those with proven business sense are often called up to perform this important duty.

But, when was the last time you heard of someone with discernment being viewed as anything other than a trouble maker?  Let’s face it - if they are constantly at odds with the church leadership because of their own spiritual blindness – no one wants to even listen much less have them involved!

And so many of the gifts are so politically incorrect!  Tongues are quaint, abused by the Pentecostal types, maybe they have applicability on the mission field but certainly not in the church – just too uncomfortable!  Interpretation of course must only have to do with tongues so it can be ignored as well.  Of course healing can not be, God just does not work that way anymore.  That is what doctors are for, right?

And yet we need teachers with wisdom and knowledge from the Holy Spirit, but the church still belittles gifts it sees no use for.  Naturally prayer and gifts are acknowledged.  Everyone needs to do more of both, preferably for the church of course!

Now how do we get people off the bench……….

Youthful Answers

____________________________________

TEACHER:  Maria, go to the map and find North  America .

MARIA:        Here it is.

TEACHER:  Correct. Now class, who discovered America ?

CLASS:        Maria.

____________________________________

TEACHER:   John, why are you doing your multiplication on the floor?

JOHN:          You told me to do it without using tables.

__________________________________________

TEACHER :  Glenn, how do you spell 'crocodile?'

GLENN:        K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'

TEACHER:   No, that's wrong

GLENN:        Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

____________________________________________

TEACHER:   Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?

DONALD:      H I J K L M N O.

TEACHER:   What are you talking about?

DONALD:     Yesterday you said it's H to O.

__________________________________

TEACHER:   Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we

                    didn't have ten years ago.

WINNIE:       Me!

__________________________________________

TEACHER:  Glen, why do you always get so dirty?

GLEN:          Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.

_______________________________________

TEACHER:  Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I.'

MILLIE:         I is..

TEACHER:   No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.'

MILLIE:         All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.'

_________________________________

TEACHER:   George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it.  Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?

LOUIS:          Because George still had the axe in his hand.

______________________________________

TEACHER:  Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?

SIMON:        No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.

______________________________

TEACHER:  Clyde , your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your

                    brother's. Did you copy his?

CLYDE :      No, sir.  It's the same dog.

___________________________________

TEACHER:  Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?

HAROLD:    A teacher

___________________________________