Month: October 2015

Operation Cross Country

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fbi2Operation Cross Country IX is not a marathon, but it is a rigorous track and field event.  The trackers come from a diverse field of law enforcement agencies, and the event is focused on saving kids.

As an ongoing national effort, Operation Cross Country IX, is a nationwide crackdown on sex trafficking.  The FBI joined forces with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and took the lead in this effort that rescued 149 underage trafficking victims.

Additionally, more than 150 pimps were arrested.  These puss-pockets of humanity are so sleazy they were selling kids as young as 12 years old.

FBI Director James Comey said:  “Our mission is to protect the American people — especially our children — from harm. When kids are treated as a commodity in seedy hotels and on dark roadsides, we must rescue them from their nightmare and severely punish those responsible for that horror. We simply must continue to work with our partners to end the scourge of sex trafficking in our country.”

There are several organizations that focus their energy on rescuing those who are trapped in the commercial sex trade.  Shared Hope International is one of them, and you can gain a better understanding of their work by watching a brief 2 minute video.  Simply click here. 

The Lord says: “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.”  ~Jeremiah 22:3

Fillings or Feelings

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Generally speaking, people have very little trouble distinguishing between fillings and feelings.  I know of one particular incident, however, when the two were confused.  My youngest brother was listening to a discussion on how a person’s feelings had been hurt.  Eager to participate, he gave a big smile and said:  “I have feelings too, see,” and then he pointed to the fillings in his mouth.

The gnawing truth is that both fillings and feelings are directly connected to something that is missing.  In the case of fillings, part of a tooth is missing, so a dentist fills the tooth.  Feelings, on the other hand, can be more of a challenge; the emptiness related to them are emotional in nature.

A person may feel empty because of grief, a self-esteem issue, or disappointment. The solution involves more than just an injection and the mixing of a composite resin to fill a tooth.  The need is a relationship and not more resin:

  • If your feelings have drained you and you’re running on fumes, it might give you some consolation to think of God as “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles ( 2 Corinthians 1:3-4).”
  • If you’re struggling with a major decision, James 1:5 can be reassuring: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, . . . and it will be given to him.”
  • If you’re worn out, you can find the strength you need because “the Lord will give strength to His people (Psalm 29:11).”
  • If your life seems dry and barren, a relationship with Jesus may be what you need: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
  • If you have a gnawing hunger that you can’t seem to satisfy, you may be eating the wrong bread. Jesus said:  “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more (John 6).”

You may have gone through life as the kid nobody wanted on their team; as the person who could never make it to the first chair in the school band; the singer who was always off key; or, the wilted flower on a piece of outdated wallpaper.  If so, I have some good news for you.  Jesus said: “The Father gives me the people who are mine. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them (John 6:37).”  There are no exceptions: Jesus loves you, accepts you, and He always will.

The Pursuit of Peace

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Pursuit-LogoI was flipping through the pages of the Psalms late yesterday afternoon, and 5 words from Psalm 34 caught my attention:  “Seek peace and pursue it.”  When I examined the words of this verse, I came away with the idea that it is a faith and works verse.

The faith part is found in the word “seek.”  The original meaning of the word has the idea of seeking within the context of worship, or praying for peace.

The works part of the verse is even more interesting.  The word “pursue” should be understood within the scope of intense persecution.  You should pursue peace with same energy and intensity of a zealous persecutor.

There is considerable harmony between the uses of pursue in the Old Testament, and the way Paul uses it in the New Testament:

  • In Romans 14:19, Paul encouraged the Christians at Rome to “Pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another.”
  • I Thessalonians 5:15: “See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.”
  • I Timothy 6:11: “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”

It has been said that whatever catches your attention, catches you.  I trust you’ll turn your attention to the business of “seeking peace and pursuing it.”  Peter confirms the importance of this endeavor:

Whoever desires to love life and see good days let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.    ~I Peter 3:10-12

It’s The Season

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Organize-Your-Home_chore-checklist_092011It’s one of those annual rites that’s practiced in most homes across the USA.  At some point in the Spring and the Fall months of the year, there is some time scheduled for extra cleaning.

Just as you make time to spruce up your house, you might want to examine your life as well.  Is it as tidy and clean as it was a week or a month ago?

Self-examination is a continuing theme throughout the pages of Scripture, and I’ve emphasized a word in each verse below.  While these are different words in the English, they come from the same word in the Greek which is the language of the New Testament.

