Intervention!

On Tuesday the weather report called for thunder showers all day.  So, when the cloudy skies lightened up around noon, Piper and I hopped into the car and headed to Fuquay-Varina and our local CVS Pharmacy.  My thought was that once I had Piper in the car and out of any rainfall, that we could use the drive-up window to get the prescription we were almost out of and return home.  Once home I could back the car into the garage and help her out without as much as a drop of rain touching her!

I desperately needed a haircut as well, for I was looking rather scruffy around the edges, but I figured that I’d better not push my luck!  But as we neared the city limits I noticed that the skies over Fuquay were even brighter than at our house.  Then I heard that unmistakable quiet voice inside of me saying, “Go get a haircut for both you and Piper.”  Well, I’ve come to know that voice rather well over the last few years, so I didn’t argue but set my mental GPS to the Kroger Marketplace and the Great Clips salon right next door to the grocery!

The funny thing was that the normal handicap spots right in front of the salon were both taken so I had to go down to the end of the parking lot in order to find a spot wide enough for me to maneuver Piper’s chair around our car.  I almost started to question if I had “really” heard the small still voice inside of me or not since those two spots have always been open when we’ve gone to that shopping center.  But instead, I simply shook my head and parked the distance from the store, figuring that If I had really heard from the Lord that it wasn’t going to rain until we were done and back in the car.

By now it was around 1:00 pm and when we walked into the store there were two gals just standing there waiting for customers!  After all three hairdressers in the store welcomed us… including the one trimming a gentleman’s hair, the gal closest to us walked up to the computer, typed in our phone number and asked who was first... Piper or me!

Once we got to talking with the gal we knew in an instant that God was right about going there on that particular day.  Come to find out that our hairdresser is a longtime Christian, active in her church in Dunn, NC, listens to the same nationally known ministries that we do, and was quite familiar with the ministry where I went to Bible College!  I tell you, it was like old home week for us!  She also knew the Chaplain who ministers to us from Piper’s Hospice group.  From a Christian beliefs standpoint, it was quite a blessing that we had so much in common!

Needless to say, we were both quite blessed after our time spent at Great Clips that day.  And you know… it didn’t start to rain until I got Piper back in the car following our haircuts… then it stopped for a few moments when we got home so that I was able to get Piper out on the driveway and into the garage without getting wet… at all!  What do you think about that?

This morning I found myself quickly looking at John 6:63 where Jesus declared “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh accomplishes nothing.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (ISV)  I didn’t get to study out the verse as thoroughly as I would have liked as I was interrupted by an adjuster from our home insurance company and the project manager from our roofing company as our roof was damaged during a thunder/hail storm at the end of last year.  Welcome to North Carolina’s fall weather… We discovered that those not-so-little golf ball size hail storms aren’t too kindly to old shingles!

What I did get from that verse today though, was that God’s Words contain the essence of the spirit and life, in contrast to the things of the world which can’t compare and always fall short of the goal!  I was reminded of Piper’s and my decision after the results came in from the first MRI that Piper had taken late in 2007 at an imaging center in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

I remember that moment like it was yesterday.  I was alone that evening (thank God!) and straightening the displays in the power accessories aisle in the Garden Department at my job at the South Tulsa Home Depot when I got the call from our doctor’s office.  The nurse’s report took me by surprise and I had to make a quick exit outside to the back of the covered area where the soils and lawn chemicals were stored. 

It was cold outside and I was reasonably assured that no customers would be shopping out there at that time.  I needed a place to be alone and get my emotions under control!  Once that was accomplished, I quickly realized that in this case according to John 6:63… the flesh and/or the world’s answers to Piper’s prognosis would accomplish NOTHING!  This diagnosis has no cure in the natural…  The only answer we could look forward to finding was with God!

And Surprise!  When I got home that night and tearfully shared the information with Piper, she totally and unequivocally agreed! (I’m being a bit sarcastic here!  Of course, she agreed without even flinching for a moment!  That’s just who she is – full of faith!)

By the time we moved back home two years later, the eyes of our faith were totally focused on God and His Word.  God and His ways for healing Piper were our only agenda.  To be honest, it kind of took us by surprise when some Christian folks close to us immediately looked to the world for answers to Piper’s needs.  I think that is why we had sort of a disconnect with them.  It is like we were trying to communicate on two different wave lengths.

Since we made that decision on that evening back in 2007, we continually look for and expect God to intervene on our behalf in everything we do… Just like we did on Tuesday when we headed out to town to pick up Piper’s prescription.  I had prayed the night before that God would make a way for us to get to town without getting wet… and lo-and-behold He did!  And not only did we get the prescription but haircuts complete with encouraging words from the hairdresser! (The same thing happened during my conversation with the roofing company’s Project Manager.  Both he and the owner are active Christians!)

I like the way God works when we look toward and expect Him to intervene in our daily lives.  How about you?

Have a super-duper weekend!  And as you do, keep looking for Him and ask yourself… “Am I really expecting Him to intervene in my life today?”

Natural Springs...

