The Battle is the Lord's

        Recently I have been reading in the Bible's books of history and it has been very interesting.  So many of the kings turned away from serving the Lord despite their knowledge of how the Lord had blessed them in the past when former kings had served the Lord. And they endured much pain and sorrow as a result. Unfortunately that sounds too much like what is happening in our country today as we continue to leave the Lord's ways. 

          But there were some kings who did serve the Lord.  They tore down the false idols and led the people back to the Lord. And then the Lord blessed them once again.  One of those good kings was Jehoshaphat, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 17-20.

          A story that spoke to me concerned his battle with the armies of several countries which had merged to attack him.  The scripture says that he was terrified when he received the news and he begged the Lord for guidance.  He then ordered everyone in Judah to fast. They did that and came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord's help.

          Jehoshaphat then stood before the people and prayed a powerful prayer asking the Lord to save them and rescue them.  He shared how they were powerless against the mighty army that was about to attack them.  He said they did not know what to do and were looking to the Lord for help.

          The response that they received from the Lord was to not be afraid or discouraged for the battle was not theirs, but God's.  They would not even need to fight.  They were told to take their position, stand still and watch the Lord's victory.

          Early the next morning the army of Judah went out to get in position.  Then the king told them to believe in the Lord and stand firm.  He told the singers to walk ahead of the army and sing to the Lord and praise His holy splendor. They sang "Give thanks to the Lord for His faithfulness endures forever!"

          At the very moment they began to sing and give praise the Lord caused the opposing armies to start fighting among themselves.  And when Judah's army arrived at the sight of the battle they saw all of the opposing soldiers dead on the ground.  Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.

          What a marvelous and amazing victory!

         Now as I read that account I couldn't help but think of the battle we are facing today against a mighty, deadly opponent, Covid19.  There seems to be no hope for a victory and there is nothing we can do to gain a victory except to trust the Lord and seek His help.  Our country may not do this but we certainly can.

         But maybe instead of just asking for His help to save and rescue us, we need to do what the army of Judah had done - start by singing and praising the Lord.  I wonder how much I have been doing to live a thankful life before the Lord during this pandemic.  I tend to worry and complain about the situation rather than giving the Lord praise and living a thankful life.  Maybe I've had it all backwards.  What about you?

          So my personal challenge is to spend more time being thankful and praising the Lord for His provision, rather than begging for His help  He has protected us and has provided all that we have needed.  What a wonderful Lord who has protected His children for many centuries.  Praise His name!

          And the battle is His and not mine.  That is a challenge that Jehoshaphat has provided for me. 

Challenges for Teachers (LB)

LOOKING BACK - Repeating and editing a blog that I first published on February 22, 2011

          Did you read about the teacher from suburban Philadelphia who was suspended for her blog in which she called her students "disengaged, lazy whiners"?  She is fighting to keep her job because of her blog and it will be interesting to see what happens, especially since this blog was written on her time, not the school's. 

         Now let me say up front that she probably showed very poor judgment in sharing her thoughts publicly and if things are really that bad, she should quit and find a job elsewhere. That being said, I must admit that she had the courage to say what many many teachers would really like to say. 

         She wrote "My students are out of control. They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are generally annoying." Now I know that all students and classrooms are not like that. But, unfortunately, too many are. 

         Some of the comments that she wished she could put on student evaluations were interesting, such as "I hear the trash company is hiring". I think many teachers would like to have the courage to say that to a few of their students. It is sad that the trash company may be all that some students have in their future. 

          I also read "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son."  Now thankfully that thought never crossed my mind, but I know it did to some teachers that I taught with. And how about "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?" Now there is one that I sometimes thought of but never had the courage to say. 

          The biggest change that I experienced over 39 years was the difference in parents. Besides the fact that in recent years many students only had one parent, it was obvious that many had no parenting skills or common sense. They would defend their child even when the child was obviously at fault. They pampered their children and never said "no". They gave them everything they wanted without making them work for it. I think in many cases they were just plain scared of their kids. 

          Parents have become more demanding on teachers and schools to raise their kids for them and less demanding on their own children. Unfortunately I sometimes even found this to be true with Christian parents. It is easy to blame the schools and teachers for one's failures. It didn't used to be that way and it still isn't in many cultures, such as in Korean families. 

         Well I don't know what happened to this teacher who said publicly what many teachers would like to say. And while I can't support what she has done, I can understand the circumstances that drove her to write what she has written. 

          I seldom had serious problems during my years in the classroom and I often still miss the students. I was very fortunate.  But as I view what is happening, I am glad that I am now retired.  And today many teachers will need to face these attitudes, but also the threat of Covid19.  What a challenge!

Isolation of the Elderly

          Recently somebody forwarded to me an excellent article from Breakpoint Daily produced by the Colson Center.  It was written by John Stone Street with Maria Baer.  It highlighted some difficult but important issues that we should consider.  For that reason I am sharing it here.  
           But before I share the article, I actually prepared this blog before the real impact of the pandemic when isolation became a real issue for all of us.  It has especially been hard on seniors isolated in nursing homes where nobody may visit them.  Many seniors have died in hospitals without any family members allowed to be with them.  This is so very sad.