As you read these verses consider them in the context of who, what, when, and why:

***1 Thessalonians 5:21-22:  Test everything. Hold on to what is good. Keep away from every kind of evil.

  • What am I doing now that I wasn’t doing that has created a void in my relationship with God?

***Philippians 1:9-11:  I pray that your love will keep on growing because of your knowledge and insight. That way you will be able to determine what is best and be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.  Jesus Christ will fill your lives with everything that God’s approval produces. Your lives will then bring glory and praise to God.

  • When did my love for Jesus quit growing and when did it cease to bring Him glory and praise?

***Ephesians 5:8-14: Live as children of light, for the fruit that the light produces consists of every form of goodness, righteousness, and truth.  Determine what pleases the Lord, and have nothing to do with the unfruitful actions that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are. For it is shameful even to mention what is done by these disobedient people in secret.  But everything that is exposed to the light becomes visible, for the light is making everything visible.

  • Who has influenced me to walk in the shadowy sin of darkness instead of the light of God’s love?

***Galatians 6:3-4:  If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself; but let each one examine his own work

  • Why do I think I can live my life on my own terms and disregard the principles of God and compromise my testimony?

***Romans 12:1-2: I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship.  Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.

Examine your life to discern who you are most like.  Are you more or less of a reflection of Jesus than you were a week or a month ago?  If you are less like Him, is it because you like Him less and some one or some thing else more?  Are you still conformed to His image or have you morphed into the likeness of the world?

Examine yourself:  Is it time for some Fall cleaning?

Seeing Heaven or Honoring the Holy

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islandNow and then headline news will report on one of the indigenous religions of the world and some peculiar practice that is unique to those who adhere to their worldview. A recent article in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser has focused on the proposed use of the  Big Island mountain of Mauna Kea.

If scientists are given permission to build the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea’s peak, it’ll be like poking a stick in the eye of the Native Hawaiian people.  This is sacred ground to many Hawaiian’s because it is part of their sacred myth and their understanding of how the islands were created.

This incident serves as a reminder that government seems to focus on the rights of science, and it has an unseemly disregard for the rites of believers.

How will this debate be settled? Should science build another telescope to see into the heavens or should they honor the holy places of Hawaii?

If the government continues down its current path of spiritual disregard, what’s next. It might become so bold as to remove something like the 10 Commandments from the public square in the middle of the night, but then again, I guess that already happened last week in Oklahoma City.

Dodgers, Mets, and the Beanball

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utleyNo one ever likes to see a player writhing on the field in extreme pain. That, however, is the picture that will remain in the minds of sports fans following Game 2 between the Mets and the Dodgers. When Chase Utley slid into second base he did more than just break up a double play, he also broke the leg of Ruben Tejada.

I’m not a betting man, but I think the odds are high that the Mets’ Pitchers have already painted a target on Utley.  He is a marked man who has to know that Game 3 means he has at least one pitch that going to come in hard, fast, high and inside.

The Quotable and Notable Game of Baseball

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two_boys_bat_largerWhen I was a kid, many of my Summer days were spent at makeshift ball diamonds at Graham Park, Skelly School or the water tower by Tom’s house.  The evening hours would find most of us at the ball diamonds by McDonald’s Stadium—as in Jim McDonald, not the golden arches.

I have a pretty good understanding about the ins and outs of baseball, but one thing has troubled me for many years:  Why does everybody stand up and sing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” when we’re already there?  

This is what I do at 4 AM of a morning:  I give a lot of profound thought to the perplexing mysteries of the universe.  I also try to search and discover the true meaning and purpose of life.

I may have found some answers to secrets of life in the quotes below.  Read these and study the stats on today’s sports page, and you might stay busy until game time:

  • There are three types of baseball players: those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens. ~Tommy Lasorda
  • Bob Gibson is the luckiest pitcher I ever saw. He always pitches when the other team doesn’t score any runs. ~ Tim McCarver
  • Ninety percent of this game is half mental. ~ Yogi Berra
  • There are two theories on hitting the knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither one of them works. ~Charlie Lau
  • The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until the ball stops rolling and then to pick it up. ~ Bob Uecker
  • I watch a lot of baseball on radio. ~ President Gerald Ford
  • I can remember a sports writer asking me for a quote and I didn’t know what a quote was.  I thought it was some kind of soft drink.                ~Joe DiMaggio

Here’s one final quote to illustrate the lack of sophistication in those who don’t love the game:  “The baseball mania has run its course. It has no future as a professional endeavor (Cincinnati Gazette editorial, 1879).”