Our home here in North Carolina is located in Harnett County almost exactly 2 miles from the nearest town of Fuquay-Varina.  As the dash in the name indicates, the city is made up of two separate towns that combined to form one municipality in 1963.  Fuquay Springs, first known as “Piney Woods” was settled by William Fuquay, a French veteran of the Revolutionary War when he purchased 1000 acres from one of the original land grant families.

While plowing the fields of the family tobacco farm in the mid-1850’s, William’s great-great grandson Stephen discovered a mineral spring.  After a while Stephen came to the conclusion that the water flowing from the springs had healing properties.  Word of the springs began to spread and in 1860 Stephen sold the springs to a group of local investors to market the attraction and its waters.  The Fuquay Mineral Springs grew in popularity throughout the rest of the 1800s and into the early 1900’s.

The neighboring town of Varina came into existence when a young Confederate soldier, born just south of the springs who, having received moral boosting letters from a pen-pal named Varina during the “War for Southern independence,” returned home. On the way he looked up his pen-pal in Fayetteville, North Carolina, married her and returned to his family homestead.  He eventually named his post office and mercantile business located across from the springs after his wife.  When two timber rail lines crossed nearby, "Varina Station" was born.*

I thought it interesting as I continued to study Psalm 98:1 this morning that the beginnings of our new community was established around the healing properties of natural mineral waters discovered in the area.  So, it seems that our locale’s history and Psalm 98:1 both have that in common!  Psalm 98:1 encourages us by saying, “O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.” (KJV) 

The interesting connection comes with the Hebrew and Greek definition of the word translated into English as “Victory.”  Brown-Driver-Briggs describes the Hebrew word as meaning “to save, be saved, delivered.”  The Greek word translated from the original Hebrew is our old friend “sozo” which is used throughout the New Testament to describe what Jesus provided for us through His finished work.  According to Thayer’s it means “to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health”  Strong’s says it infers, “to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively): - heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.”

The vast majority of my many Biblical commentaries agree that Psalm 98:1 is a direct prophecy of Jesus.  Therefore, we can understand this verse as an encouragement for all Christians to spend time fellowshipping with Him in His Word in order to receive a fresh dose of His healing powers for the physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, and financial areas of our lives.

So just as the people from all over the Raleigh, Durham and neighboring communities flocked to the natural springs at Fuquay Springs at the turn of the century to receive the healing properties inherent in the waters there, we can save the ticket price of a train journey, or dusty carriage ride and just go into our quiet place with God each and every day and receive His healing properties that are inherent in His Word!

I’m sure by now that you must get the idea that Piper and I have always been Word people.  We very much believe in the tangible Spirit and life that is in the Word of God as found in our Bibles.  When Jesus says “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life,” (John 6:63 KJV) we take Him at His Word… no questions asked!  We simply believe it, confess it and then take actions corresponding to what He says.

That is the way that we enter into fellowship with Him every day!  We come into His presence expecting God to be God and to do what He says He will do!  I noticed this morning as I was speaking out some Word while I bent over to lift Piper out of her transport chair and into her custom wheelchair, that something inside of me jumped when I spoke it!  When it happened, I had to stop in mid-step, look at Piper and say “WOW!”  Then I explained my happy reaction to her.  If she could of, I am sure that she would have jumped up and shouted Amen!  Is that the kind of reaction you get when you spend time with Him?  I hope so!

It was reported that after visitors spent time in the water at Fuquay Springs that they felt different, refreshed and maybe a bit healthier than before.  That is exactly the way that I expect to feel every time I step into the healing, revitalizing Word of God.  How about you?

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What are you expecting when you spend time with God in His Word?”

*See: http://www.fuquay-varina.org/423/History-of-Fuquay-Varina for more details.

Fresh Baked!

I had a conversation with one of my cousins over the weekend in which, among many other things, we discussed the baking of homemade bread!  She recalled how she used to make it on a weekly basis when first married many years past.  That got me to remembering the multitude of times that I walked into our little two-bedroom home on Will Scarlet Lane and immediately had my senses overcome with the unmistakable aroma of fresh baked whole wheat bread flowing throughout the house.

That must have been a thing among young wives in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s for them both to be unknowingly (I think?) enjoying a similar domestic hobby.  Just thinking about biting into a thick sliced, warm and butter-smeared piece of bread fresh out of the oven gets my mouth to watering.  Piper used to experiment with different baking pans when she was in her prime bread baking days.  I never quite knew what shape my sandwich was going to be when I opened my bag at work. 

Most times it was normal bread-slice-shaped, albeit much thicker and slightly unevenly cut… but at other times it could be round from the coffee cans she also used, square from some other baking tins or who-knows-what-shape from whatever container happened to catch her fancy when she was ready to pop the dough into the oven.  One thing that I ALWAYS knew though, was how that first bite was going to taste… Unbelievably Delicious!

So, what if the slice was an inch or thicker at one end and a half of an inch at the other end… anyway she sliced it… it was mouthwatering to me.  One thing that I did notice beyond all the accolades that I could sing about Piper’s homemade bread,  was that it just didn’t seem to stay as fresh for as long as the store-bought breads did.  I would assume that it was most likely a good thing as her bread didn’t contain any of the questionable preservatives added to the commercial brands so as to sustain a longer shelf life.