          My family doctor recently told me that one of his most difficult challenges for him during these times has been dealing with his elderly patients who are living alone.  He is about the only person from outside their facility that they get to see at this time and they are so lonely.  Again, so sad.
          And the long isolation has affected more of us, not only the elderly.  I long to be with my family again and especially with my grandchildren.  I miss our friends from church.  But the choice is simple, especially when you are a senior.  Keep isolated or risk catching the virus and possibly death.  So the article below has new meaning today.

          "A couple of years ago, I came across a strange story out of Japan in Bloomberg Business Week. Dozens of elderly women, it turned out, admitted to crimes of petty theft in the hopes of going to prison. "There are always people around," one of the inmates told a reporter, "and I don't feel lonely here."

          I remembered this heartbreaking story a few weeks ago when The Atlantic published David Brooks' latest piece about the nuclear family. Brooks argued that the nuclear family as we define it now, with mom, dad, and kids often isolated from extended family, was not the norm for most of human history. Our fragmenting into smaller and smaller, and ever more isolated, family units has hurt us, he said.

         Much of Brooks' piece, as well as the significant volume of responses it triggered, focused on the challenges of raising children without extended families. Unmentioned, but just as much at stake, is what the elderly population has to lose in these new modern arrangements.

          After all, it is one of the largest generations in modern American history, the baby boomers, that make up today's elderly. With far more boomers than there are Generation X-ers, the math just isn't working out. Who will care for them?

          The lack of a clear answer to that question explains a whole range of strange and heartbreaking stories like the thieving grandmas in Japan, or the increasing number elderly people who die alone at home and aren't discovered for days or even weeks, or tech companies betting on a profitable opportunity in artificial intelligence that can keep the elderly company.

          According to the last census, nearly 11 million Americans over 65 live alone. Another California study found that 43% of all seniors surveyed suffered from loneliness, whether or not they lived alone. Loneliness is especially hard on seniors.

          A seven-year UK study found that "the lack of social contact leads to an early death, regardless of participants' underlying health issues" because loneliness is linked to things such as "high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, a weakened immune system, depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer's disease."

          Still, our loneliness epidemic is even more a cultural problem than a math problem. After all, the generation whose parents are now aging came of age themselves in the Roe v. Wade era. We'll have to come to terms with what legally treating inconvenient lives as disposable will do to our cultural consciousness. Beyond the taking of innocent life, legalized, monetized, and popularized abortion kills a culture's sense of what life is even for.

          Inevitably, life post-Roe is too often evaluated, not in terms of its own dignity, but in terms of some sort of self-satisfaction bottom line. It's not hard to see where that slippery slope leads. Suddenly, we're toying with genocide against babies with Down Syndrome. Suddenly, we're exploring assisted suicide and euthanasia not only for the sick, but also the uncomfortable or the depressed.

         The criteria for so-called acceptable or even desirable death grows thin. It's that world, that culture, that group of people that is forced to deal with a growing number of isolated elderly.

          All of us grow less autonomous and more needy with age. Words like "inconvenient" and "burden," words used for decades to justify legalized abortion, are now being used for others. As Chuck Colson warned, a worldview that says we weren't made on purpose but happened by accident ends with the conclusion that life isn't beautiful anymore. Rather, it's a numbers game that favors the strongest and the wealthiest.

          The body of Christ has what the larger world needs if it to find a way to care for its aging population: the knowledge that all life is beautiful and valuable, even if it's vulnerable. We'll have to say that over and over, and we'll have to live it too: There shouldn't be a nursing home in the country not flooded with Christian neighbors during visiting hours.

          On that foundation, we can develop plans for our aging parents that hold them as integral members of our families, not distant obligations. We must innovate ever better palliative care, and the Church must become the leading place in our world where multi-generational relationships are both fostered and celebrated.

          Our kids, after all, are watching. One day, they'll have to decide how much of a burden we are to them."

          Now this article refers mostly to elderly who live alone or in nursing homes.  But their are many senior couples who are doing through the same problems - nobody, including their children, visit them.  They must deal alone with financial challenges and physical challenges and limitations.  They fight depression and nobody - including the church - seems to care.  They have no value and nobody needs them anymore.  And it is so much worse during a pandemic.

          Where are the folks who really care about others, especially the lonely?