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

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mlb-postseason-2015Baseball!  Some people love the game while others hate it.  I’ve always enjoyed this game played by the boys of Summer; the game known as America’s pastime; and, the game that makes front page news each October.

Baseball is more than an umpire calling balls and strikes over a span of 9 innings that consists of 162 games per team for a cumulative total of 2430 games played–plus the Championship Series and World Series games.  Throughout the season, the players will use some 16,500 bats and 157,950 baseballs.

But the story of baseball is more than the consumption of bats and baseballs.  It is a centuries old legacy of Dads reverting to childhood antics as he takes his kids to ball diamonds to cheer on his favorite team.

And, what’s a game without the mustard and ketchup coated and much revered round steak in a bun–the hot dog?  In 2014, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) estimated that fans would eat a whopping 21,357,316 hot dogs and 5,508,887 sausages during the MLB season.  That’s enough hot dogs to stretch from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to Wrigley Field in Chicago.

I think I just heard the ump shout, “Play ball,” so I have to go, but to help you reminisce, I’m sharing a chart below that’s a record of the World Series winners.

MLB World Series Winners
SEASON WINNER LOSER SERIES
2014 San Francisco Giants Kansas City Royals 4-3
2013 Boston Red Sox St. Louis Cardinals 4-2
2012 San Francisco Giants Detroit Tigers 4-0
2011 St. Louis Cardinals Texas Rangers 4-3
2010 San Francisco Giants Texas Rangers 4-1
2009 New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies 4-2
2008 Philadelphia Phillies Tampa Bay Rays 4-1
2007 Boston Red Sox Colorado Rockies 4-0
2006 St. Louis Cardinals Detroit Tigers 4-1
2005 Chicago White Sox Houston Astros 4-0
2004 Boston Red Sox St. Louis Cardinals 4-0
2003 Florida Marlins New York Yankees 4-2
2002 Anaheim Angels San Francisco Giants 4-3
2001 Arizona Diamondbacks New York Yankees 4-3
2000 New York Yankees New York Mets 4-1
1999 New York Yankees Atlanta Braves 4-0
1998 New York Yankees San Diego Padres 4-0
1997 Florida Marlins Cleveland Indians 4-3
1996 New York Yankees Atlanta Braves 4-2
1995 Atlanta Braves Cleveland Indians 4-2
1993 Toronto Blue Jays Philadelphia Phillies 4-2
1992 Toronto Blue Jays Atlanta Braves 4-2
1991 Minnesota Twins Atlanta Braves 4-3
1990 Cincinnati Reds Oakland Athletics 4-0
1989 Oakland Athletics San Francisco Giants 4-0
1988 Los Angeles Dodgers Oakland Athletics 4-1
1987 Minnesota Twins St. Louis Cardinals 4-3
1986 New York Mets Boston Red Sox 4-3
1985 Kansas City Royals St. Louis Cardinals 4-3
1984 Detroit Tigers San Diego Padres 4-1
1983 Baltimore Orioles Philadelphia Phillies 4-1
1982 St. Louis Cardinals Milwaukee Brewers 4-3
1981 Los Angeles Dodgers New York Yankees 4-2
1980 Philadelphia Phillies Kansas City Royals 4-2
1979 Pittsburgh Pirates Baltimore Orioles 4-3
1978 New York Yankees Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2
1977 New York Yankees Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2
1976 Cincinnati Reds New York Yankees 4-0
1975 Cincinnati Reds Boston Red Sox 4-3
1974 Oakland Athletics Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1
1973 Oakland Athletics New York Mets 4-3
1972 Oakland Athletics Cincinnati Reds 4-3
1971 Pittsburgh Pirates Baltimore Orioles 4-3
1970 Baltimore Orioles Cincinnati Reds 4-1
1969 New York Mets Baltimore Orioles 4-1
1968 Detroit Tigers St. Louis Cardinals 4-3
1967 St. Louis Cardinals Boston Red Sox 4-3
1966 Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0
1965 Los Angeles Dodgers Minnesota Twins 4-3
1964 St. Louis Cardinals New York Yankees 4-3
1963 Los Angeles Dodgers New York Yankees 4-0
1962 New York Yankees San Francisco Giants 4-3
1961 New York Yankees Cincinnati Reds 4-1
1960 Pittsburgh Pirates New York Yankees 4-3
1959 Los Angeles Dodgers Chicago White Sox 4-2
1958 New York Yankees Milwaukee Braves 4-3
1957 Milwaukee Braves New York Yankees 4-3
1956 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3
1955 Brooklyn Dodgers New York Yankees 4-3
1954 New York Giants Cleveland Indians 4-0
1953 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-2
1952 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3
1951 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-2
1950 New York Yankees Philadelphia Phillies 4-0
1949 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-1
1948 Cleveland Indians Boston Braves 4-2
1947 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3
1946 St. Louis Cardinals Boston Red Sox 4-3
1945 Detroit Tigers Chicago Cubs 4-3
1944 St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis Browns 4-2
1943 New York Yankees St. Louis Cardinals 4-1
1942 St. Louis Cardinals New York Yankees 4-1
1941 New York Yankees Brooklyn Dodgers 4-1
1940 Cincinnati Reds Detroit Tigers 4-3
1939 New York Yankees Cincinnati Reds 4-0
1938 New York Yankees Chicago Cubs 4-0
1937 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-1
1936 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-2
1935 Detroit Tigers Chicago Cubs 4-2
1934 St. Louis Cardinals Detroit Tigers 4-3
1933 New York Giants Washington Senators 4-1
1932 New York Yankees Chicago Cubs 4-0
1931 St. Louis Cardinals Philadelphia Athletics 4-3
1930 Philadelphia Athletics St. Louis Cardinals 4-2
1929 Philadelphia Athletics Chicago Cubs 4-1
1928 New York Yankees St. Louis Cardinals 4-0
1927 New York Yankees Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0
1926 St. Louis Cardinals New York Yankees 4-3
1925 Pittsburgh Pirates Washington Senators 4-3
1924 Washington Senators New York Giants 4-3
1923 New York Yankees New York Giants 4-2
1922 New York Giants New York Yankees 4-0
1921 New York Giants New York Yankees 5-3
1920 Cleveland Indians Brooklyn Robins 5-2
1919 Cincinnati Reds Chicago White Sox 5-3
1918 Boston Red Sox Chicago Cubs 4-2
1917 Chicago White Sox New York Giants 4-2
1916 Boston Red Sox Brooklyn Robins 4-1
1915 Boston Red Sox Philadelphia Phillies 4-1
1914 Boston Braves Philadelphia Athletics 4-0
1913 Philadelphia Athletics New York Giants 4-1
1912 Boston Red Sox New York Giants 4-3
1911 Philadelphia Athletics New York Giants 4-2
1910 Philadelphia Athletics Chicago Cubs 4-1
1909 Pittsburgh Pirates Detroit Tigers 4-3
1908 Chicago Cubs Detroit Tigers 4-1
1907 Chicago Cubs Detroit Tigers 4-0
1906 Chicago White Sox Chicago Cubs 4-2
1905 New York Giants Philadelphia Athletics 4-1
1903 Boston Americans Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3