If Piper made bread on Monday, by Thursday my sandwiches were getting a little harder to bite into… and by the weekend… well, let’s just say that I am glad that my teeth were in such good shape back then!  But the extra strength needed for the bite and the chewing exercise were well worth all that good taste!  I only wish that I had that problem on my hands… or should I say, my teeth… today!

Well, did you know that the Psalmist wrote about a similar situation in Psalm 98:1?  The only difference being that instead of talking about homemade bread, he spoke of fresh baked praise unto God!  Now you might ask what I mean when I say fresh baked praise… It’s actually quite simple.  It is praise that is baked fresh inside of you every day by your personal time spent in God’s Word and the resulting singing of a NEW SONG unto to Him!  It comes from a heart that has been renewed with FRESH time in God’s Word and in daily prayer that results in being so overcome with the unmistakable aroma of His goodness, that all you can do is begin to let it out by singing a fresh NEW SONG of praise to Him.

Just like when I walked into the house while or soon after Piper popped a loaf of her homemade whole wheat bread into that 1950’s era, white gas stove that my Grandmother had loved to cook with!  Being overcome with all that goodness made me immediately begin to sing her praises… and highly anticipate savoring that first warm slice.

Psalm 98:1 tells us to, “Sing a new song to the LORD because he has done miraculous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for him.”  (God's Word ©)  As we talked about last week, the phrase “NEW SONG” translates in the original Hebrew as “fresh.”  The Greek word describes it as “new, especially in freshness.”  So, what is he trying to tell us?  Simply that our praises unto the Lord need to be a fresh and new event each and every day.

I’ve discovered over the years that it is hard to get a fresh blessing with left over revelations… just like the bread that gets harder and harder each day after it originally was baked.  As Christians we should be… or maybe I should say… NEED to be fellowshipping with the Lord in His Word every day, similar to a strong marriage where the husband and wife take the time to fellowship with each other each day throughout their lives.

Looking back on Piper’s and my, soon to be, forty-eight years together (5 dating/engaged and 43 married), that I can’t think of more than a hand full of days when I was away from home for ministry reasons, when we couldn’t communicate.  And I can guarantee that part of that communication included the heart-felt words “I love you!”  I can’t possibly imagine not talking with the love of my life each day… and the same can be said for my fellowshipping with my heavenly Father.

I therefore believe… in line with what the Psalmist declared… that a daily NEW SONG unto the Lord is important for us so that it is fresh and of the heart for TODAY’S experiences.  It is not something that is leftover from yesterday’s blessings.  Each day our communication and faith in, with and for God should be new – FRESH, otherwise we are only going by what our heads remember from the last NEW SONG we sung unto the Lord in the past.

So, what would you rather have… a FRESH slice of warm blessing slathered with the sweet delicious Word of God, or a slice from past days that is getting cold and hard?  The longer you eat the cold hard bread, the harder it is to remember what it is like to have a fresh-from-the-oven, melt-in-your-mouth warm and delicious piece of home baked bread!

Go ahead… give it a bite… and you’ll never go back to the stale stuff again!

Have a great new week ahead, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Am I expecting a FRESH warm slice of God’s Word today?”  YUMMMMMMMMMM….

IN's verses the OUT's

Today was another one of those days where my wife was simply not interested in drinking her protein breakfast drink.  I have a whole set of tricks up my sleeve that normally help her to get into the swallowing mode… but today… well… none of them seemed to help!

But you know?  I’ve been studying and practicing singing a NEW SONG* to the Lord over the last few days and I decided at her first refusal of the rich chocolate nutritional drink that I add many other tasty and healthy ingredients to each day, that I was NOT going to give up or give in to anything other than God’s best for my sweet wife.  Our Pastor has a favorite saying that we’ve incorporated into our daily lives that declares “I will not be defeated and I will not quit!”  So, I figured really quick this morning, that this was a good time to speak out, confess and DO exactly what that statement makes clear.

Therefore, I began to intermix the bold and determined declaration of that fact into the atmosphere in our dining room while sitting at my wife’s side.  And you know what happened?  Well… nothing… at least not right away.  Sometimes I think that Papa God just wants to see how really committed we are to the things that we say we’re going to do.  Would you agree or not? 

But this time around I was committed and serious about the expectation of God becoming a part of our morning activities and helping Piper to swallow her breakfast.  So, I persevered and the Lord hung in there with us and although it took quite a while, she finally started swallowing the warm chocolatey mixture.  As the process began to proceed with some semblance of regularity, I added my personal offerings of thanksgiving and songs of praise to the praise and worship music that was already playing on my Pandora morning mix.

By the time all was fed, said and done, I felt satisfied with the amount of food that Piper was able to consume, even though she let a fair amount of liquid dribble out as fast as I put it in!  But again, the IN’s were greater than the OUT’s… so I was a happy camper!

Have you ever had one of those days where the IN’s were greater than the OUT’s?  Where no matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to overcome the difficulties coming against you… kind of like we had this morning?  You may think that my wife’s not eating her breakfast isn’t really that big a deal, but when you weigh as little as she currently does and breakfast is her main meal of the day… well… IT IS A VERY BIG DEAL! 