Wonderful Grace

          The older one gets the more one recalls things that used to be enjoyed but have been forgotten over the years. Recently I came upon a television special by the Gathers that featured the work of Cliff Barrows, song leader for Billly Graham crusades. I began to recall the great crusades of past years which featured large choirs, outstanding music, great crowds and stirring sermons. I even recalled how I once attended one of his crusades in Times Square in New York City. That is a great memory.
           But what touched me most while viewing this special program was the huge choir which sang “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”. First, it reminded me of the great choirs that I used to enjoy at camp meetings and Bible conferences. It reminded me of the many hymn sings that I have led where folks sang the old hymns so heartily. I’m sorry, but in my mind today’s praise teams don’t begin to measure up to these memories.
           I was also reminded of the many old hymns, filled with doctrine and testimonies which still minister to me even though they are not sung anymore today. Now I don’t mean to get into the battle of hymns vs. praise choruses. But I must say, I really miss the hymns!
          One of those that I really miss is “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”. I love to sing it because of ts upbeat, bouncy meter and somewhat unusual refrain, which splits into two parts, with the melody alternating between the bass/tenor and alto/soprano parts. But I also love this hymn because of its great words. God's grace which is greater than our sins. Grace that reaches the most defiled and sets our spirits free. And where can our praise begin for such a wonderful Savior who deals with us with his great and wonderful grace? If your life has been touched by His grace then you need to praise and thank Him and sing of His wonderful grace.
           This excellent hymn was written by Haldor Lillenas who was pastor of a First Church of the Nazarene. In 1919 he published his first book, and three years later he organized his own publishing house. For the next 10 years, he traveled, preached, wrote hymns and published song books. Over his lifetime Lillenas wrote more than 4,000 hymn texts and tunes,
           According to Lillenas, In 1917, "Mrs. Lillenas and I built our first little home in the town of Olivet, Illinois. Upon its completion, we had scarcely any money left to furnish the little home. Having no piano at the time, and needing an instrument of some kind, I managed to find, at one of the neighbor's home, a little wheezy organ which I purchased for $5.00. With the aid of this instrument a number of my songs were written which are now popular, including “Wonderful Grace of Jesus.'" Incidentally, Wonderful Grace of Jesus was copyrighted in 1918, but not published until 1922 in the Tabernacle Choir Book. Lillenas was paid $5.00 for this song, just enough to pay for the little organ." 
          As you read the words and hear it sung, your heart should be filled with thanks and praise for the wonderful grace of Jesus that reaches you. Remember that it is by grace that we are saved. It is by His grace that we ae blessed daily. And it is by His grace that one day we will be with Him eternally. Now I enjoyed being reminded of the great music large choirs in the past. And I enjoyed being reminded of some of the great music of the past. And I especially enjoyed being reminded of the great hymn “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” and the wonderful truth it conveys.
           What great memories and I thank the Lord for them. Take time this week to meditate upon the great words of this hymn.

 (1) Wonderful grace of Jesus, Greater than all my sin; 

How shall my tongue describe it, Where shall its praise begin? 

Taking away my burden, Setting my spirit free; 

For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. 

Refrain Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, 

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea; 

Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me. 

Broader than the scope of my transgressions, 

Greater far than all my sin and shame, 

O magnify the precious Name of Jesus. Praise His Name!

 (2) Wonderful grace of Jesus, Reaching to all the lost, 

By it I have been pardoned, Saved to the uttermost, 

Chains have been torn asunder, Giving me liberty; 

For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. 

Refrain Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, 

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea; 

Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me. 

Broader than the scope of my transgressions, 

Greater far than all my sin and shame, 

O magnify the precious Name of Jesus. Praise His Name! 

 (3) Wonderful grace of Jesus, Reaching the most defiled, 

By its transforming power, Making him God's dear child, 

Purchasing peace and heaven, For all eternity; 

And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me. 

Refrain Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, 

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea; 

Wonderful grace, all sufficient for me, for even me. 

Broader than the scope of my transgressions, 

Greater far than all my sin and shame, 

O magnify the precious Name of Jesus. Praise His Name! 

 If you would like to hear the crusade choir sing this song, try this link.   CRUSADE

Covid19 Reflections

        The battle with Covid19 has been a long, tough one.  If you, like me, have spent most of the last five months isolated at home, then you habve probably developed many interesting thoughts.

          Recently a friend posted these thoughts which just might represent some of our experiences.

          1.   So let me get this straight, there's no cure for a virus that can be killed by sanitizer and hand soap?

          2.   Is it too early to put up the Christmas tree yet? I have run out of things to do.

          3.   When this virus thing is over with, I still want some of you to stay away from me.

          4.   If these last months have taught us anything, it's that stupidity travels faster than any virus on the planet, particularly among politicians and bureaucrats.

          5.   Just wait a second – so what your telling me is that my chance of surviving all this is directly linked to the common sense of others? You're kidding, right!

          6.   People are scared of getting fined or arrested for congregating in crowds. As if catching a deadly disease and dying a horrible death wasn't enough of a deterrent.

          7.   If you believe all this will end and we will get back to normal once we reopen everything, raise your hand. Now slap yourself with it.

          8.   Another Saturday night in the house and I just realized the trash goes out more than me.

         9.   Whoever decided a liquor store is more essential than a hair salon is obviously a bald-headed alcoholic.

         10.   Remember when you were little and all your underwear had the days of the week on them. Those would be helpful right now.

         11.  The spread of Covid-19 is based on two factors: 1. How dense the population is and 2. How dense the population is.

         12.  Remember all those times when you wished the weekend would last forever? Well, wish granted. Happy now?

         13.  Did a big load of pajamas so I would have enough clean work clothes for this week.

         14.  Sleeping late is considered lazy, but waking up early and taking an afternoon nap is fine.

         So what do you think?  Have you had any of the same thoughts?  Now let me think, what day is it today?