The Truth About Truth

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truthianmAs I watched the evening news last night and the skilled manner in which the politicians spun the truth, I thought of the words of Jesus and Solomon:

  • John 8:32: You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
  • Proverbs 12:17: Truthful witness by a good person clears the air, but liars lay down a smoke screen of deceit. ~ The Message

If the truth will make you free, can you make the assumption that a life of habitual deceitfulness leads to bondage?  To be free, you need to have the courage to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Some people have lived a life characterized by manipulation and deceit to the point that they wouldn’t recognize truth if it appeared to them as their firstborn child.  To help you recognize it and understand it, take note of a quote or two:

  • G.K. Chesterton: “Right is right even if nobody does it. Wrong is wrong even if everybody is wrong about it.”
  • George Orwell: “In a time of universal deceit — telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
  • Albert Einstein:  “Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.”
  • Augustine: “The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”

I’m not sure if Billy Graham had Martin Luther King, Jr in mind when he made the statement above, or if King was thinking of Graham; but the two of them made complimentary statements:

  • Billy Graham: “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”
  • Martin Luther King, Jr: “Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency ask the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But, conscience ask the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.”

I’ll close with Psalm 85:10 from The Message: “Love and Truth meet in the street, Right Living and Whole Living embrace and kiss! Truth sprouts green from the ground, Right Living pours down from the skies! Oh yes! God gives Goodness and Beauty; our land responds with Bounty and Blessing. Right Living strides out before him, and clears a path for his passage.”

10 on 10 for October 8th

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Here are the 10 on 10 resources for today….

Psalm 40:10:  I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.

Prayer: “I Pray, dear God, that you will give me the opportunity to speak of your faithfulness and your salvation.  Use me an expression of your lovingkindness, and help me to stand for truth in a world of error.”

Proverbs 8