With the increasing effects of Alzheimer’s, she has been forgetting how to swallow, so it is of utmost importance that I stay focused and determined to help her to take in as much food as she can… in slow, easy, little portions so that she can get it down without choking, coughing or aspiration.  All things considered, it is important for us therefore, that we have many more IN days that we have OUT days!

I would imagine that the same could be said for each of you as well!  And like we have been talking about all week, I have discovered along with multitudes of Christians through the ages, that singing a NEW SONG is a key asset in winning the battle of the IN’s and OUT’s! 

Psalm 98:1 in the Easy-To-Read version of the Bible encourages us to “Sing a new song to the LORD, because he has done amazing things! His powerful and holy right arm has brought him another victory.”  This translation especially caught my attention this morning because of that familiar word that we’ve looked at before, “amazing!”  The KJV uses the word “marvelous” which infers something, according to Strong’s, that is “great, difficult or wonderful.”  Similarly, Thayer’s defines it as an action that is “surpassing, extraordinary and something that is “beyond one’s power.”

That last definition immediately got me to thinking about Ephesians 3:20 where Paul describes God’s ability to do something in our lives as “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”  So, think about that for a few moments here… According to the book of Psalms… mostly written by King David who knew a thing or two about the power of praise and worship unto God… the physical, vocal act of singing “a NEW SONG to the Lord” opens up the door into your situation for God to do something AMAZING for you!

WHEW!  Kind of exciting wouldn’t you say!  You know… I put a lot of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual effort into helping Piper to partake of her nourishing meal this morning.  But by the time we were FINALLY done, I wasn’t wiped out, discouraged or upset.  Singing a NEW SONG not only allowed God into our process, but also helped to keep me strong in each of the above-mentioned areas!  When I stepped out onto the eighty-one-degree, sunlit deck and walked down the stairs with our pooch a few moments later, I actually felt a lightness to my step and increasingly positive expectations for the day ahead!

I like that!  Wouldn’t you too?  Give it a try… better yet… don’t TRY it out… just DO IT when the OUT’s attempt to surpass the IN’s at any point in your lives during the up-coming weekend… then look for the lightness in your steps and the increasingly positive expectations as they rise up inside of you!

Then… keep telling yourself… “I am continuing to expect that my singing of a NEW SONG to the Lord is working to keep my IN’s way ahead of any OUT’s!”

*See: Psalms 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9 and 149:1

A New Thing!

I’m sure that I have told of some of my first experiences with the Bible.  My young spunky girlfriend gave me my first New Testament after we had been dating for only a short period of time.  It was a paperback Good News translation.  I would assume that she got it from her church as Bibles just like it could be found all over the Fellowship Hall and in the youth and children’s classrooms as well.!

I can remember sitting down at different times and thumbing through the book with great reverence and awe… and not understanding very much of it!  That’s where my girlfriend… and in another five years, my wife… really shined!  She would joyfully and patiently answer all my questions, no matter how dumb or bizarre they may have seemed!  And even more importantly to my growing faith, would simply LIVE her Christian beliefs in front of me in everything she said and did.  And you know… It’s funny now as I look back on it… that is something that has never changed in our soon to be 48-year relationship!

So, that gray paperback hand-sized book was my go-to Bible for the next three years as we completed High School and attended Santa Rosa Junior College.  Then as we began a new chapter in our lives and moved into the on-campus dorms at Chico State University in the fall of 1973, Piper presented me with a beautifully wrapped box topped with a bright colored bow.  Her eyes glowed as I tried to imagine what could be in the box in reference to that gleam radiating from her face.

I took my time in opening the box, taking small deliberate steps to draw out the anticipation written all over my girl’s face.  When I finally lifted off the top of the box, I was rewarded with a brand new orangish/brown (a popular color tone in the ‘70’s) hard bound leather New American Standard Bible.  The book must have been about three inches thick and seemed a little cumbersome to carry around, but it became my constant companion that year as we attended Inter-Varsity Club meetings and church services and special events. 

I used my new Bible so much during that first year and a half that the cover began to wear out, so on my 22nd birthday Piper presented me with a handmade Bible cover that she had designed and sewn out of a pair of old jeans complete with a pocket on the front and back!  Well, that Bible was kept close to my side until around 1983 when I splurged and purchased a Ryrie Study Bible in the NASB format.  But the older Bible didn’t go on a bookshelf to be forgotten but spent a few years opened up on the top of my dresser for quick reference when I was in the bedroom.  Then it ended up in our restroom opened up to favorite scripture so that I could read small doses of the Word whenever I Piper or I went in there.

And you know… it still resides in our master bath to this day… although it is now very well worn with torn and taped pages, swollen in size from all the showers... and with lots of notes in the margins.  For the last few years I have kept it open to the Psalms to use as a quick pick-me-up in the midst of the stressful days that we have had.

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I glanced over at the Bible and read the beginning verses of Psalm 98 where the Psalmist declared:

Psalm 98:1  “Sing a new song to the LORD because he has done miraculous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for him. 

Psalm 98:2  The LORD has made his salvation known. He has uncovered his righteousness for the nations to see. 

Psalm 98:3  He has not forgotten to be merciful and faithful to Israel's descendants. All the ends of the earth have seen how our God saves them. 

Psalm 98:4  Shout happily to the LORD, all the earth. Break out into joyful singing, and make music.” 

It had been a busy day as I took care of Piper’s daily needs, did house chores, cooked meals and mowed and trimmed the front lawn in the 105-degree weather.  By the time I went into the bathroom after helping my wife get in bed, I was pretty zonked!  But once my eyes caught a glimpse of that old Bible opened up on the shelf and I began to take in the Words of God’s grace and worship, I felt lifted up!  The tiredness in my bones seemed to melt away and I was infused with a new sense of encouragement and faith.

That’s one thing that I always enjoy when I come to the Word of God to fellowship with Him!  I come expecting to be lifted up and I always am brought into a new and better place with Him at my side.  Sometimes I have to press in to find that new place but my persistence is always rewarded with a fresh experience in His peace, restoration and glory!

I like that word “NEW” in the scriptures above.  Just like in Psalm 40:3 and other verses in the Psalms, it literally means to have a “fresh” awakening, to experience something “recently made,” or something “uncommon” (especially to the path you may have been walking down with your emotions).  As I kept stating those verses over and over again while standing in the shower and then later in bed, things in me changed.  I definitely had a fresh awakening and found my attitude and physical and emotional well-being changed into something new and uncommon opposite to the way I should have been feeling with the pressures of the day I just had had.

That is something that I have come to depend on over the last 45 years since that spunky, petite, freckled faced, full-of-life young lady gave me that special NASB back in 1973!  And even though that particular book may be old and more than just a little worn out, it still contains FRESH words of encouragement, and joy, and strength that is guaranteed to pick me up in any circumstances, when I approach His written word with the expectation of finding out what special, NEW thing that Papa God has for me that day!

So, check it out!  Grab your own special book and enter in to His World of encouragement, joy and grace… and EXPECT a new thing… just the THING that you need!

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… What NEW THING am I expecting to receive when I fellowship with Him in His Word today?”

♪ Carried Away ♫

I was thinking this morning when I was helping my wife to get up for the day, of how much music has influenced our lives over the years.  I was raised in an atmosphere of singing, piano playing and music styles ranging from classical Mario Alonzo, to famous Broadway musicals, to the crooners like Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, Perry Como and of course, my Mom’s high school heart-throb Frank Sinatra to the Big Bands from the 1940’s all the way to the Beatles!  My Mom loved to sing and sang in the acclaimed St Eugene’s Cathedral Choir for many years.  In high school she also sang in a popular trio.  I have many precious memories of her sitting at her piano playing older tunes, Christmas Carols, or music that their Choir was going to perform.

Piper, on the other hand, grew up in the world of church hymns and contemporary Christian folk music.  Her Mom had a beautiful voice and sang solos at church on Sunday’s and at special church functions.  She also sang for groups around town and at times added drama productions to her presentations.  As our kids were growing up she even recorded a children’s album with many songs that she had personally written.

Piper’s family were also regulars, along with her maternal grandmother in the First Baptist Church Choir.  If I remember the story right, Piper’s paternal grandmother was the real instigator and force behind Piper’s and her sister’s years of piano lessons which started for Piper when she was around six.  Piper would have me in stitches as she would regale me with wild stories of her grandmother driving them to lessons in a nearby town in her huge  Pontiac Bonneville wagon, speeding around the sharp turns on the back-country roads that she took, bumping over things in the roadway and barely missing wildlife (and other vehicles…) that had strayed into her path!

One of Piper’s most coveted possessions has been the beautiful Baldwin Acrosonic piano that her Dad’s mother had given to her through her will after she passed one week before our wedding.  And as you can imagine, that piano played an integral part of our family’s life!  Piper taught all our kids how to play piano on it, would sit down on various occasions and play music ranging from the old church hymns, to the contemporary worship songs we sang in church to the classical music in which she was originally trained.  I’ve mentioned in many posts of how she would surprise me on some of my birthdays by playing a new classical piece that she learned and practiced while I was off at work.

So yeah, music and singing has been a central part of Piper’s and my lives that we’ve joyfully passed on to our kids.  In fact, I was again reminded of this when Face-timing with our youngest son yesterday afternoon.  He was telling me of the old pipe organ that is built into the structure of the smaller chapel building at the new church in Oklahoma City that they are now calling home.  As he was describing its unique details that had caught his attention, I found myself going back in time when Piper and I produced a Rock Opera at her Baptist church in the early 1970’s.

We had put together a band with friends from our high school days (and the band I had been a part of since junior high) with lead and rhythm guitars, bass, drums and Piper on the piano… except for one of the old hymns we sang when Piper stood up and switched over to the beautiful organ the church had.  After the first performance, many different individuals who had known Piper for years came up to us expressing surprise and delight that Piper could also play the organ!

Music has been shown to play a strong role in the treatment of many diseases including mind altering sicknesses like Alzheimer’s.  Over the last ten years I have seen Piper become more alert and animate when she became aware of certain songs or musical styles playing in our home or car.  One time while driving in the car and listening to the local Classical radio station, she suddenly raised her hands at the crescendo of the song and moved her arms in perfect cadence to the music and acted as through she was directing the orchestra!

While studying my Bible this morning I came across a different translation of Psalm 40:3 that really seemed to hit just the right spot for what I had been thinking about earlier when helping Piper.  While the God’s Word © version follows the more traditional translation of the verse saying: “He placed a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see this and worship. They will trust the LORD,” The Message modern paraphrase paints a vivid landscape in one’s mind by declaring: “He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to GOD.”

The thought of one entering into praise and worship in song to the Lord and in doing so abandon themselves to Him said it all!  And as I meditated on those artistic words, I nodded my head in agreement thinking that sacred music has always carried Piper and I away into another world… the world of His presence!  For us it has consistently been a place where the troubles and tribulations of life seem to melt away.  When singing unto Him the worst happening to us at any given moment pales under the glow of His presence and the power of His Word that we are offering up to Him.  When I sing simple praise and worship songs unto Him as I begin Piper’s day, I no longer see how the symptoms of this awful disease have devastated her once strong, fit and beautiful body.  

When I am lost in abandonment within His Presence I only see her as God and His Word see her, whole and complete and lacking nothing! (See Matthew 9:22 and I Peter 2:24)  When in His presence in song, I am filled with a strong sense of God’s best for my wife and I.  While lost in His presence in song, I am filled to overflowing with His expectations, His strength, His joy and most of all His peace.  When lost in abandonment within His presence in musical praise and worship unto Him, I hear His plans and directions for Piper and I and feel the personal confidence building up in me to press forward against the worldly hopelessness that continually bombards us and fulfil His will for us.

When lost in abandonment in song unto to Him, I become a living and breathing embodiment to everyone around me that “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 KJV)

So yeah… that’s why His songs of praise and worship have always been a central part of who Piper Kaye Berruto and James Joseph Berruto are!  You know what they say… “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it"  So, we’ll keep up the foundation of that which was instilled in each of us since our childhoods. 

We’ve passed that foundation on to our kids and now… We’re passing it on to you!  So, what do you say?  Ready to be carried away? ♫

Have a great week ahead, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Am I really expecting to allow myself to be carried away in abandonment into His presence?

Love = Action

I was listening to the Southern Gospel radio station enLighten on Sirius Satellite Radio the other day while vacuuming in the living room.  I was actually sitting on my knees attempting to clean the dirt and dog hair from under the couch when I was suddenly taken captive by the lyrics of a particular song.  I’m not sure who the artist was or even the overall theme of the song, except I think it had something to do with God’s grace.

Since hooking up with this station a while back, I have come to see that Southern Gospel (in my thinking anyway…) tends to differ from the Contemporary Christian music that I’ve listened to since the mid-1970’s, in that most songs seem to tell a story, many times being a testimony of God’s love, grace, forgiveness, peace and/or His miracle working power in our lives.  The song I heard that day was no different. 

It began by the artist telling about a time that he had come home one evening from work only to find that his wife had left him.  Then he shares his personal pain with the experiences he had on the first Sunday Service that he attended without her.  Well, I kind of lost track of the rest of the song at that point as I began to picture what that would be like if it was me!

I was fighting some emotions that afternoon in the living room which I think made it easy for me to drift off in thought with that song!   Over the years I worked many swing shift schedules and could easily picture coming home at night to a darkened house.  My initial thought of the scenario of coming home to find an empty home was simply stated, “If she ever left me, I think I would die!”

A little melodramatic… ya think?  But nevertheless, it would be devastating to even consider such a notion… then I immediately broke into a smile, looked across the room at Piper who was snoozing in her chair and thought without ANY doubts… “That would NEVER happen!”  I can honestly say that any such thought NEVER had a place in our relationship… nothing even close!

And yes, I did work many swing shifts but normally came home to find her up and standing in the living room to greet me with a big smile and hug.  She even did that when I was managing the Receiving Department at The Home Depot in Tulsa and many nights would get home around 2:00 in the morning!  Then she’d go off to the kitchen and fry me a burger!  (We ate a lot of burgers back then!) 

The other thing that the song did that afternoon, was to get me to thinking about the last ten years of our lives and how our love for each other was not only put to the test but put to work!

I talked in my last blog post (Love and Faith, 6/13/18) about the important interactions between faith and love.  I sought to establish the point that just as faith works by love, (See Galatians 5:6) that the opposite also holds to be true… in that real Christian love works by or along with our actions of faith.  And that is what popped up in my brain as I began to think through the path that the Southern Gospel song had opened up to me!

I’ve mentioned in the past of how I took a lot of flack when it became clear that my wife’s fight with Alzheimer’s was at the point where she couldn’t be home alone anymore and we talked, looked at all the financial figures, prayed and then followed what we believed to be the Lord’s directions and I quit my outside job traveling with a merchandising team for The Home Depot.  To be perfectly honest… it was an easy, no-brainer decision for us.  When that time came we both KNEW, no questions asked, that I was to be the one… the ONLY one who was to take personal care of my wife’s needs.

As far as we were concerned it was time to ace the test and put our love for each other - - “In sickness and in health” – to work!  I went back to my side business caring for yards and lawns and was able to take Piper with me.  It was a win/win situation.  I got to keep an eye on her, keep her mind occupied with some of the tasks of the various jobs and get a lot of fresh air!  And sure, there were a few times when the finances got a little tight, but Piper’s well-being and my caring for her was well worth any of the difficulties we faced along the way.

I’ve come to learn over these years that real love is putting yourself out there on a daily basis giving totally of yourself for the benefit, safety and life-sustaining health of another… Not just in stating what I have come to see as “empty words” without any actions to back up those thoughts.  The Apostle Paul seemed to say it best in Ephesians 5:6 when he wrote, “Don't let anyone deceive you with meaningless words…” Then he made it even more succinct when he added in the very next verse, “Don't be partners with them.” (God’s Word ©)

I thought it interesting that the Greek word translated “deceive” actually means “to cheat, delude or beguile someone.” (Strong’s and Thayer’s)  I took that in reference to our experiences, to mean that meaningless words of love can actually be another’s excuse to cheat you from their personal assistance in the midst of your situation or to be deceptive toward you.  The Message Bible talks of not letting yourselves to be “taken in by religious smooth talk…”

That’s kind of a strong statement… but I get the definite feeling that Paul was trying to make a strong point concerning the way we interact with others.  Do we sometimes throw around Christian terms like “I love you” simply as some sort of “religious smooth talk” that we may think is an expected response to certain situations… without really meaning it?  Without putting some type of physical action in back of our kind words? 

So…If as the scripture declares “faith which does nothing is useless?”  Can we also deduce that LOVE which does nothing is also useless?  (James 2:20 God’s Word ©) 

Hummm… Having gone through what has turned out to be the roughest situation in my entire life with the deterioration of my sweet wife’s health, I have come face to face with many mistakes that I was guilty of before having actually gone through such a gut-wrenching ordeal.  And one of the biggest was going through the motions of saying what was seemingly the right and expected thing to say in the situation without getting personally involved in the individual’s need!

Now that I am on the other side of the equation… I can see and feel how nice it is to have people come by your side and call and talk to Piper even though she can’t reply, or others like the hospice folks or one of our neighbors who come by and just sit next to her, hold her hand and love on her.  And I’ve mentioned before how much it means to me when someone takes the time to stop in the grocery store aisle, bend down and actually say a few nice things directly to her!  Now in my book… THAT IS WHAT CHRITIAN LOVE IS ALL ABOUT!

What do you think?

Have a great weekend, and as you do keep asking yourself… “How am I expecting to put action to my kind words of LOVE today?”

Love or Faith...

I had another one of those “Oh, WOW!” moments the other night as Piper and I were listening to a long-time Christian ministry on TV.  It was a relaxed setting where the couple was sitting outside in garden chairs in front of their old prayer cabin somewhere I believe in Arkansas.  The husband was talking about doing something in love when he paused in thought for a moment and then without missing a beat, they rather extemporaneously both clarified his thoughts declaring the action as “a faith-filled love!”

Well, that surely caught my attention and I immediately began to recall I John 4:18 where the Apostle of love taught about “faith which worketh by love” (KJV) and I wondered if you could actually turn around “faith” and “love” in that statement and still have the truth.  I don’t think that I had ever really considered the work of “faith” in a Christian’s actions of “love.”  Have you?

I thought that if that was true then it would explain a lot of things!  I mean I have had different people tell me that they “love” me or my family but yet something just didn’t feel right about the comment.  It is like an oft-times quoted saying of the man of God who started the Bible College that I attended who in describing a similar situation would say it felt like one who “takes a bath with their socks on!”

So, the next day I began a search through the Bible looking up incidents that discuss any interaction between “faith” and “love.”  What I discovered was a multitude of scriptures that define the close working relationship between those two fruits of the spirit as listed in Galatians 5:22-23.  Ephesians 1:15 associates our faith in the Lord Jesus with our ability to love the brethren when Paul said that he “heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints.” (KJV)  I Thessalonians talks about “putting on the breastplate of faith and love…” (KJV)

Then there’s one of my most-often-go-to Biblical prayers found in Ephesians 3:17 where Paul prayed for us declaring “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,” (ESV)  (And the list goes on and on – SEE: Colossians 1:4, I Thessalonians 1:3, and Ephesians 6:23 for starters…)

After looking up a large number of verses that definitely put “faith” and “love” together as a working team, I suddenly felt a little silly for it dawned on me that the writer of Hebrews in chapter 11 verse six made it rather believable when he (or she?) wrote that “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (KJV)  I mean think about it for a moment… acts of Christian love please the Father and that scripture declares that we can’t please Him without faith!  So… it only makes sense that actions of love have to be connected with and energized or empowered by our faith!

But that brings up another whole discussion on the Biblical measure of faith or in our case…LOVE… for James taught “that faith without works is dead.” (James 2:20, 23 KJV).  Can Christians really talk about “love” without backing their words with actions of “faith?”  Hummmm… We’ll tackle that subject next time!  But for now, I would encourage you to study out some of the verses I listed and think about it the next time you tell someone that you “love” them.

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Am I really expecting my words of “love” to be truthful and backed with faith?”

Good Medicine

I recently came across a picture of my wife that I had taken during our Junior College days in the early 1970’s.  It was part of a series of pictures that I had taken of her around her parent’s property wearing different outfits in varying poses.  You have to understand that my love for photography and growing love for this special young lady fit perfectly well into the scheme of things for many of the photo projects that I was assigned in the multitude of photography classes I took in High School, Junior College and later on at Sonoma State College.

In this particular picture she is sitting on the edge of her parent’s old deck, dangling her legs off the side with her head tilted slightly downward and her eyes upcasted toward the camera.  Piper is one of the few people that I have photographed in all the years when I did portraiture and wedding photography who is a natural in front of the lens.  Most subjects tended to freeze-up and I had to jump through hoops to get them to relax, but not Piper!  She is as calm and happy as-can-be with or without a camera being pointed at her!

If she didn’t just naturally fall into a pose, she was free to move any-which-way I suggested to find the “right” look I desired for the picture.  What I immediately noticed with this pose was that she had that “patented Piper” mysteriously sweet glint in her eyes that told me that she was having a good time and was doing her best to get me to start laughing!  What I also realized was that smile was just for me!  There was no one else around at the time and her smile was specifically meant to be an endearing moment for me… and me alone!

With everything that we have been through with her declining health over the last few years, I now find that I actually search for that special look in every picture I find of her from our past.  I understand that this might seem a little weird to some of my readers, but when the one you love can no longer communicate her special feelings to you, you’ve got to look at the remembrances where she demonstrated those intimate feelings toward you.

As I looked at that picture I also realized and before I knew it said out loud that “I really miss being able to make her smile!”  One of the greatest joys of my life has always been to put a smile on Piper’s face.  To make her happy and to encourage her sweet, joy-filled spirit.  And you know… even though she is unable to respond at this time, I still make every effort throughout each day to say and do things that would normally cause her to smile or be encouraged.

And speaking of smiling and being happy… I came across a scripture over the weekend that spoke directly into my thoughts about that picture that I found in one of the boxes of family photos that our older daughter had organized for me.  In Proverbs 17:22 the author expresses his understanding that “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” (KJV)  This verse has been a favorite of Piper’s and mine for many years and as I began to study it a little deeper I looked it up in some more modern translations to see if it brought forth any added revelation to me.

Well, a look at The Message paraphrase version immediately spoke to my heart, especially in the light of many of the personal experiences we’ve had when it came to different folks and the ways that they have handled my wife’s dramatic changes.  This version bluntly declares that “A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.”  The God’s Word © translation says that “A joyful heart is good medicine, but depression drains one's strength.”  While the Contemporary English Version simply and succinctly states “If you are cheerful, you feel good; if you are sad, you hurt all over.” 

One thing that we’ve learned over the years is the importance of maintaining an atmosphere of joy in our home.  Proverbs 17:22, among many other scriptures in the Bible, makes that charge absolutely clear!  An environment of joy helps to ford off bad attitudes, dis-encouraging words and/or thoughts, complaining, hopelessness and as this verse states, weakness and the encroachment of sickness.  And as far as I am concerned, if sickness does breakthrough in my home, then it is imperative for us to double the amount of joy in the Lord as found in His Word on a regular and reoccurring basis!

We’ve been to people’s homes where fear, faithlessness, and depression was so thick that you could almost cut it with a knife!  And that seemed to be the same way that they handled Piper’s situation.  If you’ve been a regular reader of this blog then you know of the many things that I do day-in and day-out in order to provide a strong and continued sense of joy in our home for Piper’s needs as-well-as for mine! 

I sing scriptural songs (and some dumb but uplifting nonsensical tunes as well), I confess God’s Word on healing to her throughout the day and evening, and I find myself laughing a lot… especially when things get extremely rough!  At times like yesterday, I’ll even gently take hold of one of Piper’s hand and dance her and her wheelchair around the room when an especially upbeat and swinging song is played on the Southern Gospel satellite radio we’ve come to enjoy since we moved to the Southern States!

So yes… we have seen what a lack of a cheerfulness and fear can do to an individual… even a Christian who yields to the pressures that attack all of us at times.  As we now enter the tenth year of dealing with this attack on my wife’s health, I find that I have to fight the negative temptations of fear and discouragement more and more.  But that just means that I have to increase all the things that I mentioned above that I do and trust in the Lord and His love, His joy, His peace, and the strength and truth of His Word more and more… and will continue to do so until we come to His conclusion of this chapter in our lives.

So, what will it be for you?  A life filled with discouragement, bad attitudes, sickness and fear OR one that is empowered by his cheerfulness and joy that according to the scriptures, are filled with Good Medicine?  Hummm… easy choice for me!

Have a great week, and as you do keep asking yourself… “Am I expecting to have a CHEERFUL attitude or allow sadness and sorrow to fill my soul?”